Evening Star Newspaper, February 24, 1894, Page 14

r. 14 THE EVENING STAR, SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 24, 1894—-TWENTY P AG AG E8, WOOING AND WINNING How the Question Has Been Popped | in Different Ages. + —— LOVEMAKING IN MANY LANDS) Love-Sick Swains No Longer Fall Upon Their Knees. CUPID VERSUS MAMMON L OVE-MAKING IS A popular pastime and the gentle art of “popping the ques- tion” is still as as- siduously cultivated as it has ever been since the sons of God looked upon the daughters of men and found them fair. Ev- ery one has either dabbled in it in the past or hopes to do so in the future. Deep @own in the breast of the most hardened Bachelor and the most cat-addicted spinster there lurks a penchant for this pursuit. “L’homme propose, la femme dispose,” is a text that will continue to serve the poet, painter and novelist as a text for all time. | ‘The art is easy enough to learn. A couple | ef young people have only to lay their heads together and the thing's done. Browning eaye “Love-making, how simple a matter! No depths to explore, No heights in life to ascend—no disheart- ening before— No affrighting hereafter. Love will be love evermore.” To this a sufferer replies: Love making, how awiul a matter! We've been there before; Whe father determined we shouldn’t—the mother watching the door; Will even the girl was affrighted and wrote us to see her no more.” In savage communities courtship took a Physical form and was simply capture by brute force. Of this we find survivals 4m the marriage ceremonies today in the “best man” and the assault and battery with rice and satin shoe. Women have been stolen wherever exogamy has pre- Watled. “Lo! how woman once was wooed, Forth leapt the savage from his lair; ‘He felled her, and to ruptials rude He dragged her, bleeding, by the hair, From that to Chioe’s dainty wiles, And Portia’s dignified consent, What distance?” ‘The Hudson’s bay Indian finds wrestling fo be the most successful way of wooing. A native of Sydney knocks a woman on the head and drags her by one arm through the woods to her future home. How far the rape of the Sabines was dis- graced by any such ferocity history does Rot state, but we know that in the days ‘when there was no king in Israel and every man did what was right in his own eyes, the rape of the 400 young virgins of Jabesh Gilead was accomplished with considerable slaughter of their male relatives by the children of Benjamin. The first to set the example of this high- ‘handed way of making love was Pluto, the god of hades, who abducted Prosperine as she was gathering flowers “on that fair field of Enna.” This was done with the ecnnivance of the other gods; in fact, Mer- eury had a hand in this, as in most of the other celestial scandals. Jupiter followed Pluto's exampie in his amour with Europa, transforming himself into a bull to carry her off. The barbarity of this early method of wooing gave way to bargain and sale, as in Sumatra today, or to services ren- dered, as among the hill tribes of Nepaul. These last seem to have modeled their love-making on the pattern of the Hebrew patriarch Jacob, in the case of the daugh- ters of Laban. In Europe at the present day, among the upper classes, a bargain and saie—the marriage de convenance—is equally common in fact. 's Wild Wooing. At the present day most savage tribes gllow their women some choice in the mat- ter. On Central Asian steppes the Kirghiz | bride mounts her horse and gallops off pur- sued by her lovers, all but one of whom she whips off. Among the Koraks she plays at hide and seek, through the numerous com- Fartments of a tent, finaily allowing herself to be caught by the favored one. In one part of China the marriageable youths and maidens assemble in the prefect’s court and sit opposite to each other in two es, crossing over to select their partners | @s the spirit moves them. Should there be @ run on any specially desirable belle the Jaw steps in and settles matters. In an- other province of the celestial empire they play at ball, during the ‘leaping months,” with balls attached to colored strings, and the tying of these strings together consti- tutes a proposal. In a third region of China @he maiden climbs a tree and the lover ¢limbs up after her and fetches her down. Among the ancients, as with some eastern Bations at the present day, courtships and Proposais were always made through a third party. The Egyptians, Greeks and | Romans, like the Hindoos and Chi of today, wooed their brides by means cf a Professional matchmaker. Women were ‘well suppressed in those days, and the icea of a lover suing humbly for his mistress’ favor was incompatible with man’s notion of the superiority of his sex. Marriages of affection were almost unknown. The ancients only fell in love with courtesans or slaves or captives. Among the tans, indeed, there were exceptions. 1 gus instituted public drillings of the youth | of both sexes, which led to natural selec- tion and love affairs of a very modern type. Roman D' Alexandre. With the advent ef chivalry, bringing ro- Mance and sentiment in its train, and founded on the outward worship of wo- Man, lovemaking ame a fine art, in bei which the poet and both had F of the s-errant and tre fours of that age would have 1 the gallantry of Don Quixote h t was a smail thing to wand ining the supe mst all horribly the qu there v ishments of period having} fanded back to by the fashionable » Who, when courted by another spark | with a purse of formidable dimensions, is evidently on the point of consenting to his suit in spite of her “reluctant sweet de- he fable of Jupiter and Danae has been a favorite subject of the great painters. Titien, Van Dyke and most of the old masters have illustrated it with their brush. Cupid’s occupation is gone. In one picture he ruefuliy