Evening Star Newspaper, October 7, 1893, Page 10

10 MAKING A MAGIC BOX. Apparatus for Entertaining a Com- pany With “Black Art.” FOR DRAWING ROOM AMUSEME Clever Illusions With the Aid of Mirrors. CONJURING MADE EASY. HE AMERICAN and illusionists suc- ceed in getting to- gether. There are a number of flusions now being exhibited to begin with and an inexpensive reproduc- tion to end with. Donkey parties may still be in vogue in pome places and the games of “Hearts,” “Lotto” and other fillers-in of an evening party still have their uses. But if a young man can give eclat to the closing hour of with something unusual and at he can effectual- paraphernalia So many tilu- sions based r manipulation have since been produc: t it would take a Fhe strangest its that the pub- strangest pul Ue to this day do not seem to catch on to ‘the principle t any one may as an audience closer to him that of a stage illu- sionist, mystify his friends with what is Feally ‘a very ‘We intend to describe here a magic box im which may be produced all sorts of articles in a seemingly marvelous way. ‘Most families have one member who owns ‘& tool box and knows how to use the tools fairly well. Taking this for granted the work of your magic box trick will not é ff a a ‘ vaaeys Hi H i i oF & #8 Fy Hf i inches high and about eighteen | each. These must be slid in| one edge going up flat against | the other touching the floor. | @ solid front, each mir- | cle. down the back of the of its top one foot square and | fe a will ey and} easy move. jinge with two hinges under the table and put a| ‘gl the table at the back edge | Cr a door in place until use it. If this swing piece is ¢ joinings on top cannot be distance. No. 1 will show the structure as it npear completed. You will see here elative position of the legs and the | mirrors, which are indicated i od potatt rifle fftol ‘The Magic Box Open. A—The opening in the bottom. B—The piece which swings downward. By dotted lines. The back legs or props are shown by dotted lines. It will be seen that only half of the side of the leg in Which the mirror slides is shown in reality. ‘The actual half will reflect in the mirror Just beside it. and this little bit of reflec tion does more to give an {dea of a clear, open space under the table than any one who has not seen a similar illusion can pos- sibly tmagine. We have now to make the magic box. | ‘This should be eighteen inches square in- side measurement. It may be carefully fin. ished outside or not, just as your taste | dictates. Make it of half-inch material, so | that no one can think it has hidden cham-| ders anywhere about it. Line it with paper of some neat pattern and have its front a Swing door hinged at the bottom edge. i a swing door in the bottom of the Dox lke the one in the table, but only ten inches square = “th very small flat hin; and a thin n™ to hold it tn place. As the box 1 ¢ set on the table during ‘the progress of the mystification these doo Attings must not be thick enough to give the box the appearance of being set ‘un- evenly. Have a leather handle on the top f the box by which to carry it. Box With Doors Open. Cut No. 2 will show the box with its two @oors opened. The ten-inch space with its which ts provided | with a little hook, can be opened or shut | When occasion demands, as we shall ex- Plain later. To complete the apparatus needed for the Proper display of the illusion we ure de- Seribing you will need to rig up a semi- THE EVENING STAR: WASHINGTON, D. C...SATURDAY. OCTOBER 7, 1893—SIXTEEN PAGES. cles are put through the curtain in some way. Cut No. 4 shows the construction of the screen and the table and box inside the semi-circular recess. The visible operator is also shown, but in a bad position, and he is shown in this way for a purpose. As the mirrors reflect only the side objects, be- cause they are on an angle, yet do not Feflect any object directly in line with the end leg, it follows that the operator should stand on a line with the one of the end legs, but not too close to the table, because if he does stand close spectators on the side of the room farthest from him will get an angle of vision which would bring his legs in view back of the table leg. ‘The operator should stand at least a foot away from the side of the table and his length of arm wil! enable him to handle the front door of the box at will. In all probability he will get credit for not wish- ing to cut off the view of the people on his of the room. He must be careful to avoid getting back of the leg line, as in this case again his legs would be expected to show under the table. Now as regards the semi-circular curtain. ‘That part of it which reflects in the mir- ror on either side will retain in the reflec- tion its circular form, and all the people The Screen. in front will imagine they are looking un- der the table and that they see the cur- taine at the back. The filusion here is perfect. * ‘The apparatus is completed and it now calls for finesse in handling if the results are to be perfectly satisfactory. Placing the Spectators. Do not have your front row of spectators any nearer than eight feet from the edge of the screen and keep them as much as possible in the center of the room. When @ temporary curtain, which hides your trick, is drawn, your accomplice, who should be small but clever, ts under the table, back of the mirrors.’ He has there &@ miscellaneous collection of articles which are to be used from time to time. You, the operator, are in place at the stle, one foot from’ the table. The magic ex, tightly closed, is at your feet. The table, as the spectators see it, is perfectly plain. clear of anything and open under- neath. You now lift the box and place it on the table in an apparently careless man- ner. As a matter of fact it must be set so that when your aid lets down the twelve- ineh door in the table the ten-inch door of the box is in a position to swing through the opening he has just made. After a little talk about your wonderful magic box you let down the front door by reeching your arm across the table and show that the box is empty. You may tap its sides with a wand to show that the in- side is really hollow. You close it again, and the aid, when he hears the slight noise you make, lets down the swing door, puts & bunch of real flowers in the box and bushes up the swing and buttons it. You Row open the door, produce the flowers and pass them around among the ladies. You had better toss them out, for if you leave your position and