Evening Star Newspaper, September 23, 1893, Page 11

THE EVENING STAR, WASHINGTON, D. Cc. SATURDAY. SEPTEMBER 23, SENATE AND SILVER. Not Dollars, but the Beards and Hair of Famous Stateamen. SENATORS WHO ARE BALD. A Study of Hirsute Adornments of Legislative Esaus. MUSTACHES AND WHISKERS. Written for The Bening Star. mous according to the length of their whisk- ers and Peffer and Stewart have shown that they can work thelr jaws as many times per minute as they have hairs on their weil-bearded faces. There has of late years been a change in Senatorial phystog- Rom: ‘There are now but few faces among o Statesmen like those cf Webster, Clay and Calhoun, which were shaved everymorn- ing and upon which whiskers would have been deemed a disgrace. There areas many @ifferent <tvies of beard and heir in Con- Gress today us there are members, and in most cases baliness of cheeks and chin has been changed for Laiiness of crown. Half the public men of our time are bald. Presi- dent Cleveland's hair is fast passing away. Adia! F. St 4 is thin at the crown and it woul twenty silver dollars to cover the bald spot on Joe Hawley’s hand- some whit- head. Joe Blackburn ts fast growing bald, though his rosy cheeks show that his biocd contains plenty of iron. Isham G. Harris of Tennessee has enough white skin ‘on the top of his head to make @ cover for a boy's new dram, and I note that Senator Butler of South Carolina combs his hairs to the front. David B. Hill bas @ white streak of baldness running from his deep set eyes to the back of his head. Above the ears there a-e whisps of black hair closely cut and these whisps run into short brown side whiskers. Hill's face is a somber one. His eyebrows are not strongly marked, but his fierce eyes look out at you from under the snowy river of baldness wh'ch flows above them to the back of his head. ‘ Peffer and His Whiskers. Put whiskers and not hair now form the true sign of greatness. Take Peffer of Kansas, you could put his Mttle hick- ery nut head in a two-quart bucket, and if it lay on its back the nose would not stick up above the edges. The beard, how- ever, would ilow out to a length of three feet, and this beard of Peffer gives a sort of dtenity to his features Peffer is tall and thin. He is 6 feet in height and about 18 imches across the shoulders. As he Wiad tf PEFFER C1 A HANOKERCHIEF —_—_———_ Stands up in tu: Senate his beard reaches to his waist, and he appears to be the typi- cal product of the dyspeptic low lands of the Missouri. Seated in his chair-his beard flows over his narrow chest and its bottom ends kiss the lowest buttons of nis vest. He fondies it as ne thinks, and when he speaks he points his periods by running his hands up and down it. Does he dye it? 1 am told ne does not, but those whiskers have a tawny dead look, which is often associated with the hair restorer, and they are as wavy and curly as though they were kept in curl papers over nicht. They are by all odds the longest whiskers in the Senete, and are only exceeded in length by the speeches of Senator Stewart of Ne- Yada, who sits just behind. ‘The Santa Claus of the Senate. Senator Stewart Is the Santa Claus of the Senate. He has often been called so and his whiskers have given him the title. He is a big. well formed, portly old fellow, with a head twice as big as that of Senator Peffer, and this head is made larger by its face being covered with a luxuriant beard of straw-colore! silver, The Senator in fact is silver throughout. He has made much of nis great fc-tune in his silver mines and he owns a hundred times as many silve> dol- lars as he has hairs in his long silver beard, and the mosi of his speeches are made upon silve:, and when he speaks every strand of silver in his white beard quivers. His long beard bobs up id down like that of a billy goat chewing {is cud, and he talks, and talks and talks. He is a man of ability, a fine lawyer and a practical go-ahead wesi- e:m business man. Look Like Louls Napoteo There are three men in the United States @enate who cut their whiskers after the style of Louls Napoleon. They are al! big men and they all have the dash of the late emperor of the french. One is a Napo'eon of finance, another has been a Napoleon in THREE Nozaate [MPERIALS we MANDERSO. war and the third is stil! a Napoleon in the Senate. The first is McMillan of Michigan, who started life a poor boy and who Is now ® great car factor. He has great works in etroft. He is worth a fortune and he lives ‘¢ in fine style in a house which cost kim $8,000. His imperial beard is iron gray and with the thick thatched fron gray hair above it gives dignity to a nandsome face. McMillan is one of the fine-looking men of the Senate. He dresses well, looks well and acts well. He is very popular and has made & reputation for himself as a g90] business jenator. Everyone knows of the great brain of Joe Hawley. He is one of the really great men of our times and through the stran of bis fron gray imperial have come 801 Of the best speeches that nave been deliv- ered im the Senate. This imperial ts row white. When it was black it quivered with his commands as @ general of the army. It has been tinged in the smoke of battle and its owner should today consider it a badge of honor. As for Senator Manderson. his record has also been good in the field as well as in the Senate chamber. He fs an able debater, a man of great social qualities and good ‘all around Senator. His beard is a brown in which the gray strands are Just beginning to appear. Joe Blackburm and Dan Voorhees. A mustache gives the statesman rather a Jook,and some of the well-known men of the chamber thus cover their upper lips. Joe Blackburn of Kentucky has a red mus- tache, which quivers with fun, bristles with rests in placid self content mustache. Senator Voorhees verges “strawberry blonde” order of statesmen. His mustache has a reddish hue and like his brown pompadour hair it flows out in curves and makes a bow over his big, broad mouth. You- could draw Voorhees’ face ‘without a straight line. His chin has a roll of fat it. His cheeks swell out and his every feature of that line of the beautiful—the curve. His mustache the mustache of an Esau. It is heavy, another sign of this Esau strength in the red bristles which