Evening Star Newspaper, March 3, 1894, Page 12

° 12 THE EVENING STAR, SATURDAY, MARCH 3, 1894—-TWENTY PAGES. PROSPEROUS PEOPLE Washington Negroes the Most En- lightened in the World. THEIR PAST AND THEIR FUTURE They Own a Great Deal of Prop- erty Here. EMIGRATION TO LIBERIA Seritten tor The Evening Star. ANY LETTERS have reached the White House of late charging that the President has n ranted suitable rec- egnition to the Afri- can brother in dis- tributing offices. Probably the seme complaint is made against every admin- istration. Quite re- cently Mr. Cleveland appointed colored men to represent the United States in Bo- iivia and at Calais, France, and it was the Senate that turned them down. B.K. Bruce, though a republican, is still recorder of the District, an important and lucrative post, ‘which has been held by negroes ever since ‘Douglass. Of the 23,000 government em- ployes in Washington nearly 3,000 are col- ered. For example, a recemt count showed ‘that there were of that race in the Interior Department 74 clerks, 38 copyists, 1 type- ‘writer, 2 transcribers, 12 computers, 1 as- examiner, 53 messengers and 151 la- borers. No other fteld offers such good opportuni- Ries for the study of the negro problem, which has been exciting so much interest lately, as are found in the District of Co- Jumbia. Here, says Senator Morgan, exists the “Most enlightened African population in the world.” The colored people of Washing- ton have had an opportunity to vindicate their capacity for civilization such as has mever been afforded to their race .nywhere alse in the world. They own in this city ever $8,000,000 worth of real estate. There 4g no important respect in which they are mot om equal terms with the whites. They ave their society, fashionable and exclu- sive, and their clubs. Colored men have not succeeded as yet tm gaining admission to the Medical So- ciety of the District. Though there are able practitioners among them, the conserv- @tism of the profession has been too strong. It ig noticeable that the negroes here have not gone into shopkeeping to any extent, @ne reason alleged being that they lack the hearty co-operation of their own people, who prefer to patronize the stores of the whites. An exceptionally enterprising per- gon of African descent has recently started fm this city a “house-cleaning bureau.” His Prospectus states that he “has selected with great care and pains an efficient corps of able-bodied workmen, and is prepared to make. monthly or yearly contracts to clean eld and new houses, wash windows, tuke up and put down carpets, scrub floors, or @o any other work required about a house.” It is interesting to observe that in one Roman Catholic church here whites and ne- @r0es worship together. White priests offi- Siate, attended by colored boys as acolytes. M@he few colored people who attend the dis- Binctively white churches are not approved @f by others of their race. A negro who marries a white woman brings odium on himself thereby. These points go to show that the colored People generally do not de- sire to mix with the whites. They want the same rights, but are disposed to keep fo themselves. Superstitions That Prevail. Among negroes of the lower and un- futored class in Washington as elsewhere mumerous curious superstitions are cur- rent—some of them doubtless survivals of Beliefs brought over from Africa by their ancestors. For example, there is a market im the drug shops here for the fore feet of moles. These are cupposed to assist teething and for that purpose are hung as amulets about the necks of colored chil- dren. A story is current in negro folk lore that the mole was once a young lady, very vain and idle. She made acquaintance with a witch, who offered to furnish her with the most beautiful and most silky dress in the world on condition that she Would consent to the exaction of a price that was to be left to the sorceress to de- termine. This being agreed to the witch Geprived her of her eyesight and con- demned her to live underground, where she wears her silky dress unseen and un- admired. There are several species of lizards in this vicinity which are supposed to possess supernatural attributes. One of them, known to negroes as the “scorpion,” is often seem running along fences. It is pretty to look at, but its bite is death. Another lizard is known as the “wood witeb.” It lives in trees and jumps upon Wayiarers, killing them with its bite. Owls are to be dreaded, particularly at night in the woods, when they call after people. In some moist places grows a plant with a root that looks like a man anda woman. This root {s utilized for love charms and is sold in the markets here for that purpose. There are a good many reputed witches in the District who know how to “lay spells.” One way to do this 4s to bake an image of dough representing @ person and stick pins in it, thus causing the victim to suffer pain. A witch who practices this kind of black magic may be disarmed by making her image in dough, tying a string around its neck and leaving it to rise. When it is baked she is strangled so that she can mo more mischief for a year, at the emda of which time another bread doll may be prepared to continue the influence. On dark nights it is dangerous to walk alone on the streets, because the night doctor is abroad. He does not hesitate to choke colored people to death in order to obtain their bodies for dissection. The genesis of this belief from the well-known practice ef grave robbing for medical colleges, sev- eral of which are located here, is suffictent- ly lent. The ambition of negroes to imitate white folks is taken advantage of by unscrupulous fakirs, who sell to them at extortionate prices preparations which aro guaranteed to turn their complexions white or to make their hair straight. The stuff sold for the latter purpose seems ly to accomplish the result for a while, as advertised, but after a short time the hair all falls out and the new €rop comes in as kinky as ever. The Liberian Colonization Society, the headquarters of which are in Washing- ton, has recently adopted a new policy. 