Evening Star Newspaper, February 10, 1894, Page 13

THE EVEN ‘G STAR, SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 10, '1894—TWENTY PAGES. WHERE OLD RAGS GO Junk Shops and the Small Army of Ragmen. THE PROFITS OF THE BUSINESS How the Refuse of Hous holds Goes Back Into the Market. TRICKS OF -THE TRADE ID YOU EVER VIS- it a junk shop? There are a num- ber of them in Wash- ington, but perhaps they have never been among your intimate acquaintances and so you know very little about them. It is more than likely, too, that you don’t know where they are nor even what they are for. The junk shop is where the rag man brings his wares and his collection of aged and infirm articles of various sorts, not for a last resting place, nor for a comfort- able abode in which to live out their years, but to be sorted and sent away for another use. If you imagine that your broken stove lids or your old rags which you swap to the rag man for a few stray coppers have ended their work and will peacefully re- solve themselves into ashes you are mis- taken. Not by long ways. They have only begun 2 new life, commenced another eyele in their revolution as it were, and although you may not know it, your old y again return unto your fold after h oF so of exciting experiences, in the kettle which is boiling merrily on your sove, and the dirty, torn and t.ttered rag may turn up once more in the ciean, snowy Sheet of noie paper before you. inside a Junk Shop. Junk shops are not on the most fash- fonable boulevards, and do not always pre- sent a very striking appearance from the outside. The interior, however, is one of the Most picturesque places imaginable. It con- tains everything everywhere. You see some- thing new at every glance and the longer you look the more things you see. Piles, heaps, rows, bins, shelves and barrels of ancient articles are there. Pieces of de- erepit stoves, bent and rusty horseshoes in suilicient quantities to bring good luck to the whole city, pieces of worn out ma- ehinery, kitchen utensils which long since bade good b: to the household, old boil- ers, chains festooning the walls and ceil- ings lke cobwebs, scraps of tin, zinc, brass, copper, steel, lead and what not surround you. Rags in front of you, old bones be- hind you, beer bottles to the right of you, whisky flasks to the left of you, odors on all sides of you are confusing. If you were asked on first glance to describe a junk shop, you would say chaos. Things are not as chaotic as you think, however, and the junk man will tell you smilingly’ that all is in good order. It reminds you, per- haps, of the order in which a housewife finds her kitchen after her husband has been keeping house by himself for a week or so, but still the junk man’s word ought to go at par, for he has to keep track of all this as it comes and goes, and ought to know whereof he speaks. There is a good deal learn about the junk business, prosaic it may seem to you, and there is a certain interest in rol- lowing the history of the old and cast- aside articles from the time they are gath- ered up around the back alleys by the rag man, as they pass through the junk shop, from thence into the furnaces or the mills until-finally they come back into the stores once more as something brand new. The junk shop is the gateway through which everything which is gathered up around the streets must pass and be in- spected before it goes any farther on its way, and the junk man casts aside all vse- Jess material just as the gate keeper turns down those who haven't Ug pull enough to get a pass for the grand stand. It is ac- cordingly interesting to watch the workings of this well meaning but sadly slandered institution. What They Buy. All junk shops do not buy exactly the same articles, some of them being special- ists In their way, but generally speaking the articles which they buy are iron and all other kinds of metals, cotton, woolen and linen rags, botties, bones and paper. Iron is divided up into three classes. The first and least valuable of these is burnt iron such as comes from old stoves. This together with scrap tin is sold to the local fron foundries and made up largely into sash weights for windows. The next grade is made up of iron pipes, iron hoops and the like, which are converted at the pud- dling furnaces into blooms for commercial purposes. From these iron steps for houses and other buildings are made. The last and best grade consists of horseshoes from the car stables, which are gathered up and ship- ped to the rolling mills further north, there being worked up into the finest bar iron, and afterward utilized for iron utensils and machines of all kinds. Horseshoes are no small item in the trade of a junk shop, it being estimated that as many as fifty thou- sand tons of them are bought from the com- panies of this city every year. The junk dealers pay five cents a hundred for burnt and sheet iron, fifteen cents a hundred for cast iron, and twenty-five cents a hundred for wrought tron. What looks to be a small thing yet is a considerable items is the lead which comes wrapped around the packages of tea from China