stand out over Voorhees’ blue eyes. As to his head, every individual i pai or gg Regt sr oe Ng or though rejofcing in its strength over of the white, bald pate of Senator Coke, ‘who sits just in front of him. Aggressive Beards. ‘There ts great deal of character in whis- kers. You could tell that Senator Williem B. Allison was a diplomat from the way he trims his beard. It ts rough in texture and reddish brown in hue, but ft is cut as smoothly as has been fashioned the char- acter of its owner and it Is the beard of a great man and a politic one. It makes Allisgn’s head look much Kke that of Gen. Grant, though the features are pleasanter end smoother, Take on the otter hand the mustache of George Vest. it bristles out in a white heat under his little straight nose and as he carries !t about the House it seems to say: “There is a chip on my joulder and if you knock !t off you are sure to have a fight.” Vest «ways makes me think of the Bad Man from Bitter Creek. His round long head fs pasted on at right angles to a pair o: wide stooping shoulders and his flerce cold blue eyes look out at you from under heavy brows. His mustache does not belie him. He+is a fighter from Fightersville und though he is not more than 5 ft. 4 in height he Is ready to tackle any sixfooter in the Senate. Senator David B. Hill of New York has an aggressive mustache. It is more that of & man of determination, however, than one of pure fighting. It is short, black and well defined, and it fairly bristles when Grover Clevelaha’s name is mentioned. sitting in the press gallery you cannot distinguish Senator Hill's eyebrows without an opera glass, but his fierce eyes look up at you and his whole figure makes you think of that of the Sphynx. Joh= Sherman's Silver Beard. Senator Sherman's beard is a characteris- tie one. It is firm and wiry and it is now as white as the driven snow. He cuts it frequently and its bristles ure three times the thickness of the long thin strands of silver which cover bis head. Senator Sher- man has a very fine face. It looks very much like that of the general, and the chins of the two men were formed on the sume model. Another white beard is that of Senator Palmer ‘of Illinois. It covers only his chin, but it is rugged and white and it adds to g | the strength of his face. Every bristle in it represeats strength of character and every line of the features above it shows common sense. Palmer has a big head which is well thatched with silver hair. He wears a soft hat, and not the, warm hair-destroying silk plug. He has bright blue eyes above which are silvery bristles, and his beard indicates his character. A Look at Some Neve Men. Perkins of California is full bearded. His whiskers of silky black and his mustache might have been made of shavings of olled ebony. Senator Mills is the only man in the chamber who wears a goatee. He has a white mustache and the little whisk of hair fastened t@ his lower lip is of silver. |- Senato- Perkins of Kansas, who succeeds Plumb, looks as though he might have borrowed his head from an Indian chief. His face is somber in feature. It Is as smooth shaven as was that of Daniel Web- ster, and its complexion is copper. He has heavy brows and tierce eyes, and he looks wise enough to be great. Coke of Texas is another wise looking man. He has a long beard of yellowish white, and he puts & napkin over this whenever he eats, Henry Cabot Lodge has curly, hair and curly whiskers. His beard covers his square face and sitting in the “King Row’ he forms a striking figure among the young men of the Senate. Like Lf Hung Chang. Senator Harris of Tennessee looks like a Chinese mandarin, and this effect is pro- duced by his mustache. This stands out in two long thin white lines on each side of his nose and gives him a strikingly Cetes- tial appearance. He has high cheek bozies, sharp blue eyes, which look out through narrow lids, and @ parchment bald head. If he had a long gown and.a pigtail he could pose for Li Hung Chang, “nd dressed in a Cap J Hares © Chinese costume he could travel throughout Peking without being discovered. Speaking of Senators who look lke other persons such effects are usually produced by the beards. Carey of Wyoming looks very much like Garfield, and he has blond whiskers of the same shape and style as those of the martyred President. Senator Culiom has a beard like that of Abraham Lincoln, and the little mustache and pe- culiar eyes of Senator Davis of Minnesota used to cause him to be taken for Ben Butler. Senator Daniel of Virginia is smooth-shaven, and his dark handsome face looks like that of the pictures of John Wilkes Booth. it is the same in the House. General Charles Grosvenor of Ohio has whiskers like President Hayes and the little round head and curly hair of John R. Feilows make you think of P. T. Barnum. John- son of Ohio looks not unlike Stephen A. Douglas and Bryan of Kansas has the heavy jaw and the smooth unsheven face of Sam Randall. Gen. Cogswell of Massa- chusetts Is taken every day for Presi- dent Cleveland and Yafley o? Texas looks like Daniel Webster. These Men Shave. Only the fewest men in public life are en- tireily smooth shaven. Bailey scrapes his dark countenance every morning. Senator George Frisbie Hoar lathers his cheeks before he takes his break- fast and Hoke Smith and Wilson S. Bissell are in the hands of the barbers daily. Sena- tor Hoar’s skin is very thin and very rosy. He used 0 look more like Horace Greciey than he does now. It was when he wore whiskers on his neck. Secretary Carlisle has no beard. His face is dark, sullow and angular. William McKinley, goverror of Ohio, has never had whiskers. He resents being compared to Napoleon Bonaparte, but he has the same smooth shaven classic face. Se —_— Cockran. Bryan. Reed. Ex-Vice President Morton scrapes his face every morning. He wears an iron gray wig, which is so carefully made that {t 1s sup- Posed to grow from the scalp. Colquitt ob- jects to whiskers and Gorman‘s handsome face is striking enough without them. There are 100 mustaches in the House of Representatives and about one-third of the Senators have hair on thetr upper lips. Jerry Simpson’s mustache ts of iron gray with a preponderance of black in it. He keeps it short and it fairly bristles, D. Harter