Evening Star Newspaper, October 21, 1893, Page 14

14 THE EVENING STAR: WASHINGTON. D. C. SATURDAY. OCTOBER 21. 1893—TWENTY PAGES. BY THE BLACK FOREST Impressions of a Traveler From France to Germany. A UNIVERSITY TOWN IN SUMMER. \n Freiburg There is Much Music and More Beer. PHASES OF GERMAN LIFE. Special Correspondence of The Evening Star. FREIBURG IN BADEN, Sept. 24, 1898. HE FIRST IMPRES- sion of any traveler from France to Ger- many must be of beer and music. In the Duchy of Baden, this very unimperial corner of the German empire, the victorious Prussian swagger does not exist to com- plicate it. In Fret- burg life is tranquil and _ unpretentious. | The Herr Kapelimeis- | ter is an important man, and the Stadt- | garten is the social rendezvous of evenings, | where the blonde daughters of university | professors and others sit night after night | before their beer mugs and listen studiously | to the compositions of Qlehul, Von Weber, Raff and Richard Wagner. They call it “helies \ as NY t ee beer”; and it matches exactly the Hipe-wheat colored glory of their hair. | Around them, in respectful admiration, sit the youth of Freiburg in the summer time The university is closed for the long va-| cation. There are no soldiers visible. It Is a very dovecote. And the sweet strain: of “Die Schone Melusine™ bring tears to | | over-sentimental eyes. It is beer and music where each are at their best, and very hon- est folks to take them in. But before you | get to the Stadt-garten, and before you get to Freiburg, you have to enter Germany, and the traveler from France must have his conscience pained in several particulars. At the German customs house of Basle, as you enter from Switzerland, there is a rail- way restaurant. Here a spectacled kellner speaking English .brought us breaded veal cutlets (Wiener-schnitzel). Within the veal was white, resembling the hue and texture of a meaner animal, but the out- side crust or batter in which the thing was fried was of a flaming red. “How do you get them so red? Do you soak the bread- ¢rumbs in tomato juice?” was asked. . replied the blue-eyed blonde, looking over his gold spectacles. “It's that color when we get it from the factory’(!) In Ger- many they get their bread crumbs from a factory. What could be more German, more American, more un-French! In the railway carriage afterward the conductor, divining an American, began | to speak in English of the Chicago fair. A beautiful young mother in the same com- partment remarked in English that she did Rot object to smoking, if it would be any consolation to the fellow-travelers. Then she trotted out her seven-year-old daugh- ter and put her through her English-speak- ing paces. Education and the gift of tongues—what could be more un-French— and un-American! It is the country of gold eyeglasses. The hote! waiters, pinched- faced boys in badly fitting dress coats, sit so lost in their books and papers that you | have to call them twice. The very cham- bermaid will innocently rummage through Your books and illustrated magazines. The third impression has to de with the Felations of the sexes. Here it is all Amer- . To one habituated to the French method of bringing up the jeune personne there is something charming in the honest freedom of the German girl. Here in Freiburg young people walk the streets at night merry and careiess. The intricate walks of the Black Forest have no depths they fear to penetrate—or to be seen pene- trating. There reigns here that charity which believeth all things and thinketh no evil. The charity that endureth all things is to be exercised by the French-acclimated tourist. Great beefsteaks, fried, are the mainstay of hot food, except at the dreary hotel tables, and the solid brodchen, the Bismarck herring and the infinite round of | Sausages fill up the lighter hours, The streets of the sieepy town are a wilderness of commonptace. The shop windows, large and handsome in themselves, repel the eye with their stocks of sun-damaged, fad- ing fabrics. And everywhere in them are the marks of the factory; everywhere there is the subservience of taste to cheap utility. The Eruditio: of Spectactes. The gold-rimmed erudition of the spectacles | against which you bump at every turn is as much a factory product as the blood- colored bread crumbs of ‘the railroad Wie- ner-schnitzel. Eventhe high music one cn- Joys in the cheese-scented Stadt-garten comes to you, as it were, by wholesale. ‘There ts so much of it, it is such a regul: thing, it {s so much the proper thing for evening recreation, it is so much the only | | s- But this is litte to the tourist seeking health and rest. Freiburg is the health- fest place that one could well imagine. Neither fevers nor chelera ever touch it. Winds from the Black Forest sweep down this valley in which Freiburg lies. The air | is strong and even bracing. The scent | of the pines is in the air. A step outside the town you are among the delectable shades of the Schwarawald, away from in- vincible German science, faetory goods and the dreariness of a town that seems small because it Is at once so large and listless, away from a civilization that seems tame and tasteless because it is so placidly ar- Fanged. Fer a town so uninteresting in itself Freiburg has wonderfui self confidence. It | has been well bragxed up and advertised all over Europe. The beauty of its imme. diate surroundings is certainly grea there is a fine cathedral (revel! vivid interior painting. which + love) and a dozen or more middle age civie buildings. The population has doubled with- | of the forest; and the forest ways are ways | cloth decorated with red braid) is to be for- | their squeals of pleasure half a mile away. in the last twenty-five years—a thing al- most unique in y outside the really wonderful spreading of Berlin. But the newcomers are the quietest kind of folk— retired officials ving on scanty incomes. There are suburbs in several directions that seem American in their cottage comfort, embowered in greenery and gardens. In winter, spring and autumn there is a stir of life (already beginning) from the