Evening Star Newspaper, December 4, 1893, Page 14

14 THE EVENING STAR: WASHINGTON, D. C. MONDAY. DECEMBER 4, 1893—SIXTEEN PAGES. CURIOUS TELEGRAMS Yellow Envelopes Which Cause Alarm and Anxiety. FROM RELAY, SOUNDER AND KEY. Some Very Funny Mixtures. of Grief and Bad English. A NEW CABLE RECORDER ee HOSE PEOPLE who are in the habit of receiving from one to a dozen telegrams daily cannot conceive the amount of terror which an innocent telegraphic message can excite in a pri- vate family, unused to the sight of the easy-going blue-coat- ed messenger and his rough yellow envel- { opes. To these peo- ple the receipt of a telegram generally means two things—death or birth, gener- ally the former, and under the circum- stances the palpitation of the heart is easily accounted for. They never think of telegraphing about sickness, unless very critical. The mails are used to tell when a contemplated visit will be inaugurated and the hundred and one reasons why the busi- ness man should use the telegraph are anknown to them. As a matter of fact, a large “number of private telegrams do relate to the three great events in the human . pilgrimage—birth, marriage and @eath. Of the three death puts more money into the treasury of the telegraph compan- jes than the other two combined. The old saying that “bad news travels quickly” has one more verification in the hundreds of death messages sent by wire every day. It is @ standing jest in telegraph offices that more people die on Sunday than any other day in the week, for in the absence of the usual volume of telegrams relating to strictly business affairs those announc- ing deaths and funeral arrangements stand out with unusual prominence and their frequency becomes apparent. When the Boys Overcharge. Among the messenger boys of the tricky elass it is known that the best time to overcharge for the delivery of a message fs at a period when the intelligence of death is conveyed. Especially when it is im the case of a dear relative or close friend is this true. The effects of the shock and the excitement that follows prevents nine persons out of ten looking at the envelope or message to ascertain if it has already been paid for. If the boys run against a person who is well-informed on points of this kind they will innocently say: “Oh, I've made a mistake. I thought it was message number 34,” and the messenger will forcibly criticise his sense of com- Prehension in the matter of “sizing” up the wrong man. it may seem sacrilegious to say that many of the “death telegrams” sent over the wires have a grotesque side, yet it is so. The hard-worked operators who handle them cannot avoid seeing it all in the rush and many a smile goes around the tele- graph office over the uncouth way in which sincere affliction has been announced. Il- literacy accounts for many of these grue- somely amusing announcements. The men- tal agitation accompanying the loss of rela- tives or friends accounts for more, but thers is undoubtedly a certain percentage which are ridiculous in a ghastly fashion, because of actual hard-heartedness on t part of the sender. To the latter class, in all probability, belongs the telegram sent by a daughter to announce with cheerful levity that “Mamma kicked at 11:20 last nicht. Will try and make burial Monday.” But such tnstances are, of course, rare. Abbreviations are dangerous articles of commerce at all times. but particularly so fm the case of telecrams where periods and commas. with their helpful explanatory functions. are usually dronned ont in the transmisston. One fndividual fatled to Yealize this. and. probably from a mistaken desire to economize, teleeraphed to rela- 2 lane died yesterday. Fun at 2 o'clock Sunday.” It took some time to Yealize that “fin” was 9 contraction for “funeral” and that no hilarious disrespect was intended to the deceased. A Telegravher’s Talk. Talking about curfous telegrams and od4 occurrences in a telegraph office to an Evenine Star reporter recently an employe of the Postal Telegraph Company said: “The curfous and humorous things that come under our notice in the course of a Week’s business would, if properly told, fill a page of The Star. One of the most Persistent humorous things ts the matter of confining a message within the regula- tion number of ten words. People will come into our office who from appearances are undoubtedly well-to-do who will work for half an hour over a message simply to fave a few cents. It fs not the saving T — to so ach _ the way thev butcher @ message simply to make this saving. A majority of them will start in and write what they have to say regardless of the ler words and at {ts conclusion go over it and pick out what they consider Useless words. The message as originally Written would have cost about %5 cents. while the regular rate for ten words Is cents. The %-cent rate does not hother them a whit, but mention 3% cents and they stneet seta ft and immedtia ly set to work to je sense of their message for the saving of 10 cents. af “Another class, and a class we really take an interest in. 1s the poor neople who come into an office with something of awe and fully expecting to spend a dol- on a message. Thev generally ask us to write the message for them and in nine eases out of ten it is the monrnful one of death. We will put down what they tell us and then read {t over to them. The price is never growled at. We then en- deavor to save them a little money by crossing ont words here and there. a mat- ter an exnert can do quite deftly, and T have yet to come across a person of this kind who has not thanked us most cor- @ally for our effort. To endeavor to da the same thing for the other class wonld he taken as an affront and as onr reward Tob the company of a considerable revenue. Bolling Down. “The newspaper men are the ones that have the abbreviations and short sentences down fine. One not acquainted with their style could hardly make head or tail of their messages. The special correspondent, pushed for time, will telegraph his paper about some startling occurrence and in- quire how many words to send in so few words that the brevity almost chills the operator who has the sending to do. In the times when tolls were an important item in the account bills of a newspaper this ‘boiling down’ process was carried to the extreme and became a fine art, requir- ing an item to’ be rewritten before the compositor could put it in cold type. Now the tolls have been reduced to such an ex- tent that this abbreviation is done away with, as the telegraph editor's time 1s too valuable to be wasted for the saving of a few cents, and the telegrams generally go out of our office in typewritten form and almost the equal of the press associations. “In the matter of correct spelling we also have considerable trouble to overcome. One of the commonest stumbling blocks in spell- ing with the unlettered {s illustrated by a message recently handled by us which said simply: ‘Our little boy died—cholerain phantom.’ And in the matter of punctua- tion the following telezram is recalled: “George 1s dying in haste, answer.’ In both the above cases the operator could eas- ily have straightened out things, but it Is @ standing rule with us to never alter a message in the slightest degree. I could elte cases by the hundreds to ill:strate why we have come to this conclusion, but it is enough to say that three cases out of four where a message is altered a mistake will result and the company mulched of consid- erable money as a result of a damage suit. Show People’s Messages. “Another class that receive curious mes- sages is the show people and no matter what they say we let them go as they lay, only making sure ihat the operator at the other end of the line has read the hand- writing correctly. The manager of the mu- seum down on 7th street underwent quite @ shock of bewilderment a few days ago when he received the following dispatch from New York: ‘Shipped the three hun- Gred fat women today by express.’ He vaguely asked himself whether he had in his sleep arranged for a fat women’s con- Vention; until it fashed upon him that the dispatch alluded to 300 advertising bills Picturing a fat lady that was expected to appear with him in the future. That mess- age went all around our office before going out to see if any of the boys could locae mistake and we finally concluded the sender knew what he was telegraphing about. Many people blame us for not plac- ing punctuation marks in a message to make it read sensibly, but for the same reason I have before stated, we change nothing and send it on its journey as it comes to us. “The most interesting messages that pass over our wires, that is interesting to the operators, are the ones that are exchanged by the owners of racing horses and the race track followers. A large majority of these messages, of course, are in cipher and the interest is increased by the fact that the sender and receiver of the message are generally known to the operators. Now and then a straight message will flash over the wire as to the status of a co! race, but it is a nine to one chance that the op- erators will be afraid to think of it, believ- ing it to be a ‘blind’ sent out to catch the telegraphic fraternity, many of whom, I am sorry to say, invest considerable of their money in pocls or straight tickets. Tricks in Racing Tips. “It takes the novice to bite at these sup- posed traps and what disgusts the telegra- pher is the fact that the very chances they let slip are the ones they should have grasped. The following story was told me as an actual fact and will aptly illustrate this point. It seems that a young man went into an uptown office recently to use the telephone. While he held the telephone receiver glued to his ear waiting for the connection to be made the wires in some way becanfe crossed. The young man moved around in his chair nervously, excitedly fumbled in his pockets and finally fished out a pencil, with which he wrote furiously for a few minutes on the margin of a news- paper. He had evidently forgotten the ob- ject of his visit, but was finally called to his senses by the wire straightening out and the man he wanteg answering his call. After he had transacted his. business he asked the young clerk what the charges were. He replied fifteen cents, but the young man in great excitement handed him a dol- lar bill and told him to keep the change. When he got outside the office he ran against an old time operator with whom he was on intimate terms and pulling him to one side, in a hoarse whisper, said: “I just heard a message go over the tele- phone wire from one of the big bookmak- ers over at Jackson City to a well-known betting man down on 9th street, telling him to play one hundred straight and one hun- dred for place on ‘Can’t Tell’ tomorrow. There’s a cinch for you. t us form a lit- tle pool of our own and e In a portion of the pot.” “The old operator laughed in his face and told him that was an old trick and that they were after his money. The young man was obdurate and insisted on playing ‘Can't Tell’ even after his friend had gone into the details of how such traps are laid. He told him the telegraph wires were used weekly for just such a purpose and that the telephone wires were evidently being re- sorted to now. But it was no use. The young man collected a party of his friends and a combination of five was formed, each one putting up $10. The directions of the message that passed over the telephone wire were followed to the letter and the combination cashed checks to the amount of $1,750 or $350 apiece. “The story was told me by the old time operator and such a mournful expression I have never before seen on a man's face. “To think,’ said he, ‘that I have been caught over and over again by apparently just such a game and here comes along a greener that hardly knows the difference between a pool ticket and a five dollar bill that falls into the good thing which goes through without me. I have seen that young man three times since he won his pool and each time have I slipped into a neighboring doorway as I am ashamed to face him.” “Had that message passed over the tele- graph wires I can imagine the operators winking to each other knowingly and pass- ing it by as an old trick. Then comes the real trick and they bite like hungry fish. Complex Cablegrams. “To round out the chapter mention should be made of cablegrams. Washington stands about fifth on the list of cities that receive the largest number of cables. New York, of course, heads the list, but I doubt if that city receives as many complex cables as we do. This is accounted for through the complicated cipher system now in use by the federal government. Take the cable that came in the other day from Brazil, there were several words in its context that could not be made out even by the experts up at the State Department. The operators in the local offices have a holy horror for cables addressed to the State Department. The address, of course, comes first and the operator knows that a reast is in store for him and a conceutration of all his faculties follows so that he may turn out a correct message as far as he is concerned. “It is popularly supposed that cablegrams are received by means of flashes of light, but that system has been almost abandoned for some time. The recording system in- vented by Sir William Thomson of London, has been in use for a long time. There was much even in this to improve. Its meth- od of worRing was to record on a paper ribbon the movements of a glass siphon from which ink floweg through an opening no larger than a humdn hair, leaving marks on each side of the center of the ribbon, as it was actuated by the impulses which flowed through the