has a gray mustache. The must:che of Boutelle of Maine is white and Tom Reed's little mustache ts of the same color, with here and there a goiden strand. Tim Campbell of New York has a mustache much like Jerry Simpson's. He always wears a white necktie and he looks like a preacher. One of the handsomest mustaches in the Senate is that of Gray of Delaware and & beautiful silvery one belongs to the rosy face of Butler of South Carolina. The hand- somest whiskers in the Senate are those of Mitchell of Oregon. They are of a glossy chestnut brown and as you look at them and the handsome face of the Uregon Scna- tor you do not wonder that he is the father of the beautiful Mattle Mitchell, whose me face was the sensation of the Eu- ropean capitals and wi now marzied one of the old world’s noblest dukes. A Word About Lips. ‘The average mustache hides the lip of its owner and you do not thus get a fair view of one of the most characteristic fea- tures of a statesman's face. It will surprise you to know that the biggest and the brain- fest men have thick lips. Now and then you meet one like George F. Edmunds, ‘whose lower lip is thin, but a thick lip in- dicates character and the best_men im pub- lc life have well developed under lips. Take Cleveland, the leaves of his mouth are half an inch thick and his jaw is of iron. Har- rison had a thin lip, the Up of Adiai Stevenson is as big as a baby’s thumb, and that of Dave Hill, were it not kept 0 tightly pressed t his teeth, would be of equal size. Diggest lawyers in pub- le life have strong jaws and thick lips. Take Justice Gray of the Supreme Court, his under lip is as rosy as a piece of tender- Join steak and it shines out tn its cherry Uke beauty above a strong full jaw. You can see Judge Fields’ lip shining out through his beard of sable sliver and Brew- er has @ pair of emooth shaven lps as thick as those of Julius Caesar. One of the strongest lips that ever uttered a word in Congress was that of Sam Randall. It was frequently ‘tightly pressed against the lower teeth, but when in it was thick and sensuous. Bourke ran has @ thick under lip and he is a great lawyer. Bob Ingersoll's lip ts as thick as that of a mulatto and if Justice Brown would pout @ small boy could ride on his lp from one end of Washington to the other. A Word More Aboot Whiskers. I want to say one word more about whis- kers. This is as to those worn on the side of the face. They grow scarcer and scarcer. Senator Washburn of Minnesota .is about the only man in the body of the Senate who cuts his beard in this way, and the two most striking in the House perhaps are John T. Caine, the Mormon, an Blanchard of Louisiana. “Both of these men have long side whiskers and both are mea of ability. One of the queerest sets of side whiskers that ever came to Washington were those of Don M. Dickinson of Detroit. ‘They were the color of tan bark, and they made their owner look like a college professor -rather than the able lawyer and the great states- man that he {s. De Witt Talmage, the cher, wears Presbyterian side whixkers. Rising Sun ‘Moree prides himsalt on the luxuriant brown hair which grcws on the sides of his face, and old Senator Morrill has the most classic burnsides that have ever adorned a Senator's face.- John Sherman used to wear side whiskers, but he discard- ed them a generation ago. Gen. Schofield, the head of the army, has wHite burnsides, ciy his lip ana bia cia shaves only hie chin. FRANK G. CARPENTER. : 1 Sa aaa IGGS DID MAKE A MASH, Bat It Was Not Just the Kind He Was Counting Upon. “Yes, this is a new hat,” said little Biggs last evening at the Platypus Club. “It is the second one I have bought already this fall. Thereby hangs a tale, but I don't think I will tell it.” “Rats, dear boy!” remarked Noodles. “Have something else on me and let us have the yarn.” “Well,” said Biggs, after all the fellows had made mention of what they would take, “I believe that I cannot be justly accused of setting up for a masher.” “I don't know about that, don't cher- know,” drawled Snigglesby, striking 0 match. “At all events, I don’t set up for a bold, man like Snigglesby,” returned little . “But it chanced that I dropped in pat the theater one night last week. As I gat down in the fifth row of the orchestra, I noticed that directly behind me was af awfully pretty girl, whom I had never seen before. it was about the middle of the sec- ond act, I think, when I chanced to put my legs under my ‘chair, and I touched what was evidently her foot. Presently the same thing occurred again. I noticed that did not withdraw her foot, and finding the sen- sation agreeable I repeated it. To my grati- fication I observed 2 gentle resistance on her part, which showed that she did not ob- Ject to the contact. I glanced around and thought that she smiled slightly. “As I have said, she was deucedly pretty, and I said to myself: ‘Biggs, old boy, you have made a squash.’ Of course, I’ was bound to follow it up. Renewing the con- tact as before I experienced the same re- sult. I exerted a harder pressure, which was received with the same gentle resist- ance. I looked around once more, and again 1 thought that she smiled slightly, though I could not be sure. I tried with the other foot; it was quite delightful. I forgot all about the play in the excitement of the sport. Various plans I revolved in my brain for establishing some better mode of communication with the fair damsel, in or- der that I might find out who she was, with a view to establishing the flirtation on a more satisfactory basis in the future. T thought of writing a small note in the shape of a cocked hat and sticking it in the back of my collar, from which it would be easy enough for her to abstract it; but IT was afraid that somebody else wo@id observe it —particularly an old lady who was her companion and evidently her chaperone. “On reflection I decided to try to commu- nicate with her in some way as we were leaving the theater. So I waited patiently, still renewing the contact occasionally as before. I was perfectly satisfied that T had made a mash of the largest size. In fact, I was not in the least mistaken, for when the curtain went down at the end of the play I looked for my new silk hat and found it under my seat, crushed