Evening Star Newspaper, September 30, 1893, Page 16

THE EVENING STAR: WASHINGTON, D. C, SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 30, 1893—EIGHTEEN PAGES, A BIG MONEY Grinding Out a Million Dollars Every Day. PRINTING NOTES FOR BANK How Uncle Sam Guards His Pre- cious Greenbacks. #& STEEL TREASURE WAGON. ees HE PRESENT FI- nancial troubles have made the bureau of engraving and print- ing the liveliest de- partment of the United States govern- ment. This is Uncle Sam's great money mill. It is here that ail the new national bank notes are being turned out,and green- backs are now made ’ by the million. At no history have the employes been ‘Their hours have been in- hundred extra hands have ler to hurry on the work. = the month of September million dollars’ worth of notes were wer to the Treasury Department, 1@ 12th of August last nearly three thousand plate impressions were Notes with hand presses. three hundred and twenty plate impressions were made, is the highest number ever made in bureau here, or in any other bureau on of the earth. In twenty-one days million dollars’ worth of notes the average is now more dollars a day. Mr. John- of the bureau, emphatically can print all the money the use if he has only the au- Congress ai he has this great iectacy sO t its capacity is practically is turned out in with four notes o ed by the denomina- I i sf Hi n ARE u fi | PEE aati, aAEE a i i el Hi Paper have . Mass., in ontcr to these demands, and the retin tt : f Hi ‘The Engraver. farry only revolvers. Nothing of the kind has, however, been attempted, and that old steel wagon will go on carrying millions for gsemerations to come. How Uncle Sam Guards His Paper Mil- lems. I walked through the bureau of engrav- ing and printing this afternoon and watch- @4 the fifteen hundred employes working ‘away making these untold sums of money. I asked their wages and I was told that they ranged from a Ittle over a dollar a day up fo several thousand dollars a year. It seemed strange to me that they could resist ‘the temptation, and I inquired into the safeguards which Uncle Sam has placed about his money. It seemed so easy to ‘Ssilp away with a $1,0W note or to take home ‘one of these steel plates and print enough to last you a life time. My investigation. however, showed me that no miser’s hoard has ever been guarded as is this money of Uncle Sam's. This bureau must cover Several acres. It contains three storfes and @ basement and it is packed full of Machinery and engraving material. Every Dit of this material has to be accounted for every night before any one can leave the In the corridor as I went in I Saw a metal plate set in a frame in the wall. It looked much like the electric Dutton plate at a hotel office. It contained twelve round holes and each hole was labeled with the name of one of the de- partments of the bureau. There were no pins or buttons in the holes, but T found that they all had to be filled before any one could leave the department. As soon @e aX inventory has been taken of the Work of a department at the close of the day, and all accounts are found to be cor- rect, the superintendent of that department arches down and puts a pin with a button on the end into the hole marked with his division. As he does so an electric gong rings ant the watchman permits the men of that division to go out. All of the holes have to be filled before the building ts empty, and if a sheet of paper, a bank note oF a scrap of anything important is lost the employes are all kept until it is found. ‘The hands in thi: factory are prisoners during the day. The most of them work Insite of steel cages and the notes are printed on the machine surrounded by a Great network of steel fence. Blank Paper Worth Its Weight in Diamonds. ‘The paper used in this big money factory is worth its weight in diamonds. At least if it is lost it may cost the bureau or the clerks more than its weight in diamonds to supply its loss. Every sheet of it which is made is registered at the mill at Dalton, Massachu- setts, and the paper mill cannot make a sheet which must not be accounted for to the government. The paper is sent from the mills to the treasury, and it is issued by the Treasury Department from day to day to the bureav of engraving and printing. It is carried over tm the big steel wagon which ‘hauls back the money, and as soon as it is sent from the treasury it represents so Counting Sheets. much money. If, for instance, a thousand sheets are sent over in hundred dollar bills these thousand sheets represent $400,000, as there are four bills to each sheet. If in the printing of these sheets one sheet should happen to be lost the clerk who lost it would have to pay $400 for it. If the de- nomination of the sheet was $1,000, instead of $100, he would be liable to the extent of $4,000, and he or the bureau would have to make up the loss. I took a look at a lot of this paper yesterday. It was piled away in great stacks, much of it being dampened for the presses. It is white and it comes to the department in sheets just large enough for the printing of four bank notes. Two sheets pasted together would be the size of a lady’s handkerchief and two lines of silk thread run down one side of the sheet so as to make them go on the face of every note. I handled some of this paper. It is crisp and strong, and I would have itked to have carried away a sample, but when I sug- gested it the superintendent looked at me with horror and I found that all defective sheets have to be accounted for as well as the good ones, and that such sheets are canceled by holes punched through them and they are sent back to the treasury with the good money. Each one of these sheets 4s counted about forty times before it is turned from white paper into greenback dollars. Every man who puts his fingers on sheet has in some way to leave a register of it, and {f a printer spoils a sheet In print- ing he is obliged to send it in. The initials of the printers are on the plates they use, and {t would be a great deal easier to carry off a half dozen bags of the silver from the steel vaults of the treasury than to crib one of these sheets of blank paper. Steel Worth More Than Go! It is the same with the steel plates from which the money ts engraved. They are worth more than their weight In gold, and are more carefully guarded than the crown Jewels in the Tower of London. In one Je Partment of the bureau there are four great vaults, before which guards always sit. The chief of these guards gets $2,500 a year, and he is responsible fur the dies and plates in his charge. He has them locked away im these vaults in such order that he can put his hands on them at any moment. The vaults are entered by steel doors, an. the combinations with which they are closed are three for each door, and only one of thesé is a time lock. The combination locks are each known to one man, who keeps the secret to himself, but writes out a dupli- cate of it and sends it in a sealed envelope to Secretary Carliste. If he should die sd- denly the envelope would have to be opened before the combination could be known. Each bank note plate has a separate hole in these vaults. It is only issued on order, and the plate