electric coils between which it swung. This recorder was a vast step onward, but the improvements made in it by Charles Cuttriss, one of our ex- perts in the New York office, have virtually made a new machine, in which nothing re- mains of the Thomson pattern except the marking siphon. Mr. Cuttriss has suc- ceeded in devising a machine which con- tains more vitues than the old arrange- ment, with none of its weaknesses. The siphon of his machine is vibrated by mag- netism. The coil is pivoted in jewels, and its motion is so controlled as to do entirely away with all the difficulties which form- erly beset the recording machines from static electricity. “It writes with a speed of from 2%) to 300 werds a minute, and readily responds to a rapid automatic sender, furnishing a perfectly reliable record of the message sent. Its magnetic vibration renders it ab- solutely independent of climatic influences, which when static electricity was used, like in the old Thomson recorder, rendered PARTS OF THE PAPER WOMEN READ Straws That Seem to Show They Pre- fer the ds.” to the News Colum From the New York Sun. Half a dozen women, of whom a reporter was one, were dining together the other evering. “Have you seen Irving as Becket?’ the hostess asked the reporter. “No, I think I'll go on Saturday nigh “He plays Louis XI on Saturday night,” exclaimed ithe five other women in chorus. “How do you know?” asked the reporter, with a suiden inspiration. “Mary, bring the morning paper,” said the hostess to the maid behind her chair, while the others regarded the reporter with ill- concealed astonishment. “Tell me,” asked the latter. “do you wo- men in your hours of ease peruse the col- umns of the daily papers? Now, honestly, do you?” : “Of course, we dg!” in chorus. “Perhaps, then, you can tell me the exact status of the Hawaiian question at present, and the latest developments in Brazil and how the Lehigh strike is progressing.” There was a perceptihje gasp and each woman looked anxiously at her neighbor. Then the newspaper woman took pity. “What I do want to know.” she went on, “is whether you women read the advertise- ments.” ‘The five countenances brightened. Then as if they had suddenly decided that it wasn’t the proper thing to be “up” on ad- vertisements while they gave little heed to the news the five assumed a careless air as they replied: “Oh, yes. sometimes.” “How about the advertisement ‘of a bar- gain sale? Does that catch your eye?” Five self-conscious smiles betoken assent. “And you seem pretty thoroughly inform- ed about amusements. How often do you read that column?” bs % “Well, I'll tell you how often I read it, said the poverty-stricken little church- mouse of the party. “I read it as regularly as the day comes round. Not that I can af- ford to go to the theater often. I don’t get there once a month, and when I do go I sit up in the 50-cent heaven. But I am .thor- oughly posted on the people and the plays that have been in the city for the*last two years, and that is next door to going to see them. “If you want to know whether women read the advertisements in the papers, she continued, “let me assure vou trom tne fullness of my knowledge that they do. Some of them read a few things; a few of them read all; but all of them read some things. Next to me at my boarding house sits a typical old maid. Every single morn- ing she gets up from breakfast, picks up the paper, and says: ‘Now, I’m going to look over the paper. But I won't keep it from the rest of you very long. 1'm just going to read the death: Why under the sun she reads the deaths is more than I can imag- ine, for everybody that belonged to her was dead long ago. Another woman at the same table, who has an excellent situation, which, i think, nothing could induce her to change, always locks over the ‘Wants.’ ’ “I do, too!” said a pretty school teacher e table. " asked the reporter. z with a blush, “I suppose it's be- cause I got my own place through that col- umn, A friend of mine saw the advertisement went to the school to make inquiries, and here I am! Then, too, the ‘Wants’ always interest me. And, for that matter, one good thing turned up for me through that medium; perhaps a better one may come the same wav." ~ “Weill,” put in the church mouse, “I own up to reading the ‘Personals’ in every pa- per I come across. I’m always hoping I may see a line: ‘Information wanted of a poor church mouse, who is one of the heirs to the estate,’ etc. There's another woman at our house who reads everything in the paper; at least she reads all the advertise- ments. She knows what ships are to sail and what ones are due; just what plays are at the theater and how long thev will stay; she knows which store has a cloak sale and which one a linen sale and where shoes are advertised the cheapest. Perhaps we don't read advertisements at our house so much as we would if she wasn’t there. for we can ask her what's on sale and where to get it and she can always tell us.” “I'll tell you how it is with me about reading advertisements.” said the hostess with a judicial air. ‘I do read them,that is I Keep watch of them. When I see mention of something I need, I go to the store, and if it is satisfactory I buy it.” “But why do you need to read the ad- vertisements; you know thev have every- thing, or at least, most things in stock all the time?” “But if they are advertised. that means | that they are to be sold at special rates for that day or week only. It may be a very trifling reduction. but that makes no difference. Plenty of women have absolute- ly no common sense about the matter. I remember a couple of years ago there was a drop in the price of sugar, and a big gro- cery firm advertised to sell sugar at 2 cents SETTING TYPE BY WIRE. An Electric Invention by Which Type in Set in Di it Places. From the New Orleans Picayune. Donald Murray, a newspaper man of Sydney, New South Wales, employed on the Sydney Morning Herald, has invented and patented, in this and other countries, a de- vice which bids fair to revolutionize meth- ods of newspapers all the world over. By this invention an operator in New York, with a key-board before him, like that of an ordinary typewriter, can not only produce typewritten copy in New Orleans, but, it is claimed, can operate @ typesetting machine here and deliver his matter thus in lead ready for the forms. Not only that, but the same operator, by using a number of telegraph lines, can set up the same copy simultaneously in a,dozen different places. In this operation only ordinary telegraphic currents are used, such as are capable of being relayed, and are subject to all conditions of ordinary tele- graphy. The work can be done with the same speed as an ordinary typewriter is operated, and dispenses with all clockwork mechanism, synchronously moving type wheels and other cumbrous devices. It is said to be