examines this gold coin, which is more powerful than all his arts; in another, he and a brother Capid are test- ing the relative hardness of a gold coin and the point of a finely tempered arrow on a stone; on a third, he has accepted the situa- tion, east away his useless arrows and is filling his quiver with the shower of gold. Fourt Probably no two began ever made love in exactly way. Barkis insinuated. Vivien | Merlin. Alexander made a bontire for Thais. | Bassanio soft-soldered Portia with a leaden casket. The garrulous female in the Ara- bian Nights romanced herself into her lord's favor. Hipomenes ha’ At lanta. In Polynesia they win r hearts b; bd. Henry I and Bluebeard were off with the he new. Newton pok pipe with his swee token of his affection. mostly with the harp. B to Mary and locked her Cobbett’s wife caught h with which st lotte’s deftness at t r fetched Werther. Nic of Ry 1 to propose at the dinner table, but not want- ing to be caught at it, he embedded a ring in a lump of a it to he Charlemagne’ s snowstorm flirtin daughter at mid home on her back, so should not be traced. The emperor heard it and saddled her with him for the rest of her life. Napoleon the Third’s fascination by Mademoiselle de Montejo, now the c Empress Eugenie, dated from the time the spritely beauty gave him a sharp hors William the emperor's he carried him whipping. Conqueror was a more original lover than that, and reversed matters. He fell deeply in love with Matil- da of Boulogne, w ciprocate his _ pas: nothing would ever make her change he mind. William therefore waited upon hi beloved Matilda, as she was leaving chpel one Sunday, thrashed her with a riding: whip, rolled her in the mud and th her to understand that the treatment would be renewed periodically until she th fit to change her mind. Matilda, fearing that William would be as his word, wrote to him before th chastisement fell due that a marriaze with him would “please her wel nd the nup- tials were celebrated accord “ Old English From the time when the King of Leinster carried off Deroogle, abduction became fashionable in Ireland. In 1634 a law was made to punish all such a& carried away “maydens that be inheritous," but as the evil of running away with’ heigesses in- creased, it was made a capital crime in This law was imperative from the be- lief that the offender was not liable if the woman abducted him, so the girl generally mounted first and pulled:the man up behind her. She then galloped off with her lover, stopping at the first chutch to get married. Frequently, when the young lady was car- ried off really against her consent, by the time the dashing ride was over she was completely reconciled to her abductor, so that prosecutions were fewer than the of- fenses. A memorable case was that of the Edgeworth family. The son fell in love with an heiress, but feared to abduct her, as the penalty was death and the parents were obdurate, so the spirited girl procured the fleetest steed she could find, seized the young fellow, dragged him up behind her on the horse and galloped off with him to the priest. The abducted youth kicked and screamed and made such a show of resist- ance that there were plenty of witnesses to testify to the fact of his forcible abduction. There are many methods of proposing, though all roads lead to the altar. The Propesal by letter, thovgh less romantic than that by word of mouth,has the advan- tage of lucidity, and there can be no mis- taking the writer's meaning. Such letters, Eroduced with much pains and many mis- givirgs, may have varied fates. A short and unenviable publicity in a breach of promise case, or a life-long preservation in lavender. George Whitefield, the great preacher, wrote to the parents of the girl he preferred: “This letter comes like Abra- ham’s servant to the relations of Rebecca to know whether your daughter be a fit and proper person for myself. Do not be afraid of sending me a refusal, for, I bless God, if I know anything of my own heart, I am free from that foolish passion which the world calls love.” The girl herself he wooed by asking her if she could trust in Him who feeds the ravens, and whether, having a husband, she could be in all respects as though she had none. Strange to say, he Was accepted, but Southey says his mar- riage was not a happy one, and his wife's death set his mind much at liberty. His text for her funeral sermon, which he preached with exemplary promptitude four days after her death, was: “For the crea- ture was made subject to vanity.” The proposal on bended knees, though it still lingers in the novel, went out with wigs and knee breeches. It had its advan- tages. It was at least fervid, and even now in a broad farce, shorn of the mere- tricious aids of silk stockings and diamond shoe buckles, never fails to rivet the atten- tion and to bring down an irreverént house. ‘The best laid schemes oft go astray, and the lover is frequently hurried into a decla- ration as effectual as a carefully prepared oration, for love, like murder, wiil out. — see ; The Prayer Meeting Broken Up. From the Biddeford Journal. ‘The atmosphere of the vestry was char- acteristically frigid, and the few worship- ers stopped around the stove as they came in. Among them was one man, now de- ceased, a well-known character in his day, who came from the north of Ireland, and 2d a rich brogue and sonorous voice. He was very deaf, and when he spoke it was in a tone to correspond with his defective hearing. He sat face to the stove, and did not hear that the service had commenced, apparently meditating upon the severity of the weather while one of his brethren was offering prayer in a weak, piping voice. One other sat beside him at the stove, and to him he suddenly remarked, with all the volume of his voice and his rich brogue: ie. all be clad when it