printers, when they ar- rive in the morning, have to give a check like @ trunk check for the plate, the ink Plate Printing. and even the rags which they use for wip- ing the plate. They have to receipt for every bit of paper they get, and it is fin- Possible for them to get away with any of the dies, plates or paper of the bureau, There are about 40,00 different pieces of steel In the vault. These weigh whout fifty tons, and constitute the most valuable steal in existence. How Bank Notes Are Made. These fifty thousand ‘ferent pieces df steel represent the work of many lives. They are covered with the finest of engrav- ings, and a peck of human cyes have been ruined in their production. ‘There is no finer engraving in the world than on our bank notes, and there is “one so Tuinous to the eyesight. The engravers work in. little cubby holes under the windows, and there is a long room here llled with engravers. The entire face and back of a note is never engraved by the same man. wne engraver makes the fancy letters on a bill. Another makes a specialty of portraits and another has some other particular part of the werk which he can do better than any one else He does his work on a piece cf soft steel When it is done it is hardencd and is trans- ferred to a soft steei ruil about as. big around as a schooner beer glass. This rol of steel is hardened and is impression rolled off on to the steel plato from which the note is to be printed. Every plate has on it the face or back of four notes, and it takes just as much trouble to engrave a one-dollar bill as it does a thousand-dollar bill. Engravers get from #5 to $10) a week. and the highest priced men ure thos? who work on portraits. They make the engrav- ing for revenue stamps 2nJ postal cards, as well as for bank notes, and their work bas to be perfect in order to pass. Just now they are engraving a diplona to be given out to the exhibitors of the worll's falr ex- Position at Chicago. This will cost thou- sands of dollars and is a wonderfully fine piece of beautiful workraanship. Printing for the National Banks. The work being done on the nationa! bank Notes at the present time ts more like or- dinary printing than the flne work of the bureau. All national bank notes have their charters and seals put va by the sirface process, and there are a dozen or more Hoe presses’ which are working away finishing the engraved notes for the national banl.s. The national bank note plates a all the same, but the bureau has aad to maké new Plates for some of the ban! and the en- gtavers and the plate printers have been turning out the original notes for this print- ing at lightning speed. The printing of the Notes, with the exception of this surface printing, is all hand work. Inside a great The Steel Wagon. steel fence surrounding a room esvering about half an acre there ure hundreds of hand presses, each of vhich is worked by a printer and his assistant. The printers are of all ages and their women. I noticed that some of the women were colored. and not a few of them are as black as the ace of spates. The printers are paid so much and they have to hire their own assistants. They are not allowed to choose their assistants, but they huve to take the women which the department gives them. The press has to be inked and| wiped off for every impression, and the printers work away with - up to their elbows and th with green ink. The press which prints the green backs ir sleeves roiled arms covered ssistants are all | and other money looks lke a four-armed wind mill, and it consists of two metal rol- lers between which there is a slab of iron running on four guide wheels. The printer first puts his plate on a small gas stove, rolis ink over its surface with a roller and then rubs the surplus of the ink off with his hand and rag. He polishes the plate with whiting until ft shines like a mirror and takes all the ink off but that in the engrav- ed line. He now”places the plate on. the press, the paper is put on it and by a hard pull of the windmill-like arms of the press the impression is made. This prints only part of a bill, and all bills have to go through the presses several times. As soon as the bank notes are finished they are taken to the drying room and left there over night. This room is heated by steam to 250 degrees above zero, and in the morning the sheets are thoroughly dry and as crisp as crackers. In the morning they are care- fully examined for imperfections and the least fault in a sheet causes it to be thrown aside. If a smudge of ink has gotten upon it or if there is the slightest mistake In the printing it cannot be used, and the printer who caused the trouble has a_ certain amount deducted from his wages for every sheet so injured. The sheets are now polish- ed by being put between mill boards and a pressure of 5,000 pounds to the square inch is placed upon them. They are then nu bered by automatic machines, and are final ly put up in packages of 1,0#* notes each, with ten slips of papw between each 100 notes. Women Who Handle Fortunes. ‘The women who handle the money are the most expert counters in the world. Their fingers go like lightning. They do not move their lips nor lift their eyes, but they rattle off the bills ag the rate of a hundred a minute. They have to be women of nerve, and if mistakes are made they are charged with them. After the notes are counted they are put into the fron van and carried over to the treasury, whence they are now being shipped all over the country. At the treasury the notes are counted as soon as they are received. The sheets are cut up and the money is sent out in packages of a hundred notes each. Before starting it 1s safe to say that a greenback is counted thirty times after it has left the printer, and there is no possible chance for fraud or theft. A Million Dollar Pot of Mush. Leaving the girls counting out these national bank notes and handling fortunes in an hour, I went down into the basement of this great money factory, and saw a pot of the costlfest mush the worll has ever known. Think of a pot of mush worth more than a million dollars. This is what I saw in the basement, 't was steaming and seething in a great cylinder, und it was made of cut up greentacks. Ali the money that comes back to the treasury is brought over to this place and cooked and ground and steamed until it turns from notes into a pulpy, pasty mixture for all the world like oat’ meal gruel. ‘the cooking goes on every day, and from one to two million dol- lars_are’ ground up every twenty-four hours. The money ix cut in halves at the ‘Treasury Department. It is hauled here in the great steel van, and it takes sixteen hundred pounds of it to fill the mush pot. It goes in dirty and tilthy with the soiling of many hands. The chenticais and steam takes all the dirt and flih out of it, and it comes out gray and pulpy. It is then molded into boards louking for al! the world like hides or untanaed leather, and is sold to paper mills. Some o: it is :nade into little images of the Washinyton Monument, caricatures of Mr. and Mrs. Cleveland, and these are sold for paper weights or souve- nirs for sight-seers. Each souvenir is la- beled with the amount of money waich is supposed to