into a shapeless mass. It was that which I had been kick- ing all the evening, instead of the young lady's fcot, and I had demolished it so com- pletely that it was utterly beyond repair. I purchased this one the next day.” —s YOUTHFUL MR. ECKELS. The Smiliag, Smeoth Face troller Proves a: Chicago Special to the Philadelphia Press. “Yes, I'm going back to Washington,” said Controller Eckels, as he laid his satchel down in front of the office counter at the Palmer House and took his place in line before the cashier's window. “Do you know that I shall be glad when I get back to Washington, where the people have been accustomed to my youthful appear- and the controller emphasized “youthful” in a mauner that indicated that the subject had become a bore. “I went up to Milwaukee yesterday, hav- ing engaged rooms in advance. I registered and asked what rooms had been reserved for me. The clerk looked over my signa- ture and an expression of disgust slowly spread over his features, and, twirling the book around as if he were annoyed, he said: ‘Oh, we thought it was Controller Eckels who had engaged the rooms.’ I felt like apologizing, but said nothing and went to my room, and from the, manner in which the clerk treated me on my return I suppose some one had disclosed my identity to him.” By this time the controller had reached the cashier's window and asked the young lady the amount of his bill. “What room, please?” Parlor 0.” ‘Why, that is Mr. Eckels’ room. 1 thought I'd get a chance to sce what he looked like when he came to pay his bill, for I haven't seen him since he entered the house.”” Mr. Eckels said nothing, but paying his bill he picked up his grip and with a sigh said: “There it is again. I hadn't been Im the house half an our before three re- porters mistook me for @ messenger bo; and wanted to know when Mr. Eckels would Some back to his room, and now that hand- some young lady cashier ted because she did not see Mr Eekeler aod the young controller rejoined hin wife at the entrance and began relating the latest in- cident concerning his youthfulness “as ‘he gntered his carriage in his drive to the lepot. ry Tactte: From Texas Siftings. A confederate guard in South Carolina during the war was questioned as to his knowledge of his duties ‘ou know your duties here, do you, sen- tinel”” ‘es, sir.” “Well, now, suppose they should open on you with shells and musketry, what would you do?" Form a line, sir.” Vhat! One man form a line?” es, sir; form a bee line for camp, sir. ——_co.—____. Ominous. From Truth. Daughter—“Oh, father, a bird just flew into the parlor window, and that’s a sure sign of death in the house! Will you drive him out?” Father—“Well, if this is young Addle- pate’s regular night for calling let the bird stay. It may mean luck. 1893-SIXTEEN PAGES. PROTECTED WIRES. The Vexatious Delays in Telegraphio Transmission Caused by Storms. SUGGESTIONS BY ANOLD TELEGRAPHER. Our Telegraphic Systems at the Mercy of the Elements. UNDERGROUND THE RELIEF. sane ae FEW HOURS after the subsidence of the great tornado of & few weeks ago an almost unanimous Protest went up over the country against the complete break- age of telegraph com- munication between the large cities of the east and important points in the gouth. It was not a protest against the elements, but @ protest against the powers that con- trol telegraphic communication, who con- Unue tn operation plans of stringing wires that were adopted by Prof. Morse when his great idea wae in its inciptency. Every other arm of the telegraph service has been improved upon to some extent from time to time, but the stringing of wires remains in the same old rut. ‘There are times when the interruption of communication owing to careless or crude methods and a heavy storm may be a very serious matter. If there should be a time of serious national or international trouble it might be a matter of the utmost conse- quence to the government, and conse- quently to the people, that the connection of the capital with other important cities should not be Hable to be broken by a mere windstorm. During the progress of the storm and for some twelve hours afterward communication with the east and west from this city was almost entirely ut off or of such a nature as to be of little Value. Out-of-town papers suffered con- siderably in the matter of details on the Yote of the House on the silver bill, and a forerunner was given of what might be ex- ected under the same circumstances with still greater events happening at the na- tion’s capital. . The System Defective. Our system of electrical communication will be very defective and uncertain so long as telegraph wires connecting the chief cities of the country are Mable to be blown down by any violent storm that happens to come along. The country ts getting too big to suffer this inconvenience, when the expenditure of a comparatively smail sum would right the defect. This breaking of communication by telegraph with the large cities might be a matter of great moment to business, and the inter- Tuption at a critical time might involve im- mense losses. The transmission of general news is sometimes not only a matter of overpowering interest to the people, but it may be a matter that deeply concerns their welfare for the time being. This country, and in fact the world, has come to a point where it ts largely de- Pendent upon the uninterrupted working of the great system of electrical commun!