Evening Star Newspaper, February 24, 1894, Page 19

THE EVENING STAR, SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 24, 1894-TWENTY PAGES FROM FAIR HAWAII | An Interesting Collection at the Na- tional Museum. CURIOUS ARTICLES OF OSE AND BEAUTY Feather Cloaks That Are Worth a King’s Ransom. WELL WORTHY OF STUDY Mitten Exclusively for The Evening Star. AWAII ITSELF IS represented in the National Museum by a comparatively small collection. But had it not been for an unfortunate acci- dent the ethnological material from the Sandwich Islands would be richer than that from eny other region of the earth at all comparable in extent. A ship load of Hawaiian objects of scientile interest | Started from the isolated group in 1841, after Lieut. Wilkes had spent several years at the islands in the Peabody, but the col- lection is now covered by the waters of the | Atlantic instead of the high roof of the; Nationa! Museum. However, the Hawafians and their works of art are closely akin to the other mem- bers of the great Polynesian family, and the products of their industry, and the eth- nological department possesses an abund- ance of material from these Pacific islands farther to the south. All that has come from the islands, which are now creating such intense erest among the people of the United ates, is the private yacht which Queen Kapioiani (the wife of King Kalakaua) presented to this government,the brilliant colored “war cloaks,” so cunspicu- ous in the ethnological court; several neat- ly rolled cylinders of braid, some good pho- tographs of the ex-Queen Liliuokalani, her deceased Caucasian husband, King Kala- kaua and other fat and dark-skinned royal personages and a living specimen of the taro plant, whose root furnishes the prin- eipal article of diet of the natives. { The King and the War Cloaks. This specimen is to be seen among the green plants which surround the fountain pool under the high dome of tne rotunda. Looking westward from the fountain into the ethnological court the visitor will no- tice, perched upon one of the cases near the further extremity of the court, the bust of a dark gentleman attired in civilized | woven fabrics, unless the feather war-cloak | The museum contains a large collection of |ing, as well as the wooden work of the characteristics shared with the aboriginal | of the American continent. But whether this similarity indicates kinship or is but the result of like climatic causes is another | question which is to be answered by noth- ing more than discordant speculation. The women are pretty. They are con- scious of this, and spend half their time in attention to personal decoration, and fre- quent bathing in the brine of the ocean. The fatness which is characteristic of the Sandwich Island native is probably due to the richness of his diet. A kind of buck- wheat cake is made from the pulverized root of the taro plant, and this is a highly concentrated and very nutritious food. It is the staple article of diet in the islands. The taro flour is adapted better to the baking of cakes than bread. Large quantities of fish are also con- sumed, and the bread-fruit tree adds | further to the Polynesian’s store of edibles, Clething of P Paper was the material of which the Ha- walian made his clothing. He wore 1o could be so called. This paper he manu- factured much as the ancient Egytian made papyrus. The mucilaginous inner bark of the mulberry tree was beaten until it spread out in uniform sheets, several of which were then beaten together in such a manner as to constitute a strong covering. In the art of making this raw material for his garments he was highly expert, and the truly artistic and widely diversified decora- tions which he added with his brush justly excite the admiration of those who give | these products of oceanic skill any study. \ this printed paper from some of the south- ern Pacific isiands. A_ careful onstructed model of a Poly- nesian dwelling is to be seen among the objects classified as coming from the homes of these daring ocean roamers. The ground outline is oval, the roof, resting upon poles, which constitute the only resemblance to a wall, is an approximately conical struc- ture of palm leaf thatching. The thatc! house, is secured by cords. Beneath is a floor of small stones, covered with several layers of mats, and the whole house is built upon a terrace, two feet high, com- posed of loose stones, which secures drain- age. Such furniture as the roof covers is made of the wood of the palm tree. The vessels were cut from gourds and blocks of wood. The eqection which the museum possesses exhibits many peculiar kinds, varying in form from hollow hemispheres to flat boat- shaped vessels. A Decided Polythetst. Gods for everything made the Polynesian emphatically a polytheist. His system of religion was very primitive. He had great gods and little gods, gods for the air, the sun, the moon, the land, the sea and all things about him. Some of his clumsy images were cut from stone and some from wood—two remarkable specimens of the former, from Easter Island, will be no- ticed by the visitor on his right, just after passing through the main entrance to the museum. The larger of these is eight feet high, with a broad, coarse face. Upon the head of the other—devoid of a body—rests a huge bandbox-shaped stone. The small wooden idols are ugly little things, for the art of the Pacific Islander runs to the gro- tesque. Numbers of these wooden images are to be observed in the museum cases. Taboo fs a w which comes from the Polyresian languages, and expresses the characteristic idea of the Pacific Island religions—a feature which sets it apart as distinctive. Taboo is equivalent to the Latin oli_me tangere’—touch me not. From this ceveloped a worse ceremonial slavery than that in which any race of men ever became involved—worse by far than that under which the old Hebrews labored. The King’s person was sacred— at times everyone's person was sacred, and not be touched, and there were sacred places and sacred trees, and sacred! objects all about. garb. This was molded from a _ photo- graph of King “Calico,” and, while giving @ very good idea of the general appearance of the man, fails to reproduce the peculiur expression apparently due to the charac- teristic chubbiness of the Sandwich Is- lander. Under this bust are exhibited the precious war cloaks, which for costliness of fab cation are almost above comparison. brilliant with red and yellow feathers, has an expanse of five or six feet. It is labeled