have been made from the pulp from which it is constructed. But this, of course, is all guess work. ‘The sume amount of pulp could make 4 hundred u:ovsand dol lars worth of notes, or a thousand dollars worth of notes, accorling to the denomina- tion printed on the paper which it repre sented. Money Prospects. Mr. Claude M. Johnson, the chief of this gréat bureau of engraving and printing, is a Kentuckian, but he has veen connected with the bureau for some time. He is, I judge, about forty years of age, and is noted for his business talent and his executive ability. He has broad gauge ideas of the money question of this country and during my talk with him he said that he thought we would soon have more money than we would know what to do with. “The na- tional banks,” said he, “have greatly in- creased their circulation and the money which has been drawn out to be hoard- ed will be thrown back into the channels of trade as soon as confidence is restored. ‘This will be within less than two months, and it is safe to say that within that time more than two hundred million dollars will come to the banks from that source alone. In the meantime the bureau of en- graving and printing is ready to supply the country any amount that Congress and the treasury may authorize. All we want is the proper authority and we will do the work.” FRANK G. CARPENTER. ——+e2+—____ DRAWINGS MULTIPLE, What is Done at a Funny Little Baild- = Back of the Treasury. The effect to the eye was somewhat like that of arranging scenery on the stam Approaching from the direction of the Washington Monument, it was difficult to make out what sort of performance was being conducted on the high platform at- tached to the small frame building in the rear of the Treasury Department. Persons were wheeling about a number of queer looking frames of large size. Each one was placed in such a way that the bright sun's Trays were reflected from its glass surface dazzlingly toward the beholder. Probably there are comparatively few peo- ple in Washington who have taken notice of this building, or who have any notion as to what sort of work is Jone there. On en- tering the door, one finds himself confront- ed by @ spectacle of many great tanks 4 parently full of chemicals. On the surface of these tanks big sheets of paper are jloat- ing, and at intervais ousy workmen take ing the former up to dry. On the pap all sorts of architectural drawi: signi One is directed upstairs to the superin- tendent in charge, Mr. MacBlair, w! plains that the establisiment sa branc of the office of the supervising architect the treasury. Here the plans for Uncle Sam's public buildings are multiplied Ly | the aid of photography. One reason why much of such work has to be done is that numerous bidders for contracts in the way of construction must he lied with copies of the drawings, on which they have are ags and de- to base their estimates as to cost, &. Of course, to reproduce the drawings by hand would be enormously laborious and expen- sive; but the sun does it comparative! cheaply and with absolute accuracy. The only disadvantage of the celestial work- man—not intending to refer to him as a Chinaman, be it understood—is that he fre- quently goes on a strike, sulking behind a cloud, Architects all over the world utilize the sun's rays for the purpose of mu! ying: their drawings. They take a plan or eiev: tion, for example, and reproduce it in the shape of what is called a e print.” That is to say, they lay a tracing of it upou a sheet of sensitized paper ai mn to the selar orb. Where ve paper is not protected by the lines of black ink on the tracings it turns blue, and the result is a sheet with a blue background, on which all the Knes of the tracing are copied in white. In other words, it is negative. But the method practiced at the govern- ment establishment descrided is much bet- ter. A chemically prepared paper is expos- ed to the sun beneath an ink drawing on tracing linen, just as in tne case of the blue print. But the result is that the lines appear in light gréen on a white back- ground. Then the sheet is put into an acid bath, which turns the green lines to black. Thus a positive is obtainad from a positive, which is much more satisfactory. It is in this work that the frames ulrealy spoken of are used, and on any fine day they may be seen out on the high platform at th rear of the building, with their glass-cover- ed faces toward the sun. Some of the finest sort of work with the camera is done in this little building, The photograph of Mr. Cleveland which the President considers the best ever taken of himself was made here during the early part of his first administration. The ar- tists of the staff have also made some beau- tiful sun pictures of the principal public buildings in Washington, which are pre- sented to cabinet officers and other import- ant official personages. They were em- ployed to reproduce by photoxraphy the de- sign for the world’s fair diploma. The gov- ernment paid $5,000 for the original draw ing, which was done with the brush. Fur the purpose of reproducing it by engraving, unmounted photographs ef the design were required. These, of course, the engravers could cut up and spoil as tuch as they pleased. So a fine and sunshiny day was chosen and a photograph of great beauty was ob- tained. The glass negative is now kept at Mr. MacBiair’s establishment.and is proudly exhibited, as well it may be, as a master- piece of ‘photographic art. ‘The engraving of the diploma has been done at the bureau of engraving and printing. out the wet sheets and put in others. hang- | NORTHERN ESKIMO. They Dwell in the Far North of Arc- tic Labrador. FACTS ABOUT THEM NEWLY OBTAINED. Their Strange Ideas of a Future State. ALL FIERCE GAMBLERS. ONCERNING THE Eskimo of far north- ern Labrador noth- ing has deen written hitherto. They are so little known that the bureau of ethnology Tesently sent an ex- pedition to that part vf the world to study them. People of this Tace are scattered all along the coast, from adale northward SSNs to Husson strait and along the south shore of the latter to the Koksoak river, which is several hundred miles long and takes its rise in a plctur- esque festoonery of lakes looped through the highlands half way down to Quebec. But beyond Ungava bay, into which the Koksoak river flows, to the north and west, wells a distinct tribe of them, in a country wholly treeless, owing to the extreme cold, save for a few stunted willows and alders. The region is extremely rugged, huge moun- tain spurs and short ranges ramifying in every direction, These Eskimo have seen little of white men. The distance to the nearest trading post of the Hudson Bay Company, Fort Chimo, is so great that they send only four or five sledges thither an- nually to trade for the guns, ammunition, knives and other hardware. ‘The furs they offer in barter are the finest skins of silver foxes, woiverines and wolves, People of Fine Phyatane. These people are tall and of fine phy- sique. The men are larger .nan the average whites, Being shut away in such an inhos- Pitable corner of the world, it is not sur- prising that their ways should be exceed- ingly wild. For instance, the old and in- firm among