comes time tor strawberry festivals, shan’t you?" His ob- ation drowned the pi porarily broke up the meeting, as the most devout worshiper could but laugh at the mistake, the relation of which comes so timely, this week of ungentle February, "04. yer and tem- ——+eo—_- The Euphemistic Quaker. From the Philadelphia Record. An Arch street Quaker, with a kindly feeling for everything of a creeping nature and a dislike for everything like profanity, asks for “tortur: instead of “dev- illed”” crabs when that delicacy appears on the bili of fare at his home. He has no hes- itation in killing the helpless crustaceans in scalding water and help t small pieces to satisf: the word devil is too much for him. Even his best friends laugh at his pecu- tiarity. ar them into oe Completely Done Up. Got a cold? Take Dr. Bull's Cough Syrup. a his appetite, but to | Pica forms made th the most fs jof all the Indian tribes in this countr As Maj. Powell remarks in the prefato hote, this dic ther with ‘SOME VALUABLE OFFICIAL PHILOLOGY |ITS CIVILIZING | Was edited for publica IN STRANGE WORDS rae The Revised Dictionary of the Da- |< kota Language. CAEL Ds es Se How a Barbarous Tongue Has In- creased in Fifty Years. eee VALUE - arly devotion to the task of reducing the Dakota language to printed form, as an in- cident of missionary labor and a means to greater ultimate succe: his chosen work, Won for him the highest honors among the leading scholars of the age. In Dr, James *. Pilling’s Bibliography of the Siouan Lan- guages there appear credited to Dr. Riggs forty-three separate works in the Dakota language, either illustrative of the lan- guage, character, habits of the Sioux, or in- iended as means for their enlightenment und civilization, He translated nearly all the Bible into Dakota, some parts from the criginal Hebrew, some from the Greek, some from the French. There should be added to Dr. Pilling’s bibliography of Dr. Riggs’ work in the Dakota over nfty vol- umes of school books, singing books, and similar works used in the indian schools. Battling With Dilficatties, When he entered the work among the Sioux in 1837 his predecessors, Dr. William- json, Revs. S. W. and G. H. Pond and Rev. J. D. Stevens, had collected a vocabulary of about 00) words. To this im manuscript HE MOST ENTEN- philological work ever brousat out the published of the rR Dr It is a qu pages, pri with manuscriy an om by ier of ethnclogy 1 value, at t ze the a war Dorsey of the } eau num? materials publishe’, by the author, will p oa record mo any other fami The of the (Dah-k Was that which iI the aciscan, made Lis, 5 word of that little ra the Fr a tray nod while in a Sioux camp ru a short dis: from the Tn this way he tear an-ka, to run. When once i ha language . to be mest whose historic litte of the Mississippi at Si. Paw avelers now and then visit, in| S printed a short vocabulary of Siow words, After him Alexanuer iienry in his journal of a journey jan the northwest to the Paciiic in 17 Capt list of 300 Assinabo: Siouan in derivation. Voe: made by Henry of sev |a great advantage in the work. The mis- | sionaries in the bitterly cold winter months day after day at Renville’s lects, which, in manuscript male 1 of his friends, are preserved ia the of parliament at Ottawa, Canada. ‘They were manifestly intended % use by fur traders and by the government in taking treaties with the Indians, Oificers of the United States army stationed at t 4i- ing made from time to time extensive vo- cabularies, embracing several hundred words, chiefly nouns in commen use as names of things. All these aiien sata written language for the Dakotas were without a knowledge of the principles of the language and even without the simples acquaintance with the rudimentary svunds used or their representat: Sulted to Simple Line: Probably no language has grown more in so short a time than that of the Sioux. Knowledge of words, it has been said, can- not be more extensive than our knowledge of things. The Indians in their simpie,savage life had a most primitive language, which existed only in sound and without repre- sentation in written characters. It was fifty years ago complete so far as their mode of living at that time demanded. Yet they were a people who had no idea of a government, of a king, of science, medi- cine, law or similar things. They had few notions of abstract ideas. Our words for time, space or color were wanting in their tongue. The aboriginal character of the Sioux language may be shown by their rude expressions tur domestic animals. They caiied a sheep, litule deer; a horse, a great dog; a cat, a dog wild-cat. In many respects it was a most picturesque tongue. Names of places were generally descriptive, either of some physical or historical ci: cumstance. They had no family names and all proper names were descriptive. Instead of calling a boy Jones or Smith, because a thousand years ago his early ancestors were very strong and good men or skillful workers in fron, they gave him a distinc- tive name that always meant something. If a bluebird flitted by at the time of his birth, he became Bluebird. Thus originated such names as Rain-in-the-face, Sitting Bull, Iron Elk, Little Crow, Good-Roaa, Long-Buffalo, Beautiful-Bird, Burnt-Legs, Bit-Nose, Standing Soldier and similar ap- pellations. The Dakota is a difficult language to learn. Its spoken forms are full of ciicks and gutturais and nasals. Its declensions are fuil of compiexities. The verbs are pe- culiarly difficult. They are as formless as our own English verb, yet are far more flexible and expressive—capable of finer shades of meaning in describing modes of action in great varigty. The pronouns and prepositions occur in all parts of a sen- tence, often in the middie of the verb. Something of the peculiar idiom of the Dakota may be gleaned from