capable of manipulating some elghty different characters. The invention consists of two very simple elements. One {s a transmitter and trans- mits a certain combination of five short positive and negative currents. The other is an interpreter, by the passage through which of a certain combination of positive and negative currents a lever is released, and makes electrical contact, thus energt: ing a particular electro-magnet, which oper-, ates a type key. A given combination of currents only unlocks a certain correspond- ing key. The transmitter consists of thir- ty-two elements, arranged, like the keys of a typewriter, together with shift key ar- rangements, similar to those on the type- writer, and the interpreter is equipped to correspond. The Scientific American gives the follow- ing description of the mechanism and use of the invention: The transmitter has a series of keys, each consisting of a rod operating a peculiarly constructed pole changer, and comprises a commutator hav- ing on the side parallel rows of stationary contacts connected in parallel with the line, and having a portion of the connection crossed, the comrhutator having its top sur- face inclined, and its lowe: surface inclined at right angles to the inclination of the top surface, a key sliding adjacent to the com- mutator, and a contact block having a spring connection with the key carrying contacts adapted to connect with a surface of electricity, the contact block being ar- ranged to move downward on one side of the commutator, and to slide inward and move upward, so as to make contact with the contacts of the commutator. The interpreter comprises a series of electro-magnets adapted to connect with a_line through mechanism for printing a character or operating a key of the key- board machine, each quadrant having a series of teeth in a different combination from the teeth of any other quadrant in the series. Swinging detents adapted to be actuated by the magnet engage the teeth of the quadrants, and electrically and au- tomatically rotated shafts adapted to be set in motion by the closing of the circuit in- which the quadrants are arranged to carry mechanism to return the quadrants to locked position. One of the transmitter keys operates the space key of the type- writer, and three other transmitter keys operate the shift key mehanism, shifting the capital, lower case or figures, When the paper carriage of the type- writer comes to the end of a line, it may be returned by the attendant at the receiv- ing station or by an automatic mechanism provided for this purpose. The galvanome- ter on the main line at each station indi- cates when a current is passing. When the instruments are not in use the bells are put in circuit, and, when the interpre- ters are left in cir®uit, the operator at either station can send a message to the other station, where it will be recorded on the typewriter, without an attendant being present, the process being automatic, and it being only necessary to provide a suffi- cient amount of paper in the typewriters to receive the message. = oo INJURY FROM THE CYCLE. The Double-Up tion Can Do Much Harm From the Westminster A visit to Sir Benjamin Richardson's house in Manchester Square at once shows | the interest taken in cycling by its owner. Just inside the hall stands a well-used tri- cycle, with the trace of a recent ride still | on it, and inside the waitmg room a “home trainer,” or stationary machine for the practice of cycling, occupies a corner. On the subject raised by the speaker Sir Ben- jamin was quite willing to speak. “I quite agree with the speaker,” he said. “But, unfortunately, I have said so te. a pound less than {ts usual retail price. But, mind you, not more than two pounds were to be sold to any one verson. Well, my dear, women came from far and near: from Jersey and Brooklyn, Naturally they could save only four cents on their limited purchase of two pounds. and in coming or going they spent five or six times that amount, besides buying other things they had not thought of.” “But,” said the engaged girl. who hadn't taken any part in the discussion, “there is common sense in reading the advertise- ments; you must admit that. You find out the novelties, and when the regular old stand-by matérials are advertised at a bar- gain you know it. Oh, : 1 own up to reading the bargain sements, and, what's more, I believe everv mother’s daughter of us does it!” “I know,” said the church mouse. “there are dozens of times when I wish I vertisements even more care- be sure I don’t want to gO to the museums on pay But two or three times I have be uzht when a n ci glance at the paper would have told mej better. And I'm always turning up at plac after they are closed and going to hear something that has been postponed, so that I have taken a vow to become as well post- it so unreliable. In addition to the recorder, Mr. Cuttriss has devised a new automatic transmitter to work in accord with the re- corder. Of course, you understand, that all this machinery is located in our New York and London offices and that we, down here at Washington, receive the cables in the good old-fashioned Morse way as of re. “This about concludes the list of curlous messages, devices and humorous things connected with a telegraph office. Of course there are many little incidents that come and go that would look and read good in print, but they are quickly forgotten and when wanted refuse to come to time in our think chambers. The under, seamy side of fe is shown to the telegraph operator al- most as freely as to the physician, though less voluntarily.” ~~ eee THE BABY'S THROBBING HEAD. The Doctor, to His Credit, Did Not Laugh at the Mother's Fears. From the Louisville Courler-Journal. There was a commotion in a household on 4th avenue the other day. The brand- new baby, the only irfantile ecimen in the Nuwed home, was in the arms of tts doting mother, who was looking for some new portion of its pink anatomy to kiss and admire. Suddenly there was a scream, followed by a hysterical half an hour, while the servants were sent in breathless search for the family doctor. When the grave old physician entered the room the poor woman was walking to and fro like ene distracted, pausing now and then to grasp her crowing child to her, then replacing it in its cradle to resume her nervous tread, weeping and wringing her hands. “Oh, doctor! My poor baby! Save him if you can! But I know you can't. Oh, my poor child!” For five minutes or more this continued in spite of the physician's efforts to learn what was the matter. He examined the child, saw nothing that apparently ailed it, and at last, with patience aimost gone, {insisted on an explanation. Composing her- self a little, the frightened mother finally ose ‘Look at its poor little head, doctor. There, right on top. See that soft spot, how it is beating. It