Evening Star Newspaper, November 4, 1893, Page 14

14 THE EVENING THE CHORAL SOCIETY The Leading Singing Association at the National Capital. PS TEN YEARS OF GOOD WORK Prof. Josef Kaspar is Now Musi- cal Director. SOME LOCAL SOLOISTS. : HE CHORAL sO- clety, which is now entering upon the second decade of its existence, ranks among the foremost of the choral organt- zations of the coun- try. Its work has gradually progressed in character and in quality, and it has successfully rendered some of the most difficult compositions itten for choral production. The first Sor of great note undertaken by the so- ety was “The Specter’s Bride,” at the close of the season of 1889, a cantata com- posed by Dr. Antonin Dvorak, and which was subsequently repeated during the sea- fon of 189-91. The other works of especial importance are the oratorios, “Arminiu: by Bruch, Dudley Buck’s “Light of Asia,’ besides “The Messiah,” “Elijah,” and most recently, in April last, “The Damnation of Faust,” by Berlioz, the last named a most difficult and iniricate composition and the crowning masterpiece of the society’s suc- cesses. There are numerous other works produced by the society in its earlier his- tory, such as the cantata “The Ancient Mariner,” by Barnby, and that by Bridge, “Calirrhoe,” all of which were rendered with great credit. For its eleventh season the society presents a most pretentious Program, including Haydn's “The Crea- tion.” Saint-Saens’ grand opera, “Samson end Delilah,” arranged for concert produc- tion, besides its annual production of “The Messiah,” and a miscellaneous concert with which the season’s work will be openéd. Its Musical Directors. ‘The musicz! directors of the society have been few in number, its first, Dr. Harry C. Sherman, continuing in that position for eight years. His successor was Mr. Wal- ter Damrosch of New York, with Mr. Er- nest Szemelenyi, Mr. N. Du Shane Clow- ard, and Mr. John P. Lawrence, as assist- ant directors at different periods. With the close of last season the society abandoned the plan of having a non-resident as musi- ¢al director, with a local assistant, and Mr. Josef Kaspar became the choice of the board of directors, upon whom the selection devolved. mien) soset Kaspar. Probably no one man has done more to @evelop the musical resources of Washing- ton than Mr. Kaspar. As solo violinist, or- ganizer and director of the Wilhelmj Club and for seven seasons director of the Georgetown Orchestra he has become one of the leading forces in the musical life of the city. Music came to him with his birth, his parents belonging to the Slavonic race, always musical, and living at Nadejkor, Bohemia, in 1858, where the Choral Soctety's director first saw the light of day. He be- gan the study of the violin while quite young under Rose, a graduate of the Brussels Censervatory. In 1875 he entered the Con- servatory of Prague under Anton Bene- witz, one of the few great teachers. After three years of hard work at Prague, to ac- quaint himself with the French school, he Placed himself under the instruction of Emile Sauret, who shares with Sarasate the affection of the French public. Prof. Kaspar’s first appearance in Ameri- ca was with the Peabody Symphony Or- chestra of Baltimore, and it was as solo violinist ‘with this organization that he first visited Washington, the city that during the following year was to become his home. His success as a teacher has been unsur- passed and there are few teachers in the country who have equalled his record made in so few years. He has frequently ap- peared as solo violinist, but during the last five years his duties as teacher and direc- tor of the Wilhelmj Club and Georgetown Orchestra have taken up all of his time. Last spring he was chosen director of the Choral Society and the society is already showing evidences of the wisdom of the choice. He has a marked sense of rhythm is many sided in his tastes and more than all has in high degree that magnetite en- thusiasm that communicates itself to the forces under his controi and inspires each “wdividual to do the best work. concert of the feason, Thursday evening next, at Metzer- ott Muste Hall, the society presents in a miscellaneous program Miss Maud Powell, Mr. H. Cumberland Wilson, Mrs. Nellie Wilson Shir-Cliff and Mr. John Porter Law- rence. Miss Powell, though a native of Il- inois, makes Washington her home with er parents. Her first important course of study of the violin, her chosen instru- ment, was under Prof. Shadreick at Chi- ago, under whose instruction she was for a period of four years. She first appeared in concert in the eleventh year of her age and met with such decided success and showed true musicilanly qualities in s0 marked a degree that it was determined to take her abroad to study. She was ac- cordingly sent to Leipsic, where she was promptly admitted to the conservatory and created so favorable an impression that at the end of three weeks she was request- ed to play at the Gewandhaus public ex- amination, and after a year’s study was awarded the highest diploma offered by the school. Subsequently she studied {n Paris, under Dancla and Leonard. Still later she was accepted as a pupil by that celebrated mas- ter of the violin, Joachim, at Berlin, and eontinued under his instruction for two years, 1844 and 18%. Her first public appearance in her own country after her return from abroad was at the first of the Philharmonic concerts of the season of 188-6 in New York city. Her Success was instantaneous and — her triumphs In her art have followed since in rapid succession. In 1892, when the Fu- Topean concert tour of the Arion Singin Society of New York was planned, she was selected as a representative American musi- cian to accompany the organization as solo artiste and demonstrate to the old world critics what America could produce in the way of a violin player. It fs scarcely need- ful to speak of the enthusiasm with which she w received in the musical centers of German Europe. which she visited on this memorable tour. With one accord she was hailed as an artiste of artistes and nothing could be said too laudatory of her work. Returning with the Arions she resumed her regular concert work, and was heard here in April last in connection with the first appearance of the Capitol Glee