literal trans- jJations of the titles of familiar books that have been translated into the language. or instance, the title of Joseph Renville’s first work is: “Extracts from Genesis and the Psalms, with the Third Chapter of Proverbs and the Third Chapter of Daniel, in the Dakota Language. Translated from the French Bible by Joseph Renville. Com- pared with other translations by Thomas 5S. Williamson, M. D. Printed by the Ameri- can Board,” etc. The literal translation of this, as it appears in Dakota, is: “Begin- ning at the Mysterious-One-Great what all he made the or Genesis they-call-it and song mysterious or Psalm they-call-it,some- thing-written mysterious Frenchman his that-from Rice-child (Williamson) talked- white these he-told and Grass Indian-man (Doctor Williamson) he-wrote-it the that- is-it. Iron with (printed) they made it, ete. Curious Forms cf Expression. The title of the Gospel of Mark in Da- kota is: “Wotanin waxte Markus owakin dee..Maza on Kagapi, Cincinnati, Ohio. Ixta wayazan wi omaka, 189." The trans- lation of this is Good Mark write the this-is-it. Metal with they make-it. Cincinrati, Ohio. Eyes-sore moon (March) year 1839." The Dakota title of the Acts of the Apostles Nterally rendered in English is: “Jesus going-from-place-to-place he- caused-them the they-acted in-the past and Paul Something-written he-made-it in- the-past; also John he-related-it tn-the- past, these those-are-they. His-country (the Indians called Dr. Riggs “His Coun: try”) he-made-it-after-a-copy (translated.) The following imprint, “Printed by Crock- er & Brewster, Boston,” appears in Dakota like th an two one Crocker they-call | and other Rrewster they-eall, those metal | with they-make; town one Boston they-call that at.” Thus it was that great difficulty was ex- perienced in reducing the tongue to gram- The white men who, as fur he Sioux and took to traders, went among themselves Dakota wives were, as a rule, uneduea: and their use of the language never to be depended upon, They spoke a vile jargon, essentialiy worse than the unadulterated Dakota. In a measure, the vocabularies collected by travelers and army officers were open to the same crit cism. Added to these obstacles to a sys- tematic reduction of the Dakota to gram- 1 form and the printed page was the of many dialects. The Dakota, n by the various bands, is the same language, yet there are three dialects now regarded as well defined: The Santee, Yank- ton and Teton. In the latter, which is the language of the “Prairie Village” Sioux, the letter L fs common. Its sound {s not| heard among the other oux. The N of one dialect becomes H or K or J in others. Yet the same books are now used by all nd their language is, evidentiy, The author of the ly hi a centu Going among them in 1837, afte receiving a collegiate education, his schol- -| Mad wrikcea Gue - | Pine em, cave on | dg | would meet | learned to read while in prison. they recerred constantly in iheir study of the langua: Entering into their lavors | Dr, iigss pruceesed to master the names of Ulises alu Lue humerous verss wa.ca he | eucounteved tne aM mis Uday InLercsurse W indians. in Uns Way a4 one year ae a wubecdye 1ul'l ald VarwUs Syueayins over WW Woes. duis Freak Success Weuches Lue uri Uf expeGauens a We Nussiunacy ues, anu! abut me Dately opuc of SU wecuie. tse ole-eyea “ b Mower Winte corarent 4 rel ereacn, ne Komush Chui aA BOUL eeNlecn years Renville returned to tae Olas and beeume a trate: Wt that he high- the & | in tne shows fin br. Puung the Sioux fifty ost unlimited power ame an iron-handed aster of those about him. He was th friend of N tand Fremont. To him is |due the credit of first raising grain and }eorn in Minnesota. And to this striking land heroie character the missionaries | turned for help in their work, and received | it without stint or reproach. Renville’s | knowledze of the French was undoubtedly house and work on the translation of the | Bible, in the course of which the coliection of new words steadily progressed. On one! side would sit Dr. Williamson reading, verse by verse, from a French Rible, which Ren- | ville would readily translate into Dakota, jand Dr. Riggs would write down, read over and correct. The ease with which Renville converted the French sentence into Dakota testifies to his re ‘kable linguistic ability; for two languages more unlike in idiom and sub- stance could hardly be brought together. His skill in conveying ideas with proper, nice and discriminating shades of meaning from either French or English Into the Da- kota was famous among army officers, and it was conceded that he had no equal. A Valuable Bible Lost. The Bible used in the early work in trans- lating was a large folio copy, which Ren- ville sent to Paris for. It was printed in 1588 at Geneva, Switzerland, and had a Latin preface by John Calvin. It was, doubt- less, the first Bible in Minnesota. In the burning of Mr. Riggs’ home, in 18M, it was destroyed. He had obtained it after the death of Renville, intending to place ft in the Minnesota Historical Society's rooms at St. Paul. Renville had two Indian wives, to the first of whom he was married at Prairie du Chien by a Catholic priest. Thus the story of the Dakota dictionary runs. In the course of twelve years there were added many thousands of words. The manuscript had been interleaved again and again. Over 10,000 had been collected in 1851, when the subject of printing was first talked over. Several prominent members of the Minne- sota legislature, interested in the State Historical Society, at first took up the mat- ter. Alexander Ramsey, then governor; Rev. E. D. Neill, well known in Washington as one of Andrew Johnson's secretaries; Gen. Sibley, Senator Henry M. Rice and Martin McLeod started a subscription and sent out a circular inviting all who were interested to