with a Seamed. atetecnent, Se s good hand, conch with the subscription, “Prince of tee Semdeich Islands.” “This feather eloak,” says the inscription, “formerly be- longgd to Keluaskalani, one of the highest chiews of the Sandwich isilanls. After che abolition of idojatry, in the year 1839, that chief rebeled against the -eigning’ King | and attempted to re-establish the ancient feligions. A sanguinary battle was fought and that chief was slain, and the cloak which he then had on fell into the hands of the conquerors and thus became the! property of King Kamehameha III, by whom it was presented to Capt. J. H. Au- lick, United States navy.” The foundation of the mantle is a net work of native hemp. To this are =ttached, by fine threads, the feathers of birds feund only at the Hawaiian Islands. The feath- ers, overlapping each other, lie flat, form- ing a smooth surface, decorated with alter- mate figures, generally crescent shaped, of either red or yellow feathers. The inner surface is without lining and shows the network and the quill ends of the feathers. The yellow feathers are obtained from tre oo, or uho, and are of great value, as the bird is comparatively rare, very shy and difficult to capture, and it has but a very small tuft of these feathers upon each shoulder. The oo is caught alive by means of bird lime, the yellow feather piucked and the bird released. An issue of the Hawaiian Spectator in 1899 contained this interesting info:metion: } “Kaukeaouli has the mams, or feather war cloak of his father, Ta-meha-mena. It was Rot completed until his reign, having occu- Pied eight preceding ones in its fabrication. A piece of nankeen, valued at $1.50, was formerly the price of five of the yellow feathers. By this estimate the vatie of the cloak would equal that of the purest dia- monds in several of the Europeaa regalia, and including the price of the feathers not less than a million dollars’ labor was ex- pended upon it, at the present rate of com- puting wages.” The Crown Treasure. Taxes were paid to the native sovereigns fm these yellow feathers. Many years were | consumed in the collection of the material for the manufacture of these mantles,which were, until zecent years, the royal robes of state, and constituted the principal treasure of the crown. A few days since an inventor was at the museum examining the rolis of sinnet, or Bative cocoa fiber braid, to obtain sugges- tions for the perfecting of a fevic2 to be patented. These rolls as put by the Batives exhibft’a strikingly ormamenzal ar- fangement. The braid was of great iniport- ance in the Hawaiian industrics, for such @n acticle as a ail was unknown, ird even a peg was never used. everything Was tied together—shark’s teeth to spears and “sword” edges, the thatch, rafters and Poles of houses, and even the water ticht Barts of wooden canoes. This may be well seen on the native ves- sel previously mentioned as having btecn Presented by a former queen. Tails beat may be readily distinguished from the other Vessels suspended from the ceiling in the navigation hall by its sail of woven mat- ting. It is a narrow, round bottomed canoe about twenty-five feet long, in which the work of a keel ts performed by outrigging— @ small log tied’ to the ends of two sticks Protruding several feet from the side of the canoe. Often the native increased the ca- Pacity of his vessel by laying supports @cross the transverse pieces, and in the Jong voyages for which his race was sc re- markable slept upon the platform thus A large and vari sian pardies Is to the eth: ‘ed collection of Polyne- dies is to be found in the cases of J nological hall, displaying the diver- sity of form and peculiarity of ornamenta- tion characteristic of the productions of these people. The paddies, generally having spear-shaped blades, are finely finished and symmetrical in outline. The Sandwich Isl- ender, in common with all his Pacifie ocean neighbors, was an expert swimmer. The physique of the Polynesian excited the admiration of all the early voyagers. Having a s! of a distinctive brown hue, and certa mariced features of character rament, his is a race to be set hers upc e earth. What Chief's Girdle and Cape. Most gentle when not at war, the Poly- nesian was extremely cruel in battle, and a blood-thirsty ingenuity devised the most horrible weapons. The great array of these instruments of death, which are collected in the cases of the department of ethnology, are terribly suggestive of the tortures which have been inflicted upon_ enemies during centuries of habitual conflict. The highest skill of the savage was expended in their construction, and the detail of finish shown by them is truly marvelous. The native of the Pacific had no bow and arrows, but his spears and clubs and tooth- edged blades are perfect of their kind. The clubs were of every style: heavily knobbed sticks—always handsomely _fin- ished—to broad biade-like weapons, whose flat parts were decorated with minute designs. The spears, some are fifteen feet long, and armed with hor- rible barbs, often consisting of several rows of small sharks’ teeth, tightly sewed to the shaft. These teeth gave the cutting power to the natives’ swords and daggers. | To climax all, the Hawaiian was, as is weil known, a cannibal, and some one has pro- tested against the annexation of the islands | by declaring that the United States do Not | want io m: part of their population a people to whose teeth are still clinging the flesh of explorers and missionaries. But the islanders’ idols are now consigned to museums, and his barbarous deeds to the pages of history. Hope for the Fature. To the students of the past of this re- markable race it would seem that scme bright future is yet in store for a people endowed with a daring, and possessed of an astronomical science and a skill in naviga- tion which made them in remote centuries the equals of the Norsemen or the fifteenth century Spaniards in feats of marine ex- pioration. The Sandwich Islands ure the most isolated bodies of land on the face of the earth, and for a long period its inhabi- | tents enjoyed or suffere] a seclusion from contact with other men. But this tsolation | of life did not always prevail, for during an cra of great commotion among the peopie ! of all Polynesia some five or six centuries | past, according to the oral records of the | natives, the islands in the north and the| more numerous groups to the south en- Joyed frequent intercourse. The distance is 2,300 miles, yet the voyages were under- taken in nothing more pretentious than the “double” canoes of native construction. If these people could visit each other across such immense stretches of ocean, no rea- son can be given why visits might not be | paid as well to the American continent. —__ Compensation. From Puck. “I should think bicycle riding would con- tract the chest,” said Dawson. “It does,” said Smithers; “but see what fine, full, rounded shoulders you get!” oo “The Suburban Handicap.” Mrs. evious home fs a question al research and debate have not yet answered. He has none of xin | fm any other countries than the islands of the Pacific, thoug: ‘fh in some respects he has | Newwed—‘I've brought three of ‘m. these eggs back to change the Grocer—“They are strictly fresh, ma’am.” Mrs. Newwed—“No doubt; are brown, blue.""