Evening Star Newspaper, January 13, 1894, Page 12

‘12 HERE WERE FOUR men in the smoking compartment of a Pullman, in an over- land train heading THE EVENING STAR, SATURDAY, JANUARY 18, 1894A—TWENTY PAGES. RD. Tre, ARGONaUT the name of Yelverton, seemed to take a special fancy to me, and we put in several hours conversing together. He had visited the coast before, and, although only a few years my senior, was evidently a man who had good deal of experience In the world. turally, after our acquaintance had progressed to a certain stage, I talked of the subject uppermost in my mind, and told him all about the letters. I had hoped he would say something that would prove reassuring; on the contrary, he aggravated my woe. ‘Why, my dear fellow,” he said, “if you are going to undertake to deliver those epistles, you have my sympathy. Just now the very words ‘letter of introduction’ ere, to the average Californian, like a red rag to a bull. They are a hospitable people, but their good nature has been so grossly im- posed upon by the horde of impostors and BiM proved to be rather an entertaining | companion. The first half of the trip he did his best to convince me that I ought to make a full confession to him of all my various crimes. He promised to “stand in” and get me off with a light sentence. When he found this undertaking hopeless, he be- gan to talk about the country, answering the questions which I, a stranger to the scenes through which we were passing, very naturally asked. At length, however, as we were crossing the ferry from Oakland, when I expressed my satisfaction at beholding the Golden Gate for the first time, he turned on me, with a sheepish grin, and said: “You'd better let up. It won’t do no good. Of course you know the place as well as I do, and it’s no use tryin’ to fill me full of prunes.” When we arrived in the city, we went directly to the sheriff's office. “We will take you to the jail later on,” said Bill, apologetically. The sheriff dispatched a messenger after some of the complaining witnesses, and then proceeded to interview me. I told him my name and explained that I was a tourist from Cleveland. He nodded his head and announced that the jig was up, and that I might as well confess, for they has a very good case against me. Presently two well-dressed men were ushered into the room. Bill accompanied ther m. ‘his is the man,” said the sheriff. “He acknowledges it—at least the name.” “He is not the man,” said one of the new- comers, emphatically. “He isn’t?” exclaimed the sheriff, and Bill made a hasty reference to the infernal mountebanks that has poured in since the of the railroad, that it is no longer easy for a stranger to get into their good graces. The letter-of-introduction device has been worked until it is threadbare, and the man who offers to present one risks an im- mediate arrest from the police, or even severer treatment at the hands of the vig- ilance committee.” “You frighten me,” I said; “however, as my letters are all genuine, and bear the names of many of the most prominent peo- ple of Cle I hardly expect to meet westward. They talk- ed of California—of its gold and the '49- ers, of its fruits and wine, of its mountain scenery and of the hospitality of the people. When the latter subject was reached, one of the regions. “No!” cried the gentleman, “I told you the fellow had a blonde mustache, blue eyes, was thick set and wore his hair part- ed nearly in the middle.” @avelers fetched a sigh so long and deep that it instantly attracted the notice of the others, and they asked its cause. He returned no answer. Then one of them de- manded to know whether he had ever ex- Perferced the famous hospitality of the Californians, and to this question he made the following strange reply: “Yes, by Proxy." Thereups2 tz» others, burning with curiosity, besought him to make himself understood. This he did in the following tale: My first visit to ce <olda state took Place a number of <ears ago, when I was @n imexperiencel young man of about twenty-five. My hom: was in Cleveland, where my family had resided for many years. A trip to California, in those days, was looked upon as a great undertaking, end I began to talk it over with my num- erous friends and relatives several weeks before I set out. Presently I made a re- ™arkable discovery. It was that every one of these friends and relatives had some acquaintance on the Pacific coast, who would rejoice at the opportunity to welcome Me afforded by a letter of introduction. “I Was Frightened at the Pile.” Now, it happened that, several years be- fore, I had had a little experience with the Practice of making friends by letter. When I went east to college I carried a note to some people in Boston. I presented it, and I am confident that no explorer. of the Arctic regions ever encountered a lower temperature than that which enveloped my welcome. Now, as I understand a letter of introduction, it is a sort of a sight-dratt, friendship being the consideration, drawn by your friend on the stranger, which you gre empowered to collect—if you can. Your muccess depends upon several things; your friend's credit with the stranger, for one; the stranger’s general solvency—that is, his capacity for friendship—for another, and his opinion of you as a collector, for a third. The whcle transaction seems f me Joose and irregular, and