Evening Star Newspaper, December 24, 1892, Page 11

_ Pera : 3 4 THE EVENING STAR: WASHINGTON, D. Cc. SATURDAW. DECEMBER 24, 1892—SIXTEEN PAGES ON TH! CHRISTWAS IN PARIS. Hew the Holidays Are Observed in the French Capital. A DAY FOR Families Gather for an Early Breakfast The Boulevard Stores Filled With Novel Toys ‘The Religious Services New Year, Day, and Every axwork tableaux Bothelehem in the churches. ‘The night before there ix the after-midnight family breakfas Paris young man of good 1 when ¢ howe er cynical he may ordinarily be end artlessly at the nies: poard with children, aunts « It is properly the breakfast mise owing the mid Is material sign is its moral @ign, though 4 is a temporary thawing of the ice of religi us neglect, whether be held by tasbic families in + in chic restaa- morniag, when unas morning At Christmas, too, th @rop their loose wit and end decadent poets tune the: of the Nativity. The papers t fully writtea and_fancifulls ettes, in which | Enfant Jes tistieally arranged on be m with brought inte the Even cafe concerts » martre and othe: poiey par their revivals of old Nocis, distin be another age. BOULEVARD. Stil, Christmas ix neglected here; it is} Neel, with its songs and ms Services a ng the carb. ‘These are in the shape of in- closed sheds, with a counter opening on the mner side facing the sidewalk. hey extend in a nearly unbroken row on both sides of the boulevard throughout its whole length. The jewalk is wide, yet they so impede the prome- cde that their presence would not be tolerated any other time. At ordinary times the y ‘boulevard has its own exclusive racter of frequenters, It is the cen- cosmopolitan | Paris, with the . the theaters, the cafes, the restau- Drasseri d the newspaper offices. itis the resort of all that large class of who have considerable money to @ and yet do not think highly enough of In a word the spe themselves to be exclusive. boulevard isa money-spending place, and dis- solute at that. At Christmas time there are even more evidences of money and of gayety, and while its fast character does not exactiy ge there is something added to it. Be- regular frequenters there is the army cers from other parts of Paris, includ- upon the boulevard Now they come with their hus- ren, brothers and sisters or sigh acies.who seldom wal at other tin bands and nephews and nieces4o spend hours from booth to be th, &* much for the pleasure of staring at khicknacks as for buying right and left and fanciful things which they do not PARISTA fists; so that grown-up Parisians, when they get in rows, kick with their feet more effectively than they strike with their hands. On the which they value—not only the boys; and the height of their fancy dress party, so that they finery yet. Until boys are sent ing school—which is at an ear! Potted like girls, and aro pide and angels. This ip they are made the mort day, for the men and women now grown up were children then, and the toy shops of the boulevard were closed. THE PRESIDENT'S VISITORS OX NEW YEAR. On New Year morning crowds gather on the Rue Faubourg St. Honore to see the president's Visitors go and come from the palace. The in- terior of the president's house is more pleasing than its outside look, which is not im ‘The Rue Faubourg St. Honore us a narrow old- fashioned street, backed up against the avenue of the Champs Elysees and suffering very much in comparison with it’ Atone corner near the lace there is ® very, ordinary cafe with illiards and piat du Jour, and opposite to it there are small ehops, one of them a butcher's. ‘The mansion itself is surrounded ‘by an ugly Tow of squat office buildings, whose appearance has recently been further damaged by repairs intended to obliterate the carved symbols of the empire. Nevertheless it is a fine sight to watch the President's visitors on New Yeer day, and | if the casual visitor in Paris has any friend to | Ppeint them out and name their names he might | spend an hour or sp much less profital Ma: ‘ny respectable people stand around like this, | and the wearers of bright uniforms would be dispirited at finding no public to stare at them. je President generaliy gets to the end of New Year day with aracking headache. His annual ceremonial task begius early in the morning, when he is expected to receive the compliments of the palace architects, builders, head gardener, uphol secretaries, mili- y and civil, upper servants, 6 baker, cook, usher and the rest. part of the function is patriarchal, The assembled do- | mesties aro ‘mes enfs and their devotion | is taken for granted. . Carnot dresses when he gets up on Year morning in full dress or as we in ing clothes.” Ihave heard that in even bury the dead in “evening clothes.” | Doubtless each country bus a right to its babite | and enstoms, but it iv to be questioned whether | the American 6 o'clock rule, of which we hear something now and then in Paris, ought always to be rigorously applied to a foreign climate. Parisians certainly do pa: calla on ‘Kew. Your day fall | some one wrote dress. Last winter to the Paris Herald, inquiring what was the | best advised thing for Americans to do. A| flippant answer was printed under the title of | “Go aa You Please,” whose tendency, if it had | any, was to ridicule civil full dress for gentle- | men before 6 o'clock precisely. It wae not said whether a man in the midst of his calls should | turn the coachman round at 5:30, change and | | then start out again; nor what he should do in | case he were invited out to dinner at 7 o'clock | lay. In consequence of the 6 o'clock idea cropping up in various quarters young men presented themselves by gaslight, even at the American minister's, with