hasn't stopped for more than an hour. I know something dreadful is the matter, but you musn’t ed as the animated calendar at our board- ing house.” PERIL 0 see THE RAIL, Every Person Who Rides 24 Miles Takes One Chance in 1,491,910 of Being Kill From the Chicago Daily Tribune. If a man takes a ride of the average length, which is almost twenty-four miles, in a railway train in this country, what ts his chance of getting killed? According to the interesting report of the interstate com- merce commission just out it is one chance in 1,491,910. If a young man of twenty, just jilted by his sweetheart, should determine to commit suicide without sin by getting accidentally killed in a railway accident, he might do it. Certainly he might do it. If he w to get on a train as a passenger and ride, ride, ride at the rate of thirty-five and one-half miles an hour, day and night, every hour of every day, and every day in the year, if he had average luck he would eventually get surcease from the gnawing pain at his heart somewhere in the course of passi over 35,542,282 miles, for according to t! official figures one passenger is killed for every %,012;282 miles that a passenger is carried. According to the same he would be injured in some way eight and three-quarter times, or eight times and a bad scare. It is a little better than one chance in three that he would come to an untimely grave in con- sequence of a collision, but if he preferred to have the train run off the track to kill him he would have only one chance in nine to be satisfied. His possible journey would have taken him around the world and past the place where she went to housekeeping with the,other fellow 1,421 times, and would have cost him, at the rate of three cents a mile and $2.50 a night for a sleeping berth, $1,087,016.48. In this state of mind he wouldn't care how his shoes looked, and the porter needn't disturb his grief for a daily quarter. And when, after all his journeying to his death, and glowering out of the window at every unsympathetic rock that might have falleri before the engine, and cursing every vagrant browsing cow that might haye tres- passed on the track and didn’t, he finds at length “the golden key that opens the pal- ace of eternity,” it is a bigger chance than there are figures for that he will not be ready to go. For the scenery of this world keep it from me. Tell me the worst at once.” To the undying honor of that doctor, he did not laugh. All he said was: “My dear little woman, pray that that beating will continue. Should it ever stop, your baby will be dead.” ———_+-e+—__ A Completed Stanza. | From Puck. “It is the little rift within the lute, That, by-and-by, will make the music mute, And, ever widening, slowly silence all—” . . . . . With one exception, viz: “After the Ball.” becomes interesting after a while, even to one smitten with disappointment and angry with all creation. There are many pretty acquaintances to be picked up in the course of a long journey, also, and time is a great healer of jove-sickness, even though a slow one. He would be in his 135th year by the time his desperate purpose was achieved, ‘and he would have more sense than he started with. He would have had leisure to reflect from time to time on how his false sweetheart’s false teeth became her now, how her rheumatism was, whether gray hair peed boson changed her much, and how she managed with those great grand. children of hers, | much on this subject that people think I am | prejudiced against cycling, though, as a | matter of fact, 1 am myself very fond of it ‘as an exercise. There is no doubt that a | great deal of harm is at present being done | by injudicious cychng. ‘the attitude ‘that nearly ail cychsts adopt, to a greater or less degree—venuing themselves forward overs ie handles o1 their machines—is un- doubtedly most unhealtay. And, though 1 cannot expiain the reasun Lor ‘taking up |such an acutude, 1 know that 1 nave w keep a caretul watch over myself to main- tain an erect position. she uousieu-aj position does more harm than people imagine. Of course, everybody | Knows that it us ugly. ‘the ure ine most per for strengch and t de- stroyed. ‘the top or the aaterior curve ts | brought forward—and 1 am not sure that the posterior curve as well is not affected— until the spine becomes almost an are. | The chest bone is then affected by the un- re placed upon {t. The circu- ed, and, no doubt, the lungs th, too. In fact, there is ie evil effects which it y any does not proluce.” “What can be done to improve- matters, Sir Benjamin?” ““Something may be done, but at present pos: I cannot say what. Riders of the old-fash- foned high machines were better off in this respect than the riders of tod: generally sat much more erect. I the ‘safety’ bicycle, with its longer reach, has something to answer for. Would altering the position of the han- dles—bringing them higher up and further back—prove effectual?” “It might. But it would be unpopular. Any change in the construction of machines which eithe? necessitates an alteration in the manufacturers’ ‘plant’ or impairs the speed of the machine will meet with a great deal of opposition, I think a desire for in- creased speed is mainly responsible for the introduction of this attitude. Men find that by bending themselves down they both offer less resistance to the wind and get more power over their work, and they will not bother about the remote consequences. Long-distance riding, too, has done a great deal of harm. In fact, the cyclists of the present generation are feeling the effects of their riding much more than earlier riders did, and even they suffered severely enough. There were Cortis and Keith-Falconer, two magnificent riders, who both died of heart disease. I knew many first-class speed cyclists years ago who told me that they felt no ll effects, but they are nearly ail dead now, and not at advanced ages. “Then do you consider cycling, as a port, unhealthy ?