—Puck. but the shells while my new egg cups are | simply displayed in the WORLD’S RARITIES The Rich Things Hoarded at the Great Centers. TREASURES OF THE EAST AND THE WEST Valuable Jewels and Books in Libra- ties and Cabinets. MANY COSTLY CURIOS O THOSE “WHO GO down to the sea in ships,"who roam over the world visit- ing odd nooks, rum- maging the face of the globe in quest of gain or adventure, rare opportunities are enjoyed to adi im- mensely to their fund of general informa- tion and to reinforce their fund 0? yarn- spinning material as they view the quaint, the curious and the magnificent of foreign lands. Poor and in- significant indeed must be the country that does not possess more or less rare and beau- tiful material, popularly classed under the comprehensive head of treasure, all cere- fully hoarded and guarded, usually open to \ : P | inspection only to the favored few. Various tours of duty in all portions of the globe have enabled the writer at various periods of his career to view treasures ond objects of interest that in many instances would baffle the pen of a Fabre or Verne to attempt a description. Take, for instance, the old seraylio at Constantinople, the sultan’s art treasury. Probably few strongholds of the orient or the world can boast of such an accuimula- tion of wealth and grandeur. A Throne of Beaten Gold. In one room is deposited a great throne or divan of beaten gold set with pearls, rubies and emeralds numbering many thou- sand. It belonged originally to Persia and was captured many years ago. Opposite to it stands a throne of Turkish workman- ship many hundred years old, and many a sultan has sat cross legged upon its jewel- incrusted surface. Hanging from the roof of the canopy is a golden rope on which dangles an ornament in the shape of a heart, and beneath that a large uncut em- erald. Numerous richly decorated suits of armor and rare specimens of arms are er- ranged in niches of all the rooms compris- ing the sesaglio. The most notable work of this class is one of chain and plate ex- quisitely damascened and jeweled, worn by Sultan Murad IV in 1638, at the capture of Bagdad. The hilt and scabbard of the scimiter are incrusted with diamonds, some of them exceeding half an inch in width. On one ebony bracket stood a massive tankard of gold. The handle, cover and a raised band around the center of the cup were covered with jewels of all colors and sizes, and in point of value must h: worth a king's ransom. Scattered on all sides were splendid vel- vet saddle cloths embroidered with jewels; then came enameled jewel-hilted daggers, sabers, scimiters, maces and battle axes. Vases filled with diamonds, rubies, emer- alds, pearis and sapphires reposed side by side with bales of brocades and velvets stiff with gold embroide-y and gleaming precious stones. Paintings, statuary, few- elry of all descriptions mingled with hel- mets, arms and all sorts of odd objects, ap- parently placed there with no regard to) o-der or taste. Whe Standard of the Prepket. It Is here also that the standard of the prophet is kept in times of peace, sacred and far-famed Sanjak-Schrief or grand standard, the principal banner used by Mahomet in his wars, and figured nota- biy on the occasion of his triumphal entry into Mecca. Ii is of such importance that a British ambassador at Constantinople used all his power on one occasion to pre- vail upon the sultan not to display the emblem of the prophet. The standard is a piece of dark camelot, some 12 feet long, and said to have formed | part of the curtain which hung before the door of the room belonging to the prophet's favorite wife, Ayesha. With a view to its protection it is covered first with another flag, that of Omar, the second caliph, and in the next place with forty coverings of taffeta, while over all these envelopes is a case of green cioth. To enhance the sacredness of the standard a copy of the Koran in the handwriting of Omar has been placed within its wrappin, and like- wise the silver key of the was presented by the Schrieff of Mecca to Selim I in 15: The Sanjak-Schrieff was brought to Con- stantinople from Damascus in 15! and was thence carried to the Turkish army then engaged in a war against Hunga:y and Wallachia. Previous to that time it had been carried at the head of the an- nual pilgrimages to Mecca. It is, however, only when the sultan or his grand vizier assumes the personal command of the army that the Sanjak-Schrieff is borne into battle. When a campaign is intrusied to ordinary officers the sacred banner is capitol at the open- a ing of the war. becomes wa> in the servi with visions of Mahomet, Omar, Osman, the Koran and Mecca. Its display is liabia to excite and the excesses and fanatical enthusiasm common to men when they re- ice of the faith, ger2 one another as the enemies of God. When the sacred banner is vholly unfurl- ed the sultan will be in di sate straits and thousands upon thous: ful will rally under its folds ready to shea their last drop of blood in its defense. Treasures of the Vatican, The treasurers of the Vatican are beyon: all price or calculation, and but few fc ored mortals cutside of the church have is of the faith- ever been permitted to view the inner sac- | risty where the accumulations of centuries are hoarded. There are four rooms specially decorated, in which are deposited scores of miters ornamented with precious stones; chalices in gold and silver; capes and garments for the highest church officials, and only don- ned upon special state occasions. Many of the robes are embroidered in gold, with the arms cf various popes emblazoned upon them. In the cabinets were once stored hundreds of precious objects, but when Pius VI was forced to pay a part of the) 200,000,000 francs