their overcoats on their backs and their pantaloons turned up. ts" ceremonial | CHILDREN. ATTRACTIONS OF THE SHOP WINDOWS. With the boulevard shop windows it is the 4 yet different. A French shopkeeper’s art does not lie so much in supplying lady cus- te what they want as in tempting buy what they do not want, and So there are those who start out thom to to buy their New Year gifts and aze b f n. Gay cravats, b . fanciful ¢ as impressionist hes, muffs that are all whim. most bew: bon amd pe garters quite as tasteful as the ts and made up in rib- y pocket handkerchiefs aze or crepe or lawn are all answerable for many disapporntments and many wrong econo- mies On the boulevard, where the electric light is wall but universal, this is the eeason for keepers, who know how to put their beat remont. Jew and dealers in baskets aud artificial flowers, whose bloom A by bows of ribbons matching or aising of contrasting with them, rub FOR TOYS THE OTLEY AN Even the bouleva tially alters ite fir the Church of the Madeleine Bastille it te lined with toys are sold and comes under the title of art Week i spent in rommaging thr presents, in balls and ar prom nence me gien They are sim ling at mt wonderful A special ser: of Des In the aix feof, there Ws « gr ng cards, an beginning ry. under the hall, in which at right and 4 rows of b seated, oceapiéd Ret prodt to the post of January Saleo all the concierges, all the men, all the servant girls and ¢ t coenved astly, © girl oat frequents the place, @ Mew Year custom, and it is for matter of right, not of far the boulevard looks like a full week before Chrisimas carpen: rough wooden booths NCH CHILDREN th giee, With the electric light, the Cliristmas crowd and the poor finery of the cheap booths on the curbstone to make his own wares shine by comparison, the good een keeper is courageous enough to lie, cheat ant Jefraad you out of all youhave. He spares sothing te eateh the eye and arouse the jaded i nation. Here, where even the children grow blase, he panders to their little faded ap- petites with skill, Thus, among the announce ments o! welties in to for the New Year, isa “railway catastropl with tunnels, col- Lisioms, broken bridges ‘and displaced ‘rails, with & complete assortment of victims in every position!” Next they will sell the pam- pered infant a guillotine, or » trick dagger de of India rubber, with a hidden recepta- cle for blood when he plays at stabbing his Litde sister. ‘Oue thing, holbever, is certain. Whatever else way be said of them, the little boys of Paris do not fight in earnest, slang —the latter they leave, in many cases, for Abeir mothe: As for ——e because they do not know bo: amusing as anything else even at this chilly season, to walk slowly along the avenue of the Champs Elysees of an early afternoon or late morning t observe the thousands of well-to-do childres playing with their tops and balls under the leatioss branches of the trees. You also seo them in the garden of the Tuileries, there is more room for boyish are always accom: by it is wil whe Little boys play tow rubber; ing toward them the; and shut their eyes. of bardihood and self-confidence ‘ sports that unfits them for fighting , bt NEW YEAR CALLS, Prosident Cargpt starts off at 10:80 a.m., in his habit de ceremonie, which he is ridiculed for wearing on every possible occasion, to pay | his New Year calls at the Paiais da Luxem- bourg and the Palais Bourbon, resgectively, the senate and the chamber of deputies. With him in the carriage is the prime minister, » | general and an aid-de-camp. There is also a company of dragoons for military escort. A quarter of an hour after his return he receives the president of the chambers and the presi- dent of the senate, who start out instantly to repay his call. At noon precisely breakfast is nnounced. The whole cabinet is invited to | whare it, each in “evening dress,” for each has & part to play at the afternoon levee of the dip- lomatic corps, of the clergy, the judges, the generals, field officers aud tae rest, and it is for these that the people siand about outside through the afternoon to see them come and go. | _ While this is going onat the presidential man- | sion something similar is being enacted in very house throughout the city, New Year | is thus a very busy day in Paris. It is also the | day of gift-making to every one. Even the| | servants receive valuable presents of money or purchased articles; and the children's toys are | constantly added "to throughout the day by } callers who are intimate with the family. Tn the evening thero are family dinners, succeeded by theater parties and late suppere at cafes or restaurants. Early in the morning parents have received their children ceremoniously, and grandparents yot more ceremoniously. All the day long every one wears this ceremonious air, tinged with good feeling and jollity, This is the keynote of the holidays in Paris. Srentixe Hero. see TS OF SHAKESPEARE, STU Boothlacks and the jewsboys Who Appreciate Bard of Avon. ‘The fashionably dressed man put one foot on the shoe box, looking down with the commis- eration of serene prosperity upon the boy who was getting his blacking brushes ready, and murmured to himself half aloud: “Let the candied tongue lick absurd pomp, And crook the pregnalit hinges of the knee —" ‘The bootblack tooked up in his face with a sly twinkle of the eye and filled out the quota- tion, addins: “That thrift may follow fawning. ‘The gentleman stared in astonishment at the | ragged youth and said “Is it possible that you are a student of Shakes- peare?” modestly replied the bootblack. “Bat it is evident that you are familiar with let.” en. his is certainly remarkable, Have