* “Not more so, when indulged in moder- y, than other sport. Of course, rowing affects the breath, walking and pedestrian. ism affects the nerves, the use of dumb bells and other stationary exercises affect the muscles. And, in the same Way, cycling affects the circulation. I have known a man’s pulse to go up to 223 during a race. and you can {magine from that the work the heart must be called upon to do. And. besides, there Is the sudden running down after the system has been strained up to this pitch. It might be compared to releas- ing the spring of a watch and letting it run down suddenly when it is fully wound. The effect on the system is most injurious. Hill- climbing, too is a very severe strain. Sev- eral inventions have been tried for storing up energy while going down hill which could be used to assist the rider at the next ascent, and I think it would be a very great benefit if some such idea could be worked out and made to answer," —_——_-+e+______ Why Banks Do Not Fall in China. From Chamber's Journal, Bank notes were issued by China as early as the ninth century, when the art of printing was unknown in Europe. These notes have generally been redeemed, be- cause in China when a bank falls all the clerks and managers have their heads chopped off and thrown in a heap along with the books of the firm. And so it has happened in these good old barbarous times that for the past 500 years not a single Chinese bank has suspended payment. Now that China is coming under the sway of western civilization we have no doubt it will have the same financial troubles as banking brethren, its more cit ————————— FISHING FOR OCTOPUS. How They Are Caught With Flies Out On Puget Sound. Fly fishing for the octopus is a pleasing novelty in the gentle art of angling,as prac- ticed in Puget sound. Although this hor- rid cuttlefish in such high latitudes does not ttain the monstrous size it reaches in trop- ical or even semi-tropical waters, the aver- age weight of those along the shores of Washington state is great enough to make the sport both exciting and dangerous. ‘Well named the “devilfish,” this hideous marine animal, when hauled upon the deck of the fishing sloop, presented, even when of relatively insignificant proportions—say twenty pounds—an appearance the reverse of confidence inspiring. It is easy enough to catch ther, and after you get the hang of the thing, safe enough to handle them with tackle. The boat, with only sail enough to keep steerage way, is guided over spots where the octopus lies in wait under shelving rocks for his prey. As with the sponge fisherman in southern waters, a headless barrel, half submerged in an up- right position, is lashed to the bottom of the boat, and a boatman, thrusting his head into this barrel, scans the bottom closely with practiced eye, undistracted by the reflected glare from the surface of the surrounding water. With this simple de- vice, says the New York Recorder, it is possible to see distinctly objects at a con- siderable depth. At a signal from the man on the lookout the boat is brought up into the wind and held stationary while preparations are speedily made to hook his octopusship, which has been sighted lying on the bot- tom, hideous and still, save for a reaching, swaying movement of one or more of its arms or feelers. A long sounding line is run through a ptilley at the end of a boom swinging over the side, a piece of stout white canvas is made fast at the end for a lure, and the fun begins. : Directed by the man in the barrel, the canvas “fly” is lowered to within a few feet of the lurking devilfish, and kept con- stantly in motion by a series of sharp jerks, care being taken not to let it come within reach of the fish while he retains his position on the bottom, else it would be impossible to tear it loose from its anchor- age, such is the immerse strength exerted by the suction disks, with which its eight arms or legs are plentifully supplied. The men at the rope are warned by the watcher of the signs of increasing interest manifested*by the octopus, and when at last it makes a spring for the tantalizing lure and closes its beaklike jaws upon the piece of rag, strong arms heave in the line and the squirming organism, looking all arms and tentacles, is hoisted to the end of the outrigged boom. it is an operation requiring tact, prompt- ness and skill, for the creature must not come in contact with the hull of the boat, to which it would attach itself like an un- wieldly barnacie until such time as it suit- ed its pleasure to let go, a period altogether | indefinite for the comfort of either skipper or_crew. Once dangling at the boom end, however, it is virtually secured, tor surrender its hold on the drag it will not. The octopus holds fast to all it gets with a pertinacity which shames even the trusts and monopoliés, which have been likened to it. Now, how- ever, the animal's own tenacity is turned against it, and this very quality made to assist in landing its possessor at the final stage. Boat hooks and poles are thrust to- ward it, and when it has fastened: its unre- laxing grip upon these it is swung inboard, hurled upon the deck, and dispatched with an ax. No description can give an idea of the hid- eousness of this creature. To grasp it in its fullest detail one must watch it at such | a tue as this, as it sprawls about the deck before receiving the coup de grace, its eight, Sometimes ten, arms sprouting about its | head, each equipped on the under side with | rows of cup-like, suctorial disks, which by muscular action produces a vacuum, giving the fish its “wonderful adhesive power, | writhing hither and thither like a coil of serpents. Then its eyes! Ugh! The awful- ness of those eyes; great, rolling, saucer- like protuberances that fix you with a fierce stare that sends the cold shivers down your back, especially when you notice the cruel | mouth, with curved, beak-like claws, for all the world like a parrot’s many times | magnified. When the ax sinks into the | grisly body and the twining arms become | still you feel as the blue water sailor eels when he dispatches a shark—that you have done a good action. They are well named devilfish, this species of the cuttle family,to appreciate which it is only necessary to have seen one of the monsters of the southern seas. There are vell-authenticated instances of specimens weighing 5v0 pounds and measuring fifteen feet from head to tail and fifty feet in spread of tentacles. While such gigantic specimens are never seen outside of the tropics, this fish grows to no mean dimen- sions along the western and southern | coasts of Florida, and many stories of | strange adventures with the octopus are | told by the fishermen and sponge hunters | of that region. That even the smaller ones | are ugly customers to fool with this inci- dent will show. A shell gatherer, while at work on the west coast, came upon a young octopus crawling among the rocks. It was quite small, measuring not more than three feet | from tip to tip of its extended tentacles, while its body was not larger than a man's fist. It looked like a very big spider as it wobbled along on its arms, trying to reach the surf from the part where it had been left by the receding tide, and the shell hun- ter thought he would try to capture it. Running up he planted his foot firmly on | the end of one of the creature's “feelers,” | but with apparent ease the octopus pulled | it free and continued its march toward the sea. The man repeated the experiment sev- eral times with no better success, then tak- | ing advantage of a moment when the crea- | ture could offer comparatively little resist- | ance, it being in the act of reaching out to lay hold of a rock on the other side of an | intermining fissure, he seized