the risk falls en- tirely on the unfortunate bearer of the letter, who usually takes the thing on its face value. A: first, I tried by various evasions to @et out of accepting these letters. But it Would not w People seemed to think that they we: ferring some enormous faver on me , With the natural mod- 2 co ésty of you.», 1 was seeking to decline. ‘Tne more I holt off the greater was their zeal IN my bet and in several in- stances, I am co nt, it resulted in my having letters foreei upon me which would Otherwise have been forgotten. What could ZT do? Nobody ever heard of such a thing @s decunmyg a ietter of introduction—it Weuld be equivaient to saying: “I don't Want to meet your friend: he may be good enuugh for you, i have no use for him.” that were offered seatiments under titude. episties increased For not only did vemtives write them- nem dementedly went to whom | was an utter strang letters which should Make me Ki. -2 «> their friends in Call- fornia. Then .-.¢: were some letters which Came spont: : rom the most unex- ted xX vmple, a friend - Jim Fairfax, do you?” “No; I don’t.” Well, he told we friend out oa th: coast th the other day he had a t he would like had heard somewhere of aittornia trip. So he gave me a let- ter of introductiou—here itis. Its to tne Hon. Patrick Cosey—a member of the legis- Jature. 1 thins.i bim, knowing that you Would feel griz:tul for the attention.” oereanls. i answered, “but as I never met Col. Jum Fairfax, I hardly see C iy how “Ob, that was all right. He just wrote — letter as Mf you were a friend of his. er" 1 opened the letter and saw. It was cal- culated to deceive the Hon. Patrick into the belief that Colonel Jim and 1 were like Damon and Pythias. 1 shudderingly added the letter to the heap, and 1 mention it mow only as a sampie of its class. At last, when 1 was ready to start, the Dundie of letters had grown so lange’ that it positiv: irightened me. Indeed, at times was resolved to abandgh the trip, @olely on account of the premonition of evil that swept over me whenever I contem- Plated that awful heap. But I had now fone too far to back out, and, depositing the letters in one corner of my trunk, 1 took my departure. There was a crowd at the station to see me off, and the last thing I heard, as the train started, was a general ery of: “Be sure and present my letter to—" Of course the request was superfluous—| @ most thing said at partings—for the reason that I had already solemnly prom- ised each one that I would deliver his letter. Im the quiet solitude of the first day's ride, I had nothing to do but think, and the bundle of letters provided me with subject matter. They constituted a problem whose Yexatious conditions drove me half dis- tracted. If I failed to deliver them—or to make at least an honest effort in behalf of each—I should break my promise to a number of People whose good opinion I held in high esteem. It would never do for me deliber- ately to admit. on my return, that I had scorned to make acquaintance with their friends, or that I had been irsensible to their kindness in giving me the letters. On | the other hand. I doubted whether I could manufacture excuses delicate enough to go ground. Having been trained to truth from my bovhood, I lacked the imaginative pow- €e which is neeted for artistic mendacity. | In fact. I was likely to find mvself in the game embarrassing situation that fs said to have overcome the Father of his Country: I could not tell a lie—that would get me cut of the scran. So T finally settled {t In my own mind that I must present all the letters. Then the other horn of the dilemma he-| gan to gore me Here were a lot of neonle who knew nothine of me. nor T of them I was expected to hunt them un. at a great se of time and trouble. and deliver to them a letter apfece all around, after the | fashion of a cansctentions and mailman. But that was not all. These let- ters practically Involved a demand. on my Part, for attentions. hased on a fe-ne-sats- quot relationship between the sender and the recipient. Being 2 very young man, T was somewhat sensitive on the score of snubs and T saw them looming up in unlimited numbers throughout the whole situation. The Poston experience was lable to be re- Pested on a maanificent scala. impartial The second day out I became acquainted | with several of my fellow-passenzers. of them, a bright, young New Yorker, One by veland, with difficulties of that sort.” “Probably not,” said Yelverton; “but you may expect to be rather coldly treated.” “Well, blast the letters!’* half the pleasure of my visit to the coast.” My annoyance seemed to afford Yelverton no small amusement, and he recurred sver- al times to the subject after I had allowed it_to drop. It was a part of my plan to stop over in Denver about a week to visit some friends. Yelverton, also, made a brief stay in ‘hat and e@ occupied adjoining apart- ce, ments in the same hotel. happened to be in my room, I had occasion to look for something in my trunk, and I came upon the hated bundle of letters. “Here are those infernal document: I remarked, tossing the bundle over to the table near where he stood. He picked it uj felt of its thickness, and then gave a sardon- he ic laugh. “You are certainly in for it, my boy, said, and put the letters back on the table amid & pile of newspapers and magazines. Before his departure, which