3t no longer aids indigent negroes to eml- te to Africa. The Liberian government fas protested against having such people gent out. It wants only able-bodied, hardy, {telligent men, with money enough to clear Jand, build a cabin, plant vegetables and coffee trees and provide fowls and do- ™Mestic animals for themselves. The busi- mess of unloading colored paupers upon the shores of Liberia has been carried far @mough. In that country there are thou- sands of natives and others to perform umskilled labor for a few cents a day. At the office of the soctety here 100,000 ap- Plications for transportation to this sup- Fosed promised land are now on file. Near- Ty all of them are made by penniless and WMiterate colored people who have proved themselves faiiures in the United States. For some years past the society has been sending out from 106 to 200 negroes annually. Lest year it furnished transportation to only five. About fifty more went on their own hook. To each head of a family who goes out the Liberian government will give twenty-five acres of wild land, if the col- onist comes under the auspices of the so- ciety. There is not much to do there except farm. A man can find almost enough food growing wild to live on, which is an in- ducement to laziness. Rubber, cotton and Sugar are grown with success. Coffee is crop, however. quires very le capital and no machinery, end the planter can always get a good Price for the product in gold. A plantation will bear in five or six years after the trees are set out. Methods of the Soctety. Twenty-five years ago the society had a ship of its own to convey emigrants to Liberia. Subsequently it engaged passage S * PON iles, Catarrh, Rh oothache, Sores, Wounds, Bruises A Typical Astringent. A Powerful Styptic. A Thorough Antiseptic. SEND FOR OUR BOOK (Mailed Free). IT WILL TELL ESTABLISHED FIFTY YEARS 'S EXTRACT INVALUABLE FOR eumatism, Neuralgia, Inflamed Eyes, So re Throat, Scalds, Burns, and ALL PAIN. YOU ALL ABOUT IT. ‘SOLD ONLY IN BOTTLES WITH BUFF WRAPPERS, BY ALL DRUGGISTS. REFUSE SUBSTITUTES, PROBABLY WORTHLESS. It_is UNSAFE TO USE ANY PREPARATION except the GENUINE with OUR DIRECTIONS. PONDS EXTRACT COMPANY, 76 FIFTH AVE, NEW YORK. for them on sailing vessels. makes arrangements for the purpose with an English steamship company that runs steamers from Liverpool to the west coast ot Africa. The agent of the company in New York sells tickets to Monrovia via Liverpeol. This is a rather roundabout way of getting there, the journey being about twice the distance necessary. The society glves passage money or other help to eligible colonists. Its funds are derived mainly from legacies, the most important of which was $100,000, given by a Baiti- trore ex-slave dealer. During the last year affairs in Liberia have been made more interesting by a war with the Grebos, a native tribe living within the boundaries of the republic, which has been obsireper- ous for a long time, and has refused to recognize the authority of the government. A gunboat, recently acquired by the gov- ernment, and a military force sent against them have changed their attitude some- what. The act of Congress of April, 1862, setting free all negroes held in bondage in the Dis- trict of Columbia, appropriated $1,000,000 to pay to owners for their slaves. A com- mission was appointed to arrange the com- pensation suitably. The money provided was so far insufficient that only about $300 each was paid for able-bodied negroes worth $1,000,to $1,500, The smallest sum given for any slave was $21.90, for a male infant. Some of the slaves were too old and feeble to be adjudged of ary value. Some of the slave owners were colored men, one of whom received $2,168 for ten slaves, and ancther $832 for two slaves. In making the appraisement much assistance was ob- tained from a Baltimore slave dealer named Campbell. His last resort, when puzzled as to the age of a negro, was to examine the teeth. One aged darkey could not give any idea of his age beyond the statement that “durimg Gen. Washington’s war he eould catch a horse and feed him.” Customs That Used to Hold. The supplementary act of July, 1862, which practically declared that all colored people who set foot in the District of Columbia were free, brought hordes of negro refugees from Virginia and Maryland to Washington,mest of them without means of support. Mr. Edward Ingle, to whom the writer is indebted for much of his informa- tion, says that a careful reading of the debates in Congress of that period shows extremists on both sides. If such a thing had been possible, some of them would have passed a law changing the color of the negro’s skin to white, while others would have Leen willing to enact a law changing to black the complexion of the special ad- voeates of the colored man. In July, 1833, Joseph Jefferson, father of the present Rip Van Winkle, was a lessee of the Washington Theater. He ad- dressed an appeal to the city fathers, ask- ing relief from “the present law which authorizes constables to arrest colored people on the streets without a pass after 9p.m.” This regulation, he stated, deprived the theater of an important part of its patronage, occasioning a loss of $10 nightly. In 1869 a municipal act was passed pro- hibiting distinction on account of color in places of public amusement, hotels, &c. Four years earlier the negroes obtained the right to ride on the same street cars with the whites. “If,” says Mr. Ingle, “there is disorder on the late cars, particularly Saturday nights, it is not so much due to the color of the occupants as to bad whisky, which makes no discrimination in its e fects on account of race, color, or previous condition of servitud: Early in the years of emancipation Con- gress took steps to correct certain defects in the moral code which had been bequeath- ed by slavery. The act of July, 1866, pro- vided that all negroes of the District of Columbia who previous to 1962 had been living together as husband and wife should be recognized as such in law. Further- more, the children born to those couples ere declared legitimate. ee . = RENE BACHE. ————— THE EARL AND THE SERVING MAID. She Would Carry No Coal and Got Round Damages From Clancarty. From the Westminster Gazett: Yesterday, at the Brompton county court, Capt. Head claimed £15 odd from the Earl of Clancarty for breach of agreement in the hiring of a furnished house, 40 Lowndes square. The defendant signed an agreement to take the house in question from Septem- ber 23 last to November 18 at the rent of £100 16s. This document contained a clause to the effect that his lordship should retain on the premises the landlord’s housemaid named White, the former paying her 3s. per week for washing and beer and half her wages (£22 per annum), besides providing her with board. Shortly after his lordship and his servants took up