and Japan. This is first-class lead, and though one would hardly believe it, as much as 50,000 pounds ef this is taken in by the = men = and shipped every year to timore, New York, Philadel, and other places of the east. = The Trade in Rags. But, after all, the article in the trade which plays the biggest part is rags, just common rags. For these junk dealers pay from one-quarter of a cent to two cents a pound, according to the quality after sort- ing. They are divided into several grades, all the way from new shirt cuttings, clean and white, to dark and dirty ealico rags. The finest are the woolen rags in pure white and red flannels, the next grade consisting in all-wool cuttings from. the merchant tailors, both of which are made up into paper in ‘the northern cities. Linen shirt cuttings and muslin make the very best kind of linen ledger paper. The ordi- nary srade of woolen and cotton rags is largely used in the composition of shoddy materials for clothing. People commonly think that they should receive a higher price for their silk rags than for the others. As a matter of fact, however, silk rags are worth very little, nor are dressmakers’ Fags of much value. Old newspapers and the like are bought Up at the rate of 15 cents a hundred and shipped mostly to Philadelphia, from whence, after passing through the mills, they may again return to you as the new wall paper in your home. It does not look, | pans as if this could pay, but you may sure that junk men are not in the pur- suit for the pure unadulterated pleasure there is in it, und are not losing money on anything they do. Bones are shipped prin- cipally to Baitirsore, where they are Tound &p into bone meal or made into some of the more or less fragrant fertilizers which, standing im barrels, ime the streets of the lower portion of that city, imparting a pe- cular perfume, which has given Baitimore its great reputation as a health resort. the bottle trade is in the way of an ex- ehange. Old pop, whisky, beer and other bottles are bougnt up and’ sent back to the factories, where they ure again used in sending forth soda water or tiquids of a more tery disposition. The rag men will pay you Z cents a dozen for gin bottles, 4 Cents for whisky bottles, elght cents for beer bottles, six cents for champagne bot- Ues, seven cents for claret bottles, six cents for pop bottles and four cents for winger ale bottles. So, if you only thought of it, instead of using your flasks to hurl broadcast into the black night at the gate post, where two pugilistic and musical cats are discussing the situation, you might save up your bottles, sell them to the rag man, keep your pennies and bye and bye = py the ge = @ house and lot, just People do who give u; est the missionary tracts. ee The Rag Men. The rag men are not employed by the Junk dealers, and rely on their profit for the difference between what they pay the People and what the junk men pay them. They usually deal entirely with one man, however, thus being known to him and get- ting better rates on their wares. In buy- ing of the people they make little distinc- tion in quality, as some may have learned to their sorro paying one-half cent a pound for rags of all sorts, five cents a hundred for cast tron, ten cents a hundred for wrought iron, and one-quarter cent @ pound for bones. After sorting, however, they sell to the junk men at a considerable profit. When they have sorted their cartful into the necessary classifications the various | articles are separately, pile by pile, dumped into a wheelbarrow, run on the scales of the junk man, and paid for accordingly. ; Many of the colored people of the city sort their rags and other articles themselves, and take their sortings directly to the deal- ers, in order to get the increase ordinarily going to the rag collector. They never get quite as much as the rag man, however, and it is safe to say that they often get pretty badly fooled. For junk men, al- though bland and smiling of countenance, have an eye to business, and will usually pay you in an inverse ratio, accordingly as he sizes up your readiness to be soaked. Affected by Hard Times. ‘The rag business has not escaped the uni- versal fate, and has been affected by the hard times like everything else in the en- tire category of professions and trades. ‘When questioned about it one of the guild became mournful and said, in tones reek- ing with woe: “Lord, bess, why they hain’t no bizness ‘tall now’days. Folks cain’t sell der regs; dey has to wear ‘em. I use ter make mos’ $15 a week, an’ didn’t coun’ Sataday no day unless I made $2.50, but now I thanks heaven if I makes $2. a week, I does. Why, yesterday I seed a man | sell a whole cart ioad of iron foh just seb- | enty cents, an’ ef he make moh en a nickel | on it, may de Lawd vishit me dis night | with a lightnin’ streak. Wust of it were | dat as soon as he gits his money he goes | "eross de street an’ gits two beers. So you see he is out five cents foh de day’s wuck. Lawdy, po, boss, deh hain't no bizness now. No, indeedy!”" ; The calling of a junk man may not ap- pear to be a very high one, but it takes a shrewd