you read much classical poetry?” ‘Oh, that is it! You are fond of the Shakes- perean drama. Are any of your fellow-boot- ks aimilarly inclined?” | neceettits all of us like to go and see his plays better than most anything else.” After bestowing double price for the shine in consideration for the information rendered the fashiouably dressed man remarked toe friend who had overheard the conversation “Itis a very curious fact that street boys | generally, not only in this country, but abroad, jare extremely fond of and haves high appreciation of his plays. They are the keenest of critics also as to the render- \ing of them. If you will take notice you will | observe that the cheap galleries are always MAUNA LOA ABLAZE. The Experience of a Traveler During an Eruption. A NIGHT ADVENTURE. ‘The Scene on the Volcano’s Side—Some Facts About the Volcane Which is New Again Eruption—A Rough Journey—How Day- light Made a Transformation Scene, ROM FAR-AWAY Honolulu comes # re- port that the crater on Mauna Loa is ine state of eruptiod” and that the town of Hilo is threatened with de- struction. Hile hasbeen threatened in the same way before—many times before—yet the dream- ing little town goes on sedately smiling, part- ing its lips into Byron bay, showing its pearly white teeth as the com- bers break on the sandy beach, while the wa ing grace of its fringe of cocoanut trees fas- cinates like the curling tendrils of a maiden hair on her brow and neck. The palms bow a stately welcome and an invitation and whis- per a lullaby to all care and all burry. That is the impresssion Hilo makes upon the observer as he comes into the bay on the little steamer from Honolulu, 300 miles away—that is to say if he has not ‘been too wretchedly veasick to care for or notice anything beautiful or pleasant in the world. The last time the great crater held its flaming fate over the little town was in 1887. But the narrowest oscape it ever had was in th great flow of 1880-81. The writer of this was in Hilo-during the continuance of that eruption \d some description of it may be interesting ion of the present condition of things At that time the landing from the Honolulu steamer had to be made by means of boats, Byron bay is without the customary coral reef r bar actoas its entrance, and is directly open to the waves of the Pacific, which have been gathering force ali the way from the American coast. Bo the steamer must anchor in the open | roadstead, while boats are rowed alongside near enough, so that passengers can count on hitting them with some degree of accuracy when they jump fromthe companion ladder and aro caught in the arm# of stalwart nati oarsmen. ‘The scrambling out at the wharf is almost as difficult and uncomfortable. But there is the white canoe of the bay sailing at you, bordered below by the bright pea green of | the shallow water, and above by the dark lue- trous green ‘of the folinge, from which peep the church spiro and roofs of the town. The respective sides of these islands aro distinguished as the wind- ward and the leeward. ‘The trade winds blot almost perpetually from the northeast, so tha! the northern und eastern shoresare the wind- ward side. Where the interior mountains are very high the passage of rain clouds is almost irely prevented. In such cases the lee- ide the island is bleak and barren looking. But the windward side seems to spring enough verdure for both sides, That is why Hilo is so supernally green. All that side of the island, trom the sea coast back across the smoking rise to the foothills and up the rugged mountain side, seamed only by the bareness of an occasional lava flow to the timber line where the bald summit begins to lift a towering head into the region of eter- nal snow, is covered with thick foliage. In this month of May, 1881 there were patches of snow on both Mauna Kea and Mauna Loa, the twin peaks which tower up 14,000 feet out of the sea. Fivere was snow in spite of the trovical warmth of the air we were breathing and in spite of the fiery and passionate heat which had torn an outlet from the bosom of Maunz Loa, from whose summit arosea thin wreath of smoke and down whose side wandered the sinuous and de- structive course of the lava flow. FIRST SIGNS OF THE ERUPTION. Visitors to Hilo are met upon landing on the wharf by the white residents, upon whom they must depend for shelter and entertainment while they are in the little town, for hotel or inn there is none. A plunge bath in a great cement-lined swimming pool with a natural stream of water running throught it, followed by a hot, plenti- ful meal are wonderful invigorators after a stuffy sea voyage across choppy channels. A night’s sleep completes the work of refresh- ment and renewal of a man and leaves him ready toenjoy all the good the world has to give him. “The eruption of 1880 broke out in the fuil of the year. It had been heralded by earthquakes and internal rumblings, such as are reported in the dispatches of the last few days by way of San Francisco to have occarred on December 2 and 3 on the island of Hawsii on which Hilo is situated. One night ther was @ tremendous detonating report which shook the foundation of the whole island and made the people at the Voleano House, part of the way up the side of the mountain. think the crack of doom had sounded. When they fushed out of the house they saw a bright stream of living fire gushing from the summit of the mountain, only fourteen miles away, and pouring down the side. People in Hilo could see the fiery bust, though they were sixty miles from the crater. and could see the vast cloud of smoke that hovered over the mountain and then drifted away with the wind. Eruption