Club. She has appeared with Mr. Seidl, Mr. Nikisch, Mr. Damrosch, and indeed has played at every important series of high- class concerts given in this country of late years. She was the only violinist not a concert meister of one of the great cr- chestras who was invited to appear in con- nection with the series of grand concerts given under the auspices of the bureau cf music of the Columbian exposition at Chi- cago. Mr. H. Cumberland Wilson. Mr. H. Cumberland Wilson is a new- comer, but comes with the promise of be- ing a pleasing addition to the circle of ac- quaintances of the Washington musical public. Born in England, he received his early vocal training as a chorister in Exeter Cathedral. He then studied in the Royal Academy of Music under Randegger and other masters, and concertized with success in “the provinces,” as the England that 1s not “London” is called. Since com- ing to this country he has been heard in a number of American cities, among them Boston, Chicago, Philadelphia and Cinci::- nati. His voice is tenor of light timber, but full and round, and is reported as be- ing of remarkable range. He sings with taste, and his enunciation and phrasing are highly commended. rs. Nellie Wilson Shir-Clif. Mrs, Nellie Wilson Shir-Cliff is in many respects the most taleu.ted and certainly the favorite among our lecal singers. Her musical education has been derived from the instructions of Dr, Bischoff, who has been her sole vocal instructor. She combines a fine musical nature with a soprano voice of pure and flexible quality and wide range, and her work is always of a higher order. Mrs. Shir-Cliff has appeared in concert in @ number of the neighboring cities, Balti- more, Richmond and eisewhere, and always won success. Her most recent local public appearance was as Serpolette in the ama- teur “The Chimes of Normandy” last sea- son, when she furnished new proof of her versatility and high artistic ability. This is Mrs. Shir-Cliff’s first appearance with the Choral Society, and is looked forward to as an important step in the direction of the proper recognition of loeal soloists. Mr. John P. Lawrence. Mr. John P. Lawrence is to make his int- tial appearance with the society, as soloist, on this occasion, though he has entered upon the second year of his professional association with the society. His first work was as accompanist, in which he showed such qualities as induced the society to sub- sequently choose him as the local assistant director to Mr. Damrosch. The plans of the society for this season leading to the selec- tion of Mr. Kaspar as director in place of Mr. Damrosch, and the discontinuing of the office of assistant director, Mz. Lawrence has returned to the piano, prepared, how- ever, to act aa director in any exigency which may arise requiring his services in that capacity. Of his high standing as an artist there is no question. His education in music, both at home and abroad, has been thorough, and added to a natural aptitude, has placed him among the foremost of the talented. pianists whom Washington calls its own. —— SYMPATHY OF A SHAKERESS. Could Not See a Brother of the Flock Go Out Into the World Alone. From the Lewiston Journal. Dark? Dismal? Well, now, I'd say so! So would you, if you'd been there. It was a night's ride from Sabbath Day pond, in New Gloucester, to Gloucester Upper Cor- ner. We had stopped at Shaker Village and bought some sugared oil nuts in a box. Ever eat any? Put up by the sisters them- selves, and worth ten times as much as any of your fancy candy. If our two black horses had been white the road ahead might. not have seemed quite so dark, but as it was, we left the Shaker settlement behind us and let the horses take their own galt through the dark forest. Some one tells the romance of these woods while we go. Once there was a Shak- er man who had a progressive and busin2ss- like spirit that was the life of the Shaker town we had just left. For years he work- ed, schemed, builded and cultivated the farms of the society. He made them rich and put things to rights all about the broad acres. When he had done this and had lived for years up to every fota of the religion, he saw that his was too worldly a nature to be a Shaker, and that he longed for things that a Shaker should shun. Like @ man, he went before the brethren and sisters and told them so, The day set for his departure had ar- rived. As he took his leave there were tears in the eyes of many, for he had been a friend to the society and a brother to all. “I shall be a friend to the society, still,” he said. “But I dread to go out into the cold world alone.” When he had said this there stepped forward one who, though she had been a faithful sister, as Shakers should, yet saw that she, too, was not of the tem- perament to be a Shaker forever—stepped forward from among the sisters and said she would go with him. That is all the story save that they live in a distant city today, and they have more than once befriended the society at New Gloucester. They showed us his picture at the trustees’ office and told us something of the story: “There are some of the Shakers who said it could not be love, said one, “but we asked if it was not love that made him take her out with him into the cold world, why didn’t he take one of the brethren instead of the sister?” From Puck. Son (after reading editorial scoring the aldermen)—“Now I know why they call the aldermen the city fathers.” Father—“Why?” Son—“Because they never give us what we want” STAR: WASHINGTON, D.C, SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 4, 1893—TWENTY PAGES. A CITY DIRECTORY. A Canvasser Relates Some of His Curious Experiences, ALL SORTS OF PEOPLE MET WITH Some Are Polite, While Others Are Very Rude. PECULIAR INCIDENTS. HE LEARNED PHY- sician, the sagacious lawyer, the busy mer- chant and ninety- nine out of every hundred persons wro hastily upen a direct- ory of a large city never stop to think of the immense amount of hard libor, Practical good sense and tact there has been expended in its ‘ compilation, besides the work of the compositor and print- er. Those few who do, in a more or less vague manner, have a slight conception of the arduous duties connected with the can- vassing and arrangement of a directory do not form even the least idea of