imposed by Napoleon I, the prelate had recourse to the chalices and golden vessels, which were melted down and placed side by side with numerous gems of the Vatican treasury in order to satisfy the demands of the rapacious con- queror. When the French army cccupied Rome in 1798, the treasury was sacked, and meny paintings and rare statuary carried off. The tapestries, or arazzi, as the Rcmans call them, because they were made at Arras, hung in one of the inner alcoves of the Vatican. The cartoons for them were made by Raphael, in 1515, and repre- sent various events in the life of the Savior. Some of these tapestries were carried off in 1798, and sold to a trader at Genoa, who burned one of them for the sake of the gold and silver threads used in the bright lights representing sunshine. The speculation proving unprofitable, the trader, in 1808, disposed of the remainder to Pius VII, who restored them to their original niches. Under glass cases are many beautiful swords, which the popes are wont to be- stow upon those who win distinction fight- ing for the church. Here also are seen the “golden roses,” given by the head of the church to ladies of royal blood who have distinguished themselves in the cause. They are made by a family living in the neigh- borhood, who have had a monopoly of the manufacture over three hundred years. The roses are exquisitely wrought, inlaid with diamonds and rubies, representing a value of over $5,000. Among the tiaras fs one presented by the queen—Isabella of Spain. It contains 20,000 brilliants. Another valuable one was pre- sented by Napoleon I to Pius VII. There have been several robberies from this Sis- tine treasury, and every precaution is now teken to guard against theft. The most costly objects are kept in the pope's pri- ve been | aaba. which j War under such a banner | vate apartments, and are never exhibited to the most favored guest or visitor. The Finest Crown of Europe. The finest crown of Europe is that worn by the Czar of Russia. It is surmounted by a cross formed of tive magnificent dia- monds, resting upon an immense ruby. The ruby rests upon eleven large diamonds, which, in turn, are supported by a mat of pearls, The coronet of the empress is said to contain the most beautiful mass of diamonds ever collected in one band. The diamond in the extremity of the Rus- sian imperial scepter, known as the Or- loff, weighs 194 3-4 karats, and cost 450,000 roubles. It came from the old mines of India, and once formed one of the eyes of the celebrated statue of Sherigan in the temple of Brahma. Its wonderful history would alone fill a voluine. The traditional diamond of the east is the Great Mogul. The original weight was 787 karats, and it disappeared in the last Tar- tar invasion, when treasures to the amount of 350,000,000 were captured by Nadir Shah. The Shan of Persia has in his treasure room jewels valued at $40,000,000, His crown contains a mass of diamonds surmounted by a ruby as big as a hen’s egg. His royal belt weighs twenty pounds, and is a solid mass of diamonds, rubies, and emeralds. When the shah was in Europe he wore a variety of diamonds and gems, the smallest of which would have been a fortune to the lucky possessor. The buttons of his coat were five in number, and each button was a diamond larger than the kohinoor. Some Expensive Luxuries. The list of expensive luxuries in various jparts of civilized Europe and America if grouped together in One cataiogue would prove interesting for the curious to inspect. Mr. Marquand of New York ‘has the cost- Vest piano of the world. Steinway made the works and the case, painted by Alma Tadema, was done in London, the whole costing $46,000. He also owns the finest bliliard table of the world, valued at $25,900. Mr. Mackey has the finest dinner service of the world and furnished the silver from his pines to the amount of $ After Tiffany’s best artists got through with it, Mr. Mackey was called on to furnish a check for $195,000. ‘The finest string of pearls in this coun- try belongs to Mrs. Louis Hammersly. Mrs. W. H. Vanderbilt wears a solitaire diamond |ring which cost $18,000, and Mrs. Hicks |Lord has a diamond necklace valued at $259,000. ‘The most expensive picture in this coun- try is Meissonier's “1807,” which hangs in the Metropolitan Museum, presented by | Henry Hilton, who paid $6600 for it. It has been estimated that this sum would more than cover the entire canvas with $20 gold pieces. The most expensive book of iis size in New York is the 1609 edition of Shakespeare's Sonnets, of which but two copies exist, one in the British Museum and the other owned by the publishers, Dodd & Mead. They paid $5,000 for it, which in weight is about $18 an ounce. |In the Lennox library is a perfect copy of the Mazarine Guttenberg Bible, the first book printed with movable types. It is worth $25,000, and nothing better has been done since. The most costly book in the world is declared to be a Hebrew Bible, now In the Vatican. In the year 1512, it is said Pope Jules refused to sell it for its weight in gold, which would amount to $103,000. Mr. Irwin of Osw N. Y., has an illus- trated Bible for which he paid $10,000. ‘The Shah of Persia smokes a pipe valued at $400,000, and the late W. H. Vanderbilt owned a whip that cost over $2,000. The design was made by Fritz Kaldenberg, the sculptor. The whip and ivory stock, before any carving was done, cost $600. The braid- ing of the whip and the manufacture of the snapper occupied one entire month. The costliest toy on record was a broken- nosed wooden horse, which belonged to; Napoleon Bonaparte, and was sold for 1,000 The largest price ever paid for a e was $9). It was once the property of George IV, made of ebony, with a gold top | containing the hair of the Princesses Au- gusta, Elizabeth, Ma’ »phia and Amelia, and inscribed, of the Princess Mary, 1814." The most expensive cigars jin the world are made for the Prince of | Wales in Havana, and cost $1.87 aplece. Some Costly Banquets. There are banquets recor in the world’s history, and one supper, by Aelius Verus, footed up nearly a quarter | of a million doltars. One dish at the table of [the Emperor Heliagabulus cost $20,000, | Cleopatra's banquet to Antony was a sump- tuous affair, and the queen took a pearl ear- | drop worth $50,009, dissolved it in strong } acid, dr of the triumvir, | ing, | ceed inv: Queen El} king the hes! to atoms, w the Empress of Brazil Queen Victoria a dress made w The web was made of Br; orange and possess- | ing an exquisite luster. ue