had continued now for many months, flow: had been eating its destructive ever-widening course down the mountain side and toward the sea by way of Hilo. And still the summit fires glared and the wriggling thing came slowly onward—always more slowly, to be sure, but still coming steadily forward, and not much further to come to wipe out th pretty little straggling town, with its sugar mills, its few stores, itshomes and churches. Hilo ts ractically the only seaport on that side of the nd, nearly the whole coast terminating’ ab- ruptly in @ blaff, from which the streams that flow through the plain above leap inte the nes. The question of tho hour was: ‘Would the erup- tion cease before the flow reached the sea, and if not, could anything be done to avert the flow from taking a course through Hilo and wiping it out of existence? In thie condition of the public mind the first ition to visitors was, of courve, to inspect the present terminus of the fow. 0 we sought to procure horses to ride the fow miles up through the woods. INSPECTING TEE FLow. A Kanaka boree is one of the most curious creatures in creation, only excelled in that reapect bya Kanaka himself. A Kanaka horse isliable to pause at any time to titilate nis jowl or neck with the hoof of bis hind foet. “A Kanake is not unlikely to call upon another member of his family to jorm this office of friend- ship and devotion for him. The appetite of the Kanaka horse is closely allied to that of a Shantytown goat. A straw hat is not safe within bis reach, and be temper with a rubber rain cost. Sometimes it is to buy an outfit for @ day's trip than to hire it— that is, to buy a saddle and bridle. The horse is, in effect, thrown in. It depend i on what mood the Kanaka is in. in an petition as a basis for Sroch ine soareies of atl oa canton eeeate mac! ene Test are ¢1 cally turned toward trying tomer to take at that price, crowded with newsboys and bootblacks when | there is a Shal n comedy or tragedy on | the stage. Many of them are actually able to uote the text very accurately and at consider- aie fength. seems odd, but such is the fact,” bolas ageeee: abe aan | i ; ‘The horses had an easy time over this ready made roadway, and it was not long before they came in sight of the deserted grass hut, where quarters for the night were to be found. The laylight was fading by this tim hastened to ride on for a preliminary survey before coming back to leave the horses for the night. It was not far beyond that thig old dow Jed back into the one now coming down, But it proved far too rough for horses to get over, 80 that there was nothing to do but return and picket the horses, eat » cold «upper and then sally forth on adventure. For some time past in | our ride there had beon indications that we were | approaching the neighborhood of the volcanic res. The crackling of the burning timber could be heard, there was the smell of smoke in the air and there came the deep-toned booms | of exploxi A SIGHT ON THE VOLCANO’S SIDE. The waik up to the flow proved to be a rough | one, this part of the old flow Incking the | smooth surface it had lower down and being broken up with caves and pitfalls and sharp cakes upturned. But it led in due time to within sight of the fires, The steam arose from the ground about and the vast leviathan stretched out over the plain glowed like a stove coming toa red heat. At times a ragged crack would appear in the surface as the molten mass beneath welled up through the crust and gushed out with the brightness of living fire, spreading about over the crust and then in turn quickly crusting over and cooling to the somber glow of the whole mass. An ominous creaking sound at our feot admonished a retreat, which was quickly heeded. Then, spreading our rubber coats, we lay down by this great fireside and went to sleep, with the Southern Cross shining in our faces across the glowing lava. A rain shower wakened us, chilled and shivering, and sent us down again into the neighborhood of the warm glow, which stretched away ia the darkness apparently for miiles. To the left the fires were particularly active in what was appar- | ently the direction the flow was making 11s way. ‘The fiery liquid would at intervals break out there into a billow and sweep forward into the forest, swallowing up trees and lighting them | into a beacon as the lava cooled and darkened again. There was something solemn and ap- palling in the reckless and heedless way in which nature hurled forward these masses, which annihilated the forest and then quickly cooled before our eyes into the rock forms which wereto endure while the landscape lasted. By some time after midnight the moon w: up and there was sufficient light to warrant an | attempt to find the way back to camp—not an easy matter, as we found, for the party lost its bearings and wandered about over the erumb- ling lava for some time before finding the in- distinctly worn path which led back to the de- serted grass hut—notaltogether deserted either, was discovered after trying to go quietly sleep with no water to drink. Next morning we found a stream of poor water about a hun- dred yards away in the forest—enough to wash down a cold breakfast before going back to take a last look at the new place by daylight before setting out on the return to Hilo. THE SCENE BY DAYLIGHT. Upon reaching the point of observation of the night before things were found to have a very different appearance by the bright light of day from that in the darkness of night. What had appeared a vast indfstinct mass, glowing like hot iron, was now seen to be a surface as black as and far more shiny than the clinkers and cinders from a blast furnace. ‘That part