Evening Star Newspaper, October 14, 1893, Page 12

THE EVENING STAR: WASHINGTON, D. C. SATURDAY, OCTOBER 14, 1893-SIXTEEN PAGES. VOYAGE EN SUISSE. A Summer Outing on the Lake of Lucerne, THE TOURIST AND THE LION. Innkeepers Say it Has Been a Dull Season for Them. WAS IT THE WORLD’S FAIR? Gpecial Correspondence of The Evening Star. PARIS, September 3 1893. UCERNE IS A Swiss town of 20,000 inhabitants, situated on a lake whose wa- ters are ag blue as indigo. It ts the cap- {tal of @ canton, al- though you would never think it, a town partly old and very much new, clean, sweet, fresh, set in a Just = Tourist. found myself beside a commercial drummer, also carrying a valise, a communicative drummer, a German drummer, who took me for a drummer like himself. Together we went to the Hotel of the Moor, an old- fashioned, but cozy nook, in which to hide from the extortions of one of the most ex- pensive summer resorts in Europe, from the glare of wealth and fashion, from the in- solent happiness of North German aristo- crats, Paris stockbrokers, Roman nobles, American manufacturers and thelr ladies, and the stony self-satisfaction of English old maids and London swells in loud-colored Isnickerbockers, smoking pipes. For public amusement in the evening Lucerne has a casino, something like a club, which any one may enter on paying the ad- mission price. Here there ts a cafe, a prom- enade and a little variety “heater. There is also what purpo: a London Music Hall” and several beer-garden-like concerts in the open air. ‘The audience is very cosmopolitan, as may be judged either by listening to the sentences in mixed languages which float to you between the s of the Hungarian orchestra or by inspecting the newspapers on file. from the Paris Herald to the Galig- nani'3 Messenger. and from the Paris Fi- garo to the Berlin Tageblatt and from the Tribuna of Rome to the Swiss and Nice ‘Times. another fin de siecle sheet in Eng- ish made up of hotel advertisements. On the strangers’ list of the latter French and German es appear most frequently, Sem Few American, Italian and Span- The Hungarian band is playing the over- ture to Semiramide. There ts the cracklin: notse of those who walk upon the garden Paths. rolling the gravel beneath thelr feet. An American professor of statistics at one side ts telling how at the late monetary conference at Brussels one of the American delegates opened eight cases of whisky, which he had brought over with him. The rich twang of two dulcimers giving some- thing like a plano accompaniment to the stringed orchestra ts obscured by the con- Yersation of two Londoners scussing the future of the skirt dance. Meanwhile a Party of North Germans are telling over to ¢ach other the joys of thelr ascent of Mount Pilatus. “Wunderschon! —Wunderschon!” Nobody lstens to the music. great mountains here divide the attention of the tourist, the Right and Mount Pilatus. The Iat- Yer is nearest the town and it ts the On the Quai. imposing in appearance. Frequently its head is lost in clouds; for which reason bishop Trench decided its name, Pila- to be derive! from the Latin “ptlea- tus*—“having a cap.” The Swiss think dif- . Pontius Pilate, being banished ferusalem, here ended his days of unending remorse by jumping from its He had essayed it several times be- without success. The last time an opened for him, with smoke and flame and demoniacal cat cail¢ and ringing bells and beating of infernal drums. It Closed upon him and Mount Pilatus resum- 4 its implacable serenity. It is a tradition very much more than a thousand years old. Not so many years ago it was considered Seat feat to climb such Alps. Being on summit of one. the adventurers looked aristocratically upon the panorama and thetr fearsome companions of the val ley. Today this same -desire to do extra- ordimary things tempts ladies and gentle- men to risk thelr necks on slippery snow and along ugly precipices. But the pieas- ure of mounting Pilatus and the Righi, to Say Rothing of the dizzy riding up to the Saint Gotthard tunnel, is all made comfort- able and easy. The Rishi is as tramped over by trippers as is the Paris boulevard. Peantiful clean-painte1 steamers, with their side paddles lashing the blue water of Lake Lucerne into glorious white foam. convey thetr to the foot of the moun- tain, there to be transferred to sturdy little cars pushed up the steep incline by puffing Iittle locomotives. At the verious stops groups of summer boarders hang tndolently around the little stations. Others are seen climbing. Others are sketching. Others are manipulating soubdistressing kodak, Guides with a H ili i their suspenders on wrong-side around and with eagie’s feathers stuck into thelr caps solicit the patronage of those who wish to sit and rest their legs. Children, jumping from hillock to hillock, mock at their elders. Past waterfalls, over gorges, up, up, into a clearer sunlight, into a thinner atmos- phere, you are continually kept mounting. At the summit there is perched a hotel and a platform, whereon sit dirty but benevo- lent mountaineers, playing symphonies of their own composing on cow horns of their Up Among the Clouds. | own manufacture, for the sake of Alpine fealism. The shells of hard-boiled esse, rown paper bags, refuse bread erusts and empty bottles and sardine cans attest the march of the people. Two dozen booths, with their indifferent assortments of cheap mementos, carved penholders, toy chalets, watch charms, gaudy postal cards and the Uke distract the attention of many people from the view. The rarity of the air makes the heart beat quickly and the legs to tot- ter. On your return to earth again you will feel a buzzing in the ears for hours, your voice will seem: muffied to your ears and the houses and trees will swim round you. ‘Taking in the Review. On the mountain top your privilege is to stand or sit and take in the view. Some stand or sit for hours, some have been able to receive the proper impression in ten minutes. It is impossible to describe {t. ‘The distances are so immense, the colors so rich, the sense of freedom from earth so glorious, one’s sense of power is so in- creased, you breathe light, you see air, you so intoxicate yourself with wonders at the greatness of God that you almost feel like weeping. Guides point out this peak and that glacier, eagle-faced old fellows, with hard, dry hands, who waik proudly, with bright eyes, dweflers of the mountains, su- percilious of the valleys. Can't you see that peak? No, I see nothing. Have you no eyes? Here, another of you, come and help this tourist look. You begin where he leaves off, You ought to manage it together! Then it is to the expensive Hotel Schreiber, rav- enous. Lucerne wants “plungers,”successful bust- ness men of all nations trying to get into society, Engilsh and Americans of the right stamp, and Frenchmen, too. The hotels are not filled, except in their cheapest rooms. Their ‘proprietors are in despair. ‘To take the place of high-class money. spend- ers there has been a heretofore undreamed of mob of extremely average people. They are people who come, see and go—kiss and Tun—people who make use of tourist hotel | coupons, who do not give dinner parties, who drink cheap wine, who do not hire car- riages by the week, who do not take suites of rooms, who scrutinize their bills, who— in a word—are little fish. ign } i | ! | Various reasons are gi condition of a:fairs, which, by the way, seems to exist all over Europe. Some say it is the Chicago fair; Atlantic steamship companies deny any increase of traific, yet the traffic for one summer has changed direction. They say it turaing—but Europeans going across and coming back. Heaven grant that it may be so, that for one summer at least Europe may pay back to us a ten thousandth part of the money Americans have spent on her. Others say the cause of European su resort stagnation Is due to the depression of silver; that the financial shakiness which exists all over the world aifects rich people with investments, and that the mob of cheap trippers escape untouched, because they have nothing much to be touched, be- cause they travel on their earnings, not their incomes. It is admitted that this ts not making a Proper use of Lucerne. The position of this beautiful city, situated in the midst of the routes most favored by tourists and at the entrance to the magnificent scenery of the forest cantons, renders a passing cessity. But this very facility of travel is changing the contented and settled life even of rich travelers, who were wont to come and stay. The town fs built on both banks of a river as it comes from the lake. It is com- manded by hilla crowned with a fine growth of fir and beech forests. The re- mains of the anctent wall, defended at in- tervals by picturesque towers,gives a pleas- ing effect to the outlines of the town when saen from the lnke or the surrounding hills. ‘The peasants who come Into town wisely cling to the eccentric costurhes of their an- cestors, brightening by contrast (and none know {t better than they) the modern glor- {es of tailors and milliners upon the backs that, although the | is not Americans coming over and re- | r | through the town almost a matter of ne-j| | of snobs, The streets are clean and free from smells. They are of two classes, | Streets of great hotels and shops, and the streets of the people of Lucerne. For the nervous sightseer a day exhausts the city sights, formal shop windows, formal hotels, formal rowboats decked with perfunctory Chinese lanterns upon a hackneyed lake, however beautiful. The pictures of the Dance of Death, which date from the fif- teenth century, and Which string along the Uttle covered wooden bridge, contain tame representations of Death taking the bride, the peasant, the merchant, the emperor, the bishop, and all the rest. And in a dir- ty Mttle garden, quite in the German taste, nestling lugubriously in the dank shelter of a sweating rock which bathes its feet in @ murky little duck pond, you see the Lion of Lucerne. It is cracking and chipping off more and more each year, with the damp and the weather. A few days after seeing it the writer was visiting the French fort- Tess at Eelfort, in the corner of Alsace which has been retained By France, the strongest fortress the republic boasts. It, too, has a gigantic lion, carved in stone by Bartholdi (of the Statue of Liberty), which lion stands to give honor to thé defenders of the fortress who fell in 1870, It is lar- ger than that of Lucerne, carved in cut stone, which {s not likely to chip or wear, and ts, moreover, painted red! with water- proof paint. The old soldier who guards the Lion of Belfort asked sympathetically after the condition of his brother of Lu- cerne, when I told him I had been there; he had heard Thorwaldsen’s masterpiece was suffering from the weather, and recom- mended the same brand of paint. Standing before the Lion of Lucerne, you read in the gufde books how it is meant to typity the fidelity of the Swiss Guard of Louis XVI who perished because that fat- brained monarch had not the wit to let them save themselves and bim. The lion Nes in his damp grotto, stretched in the agonies of death, with a broken lance Piercing his side, while his paw rests on the Bourbon coat of arms, Helvetiorum fidel ac virtuti. Beneath are the names of the slain officers, slain, curiously enough, the fecond batch of them, at least, exactly a one years e 3 day September, 19g.» “f° he 34 ~ ‘The Lion of Lucerne does not need paint. STERLING HEILIG. —_—.__ OLD-TIME Cownoys. Change im the Character of the Texan Roand-Up Artists. From the Dallas News, Time and fashions pass away, and man- ners and customs change in western Texas Just as everywhere else. The old-time cowboy 1s no more. He passed in his checks with the free grass custom. The big pasture has introduced a new order of cowboy, who sleeps in a house and “obeys orders” or quits. The old cow- boy was the companion of his boss and shared his pleasures and his hardships. No manager in his big headquarter rock house reminded him of his inferior rank in soci- ety, nor did any of the modern ranch ac- cessories mar the common dangers, the Pleasures and the freedom and equality of the whilom cowboy and cowman. But the ranch in the olden time was a cotton wood log house to cook in, and for roof and protection from the weather the slicker was Used, and mother earth supplied their beds. The broad range and the overhanging sky answered for house and home. A round-up in 1867-188) was not bounded by wire fences, but the boys galloped out of camp after breakfast, made a wide sweep and all then drove toward a common cen- ter, and lo! directly at that point was gath- ered a herd of stock cattle of all brands, ready for the cut to begin. The high-toned man was tabooed. I remember such a man appeared at the ranch of J. T., in Shackel- ford county, in 189. He was a city feller, and would say “thank you" and such like. His intense politeness and high-toned non- sense aggravated the boys mightily. Jim B. in particular (poor fellow!) was espe- clally fretted by his nonsense, as he called it, and tried to ridicule tt out of ‘him, but in vain. At last his resentment ripened into genuine hatred, and it was hard to keep | the peace between them, for the city feller | had grit too. Well, one morning in 1869, at Mountain pass, In Taylor county, long before any one lived in that section, Jim got awfully mad and gave the city feller a cussing, where- upon a row resulted and bloodshed was barely prevented there and then. We got the city feller to ride off and it looktd like peace had returned, but one hour later Jim B. and his amiable enemy met off at one side of the round-up. I happened to be near. In @ flash the city chap ran before Jim, dismounted, leveled bis gun on him and demanded an apology