them, who become dependent on others for food, are summarily disposed of by strangulation or are left to perish when the camp is moved. When an old Woman becomes a burden to the commun- ity, it is customary to neglect her until she is so weak from hunger as to be unable to Walk. ‘Then her friends ure suddenly seized with a desire to remove to a distant local- ity, and she is deserted. Sometimes three or four of the males retrace their steps on the pretence of hunting for a lost whip or ammunition bag. If their track is followed, the corpse of the abandoned person will be found bound with thongs and with stones piled around it, in a country where sufficient food for the able bodied is hard to get, such actions are commonly dictated by the instinct of self- preservation. However, unlucky or disliked women are often expelled from the camp and must take care of themselves until they find relief or perish. In time scarcity families have actually be to cannibalism, after eating their dogs and clothing of skins. In one case an old wom- an had only one eye, and this was con- Unually sore and very annoying to the peo | ple with whom she lved. They proposed to strangle her. Next morning the eve was much better and the cure was postponed, Suicides are not rare. Strangulation or Jumping from a cliff are the usual meth- ods. The causes of seli-destruction are re- morse and disappointed love. The dead are treated with no ceremon: When a person dies the body 1s prepared by binding it with cords,the knees being drawn up and the heels placed against the body. The arms are tied down and a covering of deer skin or seal skin ts wrapped around the corpse and sewn. On approach of dis- solution the invalid 1s removed by the rela- tives to the outside of the house. If he should pass away indoors he must not be carried out through the door, but through a hole cut in the wall, which is then carefully closed to prevent the spirit of the defunct from returning. The body ‘is exposed in the open air by the side of a large rock or taken to the shore or a hill ¢ where stones are piled around it to prevent birds and other predatory animals from getting at it. It Is considered very dreadful if a dog be seen eating the flesh of a corpse. Ideas of a Fature State. ‘These Eskimo have very distinct ideas of a future state and believe that death is merely a separation of the spirit from the body. The soul goes either up to the sky or down into the earth, and spirits of these two classes can hold communteation with each other. The place to which the soul oes depends on the conduct of the person while on earth and especiaily on the man- ner of his death. Those who have died by violence or starvation and women who per- hh in childbirth are supposed to go to the region above, where, though not abso! in want, they lack many of the enjoyed by those who go below. ery one is anxious to go to the lower regi and to enjoy the pleasures of communicating with the living, which privilege is denied to those who go above. All the affairs of life are supposed to be under the control of spirits, exch of which rules over a certain element, all of them be- ing under the direction of a greater spirit. Each person is supposed to be attended by special guardian who is malignant in char- acte to work harm upon the individual | whom it accompanies. As this is an evil spirit, its good offices and assistance can be obtained by propitiation only. The person | Strives to retain its good will by offerings of food, water and clothing. Often the |demon is carried about in the shape of a doli—in the ammunition bag, if success in | the chase is a The sky is supposed to be an immense dome of hard material reared over the ¢ 5 long from east to west and shorter from north to south. Presumably this difference is due to the fact that the people have not been accustomed to tr: 1'so far north and south as cast and west. For a reason jactly similar the words “lonettude™ | “latitude” were originally appli y ancients, who imagined that the world flat and much longer from east to than from north to south. These no believe that land and the sea are bound- high, precipitous sides, sloping inward ent anything living from going to the | region beyond. ‘The vault of the heavens is j¥ery cold and at times is covered with crystals of frost, which fall as snow. The | clouds are « by two old women who run with t Y, and some- times they leak at the seams.’ Thunder is | their voice and Mghtning is their torch. At each corner of the earth there dwells a spirit | with an enormous head. When these genii breatne the winds blow. pmen Held in Little Respect. Women are held in little respect, though |the men are very Jealous of their wives, and unfaithfulness on their part is sure to * | be severely punished. A girl is married as soon after maturity as a male comes along | who has the requisite physical strenzth to force her to become his bride. ‘The marr: jeeremony ts very simple. Commoniy | sanction of the parents fs bous! jskins, furs and other valuables. In most |cases the consent of the girl is not asked | Her lover seizes the first opportunity to ab- | duct her forcibly, and keeps her away until she fs thoroughly subjected to his will. In e instance, not long ago, a young woman | was tled in a snowhouse for two weeks and | was not allowed to go out. She revenged |herself by pulling nearly, all of the hair from her husband's head.‘ In fact, she was unusually obstreperous, and another man, who subsehuently took her to wife, was obliged to fasten her to a sledge in order to | make her ‘accompany him when he desired to travel. A young Eskimo starts ont in life witha gun and ammunition. If he is a good hun- ter he makes for himself tittle hoat called a “kyak,” with the aid of which he pursues and kills the marine mammals whose skins are required for the constraction of a bis boat suitable for carrying « number of peo- ple on long journeys. If very energetic and successful he afterward procures skins for constructing a tent. By the time that he has got together these possessions he is able to employ others to assist in trans- porting them from place to place. Thus he becomes the head of a gens, or family. in- cluding his brothers and sisters, with their wives, husbands and children. These move the ht by gifts of in a body wherever the head may dictate, taking everything they own with them! Some of the men are too improvident to prepare skins when they have en oppor- tunity, and thus they are unable to own a kyak, which prevents them from providing themselves with the pigger boat and the tent. Such persons must with others ever ready to seize on the least oc-| or dwell by themselves and pass a miser- able existence, scarcely noticed by their fellows. ‘The tent of skins is the usual shelter dur- ing warm weather, and until a sufficient fall of snow occurs in early winter from which to construct a house of snow blocks. it is large and roomy. Its owner is rich enough to have two or more wives. He is considered an important individual, whose favor is to be retained py every means. However, a period of illness may cause bim to lose all his belongings, and on recovery | he has to start life anew. Sevcral seasons elapse