their abode at 40 Lowndes square the Earl of Clancarty sent the butler to the housemaid with an order to make a fire in Lady Clancarty'’s room. White replied that it was not her place to carry coal while an able-bodied footman was in the house. Eventually, however, she did light the fire, but expressed her opin- ion that it was not her duty to carry coal His lordship, on being informed of this, wrote her a note reproving her for what he termed “impertinence” and telling her to pack up and leave the house. Later on Lord Clanzarty offered her a month’s wages in leu of notice, but the plaintiff declined to accept it or to leave the house. She stated that she was turned out a ‘30 Pp. m. by the aid of a policeman. One of the neighbors sheltered her until the morning, when she took a train to her parents’ home in Taun- ton. Defendant, who was stated to be un- able at present to leave his residence at Ballinasloe, Ireland, was represented by counsel, who stated the defense to be that the girl on refusing to carry coal behaved impertinently, and defendant was legally within his right in discharging her. His honor said that clearly Lord Clan- carty had no authority to dismiss this serv- ant. He (the learned judge) did not think that in a nobleman’s family a housemaid should be asked to carry coal, and he was of opinion that the girl had treated his lord- ship with the greatest respect Possible. He found for the plaintiff for £13, but disal- lowed £2 railway fare and expenses to Taun- ton. Judgment was enter: ab cae ed accordingly, toe JERRY GEORGE'S PROMPTNESs, It Saved Many Lives and Won Him a Position. From the Easton Free Express. Jerry George, the conductor of the pas- senger train which was run into near the Hackensack bridge, on the Morris and Essex railroad, by another train on Jan- uary 14, once prevented a wreck and was generously remembered by the company for his promptness in the performance of his duty. Several years ago he was em- ployed as a brakeman on a short line of the Morris and Essex road, running into Hoboken. His train was running slow one day and had passed through the tunnel, when it occurred to him that the train was losing too much time, as an express train was due. He jumped off his train, ran back some distance in the tunnel and put torpedoes on the track. He had no sooner done so | than the express came rushing along, the | torpedoes cracked. and the engineer clapped on the brakes. The train was stopped and | an accident similar to that at Hackensack | was prevented. In order to avoid being tun down by the express Mr. George was | compelled to lie down between the track and the side of the wall, and had barely time to do this. For this quick-witted promptitude Mr. George was made a conductor of a pas senger train and has had since what rail- roaders term “a puli” with the compan the officers holding him in very high es: teem. ‘ At present it ee “Josiah Allen's Wife” in Romance. E DONE PRETTY well this year. The crops came in first- rate, and then Josiah had 4 or 5 head of cattle to turn off, and he proposed I should have a sewin’ ma- chine. Though we don't coo at each oth- er so much as some do, my pardner, Josi- ah, is attached to me with a firm and al- most cast-iron de- votedness. But I said to him, “Josiah, I had rather Tirzah Ann would have a organ, because if she is ever goin’ to learn to play, now is the time. And I have got a couple of sewin’ machines, that have run pretty well for up- wards of—weil, it hain't no matter how many years, but quite a number, anyway.” But Josiah hung on to that machine, and Tirzah Ann seemed sot onto her organ, and, finally, Josiah ups, and says he, “I will get both on ‘em.” And Tirzah and me thought we would let him have his head in the mat- ter. So it got out that we was goin’ to buy @ sewin’ machine, and a organ. Wall, we made up our minds on Friday, pretty late in the afternoon, and on Monday forengon I was a-washin’, when I heard a knock at the tront door, and 1 wrung my hands out of the water, and weat and opened it, A slick-iookin’ felier stood there, and I invited him in, and set him a chair. “I hear you are talkin’ of buyin’ musical imstrument for your daughte: Says he. says I, “we are goin’ to buy a or- Wal,” says he, Not tnat I have any inierest in it at all, enly I don’t want to see you imposed upon. It rairly makes me mad to see a Methodist imposed upon, 1 lean toward that perswal- ston myseif. Organs are liable w fail to ny minute. There hain't no de- ence on ‘em at all; the Insides of ‘em liable to break out any minute. If you any regard for your own welfare and you . Not that 1 have any interest in advising you, only my stern devotion to the cause of right. Pianos never wear out.’ “Where shouid we go to get one?” says I, for I didn’t want Josiah to property. “Wal,” says he, I have got one out believe 1 threw « tarow away his ‘as it happens, I guess here in the wagon. 1 e into the bottom of the Wagon this morni 1 was a-comin’ down by here on busing am ¢ did, for it aways makes mi ves see a Methodist imposed upon,” Josiah came into tne house in a few min- Utes, and I told him about it; and, says J, “How lucky it is, Josiah, that'we found out about organs, before it was too lat But Josizh asked the price, and said he Wasn't goin’ to pay out no 300 dollars, for he wuzzn't able. But t aif we was willin’ to have it brougat tuto tne house for a speli—we could do as we was a mind to about buyin’ it; and, couldn't retuse, so Josian al back a-liftin’ it in. And they sot it up in the parlor, and after dinner the man went away. 1 nad just got back to my washin’ agin (@ had had to put it away to get dinner), when I heard a knockin’ again ww the front door, and I pulled down my dress sleeves, and went and opened it, and there stood a tall, slim feller, and the kitenen bein’ all cluttered up, I opened the parlor door, and asked him in there. And the minute he ketched sight of that piano, he Just lifted up both hands, and says he: “You hain’t got one of them here!” He looked so horrined that it skairt me, and says I in almost tremblin’ tones: “What is the matter with ‘em? rites in a cheerful tone, it” and I “We hain't bought He looked more cheerful, too, as I said it, and, says he: “You may be thanktul enough that you hain't. There hain't no music in ‘em at all. Hear that,” says he, goin’ up, and strikin’ the very top note. It did sound flat enough. Says I: “There must be more music in it than that, though [ hain’t no judge at all.” “Wal, hear that, .hen,” and he went and struck the very »otiom note. “You see jest what it is, from icp to bottom. But it hain’t its total lack of music that makes me despise pianos so; it is because they are so dangerous.” “Dangerous?” says I. es, in thunder storms, you see,” says he, liftin’ up the cover. “Here it Is, all wire, enough for fifty lightnin’ rods—draw the lightnin’ right into the room, Awful dangerous! No moncy would tempt me to have one in my house, with my wife and daughte { shouldn't sleep a wink, think- in’ I had expo: ‘em to such danger.” “Good Lord!" says I, “I never thought on it before. “Wal, now you have thought of it. You see plainly that an organ is just what you need. They are full of music, safe, healthy and don’t cost half so much.” Says I; “An organ was what we had set our minds on at first “Wal, I have got one out here, and I will bring it in. “What is the price?’ “One hundred and says I. y dollars,” says he. “There won't be no need of bringin’ it in at that price.” says I, “for I have heard Josiah say that he wouldn't give a cent over $100 for one.” Wal,” says the feller, “I'll tell you what I'll do. Your countenance looks so kinder natural to me, and I like the looks of the country ‘round here so well, that if your mind is made up on the price you want to pay I won't let a trifle of $50 part us. You can have it for $100." Wal, the end on’t was he brung it In and sot it up the other end of the parlor and drove off. And when Josiah came in from his work, and the children came home from school, they liked it first-rate. But the very next day a new agent came, and he looked awful skairt when he ketch- ed sight of that organ, and awful mad and indignant, too. “That villaif hain’t been a-tryin’ to get one of them organs off onto you, has he?” says he. “What is the trouble with "’em?” says I, in an awe-struck tone, for he looked bad. “Why,” says he, “there is a heavy mort- gage on every one of his organs. If you bought one of him, and paid for it, It would be Hable to be took away from you any minute, when you was right in the middle of a tune, leavin’ you a-settin’ on the stool, and you would lose every cent of your money. “Good gracious!” says I, for it skairt me | to think what a narrow chance we had run. Wal, finally, he brung in one of hisen, and set it up in the kitchen, the par- |lor bein’ full on ‘em. | Wal, he driv off, and he hadn’t more’n | got out of sight when the first organ man | came, and I treated him pretty cool, think- | in’ in my own mind how he had tried to cheat us. He see my frigidness, and asked me to tell him what was the matter, and I up and told him. And then, man swore! He sald “the feller left was the biggest Har tn North He had been turned out of church after church jest for lyin’ and then he offered to bring down a lawyer to prove it was a lie, and says he, “I'll swear j to, it.”* America. “You have swore enough about it now,” says I, coolly, and almost frigidly, for I was a-gettin’ out of patience with the whole caboodle of 'e Wal, the next day a new one come. He ‘asked $175 for hisen in the ‘rst place; but QUA SUFFERENS WITH AGENTS “I want to advise you, | oh, | fered to him for $100 he said we might , have his for $9), and he would throw in a tool and tune book and a spread for It. deon?”’ says Josiah, for it sickened that man to see 'em go on. To see a man fall down $85 to one fall! That feller hung round the biggest part of the day; was there to dinner and supper, but Josiah | didn’t give him no decided answer, and | finally he went off. But no sooner would jone swarm go than another would come; and before the week was out the house was chuck full; you couldn't turn ‘round with- | plano or sunthin’. |" And the fellers a-comin’ and goin’ at all hours! For a spell at first, Josiah would |come in and taik with ‘em, | while he but after a got tired out, and when he would see one a-comin’, he would start on a rua \for the barn and hide, and I would have to stand the brunt of it alone One feller see Josiah a-runnin’ for the barn, and he follered him in, and Jesiah dove under the barn, as I found out afterward. I happen- to see him a-crawlin’ out after the feller drove off. Josiah came in a-shakin’ him- | self, for he was all covered with straw and | feathers, and says he: 40. will buy a gun the first hard work I Says I, “I would be ashamed of myself, Josiah Allen. I guess it haint no harder for me than it is for you.” “Wal,I was a-calculatin’ to make it easier for you. What do you suppose I was a- goin’ to shootin’ ‘em for? It would help you as much as it would me to thin ‘cm off @ little.” Says I, “Josiah, to say nothin’ of the wickedness of it, it wouldn't do no good. Don't you remember the fox in the bram- bles? ‘Let the old swarm remain, for if you Grive "em off, a hungryer set would come, and then I should be utterly devoured." ” Wal, this took place about noon. I had a@ awful headache, and I told Josiah, says I, “How I am goin’ to tussle with them agents this afternoon, I don’t know joyin’ such poor health as T do toda When I feit well, I could get along ‘em better, but it didn’t seem to me as I could argue with ‘em ail the afternvon, feelin’ as I did, and Jostah had got to go up Into the woods to work. Says Josiah, “I'll fix ‘em. T'll set a trap jest outside of the gate and ketch 'em in it.” | Says I, “That won't do no good, Josixh: for if you shouid disable ‘em, i should oaly have ‘em to take care of; and if you should ketch one in it, the rest could get over the fence.” Says Josiah, “Can't I fx the clothes line so it would trip "em up?” “Not in the daytime,” says I, depressed- y. “Take that old pep-gun of Thomas Jeffer- son's, and load it with beet juice, and shoot ‘em with it, and make ‘em think yeu have drawed blood.” “There haint no beet juice,” says I, in a gloomy tone. “And if there was, how could I take aim, with my head as it is teday?”" “Wal.” sa Josiah, “I have got to go, anyway. You. up the house and zo to | bed, and mebby you can k And so I , aS soon off. I let-down the curta doors, and laid down. I hi the door a good many times, and a con- jsiderable movin’ and stampin’ round the house, but 1 never stirred till It was time for Josiah to come home, and then I roust- ed up and thought I would hang on the tea kettle. Wal, I jest his up a corner of the | window-curtain, and I could jest a | of shinin’ boots in front of the parlor ¢ I went to the other window, and the jcould see the bull on him. It v | plano man. I w into