business sense, and there is really a good deal of money made out of it. Be- sides this, there are some large junk firms having branches in several of the big cities, the management of which takes a brainy man, and one who is paid accordingly. | Some of His Peculiaritie | ‘The rag man himself is a gentle soul, but | he is sometimes aggravating. He can never be found when wanted. You may hear him a dozen times a day when you have no use for him, but as soon as you have he will purposely avoid your alley for weeks. Then he will come suddenly when you are in the midst of some all-absorbing labor. You will drop everything and rush to the back alley at once only to find him, however, well on his way toward Georgetown. In Baltimore both white and colored men work in the rag business, while in Philadelphia the Italians monopolize the business, but in neither of these cities is the class of men so uniformly good as here, where they are said a rule to be among the most honest and industrious of their kind. Incidentally | another trial is that the rag man never quite sticks to schedule prices, and has a way of giving you about half rates by jump- ing things. If you don’t like it you have to lump it too. He may go to church four times on Sundays, but on week days he hai a family to support and is sometimes a: peculiar as the “heathen Chinee.” He will give you a ten-cent piece when he ought to give you a half dollar for your carefully hoarded pile, but somehow you never real- ize that he has cheated you until he is out of reach. That makes you feel amiable, and in the sheer goodness of your heart you poise a half brick in your hand and chiy- alrously hurl it at the innocent cat sleeping in your best Sunday-go-to-meeting flower | bed. You do not hit the animal, of course, but you feel more charitable toward the rag man. There is no use of kicking about the ways of the rag man and the junk shop, though, for they are as immovable as Gibraltar or an avenue car when the cable gets weary and stops to rest. They will do just as they please, your entreaties notwithstanding, and though mea may come and men may go, the rag man and his cart, as the poet should have said, but died before he had time, will go on forever. — —— A STORY ABOUT SCREENS. How a Pretty One Cam Be Made With- out Much Cost. In this day of steep house rents every- thing that suggests economy in space is acceptabie. In the little six by ten rooms of cramped apartment houses everything stands out in bold, bare relief because there are so few closetss or “tuck holes” in which to hide things away. In such apartments screens hold a promi- nent place. But screens cost money. Pretty ones generally cost a great deal and most women would rather go without the screen than possess an inartistic one. One that was made recently by an ingenious woman is both pretty and useful, with the crowning merit of being cheap as well. This woman had a common pine clothes horse of three tions that was five feet high. It was a superfluous piece of furni- ture, for she has no laundering done at home. It would not bring a quarter if sent to the auction room, and steam heat pre- cluded the possibility of using it for kind- ling wood. Her little six-year-old daughter gave her an idea how to utilize it. This young person placed it around an unoce pied corner of the room, and with a long double blanket shaw! thrown over it called it her play house. One day when the shawl tefused to hang to suit her, she got a bump- ed nose in consequence of standing on the edge of a rocking chair to adjust it. Her mother came to her assistance, and, while soothing the child and pinning the shawl around the frame, she evolved the idea of the screen. She got some sandpaper and rubbed the wood to an almost satin smoothness, then treated it to two coats of black enamel paint. Then she got enough dark brown drilling to tack smoothly to each section of the screen, on what was to be the inside, tacking through the drilling to each round of the frame. For the outside she purchased some red silkaline with yellow roses on it. This she gathered at the top and bottom, making a ruffle finish, and put it quite full on each section of the screen. Over the hinges she fastened big bows of silkaline. On the drilling side she tacked to the bars innumerable pockets, made of brown denim, seme of them large, some of them small. They were designed to hoid patterns, rolls of old linen, dust broom and pan, darning cotton and worn hose, paper bag, and—oh, well, it would be hard to tell what all those —- did hold. On the lower bar was a jong, not very deep pocket, for slippers and | rubbers. The upper part of one section had one big denim case, in which were pockets for brush, combs, hand glass, shoe brush | and clothes broom. This lady says the screen is the handiest piece of furniture in the house. It will almost shut up on itself. despite all Its filled pockets, and can be set aside out of the way. or it cen be thrown around a littered table If a friend drops in. It will shut the sieeping baby and crib eway in a cozy corner from the light and dulls noise. Indeed, its uses are