or cost of | manufacture is unknown, but it ranks cs | one of the curiosities of the world. The greatest sum ever paid for telegraph tolls In one weex by a newspaper was in- curred by the London Times during the | revolution in the Argentine Republic. and the sum paid was $20,000, or at the rate of | $1.35 per word. | No nation in the world expends so much | | in decorations in co: sANCUets and balls as and the figures necessary to secure flowers alone to add to the magnificence and success of a single nig! uld secure food, | jarge, ¥ twenty ordinary families | for a winter's season. i. D. 8. What the Expert Saia. From the Jewelers’ Review A little incident happened in London | recentiy. A foreign gentleman ‘esented | himself at the office of one of tie largest j firms im the diamond trade, and so an offer for a crystal of excepti: shape, luster and color, that {brought straight from the Sou diamond mines. But its sorely tried the appraising cap of the after two how deliberation ing it in all the ways known to | them, ik the specitie gravity of it, ch conirmed th -on that it was a diamo: ; x was something tna doubt to a mt the owner with his treasure to an expert, a | mineraiogist, to ascertain its adamaatine mature. But the scientist was a man of se, and in reply to t but fe clo; more pa: om answered, were pushed dent that it was this stone had no hands of the Great recognized bon i being made, its owner affirmed that this bic tirm had tried every 2nd been two hours in do! then left in doubt. “Wel pert, “let the most simple tes dness?” and leave having ined, he took out a file and made! a small gutter down it like that in the so- | called Mattam diamond.” “Do you mean to tell me,” said the mineralogist, “that that represents the amount of knowledze in the diamond trade? that one of Its largest firms den’t know a diamond from a bit of class! Or that you have got hold of it without knowing the differenca—well —well—there's something wrong some- | | where!” ————_~+e+ A Remarkable Long-Lived Family. From the London Times. Canon Roswell, who died this week at the advanced age of seventy-elzht, came of a lons-lived family. Mr. Roswell’s father married at the age of nineteen, his wife being twenty. They had ninete children, of whom five died in infancy. The remain- ing fourteen attained or have attain- ed (three are still living) the follow- ing ages: Seventy-nine, seventy. eighty-two, sixty-seven, eight one, eighty-nine (still livin three eighty-one, seventy-se' eight, seventy-nine (still livin eight and seventy-fiv days reached by the respective husbands and wives of the tweive of the above fuur- teen who entered the married state. These are the ages: Seventy-four, forty-five, sixty- five, seventy-nine, eighty-seven (still liv- ing), eighty-five, eighty, cishty-four (still living), seventy-seven, fifty-seven, seventy- three and eight: “Its From Demorest's They had been out yachting, when a squall came up and for a time it was doubtful whether they would continue their existence here or on some other pianet. | The ladies were frightened into hysterics, and not even the men of the party were without fear. Finally they were landed safely, and every one drew a deep breath of relief. For a few minutes there was si- lence. Then a feminine voice remarked devoutly “Thank Heaven! Now let’s go and curl our hair. It’s all out.” 19 OYSTER CULTURE Sole Hope for Preserving the In- dustry in Maryland. Tt IS NO? YET 100 LATE 10 ACT How the Yearly Crop May Be Mul- tiplied Many Fold. PERISHING BIVALVES OME FACTS ABOUT the Maryland oyster fishery and the dan- gers now threatening to destroy it were printed in The Star the other day. Per- chance it will not be uninteresting to dis- ) cuss the methods by which scientific men —notably Dr. W. K. Brooks of Johns Hopkins University— have declared tt Practicable to restore the industry and even to make it vastly more profitable than it has ever been hitherto. The key of the problem is oyster culture. During the last fifty-six years, since the establishment of packing houses, the Ches- apaake has produced 400,000,000 bushels of oysters. This has been merely a wild crop furnished by nature, without any aid from man. It compares with what might be ob- tained from the same waiters in about the same way that nuts and berries which are gathered in forests and swamps compare with the harvest from cultivated fields and orchards. The opportunities for rearing oysters by artifice in the Chesapeake are unparalleled in any other part of the world. in foreign countries grounds of much less value have, by cultivation, been made to yield the bi- valves ut a rate per acre which, on the beds of Maryland, would carry the annual harvest far beyond the sum total of all the | oysters ever used by the packers of that state and Virginia. The ume will surely come when the har- vest of each year will be fully equal to the total harvest of the last fifty years, and will be obtained without depleting the beds. To bring the whole of the bay under thor- ough cultivation will require many years, and will cost a great sum of money; but the expense and labor involved will be much less than are required in raising crops on an equal area of land above water. Chesapeake bay is one of the richest ag- ricultural regions of the earth. The fer- tility of its bottom can be compared only with that of the valleys of the Nile ang the Genses and other great rivers. But it is adapted for producing only one qrppr-ihe oyster. This mollusk, it must be remezn- bered, lives on vegetable food, as).do’ all animals directly or indirectiy. If there Were no planis, all animals would starve at once. All human food is \ whether euten in the shape of plants or as beef, mutton and eggs. in the sea the blue- fish preys on smaller fishes; many of th uese, in turn, upon minute these on still smailer crea- hese last pasture on the micro- scopic planis which swarm at the sur of the oce; All anizials on land and @ for their existence on vegetable crustaceans; tures; and t Food for Ocean Life. To the supe: vegetati of the sea appears to be very scant execpt for the e of Sea weeds alon shore, the ocean seems, so far as plant life | is co: to be a barren desert. But the ws that the su swarms with minute Ants, Most of them of strange forms, having mon with the trees and herbs and grasses of the land except the power to change mineral matter into food that is fit for nothing m com- small as to be and, even w! > une are gathered like 5! ant part in the economy of nsters of the deep, eture, bui