one of the | tentacles, and, giving a powerful jerk, tore the fish loose from the rock. | Up to this time the efforts of the octopus | had all been directed to escaping. Now, | however, it changed its tactics. Turning upon its pursuer it laid hold of him by the | arm, wrapping Its tentacles about his body as well, and tried to fasten its beak-like jaws in his face. Here was a predicament. The hunter hunted with a vengeance. Try as he would the man could not shake off the creature, which clung to him with a clammy, vise- like grip, but by a liberal use of a’ store club he saved himself from being bitten, | until his cries for assistance brought friends | to the scene, who killed the fish with a knife. ——_+ee A DAY DROPS ovUT. Demonstrated on an Imaginary Line Drawn In the Pacific Oce: From the Chieago Herald. A question which has been often asked, but rarely answered satisfactorily, is how far one would have to go aroun] the earth, moving east and west, and supposing no time lost in transition, before one would reach the point where today changes into yesterday or tomorrow. Evidently there+ must be such a point somewhere, for an | hour {s lost every fifteen degrees one goes to the east and an hour gained every fitteen | degrees one goes to the west. ‘To put the question in another way, sup- | pose {t is one minute past midnight in Paris | on the morning of October 1, what day is it at the same moment at the antipodes of Paris? Is it October 1 or September 30? Apparently one can prove that it is either of these days by making an instantaneous journey half way around the earth, either to the east or to the west. Going east, at the moment the Paris clocks point to a minute past midnight, it is approximately 1 o'clock in the moming of October 1 at Vienna, 2 o'clock of the same day at Sebastopol, 3 o'clock at Astra- khan, 4 o'clock at Bokhara, 7 o'clock at Saigon, 9 o'clock at Yokohoma, 11 o'clock | at Pine Isiand and noon at Fortune Island— the first of October at every point. On the other hand, going westward one | finds that it is 10 o'clock in the evening of September 30 at the Azores Islands, 8 o'clock in the evening at Buenos Ayres, lock at New York, 6 o'clock at New Orleans, 3:15 at the City of Mexico, 1 o'clock in the ternoon near the Aleutian fslands and noon at the Fortune Islands, the date being September 20 in each case, ‘Thus one has demonstrated that it 1s noon of October 1 and noon of September 30 at the same place and at the same time. This would certainly be embarrassing to the good people of Fortune Island, and in order to avoid such complications ‘and re- lieve well-meaning islanders in the Pacific | from mixing up their Saturdays and Sun- | days in hopeless fashion an arbitrary line separating today from yesterday or tomor- row has been agreed upon by the navigators Vilized nations, of ch | the Danish cathedral of Roeskilde, | a trifle over seven feet. QUEER STORIES TOLD BY INDIANS. How Tobacco First Came Into Use— The Hunter Who Melted the Snow. “Take a cigar,” said the ethnologist to The Star reporter, pushing over the box, “and smoke a few puffs, while I tell you how to- bacco was first obtained by man, accord- ing to the traditions of the Menominee In- dians. “One day the god-hero Manabozo was on @ journey, when he perceived a delightful edor. It seemed to come from a crevice in the cliffs high up on a mountain side. On going closer, he found a cavern which was occupied by a giant. In fact, the giant was the tenant of the mountain, and from the mouth of the cave a passage led down into the very center of the hill, where there was a large chamber. Around the cham- ber were stacked great quantities of bags filled with curious dried leaves. From the leaves proceeded the delicious fragrance. “These leaves were tobacco. Once a year, the giant expiained, all of the spirits came to the mountain for the purpose of smoking this exquisite weed. But it was not possible to give any of it away. Never- theless, Manabozo watched for an oppor- tunity, and, snatching up one of the bags, fled, closely pursued by the giant. The thief leaped from peak to peak, but the giant followed so fast as finally to overtake him. So Manabozo turned upon him, and, upbraiding him for his stinginess, trans- formed him into a grasshopper. “That is the reason why the grasshopper is always chewing tobacco. Manabozo took the bag-full of leaves and distributed them among his friends, the ancestors of the Indians of today. Since then they have had the use and enjoyment of the plant. “The tradition among the Menominee as to their first meeting with the whites is quite interesting. At that time they lived on the shore of Lake Michigan, and one day, while looking out upon the water, they saw some huge and wonderful boats. All at once there was a terrific explosion as of thunder, which startled them greatly. From the boats light-skinned men alighted. They had hair on their faces and carried heavy sticks ornamented with shining metal. They approached the Indians, who supposed that the leader was a great spirit. The strangers appeared friendly, and of- fered a vessel containing a liquid. “The warrors were afraid to drink of the Hquid; but four of the oldest and most use- less members of the tribe were selected to make the experiment. If they died, it would not matter much. They partook of the stuff, and soon began to act strangely, laughing a great de@@, walking about as if dizzy, and finally becoming unconscious. Then the Indians said to one another: ‘Now they are dead; see what we escaped by not drinking!’ But soon the four old men re- covered and declared that they had enjoy- ed themselves very much. “So the chief of the strangers gave to them some flour and a gun, showing them how to use both. Then he brought out some kettles and explained how to boil water in them. But the kettles were too large and heavy to carry about, so the Indians asked for small ones as big as a fist, as they would &row to be large ones by and by. They got what they asked for, but, singular to relate, the cups never grew to be kettles, “The Menominee folk lore embraces many curious stories. One of these tells of a hunt- er whose feet were frozen one day by Kon, the snow. To get revenge, he took a quanti- ty of snow and buried it in a deep hole, covering ihe hole wth sticks and leaves in order to keep the snow a prisoner till sum- mer. leaves and sticks and permitted the eun to shine upon the snow. Thus the snow, being unable to run away, melted and was pun- ished. But Kon on his side was determined to get satisfaction, though he had to wait until the next winter. “It was a very cold night, and the hunter was looking out at the door of his wigwam, when he saw a stranger approaching. The latter had a very large head and an tm- mense white beard. He entered on being invited, but it seemed strange that he would not go near the fire. “This puzzled the host, and he kept poking the fire, observing at the same time that perspiration broke out on the guest's forehead and trickled down through his beard. Soon the stranger's head and body began to diminish in size, because he was thawing. So the hunter kept up the fire until he had entirely melted Kon, the snow; for it was he who had come to destroy the hunter and his family. But man is more powerful than the snow, and thus Kon pertshed. “A tradition states that the Menominee were at one time much distressed by a water monster, or giant fish,which frequent- ly caught fishermen, dragging them into the lake and there devouring them. So Mana- bozo, the god hero, built a small raft and floated out upon the lake, singing all the while: “O, monster, come and eat me; you will find me good!’ Then the giant fish swallowed Manabozo. On reaching the monster's belly, the hero found himself in company with the bear, the deer, the por- cupine, the raven, the squirrel, and many other living animals. But Manabozo thrust his knife into the heart of the fish, which was afterward thrown up on shore, so that he was able to make his escape by cutting his way out. “In the direction of the place where the north wind dwells, the Menominee say, live giants of an amiable and peaceful race. They are great hunters and fishermen, and whenever they are out with their torches | to spear fish, it is known by a bright light in the sky. This light is called by the white man the aurora boreal! ———coo_—______ PIGMY RULERS OF EUROPE. Most of Them Are Undersized and De- fective in Stature. From the New Orleans Times-Democrat. Archduke Francis Ferdinand of Austria, who has just passed through this country on his way back from China and Japan to Europe, present an unusually good example of European royalty, as far as physique is concerned, writes the Marquis de Fonte- noy. When I say unusually, I mean that there are few of his class as well set up as he, the major portion of the personages of blood royal being undersized and defective in stature, especially those of southern Eu- rope. Thus, King Humbert of Italy is frail and short, while his son and heir, the Prince of Naples, is even less than five feet in height and is slight in proportion. The King of Portugal and his brother are both stumpy and fat, while the late King Alfonso resemé! the other memiers of his family, excepting Don Carlos, in be- ing undersized to an incredible degree. He was fully cognizant of the puny character of his appearance and sought to improve it by every means in his power, including padding, high heels, &c., but all without avail. Don Antonio, the husband of Princess Eulalie, is not a Spaniard, but a Frenchman by birth, his father, the late Duc de Mont- pensier, having been a son of King Louis Philippe of France. All the members of the British royal family are extremely short, specially the queen, who is not much taller than a ten-year-old girl, and is becoming, with increasing years, almost as broad as she is long. The only two princes of Great Britain who are of the average British stature are the Duke of Cambridge and the Duke of Cumberland. The members of the Dutch royal family are, like those of England, abbreviated in stature, and so, too, is the present genera- tion of the Hohenzollerns, with solitary ex- ception of Prince Albert, the regent of Brunswick, who is as gigantic as- those | Anaks of modern royalty, the princes of | the reigning house of Sweden. Perhaps it ts due to the Preneau peasant blood in their veins, derived from their ancestor, the father of Field Marshal Bernadotte,’ that they are of such magnificent physique, and the same may be said of the czar and of | certain f the Russian grand dukes whose blood has been maintained in a healthy condition by the frequent marriages with women of the humblest class of society, the Empress Catharine having been little better than a mere camp follower. Alexander II] 4s close upon six feet three in height. This, at any rate, is the measurement ’re. corded against that wonderful column in the rest- ing place of the ancient kings of ‘Denmark Against this column a number of monarchs have been measured and their height re. corded. Conspicuous among them ts Peter the Great, who measured six feet ten. Only one other of the sovereigns was taller, amy that was King Christian 1 of Denmark who, according to this authority, was fast The present King Christian of Denmark measures close upon six feet, while his grandson, Prince Georse of Greece, who visited this country a couple of years ago, stands six feet in his stake ings. The tallest of all the royal ladies of Europe is assuredly the good-natared unconventional and somewhat unintellocta. al Crown Princess of Denmark, a daughte- of the late King of Sweden, whose helight fe the same as that of her father-in-law, Fine Christian, a gigantic stature for a worn. Her children show a tendency to folloy. her in this respect, and her sons compare ‘a ably in height with that of their cous’ ins, the sons of King Oscar, eve: Is exceedingly tall. ies deca — Hamilton Pope died Wednes“a: ight at his home tn Loutsville from iright's ‘ais- ease, after an illness of eighteen months. He was seventy-six years of age, RAILROADS. BALTIMOKE AND OHIO Leave Washington from station corner of New Jer c “pedis ta Gea Bete gy Staunton, 11:30 a.m. For Laray Sacamt pray, Suaons 5:30 nm. Memphis and N. ville, 11:10 p.m 508, st «11:30 . 300, x12:08, 1:00, x2:18 x5200, Fi way points, *10:00 4.m., 71:15 p.m. trains stopping Ty cipal stations only. 14:30, 15:30 p.m. ROYAL BLUE ee NEW YORK AND PHIL- Ne Boston the Bi ai St oon es, Be Son ag Car), (12:00 Dining Car), 3:00 6:00 ‘Dining Car), Seat? pm. “Sleeping Car, open at 10:00 Buttet Parlor Cars on all Atlantic City, 10:00 a.m. and 12:00 noon. 12:00 noon: When summer came he removed the | Pull Pry ” & i ‘a g & ef 5 § i | W if is 88 i kK g iH i I 3 fe Af £ i i : HH : #8 3 4 with Fi 3 veel sigue iat aise : Be ede beked Es Fy arri at We NESDAY and FRIDAY MORNINGS. D, ‘t :30 p.m. for Colonial ‘Coan and Yeocomico; leat riving at Washington re saa General Manages. ~NEW PALACE STEAMER HARRY RANDALL ey yg pt et Fridays, 3 pm Pas. londays. Ws 4 Sar accommodations first-class. recetved ‘Sati! hour of yy fee 1765. eerie sen gS. RANDALL, ap2tte Proprietor and Manages. NORFOLK AND WASHINGTON STEAMBOAT 08. BETWEEN WASHINGTON, D. a LNT ORTEESS MONRUE and ~ NORFOLK, VA. ‘The new and powerful Iron Palace Steamer. NGTON AND NORFOLK—SOUTH BOUND. WASH yashington daily at 7 p.m. from foot of 7th st. wharf, arrive at Fortress Monroe at 6:80 etext day. Arrive at Norfolk at 7:30 om, where railroad con are made for all paints south and southwest. XNCRTH BOUND. Leave Norfolk dati Leave Fortress Monroe at 7:1l p. Washington et 30 a.m. next day. Tickets: sole et 523, 619, 1351 and 142] Pes and 615 15th st. now,