legion, yet it is artistic and it almost supplies the Place of a closet. a LENTEN FLOWERS AND DINNERS. Parple the Hue That ts Most Greatly in Demand. From the New York Times. As Lent approaches, the many pretty pur- ple flowers begin to show in the florists’ win- dows. All through the winter the deep-blue English violet has been in hich favor, but with the beginning of the penitential season other purplish-blue flowers press their claim for recognition. French Hlacs or hyacinchs, heliotrope in huge masses of bloom, mauve orehids, and still violets in boundless pro- fusion—these are already making their tem- pered display in the flower dealers’ shops, heralding the reign of sackcloth and ashes, At Lenten dinners the de ong are usu- | ally of blossoms of this hu m liking to be symmetrical even in moments of self. | abasement. A young worann found at work the other day on lace and linen her visitor what she called a “I A Maltese cross of lace was | ter, and at the four co similar crosses were inserted. TI er, it was explained, was to be used at a lunch: | eon planned for Lent, “bezause I can’t man- age it before, 1 ‘2 juously, I think this le satin, with purple shad s and violets, | will be an awfully fetching scheme.” PACIFIC NORSEMEN Sailors Who First Discovered the Hawaiian Islands. THE ANCESTORS CF THE POLYNESIANS They May Have Discovered South America. ————-— MANY CURIOUS LEGENDS + Written for The Evening Star. P ROF. ALEXANDER, the Hawaiian com- missioner now in Washington, has in his possession a lot of most interesting facts about the wonderful navigators who orig- imally colonized the Sandwich Islands. It seems that in the twelfth century, at the time when the Vi- Kings were perform- ing such nautical ex- ploits in the North Atlantic ocean, naviga- tors of another race were making even greater achievements on the other side of the world. These men, of Malayan stock, having started from southeastern Asia, were discovering and populating the archi- pelagoes of the South Pacific, which up to that time had been uninhabited. They were the ancestors of the Polynesians of today. They had invented the deep-keeled canoe, with sail and outrigger. The boat was sharp at both ends. Sometimes it was dug out of a single log; or, if there was not a big enough tree handy, planks were sewn together with braid of cocoanut fiber calied ‘innet.”” One of the most important features of the craft was the outrigger, by which it was enabled, though so long and narrow, to jtand up against the wind. When it blew hard the sailors would climb out upon this appendage to steady her, just as men man- euver for the same purpose on board of a moderu yacht. It is easily imagined how the race which originally populated the archipelagoes of Oceanica began the business of voyaging in a smail way, paddling about from one coral island to another at easy distances. As their skill in navigation increased, they. ventured further on the sea, and thus grou) after group was discovered and peopl each new island becoming a fresh starting point for exploration. ‘When people have improved their aj ir atus beyond their opportynities, they seek larger opportunities. These savages found themselves at length provided with means for making voyages of indefinite duration with safety. So the time arrived, in the twelfth century, when more than one Poly- nesian Columbus deliberately set forth in his frail canoe across thousands of miles of unknown and trackless sea in search of new lands. : At Home on the Water. These “Norsemen of the Pacific,” as Prof. Otis T. Mason calls them, did not fear the sea. Why should they? Being as much at home in the water as on land, if the boat upset they would right her, bail her out with cocoanut shells and get aboard again. They did not hesitate to attack the biggest man-eating shark in the fish's native ele- ment. Having learned to make flour from the taro root, they could carry in small compass provisions for a long voyage. The ocean upon which they thus fared forth is 11,000 miles wide. Compared with it the Atlantic is a mere pond. With only the sun, moon and stars to steer by, it is marvelous how these untutored navigators having once come upon such isolated bits of terra firma as Easter Island and. the Hawallan group should have been able to find their way home and make trips to and fro, as they did, carrying new colonists un each voyage out. Possibly they may have been guided orig- inally to the discovery of these and other lands by the flight of birds. The people who first landed upon the Hawaiian Is- lands came all the way from Tahiti—a voy- age to the north of more than 2,300 miles. Conceive what the subsequent passenger traffic between those islands and Tahiti must have been to furnish progenitors for the population of 400,000 souls which Capt. Cook found when he visited Hawail! Similarly, Easter Island, though but a block of lava thrown up from the depths of the sea and having an area of only thirty- two square miles, once had a population of 20,000. It is literally honeycombed with caves formed by bubbles of expanding gases during volcanic action, in which