move forward the fatal Mirrors will reflect your legs. ‘Many odd things may be brought to light in the box, among them things in which some of the audience may have a personal interest. To cap the climax of this {l!usion let your aid have some sort of an odd head dress with a ruffle for the neck to cover the edges of the opening, and at a suitable moment you can produce a talking head, for the ten inches of opening will allow @ good sized head to be pushed up into the box, which will answer questions propounded either by yourself or persons in the audience. This little illusion can be produced with- out any great expense, especially if you can get your carpentering done at home, and ft is well calculated to mystify nearly every one you may invite to view it. ——_~+-e-___ THE ART OF CONVERSATION. Some Suggestions to Those Who De- ire to Excell im It. From Gool Housekeeping. A talent for conversation has an extra- ordinary value for common, every day life. Any one who has the gift enters in a social circle anywhere. How every one’s face brightens at his coming! How soon he sets all the little wheels in motion, encour- aging the resources of the reserved and shy, subsidizing facile, and making every- body glad and happy! As civilization ripens and the social life improves, so language continuglly assumes new and higher forms, and conversation—which 1s a sort of radia~ tion of the intellect—gives a luster which no other form of expression can to the higher developments of our intellectual moral na- ture. Our language is not merely expressive | of our wants—it 1s communicative of ideas and impulse that stand far above all mate- rial things—a streaming out of the soul of man to make common cause with his fellows. To converse well is not to engross the con- versation. 1+ is not to do all the talking. It fs not necessary to talk with very great brilliancy. A man may talk with such sur- passing power and splendor as to awe the Test of the company into silence, or to ex- ¢ite their envy, and so produce a chill where his aim shouid be to produce heat and sun- shine. Those who aspire to the enjoyment of a “feast of reason and a flow of soul” must learn to listen patiently, and without betraying an anxiety to speak themselves, OF @ patronizing condescension to the speak- er. We are all a little egotistical, but in the moment we betray It we become obnoxious. Conversation is like a game of see-saw, as one goes up another goes down, but the game is over in an instant if the two ends are up at the same time. The mo- ment, therefore, that a person essays to speak, give way, no matter what good thing you may have ready at the moment. Af in the midst of a narrative which you are relating some bore should break in with an interruption to displace you let him have his way at once; suspend your dialogue and let him go on, and he will, unless hard as granite, feel’ your forbear ance to be a much greater blow to his rude- ness than if you were to persevere. A per- son so breaking the thread of another's dis- course deserves severe rebuke, and you will find none so severe, so salutary, as a polite yielding at once—not sulkily and with a frown, but with fullest disposition to hear him patiently, and to enjoy his obtrusive nonsense. Self-possession must be cultivated by the conversationalist, that he may not run away headlong and say many things that he may afterwards regret. This is the source of that gentlemanly reserve which distinguishes the man of refinement from. the mere bore, and begets that patience in listening and that generous spirit of ap- preciation which makes a speaker feel as much pleased with his heareres as with himself. He should seek the art of making others feel quite at home with him, so that, no matter how great may be his attain: ments or reputation, or how small may be thetrs, they find it just as natural and pleas- int talking to him as hearing him talk. The talent for conversation, indeed, more than anything else in life, requires tact and dis- cretion. It requires one to have more varied knowledge. and to leave it at instant and absolute disposal, so that he can use just as much or just as little as the occasion de- mands. It requires the ability to pass in- stantly and with ease from the playful to the serious, from books to men, and from the mere phrase of courtesy to the expres- Talking Head. cong? sereen. Four uprights six feet h, with a hooped wire joined to them at the top, can easily be constructed, and a curtain running all around the wire, elther straight down or in folds, must extend to the carpet. Have the curtain of perfectly plain goods, white, pink or yellow. This screen should be big enough to admit of | the front of the table being set well in, so {bat nothing but the screen can reflect in| 2 the mirrors. It should also provide for a jclear space of at least two feet on all other jeides of the table so that the audience will | smart, don't you? Bot be able to say that the produced arti- sion of sentiment and passion. a When Hens Come High. From the Detroit Free Press. The colored man w::s before a Kertucky Judge for the statutory offense of stealing chickens. “Net guilty.” pleaded the prisoner. ‘This makes the third time you have been here, doesn’t ity” said his honor. ‘Yas, boss. ‘Well, what are you here for again?" ‘Jis’ fer de same t'ing, bo: I believe I let you off the last time,didn't “Yas, boss. Thank you. “Well, this time i costs.” ‘The prisoner zasped “Fo’ de Lawd, boss,” he exclaimed, “ain’ dat a heap to pay fer one lean ole hen?” fine you $10 and To and Fro. From Truth. Lawyer (in cross-examination)—So woman was shot in her doorway? Smart Witness—No, sir; she was shot in he arm. Lawyer this (exeitedly)—You think you're Witness (calmly) ‘No, sir; I'm Brown. BARS OF BULLION That Have Been Stolen From the Government Mints, BOT NO ROBBERY EQUALED COCHRAN'S. His Predecessor Took $10,000 in Gold Dust. FEW THIEVES PUNISHED. N SPITE OF THE fact that the em- ployes of the mint of the United States handle enormous sums of money or very valuable bullion every day, the list of robberies of United States mints is very short. The memory of the present offfcers of the mint bureau does not run beyond the Negus case, to which Cochran, the Philadelphia mint thief, referred when he claimed that his theft of gold bullion was justified because he had Saved large amounts to the government. Cochran was the assistant to the weighing clerk in 1851, when $30,000 of gold dust was stolen from the Philadelphia mint, and