the mals, owe their existence to these microscopic plants. Their vegetative power wonderful past all expre- m. Amons land plients corn, which yields seed about a hundreifold in a single season, 1s the em- bien) of fertilfty, but it can be shown that a stagle marine plant very much smaller than a grain of mustard seed would fill the whole ecean solid in than a week, if ail of its descendants were to live. As countless minute animals are eonstant- ly pesturing upon them the muitipliestion of these plants is kept in check, *bat® in calm weather it is no rare thii to find great tracts of water many miles in extent packed so full of them that the whole eur- face is converted into a slimy mass, which | breaks the waves and smooths the surface Ike oil. The so-called “black water” of the Arctic and Antartic oceans consists of a mass of these plants crowded together until the seas are discolored by them. Through these seas of “black water” roam | the right whales, the larrest animals on earth, gulping at each mouth: hundreds of «2 s of the 'Nttle moliusks and crusta eeans which feed on the ph: In tropical seas ships sometimes sail lays through great floating islands of this sz tation, and the Red sea owes its name to the coloration of microscopic piants ich are of a reddish tinge. It has been surmised that man m: at some future time assert his dominion over the fishes of the sea, sending out flocks end herds of domesticated marine ant: to pasture and fatten upon the veretsd! life.of the ocean and to make its vast weolth of food availabl Chesapeake bay receives the dratmace of 20,000,000 acres of fertH@ Isnd, valuable part of the soll from d eventually in the bosom of its quiet waters. There it is deposited all over the bottom in the ferm of fine black sediment, known as oyster mud. This just as valuable to man and as fit to nour. ish plants as the mud which settles every year on the wheat fields and rice ficlds of Hsypt. It is a natural fertilizer and it ts so rich in organic matter that it putrifies in a few hours when exposed to the sun. A Luxuriant Vegetation. In the shallow waters of the bay, under the influence bf warm sunlight, this mud produces a most luxuriant vegetation, but with few exceptions the plants which grow from it are microscopic and invisible. They are not confined like land plants to the sur- face of the soil, their food being diffused in solution through the whole body of the water. As they are bathed on all sides by nourishment, they do not have to go through the slow process of sucking it up through roots and stems, and they grow and muitiply at a rate which has no parallel in the land plants. In fact, they would quickly choke up the whole bay if they were not heid in check by countless minute animals which feast upon them. The oyster is an animal especially adapt- ed for living in such waters and for gather- ing up these microscopic plants and turning them into food for man. Microscopic ani- mals also contribute to its diet. These are rather abundant in all water, though not so much s0 as most people imagine. When a professional exhibitor shows you, under the microscope, what he calls a drop of pure water, it is nothing of the sort. It is either a collection made by filtering several bar- rels of water, or else it is a drop squeezed from a plece of decayed moss or from same other substance in which such smal! organ- isms have lived'and multiplied. The oyster, by the way, is a far more complicated animal than is popularly im- agined. It has a heart which pumps blood through the vessels of its body, also a liver, gills for breathing, an intestinal canal, a stomach and a system of nerves with a center which is to all intents and purposes @ brain. The ends of the nerves are vided with sense organs, which serve to put the creature into communication with the external world. What is commonly called the “heart” is the powerful muscle by means of which the animal keeps hold of its shell. Biologists say that the oyster was not always a sedentary animal. Its remote an- cestors possessed organs of locomotion and wandered about in search of food. But the time arrived when the mollusk learned to fasten itself to rocks above the soft mud | beside which | it and the ox and the elk are | vater by swarms of | of bays and estuaries, in order to avail itself of the plentiful vegetable sustenance. The change came about at a period com- paratively recent, though it must have oc- curred many millions of years ago. The oyster, you see, is a very ancient creature. These things are inferred mainly from a study of the newly hatched oyster, which for some days after coming into the world is a free-swimming animal. It is only after seeing somewhat of such active life that it is content to settle down and become a fixture for the rest of ts natural ex! nee. It used to be supposed that there was no distinction of sex among oysters—in fact, that they were hermaphrodite. This notion has been exploded. There are males and females, and each one of the latter when adult lays about 16,000,000 eggs in a season. These are not cared for by the mother, as is the case for a time with a European ies of oyster, but are simply thrown oat into the water to shift for themselves, Nearly all of them are lost and perish, but some of them encounter the germinal cells thrown out by the males, are thus fertilized, and so develop. Enormous Rate of Increase. If all the eggs were to be fertilized, and were to live and to grow to maturity, they | would fill up the entire bay in a single sea- son. Indeed, this statement is much short |of the truth. It has been calculated that the descendants of a single female in five | generations would number 66,000,000,000, | 000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000, ‘These oysters | Would make more than eight worlds, even | if each female laid only one brood of eggs. | As the oyster lives for many years, and | lays eggs each season, the conceivable rate of increase is very much greater than that | shown by the figures, The waste of oyster eggs through lack | of fertilization is enormous, but it is pos- | sible to fertilize them artificially by mixing | the eggs and the male cells in a small quan- lity of water, where they are certain to | come into contact with each other. In this Way about per cent of the eggs will be saved and made to produce young oysters. | Dr. Brooks, to whom the writer is indebted for his information, says that he has had | at one time in a small tumbler of water a | | number of active and healthy