uni- versity. But with ali this Freiburg would be nothing were it not for its being the best center for excursions into the Black Forest. French, English and Germans alike come seeking for health and quiet. They find it, and with it a lazy, contemplative joy in communing with nature, wherein sleepiness mingles comfortably with hunger, Of for a Walk. A mile outside the city there is a valley called the Gunthersthal, wherein reposes a tiry village of the same name, surrounding a one time Franciscan convent, now a brewery. It is the starting place for a thousand possible walks among the thickly wooded hills, which might easily be called | mountains. There is scope for an immense | amount of climbing over rocks, which being | bare of vegetation give a view, and up long winding footpaths, intermi le, green- black in their depths, where unfrequent shafts of sunlight, striking through a way they find among the pines, fall like white | splashes on the turf that shades deep black | by contrast. i Then in due time there comes a resting | place, the hut of the forester glad to sell efreshments and let you rest upon the lawn of hts front yard—a mere clearing in| the forest. Then one starts again. The drinking in of the spicy air and the chew- ing of aromatic bark give place to a de- bauch of late white and purple grapes | plucked from a hiliside vineyard, where | they ripen slowly in the clearings. It is the country of the excellent Affenthaler wine, a brick-red wine of wonderful aroma | and ‘great smoothness, a trifle strong in alcohol. But these grapes are already plucked. The white Markgraefler wine is more common still, and its tender pink- yellow grapes are far the best for eating. This hot summer, which has dried up alike forest and valley, ripened all the wine- grapes of the great vineyards a full two weeks ago. It has been the most success- ful season for the vine for many years. ee, German Dolce far Niente. But for all this one needs a trifling ac- climation. Freiburg in summer would be.| simply abominable without the excursions a-foot. In this exercise a tenderfoot gets really tender feet. Without the proper kind of shoes you easily get done for. Even more than this usage and habit count. The new arrival, be his strength what you please, finds himseif limping, distanced by a slip of a girl who has gone through her time of hardening; and anyone, unwarned by experience, can walk so far along a deceptive slight decline of mountain foot- path that the way back seems intolerable and not to be endured. In the most unexpected heights you find professional pensions, with prices ranging from five marks a day ($1.25) to seven, or even ten. The latter is considered high. In these, though you may be fed perhaps too frequently on stews and fry-pan rost- braten and raw ham, with thick and rather strong-tasting soups and a multiplicity of soft-boiled eggs, you find the strength to do the digesting of it all; and the soothing beer-pot assuages the wounds of ill-consid- ered long. walks. It would be impossible to sleep better than one does among these hills and with this life. eri) In the Forest. Life in a little pension in these Black Hills of the greatest forest of Germany goes slowly. Squirrels and hare dart through the thickets. They have little need to dart —they are protected game; and strangers seldom take the trouble to rent a shooting privilege. One stretch of wooded mountain will be- long to the city of Freiburg, another to a corporation and a third to some great pro- prietor, and so on. The great industry is | the cutting of wood. The occupation of the foresters (who have a uniform of green ever measuring the trees, keeping the cen- sus of them, directing which shall and shall | not be cut, and how many must be left standing. Just as the forester lives alone in his lit- tle clearing, so the sojourners in isolated | fifteen days, TO FLY TO EUROPE. Prof. Hazen to Cross Over the Ocean in a Balloon. j NEW AERONAUTIC IDEAS. An Air Ship That Can Stay Afloat a Month. PLANS FOR THE VOYAGE.., ROF. HAZEN OF the United States weather bureau is going to make an aerial voyage across the Atlantic after a novel plan. He will travel with a balloon, but it will be formed of a strange mater- fal and equipped with devices hitherto un- heard of. It will be directed by means of Propellers and a rud- der, and is expected to stay afloat two weeks or more, though the trans-oceanic trip may require only fifty hours. The en- terprise will be paid for out of private funds, but such instruments as are re- quired for meteorological and other scien- tifte observations will be furnished by the government. The balloon will be a small one, compara- tively speaking. Nearly every aeronaut who has contemplated a project of this sort has supposed a monster air ship, holding from 200,900 to 400,000 cubic feet of gas, to be requisite. Professor Hazen considers such a huge machine unnecessary, and, on many grounds, undesirable. It is enormous- ly heavy, very difficult to handle, almost —_ impossible make gas- tight, and costs a great sum of money. He thinks that an envelope containing 100,000 cubic feet should be plenty big enough for a voyage to Europe, and if enough cash for the purchase of such a one cannot be got, the attempt may be made in a balloon of 50,000 cubic feet. Gold Beaters’ Skin. The chief difficulty met with in aerial voyages is leakage of gas. But science has recently learned how to construct balloons that will not leak. At all events, such gas bags are now made in Europe which lose gas only at the rate of one-half of 1 per cent a day. The signal office has already purchased one of this description. The ma- terial used is gold beaters’ skin, which is obtained from a part of the intestines of the ox, called the “caecum.” It is some- what more costly than cotton or even silk, but it is superior for the purpose in many ways. The main point ig that a tight bai- loon can be made of it, which is not prac- —— with any other substance hitherto The gold beaters’ skin comes in small sheets, the biggest obtainable being twenty- two by ten inches. It looks somewhat like oiled