before a sufficient number of skins can be procured to make a tent, and this is immovable without a boat to transport it when there is no snow on the ground. In former times these people inhabited perma- nent winter dwellings like those used by the Eskimo elsewhere, as is shown by the ruins of stone und sod houses to be reen in various parts of the country. The natives relate that their ancestors lived in such huts, but cannot explain why they were deserted or why structures of the same kind are not erected at the present day. ‘The house of snow blocks is erected in a few hours. This sort of dwelling exclusive- ly is used in winter. In the side of it to- ward the sun a window is sometimes set. ‘This 1s simply a piece of thick, clear ice, from a lake. The interior walls in severe weather become coated with frost films from the breath, condensing and crystaltiz- ing on the inside of the dome, and often presenting, by the lampitsht, a brilliant show of myriads of reflectin,s surfaces scin- | tillating with greater luster than that of skilfully-set gems. The lamp, which is the only source of heat and light, is a shallow bowl of soapstone filled with’ oil, which is burned by means of a wiek of moss. When spring comes, the hut begins to melt, and in the course of a few warm days it caves in. Gambling by Both Sexes. Gambling is carried on among both sexes to such a point that even their own lives are sometimes staked upon the issue of a game. Often the winner obtains the wife of his opponent and holds her uptl some tempting offer is made for ner return, ‘The women particularly will risk their Jast gar- ment at play, and it occasionally happens that one of them, who has been lost by her husband, will sit down and win herselt back again. These pople are very fond of games of all sorts, particniariy foot ball, in which even the’ aged females and tod- dling infants indulge with eagerness. The ball is made by taking a viecz of buckskin or sealskin and cutting it Into a circular form, then gathering the edges und stuffing the cavity with dry ‘moss or feathers. It is very light, and is driven either by a blow of ‘the foot or by a whip with a short wooden handle, A lusty Eskimo will often send the ball over a hundred yards through the air with such force us to knock a per- son down. ‘The little girls play with dolls like etvil- ized children, and build litte snow huts, where they have all their playthings and muke believe to keep house. The only mu- | sical instrument observed among these peo- ple was a violin of their own manufacture, made in imitation of tiddles which they had seen used by the whites. This violin was made of birch or spruce, and the strings were of coarse sinew. ‘The bow had a strip |of whalebone in place of horse hair, and Was resined with spruce gum. The fiddle was held across the lap when played. Art | is but slightly developed among these Es- | Kimo. Their weapons and implements are | never adorned with carvings of animals and other natural objects or with conventional patierns, as is the case among the Eskimo of Alaska, ‘Much of their food ts eaten raw, but it is always cooked when it can be conveniently. | They will strip and devour the fat and flesh | from the body of a deer while they are yet | quivering. The entrails of many species of birds are swallowed when fresh like oysters. Eggs with young birds in them are much | relished. ‘The statement often made that they drink seal and whale oil as food is a mistake. It would make them sick. At the | same time they dip lean fiesh into ofl and consume ofl otherwise with thelr food. If they go without ofl they suffer from torpid | liver “and constipation. Reindeer fairly swarm in certain parts of the country, and furnish a large part of the subsistence of the people, while the skins are of great use winter. Dress Made of Skins. dee rain and seals. The latter are worn during ¥ weather and in the kyak. The wo- the skins of these timid creatures are re- served for would disgrace himself by ‘appearing clad with a particle of the fur of the hare or of the white fox. Either sex may wear the skins of all other mammals, except at_cer- tain times, under restrictions imposed by superstition. An Important duty of the wo- men fs taking care of the family boots. At intervals they must be turned Inside out and dried, then chewed and scraped by some old hag, who is onty too glad to have the work to Ao for the few scraps of food | she may receive as pay. | _‘The principal diseases from which the peo- ple suffer are lung troubles. chiefly arising from their filthy manner of living in crowd- ed huts, All onenings of the dwelling must [de Kept closed in order to economize the [heat within, for when once chilled it Is difficult to restore the house to the proper | degree of warmth. An Eskimo would al- | Ways prefer to erect a new hut of snow | rather than pass the night in one which | had been rted for only a few hours. | 1f the doorway has not heen tightly sealed | with a block of snow. Within the walls, | reeking with the exhalations of all sorts of putrid matters, the occunants breathe and rebreathe an atmosphere filled with poison- ous gases. Other prevailing diseases are those of the blood, such as scurvy. Sores break out on the shoulders, elbows, knecs land ankles. The ravages of these com- | plaints procead at an astonishing rate. The | means of rellet employed are those which the local conjurer ts acquainted with. These Eskimo are usually peaceful and mild tempered. Jealousy arouses the worst nessions, When a person behaves so badly | that_the community ean no longer tolerate | his presence, he fs forbidden to enter the | hut. share the food or hold any intercourse | with the rest. Nevertheless. so lone as he | threatens nobody's life, little attention ts | paid to him. Should he be gullty of murder several mon watch thelr onnortunity. to | furnrise him and put him to death, usually | by stoning. ‘The exeontioners make no con- | gerimon! of their action and are supported v : Tn that strange and fried reeton every nicht tn the vear is made heaut!?nl by an avrora. except in June. when the sky is too Heht. Anroras are helievad to he toreh- os held in the hands of spirits sesking the | sonls of those who have inst died. to lead | them over the abyss terminating the edee of the world. A narrow nathway lends crose it to the lond of brightness and plenty. where disease and nain are no more and where food of all kinds is alwavs abundont. To this nlace none but the dead and the raven can go. When the snirits wish to communicate with the people of the earth they make a whistling notse and the earth peonle answer In a whispering tone, ‘These Eskimo say that they are able to call the aurora and converse with it, send- ing messages to the dead through the spir- its. RENE BACHE. 2o+—____ Fanting on a Bieyele. | From the 8: (Ore.) Independent. | James Davis is probably the first person who ever went deer hunting on a bicycle. | He was visiting Idanha last week and, as the country there is comparatively smooth |and free from underbrush, he borrowed rifle from a gentleman and went out for a | ride. The inflated tire on his wheel allowed | of his traveling swiftly and noiselessly over the ground, strewn with pine needles, and | before he hed pedaled many miles he came | upon an unsuspecting deer quietly browsing just ahead of him. The result was that he killed the deer and returned to the hotel | with it slung over his shoulders. | ———+0+ The Moderm Mata, From Texas Siftings, tinsband—Why did your maid leave? | _Wife—She didn’t want to go with us to | Saratoga. She preferred Long Branch. 