the kitchen 4: as still as I could, and I heard a talkin’ on the piazza, and [ peeked through a hole in the curtain, and there sot two of ‘em; one a sewin'’-machine ta and the other a organ; so they was friendly to each other, and sot together. As I stood there, the organ man sp-ke up. “They must be to home pretty soon, and I guess that piano feller will find that I can stick It out as long as he can,” says he. “Yes,"" says the other feller, “and I :cuess that t'other feller will find that he can't tucket out me, if he should stay here ail night.” Thinks I, ““Mebby I can slip out the back door and fill the tea kettle,” but I'll be hanged if one didn’t set there on the hack stoop, lookin’ down the- road that led to Jonesville, as close as a cat would watch a rat hole. I went back to my room again, wore out and essed, and I wished Josiah would come. peeked out of the winder toward the barn, to see if I could see him, and hap- penin’ to cast my eye down toward the ground, I see one of his boots stick cut a ulttle ways from under the barn; then I see that he had got as far as the barn before he see ‘em, and then he hid. I knew there wouldn't be no gettin’ him into the house ull the enemy had dispersed, but yet It was a satisfaction to know that my com- Panion was so near to me. Wal, they never went a so Josiah could come out of his hidin’-place, and I could get supper, til! sundown, and I had to get supper and Josiah had to milk after dark. And says Josiah, as we was eatin’ supper after bed-time— “Samantha, as for standin’ longer, I can’t, and won't. * to 5 it so much {t's a-runain’ you down, and I am sp’ilin’ my clothes a- erawlin’ under that barn so much, to say himself again to the cherry pie, and says, with a gloomy expression onto his face, “There has got to be a change.” “How is there going to be a change?” says 1. “T'll tell you,” he, in a whis} fear some on ‘ce! as prowlin’ rou house yet. ‘We will get up before Ii morrow morn and go to Jonesville and buy a organ right out.” T fell in with the idee, and we started for Jonesville the next morn Ww jest after the break of de nd bought it of the man to the breakfast table. Says Josiah to me afterward, as we was goin’ down into the village: “Let's keep dark about buying one, and seo how many of the creeters will be a-be- settin’ on us today.” Says I, “You must love to be haunted by ‘em better than I do.” Says he, “I'd love to fool 'em.” Says I, “It is jest about such foolin’ as the little boy done that let his father whip him through a mistake, jest to fool his father.” But seein’ that my companion looked disappointed, I told him that wasn't my way to tell everything I knew. I should say nothin’ about havin’ bought one.” So we kep’ still, and there was half-a- dozen fellers follerin’ us round all tae time a’most, into stores and groceries, and the mantymaker's. And they would stop us on | the sidewalk, and argue with us about their | organs and pianes. One feller, a tall, slim | chap, he never let Josiah outen his sight a | minute, and he followed him after he went after his horse, and walked by the side of the wagon, clear down to the store where I Was, a-arguin’ all the way about his piano. Josiah had bought a number of things, and left ‘em to the store, and when we got there there stood another one, the organ-man, by the side of the things, just like a watch dog. He knew Josiah would have to come and get ‘em, and he could get the last word with him. Amongst other things, Josiah had bought | a barrel of salt. and the plano-feller thet had stuck to Josiah so tight all day offered to help Josiah on with it. And the organ- man, not going to be outdone by the other, he offered too. Josiah kinder winked to me, and then he held the old mare and let 'em lift. They wasn't used to such kind of work, and it fell back on ‘em once or twice and most squshed ‘em; but they hipped to, | and lifted agin, and, finally, got it on. But they was completely tuckered out. And then Josiah got in, and thanked 'em | for the liftin’, and the organ-man, a-wipin’ the sweat offen his face, that had started out in his hard labor, id he “should be down tomorrow mornin and the piano- man, a-pantin’ for breath, told Josiah “not say: m “Can't you throw in a nice little melo- | ‘out hittin" against a sewin’ machine or a. wnen Josiah told him he had had one of- | to make up his mind till he came. enough.” ‘And then Josiah told ‘em that “he should be glad to see ‘em down a-visitin’ any time, but he had jest bought a organ.” I don’t know but what they would have laid holt of Josiah, if they hadn’t been so tuckered out, but as it was they was too beat out to look anything but sneakin’, And so we drove off. ‘The mantymaker had told me that day that there was two or three new agents with new kinds of machines jest come to Jonesville, and I was jest a-tellin’ Josiah on it when we met a middle-aged man, and he looked at us pretty close, and, finally, he asked us as he went by us, “if we could tell him where Josiah Ailen lived.” Says Josiah, “I am a-livin’ at present in this one-horse wagon. Says he, “You are thinkin’ of buyin’ a sewin’ machine, haint yo Says Josiah, “I am a-turnin’ my mind that way.” At that the man turned his horse round and followed us, and I see that he had a sewin’ machine in front of his wagon. Our old mare had a colt, and seein’ a strange horse come up so cluss behind us it started the colt up, and she kicked up her heels, and started of full run toward Jonesville, and then run down a cross-road and into a lot. Says the man behind us, “I am a Httle younger than you be, Mr. Allen. If you will hold my horse, I will go after the colt with pleasure.” Josiah was glad enough, and so he got into the feller’s wagon; but before he start- ed off, the man, says he, “You can look at that machine in front of you while I am gone. I tell you, frankly, that there haint another machine equal to it in America. It requires no strength at all; infants can run it for days at a time; idiots; if anybody Knows enough to set and whistle, they can run this raachine; and it is especially adapt- ed to the blind—blind people can run it jest as well as them that can see. A blind woman last year, in one day, made $48 a-makin’ leather aprons; stitched ‘em all round the edge two rows. She made two dozen of 'em, and then she made four dozen gauze veils the same day without changing the needle. That ts one of the beauties uf the machine, its goin’ from leather to iace and back agein without