it was on his Information that the thief was apprehended. The claim which he made when arrested in Philadelphia was that he was entitled to all of the salary of Negus, his predecessor, as well as to his own. The officials of the mint bureau think that this is one of many cunning tricks by which Cochran will seek to evade punishment for his crime. Cochran May Plead Insanity. “They will try the insanity dodge in Coch- Tan's case,” said the director of the mint, Mr. Preston, discussing the case a few days ago. “But I do not believe that they will succeed in getting him off. He had no con- sideration for others. He did not stop to think of the position in which he was plac- ing them. The position in which I was placed was most awkward. I had weighed the gold into the vault in 1887, and while I could not have been held legaliy responsible for any shortage, I would have been held to @ moral accountability. And the most unpleasant feature of the case for me was this: When the investigation of the theft was made it was found that some of the missing bars had been in the last row and that one of them should have been at the bottom of the last pile of gold. Of course, if Cochran had not confessed, they would have said that even if he had hooked the gold, which was near the door, it would have been impossible for him to have got at these bars, which were placed under such an enormous weight of metal. It was a fortunate thing for me that Cochran did not keep his mouth shut, though it would have been a good thing for him if he had. When he made his confession he told how he had gone into the vault after much of the gold had been removed and had taken ten bars from the last stack and shot them into the ventilator. That completely exonerated me. Cochran made the case very easy for the secret service people. If he had sald nothing there would always have been a doubt whether that gold really went into the vault in 1887. I knew that it went in be- cause I saw every bar put in place. A rec- ord is kept at the assay office of each melt of bullion, and the bars from each melt are marked so a3 to be thoroughly identified. Thad an old invoice of the New York assay office, and with this in my hand, I checked each bar of gold as it went into the vault. Melt No. so and so would be entered as con- taining so many ounces of gold cast in so many bars. These bars and their weights had to check with the invoice as they were put on the truck. Then I followed the work- ‘man with his truck into the vault and saw each of the bars unloaded and put in place. In the meantime, Mr. Fox sat there and watched the deposit of the bars and watched the bars until they were all in place and the vault was ready for sealing. The lat- ticed door, behind which these bars were stored was really not put up so much for protection as to separate this gold from the other bullion stored in the mint. Cochran’s Cute Methods. “Cochran may be crazy,” said Mr. Pres- ton, “but he is the kind of crazy man that I want to see behind bars. He was cute enough to draw $4 on account of his salary only a few days before the discovery of the theft was made; though he had more than $5,000 at his house and did not need the ad- vance on his salary at all. ‘The prepara- tions which he had made to conceal his crime were remarkable. He had a safe set in the wall of his house so cleverly that you could hunt all day and not find it. He had secret springs in the panels of his door, and behind them he had concealed a full ‘melter’s outfit—crucible, tongs, gloves and everything. He had a’ circular stove in the top of his house made expressly for melting. He melted the bullion and added silver to it so that it was neither standard, sterling or fine. In this way he avoided the possibility of suspicion when the ex- press company delivered the bullion at the mint for him. Oh, he was a cute one. But he went all to pieces when they proposed to take the bullion out of the vault and coin it. He begged the acting superintendent to have bullion sent over from the New York assay office. One of the arguments that he used was that the bullion was piled up so prettily that he liked to show it to visitors and that it would be a shame to disturb it, When he heard that they had asked me to send a man over to supervise the weighing out, he got leave of absence and hurried over to Washington and I found him at my house at 19 o'clock at night. He begged me then not to have the vault opened. When I told him that a man had already been sent over from my office, he shook his head and said that I would not find alf the bullion in the vault. He said something about a workman get- ting through the wall behind the vault and told me that the wall was only four inches thick. I found when I went to Philadel phia that the wall was fourteen inches thick. I began to suspect something when he talked about the bullion being missing. When the gold was being weighed out, he went to the superintendent of the mint and told him that he would be thirty bars short. That js just the amount that he had taken. I asked Mr. Preston to tell me what other robberies there had been at the mints of the United States. ‘The Negus Cane. “There was the Negus case in Philadel- phia in 1851," he said. “Negus was the weighing clerk and Cochran was at that time his assistant. It was during the great gold influx following the opening of the gold beds in California in 1819. So much gold dust was coming around the Horn to New York and coming to the mint for coin. age that it was sometimes five or six weeks before a depositor received his money. In the meantime, all that the depositor had was a receipt from the weighing clerk. There were not Many checks on the weighing clerk then as there are now, and there was so long a period between the time when the gold was received and the time when it was coined that there was plenty of opportunity for Negus to help himself, He took about $10,000 worth of gold. Cochran suspected him and set a watch on him and he and another man reported the case to the superintendent, “Negus fled and I believe he was never punished. After this theft the melter and refiner and the register were made to check. on the weighing clerk for greater safety We improve the service gradually as faults are brought to our notice. A change which I made very recently requires the welsh. ing cierk to turn over his receipts of bull. fon every day instead of monthly as wre the rule. Under the old system, half'a mil. lion dollars’ worth of bullion sometimes