contribute. The American board made a generous allowance toward the proposed book. At this point a friend of Dr. Riggs happened casually to mention the manu- script to the late Prof. Joseph Henry, who said it might, if acceptable, be published by the Smithsonian Institution as one of its contributions to knowledge. The manuscript was sent by Prof. Henry to Prof. C. C. Felton of Harvard, who approved it in the highest terms. The Smithsonian then undertook its publi- cation. That was in 1852. The book was a quarto of 338 pages. The edition was soon exhausted. Copies have been sold all over the world by Trubner, by Quaritch, by Le Clere. All sorts of prices have been paid. Some years ago Prof. Trumbull, the famous collector of aboriginal literature, wrote to Dr. Riggs to see if he could get’a copy of the Sioux dictionary for him. The doctor knew of but one copy that might be had. That belonged to his daughter. Trumbull had offered $35 for it, so the doctor offered | that for his daughter's copy. Born and reared among the Sioux and herself speak- ing the language of her childhood as per- fectly as her little Indian playmates, the daughter refused to part with the book. A few years afterward, when the manuscript was being prepared for the revised edition, it became absolutely necessary to procure | one of the old dictionaries to cut up for copy. Dr. Riggs wrote to his daughter, in- | closing a draft for $50. “Let me make you a present,” he wrote; “and, like an Indian, ask you for one. I want your dictionary,” He received it at once, and it yielded up its spirit for the sake of the newer book. The Sioux as Leaders, The importance of this revised diction- ary, which contains upward of 20,000 words, can be appreciated best by the officials of the geological survey or of the Indian bu- reau, who know what the Sioux are doing for themselves in the way of education. Of the 70,000 Sioux but a small proportion are as backward as those who entered into | the ghost dance craze three years ago. The | Yanktonians, Sisseton and Wahp2ton ere! as industrious and progressive as the major- | ity of their white neyhbors. They have a | i | paper published in their own language, the Japi Oaye, which has a circulation of ‘sev- eral thousand among them and for which they pay thelr annual subscription like | other folks. Thousands of Sioux read and) write and where they show any interest, in learning make quick and ready scholars. | When the Sioux that engaged in the cut- break of 1862 were shut up and pat on trial hundreds of them learned to read and write while in prison, in order to send word home to their wives and childres It will be remembered that 380 were con- demned to be hung. and nearly all of thee | By Prest- | dent Lincoln's clemency buat thiriy-ine | were executed. Almost without exception | those who were spared have lived honor- able, progressive and use since. | With the settlement of the lands about | them, the allotment in severalty of their | reservations and the strife and compett- tion of life under Anglo-Saxon Institutions, the Sioux are surely yielding to the forces | of civilization. And among these this re- | vised edition of their language, in the! hands of white teachers and the native | Dakota scholars, may be counted as a pow- erful and abiding factor for good. Anti-Tobacco, From Life. Folger—“Who planned Morgan’s house?’ Mason—"His wife. You can’t come from the smoking room Into the rest of the house without going in the open air and passing | | through the conservatory S DISEASES 's Acid Phosphate. Dr. Tr, A. TS, Waterville, 3 “Have found it of great beneft in’ ner eases—nervens headache, nervour dyspepsia, neu- ralcin, and think it is giving gr. estisfaction when it Is thoroughly tried."* | Confederate | written ‘been conducted on a great scale, NAVAL RECORDS What the Navy Did During the War of the Rebellion. AN INTERESTING PUBLICATION —___.—____ The Charm of Fiction and Value of Accuracy. —_——_.—_—_ OPERATIONS OF os Written for The Evening Star. HAT PROMISES TO the rost of all the publications ever is- sued by the United States government for public distribu- tion is that scon to be begun by the Navy Departmeat, to be known as the Naval itecoras uf the Rebellion, sup pie- “mental to the Ree- crds of the Union ara Armies, no Department. xr these naval records ss all the ion of the most engri 4 at the same Ume and be being com by the War To the are lik cha the pe ent Vi by the shadowing drama of the alities that mz The per’s sea tales and ine romances so un- ive gene their vi war. 4 tures, their master touch word pt 8 of life, nd action—will be dupiienced ix volumes, and with the trath and ic reelism of fact. beau ry of ships will pervade the the secret of the subtle tia the ocean angible, yet able to every se e Intelligence, will stantly suggested in it; and, Indeed, in some portions of it the reader wil! al- most be able to scent the smell of the brine, to hear the whir of the wind, and to feel the booming cone on of the in the stirring marine conflicts de- -d. The ct, too, that these ords n naval operations eth of the only first-ct: rar in modern tines the introduction of steam, of the only in which such operations hav wa: a of the only wer of any magnitude in which rams, monitors, torpedoes, ironclads and steam blockades have been employed and commerce-destroying steam cruisers used | with such telling effect, will serve to give them an all-important practical value for the American navy, and consequently for the pe and for the government itself, All that is known of noval wacfare today dates from the war of 1861, and the infor- mation contained in those records is reed- ful for building our ships, for training our officers and seamen, and for the efficient administration of our new navy. Materials for the first two volam: are now ready, and