or death. Jim jerked out two six-shooters, but sald noth- ing, and instantly the city feller fired. Poor Jim rolled off his horse a dead man. I got to them just as Jim fell. He died instantly, shot through the heart. — Hi: slayer mounted his horse and “lit out. We buried Jim and went on with our herd, two men short, but with no discordant ele- ment among us. Such was the old way. The boys were courteous and kind, they were generous and brave, industrious and honest, but they would not stand any high- toned ‘nonsense. A new era has set in. Which is the best we cannot say, but one thing Is sure, with all his faults, ‘and they were many, the old-time cowboy was a man to be trusted in peace or war and the very soul of honor. May his beat parts be ever present among his successors in western "exas. ———_+e+_ _____ The Mirror. Written for The Evening Star by Anne Worthington. ‘Within the dim and stlent cakes hall It hangs, and in its bosom dark and deep, Fair forms and many faces bright have shone, Where now but misty shadows slowly creep. Dark ta the gilded carving of the frame ‘That binds the sncient glass; but once ‘twas bright: For many # year ago, when all was gay Within the great old hall on Christmas night, There shone the brightly blszing Yuletide log; ‘With bolly wreaths the walls were all aglow, And gally ‘neath the sparkling candles swung A branch of merry green leafed mistletoe. Then flashed within the mirror maidens fair, Who tripped with measured steps the dance along, And courtly gentlemen with powdered batr, And stately dames were seen amid the throng. Sometimes, when all the guests had left the hall, And but the dancing firelight lit the floor, ‘It saw some pair of lovers lingering there, And beard the sweet old story told once more. And when at last these, too, were gone, it saw All night the firelight flicker on the wall, Flashing upon the portraits grave and still, | Chasing dim shadows through the wide old hall. {Or, when the summer sunshine filled the air, And through the silent hall sweet breezes passed, Rustling the curtaln’s silken folds, Bringing sweet odors from the woodland vast, Tt saw some little wondering baby's face, Who peered within tts depths as half afraid, |Then slowly passed from without the hall into | The wide green lawos wherein the children played. | And on one Hallowe'en, when all was dark, | Save for one candie’s glimmering ght that threw | Strange shadows in its depths, that weird and dim Seemed ghostly shapes that passed its darkness througb— It saw approaching dowa the winding statz, ‘A maid, who, half in mirth and half in fear, Had come to try the strange old charm and seo Her future in the shadowy glass appear And as she looks all startled in its depths, With great wide eyes and crimson lips apart, Tue mirror doth reflect another face— ‘That of the one whose love hath gained her heart. For soft he steals upon her as sbe looks, To gaze with her nto the future great, And tells her as he steals a merry kiss: “The mirror speaks the truth; he is her fate."* Ah, It reflected many varied scenes— ‘Some dark, some bright, the many changes made; Loved forms slow carried through the wide old door And from the old home to the ehurch yard’s shade: ‘The soldier boy who left his father's house For war's Serve conflict, to return nu more— ‘Ah, many partings were reflected there ‘As one by one they left the old home door. Partings and deatb—until of all the throng But few remain, and im the oaken hall ‘The silent sunlight through the curtain steals ‘To glimmer in the mirror on the wall, ¢ now it hangs amid the silence deep, w Su grass, by Aa shadows, when reflected in the glass. ——+e-_—_ Obtrasive. From Puck. Mr. Parynoo (at his first swell dinner, and eating consomme for the first time)—Isn’t the soup thin, Mary Miss Arvnoo (with a sneer)—Yes; it's done go you can see the decorations on the bot- tom of the plate while you are eating it. Waldorf—In our hotels the guests are well cared for. In every upper room there is a rope for escape in case of fire. Count De Barbere-Ah, that is most ag those forms beneath the ehurch yard | | Whose hopes and fears, long stilled, passed swiftly IT WAS NOT PULLED. So Says an Eyewitness of the Fa- mous Assault. THE ATTACK ON OLD HICKORY. Lieut. Randolph Only Pretended to Tweak the President’s Nose. LIGHT ON AN OLD SUBJECT. Written for The Evening Star. HE MYSTERIOUS invasion of the White House some days ago, on separate occasions, by two cranks with hostile intent upon the person of Prest dent Cleveland re- calls the historic as- sault committed by Lieut. R. B. Randoiph of the navy upon President Andrew Jackson at Alexan- dria in 1833, as he was on his way to Fredericksburg, Va., to lay | the corner stone of the Mary Washington |monument. Fortunately both of the White House cranks were promptly arrested be- fore they could execute their threats of vio- lence and placed where they could do no harm; but Randolph never was apprehend- ed, although he was admitted to have been entirely sene and was credited with being | the first and only man who ever pulled Old | Hickory’s nose. And thereby hangs a tale. Nothing of the kind had ever happened be- fore, and the occurrence occasioned a most extraordinary scandal, considering that no really serious consequences resulted from it. Indeed, with the exception of the tragic sorrow and calamity that befel the country in the assassination of Lincoln, and later of Garfield, perhaps no single event in our his- tory ever caused a greater amount of dis- cussion and controversy. Peculiar social circumstances and political considerations were associated with the case, and this may in part account for its widespread noto-iety, but to the strange uncertainty that has al- ways existed as to the real facts must be attributed its long-continued hold upon popular interest. The early Washington and Alexandria newspapers of that time, | beginning even with the issues of the day after the assault, were altogether at odds in their accounts of the affair. Then news- papers everywhere took up the discussion, expressing the most contradictory views and devoting columns upon columns to their | elaboration. For many years afterward the | assault constituted a “cause celebre” and @ bone of journalistic contention when other | subjects were lacking. Historians also have been fully as discrepant among themselves as the newspapers touching the facts. Some | authorities would have us believe that no assault was committed at all, while others would make it appear that the redoubtable hero of New Orleans suffered considerable physical damage in the encounter. Hence the conscientious student of history is at a loss to know w to think. The literature on the subject pro and con, founded chiefly on hearsay, would fill a modest library, but the divergent views thus far have never been reconciled. The much-mooted histor {cal conundrum ‘can be stated thus An