tissue to the eye,but is not porous. Six layers put together make about the thick- ness of letter paper, with nearly the same Weight as silk. However, four thicknesses will serve for a balloon, the sheets being overlaid upon each other in such a way that there are no joints or seams. The first step in the construction of the balloon is to make a cloth bag of exactly the size re- quired, which is oiled and inflated. Then the gold beaters’ skin is laid over the ou side of it, one thickness at a tim being made to adhere in a manner which is as yet a secret. Finally, the cloth bag is taken out, and you have your balloon. The Time Required. The balloon will be filled with hydrogen, which has a lifting power of 70 pounds for each 1,000 cubic feet. The bag contemplated, to hold 100,000 cubic feet, will thus have a total lifting power of 7,000 pounds. It is estimated that the whole aerial machine, including the net, basket, drag rope, anchor, &c., will weigh 90 pounds. Three men will add @ it of 450 pounds, and 250 pounds more may be ‘alowed for provisions and Water. This reckoning leaves a margin of 5,500 pounds, which would be taken along as ballast in the shape of sand in 3. The balloom ought not to lose more than one-half of @he,per cent of gas in twenty- four hours.“Tft lost-as much as one per cent, it woul Probably do ten times as well as any other that has ever been built in the to . | United States. It should keep afloat thirty days, whereas it is likely that no balloon was ever made in this country of its weight that would stay in the air more than two days. However, to make allowance for error, suppose that the loss of gas was two per cent a day. This would amount to 2,000 cubic feet per diem, or 30,000 cubic feet’ in Supposing that so long a time Was required for the transatlantic voyage. The machine could afford to lose that much and yet get to the other side comfortably. On the other hand, the journey might be accomplished in so short a time as fifty hours, supposing that everything went fav- orably. Speed could best be obtained by traveling as high as 6,000 feet, because the currents at that elevation are two or three times as fast as those near the ocean. But at a level so far up the gas has a tendency to escape at the neck of the bag. In order to avoid that contingency, Prof. Hazen in- tends to have a smaller balloon hitched alongside of the big one, the necks of the two being joined together. When the hydro- gen flows out of the neck of the larger bag it will enter the little one and will not be lost. The sun shining on a balloon heats it gnd eauses the gas to expand, so that it Is apt to escape at the neck. Such a misfortune is provided against by the same device. The gas can be returned to the big balloon by simply pulling down the small one. To Select the Level. At times it is desirable to keep at a low level, when the high current is in the wrong direction. To accomplish this object Prof. King, the aeronaut, has suggested the use of a drag rope, 6,000 feet or so in length. As the bag receives an impulse to rise from the expansion of the hydrogen within it the rope is lifted out of the water and serves as a weight to hold it down. But Prof. Hazen does not think favorably of this idea, owing to the fact that such a rope would cause serious retardation, if not absolute stoppage. His plan is to lower a large bucket from the basket near the sea. This could be filled with water by means of a small pail as fast as weight might be required to hold the balloon down. The big bucket could readily be emptied from the car when desired by opening a valve in its bottom. It is most important that the aeronaut o pensions live alone. There is no visiting at night. The shop shuts up at 10 o'clock, when everybody will be in bed. Children are brought into these solitudes to increase their weight and strength. You can hear There is nothing else to hear. And, looking down perhaps on Freiburg, miles below, the dull tame town expands in the imag. inatioa to a splendid metropolis by the mere forc? of contrast. To the east you see the hills of Alsace: and northeastward you know that Paris lies, and wonder what they are doing now upon the boulevard. STERLING HEILIG. ee “Having Designs on Him.” From Life. | should be able to place his balloon at any evel of the atmosphere he pleases. Of course, the currents of air at various ele- vations commonly flow in different direc- tions. There may be an unfavorable wind at 1,000.feet, and at the same time just the right breeze may blow at 10,000 feet. The currents at the latter altitude are always blowing from west to east across the Atlan- tie, and for that reason there should be no difficulty in accomplishing the trip quickly. Prof. Hazen thinks of taking with him a small pilot balioon, which may be run up to the height of a mile above the great gas bag, so as to ascertain the direction of ‘the breeze at a higher level without taking the trouble to ascend in order to find out. Rudder and Propellers, It is proposed to employ means of a sim- ple nature for directing and propelling the balloon. There will be no complicated ma- chinery, but mereiy a rudder and propel- lers. The latter will be worked by man powery very likely by the feet, bicycle fashion. Probably the propeller shaft will be made to project both ways, having a screw in front and a screw behind, thus getting double power and incidentally pre- serving the balance. The problem of pro- pe‘ling balloons has already been solved to some extent. In France such air ships have succeeded in traveling in the teeth of a fifteen-mlie wind. All that is needed for the purpose is the proper mechanism, and experiments in that direction are being made. It is too early to say from what point the start for Europe will be made. Very likely it will be made from New York, but some point further south would be better, such as Charleston. Making the departure from a place so far down the coast would render the chance better for reaching England, owing to the fact that the storms of the Atlantic tend northward. However, if the directing machinery works properly, it