1 | refused to change our plans, so she Te- signed at once. Very Polite Gentleman (to Bi First, i: You From Lit. aos |WORK OF WOMAN. Specimens of Her Handicraft at the Great Fair, Rare Lace Work and Gorgeous Cos- tames—The French Dolls—Royal Artists and Their Paintings. Correspondence of The Evening Star. CHICAGO, iL, Sept. 23, 1593, ‘The woman's building was designed by Miss Sophie Hayden and is a handsome structure. It is two stories high and con- tains a central court which 1s roofed over with glass. The roofs on either side of the court are covered over with bright coloree awnings and are used as cafes. On the walls of the court are hung the paintings, and the exhibits, all the work of women, are arranged in the different rooms and galleries. I feel mightily proud of my fair sisters when I examine the extensive collection of art works exhibited. It took me all of one day to see them and even then there were many articles that I passed by without more attention than a hasty glance. One need not be surprised to see such wide results, for every woman is artistic at heart, and what wonder if her ideas run out at the fingers tips and she mold them into visible shape? Woman is so” dainty a thing and fashioned so pretuly we rather expect that everything about her should breathe the same sweet harmony, sing the of symmetry and grace shows itself to the ends of her very fingers; though few women have the strength and the power to do great work. in the woman's building may be seen samples of the best work of women from every nation In the world; but with the ex- ception of the single art of lace making American women outdistance all competi- tors. Characteristics of the People. ‘The foreign exhibits are thoroughly char- acteristic of the people; for instance—G many shows samples of plain sewing, Italy exhibits her fine laces and France displays her exquisite toilettes and interior decora. Those who appreciate fine needle work should go to the German section and ex- amine the samples ef underciothing made in the public ‘schools of Germany. The work is displayed in large wall cases, glass covered. Every stitch in every pi of work is done by hand, and so fine and even is the hemming that I would not believe it was hand work tll shown the reverse side and I saw the peculiar stitches made by what is cailed backstitching. The gar- ments are most elaborately made with quantities of hand embroideries and cro- cheted lace, and rows and rows of tiny, fine tucks. These are ail made by girls under thirteen years of age. There is a case of white embroid- ery, initials of every size and design on linen, by thirteen-year-old girls, and it is wonderful that children so young can do such beautiful work. There are several cases filled with knitting and samplars by seven-year-old girls, such beautiful work as few of the women in this great country can do. ‘The French section is most tastefully a striking contrast lings. France sets off her pretty | in protecting them from the severity of the / ‘Their dress ts made of the skins of rein- | men wear mittens of hare or fox skin, but the females alone. No man! ranged and presents to the baldness of Germany's surround- hings of curtains and hang- ings. The salon in this section is a gem of a room; the furniture is graceful and spidery, decorated in gold and upholstered in embroidered satin. By the very dainty | tea table sit two charming hostesses en- tertaining an afternoon caller with a cup | of tea and a whisper of Bossip; a littie | girl stands by with a bunch of flowers in her hand. These figures cre of wax and are most exquisitely costumed. In the walls of the salon are get four embroidered | panels reaching from the ceiling to within three feet of the Moor; these four panes, together with eight similar ones up in the | gallery of the building, are unique in the world. They are embroidered by hand on white silk by Madame Leroudier of Lyoas |from designs by the French painter Au. dran. The designs were originally mate during the reign of Louis XIV r the royal manufactory of Gobelins. Madame | Leroudier has copied her eslors directly | from nature with a faithfulress that ren- |ders her work more like painting than embroidery. She spent twelve years on the Bong, The twelve paneis are vaiued at amid a soft framing The Laces of France. The laces of France are very fine and rivat Jtaly’s. They are framed in glass. | ‘There is a piece of black Chantilly, about eighteen inches wide, the finest quality made by hand, worked with 2,00 bobbins. This is $100 a yard. Another black lace flounce is Point de France with diamond ground, the most beautiful open work used in hand-made laces. This piece is a little more expensive than the first mentioned, being something like $1,000 a yard. Two ex quisite little handkerchiefs of Valenciennes are marked $100 each. A piece of the cele- brated Point d’Alencon is marked $00, It is strange, but true, that People are more attracted by a high-priced articte | than by a beautiful one. Teli a man that a | certain piece of work fs velued at $00 a square inch and he will stand before it and gaze at it perfectly fascinated. The ex- | hibitors have a good deal of fun with the | people in this way, and gull the poor inno- | cents every time they get a chance by put- Ung fictitious values on their wares. I heard this morning of a Washingtonian nl who went home with a great tale about the | | Auditorium ‘Theater. Some Chicagoan, | with expansive conscience, told him that | the roof of the Auditorium was so con- | structed that it could be raised or lowered to accommodate the crowded audience or a | smal! house, as the case might be. This is a fact, and my Washingtonian friend told it in all sober earnestness, never imagining | for an instant how completely he had been | taken in, But, to continue with the French exhibit, I wili mention a plece of lace that ts re. | | markable. It is a dress front of Point 4 | France, with diamond ground, made by Lebebure, manufacturer. It is’ owned by | the Musee des Artes Decoratif of Paris, | | and was purchased by that Institution as | | the most beautiful spectmen of real neadic- | | work exhibited by the Paris exposition of | 1889. This piece of lace can be duplicated | for the sum of $4,500. A Wax Doll Exbipit. An exhibit which is both attractive | and instructive is a large case of wax dolis, } costumed by the L'Aiquille Association Pro- j fessionale, illustrating the fashions of the} different epochs in French history. The| faces, the modes of dressing the hair and the costumes are in every detail copied | from the portraits of women who were once prominent in the social or court life | of France. | The children love to come to this exhibit. | There are always half a dozen at least of | little girls (and boys, too, sometimes) with their eager