Oft Disputed Questiun, ‘Was Jackson's nose tweaked? Or wasn’t it tweaked? ‘The most recent contribution to the dis- cussion was made some months ago by a @aughter of Lieut. Randolph, who answered the query in the negative, asserting the tradition and understanding current in the | family that her father did not touch the President. Further explicit and confirmatory proof 1s now produced in the graphic testimony | of the venerable John Major, Esq., probably | the last contemporaneous witness, a bosom friend and confidant of Randolph in his day, formerly a citiven of Fredericksburg and later of Washington, but who, until his Mr. John Major. death last week, has of late years lived at 2U Penn street, Huntingdon, Pa., beloved for his goodness and respected for his ex- emplary piety by the entire communtty. Mr. Major's evidence may be regarded as con- clusive. Besides his intimate personal rela- tions with Randolph, his father, John Ma- Jor, sr., was an eye witness of the assault and related the circumstances minutely to the son, who in turn preserved the record with jealous care, and he himself, as a member of the crack military organization known as the Fredericksburg Rifle Gray: which acted as a guard around the Pres! dent’s person on the arrival at Fredericks- burg and during the public dinner given there the next day, had exceptional oppor- tunities to obtain the accounts of other eye witnesses and to observe the President's appearance with his own eyes. He was over eighty-five years of age when he died last Thursday, with snow-white halr, beard and eyebrows, yet his memory of past events was wonderfully clear and his story of the presidential assault of sixty years back, as related to the writer a short time since, sounded fresh and vivid as the re- | Port of an event that might have happened | | only yesterday. | | _Jn the circumstances leading up to the as- | seult were curiously interwoven the tangled life-threads of numerous persons of high of- | ficial and social position. John B. Timber- | lake, purser of the United States frigate | Constitution, committed sutelde on April 2 | 1898, at Port Mahon, where his vessel was | } lying, on account of domestic troubles. “By | | direction of Commodore Patterson, com= ‘manding, Lieut. Randolph was ordered to | assume the duties of acting purser as Tim- erlake’s successor. There was some Irreg- | | ula in the transfer of responsibility, and | | no Inventory was taken of the money, goeds and effects until after the arrival of the ves- | sel at Charlestown, Mass. Randolph sub- sequently rendered’ an account from his standpoint of the stores as they had come [Into bis custody, but tt was rejected and | Randolph was accused of fraud. A court | | of inquiry. ordered to look into the trans- action, held him accountable for $4,303 un- | paid and due the trustees of Timberlake's estate, but expressly exonerating the act- | |ing purser of any attempt to defraud or | deceive. The Thrend Becomes Tangled. Now, Timberlake had left.a widow, who, shortly after her husband’s death, married John H. Eaton, Secretary of War under Jackson, the most influential member of the President’s cabinet and the closest of his personal advisers. Timberlake’s widow, as} Mrs. Secretary Eaton, was widely known as a beautiful and fascinating woman—so fasci- nating indeed that, whether justly or un- justly, she incurred the enmity of the other | cabinet ladies and was denied social recog- nition by them. Secretary Eaton took up | the gauntlets in her behalf and even carried her defense into the cabinet meetings, de- manding there that the wives of his’ col- | leagues should recognize his wife in social | jequality. The President was in a dilemma, | but contrived to mend matters all round by | sending his favorite secretary abroad on a mission, after only two vears’ service in the War Department. Before his departure | abroad, however, Secretary Eaton was naturally anxious that his wife should re- ceive the money claimed to be due her from the accounts of Purser Timberlake, her late husband, and accordingly he exerted his Influence with the President and with Levi Woodbury, Secretary of the Navy, to have the case against Randolph pushed vigorous- ly. Acting on Secretary Eaton's suggestion, Secretary Woodbury brought pressure to bear upon Randolph to make him pay the apparent deficit. Randolph indignantly re- fused, and then the President, taking the case into his own hands and reviewing the findings of the board of inquiry, issued an eecutive order for Randolph's dismissal from the navy, at the same time charging | amusing. If he wish he can use it also as a skipping rope. bin with having presented to the account- ing officers s budget composed of unfounded | placing his watch: and frivolous items, and stigmatizing him as “unworthy the naval service of this re- public and an unfit associate for those sons of chivalry, integrity and honor who adorn the navy.” Lieut. Randolph was then but Ittle over thirty years old, of an impulsive but fear- less disposition and high-strung tempera- ment. arting under the disgrace and what he considered the injustice of his dis- missal, he spread the facts in the news- Papers and appealed to the public for vindi- cation of his honor, and then proceeded to bide his time for ‘vengeance. On May 6, 1833, the opportunity desired presented it- self. President Jackson, accompanied by a party of friends, embarked on the steam- boat Sydney at Washington to go down to Fredericksburg and deliver an address and officiate in laying the corner stone of the monument to Mary Washington, mother of the first President. At noon the boat stopped for a few minutes at the King reet wharf, Alexandria, and an impromptu levee was held on board. Randolph, dressed in citizen’s clothes, placed himself in the line of people gathered in front of the Pres- ident paying thelr respects, and when his turn came, so Mr. Major related with dra- matic power, he stepped forward and said: “My name is Lieut. Randolph. I will take the liberty of pulling your nose!”