immediately before us was now easily distin- guished asasmall branch, leading from the main flow onto the old flow of "56, which we had followed up. Far beyond and extending apparently for several miles in width was the main flow, a black, barren plain, with no sign of life on it, save one lonesome, forlorn treo, seared and blighted, but still standing upright and holding its branches aloft+in hopeless de- fiance. Clouds of steam arose from the surface and intense heat danced about it likea mirage. The imprisoned steam caused explosions from every direction at short intervals. When crack opened in the surface and the fiery molten lava broke out, cracking the crust into cakes and turning them up on end, it could be seen that the crust was only a few inches thick. Along the borders the crust was hot to the touch, but it was practicable to venture upon itand® go some distance without great discomfort and with no serious datmage to shoe leather. A party of natives were hovering atout the edges, aloha! to all strangers and manifesting anenormous pride in the great spectacle. They were cager to know whether there were bigger voleanoes than this iu Kaliforny (America), aud upon learning that there were none at all indi- cated their conviction that it could not be much of acountry. Many visitors secured sou- venire and specimens of the lava by sticking a cane into the smaller cracks as they opened and obtaining enough lava to insert coins and other articles into it before it cooled and hardened. BOW THE LAVA CLIMBS A HILL. Near at hand wasa little ravine in which « stream of water bad flowed. It was dry nqw, as the lava had filled up it sources and was making its way down its course. Atthis time it had reached what had been @ little waterfall, twenty or twenty-five feet high. As we watched the molten lava welled out and gushed over the fall, spattering on the rocks below and hanging from above in enormous folds like gisantio candy thrown over a confectioners’ ook ready to work. ‘The course of the flow back up the mountain could be traced by the steam and smoke which hung over it. Prom the summit crater of Mokuaweoweo on Mauna Loa to where we stood it had come sixty miles, Of course the whole mass is not in motion all that distance like the flow of a river. The upper portions are thickly crusted over so” as to form a tube or tunnel, which brings the molten supply to the terminus, where it breaks out fitfully and works its way forward in an irregular direction. In this way the lava flows sometimes down a declivity into a shallow ravine and then laboriously works its way up the other side and out again, apparently defy- ing the laws of gravitation by a kind of climi process. curious fact that during periods of eruptien from the summit crafér of Mokuawe- SECRETS OF THE DEAD a Coroner's Life. THE TRAGEDIES IN LIFE. Coroner Patterson Tells of a Few of the Cases Which Have Come to His Knowledge Dur- | ing His Term of Twenty-one Years—What the Papers Among the Effects of Dead Peo- ple Reveat. F YOUSHOULD DROP T= here on the street within the next block or two, would the cor- oner find amy paper on your body which you might not care to | have some member of your family read and reflect upon when your effects are delivered by the oficial?” ‘The question was put tos friend whom a Sram man met just after leaving Coroner Pat- terson’s office in search of news, and the chance shot told. For the interrogated man, who it one of Washington's most reputable lawyers, stopped short in his walk and tore to shreds several letters which he removed from) an iu~ side coat pocket. <- mimic answer. “I'll relieve the coroner of any such duty in case Tain called upon to pass in my checks before I reach my office again, and save my relatives from thinking that I’ ever knew secrets of the character expiaitied by those letters. Of conrse, they were written by clients of mine,and on professional business, too. They were delivered at my office by the | postman just as I was leaving, aud I read them walking along the street. But the question you have just asked only goes to show how through the merest accidents of that kind inen's repu- tations are sullied after their death by com- Promising papers tound upon them, although Ihave no doubt, in nine cases out ten th nature of the secrets is never made public, and even then the dead man may be as innocent as possible despite the damning docum evidence. Don't think I am suffering from heart disease or liable to an apoplectic stroke, but much obliged for the tip just the same, and hereafter Pll take no ebances @{ shocking the public some fine morning with an accotnt of | | my professional secrets secured through loose pocket papers.”” If Dr. Patterson remains in office until next | July he will have held the coroner's position for twenty-one years, and many a curious case of identity, or mistaken identity, and revela- tions which completely overthrew the former good name of some individual, have come up through the “finds” upon corpses, Tux Stan man had been having a talk with the coroner about some of the strange stories which euch ‘corpse documents” brought to light, and it was the result of the interview that prompted the question propounded to the lawyer. ‘The coroner's office is one of the few berths offic: seekers rarely squabble about in their wild | scramble for public emoluments, and changes in the official personnel of the coroner's estab- lishment are as infrequent here in the District, where the position is appointive, as in the cases of the clerk of the District Supreme Court and health officer. | Dr. Patterson has now been the legal Washington inquest holder for some years longer than any