does not matter from what port the air ship sails, and there is no reason why it should not land in London. ‘A Preliminary Trip. The attempt will not be made without | trying a preliminary voyage from Denver to New York, or perhaps from San Francis- co to New York. If that can be accom- plished, there should be no difficulty about crossing the ocean. To come back across the Atlantic would not be practicable, be- cause the air currents are in the opposite @irection. In order to return by balloon, it would be necessary to go all around the world, reaching San Francisco by way of the Pacific. Prof. Hazen thinks there is no reason why balloon voyages around the globe should not be made some da: He believes that the north pole will eventu- ally be arrived at by aerial navigation. The professor's air ship, holding 100,000 cubic feet of gas, will cost $5,000 or $6,000. He can get one with a capacity of 50,000 cubic feet for $3,001. One of his ideas is to the basket a life boat, so that it will serve for a journey by water in case of ac- cident to the balloon. Dangers of Ballooning Exaggerated. It is an extraordinary circumstance about ballooning that, when a man has gone up many times, he forgets danger and becomes careless. Aerial navigation quickly becomes @ passion with those who pursue it. The sensation of floating at great heights is exalting almost to the point of intoxication. Only a year ago Prof. Rogers, the aeronaut made an ascent at Boston when a strong west wind was blowing. It was a twenty- five mile breeze directly toward the Atlan- tic; but, without making any preliminary investigation in the manner above sug- gested, be may have supposed that there Was a current in the opposite direction higher up, as sometimes occurs. After reaching an altitude of about 6,000 feet he found himself over the ocean. Instead of coming down gradually while a tug came to his assistance, he became panic-stricken and did the last thing an aeronaut ever does—that is to say, he pulled the rip cord, which splits the balloon and lets the gas out. Of course, he came down very fast, and only one of the party of three was saved. At the same time the danger of balloon- ing has been very much exaggerated. The accidents which occur are invariably caus- ed by mismanagement or carelessness. With proper control there is no more peril at- tached to navigating the air than in rid- ing on a railway. The greatest height ever attained was by James Glaisher and Aeronaut Coxwell, who got up to an ele- vation of rather more than 30,000 feet. ‘They claimed 37,000 feet or about five miles, but Glaisher was insensible for part of the time and the testimony was not reliable. The effect of such an elevation is asphyxia, air enough to fill the lungs being lacking. But there is no reason why it should not be practicable to rise ten miles above the earth's surface with the aid of a pneu- matic cabinet—that is to say, a tight closet with doors opening inward, in which the voyager could sit. The air inside, being denser than that outside, would keep the doors closed, and the aeronaut could get along very well so long as the supply of oxygen taken in a receiver lasted. Some Notable Air Voyages. The iongest voyage on record in a balloon was made by John Wise from St. Louis to Henderson, N. Y., in July, 1859—a distance of 80 miles, which was made in nineteen hours, or at the rate of forty-six miles an hour. However, the conditions under which this feat was accomplished were extraordi- nary, the wind blowing a terrific gale. This enthusiastic aeronaut finally lost his life in Lake Michigan, the fatal accident be- ing due to a rotten balloon. He made about five hundred ascensions in all. One of the most extraordinary balloons ever constructed was built at the expense of the New York Graphic, in 1873. It was made of muslin, 4,316 yards of that material being used, with eight miles of seams and 10,151,600 stitches. ‘twelve sewing machines were employed for many weeks on the work. When completed it stood 160 feet high, with the life boat which hung below the car just touching the ground. The ex- terior was coated with 500 gallons of oil, 500 gallons of berfzine, and finally with var- nish.” A smaller balloon, to carry extra gas, clung at the side of the great one. The latter contained 400,000 cubic feet of illuminating gas and had a lifting power of 14,000 pounds. The only man in the coun- try who could inflate it was Prof. King. The car was of oak, with a cellar for stores. The Last Long Trip. All sorts of apparatus was provided, in- ,cluding phosphorus torpedoes, to be flung into the sea at night—the voyage contem- plated being across the Atlantic—so that a notion might be got of the direction in which the balloon moved. A cage full of trained homing pigeons was furnished for ,sending messages back. Guns and fishing Mnes were supplied to serve in case the party should be landed in an uninhabited country. The life boat was slooprigged, with a movable mast. If more gas was wanted the small balloon could be emptied into the big one and the material could be cut up for ballast. When everything had been thrown out of the car to lighten the load, the car itself could be cut away, the party taking to the life boat. If the gas gave cut, the boat could be placed in the water and the ballvon thrown aw The air ship was launched in New York city, in October, 1873, and landed in Winsted, Conn. In_June, 1887, a balloon constructed by the New York World left St. Louis for New York. It held 160,000 cubic feet of illumi- nating gas and was under the charge of Aeronaut Moore. Prof. Hazen went along as meteorologist. No expense was spared on | the arrangements. The first trouble was made by the gas company, which had promfted a 10-inch pipe. It actually fur- nished two pipes, one 4-inch and one 6-inch, saying that this was just the same thing. In reality the capacity of both together was just one-half of that of a 10-inch pipe. Thus the flow was not rapid enough, and it was finally decided to start when the bag was only three-quarters full. Twenty- five thousand people had been waiting two