* With that he reached forth his hand and gave his wrist a sudden twist within a hair's breadth of the President's nasal organ. According to Mr. Major's narrative, this action was @ pure pantomime, so skill- fully executed as to lead any casual witness, especially If standing in front or behind, to believe that the presidential nose had really been tweaked, Instantly there was a great hubbub, and a ‘Score of bystanders struck at the President's assailant, white the President himself, in excitement and exasperation, exclaimed: “Let me get at him! Let me get at him!" and began to lay around him right and left with his big umbrella, which he happened to have with him. Meanwhile his friends surged round him to prevent another at- tack, while the trate old warrior continued his effort to press through the crush in order to get a whack at his antagonist. “Make way! By the Eternal, make way!” he cried. “Let no man stand between me and the villain who has insulted me! Make way!” But Randolph, hatless and somewhat the worse for the pulting and hauling he had received, managed to eseape in the scrim- Mage; and there the incident closed in Geeds, though not in words. He made his Way in safety to the woods on Shooter's Hill, Va., and kept hidden for some days. But in the course of a week he appeured at Fredericksburg, and secured boarding with John Major and other young men of the Place at a house on Main atreet. He re- mained in Fredericksburg undisturbed throughout the following summer, and during that period gave Major his utmost confidence, and the two were fast friends. It is true an attempt was made to arrest him immediately after the nose-tweaking pantomime, and the marshal of the District of Columbia—which then included the town of Alexandria—searched for him all night, armed with a bench warrant for his appre- hension. But the chase was abandoned the next day, the President magnanimously intimating that he had no desire to prose- cute, and no further official action was except that a town meeting in Atex- andria that evening, with Bernard Hooe, mayor, as chairman, passed a set of reso- lutions expressing the public indignation and denouncing the outrage committed on the President. It Was Not Really Pulled. Mr. Major at Huntingdon sald that his father, John Major, sr., then a merchant of Alexandria and an ardent admirer of Jackson, was on board the Sydney at the time and witnessed the encounter. He stood at Jackson's side and had a good view of his profile, and he always declared emphatically that Jackson's nose was not pulled, but that Randolph merely went through the motions of pulling It. Said Mr. Major further: “During my close intimacy with Lieut. Randolph he re- peatedly recounted to me all the circum- tances of the affair, and he would invari- ly wind up by assuring me solemnly that he did not touch the President's nose, a! though he tried to and wished he had suc- ceeded, as he considered it rank injustice on the President's part to hold him re- sponsible for stores he had never seen and to asperse his personal honor in the way he did. The assault, he sald, was com- mitted solely as an indignity, not with any desire sto infiict physical injury. I myself saw the President the night he arrived at Fredericksburg, after the assault at noon, and our Rifle Grays recetved him with a salute and escorted him to headquarters. Again on the next day I stood beside him as one of the guard about his person during the public dinner at Fredericksburg, and at neither of these times, although I looked carefully, could I perceive on his counte- nance the slightest scratch or abrasion or trace of violence, which certainly would have been apparent if his nose had really been pulled.” Heretofore, lke Banquo’s ghost, the ques- tion would not down. But this new evi- dence from a contemporary, commending itself as it does to credence for many rea- sons, may happily prove an effectual quiet- us and justify the declaration, once for all, that President Jackson's nose was not tweaked. ——_+*. STRICT DISCIPLINE, Servant Was Doing. From the Argonaut, Some years ago the Russian ambassador at Constantinople entertained a distinguish- ed party at dinner, and after the disap- pearance of the comestibles, when the soothing cigar shed {ts benign influence around them and helped or impeded diges- tion beneath thelr respective diaphragms, the conversation, which had been desul- tory, turned upon the disolpline maintained in the several forces represented. “I assure you, gentlemen,” said @ Russian general who was present, “that my servant Ivan, an old campaigner, can be dispatched upon an errand to any part of the town, and I will tell you to an instant the time of his return.” ‘As some appeared rather incredulous, Ivan was summoned. “I want you to go,” said his master, the tobacconist by the bridge and get me @ box of cigars. Here is the money. Now, gentlemen,” sald the general, pulling out his watch and consulting it, “he leaves the house. Now,” after a pause, “he is at the end of the street; now he crosses the road; now he is being ‘served; now he is return- ing.” Then, after another pause and re- “Now, gentlemen, he is here. “Ivan!” As he uttered the word the servant en- | tered the apartment with the cigars. ‘All agreed that It was very cleverly done, with the exception of an obese and guile less pasha, who opined that it was nothing out of the way, and boastfully asserted that discipline among the faithful was, if any- thing, superior to that of any other country, end to prove the veracity of his statement announced his intention of performing a similar feat. His servant was summoned accordingly. “AH,” said the pasha, “I wish you to go to the tobacconist by the bridge and get me a box of cigars. Here is the money. Now, gentlemen,” said he, imitating the Russian, and consulting his ‘watch, house, Now," after a pause, “he is at the end of the street. Now he crosses the road; now he is being served; now he is return ing.” Then, after another pause, and re- piacing his watch: “Now, gentlemen, he is here.” “alt “i am here, Effendi,” answered the indi- vidual, entering with a profusion of sa- laams. “Well, where are the cigars?” “His_excellency’ covered his slipper: A roar of laughter greeted this reply, amid which the humiliated pasha retired to order a dose of the bastinado for the un- fortunate Al lave has not yet dis- sor Rattlesnake From the Pacitlc Tree and Vine. In Monterey, as well as Santa Clara county, there grows a weed called the rat- tlesnake weed. It is so named from the story that when rattlesnakes get to fight- ing and bite each other, this weed, if eaten by them, will prevent death. It grows about six inches tall, has a red stalk and slender leaves. On the top of the stalk comes a head of flowers, and the seeds of these flowers are said to be very annoying to one in passing through a mass of them, ‘eed. jas they are furnished with sharp barbs commonly called stickers. The early set- tlers who had herds of sheep always made thelr herdsmen keep with them a bottle of strong tea made of rattlesnake weed, and when any of the sheep were bitten they were drenched with this tea, which always saved them. Shifting the Responsibility. From the Chicago Tribune. ‘But I don’t see how you ever collected that $5,000 insurance on your life when you had previously managed to get him on the pension list for injuries received during the war,” observed the friend of the family. “The hand of Providence was in it,” said the widow, with a gentle sigh of resigna- tion, he leaves the | WHITE HOUSE CRANKS How the President is Guarded Against Demented Persons, MOS? OF THEM HARMLESS, Men With Unbalanced Minds Flock to the Executive Mansion. THE PRESIDENT’S LETTERS. © OTHER PRESI- dent has ever been 50 closely guarded