accumulated in the hands of the weighing clerk before he turned ft over, si “The next robbery after the Ni “ I think, was in San Francisco te asset 185. The cashier of the San Franclecs mint, William Macy received from the colner one day $120,000 in double eagles, anq credited the coiner with only $100,000." The other $20.00) he kent. He also stole abont $12,000 from the ordinary funds of the nant —the funds used in paying current expons ses. He was caught and the second amount was recovered. But the $20,000 in double eagles was never recovered. Suit was he- gun on his bond, but for some Treason—I know not what—Attorney General Williams irstructed the district attorney at San Francisco to quash the indictment against Macy and to dismiss the suit against his bondsmen. So he, too, escaped without punishment. Four Silver Bars Missed. “In 187% a workman at the Philade!yhia mint stole a small quantity of silver and possibly @ little gold. The government did not recover anything, and I believe the man was not punished. In 188 another silver robbery occurred at the Philadelphia riint. There were no vaults for silver at that time and the silver bars were piled in the court- yard. Of course, no one from without could get into the courtyard without break- ing into the mint when the mint building was closed. But the employes of the mint had free access to the courtyard through the day and visitors were coming and guing all the time. One day four silver bars were missed. It was never proved to the satis- faction of one man that they were stolen. This was Prof. James C. Booth, the melter and refiner of the mint. He had receipted for the bullion and was responsible for it. One bar was recovered and Booth always claimed that the others had been melted. But he had to make good about $1,800. Booth is dead, but there is a bill now before Con- gress to reimburse his family. The bar that was recovered was sold to a bullion broker in New York. By a remarkable coincidence he was the bullion broker who had sold the bar to the mint. These bullion brokers watch bullion very closely. Something aroused the suspicions of this one, and he Icoked up the record and found that this bar had been sold to the mint. He reported the matier to us, and we caught the man in New York from whom the bar had been bought. But he was a man of some in- fluence and he was not punished. I think that they have the bar now in the Phila- delphia mint. It will weigh perhaps 800 ounces. A strong man could carry it away with him without much trouble.” I aske¢ Mr, Preston what was the welght he silver in the vaults at Philadelphia. ‘There are about 116,000,000 ounces now in the Philadelphia mint. It will take four or five months to weigh it out when the trans- fer of the mint is made to a new superin- tendent. And after the developments of last month I suppose that the new super- intendent wilt want to have a count made. All of the silver in the mint now is kept in vaults. We do not pile it in the court- yard any more.” There was a small robbery in the New Orleans mint in 1880. The coin in one of the vaults was being counted, and negro steve- dores were hired to carry the bags from the vault. Each bag contained 1,00 silver dol- lacs. ‘The men who were keeping tally at the vault door disagreed about the count and the bags of silver were taken back into the vault. When they were counted again one bag was missing. It was never accounted for, but the general belief was that one of the workmen had carried it away under his coat. Since the robbery of 1885, Mr. Preston seid, there had been no theft from the mints so far as he knew until the Cochran case, except the case of the cashier of the New Orleans mint, James M. Dowling, who ‘was arrested recently on suspicion of hav- ing robbed the government of $24,000 In cut rency. There was a fire in the vault of the mint between Saturday night and Monday morning, and Dowling claimed that the missing currency was destroyed in this fire. He was suspected of having kindled the fire to cover up a crime, and he is now out on bail. The Jewelers’ Complaints. I spoke to Mr. Preston of the complaints which have been made since the Cochran robbery by the jewelers of Philadelphia that they had not received full value for old jewelry which they had sold to the mint as bullion. These jewelers claim that they are victims of Mr. Cochran. “I have no doubt,” said Mr. Preston, “that the jewelers have received all that their jewelry is worth. Old jewelry is a mean thing to deal with. It is very sel- dom worth what it seems to be worth. ‘There was a lady in here only a few days ago who wanted us to send some jewelry to the mint for her, and she expected to get $15 or $25 for it. I am going to send word to her that she will have to send it over to the mint herself. We had an ex- perlence a year or two ago that cured us of sending old jewelry to the mint for people. ‘The wife of a well-known public man came into our office one day, accompanied by her husband, and showed me some gold chains and other jeweiry; family heirlooms. She said that she had taken them to a jeweler and he had told her that they were worth $85. He would not give that amount for them, he sald, because he could not use them in his business, and he would have to send them to Philadelphia. He advised her to send them to Philadelphia herself. I told her that I thought that she would find that thelr value had been overestimated, and that if she could get $60 or even $5 she would better take it. But she insisted, and to oblige her I sent the jewelry to the mint, accompanied by a letter asking them to be particularly careful in handling It. They sent me for this jewelry $43. ‘The lady was very much dissatisfied, and she is very much dissatistied to this day. Since that experience we have made it a rule not to send jewelry to the mint to oblige any one.” I asked Mr. Preston if he thought, in view of the fact that all the other mint rob- bers had been allowed to go scot-free, Coch- ran would be punished. He said that it was certainly remarkable that immunity should have been granted so many offenders, but that he believed that Cochran would be punished; and thet so far as he had any- ing to do with the prosecution, it wo be pushed. i: ——_——_—_+e-______ News of the Day. From Life. Mrs. Jenks—' day?" Mr. Jenks—“Lots. The Daily Humper has bought a new press and doubled its circula- tion within a week and started “a new building, and it printed half a million ad- vertisemnts last week, and it's going