hours when the balloon went up at 5:30 mm. Pthe balloon barely cleared the grand stand. A moment later she was struck by a flaw in the wind and wobbled.The aero- naut shouted, “over with the ballast!” Sev- eral hundred pounds of sand in bags was thrown over, and up shot the air ship to a height of three miles. At 12,000 feet the neck of the bag opened and the gas began to escape. This left the balloon only about three-fifths full. She started to come down and descended faster and faster. More ballast was thrown over, and she took a sweep up to 6,000 feet. When she came down again she had expended so much bal- last that it was decided to make a landing, the hour being 8 p.m. The voyagers found themselves 54 miles from St. Louis. That was. the last long trip by balloon attempted in this country. There have never been any long voyages in Europe for lack of steady currents in that part of the world. The Great Northwest. Another famous balloon was the “Great Northwest,” which started from Minneap- olis for New York in September, 1881. It was under charge of Prof. King, and car- ried seven men, five of them being news- paper reporters. It was the biggest balloon ever inflated with hydrogen, holding 100,- 900 cubic feet. Though well planned in all other respects, the ascent was made with- out any consideration of air currents. The balloon went up in a dead calm to a height of 3,000 feet, stayed for some time and came down in a cow pasture. A few weeks later King took the same balloon up at Chicago, and was carried off into the wilds of Wis- consin, where he and one companion had nothing to eat for three days except a hedgehog. Some of the phenomena observed at great elevations are very interesting. There are wonderful echoes among the clouds, and sometimes beautiful mirages are seen. Voyagers in the balloon car have some- times an opportunity to witness thunder storms from above and find themselves surrounded by orange-colored flames of sheet lightning. Thistle seeds are found floating at a height of a mile or more like :o many vegetal parachutes. At 3 1-2 miles up the atmosphere is one-half as dense as on the earth; at 7 miles it is only one- quarter as dense, and at 17 1-2 miles it has only one-thirty-second of the density. Ac- cordingly the aeronaut finds it desirable to stay within about three miles of the sur- face of the globe. The view in ascending from the sea shore is most impressive. As one rises, ships come up from behind the horizon. It looks like magic. With cloud fields between the observer and the ships, the latter have the appearance: of sailing above and over the clouds. Likewise a meandering river is seen twisting in con- yolutions over and under the clouds in the distance. —__+e«______ Under Great Obligations. From Truth. THE RETIRED LIST. Uncle Sam’s Liberality to Men Who Have Served in the Army and Navy. OVER TWO MILLION A YEAR. The Cost of the Army and- Navy Pension Rolls. SOME WELL-KNOWN OFFICERS. T COSTS UNCLE Sam nearly a million dollars a year to pen- sion the naval officers who have grown old or have become dis- abled in his service. Every officer of the army or navy who has been in service a great number of years or who has be- come disabled from any cause, in or out of the line of duty, can retire from active service with an as- sured income. This is one feature which makes service in the army or navy 80 at- tractive. There is no other occupation, ex- cept that of a federal judge, which makes provision for a man’s declining years. There are sporadic cases of business men who pro- vide for old employes. George W. Childs of the Philadelphia Ledger is one of these. But these instances are rare; and the ordi- nary business man is expected to lay by something for his own rainy day. The offi- cer in the army or navy knows that he can keep on drawing money from Uncle Sam until he dies, provided he does not misbe- have. It is a comforting reflection, and goes a long way toward reconciling men to the ambitionless life of the service. Temptations are often put in the path of army and navy officers to resign and go into business. Positions with bankers and brokers, with railroads and with ship-build- ers are offered to them. They hesitate a long time before accepting, and usually they obtain through the grace of the head of the department under which they" are serving a long leave of absence in which they can make a “trial trip’ in the new business. They do not care to risk the loss of their standing in the service for anything un- certain. If it was not for the retired list @ great many officers would resign and en- ter upon some more active pursuit. The Retired Officer's Pay. The “half-pay” of a United States naval officer is usually three-quarters pay. The law provides that “the pay of all officers of the navy who have been retired after forty- five years’ service after reathing the age of sixty’ years or who have been or may be retired after forty years’ service upon their own application to the President; or on attaining the age of sixty-two years; or on account of incapacity resulti: from long and faithful service, from wounds or in- juries received in the line of duty or from sickness or exposure therein, shall, when not on active duty, be equal to 7% per cent of the sea pay provided for the grade or rank which they held respectively at the time of the retirement. The pay of all other officers on the retired list shall, when not on active duty, be equal to one-half the sea pay provided for the grade or rank held at the time of retirement.” ‘The sea-pay of a rear admiral is $6,000 a year; of a commodore, $5,000; of a captain, #4,500; of a commander, $3,500; of lieutenant commanders, $2,800 or $3,000, according to length of active service. Thus the pay of the retired rear admiral is $4,500 a year; of a commodore, $3,750; of a captain, $3,375, and so on. An income of $4,500 is a very neat sum to live on in idleness, even in Wash- ington, and most of the retired officers of the navy make their home in Washington. The number of naval officers on the re- tired list at this time is 39. The next line officer to retire