took place the next day, Yelverton made me promise that I would telegraph him when I left Denver, 8o that he might meet me on my arrival at the coast. I promised it unhesitatingly, for bring opportunities not to be slighted. detail lengthened my stay in Denver from @ week to nearly a month, and in the to depart, however, I thought of them comfort. I telegraphed to Yelverton, and proceeded of the till. I opened the trunk and investi- gated. The letters were not to be found, remembered that shortly afte my arrival at the hotel I had taken them out to show to Yelverton, and had put them on the I made a thorough search of the room; the letters hau plainly disap, . i went immediately to the clerk and told my story. He sent for the head cham- bermaid. “Who takes care of Mr. room?" he asked. “Maggie, maid; “but first cam “I have lost a package of letters,” said I. The two exchanged significant glances. “Do you think they were stolen?”I asked; “mo one could have any possible object. “Oh, no,” said the clerk. Then he asked me if the letters were valuable. ‘not exactly.” “Well, I'll tell you,” said the clerk, evi- dently much relieved; “we let that girl Clara go, because she had a reckless way of burning up things that she found lying around in the rooms. If you have made @ thorough search and you are sure the letters are not there, the chances are they are destroyed.” I found it difficult to repress my joy at this intelligence. It is to be doubted if the clerk and head chambermaid ever suc- ceeded in explaining my strange conduct, in actually refusing to make a row when one was quite justifiable. I hastened back to the room and executed a fresh search so as to satisfy my conscience. When 1 was absolutely convinced that the letters were gone, I danced about the room in a transport of glee. The awful incubus which had been weighing down my spirits was Bonworthy’s the head chamber- answered , Clara had that room when he “Here Are the Infernal Documents.” suddenly removed, and I breathed again. “What a blockhead I am,” I said to my- self; “why did it never occur to me to de- | stroy the letters, and claim, on my return, | that they had been lost?” | Chance had supplied the excuse which imagination had been unable to conjure up. I continued my journey, Nght-hearted as a prisoner who has just secured his free- dom. Yelverton had advised me to stop over at Sacramento—one of the historic cities of the state—and visit the capitol and other | points of interest. I adopted the sugges- | tion. The train got into Sacramento in the morning, and I was driven right to a hotel. I wrote my name on the register, and asked for a room for one day. The clerk | whirled the book around, glanced at the | name, and said: “All right, Mr. Bon—why, are you Mr. Bonworthy? Elliot Bonworthy—of Cleve- land?” “Well,” I said, with some dignity, “what | did you imagine I wrote that name for— amusement?” His tone and manner surprised and an- | noyed me. It was evident, however, that his hand shook as he penciled the number | of a room after my name, and his voice | trembled when he called up the bell boy. | Ten minutes later, just as I was com- | Pleting a hasty toilet, there was a knock at my door, and, in answer to a “come in,” the clerk entered, followed by a tall, closed, the clerk motioned his hand toward me, and nodded. “What is it?” I asked. “Do I understand,”’sai¢ the military man, “that you acknowledge your name to be | Eliot Bonworthy?” | “Of course I do, I answered somewhat angrily. “Well, I like his rerve,” said the military man to the clerk, and the clerk grinned at me. “Say,” continued the military man, “have | you any friends in this town?” “No,” I said; “I had some letters of in- troduction to several—” The clerk gave a loud, derisive laugh. “That settles It, Bill,” he said to his com- panicn; “you had better run him in. You can take him down to the city on the af- | ternoon train.” “What does all this mean?” I exclaimea. Bill produced a paper from his pocket. “It means that you are under arrest,” said he. “on a charge of obtaining money under false pretenses. We know all about your letter-of-it troduction scheme; it may have worked all right in San Francisco, but it "t go here. Now, jest come along and there won’t be any trouble; otherwise —" I glanced at the warant. There was my |} Fame, “Elliot Bonworthy,” as plain as | print. I don’t need to remark that I was | astonished and frightened. 1 had heard of | men being mistaken for criminals and put to the necessity of p: , bu I arrested under my own ne, in a place where I had supposed my- | self utterly unknown. What could I do—or | say? T asked a few questions, and learned | that the crime that was charged had been committed in the city of San Francisco a | week or two be . Of course, I could | Prove an alibi at the trial—but, !n the mean- Eee what was to be done to keep out of jal? } 1 accompanied Bin— suggested—to uletly,”* the sheriff's office, andl we | Waited there until the next train left for | San Francisco. I exclaimed angrily; “I can see they are going to destroy Once, when he ing thetr own identi- | I was satisfied that his friendship would | of letters of introduction with which he Various circumstances which I need not | about him?” course of that time I quite forgot about the | letters of introduction. When I was ready | Bonworthy?”’ said one of the gentlemen. with a sudden and intense pang of dis- | 82! to pack my trunk. Just as I was about to | tention, as I was anxious to learn of Yel- turn the key, it suddenly occurred to me | verton and his performances. that I had not noticed the bundle of let- | ters in its customary place in the corner | Said one of the gentlemen, either in the till or elsewhere. Then i| They were to many of the finest people in table. However, they were not there now. | | my cool answer had disconcerted him, for | | | tr as he had Z | | possible attention. Several men I know | rested, then turning his ugly face and his | the rescuer’s approach as a challenge to military-looking man. When the door was | | he turned and not only put himself on the | that would have helped him to a place of “It Means That You Are Under Arrest.” “Yelverton!” I exclaimed springing up. “That's one of his names,” said the sher- |iff. “He went here under the name of | Elliot Bonworthy and he had an armful worked the town. What do you know “He stole those letters from me at Den- | ver,” said. “Oh, then you are the simon-pure Elliot “I can prove it readily enough if neces- ry,” I said. “The sheriff and Bill began to make pro- fuse apologies, to which I paid little at- “He arrived here nearly ‘and began im- | mediately to make acquaintance by means of these letters—your letters, it appears. the city. So we took the man right in, for , he talked and acted like a perfect gentle- man. Well, sir, I don’t suppose any man that ever came to this city got more ele- gant treatment than that fellow. Do you?” he asked, turning to his companion, who | signified his entire agreement. “Go on,” I said, with an inward groan. “The best private houses and the clubs were all open to him and he received every gave him wine suppers. There wasn’t a social event of importance to which he failed to have an invitation. He gave it out that he was sizing things up for a syndicate of Cleveland capitalists that thought of investing largely in mines. Well, sir, I calculate that in the three weeks that he put in inthis city he had probably one of the largest times that any man ever enjoyed. And he wound the thing up by getting the names of three or four good business men on spurious | drafts and then suddenly disappeared from view.” “That was when J telegraphed him thatI was coming,” I said. “Well,” observed the speaker tn conclu- sion, you have any more letters of in- troduction bearing that same name, I would not advise ;ou to present them, for you are liable to get arrested every time you try one on.” I explained that Yelverton had captured the entire pack. The complaining wit- nesses then shook hands with me and de- parted. I imagine their experience with Yelverton discouraged them from any rash tenders of hospitality, for they did not suggest any improvement of our acquaint- ance. Indeed, it was a cool stand off on both sides, for I did not fancy their sar- castic flings on the subject of the letters. The next day the newspapers contained the whole story—the theft of the letters, Yelverton’s performances and my arrest. The account given of the brief but glorious career of my proxy—the spurious Mr, El- lot Bonworthy—convinced me that the gentlemen I had met at the sheriff's office were quite right In saying he had enjoyed a “large time.” As I read of suppers, din- ners, fetes, balls, excursions, honors, at- tentions, &c., my senses fairly reeled with anguish. All this gcod time really be- longed to me; I had been cheated out of it, partly through my own stupid misgivings and partly through the shrewdness and in- dustry of this earlier bird. Y Now, then, gentlemen (concluded the pas- senger who had been asked to tell what he knew of the hospitality of the Californians) you understand what I mean by saying that I received my welcome on the coast by prexy. ———_+e+_____. IT WAS His NATURE TO. A Drowning Bulldog That Turned on the Rescuing Newfoundland. A savage looking bulldog, which belonged to a schooner lying at a wharf in San Fran- cisco, fell into the bay the other day un- noticed by any one on board. After vainly trying to scramble up the vessel's side, says the Call, he caught hold with his teeth on a rope attached to a small boat lying alongside. Then attempted to place his fore feet on the line to use it as a rest, | but in this he was again unsuccessful, for every time he made the attempt the small boat would back, the rope would sag and the brute would duck beneath the surface. Every time he came up again he was hang- ing by his teeth with a sort of deathlike grip to the line. This exercise, without beneficial results, seemed to exhaust him even more than his attempts to reach the deck of the vessel. For a few moments he wicked eyes toward those on the wharf | he set up a howl. A Newfoundland leaped into the water, true to his instinct, and swam toward the struggling bulldog. ‘The latter, also showing his nature, regarded fight. Releasing his hold on the painter, defensive but growled and snarled, and finally made an attempt to bite the one safety. The Newfoundland, not a coward by nature, but not a fighter, realized that bis good intention was not appreciated or understood by the brute that had given such howls of distress, turned and swam to the boat steps, from which he made his way to the wharf, shook himself and trotted away. In the