Evening Star Newspaper, March 3, 1894, Page 15

LOVE AND POLITICS Cupid Aided by the Mutations of Public Life. THE STORY OF WILLIAM AND TILDY How Appointment to Office Won Him His Wife. POP HAD TO GIVE IN THEN CUPID HAS been toying with the god of politics, what- ever his name. It is not often that the winged little chap with the dimples and the arrows and the unerring aim gets “mixed up in the hur- ly-burly of wire pul- lers and heelers, but it is to be noted that whenever he does buckle his little belt more tightly about his plump anatomy and goes into the fray, he generally comes cut @ winne>. And here is a case in point, the Particulars of which have been related to a Star reporter, in which Cupid has scored a signal vietory ove> his roystering rival. Like one of Gaboriau’s novels, this story must be sent whizzing back a dozen years, im order to lead up properly to the climax. The scene opens in a quiet county in North Carolina, back from the carking struggles of the coast and an effete civilization, back im the pine woods, where the odor of tar and balsam mingles with the ozone of the mountains. The atmosphere is languorous, after a fashion; at all events, there Is love in the air. Cupid -fots in the hearts of the mountaineers, though he is shy of letting them know him, and often deceives them, and leads them some merry chases. It is @ county where love is sturdy, and, once Planted in good soil, flourishes and stays, though blasts of adversity and opposition may blow and bend and even break the stem. Under such circumstances, then, aid a certain young man and young woman fall to loving each other some years ago. It were perhaps the part of charity to refrain from saying just how many years, ae well as the part of wisdom. It is good to plead generosity in such things when one doesn't know. But the course of Cupid was not easy. The girl had a father and the father was stern. The young man sat around the door yard and whittled and told long stories about “doin’s” in They Met by Moonlight. the adjoining counties and made himself as popular as he could with the brothers, and even made a friend of the mother, who saw in his attentions the chance of an excellent match for the daughter. But Pop was obdurate, and, as his in- fluence in the household was paramount, Pop had his way. Sometimes fathers are opposed to senti- ™mental young men because they do not like the swains. Sometimes the wooers are not prosperous; sometimes they have bad habits, and sometimes they are too early in their matrimonial inclinations. None of these objections could be urged against the young man of the present history. He was steady, sober, honest, industrious, with good prospects. He was im many respects a model young man. Nevertheless the father declined to enter into an alliance with his daughter's suitor. The girl was old enovgh to marry—plenty old enough—and Pop had begun to think that a son-in-law might be a good in- vestment, but not that candidate. Mentioning candidates brings the narra- tive down to the real objection that Pop had against the claimant. It was purely one of politics. It so happened that Pop and his sons constituted the only family of repub- licans in the entire county. They were of the outspoken type of politicians, who go in for spoils when there are any in sicht, and so when the administration of a republican President became a fact, they went for and captured all the federal offices in sight. ‘The candidate for Tildy’s hand—he must be here known as Mr. William Bird, out of consideration for his feelings—not being a gon of Pop, though he hoped to approxi- mate to that honor, was, of course, a dem- ocrat. Between Pop and a democrat there ‘Was a great culf fixed. So when the even- Pop Opened the Letter. ing visits began to grow frequent and long, and the winter came on and there was rospect of indoor courtship, he served a Notice on William that his love was a misfit. William protested. He argued that Tildy and he were matched and that the time had come for Tildy to take a husband, and for him to take a wife. The conclusion of his Jogte was inevitable, but Pop held out. “No, sah!" he exclaimed, aiming the im- ent of a bit of fine-cut at a belated ee on a pire cone near by and slaying it at one round. “Yo" cyan” hev heh. They ¢yan’ be no mixin’ up of bloods in this fam- Dley. Yo" git rid o° yo" politics an’ jine w all's side, an’ I'll consider yo’ as how y mought be fitten fo’ Tildy. But Tildy cyan't marry no democrat, long’s I'm sayin’ any- thing "bout this heah fembley.” That settled it; and William felt it, though he continued to argue until Pop grew angry and told him not to be seen around his house again. This might have discouraged an ordinary lover; but William was not of that sort. He had not breathed the tar air and ozone of the mountains for nothing, and he w away from that interview deter- mined to win