will probably be Rear Ad- miral Belknap, who is eligible for retire- ment January 22, 189. The other retire- ments expected in different branches of the service are: In the medical corps, Medical Director Richard C. Deane, who will retire in 18%. In the pay corps, Pay Inspector Worth Goldsborough, who retires in 18%. In the engineer corps, Chief Engineer Edward D. Robie, who retires Septembe> In _the corps of professors of mathematics, L. F. Prud'homme, who retires in 1896. In the construction corps, Frank L. Fer- nald, who retires in 1897. It is well to say that these retirements are “expected.” So are deaths in the navy. Every death, resignation or retirement in the higher grades of the service means the promotion of a few and perhaps of a great many men. At least, if it does not advance each man to a higher grade it puts him one point nearer his promotion; for promotion is by seniority of service. Naval officers therefore have a decidedly selfish interest in retirements. They figure on them a long time ahead, speculating on the possibility of promotion. When a man has reached the age of thirty-five and finds himself still a lieutenant in the navy it is about time iat he began to worry about his promo- tion. _ | The Army Lists. The army has two retired lists. There isa limited list divided into three classes. The first of these includes officers who have been in the service thirty years and who have been retired on their own application, with the approval of the President. The second class includes those offigers who have served forty years, and who have been retired either by their own request or by the action of the President. An officer who has served forty years has the right to be retired without asking permission of any one. Recently the President asserted the right to retire these officers whether they made application or not; and he carried out that idea in the case of Gen. E. A. Carr. The third class includes officers who have be- come incapaciated for service and who have been retired by examining boards. The officers in these three classes of the limited retired list cannot exceed 300; but not long ago the list became so congested and there were so many officers awaiting retirement that Congress passed a law providing that any officer on the limited list who had reached the age of sixty-four could be transferred to the unlimited list. The unlimited list includes officers who have reached the age of sixty-four, at which re- tirement is compulsory. The pay of retired army officers is always 7 per cent of active service pay. A major general on the active list receives $7,500 a year, on the retired list his salary is $5,625. A brigadier general on the active list re- ceives $5,500, on the retit lst, he draws $4,125. The pay of a colonel on the active list ranges from $3,500 a year up, according to length of service. The increase is 10 per cent for every five years of ‘service. His pay on the retired list varies also with the length of his active service, from $218.% a month ($2,635 a year) to $281.25 a month, which ts the rete of men who have been on active service fifteen or twenty years. A second lieutenant receives $1,400 on the ctive list, $1,050 a year on the retired list. The Families of Retired Naval Officers No provisidn is made in law for the wives or families of men who die while on the retired list of the army or navy, or even for those who die while in active service. But Congress is very liberal with special enactments and where Congress refuses to act there has never been any difficulty about raising a fund by private subscrip- tion for the .widow of a defender of the country. Among the widows of naval offi- cers who draw special pensions are: The widow of Rear Admiral Edward Donaldson, who is pensioned at $50 a month; the widow of Commodore J. B. Marchand, who draws $50 a month; the widow of Rear Admiral J. W. A, Nicholson, who receives $100 a month; the widow of Admiral Radford, who receives $50 a month; the widow of Admiral Fabius Stanley, whose pension is $50 a month; the widow of Rear Admiral Charles Wilkes, who receives $100 a month; the widow of Chaplain G. W. Dorrance, who receives $40 a month, and the following, who receive $50 a month each: The widow of Rear Admiral Charles Steedman, the widow of Medical Director Robert T. Mc- Coun, the widow of Admiral William Smith, and the widows of Rear Admirals Roger Taylor and Gideon Welles. Residing in Wn ston. The oldest of the retired admirals lives in Washington. He is Thomas O. Selfridge, who entered the navy in 1818, and who commanded the New York navy yard-in 1867-68. Like most of the old sea dogs who live here, he spends much of his time at the Army and Navy Club or the Metropoli- tan Club. Admiral Worden, the hero of the Monitor-Merrimac fight, is also a resi- dent of Washington. He lives on K street in a house adjoining that of Secretary Car- lisle. He is an exception to the rule of three-quarters pay. Congress retired him by special act, allo him the full pay of his grade for life. Admiral Thomas H. Stevens lives his naval life over again in his son, who is a Heutenant on the active list. “Old Tom” and “Young Tom” they are called at the clubs. Rear Admiral Queen is one of the officers who does not need the $4500 a year which the govern- ment pays him. He made a great deal of money in real estate speculation a few years ago, and he lives in a_ handsome house on 18th street, facing Connecticut avenue, in the fashionable northwest sec- tion of the city. He and Admiral Almy are accounted among the wealthy naval officers of Washington. Admiral Almy lives in a very costly house on Vermont avenue above K street, which he built for himself. Neither he nor Admiral Queen will die poor. Admiral Ammen, who sug- gested to the Navy Department the con- struction of the celebrated ram that bears his name, has a country home near Wash- ington, and still takes an active interest in naval affairs. In fact, none of the retired naval officers have abandoned altogether their interest in the navy. They do not go often to the Navy Department, but nothing happens in