- cation that has been built up with such marvelous rapidity. The working of the country’s affairs has become adjusted with reference to this factor, and it is important that it should be in constant operation. Last winter @ storm passed over the east- ern coasts that severed communication for two days, and in fact almost every winter brings one or more of these embarrassing interruptions. During the storm of 2 few weeks -past the wires were torn down by the mile out on the country roads and in this.city while the poles for the most part stood firm the wires became a cobweb of entanglement. Conduits for the placing of wires underground in this city have been laid, but for some reason the wires remain in the air. But the greater danger to tele- graphic communication lies along the coun- try roads. In several places the wires and poles are protected for short stretches by high embankments or small hills, but for the most part they are out in the open or near to trees, that in breaking cause sad havoc by their weight carrying everything with them to the ground. ‘Am Undergro: Between this city, Conduit. Baltimore, Philadel- phia and New York at least there should be @ permanent, indestructible electrical communication. The cost might be of some account to the telegraph companies, but it would -Insure them against the necessity of making expensive repairs after every storm and against an interruption of their business just when it might be of the greatest {mportance. A conduit for electric Wires along the railroad tracks of the most available road between this city and New York, taking in the two large cities on the way, would not be a very expensive con- trivance. To the government and to the business community it might, at a critical time, mean a saving from losses compared with which the cost of burying the wires would be a trifle. The countries of Europe are away ahead of us in this matter of Placing Wires underground, but the tele- graph systems over there ‘are directly in the hands of the government and for that Teason expense no doubt plays a small part. Ideas and suggestions for the remedy of the defects in the telegraph syatems of the country are many and varied. To inter- view @ scientific electrician would result in technical information almost worthless to the average reader, while the words from an every-day employe of ene of the companies now existing would perhaps give a tter idea of what is necessary for the permanent maintenance of telegraphic communication. ‘With this end in view, an Evening Star re- porter hunted up an old-timer, whose term of service runs back thirty years, and per- suaded him to talk on the subject. He “Am Old Telegrapher's Views. “The question of protecting telegraph wires from hard usage during a storm is a most important one, and has deserved at- tention for a long time past. I have often wondered at the inconvenience and annoy- ance the press of the country and the peo- ple have submitted to, seemingly without protest. I havé frequently sat at my desk with a large bundle of telegrams under my arm waiting for a good wire to materialize, and wondered how long this thing was to keep up. Messages are delayed, and the ex- cuse given that the weather is bad and the wires are working poorly. Here and there through the office the sounders can be heard ticking away regularly, denoting the fact that several wires are all right, and where there are several there should’ be twenty- five or fifty. “As you know,” continued the telegraph operator, “I have been working in the busi- ness a long while, almost three decades, and with the exception of a few unimportant devices, the mode of stringing wires is the same as when I was a fledgling in the busi- ness. The ordinary transaction of affairs ought not to be at the mercy of any corpor- ation; but that is just the state of affairs we have passed through time and time again, and which has been vividly flus- trated during the latest great. storm. if there is one time more than another that the importance of immediate communica- tion is apparent, it is in great storms of the character we have just recently experi- enced. It has become a standing joke among the newspaper men to wink the other eye when an operator lolls back in his chair and says the wires are in trouble. They know it is the fact, but they Ifke to Intimate that the operator is soldiering on them. “It is generally understood among the users of leased wires, the press associa- tions, brokers, bookmakers, and the public generally, that no reliance can be placed on the service during a stress of weather, and it is reasonable to suppose that the loss of business due to thi8 knowledge more than |" equals the economies that follow this con- 4ition of things. Among these patrons of the telegraph the first words they mutter as they glance out of the window on a rainy morning are something on this or- der: ‘I can take my time this morning get- ting to the office; it will take an hour or two getting the ‘wires to work, and the chances are they'll not work at all.” A Tab on Breakage. | “All these people have contracts with the companies that allows drawbacks for bad service, or no service at all, and it has been a wonder to me that this loss has not stirred the companies to action. I remem- ber one of the press associations leasing a wire to run threugh Pennsylvania, Ohio, Indiana, and Illinois, ending at Chicago. I think the telegraph company was the de- funct Baltimore and Ohio, and they were, no doubt, anxfous for customers, and new in the business of contract making. The press association was very anxious for good service, and persoaliadl Gn telegraph eae pany to guarantee a forfeit for breakage the circuit when the break lasted over a certain period. The forfeit was small, ap- parently, but at the end of the first six months, when the tele- graph called for a settlement, they owed the press association ‘several hundred dollars. The latter had kept strict ‘tab’ on the breakage, and it is needless to say a new contract was agreed upon. The wires of that company were put up on con- tract, and to say that they were carelessly strung but faintly describes it. A heavy storm meant poles and wires down for miles. “In the great blizzard, as in the late se- vere storm, the service of both telegraph and long-distance telephone . companies was completely prostrated. There are ser- fous objections aside from expense in the matter of telegraph service underground, but there is no obstacle or objection aside from expense to the construction of pole lines that will not tumble down, miles at a stretch, at every strong gust of wind. I have always felt that the advocacy of gov-, ernment telegraphy was a mistake, but if we are to have absolutely uninterrupted communication between great commercial centers it must be through government control, as the expense will then play a@ small part. Senator Frye’s Bill. “The bill recently introduced in the Sen- ate by Senator Frye is a good one. It di- rects that experiments shall be made to de- termine the most effective means of main- taining