eventually. He nursed his political and sentimental wrath in the spirit Fi a and conquest, and bided his 2. Meanwhile, Tildy, though unhappy, tear- ful, thin and sad. bore up under the blow and was true to William. As the prettiest irl in the neighborhood, she might have plenty of admirers, but Pop's decision ve a broad hint to all others that Mr. ird was to have the first chance at a political conversion, and then, too, Yam had a reputation for a certain agility of the ere and hand that was not conducive to the health of those who crossed him. The years went by and still Pop held out. William did not despair, nor did he quite stick to the letter of the injunction against him. Where was there ever a sincere lover who did, under similar circumstances? Where was ever a Romeo who said meekly “Yes, sir! jecting parent, an¢ thenceforth eliminated himself from the @ight of men” That is not the style of THE EVENING STAR, SATURDAY, MARCH 3, 1894-TWENTY PAGES. } | young men who love young women in the North Carolina mountains. it was not William's style, at least. He and Tildy used to meet sometimes with the conntv- nce of Tildy’s mother, sometimes by the aid of Cupid unassisted. They would sit on the saw-buck, out in the yard, with the moonlight streaming over them, and with their ears primed to catch the first sounds of Pop's footsteps as he came back from the settlement. It was hard work to keep the flame of fection burning under such depressing circumstances, but they manag- ed to do it, and were happy in their own way, hoping, of course, for better times and for Pop’s relentment. Then came the elec- tion that put Gen. Harrison into the White House, and that started the great machine running that distributed the plums here and there throughout the country. One of plums—a nice, fat one—fell at the feet of Tildy’s Pop, and he hesitated not a moment in his acceptance. This ——— Mog be jee st office of the largest town In the count 2nd thither Pop and Mom and Tidy and | the rest of the family moved, leaving Will- fam disconsolate up in the mountains. It was then that William's spirit of revenge was born anew, and then that he deter- mined to turn his own politics to account some day. Pop's position as postmaster Henry Composed. gave him, of course, control over all the correspondence of his family, which, though not large, was apt to be interesting, with William in the mountains and Tildy in town. So in a moment of parental enthusiasm and official indiscretion, Pop decided to put forth ja resteaining hand between William and his love, and to stem the tide of his epistolary affection: and thus William's first letter was intercepted. Others rapidly met the same fate. Meantime, Tildy was wondering why there was no tidings from her true love, and William was in agonies of despair lest his writing might be unintelligible to his sweetheart, or—perish the thought! Had he not seen her write her name on the fly- leaf of @ book of poems that he had given her one Christmas. They were the poems of Byron, and he knew she could read, for had she not recited whole lines of “The Corsair.” Of course there might be a dif- ference in clearness between Byron and Bird, but William did not take much stock in that theory. There was something the matter. He thought of Las g and set his teeth. That accursed political bias had been getting in the way again, and 2 to some tricks. So William le a pil- grimage to town and satisfied himself of the justice of his suspictons. He chanced to arrive at the combination post office and general emporium where Pop had made himself the center of all things mundane in the little community, just at the mo- ment of the arrival of his latest letter. The star route in that region was not as efficient as it is now, and letters were not apt to travel with undue hast Imagine, if you can, the astonishment, rage, grief of the unfortunate swain as he peered through the slats of the post office and saw Pop deliberately tear open his own letter to Tildy. Imagine, if you have the power, the tearful indignation of William as he saw Fop read that tender note from its “Respected Friend,” down to its ccn- cluding “Yourn Till Deth.” It were better to pass over this period. It is filled with the heart burnings of two young people, divided by a chasm that nothing could fill or bridge, their heart words choked, their wings clipped. William had tasted of the bitterness of life, and the world, in all its sinister significance, had burst upon him. He resolved rot to return to the mountains, and he took up his resi- dence in town, and made a business of get- tng into polities. He engaged incident- ally in business, selling sundry necessities of life for such a redundant consideration that William's wealth grew apace. Then, at last, came the hour of William's triumph, the moment of his great joy. There was an election, and Harrison had been