other coroner in the country an claim as a record, and an idea of the vast amount of work connected with the place may be had from the fact that since July, 1872, the present incumbent has inquired the death by persona! investigation in no less than 11,000 cases. Probably not more than one- fourth of the number were of such a character as to make an inquest necessary, with all the accessories of a jury an@l verdict, but each one of the 11,000 had some suspicious circumstance connected with the death and the coroner's cer- tificate had to be issued before the health office could lawfully give a burial permit. The aver- age cases of this class reach about forty-five per month, but the total has sometimes run as high as eighty, although the majority figures gener- ally hover in the neighborhood of the half- tury mark. UNDER AN ASSUMED Sante, Several weeks ago the proprietor of a board- ing house on } i fers, who bad been found dead in his room: with a full head of gas turned on. It wus learned that the dead man had been somewhat under the influence of liquor thenight previow: to his being found lifeless; but manifestly it was impossible to determine whether the gus escaping was due to suicidal intent or the re. sult of an accident while the man was drunk. Forty dollars im mouey on the body removed the idea of suicide committed through want, and, following the usual custom, the cash was used to defray expenses of burial. Capt. Trav- ers was known to have been befriended by a western Congr essman, but no trace of his im- mediate family or friends could be discovered. ‘Then st became necessary for the coroner to take the deceased's papers in band, and they brought to light a story which no} only dated back over thirty-one ‘years, but pessibly led eventually to the man’s death. At least those paperé furnished a motive for the suicide, if it Teally wasa case of self-destruction, and re. vealed an instance of life under an ‘assumed name for more than three decades, Capt, Travers had been an officer in the Union army during the war, and no doubt a galiant one, but his name was not Travers, and very possibly the chance of a refusal to have his pen- sion transferred upon the rolls to himself under the original name, which ke buried over thirty years ago, led to des} ‘y. When the ci war broke out G. H. Hibben ran away from his western home and enlisted under the name of Travers to prevent his being tracked by the then young man's father, who strongly ob- jected to the son's e: all. By the cog- nomen ot Travers : = known until the day of his death, and ju from the which fell into Dr. Patterton's bande ¢ sore methodically accurate record of a man's daily doings could scareely be imagined. Evidently the father, who opposed his son's enlistment, never forgave the , and Travers bim- self finally determined to once more assume his birthright and cast aside the i inary suffix to his military title which did duty fora name sinoe the war closed. Some time ago apphed to the pension bureau to be recognized as G. H. Hibben, but the application for some reason or other was not acted a) in either direction, and his death ieft chapter in statu quo. In this case, of course, there were no doca- ments which revealed any mystery involving crime or scandal, but one such did come under the coroner's notice some years ago, and more than one lady of social n ute bas had reason since then to bless the official’s dis- and ee oweo the crater of Kileuea in the sii miles in diamoter, in the side of Mauna Loa. It is never entirely inact- ive. ‘The voleanic fires pla: lakes fire in this pit be watched by tourists from the cliffs about the lake. When the surface of these ered and crusted over, with onl simmering, it artes tntienstemn of an appecestion tee fon Mauna Loa. On the other hand, at the termittent periods, when Mokuaweoweo is, all appearance, extinct, Kilauea awakes greatest activity, boiling lke an infernal thro’ by tee wiadt spun cot SBE SEE fit ‘@ delicious morcesu of scandalous gos- Bpper tondom nevertheless. Just about ‘the social season during the cen- tennial year a young foreigner was found dead in his roome atan up-town hotel. The cor- have J Some of the Strange Experiences in| dead blow, of a six years’ ner's investigations, caured cousiderabie j lr tl “There,” was the reply following the panto- | ry | cause of | . | and at inst drew lots for it, il | preter for the translation of the saicide’s effects, and it was not until the whole story became untangled that the motive was apparent. Dr. Patterson looks upon the Kraemer case as one of the saddest in bis off- cial career, but from one stand the most amorous was an instance of identity. ‘The police at least will recall a house which xinted near the Baltimore and Ohio depot in the Inte seventics before a mudden raid closed i | de something very Itke this with the aid of Dam | Cupid and his misshtevous trieks— what man | feture wife fremamonga number of clessiy indignation. It may be thatin reality he will actually sees the girl of his choices as others «ee ber? but te be obliged by eustam to select his veiled maidens sitting in a row would seem | Yery outrageous indeed. Buch, however, is the Way couples are betrothed im some parte of rural Russia, Christmas day among these Peasants is given an eutra charm and rendered much mere exciting by this ceremeny, which is | conducted as feliows: |The great man of the village has an ciabore ately trimmed tree, and to it are mvfted the People from all the country round about, e= pecially the young folks of both sexes the evening. nt © sigual given by the koet the girls leave the room where the guests are aesembied and go inte another, where long