changing its gear— it makes It so handy for wimmin, It is £0 tryin’ tor wimmin, every time they want to go from leather to gauze and beok mus- lin, to have to change the needle. But you can see for yourself that it hatnt got tts equal in North America.” He heard the colt whinner and Josiah stood up in the wagon and looked after it. So he started off down the cross-road. So we sot there, feelin’ considerable like a procession, Jesiah holdin’ the stranger's | horse and I the old mare. And we sot there, up driv another slick-looxin’ chap, and I bein’ ahead, he spoke to me, and says “Can you direct me, mem, to Josiah Al- Jen's house?” “It is about*a mile from here,” and, I ag in w friendly tone, “Josiah is my hus- a . In a genteel tone. “We have been to Jones-} : and our colt ran down that cross-road and— s he?” says he, he, interruptin’ of me. “I And then he went on in a lower ton you think of buyin’ a sewin’ machine don't get one of that feller in agon behind you. I know him well—he is e of the most worthless jacks in the as you can plainly see by the looks ce. If Lever see a face on nd villain Wrote down it Any one with half an eye can see that he would cheat his grandmother out of her snuff handkerchief, if he got a chance.” He talked so fast that I couldn't get a chance to put in a word edgeways for Jo- siah, “kis sewin’ machines are utterly worth- less. He hain’t never sold one yet; he can’t! His character has got out—folks Know him. There was a lady telling me, the other day, that her machine she bought of him all fell to pieces in less than twenty-four hours after she bought it; feil onio her infant, a sweet little babe, and crippled it for iife. I see your husband ts havin’ a hard time of it with that colt. I will jest hitch my horse here to the fence and go down and heip him. I want to have a litue talk with him before he comes back here.’ So he started off on the run, 1 told Josiah what he said about him, for it madded me, but Josiah ook it cool. He seemed to love to set there and see them two men run. I never did see « colt act as that one did. They didn’t have time to pass a word with each other to tind out their mistake; it kep’ ‘em on a keen run. They would get it headea toward us and then it would kick up its heels and run onto some lot and canter round in a circle, with its head up in the air, and then bring up short against the fence. And then they would leap over the fence. The fust one had white pantaloons on, but he didn’t mind ’em; over he would go, right into sikuta or elder bushes. And they would wave their hats at it and holler and whistle and bark like dogs, and the colt would whinner and start of agin right the wrong way, and them two men would go a-panung after it. They had been a-runnin’ nigh on to half an hour,when a good-lookin’ young feller come along, and, seein’ me a-settin’ still and holdin’ the old mare, he up and says: “Are you in any trouble that I can assist you?” Says I, “we are going home from Jones- ville, Josiah and me, and our colt got away and— But Josiah interrupted me, and says he, “and them two fools a-caperin’ after it are sewin’ machine agents.” The sood-lookin’ chap see all through it in a minute, and he broke out into a laugh ic would have done your soul good to hear, it was so clear and hearty and honest. But he didn’t say a Word; he drove out to go then that he had a ma- ou a agent says he. “What sort a machine is this here?” says Josian, liftin’ up the oil cloth from the m chine in front of him. “A pretty good one,” says the feller, look- in’ at the name on it. “Is yours as good?” says Josiah. “I think it is better,” says he. And then he started for his horse. “Hello! stop!" says Josiah. The feiler stopped. “Why don’t you run down other fellers’ machines, and beset us to buy yours?” “Because I don’t make a practice of stop- pin’ people in the street.” “Do you haunt folks day and night? foller ‘em up ladders, through trap-doors, down cellar and under the barn?” “No,"’ says the young chap. “I show peo- ple how my machine works. If they want it, I sell it; and if they don’t, I leave.” “How much is your machine?” says Jo- siah. “Seventy-five dollars.” “Can't you,” says Joslah—‘“because I look so much like your old father, or be- cause I am a Methodist, or because my wife's mother used to live neighbor to your grandmother—let me have it for $257" The teller got up in his wagon, and turn- ed his machine roynd so we could see it plain. It was a beauty. And says he: “You see this machine, sir: I think it is the best one made, although there is no great difference between this and the one over there; but I think what difference there is is in this one's favor. You can have it for $75 if you want it; if not I will drive on.’ “How do you like the looks on it, Sa- says Josiah. “It is the kind I wanted to get.” ook out his wallet and counted out $75, and says he: “Put that machine into that wagon where Samantha is.” . The »okin’ yourg feller was jest littin’ of it ir and countin’ over his money when the two fellers come up with the colt. It seemed thai they had had a ce they had | as they were comin’ back. I see they had as quick as I ketched sight on ’em, for they was a-walkin’ one on one side of the road and the other on the other, ‘most tight up to the fence. They was ‘most dead, the He | colt had run *em so, and it did seem as if | the form should be down that night, if he got rested | their faces couldn't look mo redder nor more madder than they did, as we hitched right on ‘em. But they did when Josiah thanked ‘em for drivin’ back the colt, and when they see that the other feller had sold us a machine, their faces did look red- der and madder yet. But I didn’t care a mite. tickled enough that we had got through with our sufferens with agents. And the colt had got so beat out a-runnin’ and rac- in’ that he drove home first-rate, walkin’ | along by the old mare as stiddy as a dea- con. THE SUGARY SIMNEL What It is Made of and Where It is Eaten, An Ancient Custo! Lent Sunduy in Certain Parts of Merrie England. Written Exclusively for The Evening Ster. Among the many curious and interesting features of English rural life are a great variety of purely local customs, all of more or less antiquity. Considering the sma!i extent of the country, which is very little larger than the state of New York, the di- | versity and distinct localization of these customs are certeinly remarkable. Not a few of them have so far survived the con- ditions that called them into