de- feated. Once more the White House was to be occupied by a democrat. Pop’s stock in town went down. William’s went up. He told it to his friends that he should hav Pop's official scalp in less time than it takes to tell it. He became boastful, and his po- litical importance grew and soon William was the largest toad in the small puddle into which he had squatted. But yet Tildy was out of his reach. The girl, now reach- ing the period of anxiety when it becomes a serious problem whether there is to be light Pop Concluded to Relent. in the heavens or not, was still his in her heart and still held out to him a mute hope that she would some day be his in fact. In the passage of months William had be- come imbued with the idea that his coun- try’s weal called him to i. He yearned for a wider field, a bi ler scope, and he began to work a set of wires that centered in the person of the political ruler of the state, the Senator with influence, and lo! it was but the scratch of a pen that made William a servant of the great repub- lic. The word was flashed over the wires to the hungering swain that here was awaiting him a comfortable and profitable place in the United States Capitol, as an attache of the Senate. Visions of legislative renown flashed through William’s head as he was whirled northward, and, in imagination, he saw himself rising, rising, going ahead step by step, until the climax of his vision pre- sented itself, with a picture of the White House and William going through its por- tals, between rows of bowing menials, and-- a thought of all—with Tildy on his That idea of Tildy set William to thinking once more on revenge, and on love, and he made it one of his first missions to invade the Post Office Department and to find out just the standing of Pop. To his sorrow he learned that that worthy individual then had just two years to serve and he was told that it would be the policy of the department to allow holdovers to complete their terms un- — had been preferred against Then there was a wild struggle in Will- iam’s breast, a fight between his sense of fairness and his desire for vengeance. At last he compromised the matter and com- posed a letter. Composition was not easy to William. His earlier efforts had been painful, and the prospect of a diplomatic note to Pop now gave him a fit of nervous- hess that lasted for days. When at last he secured the right amount of courage, Wil!- jam sat him down and wrote thus: “Esteemed sir: I hope you will not ob- ject to this, it is my first. I hope you Will not open it thinkin’ it's to yore doter, as it is to you. i want to meet you hallf wa and I want to be fair with you as you have not ben fair to me and I want to show you I can forgive your rongs. I have ben talkin with the general postmaster here at Washington and he says to me hat you can keep yore ofis the rest of yore time if you behave and no one brings nothin against you. Now you know as well as i know that 1 could bring something against you in a minit, and you know and iknow that you have opened my letters to tildy time again. You know that is rong and the General will not stand It. Now here it is. sir if you don’t let me marry tildy 1 will go to the general post- master and tell him all about you and me and tildy and ask him to put a good dem- ocrat in your place. Answering by your convenience will oblige yours truly, “WILLIAM BIRD.” The days went, and the letter at last reached the region of the slats that barred Pop's face into a partial eclipse from the world. Pop was surprised when he saw the outside of the letter, but he was more so when he opened and read it. Readiag was not a joyous task for Pop, and William did not write in his best hand, being nerve ous, and William's best hand was not like | print. Pop read the letter through once and settled down in his chair for a second | go. Then he read it over and over, and as he read he sank deeper and deeper in his chair, until he was nearly out of sight. There was triel and tribulation on his fa: and contending emotions played over his! but expressive features. Pop was He looked up at last from his perusal and gazed out through the slats of the boxes into the street. He let his cye rest fondly on the femiliar scenes 101 a sigh escaped him. This sort of life was much easier and more comfortable ihan lowing on the rocky sides of the hiils. ife in town, behind such an array of boxes, was far more of a dream than up country, with the cows going dry and the crops fail- ing. There was so little to commend the one life and so much to see in the other. But then there flashed a memory of those rash words, spoken years ago, when he re- fused William admission to his family circle, never liked to crawfish. He hated a backslider worse than a snake, znd he was a man with a reputation for eternal and unfiiuching truth and determination, It was a bitter dose that