meantime the unap- preciative terrier swam back to the painter, got another grip with his teeth on it and howled anew. About this time some one belonging to the schooner seized the rope, hauled the shrivering brute alongside and seizing him by the skin of the neck hauled him on board. Mrs. Finis—“I'm as sick as I can be, just ating these peanuts.” —"Well, why don’t you stop eating . Finis (in amazement)—"Stop? Why, I have more than naif a bag left yeti” ‘ UNCLE SAM’S DEBTS. Fortunes in the United States Treas- ury Belonging to the People. ALL ABOUT U. 8. BONDS. Millionaire Bond Holders Do Not Clip Coupons. STORIES ABOUT LOSSES. UITE A NUMBER of snug fortunes are lying in the United States treasury, wait- ing for somebody to step up and claim them. When the owners appear Uncie Sam has got to pay them over, no matter how many years have passed by. This money is due on bonds Jong ago call- ed in. Some of them have ever been cashed by the holders. On the “old debt,” whieh embraces all loans made to this government up to 1837, $121,000 is still owing. Since that date more than $1,000,000 has accumulated, being un- called for by the persons entitled to it, whether through negligence or for other Feasons. A considerable fraction of this great sum is now held by the treasurer of the United States in the shape of checks, Interest on registered bonds is paid by check in every case to the person whose name appears on the face of the security. But people are constantly changing their addresses, and Rot infrequently it happens that track is lost for a while of an individual bond- holder. Under such circumstances the quarterly interest checks are retained as they fall due and in the course of time pile up. They are kept for an indefinite period and are good forever. Cheeks That Are Always Good. There are such checks in the treasurer's office now which have accumulated during more than ten years. On the other hand, knowing that they are always good for the money they represent, people often keep these interest checks, putting them away and hoarding them just as if they were so much cash. Only the other day a batch of forty checks for $1 each was received at the treasury. Each of them represented the quarterly interest on a 4 per cent bond for $100. The owner had simply put them away as they came in year after year. ‘They never did him any good, but were for- warded to Washington by the executor of his estate. The Rich Bondholder. The millionaire is commonly represented as engaged in clipping coupons from bonds. This is an egregious error. Rich men as a rule do not hold coupon bonds, The reason is quite obvious. Such bonds are not safe Property. They are always payable to bearer, like treasury notes. If lost, the government will not replace them. Accord- ingly, tor the sake of security, people are constantly exchanging them for registered bonds. Thus the sum total of coupon bonds outstanding, which is now about $70,000,000, is all the time diminishing. They are most- ly in the hands of small holders. With the registered bonds it is quite dif- ferent. They are rich men’s property par excellence. At present about $200,000,000 worth of them is heid by private individ- uals, Of this great sum $37,000, or not far from one-half, owned by 1,000 per- sons, roughly speaking, whose holdings av- erage $80,u00. The names of these fortunate individuals are kept secret by the treasury. Some of the fortunes possessed in this shape are enormous. Some of the greatest belong to the Vanderbilts. Old William H. Vanderbilt had $45,000,000 in registered bonds at one time. A Bond Romance. United States bonds, prosaic enough in themselves, have been the key-note to many @ romance. About twenty years ago $40,- 000 worth of the consols of 1865 and 1867 were stolen in Havana. The thief altered them by erasing the name from the face and sold them to ignorant persons. They were for $1,000 each. Ever since then they have been coming in to the treasury througn banks and otherwise. Of course, they were useless to the holders, being registered and only payable to the original owner. Not long ago a lawyer in Portland, Me., wrote to Washington about one of these bonds. Being informed that it was no good, he would not give it up, and it was only se- cured by employing the secret service. 1t had been purchased long ago by a sea cap- tain, who left it to his widow when he died. Nearly all of these stolen consols have been recovered. The original owner lost nothing, of course. All he had to do was to notify the Secre- tary of the Treasury, giving an aflidavit and a bond of indemnity, and the stolen consols were replaced. That is the ad- vantage of registered bonds. The number of such bonds that have been lost and stolen is astonishing. A list of them, numbering nearly 1,000, is printed and circulated by the government. It is called the “caveat list” and is designed to warn bankers and others against accepting securities of the numbers mentioned. As soon as a register- ed bond is reported missing, it is put on this list. Some time ago a report came from In- dianapclis of a bond that was said to have been destroyed. Affidavits, etc., being fur- nished, a new one was issued to replace it. Ten years later that identical security was forwarded to the treasyry from Holyoke, Mass. It had been found in a lot of waste paper at a paper mill. There was