upon favorable action by | Congress the manuscript wiil at once be sent to the public printer. These volumes start out like the opening of an epic poem, “in medias res," with the free-handed oper- ations of the cruisers—the exploits of the Union flying squadron in the West Indies on the one side, and on the other of the English-bui!t confederate privateers, which preyed so disastrouslyeupon no-thern com- merce. The narratives here are mainly the reports and official journals written by the commanders of the vessels engaged, and include the autograph diaries of Capt. Semmes of the “Alabama'—whose con- queror, the gallant old “Kearsarge,” was wrecked on Roncador reef only a fortnight ago, of Capt. Mailitt of the “Florida” ard Capt. Waddell of the “Shenandoah,” con- federates, and of Admirals Wilkes and Lardner of the Union navy. Most of these | diaries have never yet seen the light, and will be published now for the first ‘time. They are pronounced to be surpassiagiy fine examples of literature in the way of run- ning history, and some of them, notably Capt. Semmes’ and Capt. Waddeil’s diaries, are of absorbing interest. So real and life- like are some of these narratives, so redo- lent of the very breath and essence of war and cruising, that the naval officers who edited them and the few others who have been Permitted to look at them declare they frequetttly sat up whole nights at a time reading them, altogether unconscious of the fleeting hours, so enthralled were they by the singular witchery of the stories. Following these in due order will come further volumes, dealing with the opera- tions on the Gulf of Mexico and Atlantic coast, the operations on the Potomac and Rappahannock rivers, those of the North and South Atlantic and gulf blockade squadrons and the operations on the west- ern rivers. In the accounts of the momen- tous duel between the Merrimac and the Monitor, of the capture of New Orieans, of the assault on Mobile and the storming of Fort Fisher, together with the glorious combat between the Alabama and the Kearsarge, the narratives rise to the top- most height of thrilling power. The young American reader, as well as the uld,wh>ther a citizen of the north or of the south, will, in spite of himself, feel his blood ‘fairly tingle with pride and enthusiasm as he persues here the glorious achievements of Farragut, of Porter, Dupont, Goldsborough, Mervine, McKean, Foote and Jouett, of the 1. S._N.," and likewise those of Buchan- nan, Semmes, Waddell, Barron, Brooke, Boee Hunter, Mitchell and Maffitt of the Although somewhat similar in character to the army records, the forthcoming naval records will not constitute nearly so large and formidable a work, and will be char- acterized by a degree of unity and coher- ence that the other cannot and does not have. The whole work will not extend to more than twenty volumes, all told, if that many, while the army records, when com- pleted, will comprehend at least 120 brobdig- nag volumes. Besides, the size of the volumes will be considerably less. It is proposed to limit the edition to 10,- 000 copies. According to the scheme of publication now contemplated, the. entire history will be comprised in three’ series, arranged in a unique fashion. The first se- ries will embrace all the naval operations during the war, narrated chronologically, whether on the open seas or in coast and inland waters of the United States, by ves- sels grouped in squadrons and fiotillas and vessels acting singly in different parts of | the world. The Union reports of every event will precede the confederate reports. The second series will go back and cover the condition of the Union navy in 1861 before the commencement of hostilities, its in- crease during the progress of struggle. the construction and outfit of the confederate navy, including privateers, and the annual and special reports thereon by the Unicn and confederate secretaries of the navy and subordinate chiefs of bureaus, together with a statistical compilation of data respecting the history, attributes and physical life of every vessel, Union and confederate, and in addition the returns of ali navel and militagy property captured on both sides and returns relating to naval prison- ers. The thin] and last series will gather up and include all orders, correspondence and returns of both Union and confcderate authorities not covered in the other two series. The preparation of the naval records ts being carried on under the direction of the Secretary of the Navy by the office of na- al war records,of which Lieut. Commander Richard Rush, U.S. N., is superintendent, assisted by Lfeut. Lucien Young, U. S. N., and Mr. R. H. Woods, a graduate of the Naval Academy. By | authority of Con- gress the collection and classification of aterial was begun eight years ago, and 2 vast amount of valuable matter has been secured under the superintendencies of Mr. James R. Soley, ex-assistant Sec- retary of the Navy, and Liect. Commander F. M. Wise, U. S._N., who was the immedi- ate predecessor of the present superintend- ent. The assembling of this material is still in progress, and under the supervision of Lieut, Commander Rush it is being rap- idly put tn shape for publication. While the supply of documents of the Union na- val commanders is very voluminous, it has been found that the confederate ‘matter is not nearly so complete as could be de- sired, This is due to the great difficulty encountered in collecting these papers, scattered as they are all over the coun- CRUISERS | jue | the | ever | Q SA0PPING. ; the ‘WOMEN WHO 6 Shrewd Physic City ‘= Glance at Crowds. | The “Bargal | ous and Muse | That Comex From | Household—The | Peve ergy. “Women read the Sunday papers in the big cities and the daliy papers in the towns for the | advertisements of marked-down sales,” says the | as littie girls they think a | te and the Nerv- in on Women ying for the Preserver Against | of Blood and Nervous Ena- MRS. E. M. fs 4 nuisance, vexatious, tiring to his pat and actually fatiguing to, his muscles and nerves. It is often no less so to a woman, The careworn purchasers, espe- clally on rainy days, burdened with dapping, wet | skirts, umbrellas and bundies, impress a physi- | cian with @ sort of horror. The women have to go shopping. It is a necessity. There is a total disregard of the excessive strain upon their nerves and entire syst le | “fhe danger of thus overtaxing the centers manufacture the nervoas energy is impos- | sible to estimate,” said a wise physician, “One | longs to hear some authoritative voice call out: | St Stop!’ * Weakness is an element of all disenses. Faulty nutrition of some important part of the bedy brings easy in even slight on- | dertakings, Overwork, worry and excite. try in familv archives, and also for the reason that the confederate navy dezart- meut in Richmond, with all its contents, | was burned at the close of the war. Each year adds to the difficulty of collection, and hence the Navy Department has |of late been making vigorous efforts to obtain the missing papers before all trace of them Is lost. To this end the naval records office has been in correspondence | recently with Capt. James D. Bulloch of | Liverpool, England, who was confederate | (naval agent abroad during the war, and | who has in his possession a muss of val- | |uable material covering the outfit of the confederate cruisers, It is stated also that there are many original confederate |archives of exceeding value in the collec- (tion of the British Museum. Mr. B. F. Stevens of London, the con-! | fidential agent of the State Department, | |has been requested to examine them end make report as to their character, and no doubt all of these papers can be copied and used in the forthcoming history. The marvelous popularity of the army records of the rebellion ts due not so much, perhaps, to the manner or form in which they are set down as to the importance cf |the subject and the overwhelming number of people directly and personally interested in the movements therein related. At all | events, no book ever published by the gov- ernment thus far has met with so great a popular demanc. In the case of the naval war records, however, this situation is ex- actly reversed. While in the Union and confederate armies there were in the neizh- borhood of 3,000,000 enlistments, in the | jRevies of the north and south there were | |not over 150,000 enlistments. And unlike ! | the army war records, which consist large- | |ly of dispatches, separate orders and mes- | | sages chronologically arranged, the naval | war records are not disjointed, but con- | tinuing, the record of each cruise, engage- |mrent or blockade being necessarily, from | | the nature of things, drawn out in most linstances without break or interruption ‘from beginning to end. This fact will make the work all the more acceptable to the reader who reads simply for the pleas- ure of it. Instead, therefore, of the na- val war records depending for their in- terest upon the body of men who partici- | pated in the actions detatled in the tex jthey contain in themselves, intrinsically, | | 23 living Mterature of a most attractive | ‘kind, the essential elements of interest jand vitality that are bound to make them | popular for an indefinite period of time, | and besides will furnish, when published, \an official and graphic story of the work accomplished by the navy on both sides in the world’s greatest war. JOHN D. CREAMER. 1 | ——_——__« area Im Napery and Towels. From the Chicago Herald. White or cream damask napery with col- ored borderings are as fashionabi_ as ever, red being the color preferred, as the one that bears washing best. The Russian in- | | fluence is visible in the choice of some of ! | the designs, as, for instance, in the “Dani- | cheft” and the “Muscovite,” two different arrangements of Russian patterns. Some- times the colored bordering is reproduced In an inner square, as well as in that por- | tion of the cloth that hangs over the edge | of the table, or it will be carried along in a | double band and crossed at the corners | The “Demidoff” tea service is checked with | a complication of broad and narrow stripes. Small napkins are provided en suite, with | fringed edges. Damask toweling is executed on the Ines, with a broad band of color above a deep’ fringe. Thicker Turkish and other toweling is generally rendered more | | tractive by the addition of an initial letter | woven In the fabric or worked on afterward by the embroidery machine. The cost of | this is so small as hardly to increase the | price of the article. Glasscloths, dusters, ete., are carefully designated for each spe- clal use by the word “giass,” “furniture, | “pantry ete.—or rather its French equiv: |lent—written across one end. The introdu tion of so much color into linen and cott goods takes away from the so-called “white exhibitions” the right to this appellation. The term is still retained, nevertheless. see Sun Spots Lessen Annual Heat. ‘rom the American Register. It has been observed that, after the sun spots have been at a minimum, the sum- mers are hotter, just as though there was more heat coming from the sun at such periods, and the fact has been accounted | for by supposing that sun spots are caused me by vast clouds of matter erupted froin the | sun and condensed in the surrouading space. | These act as screens and prevent ihe sun's | heat from radiating freely through them. From an examination of statistics A. 1. McDowall, M. A., has found that in New England during the hot summers following the minima of sun spots the month of Au- gust ts hotter than July, an eifect due, in