from dangerous cranks as is Mr. Cleveland now. The precautions taken for his protec- tion are unprecedent- ed. There seems to be an epidemic of lu- macy at present, and demented persons generally make the White House their Mecca. An average of two of them each day have called to see the chief magistrate during the last month. Most of them are harmless, but a few are disposed to be violent, like the fellow the other day, who demanded the President's chair and declared his anxiety to settle the claim at once with pistols, Ordinarily it {s very dificult for a crank to approach the President. Just now it is Practically impossible. Each visitor at the White House must undergo a rigid scrutiny appearance must satisfy the doorkeeper. Otherwise his business is demanded. In nineteen cases out of twenty a crank is recognizable at the first glance. Passing under the eye of the captain of the guard at the foot of the stairs, the caller goes up to the second floor and stops at the President’s door, where stands a Cerberus in the person of a trusted employe named Loeffier. His orders being that only mem- bers of the cabinet shall be admitted, there is no chance to get by hit. But the portal is further protected by an attendant named Davis, placed there within the last few days for the express purpose of looking out for cranks, and for that object only. He is a policeman, and carries a ‘which he would not hesitate to use if there was oc- casion. But in the treatment of lunatics of all sorts at the White House the suaviter in modo is preferred to the fortiter in re. Mr. Thurber, on the plea that he alone possesses authority to grant an audience with the President. So the crank, if he seems peaceable, is shown into the room of the private secretary. The latter is an ex- pert in the treatment of such customers. doctor” could, smoothing their ruffied feel- ings and getting rid of them in nearly every instance without the slightest disturbance. If one should make a row, a touch of the bell would summon instant aid, and the of- fender would be ejected. Only the other day a man requested Mr. ‘Thurber to grant an interview with thi President, because he said that he must Procure a place as postmaster in his town. He explained that there was a conspiracy among his neighbors to kill him, and the obtaining the appointment. The private sec- retary told him that he understood perfect- ly how {it was. But he added: ‘The thing for you to do is to file your papers, go home, and tell the folks that your application for the position has been placed in the hands of the Postmaster General.” The crank ac- cepted the suggestion joyfully and went away. How It is Done. Only the other day Mr. Thurber received warning from an acquaintance that a crank, recently discharged from one of the depart- ments, was coming to see the President and threatened to use violence. The name and description were given of the person, who Was subsequently identified on his arrival. However, the private secretary sent word to the captain of the guards to let him come up, considering it better to have it out with the man and be done with it. He was wild of speech and emphatic in his de- mand for reinstatement in office; but with- in five minutes he made his exit as meek as 8 lamb and started off cheerfully to see the civil service commissioners. Neverthe- less, during the interview he alarmed the President's factotum considerably by reach- ing for something in his hip-pocket. But it was only a bundle of papers he sought. ‘A case of quite a different sort was that of @ colored man who came one night—it happened to be while Mr. Cleveland was away—and said he had all kinds of things in his boots, such as lizards, snakes and rats. He Rad had a dream that the only Person who could cure his complaint was the President, and he must see him at once. ‘The visitor was arrested, and it took about six men to get him into a cell at the police station. Another time, about 10 p.m., a strange man suddenly opened the front door of the Executive Mansion from the outside, poked his head in and yelled in a voice that waked the silent echoes of the night: “This is my house. Get out.” Then he slammed the door and vanished, but presently he reap- peared and repeated the performance. This time he was seized and remonstrated with. He explained that he objected to Mr. Cleve- land’s occupying the White House, which was his property. An asylum claimed him subsequently. A Nocturnal Visitor. One nocturnal guest of Gen. Harrison's was a crank who climbed over the iron Mansion while the President was sitting on the back piazza in company with Repre- sentative Mudd of Maryland. The visitor seat. The President rang a bell to sum- mon one of the guards, and the intruder, on “had business” with the chief magistrate. From what has been said it will be per- celved that the cranks have scarcely any chance to get near the President. They | undergo a sort of sifting process at the White House, the more palpable ones being weeded out in the vestibule, while those who pass the guards and arrive upstairs must encounter Loeffler and Thurber. The former knows everybody, and when the door was on the latch to all the worid earlier in the administration his judgment could be relied on as to who should be ad- mitted. Now only the private secre holds the key, except for officers of the cab- inet. Mr. Cleveland is perfectly safe in the Executive Mansion, Once in a while a drunken man gets into the White House at a reception. It {s won- derful to observe the system by which a | person so affected by liquor Is ejected, being passed along from one guard to another until he reaches the driveway outside. It | 1s all done so quickly as to excite no atten- | tion. At entertainments in the Executive Mansion six sentries are always on duty. They are all men of great muscular strength. On such occasions two of them stand close to the President, watching every person with whom he shakes hands and at the slightest indication of a hostile intent on the part of a guest he would be seized. One night at a presidential reception, when the parlors of the White House were gay with brilliant toilets and gorgeous unt. forms, a woman was observed to act sus- piciously. She was arrested, taken to the police station and orfered to undress. Seven pocket books were found in her trousers. As the guard had imagined, she was a man, having assumed skirts for the purpose of pilfering. It should be explained that Mr. Cleveland himself has ttle or no notion of the pre- cautions which are taken to protect him against crazy visitors. Fortunately, nearly all of the latter are harmle: Quite one- half of them are religious maniacs. Of this sort was a visitor who brought a tin box for the President, In which he sala he had a new kind of religion. Only a few days ago a weird-looking individual knelt and prayed for some time on the White House steps. Nearly all of the