no ques- tion of fraud in this case; the owner lost it and supposed that it had been burned. In many instances bonds have been re- issued on what was deemed satisfactory evidence of their destruction, and the orig- inals have turned up afterward. A Mysterious Disappearance. Once upon a time an odd thing of this sort occurred at Emlenton, Pa. A lady de- posited a bond for $500 in a bank. She left it there for ten years. When it was called in she went to get it. It could not be found, though the cashier looked high and low for jt. Oddly enough, the books of the bank seemed to show that the bond had been delivered to her. It was a mystery, for she declared that she had never re- ceived it, She applied to the treasury at Washington for payment, and her case was made so clear that the controller ordered her claim to be paid. On the very day that the check was mailed to her the bond reached the treasury. The bank at Emlen- ton, in tearing down a vault, had found it. In some way it had slipped down behind masorry. Good Stories, bat— An interesting story has been printed re- cently about an aged man from a New England state, who, when Mr. Folger was Secretary of the Treasury. brought to the subtreasury at New York $70,000 worth of “old debt’ bonds. He had found them among the papers of a defunct uncle. They were yellow with age. He had offered them to a banker in Boston for $5,000, but that financial expert was so “green” on the subject of government securities as wp re- fuse the bargain. This proved extremely fortunate for the aged man aforesaid, who presently waiked out of the subtreasury with $70,000 in good United States notes in his clothing. Only one thing mars this en- tertaining anecdote, It is pure and abso- lute fiction. Another story which cannot be satisfac- torily established as to truth relates to $5,000 In the old compound interest notes which are said to have been found in a Sioux tepee some years age. The securities in question were plastered on the walls of the aboriginal dwelling for purposes of or- nmament. A fortunate army officer, as al- leged, walked in and proceeded to purchase the decorative greenbacks at a low figure. Being a shrewd Yarkee he offered a few bright-colored chromos in exchange. The untutored and deluded savage jumped at the bargain. Much to his regret the mili- tary man was never able to discover the rightful owner of the $5,000, which he was thus compelled to appropriate to his own use. He suspected that it might have form- ed part of the plunder of a post trader, But in those days post traders were re- garded as fair game by Indians and such scalps and compound interest notes as | coula be obtained from them were the fre- quent spoils of war. Partly Destroyed. Bonds which have been partly destroyed occasionally come into the treasury for re- demption. This applies to both registered and coupon bonds. Some of them are part- ly burned. Small holders often hide their bonds like other money, in parlor stoves. When the fire is lighted up go the securi- ties In smoke. If a few charred fragments remain they are forwarded to Washington. In the office of loans and currency the pieces are carefully laid out and stuck to- gether upon a sheet of paper. If enough is left for the purpose of identification the owner is reimbursed. A more or less apocryphal story relates to a mass of green Paper, almost pulp, representing a large sum in the compound interest notes of 1863, which was submitted for redemption after lying in a safe at the bottom of the Mississippi for year. The safe was lost from a burned steamer. This may be true, but the writer has not been able to verify it. Delay in Redemption. Not long ago about $1,000 in seven-thirty interest bearing notes was received for re- demption in a partly burned condition. The owner had put them away for safe keep- ing among the rafters of his house, which caught fire. From Alexandria, Va., only the other day, came two bonds for $15,000 each, with a request that they be redeemed immediately, because the holder was in a great hurry to reinvest the money. The securities in question had been called in ten years ago, so that the interest on the amount was entirely lost period. Apparently, the possessor hed just waked up to the fact that the investment was no longer profitable. A great many bonds cailed for redemption twenty years and more ago have never been presented for payment. Some of them have doubtless been put away and forgotten. It is imagin- ed that others have been lost at sea, to- gether with their owners. The quantity of gold and silver in coin and builion sunk from wrecks in the ocean amounts to many millions of dollars in the course of a cent- ury. Comfortably Fixed. One can hardly conceive of a more com- * fortable form of wealth than United States registered bonds. At the treasury is kept @ book containing the printed names of all Persons who hold them. You have your name down in that list with $100,000 attach- ed to it and regularly every quarter you receive a check for $1,000, Hard times may bother other people, but they do not dis- turb you. These securities run up as high as 50,000 each. A piece of green printed Paper, two feet long, wijl represent that sum. It is a fortune which may be folded up and put away in your card case. You cannot possibly lose it. If anybody steals it Uncle Sam will replace it. As