oysters great: er many times than the whole human popu- | lation of Maryland. Having become fertilized by meeting with male cells, the next period ef great danger |to the oysters is the short ‘time during |of the water. They are so defenseless and |so crowded that a small fish, swimming along with open mouth, might easily swal- |low in a few mouthfuls a number equal to a year’s catch in the Chesapeake. They are | also exposed to the weather, and a sudden |cold wind or fell in temperature will kill }them by wholesale. As soon as they are safely past this stage, and scatter and swim at various depths, their risks from | accidents and enemies are greatly diminish- ed. Up to this point there is no difficulty in rearing them in an aquarium. Possibly some such method will eventually be ap- plied to propagating oysters, with a view | to planting them as soon as they are ready to attach themselves and to become seden- The next difficulty encountered by the young oysters is that of finding some solid upon the soft bottum they are id smothered in the mud. Only y small percentage of those which survive thus far are able to secure places of residence adapted to their way of living. They attach themselves to shells, rocks, floating bushes or whatever may promise & secure lodgement. Where the bottom is soft in the Chesapeake there are no ovs- ters. The so-called “rocks” on which they dwell in those waters are rot ledges nor reefs, but accumulations of oyster shells. Planting Oyster Shells. Accordingly, it appears that great help may be afforded to the oyster-prodacing they fall buried i | | tom, thus affording a beginning for new ' be This has already been practiced to | a large exteat in Connecticut. Shell plant- ing should not be attempted until the spawning season has arrived, which is the ionth of June in Maryland, because sheils | that have been laid down for a few days | become so slimy that the emi able to attach themselves. From 20) bushels per acre should be emp! The process might be compared to etat! rn cobs over dry land, with the ex- tion of picking up ripe ears in full in at a later period. The number of |cysters which attach themselves to the s thus laid down is commoniy so great that they crowd each other >ut and do not ly develop. This is avoided by tak- ing them up with dredges when the new bed is two years old and knocking the ces, which are either sold as | to be planted elsewhere, or are re- distributed over a greater area of bottom, in order that they may have plenty of space to grow in. Scollop chells or mussel shells are even better for the purpose when they can be procured in sufficient | quantity, because they are so fra: that | the strain of the growth of two or more | oysters attached to a single mussel or | scollop valve will eften crack it into pieces, permitting the several members of the bunch to separate and grow into. good hape singly. There is hardly a spot in Chesapeake bay that might not be converted into an er bed by this simple method of culti- tion, which has been shown to yield a very great return for the capital and labor | employed. In course of time even the soft, muddy bottoms of the deepest channel: | may be transformed into beds. It is douvt- fal whether there is any farmiag land in the United States which yields so great a profit to the acre as the bottoms used for | oyster pianting in Rhode Island. If all the area of Maryland proper for this pur- pose were utilized in the same way it would, if no more profitable than the oys- ter grounds of Rhode islani, bring the vart of two thousand ‘nillion dollars | imto the hands of the planters each year. Oysters used to be very plen' il along the w iincland coast north of Cape Cod. They were exterminated by reckless fsh- ing many years ago. The pious oystermen cf Wellfieei, on Cape Cod, after they had wiped out their oysters by overfishiag laid the loss upon Providence, which had, they said, punished them for their sins by in- flicting a fatal disease upon the innocent bivalves. The Need of Protection. The mest serious obstacle to oyster cul- ture in Maryland is the lack of protection for planted oysters. No law gives any rights to the owner in a bed which he has crceted, In one instance a farmer raised 300,000 els of fine oysters on about of bottom. They were all by tongmen and dredgers. According to the theory now held, the oyster beds are e property of the state, and no one person y more right to them than another. ster fisheries of Maryland now 2ford precarious employment for a few months in each year to about 50,000 oyster- They ought to give profitable work SAUL y have paid to oystermen they ought to pay x i) a year. Only a | very smali part of the bottom which is proper for oyster farming is now occupied »y natural beds, and it is safe to estimate the total area of valuable oyster-producing ground in the state at 1,000 square miles, or 610,000 acres. Much of this area could be made to yield an annual profit of $1,000 per | acre, and the profit on the whole, under a thorough system of cultivation, would not be less than $100 per acre. It is reckoned that, when the whole of this area shali have been developed, the future citizens of Maryland will be able to draw an annual income of over $60,000,000 from the waters |of, Chesapeake bay. The actual annual value of the oyster beds, under a system which is rapidly leading to their complete destruction, is less than 3 per cent of their Possible value. Th er is as fixed and sedentary as a potato, and its cultivation is as simple as any other branch of agriculture. One great advantage of Chesapeake bay is that its waters are too fresh for star fishes. In Long Island sound these enemies often come up in great armies to the beds, de- stroying whole farms and leaving behind them empty shells. The fact is that the demand for Chesa- peake oysters has outgrown the natural supply. While legislation must interfere for tne protection of those which remain, scientific methods must be adopted for in- creasing the yield. As has been said, the latter may be augmented almost indefi- nitely. There are a number of plans, tried with success abroad, which might be pur- sued to advantage here. Among these is | the collection of “spat” by means of such Gevices as tiles and bundles of twigs. At | ell events, it may be predicted safely that | before many years the oyster fishery in | Chesapeake bay will have undergone a | complete revolution through the adoption of civilized, in place of what might be | termed savage, methods of conducting