naval circies that they do not know all about and that they do not discuss at length among themselves. They are not out of the navy by any means. They may be called out for active service any day if their country needs them. Both army and navy officers on the retired list are subject to call for active service. Well-Known Retired Officers. A great many army officers who have gone of the retired list have engaged in other occupations. There is Maj. Gen. D. E. Sickles of New York. The government pays him $,625 a year as a retired officer of the army, and since his retirement he has drawn salary from the government as min- ister to Spain. He is now a member of Congress and will receive $5,000 a year in addition to his pay as an army officer. Gen. Kelton, who died only a few weeks ago, drew pay on the retired list and also a salary as governor of the Soldiers’ Home at Washington. Gen. W. S. Rosecrans is one of sixteen army officers who have been placed on the retired list by special act of Congress and who are still there. He was retired in February, 1889, on $4,125 a year. At that time and until very recently he was draw- ing salary as register of the treasury. Dr. William A. Hammond is on the retired list under special act of Congress. He was re- moved from the position of surgeon gen- eral of the army under charges in connec- tion with some contracts and he went away from Washington, saying that he would come back some day for a vindica- tion. Congress in 1878 passed an act a@u- thorizing the president to investigate the case of Dr. Hammond and if in his judg- ment the charges on which he was dis- missed from the army were not well found- ed, to reinstate him, and place him on the retired list with the rank of brigadier gen- eral. The investigation was made, and Dr. Hammond was vindicated. Fitz John Porter, whose case was fought so long and so bitterly in Congress, draws $3,375 a year as a retired gh Mngmed act of Congress passed in 1 e time this law was enacted Gen. Porter was hold- ing the lucrative position of police commis- sioner of New York city. Among the other well-known army officers on the retired iist are: Major Gen. J. C. Robinson, Brigadier Generals Francis Fes- senden, Eli Long, P. St. G. Cooke, Joseph Holt, D. H. Rucker, C. C. Augur, O. B. Willeox, S. V. Benet, D. 8. Staley, B. H. Grierson, A. V. Kautz and Beekman Du Barry. Capt. Charles King, the well-known novelist, is on the retired list of the army. He draws $1,600 a year. Army Officers’ Widows. A great many widows of army officers draw pensions under special acts of Con- gress. Mrs. Grant receives a pension of 5,00 a year. A remarkable pension is that of $0 a month granted by special act of Congress to the mother of Howard Cushing, a first lieutenant in the army, who was killed by Indians in Arizona. She was also the mother of Lieut. Alonzo H. Cushing, who was killed at Gettysburg, and of Com- mander Wm. B. Cushing of the navy. Most of the widows of army and navy officers have been provided for by the gov- ernment, and though there are periodical protests from members and Senators against these private pension bills, they are always passed. The retired list of army and navy costs the government more than $2,000,000 a year. The amount at present paid to retired off- cers of the navy is $962,462. The pay of re- tired officers of the army (7% per cent of their active pay) aggregates $1,006,404. The 10 per cent additional for every five years of continuous service allowed to army officers on the retired list costs the government $306,282. So the total paid to army retired officers is $1,312,688. The total paid to army and navy is $2,175,148. —eee—___ The Dinkey Bird. From the Chicago Record. In an ocean far out yonder, ‘There the gumdrops grow like cherries, And taffy’s thick as peas; Caramels you pick like berries When and where and how you please; Big red sugar plums are clinging fo the cliffs beside that eea Where the Dinkey Bird goes singing In the amfalula tree! So when children shout and And make merry all the day, When there's naught to put a damper On the ardor of their play; When I hear their laughter ringing, T'm sure as sure can be That the Dinkey Bird is singing In the amfulula tree. For the Dinkey Bird's bravuras pati staccatos are ao sweet, is roulades, appogeiaturus And robuatos so complete, ‘That the youth of every nation, Be they neat or far away, Have especial delectation In that gladsome roundelay, ‘Their eyes grow bright and brighter, ‘Their lungs begin to cow, Their hearts get light and lighter inkey Bird is singing In the amfalula tree! Yes, I'm sure you'd like to go there To behold your feathered friend; Ard so many goodies grow there You would like to comprehend! Speed, little dreams, your winging To that land across the sea ‘Where the Dinkey Bird is singing In the amfalula tree! —EUGENE FIELD. From Truth. 1—Pitty F'tes!” tle + we G7 FLORAL DECORATIONS Necessary for Every Well-Regulated Dining Table. SOME ARTISTIC TOUCHES The Effect of Appropriately Blended Colors. TO DECORATE THE WALLS. Written for The Evening Star. The first thought of the hostess who wishe? to make her entertainments attractive goes out to the floral decoration of her house and her table, and it is there that her taste | and originality can be asserted with the Sreatest success. In fact, table decoration is growing year by year of more impor- tance, and the homes are neglected and behindhand where flowers and foliage do not form an appreciable feature of the daily dinner table. It is not necessary to spend very much money, neither is it advisable to have one small pot of ferns do duty for weeks at a time. A feasible plan is to choose a pretty willow basket and have it fitted with a tin lining. In this can be placed little jars of Srowing bulbs, tulips, hyacinths or nar | cissus, as they come into bloom. Twigs of vines can be twisted about them and droop Sracefully over the side here and there, concealing the pots. The tin lining admits of watering and drainage. Thus a pleasant variety and succession can be had in- definitely at a modest outley. A large bow of ribbon of