the magni- tude of the study a canvasser pursues; it is a study of human nature in all its phases, A School of Instruction. The preparations for beginning the actual work are as about as careful and precise as the work itself, and after the applicant for position as canvasser has received a postal telling him to call on a stated day and he has called and been accepted he must attend a school of instruction for three days one and one-half hours each day.. In this school he is taught how to write the name slips—that is, the different forms used in writing individuals’, firms’ and corporations’ names. This, to a casual observer of the directory, is not much, but 1 shall give a few examples of the different manners used. Every slip is dated and ras on it the number by which the canvasser is Known at the office, and an individual slip is made thus, with the name trans- Smith John J clerk h 122 bth ne 10-14 No punctuation is used, except in rare and specified cases. When the canvasser takes the name of a man at his piace of business he makes a slip like this, with his number and the date as before: Smith John J grocer 122 5th ne h 119 32d ne The letter “h” means “house,” and if the grocer lives at his store the slip is the same, only reading “h do,” meaning “house ditto.” Then a bus'ness slip must be made to place the merchant under the title “Gro- cers” in the business directory, thus: Grocers Smith John J 122 5th ne If the grocery store is owned by a firm there would be one slip for the alphabetical body of the directory; one under the title grocers, and one individual slip for each of the proprietors, showing their residence number, thus: @) Smith & Jones (John J Smith and William X Jones) grocers 122 5th ne @) Grocers Smith & Jones 1225thn e ‘ py Smith John J (Smith & Jones) h 1019 ne (4) Jones William X (Smith & Jon 1343 33d n e : ore As to Corporation: ‘There are many other complicated cases where the canvasser must know his busi- ness in order to make accurate work. For instance, a canvasser at the “Evening Star” office would have to make nine or ten separate slips. For the alphabetical® body of the directory he would make slips for “The Evening Star Newspaper Company, 10L Pa. ave, n. w. and “The Evening Star, 1101 Pa. ave. n. w.,” and in the business directory, under “Printers, under “Publishers” and under “Newspapers,” he vould make slips for The Evening Star iewspaper Company, and for the Appendix a slip headed “Incorporations,” and the name, “Evening Star Newspaper Company, 1101 Pa. ave. n. w.,” and each of its officers: President, vice president, secretary and treasurer. Then, lastly, an individual slip for each of these officers, stating the fact of his being an ofticer of The Evening Star Newspaper Company, 101 Pa. ave. n. w., and giving his residence number. Such cases as these are explained fully at the school, so that the canvasser may make intelligent work when he goes out on the street, and many other cases are considered, but the canvasser must rely on his judgment in many instances. Besides stating the names of individuals, firms and corporations, the directory rep- resentative must solicit subscriptions and advertisements for the book, and orders for the insertion of individuals’, firms’ or corporations’ names in capital letters. Starting Out a Canvasser. After three days’ instruction of one and one-half hours each, the canvassers report at quarter before eight in the morning at the office. Here they are provided with a sample directory, of small size, usually, with blank contracts for subscriptions, ad- vertisements, &c., and with the books of slips upon which the names are to be writ- ten. In the canvasser’s book ts a little map of the district he is to work in, and these tracts vary in size from two or three blocks on one street to a neighborhood inclosed be- tween several streets, say, for example, be- tween 3d and 8th and D and G northeast. If the district is remote from the office the canvasser is given car fare, and he starts out for work. The first day is the longest, in all prob- ability, he has ever spent and the types of humanity so varied that when he has re- ported at 5 o’clock at the office and arrived home he feels as though he had been travel- ing in a strange land, conversing almost in an unknown tongue, and has just returned to civilization, and he probably appreciates his home and old friends more than hither- to. The canvassers are instructed to get the names of all the adults sleeping in the house, except the wife—unless she is a widow, in which case her name is taken— and the daughters of the gentlemen or lady of the house unless they are employed. His First Difficulty. On my first day I rang door bell after door bell,got the desired information readily un- til 1 reached one little red brick house. Here I must have lost the combination, for I immediately got into serious trouble. Answering my ring, a tall strong appearing woman thrust herself with interrogation points visible in every feature, out through the door, and rather hastily inquired what “I" wanted. I bowed, took off my hat, stood on one foot and then on the other, re- gained part of my composure, informed her of my errand and said (and here is where I made my blunder) that I wished “the names of all those that slept in the house.” This was more than the masculine looking lady could brook, and she forcibly reminded me that it was none of my business who slept in her house. I argued with her that it was only a matter of courtesy to them to give their names, as it was their home if they slept there. “It didn’t make any difference just the same; she would give me the names in her own family, but she wanted it dis- tinctly understood it was no one’s affair who slept in the house."’ So I took her hus- band’s name, her grown-up employed chil- dren's names, complimented her front yard, talked about the beautiful sunshine and the glorious weather,and before I left had found out there wasn’t another soul in the house but her own immediate family, not even a servant. The Froury-Headed French Woman, At another place I rang the bell and waited a few moments and heard a step ap- proaching. The door opened and I caught just a glimpse of the large frouzy head of a woman, and I said, “I have come to get information for——" But that was as far as I got, for she simply said “Bah!” slammed the door and went up-stairs. I once more took possession of the doo> bell and proceeded to play upon {t until she raised the window and gave me this: “Vell! vell! vell!! vat ees it, vat you vant, meester? She was French, and I explained as best I could what 1 desired. This seemed to pacify her, and she said, apologetically: “Oh, I zee; I taught you vanted to zell_me zomesing.” I then asked her what her hus- band’s name was, and she gave me about eleven French unintelligible names as fast as she could arrange with her organs of articulation to get them out, and looked at me as much as to say, if that wasn’t enough to come again tomorrow and she would give me another supply. I gazed up at her and begged her to spell one of the names. She spelled it at the rate of 300 letters every one and one-half seconds, and in some kind of unknown French besides. I requested her to’ spell it, please, again, and she re- buked me thus, “Vell! vell! I cannot spell I_spell it ze von time; zat and down went the window; I will not appear in the city directory. Yet, all cases were not so disagreeable; in the majority of instances the canvasser is treated politely, and receives his infor- mation quickly and accurately. Three out of four men who answer the canvasser's ring at a private residence invite him to enter and be seated. Nine out of ten women will stand at the door and give him the names, but not a few of them give them unwillingly apparently, although, if the canvasser attempts to leave without taking the names at all, she will call him back and insist on giving them. Colored People U: lly Willing. The majority of the colored people receive the canvasser well, give the information quickly, politely and without much talk, and more work can be accurately performed in a colored district in one day than in a white district equally populated in two or three days. Among the colored people, of course, many cannot spell their own names and many pthers are afraid to give their names at all. One of the old colored men stubborn some time with me and said: ‘No, indeedy, boss, I ain't gwine to give my name to nobody. You ‘pears to be honest looking, but deed I don’t know nuffin’ about what you want and I kain’t give my name to you nohow.” But I persuaded him final- ly and left him muttering about “Dis yere directry business he never did unerstan’ anyhow.” I saw some of the saddest of poverty's afflictions among the colored people; at one Place, where no one answered my knock, I went around to the rear of the shanty and knocked and a feeble voice replied that she was unable to. rise, but would tell me what I wanted through the door. She was the old grandmother, afflicted and had been on her back for over three Years, all alone all day long, while her grandchildren were out to get enough for a few crusts. Odd People Among the Better Class. Odd people are to be found among the bet- ter classes. I requested one lady, over northwest, to give me her husband’s name and business and was refused. I explained all the reasons and causes of my desire, but she was obdurate, and said she had given it last year and it wasn’t the way her hus- band wanted it. I assured her he would get it this time just right and she said “Young man, if you had heard the domestic jar there was about me giving the name incor- rectly before; tf you could have heard the unpleasant remarks made over it then, you would not ask me to give it now vowed then never to give my husban: name again if it did not get in at all.” I could not but respect her feelings and withdrew. At another very beautiful residence I was ushered in, and before I could get the neces- sary information the lady had told me all about her travels, her knowledge, her son’s wonderful abilities, her own surprising good judgment and many other things I did not really need, but she was polite and oblig- ing, and that is a great deal more than are many of the ladies at the most imposing residences. Many ladies upon hearing my request evidently thought I had just jump- ed a car and came to their house particu- larly to get their names and no others, and they patronizingly say: “You may go right down to my husband's office, number 3000 Blank street, and he will tell you all about it.” It ts too bad to dispel this illusion, but the canvasser has to enlighten these ladies’ minds that he had thought of going next door; in fact, of working in that vicinity all day, and that he really couldn't stop work and run down to her husband's office just then. Just a Plain Minister, At one house a colored woman told me that the gentleman of the house was a minister, and that he would be in in a minute. So when the old colored man ar- rived I got his name and said: “Mr. Blank, you are a clergyman?” He looked at me fixedly, and said firmly: “No, sah; I’se a Christian minister of de Gospel, and dat's all." A colored girl at one place wanted me to apologize and would not answer my questions because 1 inferred that she kept a restaurant, and she contended it was an ice cream parlor. Many widow ladies object to giving their husband’s name, and cannot understand why they are wished. Many men who “part their names in the middle” object to giving their first name. When a man signs his name in that way the directory prints it as he wishes it, but the canvasser must find out what his first name is for the di- rectory company’s information, though it does not appear in the book. For example, in such a case the canvasser makes a slip similar to this: Jones, 8. Frank, clerk, h 82 22 Sth n.e. 10-14 (Samuel. The word “Samuel” in the corner indi- cates that the first name is not to be used, but the name is to appear written— “Jones, S. Frank, &c." ‘Once in a while the canvasser calls upon a man who will refuse flatly to give the in- formation. I asked one gentleman for his name, business, &c., and he said he didn’t care to have his name in at all, as for three years it had been in incorrectly, and he had had enough. I assured him I would take down his name just exactly as he wished it, spell it as he desired and accom- modate him as best I could. He coldly in- formed me that he had been misrepre- sented three times, and that he did not have any time to waste in giving his name again. Of course it