faces pressed against the glass case, gazing at the beautiful dolls with cov- | etous eyes, passing their judgment on the! different dresses and choosing the ones they would have “if mamma would only buy one for me.” The costume of the primitive epoch is rep- | Tesented in the tunics as worn by the Ro-| man ladies. The hair is arranged in two | long plaits without ornament or headdress, It is very graceful and simple. St. Clo-| | thilde, wife of Clovis, represents the fifth j century. She is attired in the same man- ner as when the artist Ingres painted her |in the celebrated picture in St. Clothilde's | Church in Paris. Of the middle ages a noble lady is shown, with hair dressed very high in the pointed fashion, called the Hennin. From the ex- treme point of the Hennin falls a fine, long. tissue veil. A gentlewoman of this age is attired in a dress copied from old tapestry kept as a relic in Chiny museum. Representing the renaissance is Eleanor of Austria, second wife of Francis the First. Her skirt is cloth of gold, with drapery of brocaded velvet. About the neck is a cir clet of diamonds and pearls. The girdle, which is loosely fastened about the waist and falls to the hem of the dress, is made of gold filigrees thickly set with turquoise, rubies, diamonds, pearls and emeralds. The Duchess ‘Joyense of the sixteenth century is attired, as in her portrait in the Louvre, in a white satin wedding gown, which she wore at the court ball given by Henry Ill at the time of her marriage. Margaret of France also represents the sixteenth century. She was sister of Henry IIL and wife of Henry IV. The most pe- culiar feature about her costume ts the large, flowing linen collar, standing as high as the .op of her head. Worn with this are the deep linen cuffs. He: gown is rich in material and frivolous in decora- ion. In the century immediately following this Richelieu laid down the law against ex- travagance in dress. Anne of Austria rep- resents this epoch. She is very simply at- tired in an old rose brocade made in the Princess style of our day. In direct contrast to this appears the Marquise de Montespan, the favorite of Louis XIV. She is attired in a gold em- broidered white satin skirt, with draperies and court train of rich green velvet. Her hair is elaborately dressed with jewels. Marie of Medicis, second wife of Henry faine sweet song. Her inmate appreciation | en IV, is attired in a costume executed from her portrait by Rubens, which is found in the Louvre and which represents the coro- Ration of the queen. The dress is of white satin, covered with pearls and gold em- broidered fleur de lis. The court train is of dark blue velvet, embroidered in fleur de lis with gold thread and edged with a wide border of ermine. The collar is flaring and is of the finest lace. With the Marquise de Pompadour.who was the leader of fashion in the reign of Louis XV, the style grows more fancy. The full peut: the Pannier and the waceau plait ap- “ar. , parle Antoinette represents the year 178. She is attired in a costume of dark blue Velvet edged with sable, opening over a White satin skirt. Her hair hangs about her neck in short curls, and is powdered; and she wears a blue velvet cap with a long, White ostrich plume in one side. With this is worn a white lace tcha. The dress is €xXecuted from a portrait painted by Mme. Vigee Lebrun, which is ia the museum at Versailles. The two figures that follow one looks at long and attentively. Josephine de Deau- harnais, with her pretty dark nair worn in the Greek style, her high-waisted dreas and fluffy sleeves, her garnet satin train heavi- ly embroidered in pearis and gold thread, | Tepresents the early part of the nineteenth century. Marie Louise, the second wife of Napo- leon, follows and occupies # case to herself, the robe worn at her coro- She is attired in nation, copied from Girard’s painting. The train is of crimson velvet, bordered and lined throughout with ermine. It is also bordered with heavy embroidery, and dotted all over with gold embroidered fleur de 1: ‘The bodice and skirt are of white satin em- broidered with gold thread; the sleeves are puffed, and the jewels are diamonds and pearls. ‘The collection is complete with the ad- dition of a few modern toilectes. it is won- Gerfuliy interestigg and attracts husts of people. ‘The exhibition of fancy dress goods, dress patterns and trousseaux must ne seen to be appreciated. One linen tea gown ts so fine that the whole thing can be drawn through @ finger ring, and is so shown in the case with the ring encircling the gown, balf way up. Royal Art Work. I suppose the first things to mention in Great Britain are the queen’s paintings. ‘There are eight sketches by her majesty’s royal hand, five water colors and three pencil drawings. One of the water colors is @ portrait of Munshi Hapiz Abdul Karim, the queen's Indian secretary; and in spite of his name she has made avery fair pic- ture. This is her latest work, and shows @ Vast improvement over the others. Her first water color was painted in 1878, and is a view from her sitting room at Balmoral. Later she painted a view from another window, in November of the same year. There are two others—one a winter scene at Balmoral in 1880 and the other a view at Aix-les-Lains, from Tresserve. The pencil sketch of the queen's fox ter- rier, “Spot,” taken in the railway carriage January %, Il, is crude; better is the drawing of a pug belonging to Prince Henry of Battenburg, 1856. in close vicinity to the queen's paintings are a number of royalty’s crude efforts. There is a sea view in oil by the Princess Beatrice, view of a wheat field by H. R. H. Princess Christian of Schleswig-Holstein, princess of Great Britain and Ireland, and @ portrait by Princess Louise, the best uf all. This is all. The group of pictures is draped with the British colors. They adorn the wall of the west gallery. On the main floor in the British section are samples of the work of H.R. H. Prin- cess Mary Adelaide, duchess of Teck. There are two handsome slumber robes crocheted of Iceland wool and lined with heavy white silk, a pretty red petticoat crocheted of scarlet zephyr and a vest, a gentleman's vest, crocheted of white zephyr in Afghan stitch. This is lined with white broadcloth and the edges are bound with white silk braid; the pockets are beautifully bound and the buttonholes closely worked. From Russia there is a superb display of embroideries, some fine paintings on porce- lain and a rare collection of real laces. One piece of lace several yards long and not more than three inches wide is made en- tirely of silver thread. It is still bright and lustrous, though it was made in the seven- teenth century, and it holds within its meshes the secret of its creation, for in all these 20 years since it was fashioned no one has been able to unravel the secret of its manufacture, and so it remains the only piece of its kind in the world, priceless and precious. Some Court Costumes. I turn from the rare old laces to a large glass case containing several court cos- tumes displayed on lay figures, the trains laid out to their full length in richest folds. There is an old couple from the country standing by gazing at the magnificent