to dis- tribute oil portraits of all the champion sluggers with its next Sunday edition, and it has arranged with Prof. Sourkraut to furnish it with a new tune for the Star Spangled Banner, and is going to have a guessing contest on the weight of the fox which the Ladada Fox Hunt Club didn’t catch, and it has hired Bloody Mike to write a novel to be printed after he is hung, and it offers a trip to the world’s fair to the servant girl who proves the best pa- tren of the Situations Wanted column, and it insures every reader against being hit by a meteorite, and it bas arranged for an exclusive special cable account of the cane sucking contest between Lord Dude of Eng- land and Mr. Hoffman Howes of America, and It has started a bread fund for walking delegates who are out of work. ———— ee At Fifty. A man fifty years old has, according to a French statistician, worked 6,500 days, slept 6,000, amused himself 4,000,’ walked 12,000 miles, been ill 600 days, has partaken of 36,000 meals, eaten 16,000 pounds of meat and 4,000 pounds of fish, eggs and vegetables and drunk 7,000 gallons of fluid,which would make a lake of 80 feet surface if 3 feet “Any news in the paper to- “Can't git yer head out, Jimmy? Hol’ on, an’ we'll pull ye troo.” ' =a Apa Me dol apie Y i Fig Ns didn’t. IN UNCLE SAM'S DEBT People Who Are Sorry for Having Cheated the Government. MONEY SENT 70 THE CONSCIENCE FUND. Some of the Queer Letters Which Accompany Contributions. MANY KINDS OF CHEATS. HE $2,500 CONTRI- bution sent to the conscience fund of the treasury the other day was the largest, save one, that has been received in seven years. Just about that long ago the halves of eight $1,000 bills came by mail with an anonymous note, saying that the other halves would " be forwarded if ac- knowledgment of the first batch was made in the newspapers. This was done, and Uncle Sam was richer by $8,000. No ex- planation was offered, and the offair re- mains a mystery. The exception above not- ed was a “wad” of $4,995, simply folded in @ sheet of paper, with the word “Con- science” scrawled on it. On one occasion Postmaster General Wanamaker got a let- ter with $1,000 in it and the written words: “This 1s the balance of interest I owe on @ sum of money I stole from the govern- ™ent in 1865. I have now paid principal and interest—in all $17,500. No man has suffered for his crime more than I, and now I pray the Lord's forgiveness for my si tters with inclosures intended for the corsclence fund are usually addressed to the Secretary of the Treasury. By him they are sent to the public moneys division, which makes note of the amounts and de- posits them with the treasurer of the United States. The sums received are almost al- ways in cash, with now and then a draft. They are never accompanied by the names of the senders, except once in a while in the cases of persons who have made mis- takes as to payments of customs duties. The written communications relating to them are very brief, as a rule. If other- wise, they contain elaborate apologies and appeals. Some Are Funny. Some of them are funny. For example, one consclence-stricken person wrote not long ago from Suspension Bridge, saying: “Since the emancipation of negroes I have taken two pairs of shoes of a ship that the gunboats captured. I tuck the shoes while she lay at Key West.” The letter was signed “An Irish Man, and with it was inclosed $2.50. Another correspondent sends $500, “in settlement of incom tox." His note, addressed to the “Conciance Burough” of the Treasury, ex- plains that when the tax referred to was levied he was not able to state his income without injuring his business. Only the other day a remittance of $3.40 was received from a man who felt sorry for “having beaten his passage on a government train during the war.” Another sum of $100 came from an individual who regretted having been a party to certain undervaluations in the matter of customs duties. It was post- marked “London” and was signed, “One who ts suffering.” Wrapping two postage stamps was a scrap of paper with the “Money that belongs to the govern- The great majority of such contributions are small amounts. To “Koncience” is credited $5 and to “Conshins” $2. Another person sends #2 to the “Conshions fund.” One old soldier is a regular customer. He forwards % from time to time “on account of $100 which I obtained by unfairness sev- enteen or eighteen years ago, and which I hope to Iquidate, I give my God the bene- fit of the doubt.” A draft for $107 on New York, received from St. Louis the other day, ‘and addressed to “Mr. B. Carlisle,” was folded in a sheet of paper which bore simply the word “Delinquent.” It was handed over to the “conscience” account. A correspondent writes, “Please credit the inclosed 25 cents to C. nd oblige.” In neat feminine hand anonymous mi sive which says: lady who recently wore to a statement which she now finds to be wrong sends to you $27.” ‘On several occasions it has happened that People have cut bills in two, sending one- half to the Secretary of the Treasury and the other half to the treasurer of the United States for the sake of safety. There are persons who do not entertain absolute faith in the integrity of government officials. One man forwarded $10 to the conscience fund a while ago, saying, “Pay this money where it belongs and keep your record clear.” A repentant Hoosier writes: “In- closed find $4, which I return to the gov- ernment, having beaten’ her out of thi amount in minor ways from time to tim It is a French woman, sorry for smuggling, Probably, who*remits $1.26, with the words, “C'est pour le tresorie” scribbled on a scrap of paper. Very Careful About It. The person who sent $2,500 to the con- science fund the other day was very care- ful about it. He mailed at the same time $1,500 to the Secretary of the Treasury, $600 to the United States treasurer and $400 to the assistant treasurer at New York. He claimed that the sum mentioned completed a payment of $20,000 made by him as double restitution for $10,000, of which he had de- frauded the government during the war. Whether this statement was true or not cannot possibly be ascertained, owing to the fact that no separate account has ever been kept of contributions to this fund. This is unfortunate, because it leaves an opening through which dishonest individ- uals might asperse the integrity of govern- ment officials. In forwarding money to the conscience fund the senders frequently request that acknowledgment shall be made by publl- cation