William had givea him. William! Ah, how hard it was to be dictated to now by William! He was @ worse democrat than ever, and here he held him between his thumb 2nd his finger. It was, indeed, bitter. Pop passed @ very bad half hour. That evening at the supper table Pop was embarrassed. He ate little, and fidgeted about in his chair until his helpmate grew concerned, and finally asked: “What's the matter, Pop? rugged troubled. Yo" ain't eatin’ ‘There were tears in Pop's eyes as he reached forth his honest old hand, browned and roughened by years of toil for his wife and children, and, laying it on the head of the wondering Tildy, he said: “Wife, I reckon as I've been makin’ a fool of myself for many a year. I reckon I've been unjust to yo" an’ to Tildy, an’ to someone else. it’s said they’s no time like now fo’ straightenin’ out mistakes, an’ I mought as well do some straightenin’ row and here. Tildy, darter, I reckon yo’ kin write to yo’ young man as is now in Washington city, an’ tell him Pop says he kin hev yo’ soon’s he wants yo’.”" And for the first time in years Tildy kissed her pop, and then she disappeared, and Pop finished his supper, and neither he nor his wife could see each other for dim- bess in their eyes. So William has applied for a leave of ab- sence, and he is going south in a few days to get his bride. Cupid has gone into poli- tics, and has rolled up a very handsome majority. And the best thing about it all is that it is mostly true. —_—__-+e+______ MORE THAN HOME COMFORTS. Cheap Co-Operative Living With the Help of All Sorts of Up-to-Date Con- trivances, From the Chicago Record. Mr#. Coleman-Stuckert has come to Chi- cago to build a $200,000 co-operative home that will cover an entire block in Hyde Park. The colony will consist of forty- four houses on forty-six lots, with a com- mon lawn, laundry, kitchen, furnace, elec- tric Ught plant, assembly hall and read- ing room. It will make life a luxury for @ married clerk who earns $65 a month, and will give his family all the comforts of @ Prairie avenue mansion. This sounds utopian, and too god to be true, but Mrs. Coleman-Stuckert has a pyramid of fig- ures to prove it and scientific estimates that show it is possible, and all she now wants is a generous philanthropist to start the fund for the experiment. Mrs. Coleman-Stuckert is doing the work because she ts convinced it costs too much to live, especially in the cases of the poor and middle class people. These classes do not know how to economize, and they waste more than they consume. These facts she promulgated on paper during the world’s congress last summer, and now she has come to put into brick and mor- tar her ideas. It is all a work of humani- ty with her, and she comes from Denver to this town because she realizes Chicago is about the present center of the earth. One home here will exert an_ influence over a considerable portion of the planet, and, once started, she is confident the scheme of co-operative living will be gen- erally adopted. Beginning with small com- munities, it may be enlarged to entire set- tlements, and then to include all the dwel- lers in the suburban cities. The only limit the promoter will 2llow a final great universal kitchen with pots and kettles large enough to supply all the human fam- ily. Finis new home will not occupy one big building and thus have the characteristics that belong to existence in a hotel. Each family will be allotted a house, with room sufficient unto the members thereof. Bach tenant is to become a householder and own his rooms, and thereby become a stockhold- er and a voter in the common affairs of the community. He will select such a location as he can afford, the prices ranging from $2,000, and he will pay on the installment plan. He will meet his payments very easily, so Mrs. Coleman-Stuckert proves, and still have money to save out of his $65. This one fact is her strongest point, since her investigations show that the middle- class people lose much of the chance of married happiness in the cheerlessness of a This is the way she proposes to make poverty a bearable evil and ordinary suc- cess one endless bed of roses and riches—the very acme of earthly blessedness. It will be necessary to get forty-four fam- ilies willing to enjoy this new idea. They will then build the village, or unite and get some speculator to do it for them. There will be some small houses and some large ones, all equipped and trimmed exactly alike, and with the v latest and best con- veniences that go into homes. Each dweller will furnish the parlors, and all the rooms will be parlors or sleeping rooms to suit in- dividual taste. The architecture will follow harmonious lines, each house standing close against its neighbor, with lawns and paths in front and rear. So far the co-operative system has made nothing different from the present system. The revolution begins