the in- habitants formerly dwelt. When they died, their bones were stored in the caverns, great numbers of which today are found crowded with innumerable skeletons. Gi- gantic stone images and other works of art left behind by this vanished people remain an enduring evidence of a wonderful semi- civilization. May Have Discovered America. By the time of Capt. Cook this adven- turous race had occupied every island in the Pacific that was capable of supporting life. New Zealand was discovered and populated by them. They actually made voyages to Madagascar, the present inhabi- tants of which, the Hovas, are their de- scendants. Many scientific men are of the opinion that they were the first discoverers of America—the ancestors of the ancient Peruvians and other tribes of South Ameri- ca, if not of the North American Indians. There are marked ethnic differences be- tween the ancient Peruvians and the Poly- nesians, but the general type is the same. A Saxon and an Irishman do not look much alike, but they are of the same race, never- theless. People coming from tropical is- jands and undertaking to exist on a deso- late coast, where there was no rain, would be apt to undergo considerable modification in the course of generations. The men of the archipelagoes of Oceanica belong to the same grand division of mankind as the North American Indians, being of a cop- pery color, with black eyes and straight and black hair. These originators of the commerce of the Pacific commonly employed for long vo; ages double canoes, which were built like modern catamarans. They sailed very swiftly, and each of the two boats served in the place of an outrigger tor the other. Such a craft would carry sixty or seventy people. The builders had every suitable material at hand for construction—big tim- ber, cocoa-fiber for twine, and gum for caulking. In fact, the islands of the South sea afe like so many gardens of Eden, fur- nishing their occupants with everything they want without much labor. A typical canoe of the sort described was painted black and rigged with a mast and @ triangular sail of braided pandanus leaf, which was placed with the apex downward. ‘When the wind was contrary or the weath- er very rough, the mast and sail were probably unshipped, folded up, and lashed to the cross-pieces which held the two canoes together. Progress would then de- pend on the paddle. There were seats for forty paddlemen, sitting two on a bench. Midships was a raised platform screened by mats, for the chief, his family and the officers. Among the last were a priest, an astronomer and navigator, a sailing-master and a trumpeter. It is very interesting to compare this description with that of a Viking ship. The period embracing the twelfth and thirteenth centuries was one of great un- rest and commotion throughout the island world of Polynesia. Some ferment was at work to stir up the energies and passions of wild and primitive men. It may have been the pressure of invading expeditions ar- riving from the west, or perhaps the out- break of mutual jealousies and harryings of contiguous and hostile tribes. The land must have been witness to a great conten- tion and violence—the ocean to many scenes of sudden departure and disastrous flight. Accepting the evidence of traditions of the period, it was a time of much pad- dling about and sailing to and fro in ca- noes—an era of long voyages between widely-separated groups of islands and of venturesome expeditions. It was at about this time that the Hervey Islands and New Zealand were colonized. The lapse of time in the history of those peoples is reckoned with reasonable cer- tainty by the traditions which have been | handed down to the present day, notably the unwritten genealogical records brought from the South Pacific and preserved in Ha- wail. Eventually it came about that commu- nication between Hawaif and the mother country ceased, and after a while Tahiti faded in the minds of the Hawatlians into a | sort of myth and a region of mystery and magic, full of marvels, inhabited by super- natural beings. A Pacific Marco Polo. One of the Hawailan traditions relates to an ancient navigator named Paumakua, who voyaged all the way to Tahiti and brought back with him two white men of priestly office, called Kaokae and Maliu, to- gether with a prophet named Malola. This last was a wizard, who had power over the winds, a function not altogether uncommon in those days, when the whole contents of Eolus’ cave could be kept in one small cal- abash along with a dead man’s bones. The description of these mysterious strangers as fair and tall, stout and ruddy, with sparkling eyes, is suggestive of Vikings of the Saxon type; but the priestly function does not seem to be in keeping with the character of the piratical Norsemen. The agriculture of the ancient Polynes- jans was mainly the growing of taro, the root of which was ground into flour and made into all sorts pt cakes and other nu-. tritigus dishes. en the crop was ripe the occasion was usually celebrated by a human sacrifice. Hence the story of the “fatal taro patch.” Everybody is familiar with the plant