cranks claim inti- mate acquaintance with the chief execu- tive, and invariably the business they have to transact with him ts of the utmost im- portarce. The persistence of the crank is one of the most extraordinary attributes of the genus. When Gen. Grant was in the White House, @ woman named Thurston came to him with a deed on parchment for the entire state of Maine. She wanted him to accept it in trust for the people and to pay her an an- nuity in consideration thereof. Subsequent- ly she made a similar application in refe-- ence to a like paper which proved her title in fee to the whole of the United States. In return, she demanded an allowance of $200,000’ per annum. Since March 4 last she has been seeking an interview with Mr. Cleveland. She owns all Furope now, and is anxious to hypothecate the property. before being admitted. To begin with, his! Loeffler refers the questionable visitor to | He soothes them as skillfully as any “mad | only way he could get protection was by | picket fence in the rear of the Executive coolly walked up on the porch and took a| being removed, explained that he simply | All Sorts and Conditions. Another woman, who likewise imagines that she owns the United States, demanded @ deed vor the entire estate from President Harrison. He told her she could have it if she would pay the taxes on it, and she agreed to do so on condition that he would turn over to her the revenues of the govern- ment. Only two weel ago a crank called at the White House to make known his land in several states. Anybody who gets out of an asylum any- where, it would seem, is particularly apt to Start right off for Vi hington, where pres- | ently he is sure to land at the Executive Mansion. A man dropped in the other day and asserted that he had a mortgage for ‘$50,000,000 on the Northern Pacific railroad. He wanted the President to get the money | for him. Another person called to announce himself as an advance agent of the Messiah and to ask Mr. Cleveland for money to put up an altar. The chief me. rate is con- tinually appeaied to by bevgars of wll sorts. ‘They want him to lend them money, to in- Gorse checks, to buy railway tickets for them, to procure employment for them, to give them “cash enough to buy a movest home, id even to contribute his “cast-off trousers. One man asks the President to compel a dishonest employer to pay wages due; another wants protection arainst an unjust action of law, and a third desires to have a doubtful title to land made sure. They think he ts a sort of supreme cadi or police justice, who has the power to right all wrongs. Cranks with patents want to show them t Mr. Cleveland, sometimes insisting on setting up their models in the vestibule. One man, during the last administration, brought six small alligators in a woodea box, and desired to liberate them In the east room. Frantic souvenir hunters de- mand bits of broken dishes and scraps of old carpet, to remember the White House by. Others ask for whole cups and saucers. Now and then a visitor insists on seeing the President’s private bed rooms, declaring that, as one of the people, he “owns the establishment,” and has a right to look it over. Many of the letters addressed to the Prest- Gent are utterly absurd. One man writes to Mr. Cleveland nearly every day, using a Jead pencil and very cheap paper. Each communication usually covers about twen- ty pages, the subject matter being advice to the chief executive about the management of national affairs. This correspondent has been sending in the same sort of stu’ through several administrations. He heads { his missives “Court of St. John,” and rep- | resents himself as a monarch. One, re- ceived a day or two ago, read: “Mr. Cleveland, President and prime min- ister: Your Excellency will ask our private | secretary whether she was looking at any | circular form or ring-shaped sign to any | part of the gas or fixture at the foot of the | | Stars yesterday noon, as it came clearly to me in my room in the soapsud form. Your godhead, Charles.” | All such communications as these are torn | up and thrown into the waste basket. Let- | ters from cranks do not reach the Prest- dent's eye. Some of them bear strange dresses. One man writes on his enveloi “President of the United States. Pennsy | vanla Avenue, Washington, D. C. In care of the Postmaster. as I do not know the number.” Here are a few more specimens: sits Lordship, the President of the United tates.” “Salutation Sir, or the President Grover Cleveland.” “To the Chief of the Nation.” “To the Auticrat of the United States— otherwise Known as His Excellency Grover Cleaveland.” “Pleas to send this to President clevein of the White house.” ‘Washington is fairly swarming with cranks. One finds them at the Capitol and wandering about the denartments. The monument is another favorite resort of theirs. Some of them mistrke the great shaft for a light house, and are disappointed to find no lamp at the top. Others express @ fear that {t f= going to tumble over. or that it will finally be crushed by tts own weight. Yet others want to lump from the top with flying machines. Not long ago a woman visitor declured that the mixhty { and that each shining fleck In the marble was a human soul sacrificed in the work for Nothing, Not Even Medicine and a Gravestone. A Kansas City dispatch to the St. Louis Globe-Democrat says: Kansas City has de- veloped one of the most unique thieves that has yet been heard of in real life. Several months ago the police force learned that a ‘sneak thief was making depredations upon cellars and pantries, and even on outlying grocery stores, and carrying off canned goods and such eatables as were not per- ishabdle. ‘There were certain peculiarities about the robberies that led the police to believe that they were all done by the same person, but there was no clue that they could follow to |eatch the thief. After amassing a goodly jquantity of food on which to start to housekeeping the thief began on fuel, and whole cart loads were carried away, each case showing the evidences of the food thief. When @ full supply of coal was tak- en the thief turned his attention to furni- ture, and carried off articles of all kinds, from light chairs to a heavy bedstead with mattresses. An entire bed room set was taken from a house and no trace left. The family was absent for a night, and on their return they found their room despolled. Having furnished his bed room and parlors the depredator set about getting his kitchen in order, and first an ice chest was taken from a house in Armourdale, and then a cooking stove and kitchen table from a house in Rosedale. By this time the police were fully alive to the fact that the steal- ing was going on right under their noses, and they began to talk about the queer thief. This attention seems to have fat- tered the thief, for he signalized his pres- ence next by ‘carrying off a large base- burner