shade suitable for the flowers enhances the beauty of the basket and we ded Ry 4 To tle the handle of a bask eon! a ribbon on a dimer table, ‘Bread ted with ribbons, cup handles sporting ribbon bows, defaced with bow knots—it is a very fussy At a dinner on a recent occasion, other- wise in excellent taste, the banana ice cream was served in banana skins. That would have been a pretty little surprise if these bananas had been allowed to remain in their realistic condition; but each one was tied with a big yellow satin bow—at least, it was proportionately big—and after it had been poked about with the fork, in order to get at the ice cream, and the ice cream had oozed out on the ribbon, it war in a very sorry condition, far from appetiz- ing. Really, the decorations of some din- ners and luncheons would lead one to think that the hostess has been or should have been a milliner. Artistic Touches. To arrange tasteful, graceful floral groups is, in a measure, a natural gift. but if the novice will bear in mind that simplicity is the best policy, and use only one kind of flower for her first attempts, the effect will if she is willing to that it entails. . In these days of color schemes the cook and mistress can work in sympathy with each other and produce effective, novel re- sults. For instance, when yellow and gold are the colors chosen the following sugges- tion, a description of a recent dinner table arrangement, may be of service. Nothing | Mghts up better than yellow, and profes- sional decorators have discovered the value of black to heighten its effectiveness. They use the black crum lily for this purpose. - It is @ striking and uncommon flower, of great artistic value. The center of the table in question was adorned with yellow roses—a basket of delicate tine tron- work filled with these lovely blossoms: A silver salver, spread with orange leaves and orange baskets of cream, was at one end of the table, and at the other an orange salad in a yellow crystal dish placed on a salver arranged with sprays of pretty green. All in Orange. For making these bask»ts, large thick- skinned oranges should %e chosen. With a sharp penknife cut nearly a half circle about the middle of each orange; on the up- per half cut a strip for a anadle; then cut away all the remainder of that half, th leaving the rind in the shape of a basket with a handle. Before removing the in- terior cut diamonds in the remaining half of the rind, to simulate wicker work, then carefully remove all the pulp of the orange. A little experience will enable any lady to make these baskets with ease. Then beat to a stiff froth a pint of good cream and add to it the whites of two eggs, stiffly whipped, two tablespoonfuls of confection- er’s sugar and a wineglassful of the ex- pressed jujce of the oranges. Fill the bas- kets with it. For orange salad make a cleor sirup ty boiling half a pound of granulated sugar with a wineglassful of water in an enam- eled sauce pan. Separate two or three oranges into their natural divisions and re- move the pips as much 4s possible. Drop each division into the vofling sirup, cook them for two minutes, drain’ them and lay them in the dish. Cook for a few minutes in the same sirup half a dozen slices of pineapple and a few peaches and arrange them with the oranges. Canned jcaches and pineapple may be ased. Cut the rind of one orange into thin jong strips and boll them for five minutes; lay these over the top of the fruit. Then add a winezlassful of brandy to the sirup; let it boil up to thicken it, and when it as cooled a little pour it over the fruit. A mauve table is very delicate and ex- tremely pretty if the color is not carried beyond flowers, but mauve ribbons and mauve food are too grievous. White and purple lilac blossoms are lovaiy ia old sil- ver bowls, and iris in hrass bowls are charming and a dangerous tive: to orchids, but these flowers, as, inJeed, most flowers, never look their best with any foliage but their own. Ferns for foliage seems to be the one idea of the shopman-—he carneot concede that nature has wraaged that mat- ter better than he. Foliage tables are decidedly a pretty change and look refreshingly springlike, but their arrangement requires great skill. Fruit tree flowers have great charms. Apple blossoms, for instance, can make a perfect vision of fresh loveliness. Large branches of nuts, flowering grasses and scarlet berries can be used very effectively lin tall vases for autumn decorations: but do not use too many gclasse@ and small receptacles. The effect in that case is sure to be poor and “spotty.” A Medel Room. It is not possible for everyone to have a dining room that lends itself to decoration as one completed at Newport early this season, and which made a charming tm- pression on a visitor, who described it as having walls and ceiling immaculately white, the dazzling effect softened by a thick sur- face coat of enamel. The floor ts carpeted in moss green velvet, and hangings to match drape the doors and wide, deep windows with their inside curtains of embroidered Swiss muslin. The sifeboards, center and side tables are of this same white enamel, with hinges, locks and trimmings of silver. High backed chairs, built after an old white upholstered in d the rare water colors tchings on the wall prevailing silver and sno the larger crysta! When, at night, and argent lamps are lighted, the silk shades that look like big rosy blossoms and all the pyramids of wax candles wearing tiny caps to match, this room is a glimpse of fairyland. Under its influence every pretty woman is an individ- ual Titania. Daffodils and violets give it an atmosphere of early springtime, jacqueminot roses and palms transform it into a section of an oriental retreat; it mever appears twice alike and is the envy of every house- holder who passes under its cool, subtle charm. For wall decoration flat baskets and china jars in all suitable‘shapes, placed: rather high, are filled with careless looseness, the pretty effect completed with trails of ivy falling to a considerable length. To be utterly unconventional is the present floral aim.