communication by telephone or other electrical apparatus from lghtships and outlying lighthouses to the shore. The purpose aimed at, of course, is that of se- curing assistance for vessels tn distress Whose signals for aid can be seen by the lightships and lighthouses, but not from the shore. When the appliances for laying a cable are at hand the matter of an exten- sive line ts @ small one, and the large coast cities should be included in the bill. By referring to maps showing cable routes, particularly the coast of South America, suggests an admirable plan for the Atlantic coast of North America. Let the terminus be on the coast of Florida in the south and on the coast of Maine or New Hampshire in the north, including way stations at all the large cities and important lighthouses and life-saving stations between the two points named. The value of such a line cannot be conceived. As an adjunct to the weather bureau it would increase the latter's effi- clency ten-fold; as a means of saving life and property in time of storm it would demonstrate its usefulness at the first trial, and as a matter of communication between citizens and press cannot help but be cor- dially indorsed by all. ‘In the hands of a few builders who un- derstand their business such a line could be constructed and communication estab- Ushed inside of nine months. With offices centrally located a paying business would certainly result. This would take the im- portance away from the land lines as far as reliance is concerned and place our tele- graphic communication on a footing com- mensurate with the wealth and dignity of our country. One thing is unquestioned, and that {3, a3 long as the present telegraph companies earn their 6 per cent interest annually on their present lines, there is not much likelihood of improvement when the improvement wuld parallel their own property. The people and the business of the country demands the relief I have men- tioned, and there seems to me but one way out of the difficulty, and that is through an amendment to Senator Frye’s bill, spoken of before.” Losses by Interruptions. ‘Do yoy know of any circumstances under which the government or any private citi- zen was a heavy loser as a direct result of storm interrupting telegraphic communi- cation?” The Star man inquired. “As to the government, no. As to a pri- vate citizen, many,” replied the telegraph man. “In referring to the government in connection with interrupted _ telegraphic communication I vas only speaking of pos- 8 bilities. No doubt there are cases by the hundred in which the government has been embarrassed by delayed communication, but their business is done so privately ‘and guarded so well through use of a code that the press and public seldom hear of their vexatious worries, I received a hint recently that the State Department not long since was pulling its hair, figuratively speaking, over the delay of @ message that involved the immediate movement of a large gunboat In the direc- tion of South American. waters. The weather was bad at the time, and the code, dificult to transmit over the wires in the best of times, was reneated back and for- ward so often to insure correctness that a delay of considerable magnitude resulted. ‘The message went through ail right in time, but many @elays of that nature would put @ new competitor in the field, as Uncle Sam is not to be trifled with when his own per- son fs threatened. Am Army Officer's Experience. “In regard to a private citizen being the sufferer from poor telegraphic service, there is an old army officer up at the Ebbitt House that can tell a story better than I. He was the bright particular star in the drama, and the dialogue he carried on for two hours with the manager of a brokerage office would shatter the wires of a telephone and the wax cylinder of a graphophone re- fuse to register. This army officer has sev- eral very influential and wealthy friends in New York city. They are connected with railroad finenctering of considerable. im- portance, and in this way are enabled very frequently to forestall the stock market. When: these periods materialize the old off. cer up at the Ebbitt is very seldom forgot- ten, and as a result his financial enrich- ment amounts to about fifty times as much as his half pay from the government. “I think it was the day before the great slump in ‘Cordage’ that the old gentle- man received the tip*to sell that stock short. The message containing this tnfor- mation came to him about 1 o'clock in the afternoon and he lost no time getting over to the office of his broker, with whom he dealt exclusively. He came sailing into the office puffing and blowing from the hur- ried trip up the stairs and in a minute was closeted with the broker. As a result of the conference I was handed a message to be sent to New York ordering the brok- er’s correspondent in that city to sell two thousand shares of ‘Cordage’ short. On my wire were the Baltimore and Phils- deiphia correspondents of the same New York firm. The Philadelphia operator was transmitting a message at the time and at its conclusion Baltimore secured the cir- cult and started in to send a message. While he was doing this a heavy storm that had been brewing all day broke over the city and snap went the circuit. Thirty Thousand Dollars Out. “Time was mighty precious and the broker started a messenger with the order in code to the two competing compantes up the street a couple of squares. He re- turned on the run in about five minutes with the startling information that the wires were working bad and that the mes- sage was received at both offices subject to a It was now past 2 o'clock and how the old man did fret and fume, swearing like @ thoroughbred trooper in one breath and in the next anxious!y inquiring about the wires. To cut a long story short, the wires were broken for over an hour and the old officer failed to get his order placed. The stock dropped 7 points that afternoon and the next day registered a decrease of 15 or 20 points more. ‘The first drop kept the old officer from selling the next morning, as he was looking for a reaction, and as a consequence failed to make a cent on the valuable tip. According to our calculation had the wires worked all right on that