the | industry. i} ——__ A Desperate Request. From Hallo. Tramp—“Have you got any old clothes, madam?” Woman—“No.” Tramp—-“Or anything to eat?” Woman (snappishly)—“No; get away from here, you rasca’ Tramp (edging away)—“I beg your par- don; perhaps you've got a discarded or @ second-hand daughter I might marry?” which the young ones swarm at the surface | body on which to establish themselves. If | industry by scattering shells upon the bot- | ———oooo SS [ASSESSMENTS IN EUROPE How Taxes Are Apportioned in London, Paris and Berlin Rental Values Generally Recognized as the Basis of Taxation— Special City Taxes. Written for The Evening Star. In a previous article I wrote nbout the re- lations of the municipsiity to the general government in the princip.: European In my investigation I found much that I thought would interest the people of Washington. It would not be inopportune to give the result of an examination of the methods pursued in Europe in the matter of assessments and taxes, } There is but one system of assessment in | Europe, namely, the rental system, based on | the idea that property is worth only what |{t will produce under fair conditions and | that people do not invest their money will- | fully in unproductive property or property that will not pay a fair return on the invest- ment. People who buy land unimproved | ain by its growth. Property that cannot | be rented for enough to pay taxes and leave some margin for the owner must be reduced in the assessment until a point is reached where it will pay something to the state and the owner, too. This is considered fair to all parties concerned. There are various modes of applying this principle,but through- out all the states of Europe it is the only one recognized. The Berlin Methods, In Berlin the assessment is made by @ board of assessors drawn from the several classes subject to taxation, and the law requires that each class be represented in | the board. Now there are four classes sub- “ject, namely, trades, real estate, land, and those having an income above a certain |amount. The classification and assessing is done by this board upon information and evidence or examination. The parties as- | sessed may appeal to a central | whose decision in the matter is final. In | the absence of authentic proof to establish | the amount of annual income, the style of living and annual expenditure is accepted | a8 sufficient proof of a coi in- | come. In assessing real estate the purpose |for which it is used makes considerable | difference as to the amount the owner | Pays. All houses used for business pur- | Poses pay less than the same would pay if used as a dwelling. This is done to stimu- late trade, and it is no uncommon thing to see some of the finest houses fixed up as of stores, and in the best parts of the city. One of the strange things in the matter at a given place, ara the | from the total of such tax is found to be |marks, the amount of the tax will be the next fiscal year 30x80—2 400 the class of traders concernet. is not able to pay the lowest marks—a lower rate is granted him, and the difference must be made up by those remaining of the eighty; 2.4% marks must | be paid, no matter what percentage any in. : | dividual will be called upon to pay. The amount of the individual tex is generally fixed by a committee of the trade. In London. ‘The question of assessment and taxation in London is not quickly examined nor }easily described. English local governs | ment can only be calied a system on the lucus a non lucendo principle. “There is neither co-ordination nor subordination,” as Mr. Chalmers says, among the numerous | authorities that regulate local affairs. The governmental functions of the city of Lon- don proper are divided between the corpo- ration and a commission called the commis- sioners of sewers. The former superinten@ the police, the city markets, courts of jus- | tice,bridges and education. The latter,street improvements, paving, lighting, cleaning, | Sewers and drains, sanitary works, ete, | The city of “London proper, with its ane | cient and hospitable corporation, with its large revenues from estates, tolls and | special privileges, is quite small, ing only 7W0 acres of grouad a’ jresidents. The metropolitan district, oF | Greater London, as it is called, extends into | four counties, embracing 120 squere The city proper enjoys some peculiar rights of taxation. It coal coming into the metropolitan at the rate of 26 cents per ton. Ii a wine duty of 4 shillings (about 97 per ton op wine coming into the |London as merchandise. It also small tax on all grain imported in’ port of London at the rate of 3-16 |Penny per hundredweight. These | cial privileges that belong to the city, ternalism in government to be where, Russia not excepted. In no Place in Europe is the science of taxation So fully developed or its ramifications #o extensive. Everything and everybody ts taxed, but it is so scientifically done that blige hn feel it, nor do they com- plain. The Octroi reaches everything and everybody. There is a cordon around Paris very much like the sentinels around a mil- itary camp. They pon oe sdb e ay) men, and everything entering the city. The amount gathered in, 1891 aggregated $30,000,000. Then there is a system of licenses so intricate and so ex- tensive that from the Octroi and they gather enough to avoid a heavy real estate tax. In fact, it is too small taken into account. It consists of a tax levied for the use of the sewers, city carries on several businesses in own name or farms out its right to othera, The pawnbroking business is carried on by the authorities. The undertakers’ trade be- longs to the city, and in various ways the city monopolizes those trades in their nature and which yield a Teve | erue. DANIEL MU ——_+0-+____ Chicago's Bottle Craze, From the Chicago Records A curious fancy in bric-a-brac has fan ntshed one man the foundation of a modere | ate fortune within the last year, He has a store on State street, near 14th, and used | to limit his transactions to the purchase and sale of old bottles. Druggists and bare keepers were his principal customers, but | now one may see fashionable carriages a& the door on almost it , and he | will ‘tell you that the wealthy asa people | whose tastes run to odd ornaments are there. They buy | shaped bottles and jugs of all | wares in blue or the quaint | tles in which various | detect h | drinking mugs suc! at Jackson Park almost a craze, times their Zormer Mr. Snorkins is bothered by Florida fliea He buys