stove from a parlor in Kansas City, Kan., while the family was spending the evening with a neighbor. This occurred last week, and since then It appears that the man has his furniture, food, and fuel for the winter, for the depredations have ceased. Another phase, however, seems to have broken out, and it is evident that a mem- ber of the ‘thief's family has sickened and died. A few days ago a drug store was broken into and medicine taken and last night the climax was reached when the thief went to the cemetery out on the Quin- | dare boulevard and carried off a fine tomb- stone. There is @ talent here that shows the development of a system that would beat @ bank,and the police are very anxious to make the acquaintance of the thief. soe Home Rule for Scot! From the London Times. Last night, at a meeting of the executive committee of the Scottish Home Rule As- sociation, held in Edinburgh, the following solution was, after discussion, adopted: ‘he executive committee again declares its Increasing conviction that it is impossi- ble to do justice to the domestic require- ments of any of the four divisions of the United Kingdom without relegating thelr | Management to a legisiature and executive for each of them—all remaining indissolu- bly united in the imperial parlian t—and hails with satisfaction the preference ex- Dressed by the Earl of Rosebe: in his speech on the 17th instant for a ‘scheme of devolution which would be applicable to | all countries alike in the United Kingdom.” | The committee hopes that parliam: will | Mow recognize the necessity of defining by | Tesolution the legislative and administrative | powers to be delegated to the several | Visions of the United Kingdom and of al- |lowing the people concernei to. consider | and report to parliament how and by whom Such powers can best be exercised in their respective capitals. Hunting Preserves. From Truth, claim te enough money to purchase all the | i obelisk was buflt entirely of dead people, | INVENTOR OF SLEEP The Human Machine Will Not Bepair Itself Without Assistance, “Sow biessings light om bimo that Orst invented sleep.” “The habit of too late to bed and too early rising 1 one of the causes of nervous weakness,” says DE, Selden H. Talcott of the state hospital, New YorB. Overwork and want of recreation is another. Men and women who have peen unable to Fest completely during the summer now need more sleep than others; they often get less. And the Te ‘LESED | sult Is seen in nervous exhanstion, kidney troubles, and dyspepsia—for wulew Pamne’s celery compound isa never-falling cure. Says William Bangali ef ‘Mansfield, Mass: “1 bave been subject to rheumatism tn the fect for the last six or seven years and during that time Ihave tried scores of medicines, but could mot get much relief, I at last gave Paine’s celery com pound a trial and after using two bottles I certainly, felt better. Now that I have taken nine botties of the Compound in all, I must say that I feel quite Well and free from the dreadful disease. To any of How a Lady of Color Proved That She that It does not gain acceleration after starting, but goes on the jump at end of the first dozen feet. At this critical moment a young |man dashed across the street and himself upon the grip car. Just same instant a shriek heard | comely woman of @escent | robust physique made @ sprint efter traction train. Though the latter was this time going at about twenty hour she made @ grab at the last platform and became « | sheer force of muscle It did not take her her way forward to |the seat beside the ho was much “Whar you gwine™” “Gwine whar gwine,” she and with an air of assumed “Whar's dat? “Wid you.” “Whuifo?* “Just ‘cause.” “"Cause why? "Cause I feel like tt” “Well, 1 don’t want you follerin’ me.” “Alexander Nebuchadnezzar Thompsom I'm gwine wo keep my eye on you” iy | it I : | “{ ain't gwine to have it” protested the colored man. “You git right offen dis cam now I tell you” | “ei ‘eppy.’ “Ain't you gwine to minat™ “Not if dis iady knows berself.= “You gotter.” “I won't” ‘Th man looked disgusted. after spending « iinute or two in reflecdon, am idea struck him, and be said trlumphantiy: “You cain’t ride, “cause you ein't got ae money.” ‘ou kin pay my fare.” “I won't do it” “Alexander Nebuchadneszas, you'se @ low. down man. If I'd knowed you “fore I mar | ried you as I do now, you'd have had ter | git some other lady fer a wife” “Stop yer foolishness an’ git of ée he replied, sullenly. “IT ain't a gwine to.” “Then you'll git put off.” 5 | wif anudder woman. git Tid of me and I follered to (on him. I s'pose you're a get you wouldn't chuck @ lady off.’ ‘The conducto: had a heart, as was ‘when he replied: a “Stay on. I'll pay your fare myself.’ This happy turn of events caused | ings. j wi ing three blocks. | “Just as the cable train was traveling at tts most rapid gate between two corners, the ‘recalcitrant husband jumped to his feet without warning and leaped off the car. | Evidently he supposed that his wife would not dare to imitate the maneuver, but he reckoned without his host. With a flying bound she sprang of and efter him. In twenty seconds she had caught lm and ms him by the arin. bit you ~3 + el straight home 5 | "Tm a-comin’, rejelved the man ulktty tly recognizing the sttual ope pg his point of view. And the twe walked away arm in arm. | —- uIS SAME. n Little Deeds Like This Make Life Seem Good. e “Phase” man of the Boston Journal canal a pretty little incident at the corner of Temple place and Washington street the other day lilustrative of the law of loving kindness which rulés some na- ures. “\rnat is always a busy comer. ‘There was a little group of people waiting, as there usually is, for an opportunity to safely run the gauntlet of teams and street cars. The voice of a gentieman—one whose life had evidently been ep @ amid refining tp- fluences—was heard above the din by those standing there. | “I suppose there ts @ policeman at this | corner to assist people to cross?” “Oh, yes; there generally i” ‘The rep came from an average woman, who was herself watting for an opening in the wall of vehicles. She bad not Toked up, apparently, into the face of the gentleman. But at my of a ditt >w there stood a woman air of refinement With the gr: ff his arm the lady and in a mi ute he was safely across and expressing his thanks to the kind unknown, who at hat moment transferred her charge to + songs ficer Felt, that large bodied jand kind-herrted officer, who finds con- | stant employ’ at that busy corner. . en would have don | ena?” ed as T went my way. Sbt | sutrered no loss of dignity by that thought- fol Iittle act to a stranger and did not foolishly hesitate and ask herself: “What will people sey?” It was “in His mame.” .~ “d = Bat it's Soon Over. From Puck. Toots—Don't you ever get any time t& yourself? Rarkeep—Oh, uring the dull season. Toots—When is that? Barkeep—Right after New Years.