particular afternoon. the old officer would have made a cool $30,000 outside of com- missions. It was a case of grin and bear it, as no one in particular was to biame, apparently, but to the professional eve an underground wire would have covered the case to a nicety. The old officer took his medicine like a retired army officer should, but I noticed a far-away look in his eyes for several days thereafter. ees The Firm’s Opinion, From tbe Detroit Free Pres, A visitor was in a Jefferson avenue whole- sale house the other day talking to a mem- ber of the firm,when a well-dressed young man passed in. ‘Who is that?” inquired the visitor, he member of the firm told him. med the visitor, “I thought ere ric! They @ ‘And can’t he live without working?” ‘Well, if he can't,” replied his employer, with a significant smile, “he can come about as near to it as anybody we ever had in the store.” —E Papn’s Opinions on Frem Good News. Little Dick—“I told teacher you didn't remember half the things you studied at school.’ Papa—"I am glad you did. There ts no use in all this stuffing, and the teachers ought to know it. What did she say?” Little Dick-—"She said she guessed I was a chip o' the ole block.” jucation, When the hair has fallen out, leaving the head bald, if the scalp ts not shiny, there is a chance of regaining the hair by using Hall’s Hair Renewer ll THE AMERICA’S CUP. The Coming Battle Royal Between the Valkyrie and Vigilant, AFTER FORTY-TWO YEARS. How the America Played Havoc With the English Yachts. YACHTING IN RECENT YEARS. 2 Sate ibe rte ‘Written for The Evenoing Star. (Copyright.) NCE MORE THE America’s cup is to be contested for and the coming race be- tween the English Valkyrie and the American Vigilant promises to be a bat- tle royal. It is now forty-two years since the schooner Ameri- ca visited English waters as the repre- sentative of the New York Yacht Club and became a contestant in the open regatta &t Cowes. English experts had a very poor opinion of her before she showed her prow- ss and contemptuously referred to her as that “American pilot boat,” but when the time for the race came she brought confu- sion to her detractors by eusily outsailing ber fourteen competitors. This was the first important international yacht race and its results were immediate and far reaching. The America was the production of George Steers, the leading designer and shipbuilder of his time. Her bows’ were finer and her stern fuller than the then prevailing type, Nathaniel Green= Herreshoff. ané there was at once a rush on both sides of the water to build yachts on the same model. More important still, there was founded in 187 a permanent challenge cup to be competed for by foreign boats, and this trophy, held by the New York Yacht Club, has ever since been known as the “America’s cup.” After Nineteen Years. However, fifteen years elapsed before the cup was challenged by any English yachts- man. In 1870 a competitor appeared in the Cambria, owned by a Mr. Ashbury of the Royal Thames Yacht Club. Nineteen years before the America had contested single- handed with the whole English fleet and the New York Yacht Club now ruled that the Cambria should be pitted against the whole American fleet. As a result she came In no better than tenth in a race which made up in imposing dimensions what it lacked in excitement. In the last twenty-three years several English and Canadian yachts have striven in vain to wrest the cup from the hands of the Americans. Each successive race, however, gave a great impetus to yachting, and the more recent ores served to give world-wide recognition to the genius as a esigner of Edward Burgess, a young Bos- tonian, who built enduring monuments to his own memory in the Genesta, Mayflower and Volunteer, each peerless in its time, and who was cut down by death in the very heyday of his powers. This Year's Challenge. This year's race is the result of a chal- lenge issued last autumn by the Earl of Dunraven, owner of the Valkyrie. Dun- raven represents in his person the best type of English nobleman and holds a ranking place among the yachtsmen of his country. Educated at Oxford, he went into the First Life Guards when very young, but left the army in 1867, and gratified his taste for ad- venture by going out to Abyssinia on the celebrated rescue expedition as a special correspondent for the Dally Telegraph. He next went into France with the victorious Germans, and was a familiar figure during the siege of Paris, writing strong and pic- turesque letters, ‘and rough-riding when- ever it was necessary. Shortly after his outing he succeeded to his father’s title and estates, and after holding various county offices he was under secretary for the colonies in Salisbury’s two adminfstra- tions. Dunraven is a believer in what is known in certain English circies as fair trade, which is a thinly disguised protec- tionist policy. In sporting matters, and es- pecially everything relating to hunting, Dunraven is an eminent authority. He has written several books, one of the most popu- lar of which is “The Soudan,” which sec- tion of Africa he has very carefully visited. Dunraven’s yacht, the Valkyrie, is gen- erally regarded by English experts as the vessel best fitted to compete for the Ameri- ca’s cup. She is the work of G. L. Watson, probably the ablest of English designers, and was buflt at the yard of David Hender- son & Co. in Glasgow. She is of composite build, 96.82 feet on the water line, 120 feet over all, 22 feet beam, has a sail spread of 10,207 feet, and, according to yacht racing rules, measures id tons. She has a draught of about 15 feet. Her lead, which weighs in the neighbcrhood of 7 tons, carried welt forward with a gradual while aft she is finely tepered in the a fin down to the heel, giving her a tren dous grip. The spar and sail plans are very large, her boom being over ninety feet long. The mast is stepped well forward, and aii her propelling power will be in the mainsail. Her bowsprit on'y projects outboard «bout sixteen feet. She is commanded by Ca William Cranfield, considered one of Lord Dunraven. best skippers in England, and since the opening of the yachting season has made a most brilliant record in home weather, and will doubtiess make a strong- er bid for the