in the newspapers. To do this the ‘Treasury Department is not obliged to ad- vertise, inasmuch as the reporters gather items of the sort every day and print them as news. Very many of the contributions are in sums of only a few cents each. Some people are morbidly conscientious and un- dergo tortures of mind in consequence of such peccadilloes as using a few sheets of government paper for private puzposes. By remitting a few pennies to the proper quarter they can save themselves many agonies. Sometimes the inclosure is only two cents. Probably that signifies repent. ance for a postage stamp used twice. Now and then it happens that a stamp does not get canceled on its way through the mails. Being still perfectly good, there is a temp- tation to stick it upon another letter. It is a melancholy thing to be obliged to say that the swindles against the govern- ment which bear such fruit of repentance seem to be a sadly small percentage of the multifarious cheats that are practiced un- those who perpetrate them. People every- where’ are continually trying to get ahead of Uncle Sam in one way or another, Chief Special Agent Tingle of the Treasury Department said yesterday that, if certain New York importers would hand over to the conscience fund what they have withheld coffers of the nation would be now filled to overflowing. It 1s likely that nearly half of the anonymous contributions referred to are from individuals who have been tempt- ed to smuggle in a small way. This method of robbing the government is by far the most popular. Voyagers returning from across the scas fetch gems concealed in cakes of soap, in the hollowed heels of boots, beneath porous plasters and even in rifle cartridges, the powder behind each bullet being removed. The device of folding diamonds in a slice of meat, feeding the latter to a dog just before reaching port, and killing the animal a few hours later, is a familiar one. It is actually said that a pet pelican was landed on one occasion with a necklace of rubies in its pouch. Dolls carried by little children have been used as hiding places for such treas- ures, and customs officers have been obliged to administer emetics to steamer passengers and sit down to walt for swallowed precious stones to reappear. The government only ex- acts a duty of ten per cent on cut diamonds, because, if it were higher, they would all be smuggled and Uncle Sam would get nothing. Havana cigars are thrown over- board at quarantine in rubber bags with floais attached, to be picked up by boats. ‘The same thing is done with cans of oplum on the Pacific coast. The canned juice of the poppy is hidden tn the coal on trans- Pacific steamers, or inclosed in hollowed logs shipped from Canada to the United States in cargoes of timber. Counterfeiters Never Repent. It 4s belleved that counterfeiters, whose business it is to swindle the government, detected and apparently unregretted by | jby fraud in customs duties, the depleted | never repent. At all events, no contribu- | tons from them ever reach the conscience | fund. As a rule, they keep at the business until they die, save when in prison. Even while in durance vile they have been known to produce false money and put it in cir- culation through confederates outside. Within three years a lunatic in an Indiana asylum has uttered forgeries on the United States currency. It is a form of crime most difficult to suppress. However, owing to the efforts of the secret service and to the high artistic quality of the en- sraving of treasury and bank notes, this kind of fraud has almost been put an end to. The great counterfeiters of former are passed away, in jail, or closely watch- ea. Tn the last category 1s the celebrated Charles Smith, greatest of all forgers, who, after keeping the treasury in alarm for twenty years, was caught, escaped prison by turning state's evidence, and is now Working for a bank note company in New York. His fromer colleague, Brockway, is living in Brooklyn on a fortune acquired in the nefarious occupation, having served his sentence. Pete McCartney, who invented the ‘plan of washing the ink from real $1 bills to get fiber paper to print $500 bills on, is dead. Dead likewise is One-eyed Thomp- son, who was the first man to send an ex- plosive box for the purpove of blowing up an enemy. His fad was for turning $2 notes into fiftie: With the arrest of the greatest living expert in that line last year the in- dustry of raising notes to higher denomina. tions has been brought practically to an end. The mysterious pen-and-ink bills, exe- cuted by an imitative geniu: till turn up from time to time, to the annoyance of the authorities; but they seem to be produced only at the rate of about two a year, rath- er for the amusement of their author than for profit. Uncle Sam loses a considerable sum every year by the dishonesty of postmasters, who help themselves from the funds obtained by the sale of money orders and stamps. They get into financial difficulties and “borrow” the cash, expecting to replace it. Such oc- currences are particularly likely to happen at @ period of financial stringency like the present. In most instances of the sort, however, the government is made whole by the bonds of the delinquent officials. It is quite different in the case of burglarized Post offices. Several hundred of them are robbed every year. There was one instance in Minneapolis, seven years ago, where thieves got into the post office at night and cracked the safe. Directly in front of the safe was a big plate glass window, but it was covered with frost, so that nobody could see through it from ‘the outside. The robbers got away with 600,00 two cent stamps and 200,000 one cent stamps. Only about one-third of the booty was recovered, All postage stamps spoiled in the printing are now reduced to a pulp like the re- deemed paper money. Formerly they were burned, but the person in charge of the work eight years ago saved out several thousand dollars’ worth of them and sold them at a discount for his own emolument. Because the Post Office Department has been unable to procure an indelible ink for cancellation, some stamps are doubUless washed and’ reused, but not very many. Reusing Internal Revenue Stamps. Another fashion in which the treasury is swindled is by using internal revenue stamps more than once. The distiller may attach a stamp to the top of a whisky barrel with poor mucilage or very short tacks, so that it can be readily removed afterwards. The government gauger can- cels