is provoking for a bus- iness man to have his name incorrectly in a city directory for three years; but if he had given it as he wished it to appear it might have been correct this time; whereas the directory officers were informed of his refusal to give the information, and they will do the best they can to get it in as nearly correct as possible, which will not. {in all Hkelihood, be as accurate as it would have been if he had pleasantly given his name correctly to the canvasser. Working a Market District. One of the most difficult districts to work is one in which there is a market. I had the pleasure of testing my patience in the Center Market one Saturday morning. Sat- urday is market day and it {s about the only time when all the proprietors of the stalls can be found and it fs also the busy day and the aisles are crowded. It requires considerable tact to stand in a jostling crowd and write information on little slips and furthermore obtain the information from busy merchants, active in selling thelr commodities and not over-anxious to be interrupted by anyone not wishing to spend money. Yet as a whole the stall proprietors, with a very few exceptions, were pleasant and polite, gave a few words to me, then a few to a customer, until by piecemeal I had what I wished. Instances of different manners, character- istics and ideas of people I met would fill books. It is a field of widest scope for the study of. human nature, for the study of our fellow man. The canvasser’s ring at a door bell is sure to call forth the innate courtesy, re- finement, selfishness, vulgarity, politeness or rudeness (whatever may be the chief and main trait of character) of the person an- swering it. This chief characteristic jumps to the surface usually before the canvasser has said a word. One woman opened the door, looked at me just a second and sald: “I don’t want any books and I don't want to buy anything. Before she could shut the door. in my face I quickly insisted T did not want to sell her anything, but only wanted to get the names for the city direc- tory. Then her affable, polite charactéer- istics thrust aside her momentary impa- tlence and she was more than obliging. Countless windows were thrown open and a voice in a much-abused tone would deal out to me the disappointing news that “they didn’t. want anything.” But I did want something and it was usually forthcoming as soon asit was known that I wasnot a huckster or a book agent. The majority of colored servants glanced at my book and said the lady of the house was out, but when I rather sharply told them the object of my visit the absent lady of the house would often materialize Can Make Both Friends and Enemies. A canvasser can make about as many friends or as many enemies as any one person could, and it depends entirely on himself if the friends or enemies be in the majority. The canvasser in getting his in- formation must in some cases appear de- voutly thankful and deeply grateful that the person would condescend to do him such a favor, while in many others he must impress upon the person's mind that he is doing a great courtesy to take the names and that It is a great advantage for the person, because a good many people affect being unable to see where the advantage Hes. Generally speaking, when the reader next opens the directory and looks at any name he may be reasonably sure that in obtain- ing that information the canvasser has been politely or rudely treated, has made a friend or a foe, has had a rapid glimpse of a little happiness or a little sorrow, a little romance or a little reality, and has finished one more of his little studies of humanity. HARRY DOUGLAS KING. ‘TO SAIL IN THE AIR. A Proposed Solution of the Problem of Aerial Navigation. UMILIZING HEAT FROM THE SON, Practical Suggestions Looking to the Construction of an Airship. THE ASCENT AND DESCENT. ERMIT ME NOW TO make my first contri- bution toward the practical solution of the problem of aerial navigation, after studying it at various times during the past fifteen years. Support.—Principal- | ly by aeroplanes. The | bottom of the car should be flat, or slightly concave, and serve as one of them —the whole car being kept slightly elevated at the forward end. Others could project horizontally on each side from above the windows, and from the top of the car. A large one should cover the car Iike an awn- ing, at such height that its after end will be on a horizontal plane with the highest Portion of the car when the bow is elevated about 4 degrees (41-2 feet in a car, with a 60-foot middle body), in order that all the air passing between the car and awn- ing at the bow may press against the lat- ter before passing out. Other such awnings may be placed above that, though each should be shorter than the one below in order that they may be properly stayed fore and aft. If the car has springs, wheels or other supports beneath, advantage should be taken of them to stretch an aeroplane below the car also. The aeroplane surfaces should be some- what concave, curving both fore and aft and athwartship, but especially the lat- ter, in order to resist the lateral spread of | the air and economize its supporting power, s in anemometers. How much curvature should be given must of course be deter- mined experimentally, from the natural belly of a taut sail to a flexible semi-cylin- der. The support given by. the aeroplane sur- face can be a: ted by the propellers be- ing kept at about a right angle to the car, and the whole canted about 4 degrees or somewhat less. And also, of course, by any additional cant given the propellers. Propulsion and Power. Twin screws—one placed forward and one aft—the blades of the shape of the Black- man fan wheels; the material, metal tubing, covered with silk or linen. Reversible blades would probably be too risky where everything depends upon them, and the ends of the blades should be bent to minimize the great amount of slip. Be it remembered in this connection, that screw propellers and fan wheels can be seen through, at whatever speed they are run. For an engine, I propose, for experiment, a@ steam turbine, the shaft of the engine being the shaft of the propeller; the casing of the engine the immediate support of the propeller, and pivoted on trunnions near its center at the end