cup than any English yacht that has ever sailed for it. The Cup Defenders. J When Dunraven's challenge was finaliy accepted by the New York Yacht Club or- ders were given for four cup defenders. T’n- der the present plan of competition it is de- cided by preliminary races what yacht shall have the honor of defending the cup. Of the four yachts built for the purpose the Vigilant has been seiected for this year’s | Face, the Colonia held in reserve to take its | Place should any accident befall. Both the Vigtiant and Colonia are the work of Na- thaniel G. Herreshoff, who is now easily the foremost of American yacht designers. He is still a young man, comes of a fami of famous sailors and shipbutlders, and first gained general recognition with the Glori- &na, the crack forty-six foot yacht of the Season of 1891. The Gloriana was a radical and sweeping departure from nearly ail ex- isting ideas of yacht construction. The bulk underwater was largely cut away, whiie the full area of the load water plane was pre- served and an excess of bulk above water gained. The result of this departure was the greatest possible “stability through the extended area of the load water plane,sided G. L. Watson, by the low position of the ballast in deep keel; the reduction of diagonals was easy changed but little as the yacht rolled. Coupled with these ures was another, which by its instant peal to the eye attracted a degree of atten- tion which it did not deserve, and & credit which by no means length, the total overhang of bow and stern being over twenty-five feet on a water line length of but forty-five feet. Two import- ant factors in the Giorlana’s success were the very light construction of the hull, a double skin of thin wood on steel frames and the perfection of every detail of her rigging and canvas.” The Gloriana won race after race in 1891, and in 18% Mr. Her- reshoff was called on’ to improve upon Mis own work. He did so with the Wasp, which yok eves Santer then tha Glertaen. ‘The "8 prin features are a very long floor side to sail on, well disposed dis- placement, an easy run aft to clear the wa- The Vigilant, Mr. Herreshofs master creation this year, Is closely modeled after the Wasp, with modifications due to the in- creased proportionate beam. Her dimen- sions are as follows: Length over load-water line, % feet; beam, 26 draught of water, 14 feet. She is @ g E i i! i center board boat; her boom is of 100 foot and ber sail power ts an experiment in many ways. not only arries a tremendous sail plan, she is plated with Tobin bronze up to utde very pee rag! j “a i «8 herself a very fast sailer, ward. Speed is gained and stability by @ great beam The designer seems to have syndicate, headed by C. Oliver has had active charge of her went into commission. Her sailing is Capt. Wm. Ha®sen. Born in Ni and the son of a fisherman, he Nterally up on the sea, as all Norwegian boys along the coast do. Hansen shipped sailor before the mast when he teen years oid, and followed merchantmen until 1870, when yachting. In 1871 he went for the fishing schooner Josephine. Subsequent- iv he was for six seasons mate schooner yacht Haze. From the Hase sen went to the Peerless, He was with FEL he sailed the Sachem and won many vic- tories in her.’ Wi was the fleetest schooner of her class. When the building of the Vigtlant was de- cided upon Capt. Hansen was chosen as her sailing master, and Skipper Cranfield of the Valkyrie will find him a foeman worthy of his steel. The Colonia, ‘The Colonia, which will defend the cup should the Vigilant be disabled, is a keel sloop, 123 feet over all; eighty-five feet six inches on the water line, twenty-four feet six inches at the beam and fifteen feet draught. Her displacement about 155 tons. She has been called an enii Wasp, and as a matter of fact she does follow that boat very closely. However, her ends are shorter, and there is consider- able Teduction of the body below water. Her water line ts full, but finer than that of the Wasp. Aloft her appearance is hand- some, made so by good sails, neat rigging and splendid spars. In reaching and run- ning she is faster than the Vigilant, and she points well, but is not always able to hold on, a defect which makes her work to windward comparatively poor. Still she has proved herself a very fast boat, and in @ porsible contest with the Valkyrie can be depended upon to give a good account of herself. She is owned by @ syndicate, head- ed by Archibald Rogers, and commanded by Capt. Hank Haff, who had charge of the Volunteer in the latter's victorious cup con- test with the Scotch cutter Thistle, and ts one of the best known American skippers. He was born on Long Island fifty-six years ago, and his father, who was a sailor, was lost at sea when he was four years old. He has fotlowed the sea since he was twenty, and began yachting in 1867 on the | sloop yacht Evelyn, owned by Edgar E. | Holly. In the following year he was en- gaged by the Olympic Club to sail the sloop waters. She | T. B. Asten. He had charge of this has proved a very fast sailer in alf kinds of | for seven yearg. After a short i took charge of the sloop Onward, owned Gen. Frederick Townsend of Albany. 1882 Haff took charge of the famous sloop Fanny, owned by Messrs. Prince and Whit- E. Travers he continued her sailing master. Then came the sloop Mayflower, next the sloop Volunteer, in her races against the Thistle in ISS7, after Which the sloop Titania and the schooner Volunteer. The records of these yachts are fresh in the minds of ail. spent on a ‘coasting schooner he, in 18 i While the final preparations are making ~ for the coming race it is Interesting to re- call the checkered history of the gallant litte America, which, in 1851, won the eup gue oe | Fett fi i ate ie i Fl f H La dil ite ii sik i Hr 5 i tl til & 4 ; fi i id i as cwwend and write to the other after six months six years of silevce are common But the case of two brothers living in south comes a little nearer the rarity a high in the ag 4 the Psychical Research Society. that recently a Mr. Mocrory of Oglethorpe both started about the same time and both eminently successful, for each the home of the other about the and was much surprised to find the fone. in under me, Mr. Skine with you!""—Life 2