at this point. The central court will contain a common building, where all the drudgertes will be formed. Here will be all the cooking, eating and lighting machinery, the ice chests, the dish washers, servants and but- ler. Thereby all the invaders of home life will be removed and the domestic anarchists will find victims only in themselves. The forty-fcur families will need but fourteen people to do all their household work, a fact found by a very elaborate figuring at the hands of Mrs. Coleman-Stuckert. These people include the baker, the professional cook, a gardener, a superintendent, two en- gineers and the corps of helpers. This saves the salaries of at least eighty domestic servants, besides having the food cooked economically and in excellent taste, and all other things executed by the most skilled labor. An electric carrier will distribute the cooked meals. Each house will be a station and when the big dinner gong sounds the colony cook will push the button and send out forty-four smoking dinners. Each ham- per will be heated, so that the hot viands and vegetables will be at their prime when the good wife lifts them into her window. Each matron will then serve the meal in the common dishes or remove it to her own china. The hamper will then go back for the second course and the third, until the dessert and coffee shall be reached. The cost? Why, Mrs. Coleman-Stuckert has a diagram showing it will be only $2 a week for each person. This will give all first-class eating, of course barring straw- berries at S0 cents a quart or radishes at 40 cents each. This will include all the common dishes served to the colony, while each day each housewife may order for three meals ahead any specialty which the market af- fords. These extras, of course, will be charged for specially, but only enough to pay the cost. She may also order additional quantities for company, at a cost only equal to the price of the raw material bought at wholesale by the buyer for the company. So much for the eating. This new-idea home will also have a joint heating and lighting plant. Thus all the distress of fire building and fuel will be re- moved, and the gas bill will fade before the colony’s meager assessment to keep its own dynamo running. Each house will get its steam at cost from its own boiler, and all this branch of the household economy will aggregate but $15 a month for each family. And there you are, according to Mrs. Cole- man-Stuckert. The entire cost of living for the $65 a month man and his wife will ag- gregate but $35 a month, and he has all the comforts his rich neighbor has enjoyed. He has lived in a suite of six rooms, eaten the best in the market, read his paper by elec- tric light, warmed his feet on a steam radi- ator, taken his bath in a porcelain tub, and watched his wife grow handsomer as she grew older, with her face unwrinkled by worry and her constitution undestroyed by drudgery. These figures are applicable only to the second-best system of co-operative homes. Mrs. Coleman-Stuckert has drawings for one for the very poor. They are all equally practical in her mind, and she is going to | mage this is the way to live by building the it one in Hyde Park. Dr. Gunsaulus has promised to assist,and several men of means are going to back the enterprise. —-o- —____ A High-Toned Article of Apparel. From the Boston Journal. Several urchins noticed hanging in the windows of a drug etore in this city nu- merous lung protectors, and one said: “What's them?” Another said in reply: “Well, you don’t know much about how high-toned folks lives, does yer? High-toned folks has wipers en they eats, and kids has bibs. Them’'s bibs—farcy ones. @Arcturus Planisphere Showing the Principal Siars Ss. ‘Alove the Horizm March 3 at 9 PM, When conipared with the heavens this chart should be so held that the marginal letters indicating the direction in which the observer faces come on the lower side, THE SKIES IN MARCH ——— Orion Still Maintaining His Leader- ship of the Winter, ABOUT THE GREAT CONSTELLATIONS The Stars Which Form Them and How to Locate Them. THE SIGNS OF THE ZODIAC Written for The Evening Star. RION STILL MAL tains his splendid leadership among the winter constellativns, although by 9 o'clock in the evening he is now well over toward the west. As ond of the most ancient of the constellations, familiar to Homer and Hesiod and re- ferred to in the Book of Job, Orion is en- : veloped in_ historic associations and is surrounded with a halo of poetry and mythology which, no doubt, lends to it quite as great a fascination for modern star-gazers as does the singular majesty of the asterism itself. It is still the “Mighty Orion,” as it was in the days of Homer, although its potency now is rot over the weather, but over the imag- ination. As has been the case with many others of the constellations, chart makers have drawn the lineaments