with huge, green, heart- shaped leaves, which is used for decorative purposes in rks and about fountains. “Elephant i ’ is a common name for it. That is the taro, imported from the South Pacific. Human sacrifices ;were very common among the Polynesians, some families be- ing devoted for generation after generation to furnishing such offerings. The priest: being regarded as embodying various d tles and hence termed “god-boxes,” could ignate anybody they disliked as a suit- victim. After being slain the latter was usually devoured. The practice of cannibalism was carried so far that pa- rents would even eat their own children. From this unhealthy appetite for “‘long- pig’’ the missionaries have done their best to wean the islanders of today. These people only use the bow and ar- row to kill rats with. They fought with clubs and spears. Clothing they made by beating out the inner bark of the mulberry tree. They invented a method of fish- farming, using for that purpaqse pools among the coral reefs, which were pre- pared by damming the inlets and scraping the bottoms smooth. Fishes caught in the sea—the hooks employed had no barbs and did not do injury by tearing the gille—were transferred to the ponds. Various imple- ments were made of polished stone and from the shell of the giant clam, which cuts like an ax. Like all other aborigines encountered in the march of civillaation the Polynesians have succumbed to the alcohol and dis- eases of the white man. The native Ha- walian population is today only one-tenth as numerous as when Capt. Cook sailed. Thanks to that great navigator most of the islands of Oceanica are over-run with pigs, his rule having been to leave a pair of them wherever he landed. No large mam- mals are native to those isolated islands, because they could not reach them. The Roet of All Existence. The savage Polynesians even now com- monly call the white people “sky-breakers.”” They think that the heavens shut down over the earth at the horizon and that the pale-faces must have: burst through the wall of sky from beyond in order to reach their islands. They believe that the world is a cocoanut shell of enormous dimensions, at the top of which is a single aperture communicating with the upper air, where human beings dwell. At the very bottom of the shell is a stem gradually tapering to a point, which represents the beginning of all things. This point is a spirit or demon without human form, whose name is ‘Root of All Existence.” By him the entire fabric of creation ts sustained. In the interior of the cocoanut shell, at its very bottom, lives a female demon. So narrow is the space into which she is crowd- ed that she is obliged to sit forever with knees and chin touching. Her name is “The Very Beginning,” and from her are sprung numerous spirits. They inhabit five different floors into which the great cocoa- nut is divided. From certain of these spir- its mankind is descended. The islanders, regarding themselves as the only real men and women, were formerly accustomed to Jook upon strangers as evil spirits in the gulse of humanity, whom they killed when they could, offering them as sacrifices. Hades, or the land of ghosts, ts supposed to be inside the mighty cocoanut shell, be- neath the surface of the earth, which is merely a thin crust over a vast hollow. Some of the islands, being of volcanic ori- gin, are honeycombed with caves and frightful chasms, down the deepest of which the corpses ot the dead are thrown, so that the survivors not unnaturally imagine the entrance to the nether world to be down one or more of these pits, Existence in this strange spirit land is pursued by the immortals very much as people living on earth. They are numerous and their ways are mostly far from engaging. Some tribes of them are cannibals, whose delight is to entrap and feed upon the souls of mortals. Others have only one eye apiece. To these natives of the South Pacific the cocoanut ts a vegetable product of the ut- most importance. Its origin was divine There was a young woman, daughter of goddess, hg pred ina oor ran a stream that was filled One day while bathing she was ct pat by a huge eel, which rapidly form of a handso: me youth.” He informed ou! le info: her that he was the god of the eels. They became lovers, but finally he was compelled to bid her farewell. Before doing so, how- ever, he appeared in his eel shape and ai. rected her to cut off his head and bury it. She did so, and it sprouted into a tree. From this tree all the cocoanuts in the world were derived, and on each nut are invariably found the two eyes and mouth of the young man. The. white kernel is ae referred to in Polynesia as his _—e No Sti rd Yardstick. From the New York Herald. From time immemorial it has been the custom of nations, municipalities or trades- men’s guilds to keep sacredly guarded, after the adoption of units of length, weight or volume, actual standards of the same, to be used in comparison and for the settlement of disputes. Following this idea, when the beautiful old city ball was erected the municipality ordered cut in the stonework of the cor- ridor leading to