robes. The old man says slowly: “Wall, I'll be jigged, M’ria, if them ain't the finest things I ever see;” and truly they are handsome. They were designed by her imperial high: ness, the Duchess Elizabeth Feodorowna. One is white and yellow, in princess shape, tight-fitting, sleeveless and very low neck, back and front; it is made of heavy white satin, with a fringe of silver beads across the bottom and a heading of deep embroid- ery in silver thread. The fringe is a half yard deep in the center, and only three inches deep at the sides. The bodice is entirely covered with silver embroidery ‘The train, which is of lemon-color watered silk, falls from the shoulders; it is border- ed with silver thread embroidery to the depth of a half yard. A royal purple gown ts so covered with silver and gold embroidery that it is aim- cult to see the texture of the material underneath. The pattern 1s pomegranates and grapes, and is very rich. The train falls from the shoulders and ts four yards long, a mass of silver and gold embroidery. This dress is three hundred years old, and is valued at $4,000, A third robe is scarlet and white, the bodice and skirt of white silk, covered with @ mass of gold embroidery; the train which falls from the shoulders being made of a magnificent material, woven of scarlet sillc {and gold thread; this is heavily bordered with gold embroidery, and was made in the Convent of the Holy Virgin at Moscow. It is not possible to convey any idea of the effect of these beautiful robes; they must be seen to be appreciated. Russia has also a handsome collection of altar hangings and vestments, surpassing anything of the kind in_the whole exposition. Speaking of altar hangings, reminds me that Ireland has some very handsome ones. Hier linens are especially fine and daintily embroidered. The vestments for Cardinal Gibbons and Archbishop Ryan are particularly noticeable. One set is of green silk poplin, embroidered with shamrocks. Another set is of white watered silk, heavily embroidered in gold. Cardinal Gibbons has selected a set of brocaded silk, with cross | of white poplin embroidered in gold. There are two other sets, one of white corded silk, embroidered in’ colors, for Archbishop Ireland; another of red silk and gold em- broidery for Archbishop Fehan. ‘All this work is done by poor orphans, under care of the Sisters of Charity. coe Beginning the Program. From the Boston Transcript. ‘They were just before me at the ticket office. The head of the family, tall, gaunt and attired in a yellow linen ‘duster, was transacting the ny business and the four women hung over his shoulders and looked on. i “Two-fifty,” said the old man, moving on | with the tickets clutched firmly in his hand. “I tell you, gals, you have to do a power of sight seein’ to make it pay. No settin’ Found an’ twirlin’ your thumbs this trip.” The “gals,” thin-faced, eager-eyed wom- en, dressed in their pathetic “best”—ac- quiesced with due solemnity. . I hurried to get my ticket and followed them in through the clicking turnstile. They stopped with one accord just inside the gate and their chins went up in the air as the great white buildings burst upon them. They gazed in silence for some minutes, slowly absorbing the magnitude of the nearest buildings and the glimpse beyond of the blue lagoon. The old man spoke first. “Well, come he remarked, edging off to the left. “We'll have to begin systematically now, and take everything in % As you know, at each entrance to the grounds there are two turnstiles—one for the incomers and the other conspicuously marked “Exit” for the outgoers. ‘As ill luck would have it, this white-let- tered sign caught the old granger’s eye. ‘Here, gals he sald cheerfully. “Fust | thing on the programmy. Let's see what | this here ‘Exit’ is.” | And before I could interfere to rescue | them, “the gals” had meekly followed their arent—out again into the cold and un- Pe | sympathetic world. From the Bostoa Courter, said the lover, as he stood upon the stoop with his girl, “just one. “Just one,” said the mother, putting her head out of the bed room window above: “well, I guess it ain't so late as that, but it's pretty near twelve and you'd better be going or her father will be down.” And the lover took his leave with a sad pain at his heart. ——EE= MORSFORDS ACID PuOSPHATE For Impaired Vitality And weakened energy is wonderfully successful SOME NEW FALL Coats, To Fend Off Chilly Breezes From the Distant Icebergs. The balmy breezes of summer are going south with the birds, and in their wake low winds from icebergs, which chill wearers of flimsy mulls and Jackets are old and rusty, for gone on fishing tours and leaned many a hard rock. Ah, what treasures Tomance we might discover if only could speak! T. - ia could speak: cine, sure, “walls have ears, ia Zomparison with what is es and running brooks! Sak tcrraearan when there isn’t the slightest doubt they are repeating the same old story which is told them every summer. But what has this to do with jackets? Why, Out of course, and that is why we have a perpetual stream of new lowing the old ones out. And if Was @ complete change in styles certain: now is the metamorphosis of coats. thrifty maid, however careful she has of her last year's coat, may not and refurbish the old garment hope that she can alm one. i ) ld i ti FE il Hl ed epaulets of the sleeves. These full are absolutely ry ers what yaris of veloped in the Even with this i i ile . 4 g Seg aig “uf il rose bushes, profusely with red and yellow tissue other chairs were ranged against the wall on three sides of the room. A great tumult and clatter of voices an- Bounced the arrival of the bride. As the party was heard ascending the stairs all the women, who had removed their veils on coming into the house, hastily threw them over their heads again. First came the sis- ter of the groom (the real hostess), then the bride's relatives (only women, of course), and then the groom, a man ta dark blue military uniforms the bride by the elbow. At sight of the women broke out in exclama’ pious admiration. And certainly tume was gorgeous enough to der at least. She was trained gown of pink satin, with silve> roses. Her tightly was crowned with white ostrich ae PAH | i f | i E j fastened with a spray of veil of silk and tinsel train. - * fell ft g Hi 4 eH is ae ath i t F L et ic iitie the chat: of state, ws Tigi ae back in ir Later in the day, and after partaking a meal that had went back to drink a Hal ate going, and each of them either cheek (carefully, so the diamonds) and w! her ear, to which she would have to sit in cessive days before the considered at an end. At last, with many thanked us elaborately had conferred upon them by at the ceremony. And of slaves followed us | reiterating, “Good bye! our carriage rattled away over stones of Stamboul. —— Irish Wit. From the Chicago Inter-Ocean. “Caller—“Are you sure the young ladies “pridgct—"Yees, str.” ‘es, sir. “How long before they will retumn?” “I niver thought of that, shure; but walt @ bit an’ I'll go up and ask thim.’ A Sai From Puck. Tippie—“How did you come to Jack? I did not know you had fallen in love with him.” Sibyl—“T_ hadn't.” “Then aid him! | Sibyivor tear Tmighes” SA7 hime