has been said, the very rich people hold the bulk of the registered bonds. Only $2,000,000 worth of them—about 1 per cent of the holdings of private individuals—is possessed by comparatively poor persons, in sums of $500 or less. That amount is divided up among nearly 10,000 individuals, Speaking of treasury checks, nobody has ever been known to forge them. No in- stance is recorded where one of them has been raised, though the checks issued by disbursing officers of the government have been lifted occasionally. In England, by the way, it is reckoned that the bonds never presented for payment amount to one-fourth of one per cent of the whole. A Bad Debt. About thirty years ago Uncle Sam lent a lot of money to help build various transcon- tinental radways. It was understood that the companies would refund the cash as soon as they got well started. As a matter of fact, there is little likelihood that any considerable part of it will ever be paid. There is still owing $64,000,000 of original indebtedness, plus $70,000,000 of interest. To raise this money for the use of the rail- ways the government issued bonds at dif- ferent times from 1865 to 1869, They were to run for thirty years at 6 per cent, The treasury is still paying this big interest, which is more than twice what the loan is worth today. This means a clear loss of many millions of dollars. In January of next year the first batch of these Pacific railway bonds matures, and to redeem them will require $2,362,000. If Uncle Sam could collect this huge bad debt he would be comfortably off at present instead of feeling horribly poor. RENE BACHE. —————_+e-+—____ INHABITED ONLY BY HOGs. An Alabama No Man's Land Where Human Beings Have Never Lived. 4n the northern part of Limestone county, Alabama, says a writer in the Pittsburg Dispatch, is a tract of land consisting of more than 1,000 acres which is not on the map of the state, nor can it be found in the register’s office of that county. No one claims it and no taxes have ever been paid on it. It is a vast wilderness, inhabited by snakes, deer and razor-back hogs. It is a free hunting ground and thousands of these hogs are killed every year, more for the sport than for anything else. The hogs are wild and cannot be domesticated. Their yield ts said to be enormous. Tom Booth of Pulaski, Tenn., secured a male and fe- male and did all in his power to tame them, but failed. He kept them a year, and at the end of that time they were as wild as at first. The more he fed them the thinner they became. Within the year they consum- ed 400 bushels of corn and were as lean as church mice. During that time the sow had five utters of pigs, numbering 210. Mr, Booth could not tame any of these nor get them fat enough to make even soap grease. Finally he gave them to a negro, who now considers himself under no obligations to Mr. Booth, The flesh of these hogs resem- bles horseflesh. It is as tough as coon skin, and a large-sized hog of this species rendered would not make grease enough to fry a skillet of batter cakes. They go through a garden like a shovel plough, and no vegetable escapes them. They can crowd through a crack that would hardly admit a mouse, and their sharp ,noses act as levers for garden gates. The Tennes- seeans make great fun of Alabama's razor- back hogs. ———_+e+_____ “Her to You, Tom Moore From the Chicago Inter-Ocean. Here's to you, Tom Moore; whene'er I am gay, = By and when care finds a home in Teast, You cheer me with proverb and promise And your melodies lull me, at Higuttan, Yo n2e. And when my poor heart’ loved as other loved never, You spoke for me what my own tongue could not speak; Your words clothed the thoughts, which, how great the endeavor, Were murmured alone by the tears on my cheek. How weg es to hear (and how sweetly you told it! That heart which loved truly would never forget; (ead hope! To my sad heart again I enfold it!) It was trne—I loved troly and truly love yet— But her Jove, dear Tom (how fondly "twas cher- ished!), not the true love that rou wot of; the rose Long is withered and gone; leaf and petal have per- ished, But mine is the love that “loves on to the close.” Whene'er heavy-hearted, despondent, and weary, Soft chords from your harp find thelr way through the gloom ‘That pall-like hangs low o'er a pathway full drears— ‘A pathway foll dreary that leads to the tomb. Your faithfulness proving you ever are near me; Your friendship as stanch, Tom, come woe as come weal, An softly roe Whlaver, te comfort andl cheer me:_, “Earth bath no sorrow eaven cani ~ —WM. H. T. SHADE. my ee. Not Like Other Girls. from Life. “The Dream Of the Orient” —as well as a number of * °° * other pictures which the police objected to are NOW on exhibition HERE and fre attracting much attention. You are invited to call and see them. t>Frames and Fine We Can Iron Probably the most marvelous and ingenious Jnundry machive ever invented is the WILSON A TRONER. Only three of these ma- chines were ever built, and cost $1,000 each. We have the ouly one in thie city. With this won- derful piece of machinery we can launder all the collars and cuffs that are now sent to all the other Jaundries in this city. In short, we have as good facilities as all the others combined. ‘We can iron: ‘Thirty to Forty Thousand Collars & Cuffs a Day, OR ABOUT DR. CARL S07 12TH ST. N.W, over SURGEON “SPRCIALIST. er twenty-five years’ THIND YEAR AT PRGSENT ADDRESS, Carleton create with the skill born of expe Nervous De bility. Special Diseases. Practice limited to_the treatment of Gentlemen Exclusiv ely Dr. Two Hundred eve Binge, Thousand - =< sama Per Week, |g Se StAaJS cord Drop a Postal to 514 toth St., pegemar, He gnu i W postivly Or Telephone ° SKILLFUL," SUCCESSFUL “Trestunest gua: . Be on your guard against No. 1092, Antiguated methods an@ filiterate practitiouers, And we will call for and deliver and @on’t forget that you cannot bay silk for the TH Lineral deena families. Toshio paniphlet tree it to e oC ‘and plant Hours, 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. and 4 p.m. to 8 fie —_" ae = Bu 9 a.m. to 2 pu. only. Consultation fren, YOUR PHOTOGRAPH sFREE.” LIP THIS. This coupon entities the holder to Plant, 43G St. N.W. en order on a leading photograpber ‘ _— tor one full yy lh. raph Main Branch, 514, 10th. to tae “value of $2.50 or more ‘Transferable. Telephone 1092. ee eer every pair of Shoes you bay of us, and when you get besides a Ph are getting somet! bot pald—We think It pays as an ad ment to give away movey .50 buss our F. H. WILSON, 929 F St. N. W. it Facial Blemishes ya Superfiueus: Hair, Moles, Removed Wire" ita sue Rea Vas on the Nose + ~ a a? od | Birth rt al al fections a en ge and ee ae vy ‘Dermat st ten years’ practi expe- rlenve io the treatment of Skin, Scalp and Bisod Dist ases. mice tn Mert building, cor P and 11th sts. in building, cor. F a Consultation free. Hours. 9 a.m. .o 5 p.m. ja5-tf : Oa A Lady’s Hair Is It Wrong most of her beauty. A — well "Coirtured read can redecta the selling All-bair Mattress, $6.95 (they get $12.50); Folding Beds, $7.95; Rug Parlor Suites, $27.50 | Gold elsewhere, $50), &e. The people who pay cash With one voice exclaim, “We want the lowest price we can get—and we know GRASTY eelle everything for cash, and that makes the price.” All-wool Carpet, 60 and Gc.; face by our style of S. Heller, 720 Wi 9, Co: Bed, $2.95; Single, $3.50; Doub A! = s Cc ief nce Lounge, $3.50; Best Carpet Lounge, $4.50; Fime wtih a Tes oo ee tnt ee eo ahie poms Ev booed eek. $1 doz.; all Vases half price. We can furnish Anton Fischer, si Ry jal2 1 ee ee CaS tek tay nat a eee 08 mmeney refunded upon retere eon or ae Oil sonk' Ir Ged ier. toon = anas'or bor hed | 1 the price that time is upon you now. Make out — Can You iS SS ete. | Grast Match Them? | hoe Sepa Ag ) 151042 7TH, BET. P AND Q NW. Here ts estionable that we sen obo any | aule jeweler in this city. else can you obtain these three values? 100 Handsome Solti rings, brilliant “showy”... 100 Solid Gold Watches, winder & setter, "Waltham | Movement, fully’ guaranteed stem Sis | Jacobs Bros., W. S. Thompson’s Pharmacy, 703 1sth st. “Diamond Im 1229 PA. VE wail! Delicious Asparagus Tips oe alae be eee > oe nee ni jee won| FOr Ten DaysOnly, usien te, «| Violins 1-3 Off. . Ww. Burchell, 1325 F St. OW is the time to buy—33 18 cent discount off of a ricen Largest sionk to the ity. C7 Try our own Silver make Pare ‘Wound “G" Striugs—tone finer—S0e. ranz Waldecker & Co., jai2 w. rr re re re wee ee Solid Comfort for 29c. ‘The uses of a pont Zoe ace imani- represents com! ickness and health. This ts a lange Jay the F Foot Batb—easily worth double said. A large 14-qt. you can have for ise. = jomorrow only. Pan —— are for ti Washington Variety Store Panag nn yh Pf 824 7th St. N. W. age the “Teom- tn! a tow Tooments A OR recreate — There's no dirt to a Gas Stove, ———_$2.50 and up. The E. F. Brooks Co., 53! isth St. N. W. at $2 €st_prices. Lace ‘Curtains, 50c. up. Blan. > 723 ERGs meee "& S| F’COnomize | ca ital Steam Laundry, Lessen sour butter bill—tuy of aa. 64. bid 8th at. aoe PO rye jar Box Best 40c. Creamery for $1.60. Drop a postal today—we'll send a box C. O, D. Jas. F. Oyster, nk the : Tha oth & Pa. ave. "Phone 271. | Manufacturer |/A January iI » {2 —tor chi opportunity in Horse | |, Corset Special. [| .Biankets and Lap Robes. The ——— That grand $1.50 assortinent of fine i Prices now are just half of what | eee quality CORSETS, which a great number id they would ordinarily be: || |———— ef our patrons expecially favor, will be if $4 to $25 Lap Robes... || {|——— only $1.15 for awhile. Tat offer ts suf- 3 3 now $2 to $12.50. [|| —— cieat to cause « “run” on them, 90 we A $2 to $18 Horse Blanket: : | |——— caphot tel bow Jong it'll be good. Long, is Bow $1 to $9, |] | medium and short-waisted. It ‘twas a little colder we ||| Phy: sical Culture Corset Co. Wouldn't have one left by tomorrow 1107 G ST. G1. C. Whelan, late of F st., mgr, night! jalz Kneessi, 425 7th St. »2 store. Everything In JA ARE—CUPS AND SAUCERS, VASES. and the like is bere, imported directly froi Japan. No imitation goods of Prices extremely low just on — TT! JAPAN,” ace to buy corsets is of an “ex- Co set Pmporium. Ours ts the t Fong Waist Corsets we ate running at Big vargain! ie ela LI Wh Settler n’s, 1003 Fst 606 13th St. See, “= e124 FEDORA: DRESS SHIELDS, BEST IN THE WORLD. GREAT REDUCTION IN PRICE WITHOUT IM- PAIRING THEIR QUALITY. =: CAMDEN 8T., BALTIMORE. A Pl leasant Experience To have your teeth attended to bere. their teeth longer. Our prices: Extracting, 25c.; or local anaesthetic, 80c.; cleaning, B0e.; filing with silver, platina or amalgam, Tde.; very best full wet of teeth, $7. DR. GRAUAM, 807 77H ST. ns