benches are placed against the walls, Os thew the girls seat themselves, and then the hostess carefully throws over ench a large, thick white the disreputable place for good. One night some time previous to the raid the “7 called to inves! te the death of a man, which wae reported to have occurred suddenly within | the “erib's” precincts. Apoplexy and conges- | tion of the lungs were found to have been the | Causes, but there was not the slightest clue to | the man's identity. A big roll of money and | some valuable Jewelry were found in bis clothes, but not a garment bore even mach as @ tailors stainp to show whence the stranger hailed. Itso ned that a day or two pre- viously the mwas Oy received acircular asking them to be on the lookout for middle-aged man, whose bome was at York, Pa, and who was reported missing for three weeke. The | dead man seemed to tally with the description of the cireular and pending arrtval of wife, who was notified by telegraph, the body was taken to the morgue. A day or two later the wife put in an appear- nce. It is ordinarily difScult to identify feat- ures when apoplexy is the cause of death, but the dead man’s alleged spouse recogmzed him, she said, by the gold in his teeth and the peculiar twist of a toe on his left foot. She ewore an oath, all wool and a yard wide, that the = was ber husband, and had the several hundred dollars in meney and jeweiry transferred to ber possession. The woman sobbed as if consola- ton was impossible and had to be removed to her hotel ina carriage. But the hamoreus si of the situation turned up that same day when the real busband in the flesh appeared at police headquarters and asked for assistance in finding his wife. He bad been ona bigspree in New York, he mitted, for several weeks, and arrived hot afew hours after his wife's stert for Washingtcn to identify the supposed dead body of her husband. All this be learned from neigh- bors and hastened after the better half to con- vince her that the whole case was nothing worse than a piece of three weeks’ dissipation. Of cours the womanand the valuables taken from the dead man’s pockets were returned to the police department property clerk. The couple from York went home in forgiveness, but 11 left the other affair a mystery still. The cor was decently buried and it was not until a year later that a woman from a town in Illinois laid her statement before the coroner and claimed that the dead man of twelve months previous was ber husband, who deserted ber two years further back. As far as could be determined all descriptions by the woman tallied with the records this time down to the minutest details. | The valuabies were turned over to the widow and the case was closed. eee Two G IRLS IN A BUGGY. ‘They Gave a Grand Exhibition ef the Art of Driving. From'the New York World. Two young women in the country on two ecks’ vacation took a drive the other day, says @ faithful chronicler. | andan old buggy from the farmer at whore house they were staying and started out. Each knew sie had no skill with the reins, but each possessed boundiess faith in each other's power asa jebu. | They went along very comfortably for awhile, for the road was straight and the horse as safe | ashe had been described. But by and by the Arivers wished to turn. “You'd better turn him,” said one. “Oh, I can't,” said the other, shrinkingly. You do it.” They discussed the matter for some time The victim of the | hazard took the lines with trembling hands and a palpitating heartand pulled the left ren so vigorously that the horse made a quick half turn and the wheel grated against the side of the carriage, The sensibie beast stopped and Jooked around inguiringly. |The tug on the left rein continued and there was an admon- io on” from the driver. spoken in a © though quavering toue. The borse re- signed himself to circumstances and went on, | _ ‘The carriage turned a little further, hung for | five seconds poised on the front wheel and then | careened over. ‘The girls shot out, one after another, for all the world like two bags of meal. | As the “horse advanced a couple of steps the carriage righted itself. He looked around, saw | the vehicle was empty, and with a snort of con- tempt set out for home at an easy trot. ‘The two girls sat still where they had been | thrown, their feet stretcked straight out in front | of one another, and watched their retreating | equipage out of right. ‘Then they arose, picked up the buggy seat, the whip, the lap’ robe, the halter, the horas | sheet, the mat anda box of candy and walked | the way they bad come. By the time they reached their boarding place the farmer had his bill roacy for prospective re- pairs toa dished wheel, a broken spring, « broken fifth wheel and three euts on the horse legs. . ‘The girls went back to town next mothing. They have come to the conclusion that o} cars nre nearly as pleasant as buggies, cos and very much safer. esthetics Something They Never Say. From Trath. Spatts—“How do you kuow that novel was written by a woman? It’s anonymous.” Bloobumper—“‘The author makes the bero say “Egad’ on every other page.” ———_-o-__ Those Sofa Covers in Our Courting Days. From Judge. there was no difficulty in finding | They hired « safe horse | cloth, wbick falle to their knees, net eniy hed- ing their faces, bat completety disguising thew figures. This done, the door is opened and one YOUNK man at a time isedmitied inte the apa ent end chovses bie bride without Hfting the veils, The choice once made ts bindi — both parties. The moment efter firing one d belore the vril w removed piust be be almost equally ex citing, for, while cack one is awaiting bis turn, wome other feiiow may