of the car, so that it may be turned vertically when the wheels are needed for lifting, as explained under ascent and descent. For this purpose the engine ould be as small in diameter as practi- cable (making it up in length) to give the! necessary power. The steam would, of course, be admitted through the trunnions and have a triple or quadruple expansion both ways. This class of engine has no jar and re- quires no base. The “Turbo,” made by C. A. Parsons & Co., New Castle-on-Tyne, England, has worked perfectly, suspended oy a wire, and with super-heated steam has recently proved very efficient. As to the boiler, at first, the iightest form adapted to oil burning. But I wish to sug- gest that here we probably hate a splendid field for the most economic boiler ever in- vented—the solar boiler. Two elements combine to that end—the altitude above the denser portion of the atmosphere, which absorbs a very large percentage of the sun’s heat, and the ability to rise above the ordinary level of the dense clouds, which make solar boilers impracticable in most localities on the earth's surface. I remember an experiment of a_ scientific party—under Prof. Langley, I think—uapon a mountaintop in California to test the smount of heat absorbed by the atmos- phere. They placed some meat in a pot, laid a sheet of perfectly plain glass over it and set it in the sunshine, which actual-! ly cooked it! 1f this could be done without any concentration of the sun’s rays it shows an immense heat available at a practicable height when concentrated, either by reflection, as in Ericcson’s solar boiier, or by refraction. This latter prin- ciple is the more economic of light and View From End. heat, and also of space. The top of the engine room at each end of the car could be glazed with fore and aft rows of glass having a lenticular cross section, and glass water tubes placed in the foci; or glazed with ordinary glass (as it will be nearly horizontal and meet with slight resistance) and water tubes of lenticular cross section placed beneath, forming by means of the water in them longitudinal lenses to con- centrate the solar heat upon smaller glass boiler tubes below. The water then, first passing through the lens tubes, would al- most reach the boiling point before enter- ing the boiler tubes; and before escapiag from these in steam would be superheated to a very high temperature, It might be found practicable to coat the under surface of the boiler tubes with al- ternate blocks of carbon and copper or with fine platinum wires and turn on a} current of electricity from a storage bat- tery whenever artificial heat was needed; | or to place beneath the boiler tubes oil or | gas burners for such temporary use. And by means of the expansion and contraction | of a wire placed in the focus of one of the lens tubes the supply of artificial heat could be regulated automatically. Local airships, sailing in the daytime only, could probatly be run by solar heat almost exclusively. Thus, with the frame tubes of the whole car and aeroplanes for condensers, the sun and air might be made to support and propél a properly built airship for long periods at very slight expenditure of fuel, and the navigation of the air be found by far the most economic transportation. Ascent, Descent and “Trimming.” To ascend, the forward screw will be ele- vated and the stern screw depressed to a horizontal position. When well clear of the earth, they will be gradually and si- multaneously brought to a vertical position, or, preferably, to a right angle with the plane of the car fioor. To maintain corre- spondence of direction, they will be turned the same number of degrees at the same second—say, five degrees every five seconds. Their correspondence, or regulation of pow- er, should be maintained by pendulum or clinometer governors, so that any tendency to “pitching’ or tipping fore- PERSPECTIVE VIEW. and-aft would immediately correct it- self automatically by increasing or de- creasing the power of the screw at either end. Descending to the earth will be ac- complished by reversing the operation and regulating the steam pressure. Instead of depending entirely upon the regulation of the steam pressure to insure jarless con- tact with the earth, two lines should be let down from the car and wound in on wind- lasses at the landing platform (as with the landing of steamboats), and the steam pres- sure Increased. The breeze from the pro- pellers need not interfere with this, as the lines may be caught while the car is at a conventent height and hooked to others running under pulleys, the windlasses being at any convenient distance and inclosed. But the elasticity of the air will greatly di-| minish the breeze from the screws at even short distances. Appropriate springs should also be attached to the bottom of the car and to the landing platform. The depots, by the way, can be on top of high buildings, at great saving of expense for ground. For gradual ascent or descent when underway, or vertical steering, a couple of horizontal sails or “deflectors” could be attached to each end, running back on both sides from a sharp point at} the prow and stern, the length of the sharpened ends of the car, and gradually widening, or to cross-heads at the prow and stern, and run back to a point. would give additional aeroplane surface. They would be separately controlled by lines from the stays above and the floor of the pilot house or engine room below. These deflectors could be used also for “trimming ship” to preserve epuilibrium, as lowering the forward and elevating the aft port deflectors, and the starboard ones vice versa, to compensate a heel or incli- nation to port. A slight elevation or depression of the for- ward screw could, however, be used for ver- tical steering. So could the increase or de- crease of its steam pressure, if somewhat inclined to the vertical piane. The de- flectors could thus be used exclusively for trimming ship. Lateral Steering. From an upright staff at the prow a triangular rudder sail can occupy the space between the screw when horizontal and the highest aeroplane stay, and can be operated by lines from the stays on either side of it. A similar one can be placed beneath the after end, and will be necessary in order to balance the laterai resistance of the for- ward rudder. These would probably prove sufficient, and would doubtless be far preferable to sup- porting one of the engines on gimbals, or any other arrangement for the lateral shifting of the screw, which would allow ao play and uncertainty in its con- trol Steadiness. Against pitching.