existence that even their origin is involved in obscurity, and learned antiquaries puzzle their wits over them and in some cases offer us quite a variety of hypotheses concerning them. Of these customs American travelers see Uttle or nothing. They are removed from the beaten track of travel, are, for the most part, only of annual occurrence, and are confined each to its own particular lo- cality. One of the most remarkable of them all is the eating of simneis on Mid-Lent cr Mothering Sunday, which this y falis on March 4. The simnel is especially identi- fied with the old town of Bury in Lanca- shire, a few miles distant from the birth- place of Mrs. Frances Hodgson It is eaten, however, throughout the ¢ portion of the county, but it is rare more than 40 or 50 miles from Bury, ex- cept that the royal table is supplied with this veritable triumph of the confectioner’s art on the occurrence of the ennual festi- val that is sacred to its use. It is indeed @ singular fact thet the use of a delicacy of which few people think they can have too much should be confined to the fourth Sunday in Lent, and it affords a striking illustration of the tenacity with which our English cousins cling to observances that have lost all their original significance. Menning of Mothering Sunday. Antiquaries are at vari: e even over the meaning of the term “Mothering Sunday Some of them hold that the appellation is derived from the ancient custom of visit- ing the mother or cathedral church of the diocese on that day to make offerings. Others associate the term with the annual visit that young people living away from hore, especially those in domestic service, were accustomed to pay to their parents, when, as the common phrase expresses it, the children went “a-mothering.” On these occasions it was customary for the daughter to take home to her mother a cake, com- moniy called a “mothering cake.” In a song to Dianeme, Herrick, the poet of Eng- Ush homely life, born in 15¥1, says: “I'll to thee 4 simnel bring, *Gainst thou go a-mothering; So that, when she blesses thee, Half that blessing thou'lt give me.” While to this simple and appropriate cus- tom may well be ascribed the origin of the modern simnel, it is a question whether the custom itself was not the outcome of some- thing more than mere filial affection. In the calendar of the church mid-Lent Sun- day is called Dominica Refectionis, or Re- fection (sometimes refreshment) Sunday,the first lesson being the account of the ban- quet given by Joseph to his brethren and the gospel of the day the miraculous feed- ing of the 5,000. What more natural than that, notwithstanding the austerities of Lent, those two great historic feasts should be commemorated in the humble homes of the Christians of the middle ages by a temporary departure from the usually fru- gal and, at that season especially,plain mode of living? Be that as it may, however, the connection between the simnel and Mother- ing Sunday is well established, and it is only « matter of surprise that, while the visitation of parents on Mid-Lent or Moth- ering Sunday is still observed throughout a large part of England, the simnel is as com- pletely forgotten as if it had never existed except within that restricted area with which it is now so thoroughly and exclusive- ly_identified. Considerable interest attaches to the meaning of the word “simnel,” its populer and scientific etymologies being, as is so often the case, entirely at variance. ‘'ra- dition ascribes the origin of the word to a worthy old couple named Simon and Nelly, of whom the following story is told: it was Lent, and, in accordance with their annual custom, the children were on a Visit to the old hon Only unleavened bread was in allowed to be eaten during the Lenten fast, but on™this particular occa- sion the old lady determined to make an experiment in cake-making, the unleaven- | ed dough being used as a foundation. To this proposa! old Simon added the suzges- tion that the remains of a Christmas plum pudding stiil in the larder might also be utilized, the idea being to afford the young people something of a surprise when the less attractive exterior of the cake had been broken through. So far as the compo- sition of the cake was concerned, the old couple were thoroughly agreed. When, however, the manner of its cooking came to be determined, a violent contention arose between them. The Difficulty Compromised. The old wife, naturaliy enough, prepared to bake it, but old Simon insisted that it should be boiled. Nelly thought her hus- band must surely be demented. The very idea, she said, of boiling a cake! Simon, however, was just as obstinate as an old man meddling with something he does not understand is apt to be, and so high ran the contention that words soon gave way to blows, for. however conciliatory old Nelly might be under ordinary circum- stances, this was an invasion of her pre- rogative that she could not possibly per- mit. Minor articles of furniture were utiliz- ed as weapons, and had the strength and accuracy of aim with which they were wielded been anything like equal to the spirit engendered by the strife, neither of | the combatants would have emerged from the conflict uninjured. As it was, either the seriousness or the hudicrousness of the sit- uation gradually dawned upon the old cou- ple, and when one of them proposed, as a compromise, that the cake should be both boiled and baked, the suggestion was at once agreed to. The product of this bi- cullnary process was so great a success that Simon and Nelly soon found many imita- tors, who gave them full credit for their discovery, calling the cake by their joint names. In course of time the cumbrous- ness of the appellation became so generally recognized that the name was abbreviated to Sim-Nell, which finally became simnel, We drove off | which has been in use for the last 300 years. § a wel So much for a popular ety: | , Another theory of deriv one | in comparison with ay wedi ded would almost pass as scientific. refers the prigin of the word “simnel” to an Oxford og mee — aot century, none other, the “pret : er of Sambert Simnel, e true etymology of the word connects it with the medieval Latin siminclus. oF simanellus, bread or cake of fine wheat flour, and with the earlier an3 simpler form simtla, wheat four of fine quality. As early as the thirteenth century the word simineus university students lok, the Dane, 1250, the ee simenel, identical with the = it subsequently