it with a series of black lines across it. ‘This shows that the tax has been paid. ‘The barrel goes to a wholesale dealer and is emptied. He is obligel by law to de- stroy the stamp. Instead of doing so he removes it intact and returns it to the distiller to be placed upon another barrel. Or he may take out the head of the barrel with the stamp on it, drop it into the empty receptacle, put a fresh head in, and ship the barrel back to the distiller.” The latter refills the barrel and puts the stamp- ed head on it again, thus making it ap- pear that the contents have paid the tax. From the fact that the government spends $500,000 a year in running down illicit dis- tillers In the mountain regions of the south alone it may be imagined what enormous loss their operations cause to Uncle Sam. ‘The moonshiner apparently never gets con- science stricken. At all events, he does not exhibit such feelings, in any way more Ipable than by shooting revenue agents. censed manufacturers of spirits swindle the treasury out of a vast sum annually by producing more liquor than they acknowl- edge and selling it secretly. The makers and sellers of tobacco in various forms are 80 strictly watched that it is very hard for them to succeed in any dishonest trick. Now and then a dealer in cigars, who runs, @ factory of one man power, will keep fill- ing his boxes as they are emptied, so as to avold paying the tax, but the stealing is on @ petty scale. The gold coins of the realm are “sweated” by means of a simple apparatus consisting of an electric battery, a solution of cyanide of potash, and a copper wire. The wire, both ends of which are immersed in the solu- tion, has a lump of zinc at one end and a $20 piece fastened to the other. It is con- nected with the battery, and, the current be- ing turned on, the gold from the coin is deposited upon the zine. After as much of the metal has been removed as is considered prudent the gold piece is restored to cir- culation, The same process can be applied to silver dollars, though It hardly pays However, this fraud does not in the end rob Uncle Sam, because such coins on reaching the treasury are stamped “light,” and thrown out. A fraud on the government of a com- paratively innocent sort is often practiced in the army. A quartermaster finds his stores short by 100 tent pins, five anvils and fourteen sledgehammers. Very likely it is not his fault; such things will happen. Fresently a jer deserts from the troop and disappears. Inctdcuially to the report of the desertion sent to Washington men- tion is made of 100 tent pins, five anvils and fourteen sledgehammers having disap- peared with the delinquent. The latter is supposed to be walking fifty miles across country with these articles. This squares the quartermaster, who would otherwise be obliged to pay for the missing things. While the recipient of so many contribu- tions due to conscience, Uncle Sam is fre- quently appealed to for sums of money which he is supposed to owe to individuals. People often put in claims for great amounts which they imagine to have been deposited In the treasury by their ances- tors. These deposits they believe to have grown to fabulous size with accumulated interest. It is as difficult to persuade such persons that they are deceived as it is to upset the delusions of those who have faith in gigantic inheritances awaiting them in the Bank of England. serine Ses MRS. JULIA WARD HOWE. She is a Thinker and Scholar as Well as a Poet. Mrs. Howe ts a slow writer, elaborating with great care, and only publishing when every one of the half dozen critics who fre- quent her boudoir have pronounced her every word the best that could have been selected. She was ten years in writing “Later Lyrics,” and often two days in cor- recting a sinwle word or line of some one of its poems. From her contributions to the periodical press she has not realized a for- | tune. For the “Battle Hymn” she was paid % by the Atlantic; for “Our Orders,” $10 by the same liberal’ journal. Fifteen’ dollars for fire enough to set a continent in a blaze! But Mrs. Howe is more than a poet; she is a thinker and a scholar, and these are | rare things in a woman. She reads half a | dozen different languages, and has out- | stripped most men in the higher walks of philosophy and literature. She is familiar with Hegel, Compte, Goethe, Dante, denborg and all the great masters of song, faith and metaphysics. She has also min- gled with cultivated society and traveled extensively, both in this and the old world. But she is not an artificial “lady.” She is a large-hearted woman—one whose soul jhas been energized by study, elevated by reflection, chastened by sorrow ani sancti- | fled by faith. Her home, too, has always been worthy of the best of housekeeping and her chii- dren have never been neglected for the less Important interests of other people. The following anecdote filustrates her great presence of mind, as well as her loving care of her little ones: On one occasion litt tle Laura, a baby two years old, was left alone by ‘the nurse in the nursery, which was in the fourth story. Mrs. Howe hap- pened to enter the room, and to her horror saw little Laura rolling about on the broad window-sill, the window being wide open; only a inches space between her and the edge, and then—the street, fifty feet below. ‘The mother stepped quickly and quietly back out of sight and called gently: “Laura, come here, dear! Come to me! I have something to show you.” A moment's | agonized pause—and then she heard the lit. tle feet patter on the floor, and in another instant held the child clasped in her arms. Sn Raines ag Those Amenities. (of Washington)—“Do you know r since I have known you you have reminded me so much of one of my best friends at home. The resemblance is quite striking. Your nose and mouth, for in- stance, are precisely like hers, She's an awfully pretty girl, tos Lulu (of New York)— me.” ‘Louise—“Ye: one of the greatest ton. And (musingly able, too, for Marie feature in her face.” Really, you flatter indeed, she is regarded as ities In Washing- rather remark- ty hasn't a single good STYLES FOR AUTUMN. A Number of Timely Suggestions For the Little Ones. SOME USEEUL AND PREITY FROCKS That Can Be Made Without Too Great Expense, COSTUMES FOR CYCLING. ‘This is the time of year when all women are more or less interested in the matter of their clothes. Now that the summer is over the matter becomes all the more press- ing, for it involves a change from summer to winter styles. Women who have small children to look after are doubly interested, The small boy may be taken to @ clothier and fitted out without much trouble, but with the small girl the case is otherwise and her garments should receive almost 2s much attention as do those of her elders. For this reason and as a relief to the mothers, we will have a little chat right here about some suggestions for stylish and timely frocks for the little ones. ————P The first picture represents a dress of navy blue hop sacking. This is made with yoke, full waist and skirt and leg-o'-mutton sleeves. The yoke is outlined with broad black satin ribbon, on the upper edge of which is placed a single line of black gimp. The belt is trimmed in the same way, and three rows are placed about the sleeves and one atout each skirt. This skirt is a double one, and looks quite stylish. A dress for a little girl to wear on a safety bicycle is next shown. 