—After being fully under way, with the wheeis perpendicular to the plane of the car and inclined three or four degrees to the vertical plane, the automatic View From the Top. control of steam to both engines by clin- ometer governors would probably be suffi- cient to keep the ship steady against slight variations of resistance. Should the clin- ometer indicate three or four degrees ab- normal depression of the prow, the forward screw will be elevated, say, five degrees; and if the stern clinometer show a similar | depression of that end the stern screw wiil be depressed. This elevation or depression of the screws could be done automatically by steam, reg- ulated by the same clinometer governors. Or should horizontal deflectors be used for this purpose, they could be automatically opened in like manner, when not deflected by the pilot for ascent or descent. Against rolling.—As the great amount of aeroplane surface wik be above the car, there should be sufficient vertical surface | below to counterbalance it against lateral pressure. The stern rudder and lower aero- plane will assist this balance of pressure. But, in addition, I propose a double “keel, composed of silk or linen, stretched be- tween the car and the aeropiane frame be- neath, on each side, and attached to the springs. An opening of a few feet could be left in the middle of each keel, to be more or less closed py a curtain as more or less keel surface were required for equilibrium. The curtains shouid have rings at their edges, running on small steel cables, and could be raised by spring rollers and lowered by steam power, controlled by a transverse clinometer, so as to make any tendency to roll correct itself automatically; or the en- tire keels cowid be hinged at their top, and moved to any angle as required from the vertical to the horizontal, as shown by dotted lines in Fig. 2. One other thought must not be lost sight of. The very rapidity of its motion will be a powerful force to keep the ship steady, as with a bicycle or gyroscope. So also will be the rapid motion of the screws. Constructt If the airship is to be of utility as a pas- Senger carrier the car must be high enough to comfortably stand in, say an average of six feet, long enough to comfortably carry its load, and wide enough for at least one person to sit comfortably on each side with | @ passageway between, say six feet, while the floor should be comparatively flat. To minimize the resistance of the air the ends should, of course, be sharpened. But if this be done by beveling the bottom to as near the top as practicable, beveling the sides to this point, and arching the top, both traversely and longitudinally, more of the necessary resistance will tend to lift and less to depress the car. Structural strength requires that ft be Not cut in two by a vertical screw in the center. Lightness calls for the substitution of pendant for under-bearing support when- ~ og possible, and rigidity for careful brac- ing. The new alloy of aluminium and titanium, which is recently reported as showing a tensile strength of 73.500 Ibs. as against 22,30 for aluminium, 67,000 for bar steel and 200,000 for steel wire cable, will doubtless be very useful in airship construction, Per- haps, also, the compressed paper of which the Allen paper car wheels are made, and malacca cane, 30 feet of which weigh but a pound. ‘The heating will be done by the exhaust steam on its way to the frames for con- densation, and the draft from the boilers, which such high speed will doubtless al- | low to be circulated in the car in pipes be- fore the final exhaust. The shape that the combination of these considerations has taken in my shown in the following sketches: Figure 1, being a perspective; figure 2, a front view, minus the forward propeller, and figure 3, a top plan of the forward end, minus the stays; stays and braces renre. sented by dotted lines, A being aeroplanes c, curtains; D, deflectors; E, engines: K! keels: P, propellers; R, rudders, and S$ springs. Scale, 1 inch equals 15 feet. Forty-four passengers can be comfortably carried in the middle body in individual seats facing the forward end, one row on each side a center aisle, or sixty, seated along the sides facing the center, as in elevated railroads or street cars. FRANK HAMILTON. — Dinged if He Hasn't Done It! From the Toledo Evening Bee. How are you going to spell quail without @ q, or question, or quiz, or quit, or quoth, or quote, etc.?—Dayton Journal. Kwail, kwestion, kwiz, kwit, kwote, — te A Moral Certainty. From Puck. Tom—“Have you read “Two Men and a Girl? What do you think of it?” Kitty—“No; but I think the girl must have had a good time.” These | mind is/ ==—=_—=*===== THE STREETS OF PARIS. How They Are Kept Well Paved and Always Olean. Eternal Vigtt ce, Care and Economy Are the Features of This Great Work in the French Capital From the New England Magazine, The city is admirably and entirely paved, but nearly $4,000,000 a year ($3,921,529.79 in 1890) are expended simply in keeping it up. The principle foliowed ts the old and often despised one of a “stitch in time.” No broken or rough place is too small to re- ceive attention. To discover a crack or de- pression in the asphalt is to remedy it, so that one frequently sees little shining black patches, not over a foot square, in @ drive or sidewalk. To find a loose or worn stone is to replace it. The result is clear. It is rare that large portions of a street must be entirely torn up. Even if the paving is re- placed for a width of @ street, the cfrcu- lation is not stopped over more, usually, than a third of the width. This third is fenced in so that the boundary of working- men and of traffic is clearly defined. The omnibuses which ordinarily pass by this route make a detour in the parallel street, and in this way the inconvenience is re- duced to a minimum. | But the economy in this repairing ts not alone in mending. It extends even to dis- posing of the worn stones, the cracked blocks, the asphalt chips. In