beca: nella, symnyile and »: before suming its present form ol But the simnel of answers to the fine wheaten bread of the middle ages nor to the conglomerate of unleavened dough and Christmas plum pudding referred to in the story of Simun Ne contrary, it is an ex: ap of flour, suga: heavily iced of the onlinary white icing, and other choice candies freely adornment. Lest, however, any lady reader of The Star should rashly | Preparation of this mysterious prodi it should be stated that, like the compromise of Simon and Nelly, the simnel is both boiled and LANCASTRIAN, Character Building. From the Ladies’ Home Journsl. And now, leaving the relations of mother and daughter, let us consider what are most important lessons to teach. In charac- ter building the foundation stones must, of course, be the principles of religious truth, ania voluntary obedience to the law of duty is the ultimate cbject of all moral training. * During childhood the mother is the in- terpreter of God, and the little one’s love end trust in her inspires her reverence and obedience. Later, as the mother bird teach- ing her young to fly, upbears them on her own wings until theirs can be trusted and then gradually withdraws her help, so the human mother little by little effaces herself and leads the young consciences to feel | their accountability to God alone. | This as the initial step in self-government, and duty is gradually recognized to be a finer thing than self-pleasing. A definite direction at this juncture is of immense help and ci tes vague, nebu- lous ide of duty. Carlyle’s clarion call, “Do the duty that lies nearest you, elready the rext will have become clearer,” has been n inspiration to many lives. U a tionably “the duty that lies nearest” is that arising from the natural relation- snip as members of a family. Duty, lke charity, begins at heme. A girl should be tacght that her part ts to make the sunevhine of the home, to briny cheer and joyousness into it. She Jespecially be led to recognize her obliga- tions to her father, whose love provides for her comfort and happiness with untiring devotion and unremftting effort. Her lov- ing little attentions should make him feel jher gratitude, and “petting” comes with | charming grace from an affectionate daugh- ter. “Love does not work for wages,” but jit is sorely wounded by ingratitude, and | there is sometimes @ tendency to regard the father merely in the light of “purse bearer.” There ts not a day that she can- not make lighter and brighter to her fam- | ily by nameless acts of kindness and unsel- | fishness, and she should feel that “a small | unkindness is a great offense.” ‘The Last Resort. _ From Pack. Parker—“What is that railroad syndicate of yours going to do?” Barker—“Well, we've tried hard to sell the charter, but it begins to look as though we'd have to build the road to make any~ thing out of it.” ——_—+e0______ Color Predominates in Handkerchiefs. From the Chicago Herald. In the handkerchief department color cer tainly predominates over white. fvery- Where I note large stocks of white handker- chiefs with fancy borderings, machine- worked or printed in color. They may not be the fashionable novelty, but they are very popular and run the lowest prices. The real novelties are less light and fanciful, and consist chiefly of various checked arrangements on white and tinted grounds, either plain or damask, with a slight admixture of silk. For gentlemen some of the checks which we have hitherto considered as only fit for peasants’ coarse cotton handkerchiefs are copied exactly in cambric, even to the corded band which is laid inside the he: ched border. A Marvelous Yankee Invention. Among the innumerable exhibits in the Manufacturers’ building at the World's Fair there was one of such unique design that, even in that wilderness of interesting things, it attracted much attention. It consisted of two wax figures, the one a girl, sitting, and the other a man, standing upon a simple platform. The man was leaning toward the | sit] as though he were explaining to her the design of a small crescent-shaped piece of rubber cloth, which he held in his hand | More life-like figures than these were never | seen in Mme. Tussaud’s or any other exhi- | bition of wax works be the wort. 4 | People approached this group ani face, wondering why he stood . When they discovered their error they bit their lips and moved away, only to return in a little while tg see what those wax figures meant. The figure of the maa bore the countenance of Jared H. Canfield, | the inventor of the famous seamless dress shield. The other represented one of the prettiest girls in Bridgeport, Conn.,.an employe of the factory at which these shields are now made by the million, whom | he was instructing how to make the article. The Canfield seamless dress shield itself is too well known to need description. Of the steady growth and the )gesent enormous business of the company that manufactures | them, however, the public knows but litde. When the Canfield Rubber Company wes or- ganized in 1882 its capital was $10,000, an@ its plant consisted of one small building and a few machines. Today, al the tal has been increased only to $250,000, with a surplus of another quarter of a million, | the company manufactures over 4,000,000 pairs of dress shields every year, transact- ing an annual business of over $1,000,000 and having head offices in New York, London and Paris. Mr. Ratcliffe Hicks, the president of the company, is 2 man of remarkable business ability, His success fs due, not more to the self-recommending article he set out to manufacture than to his untiring and in- genious efforts to make every woman in the land give it at least one tri In recogni- tion of the appreciation of these women, which has built up the industry, Mr. Hicks has now announced a scheme by which a | few of them will receive a token of the com- pany’s gratitude. To the three women who | make the best guesses as to the number of | shieids sold: Ist, In the United States; 2a, in Europe, and 3d, in all the world, in 1893, [he offers a free Cook excursion ticket to | Europe and return. Or, if they prefer the | money, they will receive $200, $200 and $500 | respectively for the best guess in each of the three classes. All guesses must be mailed to 73 Warren street, New York, before April 1, 1894, and the prizes will be awarded on the 1st of May following. You can write for full particulars to its office in New York, | into the mai