the mayor's office stand- ards of length then in use in the city. These are inscribed “federal standard,” “English standard” and “Amsterdam standard.” Oddly enough, at the time no federal standard had been adopter, and so the words remain only to this day to mark @ blank space. The two others are specified in full. As a@ matter of fact, it is extremely de- batable if the United States kas even to this day an actual standard of length that can be relied upon. This particular state of affairs arises from the followiag fact: The yard, as it is termed, and as it is well known, is represented to be the length of the arm of King Henry I of England, taken by his express order in 1120, The original measure was kept at the exchequer in London for many centuries, At some time or other it sustained a frac- ture, and when examined by a royal com- mission in 1742 the following report of the standard was returned: “A kitchen poker filed at both ends would make as good a standard. It has been broken and then re- paired so clumsily that the joint is nearly as loose as a pair of tongs.” For the use of the British government an accurate copy of this arbitrary, clunsy, broken unit was prepared in 1760, and this copy, by act of parliament in 1524, was made the “legal and actual standard of length.” At the same time it was ordered that if destroyed it should be restored by a comparison with the length of the Heckctatt pe! that in a vacuum and at th level of the midtide under the latitude of London vibrates seconds of mean time. In 1835 the standard copy was destroyed by the great fire which demolished the par- lament house. Then attempts were made to find the true length of the yard by the means of the pendulum, as already ar- ranged. This method, however, proved ut- terly impracticable, and so the English gov- ernment was compelled to make use of such copies of the destroyed yard measure as they supposed were reliable. . ‘With a full knowledge of these facts Pos- sessed by the United States goverament it seems surprising that they should not only be unwise enough to adopt the absurd English standard, in defiance to the then existing and consistent French or metric system, but also that they should employ a special messenger to go abroad to secure a copy of the ridiculous measure from a: English instrument maker. This was done, however, for the use of the coast survey. Troughton of London agreed to furnish the standard and certified to its absolute cor- rectness, ————_+ e+ —___ A Wilde Notion, From Puck. First Paragrapher—What are you going to do with all those rejected dialogues? You must have several hundred. Second Paragrapher—Oh, I can utilize them! One of these days I'll just run them together, and make a society drama of MONEY OF 1834 Coins by Which People Oaricatured the Financial Pol Satire in Metal in Lieu of Cartoons— Money Used in Previous Hard Times. From the New York World. The “hard times "coins, or tokens, as they are called, of 1834 and the seven or eight following years, tell an interesting story of the great commercial crisis of that peziod, which is in some way paralleled by the present financial troubles. Gen. Andrew Jackson was the most hated man of those times, if these bits of metal reflected pop- ular feeling, and history says they did. They took the place of the political car- toons of the present day, a very crude me- dium through which bitter partisan spirit found vent. The Chief Executive of the na- tion was pictured as a jackass, again as @ balky mule, and there are sarcastic refer- ences to “my experiment,” “‘my currency” and “my glory,” and in other ways was subjected to ridicule. All these rude imitations of legal coinage passed current as money for years, originat- ing during President Jackson's relentless fight on the United States Bank, for which he was bitterly condemned by probably a majority of the people. This bank was chartered in 1516, and was to run twenty years. It encountered no opposition until Gen. Jackson became President, in 1829. In January, 1882, a petition for a new char- ter was presented to Congress, which was granted, but was vetoed by the President. Against the administration were arrayed the great capitalists, the leading business men and the smaller bankers. The personal Popularity of Jackson carried the day and won him the victory in the campaign of 1832. When it came to a vote, many who were bitterly hostile to the old hero's policy regarding the bank ranged themselves on his side. Jackson's latest attack on the bank was made a year later, when he ordered the re- moval of the government deposits, and this was done. The deposits were placed in state banks throughout the country. It was during the exciting period of financial dis- tress which followed that these tokens were issued. A hog running at full speed ornaments one satirical piece. The inscription on the same side reads: “Perish credit, perish commerce, 1830. My victory, my third heat. Down with the bank.” On the reverse side is a small bi of Gen. Jackson, and the, words, “My substitute for the U. 8. Bank. My ex- periment. My currency, my glory. “My third