the receipts of the city of Paris for 1890, $31,742.13 are credit- | ed to the sale of worn-out paving materials. | The precaution which isolates, as far as possible, the broken place im a street, with | the materials and workingmen necessary |for its repair, is extended to all similar | danger. An open manhole is surrounded | by an iron railing; @ sewer in construction is fenced in; the side walk in front of a | facade or below a roof which is in process of repair is forbidden to pedestrians, the space being barred by sticks and a guard walking in front to compel the careless to keep off the walk. In short, the Parisian aims to prevent there being anything to slip or trip on in his streets, and he sees to it that he is driven from under anything | which might fall upon him. The Grade Crossings. However perfect the paving, mere cir- culation in a city of two millions ang a half of people is a danger, The first and great- est alarm of many towns in the United States—the railroad—is unknown in Paris. The only rational way for a railway to enter a town is over or under the streets; and as that plan is followed in Paris, o serious danger is canceled at once, Neither is there much transit so rapid that it costs each year a tax in human lives. There are fewer accidents from horses than one would expect, one reason being that long training has taught the Parisian to keep out of the way of vehicles; and another being that coachmen, in spite of a frequent pretense of reckless driving, are really very cautious, In eighteen months in Paris, much of which time I have spent in the streets, I have seen but one runaway. Not so much can be said for the bicyclists. They certainly constitute the most lawless and foolhardy feature of the street. Not that there are not regulations for them; but these regu- lations have not yet become automatic in their working. For the inevitable danger attending street crossing the Parisians have an admirable system of refuges. The refuge is merely a spot of pavement of the height the curb of the sidewalk, placed in the middle of the street. On the boulevards and syvares where the traffic is thickest these refuges occur frequently. Naturally, from their position in the center of the driveway, they divide the traffic into two lines moving in opposite directions. A policeman is usu- ally stationed at each refuge, and when necessary he stops the vehicles at intervals to permit the passage of pedestrians. Thousands of Brooms. The precautions against the microbe are more fertile in hirts. The broom, the | scrubbing brush and cold water are the chief weapons, and their handling is en- ergetic and effective. About one-fifth of the 19,505 acres which Paris covers is swept | and dusted every day. To do this there | 4s a cleaning brigade of 3,300 persons, men, | women and children, directed by some 300 | overseers and engineers. This service is not | composed of pick-up haphazard laborers, | but is a well-drilled and systematically or- | ganized body. About 4 o'clock in the morn- ing it appears in the streets. The first operation is sweeping, accomplished in part by sweeping machines, in part by | birch twig haad brooms. In two hours and ,a@ half from the beginning of the work all Paris is supposed to have been swept or, if muddy, cleaned with water, scrubbing | brushes and rubber scrapers. As the bri- gade finishes this work, the streets are in- vaded by five or six thousand open carts. They come to collect the sweep- ings which have been left in piles at the side of the street and the dry dirt and waste from the houses. Every household is required to colect each evening all the culinary refuse, waste paper, ashes, &c., to | deposit it in a receptacle furnished to the house by the cleaning it of the city, and to place it on the walk in the morning in time for the passing of the cart. The carts are accompanied in their rounds by two persons on foot. As the cart passes down a street one throws into it the heaps lef at the side by the broom which has preceded, another empties the receptacies. Following them is a sweeper, who brushes to the side of the pavement the fine dirt left in lifting the sweepings and in emptying the receptacles. The street is now ready for washing. ‘The Paris streets are paved in such @ way that the middie is some six inches higher than the sides. The sidewalk has the elevation of the center of the street, | so that on each side of the pavement there is a bed for a healthy stream of water. ‘The sweeeper who follows a cart opens = water spout. The stream which gushes out | flows to the first sewer mouth. The sweep- er follows the entire distance of the stream, scrubbing the bed vigorously. The watet flows until it is perfectly clear. Both sides reet in Paris are treated in this In the most crowded parts operation is gone through two or three times a day, in whole or in part. A vigorous special service is provided for the markets. oa Look Out for a Hard Winter. From the New York ‘Tribune. Farmer Cushman of Chenango county, this state, thinks we are going to have # very severe winter for the following rea- sons: Corn husks are very thick; hog’s melt runs jagged; the breastbone of a May goose shows spots resembling the canals of Mars; the ducks are flying in U-shaped in- stead of V-shaped flocks, are changing their skins a) springs for winter quarters. The scoffers at Superstitions may deride the seer of Che- nango, and may hold, in their folly, that none but green frogs would go to the springs for winter quarters, but the signs set forth are all of them well attested and the Senators at Washington had better quit trifling and dispose of the business before them or a blizzard may catch them out in their summer garments and compel them to put on slumber robes for the senatoria] togas. Medieval Politics. From Puck, Teacher—“Who can tell me what Induced Sir Walter Raleigh to spread his cloak over @ puddle for Queen Elizabeth to pass?” Tommy Traddles (whose father holis @ city appointment)—“He was workin’ for the Job of street commissioner. =— No Affect tion About It. Kirby Stone—“Isn’t that Carruthers go- ing by? I haven't seen him in a long tine What makes him walk like that?” | Puttson Calls—‘“He lives in Brooklyn now; and he's got that galt getting out of the | way of the trolley cars.”