select and walk off i® the girl of hie heart. nest curions part of th: | custom fies in the fact that euch mistakes ane seldom known to eccur,« man invart 4 in eptte of ail precantions pieking out the right vomaa Another interesting Christmas custom tm | Russia is practiced by the children Provinee of Pod. The peejue | of the country are very religiously tmelined the ceremonies of the great Christian by | take their character largely from this fect. Om | Christmas evening the cbildren start off acrow the haré-fronen suow iu prosessians, beaded by & bor carving «large star-shaped tranayarsn on which ts portrayed the interior of the etle in Betbiebem on that morning nearly twenty centuries ago. Areund this ster march the dove, armed with spears and swords an lowed by a comrade who carries ge fara house they pause, the theater ie set ap and the marionettes act seme familiar acene from, while the boxe who are not busy working the puppets accompany the play with kymm tunes most energetically rendered. formance over, the boys rush un quest of the good things ton ents that have been hidden for their be themeclves up like great bears, the last being the guise. In these fo con they are driven in reins by 0 murades from deor te | door and put through their ticks, dances, da They all join in gaily singing songs appro | priate to the Christmas tide. All these scenes | are lighted only by tw oe tune ot | iron pots mounted on br | effect of and waving their paws at | weird and grotesque in the extreme. The Russian collere students of both sexes meet to honor the day ant bold high revel, drinking one another's healths and singing patriotic songs. In Armenia crows are very plentifel. ard om New Year day the young women of Erecroum appeal to these birds to iearn their chances of marrving during the coming year. | Their method of doing this & moat curious At dav- break on this most exciting day the matiem rises and with ber own fair hands kneads und bakes a sort of cake made of cornmesl. Then, arrayed in ber finest clothes and ornamented | With ench jewelsas she may pomsen the goes out upon the roof. Here places her cake ae temptingly as possible and bides hereeif betitnd | the chimney, keeping sharp watch the whtle for the expected crow. No matter how cold she be or how stormy the weather, nothi would induce # girl to move until the expec crow has arrived. As soon as he begios hie | feast, however, sbe jumps suddenly tr: hind the chimney, frightening the bard. which, it is hoped, will fly away with the enke tm hus | bill. If be does so he must be closely watebed, | for the house where be slight to eat his « morsel wil! be the one where « | husband of the anxious out of sight poor indeed chances for the new vear, and she gore down | from the roof a m mevlate maiden. if, on the other band. he selects s house sear by | great ts her excites 1 kbewe that out of the house eo dew t come ber fu ture lon! and master. | In Belgium an interesting and | tom prevails on Christmas morning It ie sap= | posed that good luck throughout the wear will jad the girl who is first wished “merry | Christmas” bya little boy who brings her @ gift. Twking advantage of this notion many Dove get up at saurine on the 2th of December and start out armed with » good-sived box of wafers. The cook is usually the first person ap ina bouse and she is boisterously greeted by the «mart small boy us he presente whe little cake. His ides is that, having trough her good luck, she will reward bim by « Lim some money, and he is ravely diamppointed, Having exhausted all the servants of the newgh= | borhood, and the hour being later, be pene- trates to the pariors, where he bestows cakes, together with ali the compliments of the ses- +on, the young ledies of the family, whe are, of course, charmed tbe attention, jcularly if they have no emall brothers i the office, Tn this pleasant way earn on Christmas m buy any coveted prosent which Nar ta Claus may have forgotten to put im ther stockings. At Frankfort-on-the-Main a very pretty old German custom is observed on Mew Year eve, ‘The day ts usually celebrated by « family gath- ering, and every member of the household site up to see the Now Year im, from the feeble old Grandfather to the youngest occupant of the nursery. That the evening may not seem too long, punch or champagne, with cake or even more substantial refresiments. are indulged im on these occasions clocks of the town begin to strike the witebing hour of 12 the windows of the whole city axe thrown open, and in foaming beakers the geod people of Frankfort with one accord wish ous another and the city a very happy New Year. As the last stroke of the hour dics away the windows are all closed once more and the cy returns to ite wonted cals. wolves an popular orginal cus What Labor-Saving Machinery is Doing tm the Bread-Haking Business. ¥. N. Barrett tn Food. ‘The ideal loaf depends on the perfection of the leavening process. Baking fixes the alr cells and the quicker that nccomplished the better. If dough is placed in the oven before it is sufficiently “proofed,” the bread will be close-grained or heavy. If the temperature of the oven is too low, then soggy bread rewultey if overheated the crust will form too quickly hard, thus pr eocape water, ‘The result is on “and teat it = um aan re salt in suche peostetion of sho best eareugh the loaves as todelay the buking of the erast un- til the necesary changes have been made. To test the oven, throw on ite floor ateblespoonful If it takes fire or burns black the temperature is too low, If the oven is right the flour will turn « blackiah Mrs. Hicks “Do you believe ina really and ‘tgnly Senta Ctans?” Tito ton ennal 1 Sala t