heat” refers to the President's third message to Congress relating to the bank, and by placing the words on the hog his whig enemies doubtless wanted to show his obstinacy and pigheadedness: A full-length figure of the hero of New Orleans and balky mule are the which balance each other on another token. On the obverse is a mule balking inscribed “L.L. D.” and the words “The Constitu- | as I understand it. Roman firmness, On the back is a rude figure of Jackson holding in his left hand a large and plethor- ic purse, which he defends with a sword in his right. Surrounding this. device are the words: “A plain system void of pomp.” The letters on the mule refer to the conferred on Jackson by Harvard Univer- sity in 1833. The motto, “The Constitution as I understand it,” is taken from Jack- son’s second inaugural address. Another token pictures Jackson sitting in a treasure-chest with the same money-bag and sword in his hands. On the reverse side a jackass takes the place of the mule on the other piece, perhaps showing the de. gree of asininity which “Old Hickory” was assuming in the eyes of his antagon- ists. The friends of Jackson also issued tokens in retaliation. One bears on the obverse a profile of the general, and on the back is the legend, “The bank must perish,” and the famous quotation from Jackson's nulli- fication proclamation, “The Union must and shall be preserved!’ A ccpper token, struck in 1837, during Van Buren’s administration, has on its obverse a tortoise bearing the subtreasury safe, indicating the slow progress of the subtreasury scheme which Jackson had ad- vocated, and which was strongly indorsed by Van Buren. The inscription is: “Execu- tive experiment, subtreasury (on the safe), fiscal agent, 1837." On the back is a gal- loping jackass and the sentence, “I follow in the footsteps of my illustrious prede- cessor.” The rapid strides of the are supposed to show the swift growth of the new President in popular favor. ‘There was another series of tokens be- longing to this period of national distress— the store cards or business advertisements. Tradesmen announced themselves as anti- bank hatters and hard-money bakers, and in various ways indicated their political preferences and feelings, though they were not always of a political character. The tokens circulated as money, to some ex- tent, and were usually designed to enrich the issuer’s pocket. ————+e+—____ “Getting on His Feet.” From Life. NOT MIRACLES, BUT FACTS. A Mecca of Health, Toward Which In- valids Are Journeying From All Sections. i F H i | : : of ag 38 g i EeRege i [é i! y i z i pict bitte Fagal | 5 i i EE E i i i : : FE E & Re i bee ere HH E Pa La ? aE g ; i g F é E i t FE i 2 7 RE i il if pie a8 rE Hi SHE | | f : i 16c. Aprons A “‘drunmer,” representing a large ( apron mancfacturer, offered Fg eg ee ‘concession on it up,” and Dest value in fis iu is Hs ae | i i ; $ wk g ' t i Carhart & Leidy, 928 7th St.& 706 K St. be RAILROADS. PENNSYLVANIA Yo or 11:05 aw SpEXSeyE VE SEA ee Drawirg and State ning. Smoke and 8 ie i j eye’ ef FE ee E £, ?, ef 5 E 5 se rs e 5 rer iv i New’ York to Atlanta, Fog? ant Sea oe for “Birmingham, 386 pm. ‘Charlottesville Ele gs og os ween roe po Tuns over the NEW SHOMT LINE a Augusta, Sa Jacksonville Poases Steeper Nae 4ecken Atlanta and ts ‘New va Salisbury. and “"Weckunte Birminghaiu. Dining “Gar STAINS ox WASHINGTON aXND ity, "or Round Hie ast ‘trains from the bec re eon $540 a.m. daily frou: Chariottesthie’ i HA pa. For 10:00 a.m., 4 a fawet! om. 1:15 ¥ SSF EDMONSTON, 1334 F St. N.W. ag PES PALS —— ATTEND CLEARING SALE aT THE WARREN SHOE HOUSE, GEO. W. RICH, fel 919 F STREET X. W. The Beau Ideal of Furniture — ONSTRUCTION as regards utility —<— and beauty, so say the counolsseurs, —- ‘i@ found in the quaint old style antique. The furniture of colonial exhibit of this are ly a times. We have a handsome glass of furniture, which invited to knees. Specialty of: moderate kind. F. WARTH ER, 725 13th St. DANGER! use poisonous re of bunious, corns, ingrowing and club and run the risk of baving your pe gram when we can give permanent relict without pain. Our sectors ‘by the most emi- fhe ond over. ec ROR 35: GhONGES 2 8de™ Foot Speciatiste, Parlors, 1115 Pa. ave. nw. Seépm Ptolpum 6 and tickets at company's f- Pesnerivarie a mond. ficen, S13 and 1330" W. FULLER, n20 Passenger Agent. POTOMAC RIVER BOATS. ee WASHINGTON STEAMBOAT ©O.. “LIMITED.” From 7th st. Steamer, Wakefield on MOND. DAYS and SATU: tse 4 THURSDAYS ‘and SC: NDATS, ‘ee a30-t¢ Gen’ NORFOLK AND WASHINGTON STEAMBOAT 09, DAILY LINE BETWEEN 2. Do Ni FORTRESS MONROE va. ‘The new and powerful Iron Palace Steamers. WASHINGTON AND NORFOLK -SOUTH Leave Washington daily at 7 Teh st. wharf. arrive at Fortress pm, from | aim. nest day. Arrive at Norful at 7:30, j railroad counections are south and southwest. sovtay Sat 2S _— ve iy at | suearos_ at T:lo bm.” Arrive. at Wastinnton at * on sale Ai 518, 619, 1851 apd 1421 Peam evivania ave. and 615 15th aw, Ask for — via new line. _ - 7NO. CALLAHAN, aplétt ‘Gen. Supt. ——————————— HOTELS . WILLAkD's HOTEL, Pa. ave. and 14th st, Washingtea, D. @& EBBITT HOUSE,