all likelihood, to accumulation of the heat. soe A Lesson in Natural Science. From Truth. Professor—“What terrestrial animel is the most terrible enemy of man?” Smart Pupil—“Woman.” ALi yfliys ) Rew life, — ment of any kind ts quickly accompanied by @ painful sense of weariness and fatigue. Lutle blood ts sent to the tired organs and mutri- tion and strength alike fail. effects of an increased power. A gratful sense of activity comes after a days’ taking of this remarkable remedy and feels again fit for every duty, mentally For indigestion, languidness, dropsy, kidney complaint and other signs of nervous power Paine’s celery reputation that is established in households throughout the United States: ~~ GMeaE > a. 1 WAN) ABLOTT. ada. in every village and town where there;te-a goed physician, in” Tver that las saved so many thousand men and Nomen strugzling for existence aguinst poverty of bloud and nervous energy. It makes people well, Read the experience of Mr. E. M. Ab- bott of Chelsea, Mass., who gives the following Volurtury testimony: “I have taken Paine’s celery compound an@ ft is all that it is recommended to be. My mother and father have also taken it; it has given them They take it every spring or whenever they do not feel just right. Mother was all run down Inst spring and cfter taking a few @oses of the compound she gained mew strength. Would Hot be without Paine's celery cumpound as a family medicine i) APPALLING FUTURE FOR LONDON. ‘rease of the City Recelves No Sert- ous Check, From the Westminster Budget. The favorite name of Cobbett for London —“the wen"--is going to be truer than it ever has been, if we can trust some re- markably interesting statistics just issued by the London county council. One ques- tion discussed is whether London is or is not being checked in its rate of growth. On a first glance at the registrar's figures with regard to London itself, it appeared as | though it were, for before 1881-01 London population was increasing every ten years at a rate varying from 16 to 21 per cent, but in the decade ending with 189) the rate of increase had only “Does this mean,” asks the committee of which Mr. Costeiloe is chairman, “ London has reached the turning point, and that in a few years the increase will bet come a decrease?” The committee finds that it does not. It appears that the true reason for the apparent dimint: rate of in- crease is that the building space in London is gradually being appropriated, and that don residences. Even in Greater this is noticed to a smaller extent. of increase in population, wi rapid in Greater London, is show a tendency to become discovered that the Londoners still further out into the hi Then there are speculations as size of London will be fifty y less upon the milder suppositi not add any more to the the amount per decade that has since ISS1, it seems that we should have a population in 141 of close upon 10,000, if we allow for a growth at the rate of natural increase of births over deaths, there will be nearly 11,000,000 in Lendon in that year. If we reckon that London will grow at the average rate of the last three de- cades, we shall be over 14,000,000; but, if inner London and outer London go on to- gether growing at the rate they have been srowing for the past three tens of years, we are to expect London M41 of a trifling wm),000, If we look at the matter in another way, and ask what population Greater when it has attained throughout the mean density of weil-known areas, we get the following appalling circulation: If Greater London were only peo- pled as densely as Hampstead, tt Would contain a population of....13,000,008 If it were peopled on an average as densely as Fulham is now, the population would be... 20,000,008 If it were peopled at the rate of St. George's, Hanover square, the total would rise to. 30,000,000 Whitechapel is now imes as dense- ly peopied as St. George’s itself. The mora. is obvious. HAH EL Leaves ts Halt 82 eee A Greek Drena, From Harper's Bazar. The following directions for making @ Greek dress are worth trying by any one desirous of getting up a simple costume for private theatricals or tableaux. Choose @ pretty shade of cheese cloth and sew a suflicient number of breadths together, so that when doubled they -vill reach from one outstretched hand to the other—which | Will be the height of the person measuring. It should be as long as it is wide; in fact, an exact double square. Soak this in water until wet all throngh, and then, with the aid of another person, twist it tightly, each in an opposite diree- tion, until impossible to twist eny more. Put it aside to dry in this conditi let it lie for several da: v" out it will be beautifully crinkled, and when worn will adjust itself to the lines of the figure in a charming way. A space large enough for the head shoul@ be left at the top and buttoas rhould se- cure it on the shoulders, the xtra lencth falling at the sides in the form of long Greek sleeves. Ribbons crossel over the breast and around the waist fasten ft in piace, and loops and folds may be arranced in any way desired. until it is of comforta- ble walking length. There are so many lovely shades of cheese cloth now that a bevy of girls drerse ed in this way in the different colors woul oresent an effective appearance, and + expense of the costumes would be very small. A good way before beginning the drom would be to experiment on one for a h'ld, or even a doll would answer for a model, when an idea of the exact way to co te work would be obtained, and time be saved in the end. —— WHI Kill Anything. From Puck. First German Scientist—“I am inclined t oubt the report that an American scientist has killed cholera bacilli with tobaceo smoke. I have tried it and failed.” ‘Ah! but yor Second German Scienttst— did not try it with an American cigar!”