1t is made with a blouse waist, the top of which ts tucked, to form a yoke, which, of course, gives additional fullness to the blouse. ‘The top of the skirt is tucked In the same way, and fits quite smoothly around the waist and hips. A broad box pleat goes down the middle of the waist and Is laced with a cord on the outside, though the blouse buttons underneath it. This suit can be made in either blue, brown or almost any dark color, and will look very neat on the street. A costume of the same description, but for a larger girl, is shown im the third cut. It is gathered at the shoulders and the full- ness is brought down to the center of the front, where it is laid in) several smal) tucks, upon which large peari buttons are placed. Broad lapels finish it off and leave an open space, which is filled in with @ chemisette or a shirt waist. ‘The skirt and waist are sewed together. and the whole buttons down the left hand side of the skirt. Any small hat can be worn with this providing it be a dark color. ‘The young girl in the picture wears a sailor matching her gown in color. | is shown in the next | illustration. It is made of red cashmere and is trimmed with silk, which has a red | ground and a black, blue or white figure. The full draped y is continued down aad forms a vest also. It is finished at the neck by @ heading. Broad revers of the { i HEH SS 2 fantasia Hn ie aE rai: ie te uft a5 5 t : if 3 Hil raised the submerged plain high and 4rs, with a steep decline to u.» westward. The rushing flood cut the land mto ridges and ravines, high bluffs and sorely rocks being scattered promiscuously in living evidence of the revolution. ‘The surface thus presents « broken and jcturesque scene. Chief among the won- jerful products of these prehistoric convul- sions and deluges is a canyon over in the northwestern part of Whitman county con- taining Rock lake, a sheet of walcr twelve miles long by about 10) rods wide, bordered by cliffs ascending perpendicalariy to @ height of 1,700 to 2.500 feet. The canyon of Rock lake runs east to west. It is a deep hole in a plateau of solid rock, and the bot- tom never has been sounded by man. ‘he eastward extremity falls xbraptly from the bed of a small creek down and down 590 feet, over a cascade, down another plunge of 600 feet, and off finally over a second cas- cade 3% feet to the bottom. Above the land rolls away in small heaps 02 stone and bar- ren slopes for five miles on either side, Down at the bottom is a valley, one by three miles in extent, and covered with the prettiest coat of tropical fol'age to be found anywhere. 7 ‘The climate in this declivity is as tropical and dglightful as that which gives Hawait an envied fame all the world over. The temperature seldom falls below @ degrees Fahrenheit and rarely goes above 9 de grees. The cold of winter ‘s seemingly un- able to reach the level of the valley. owing to the internal warmth aaturaliy belonging to a hole so deep. The neat o* summer is tempered by the covlink inflacnces of the lake adjoining. The west end of this little Garden of Eden jumps abruptly over @ precipice 109 feet into Rock lake, and the western end of the lake, iwenty miles fur ther on, finds an outlet throu.h a narrow passageway between hills sloping sharpl and soon breaking into #ismembered pyra= mids of basalt rock. The surface of Rock lake is not much above sea ievel, and the unfathomable depth of the water, clear a crystal, connected with weird surroundings, affords a theme for philosopiic meditation Not surpassed by the sublime ruggedness of the Alps. "An Indian legend of this remarkable take makes It the home of a monstroas nea ser- pent. The remnants of the ret iribes which used to frequent its shores tell their white neighbors that no Indian can venture into the water, either for a bath or a pleasure trip in a canoe, without Leing swallowed whole by the hideous reptile, and to this day the aborigines look upon Iteck Jak with the same apprehension that an old- time orthodox ponders over the verrors of purgatory. Their legend declares that of entire tribe was lashed to destruction and eaten not many centuries azo, all to satisfy the greed of this very monster. At another time, during the outbreak quclled by Col. Steptoe in i858, a band of noble red men, tm their efforts to escape the vigilance of cle Sam's bluecoats, tried (> concoal them. selves above this lake in rhe little paradise, but were overtaken by the great fish, the legend avows, and sent to eternity. “ Stans of Prosperity. From the New York ‘Tritmne. “You will pardon me, sir,” said Hungry Walker to the man with the dress sult and the white waistcoat. “Go away! I don't want to buy eny court plaster.” “Sir, you are rash and impetuous, A Square inch of this gelatinized silk which I daily vend here might save your life. . you pink-whiskered fraud!” But sir, pray consider. You have plen- t only have en abund- 's goods, but you ares are expensiv’ years, The man who wears a w coat in the evening must have a brand new = dress suit. Nobody suit with a white wi white watstcoa is not rusty, rs a rusty dress coat. You have a re, Your dress sult you must have bought it only a short time ago, you have money. “A man who Wears a bew dress sult must stand in with his tailor, and the man who has a white waistcoat must have a number one rating with his washerwoman. Sir, you are at peace with your tailor and wash- erwoman. You have been strangely blessed by fortune and you can well afford to spend 5 cents for this diminutive packet. “Thank you, friend Croesus. Tl drink to your health with the proceeda.*