of Orion with a free hand, and have imposed upon us u figure quite unlike anything which we can detect | among the stars. His sword, his lion-skin shield, the club held aloft in his right hand, are appendages which, looking at the asterism itself, we should hardly imagine to exist without the aid of the figure which we find upon the chart. Yet these acces- sories are all referred to at an early period and belong properly to the constellation, as it was known to ancient astronomers. It may be questioned, however, whether they were seen or were even imagined by the more ancient constellation-makers. If we will close our eyes to the pictures of Orion, and will look at the stars themselves, we can readily make of them a crude like- ness to a gigantic human shape—such a giant as a schoolboy might draw upun his slate—and we may feei quite certain that this figure is the original of the constel- lation, The Arabic name of this asterism was El Djebbar (the giant). Its two brighter stars still bear the names given them by the Arabian astronomers—Betelgeuse, in the right shoulder, and Rigel, in the left foot. They are both of the first magnitude. Bellatrix, in the left shoulder, is of the second magnitude, and Saiph, in the right knee, is of the third. These stars form the four corners of the constellation, and no one should have any difficulty in identifying them. The three stars which form the belt are sometimes regarded as forming an aster- ism in themselves. They are the Three Kings; or they are Jacob's Staff, or the Rake. Taken in connection with the stars which form the sword they are sometimes called the Yard L., or the Yard and Ell. The line of the three stars is just three degrees in length, and it may, therefore, be used as a sort of yard-stick in estimat- ing angular distances. Observe that the equinoctial, or the celestial equator, passes very close to the uppermost of these stars, dividing the constellation centrally, so that one-half of it is in the northern and the other half in the southern hemisphere of the heavens. Noted Stars. Sirius, the brilliant Dog-star,and Procyon, the Lesser Dog, both to the left, or east of Orion, can easily be identified from the fact that they form with Betelgeuse a near- ly equilateral triangle. To the right of Orion is Aldebaran, the Bull's Eye, the principal star in the con- stellation Taurus. It is of the first mag- nitude, and it can easily be identified from its decidedly orange color and the fact that the Three Kings lie almost exactly mid- way between it and Sirius. Close beside Aldebaran is the V-shaped cluster of the Hyades, which, in connec- tion with the bright star, form the face of the great celestial Bull. The Pleiades, a short distance to the right, are in the Bull's shoulder. The Bull consists, in fact, of head and shoulders only, the explanation being that this is the identical bull which carried Europa from Phoenicia to Crete, and that when he was transferred to the heavens, he was represented there as he appeared while performing that feat, his body being below the water and hence in- visible. Southwest from the zenith, and at about two-fifths of the distance to the horizon, is Capella, the Goat, one of the brightest stars in the northern heavens. This is the prin- cipal star in the constellation Auriga, the Charioteer. From Star to Nebula. In February of last year there was dis- covered in this constellation a “nova” or new star, which proved to be an object of more than usual interest. When first seen, it was of the fifth magnitude; but 1t rapidly decreased in splendor, occasionally bright- ening up a little, until in a few weeks it had disappeared entirely. During the pe- riod of its visibility astronomers studied its “epectrum” assiduously, and when it finally became lost to view they closed their ac- count with it, supposing that they had its entire record, to be filed away with tnose of other contemporary stars. Great was their astonishment, therefore, when in Au- gust last it again flashed into view, rot, however, as a star, but as a nebula. It stili retains this character, having secured, ap- parently, a permanent status among ccies- tial objects. Its position is shown on the planisphere by a small circle, although it is too faint an object to be seen with the raked eye. Midway between Capella and the head of Orion are two stars, one of the second and the other of the third magnitude, which form the tips of the horns—very iong horns they are—of Taurus. The ecliptic, cr sun's path, runs between them. Taurus is one of the constellations of the zodiac—the broad animai girdle (this being the meaning of the word zodiec), which forms the highway of the sun, moon and planets. The Lion. Leo is one of the few constellations which we can make something of. Although it is not so striking an asterism as Orion, still it is possible, with the aid of a little imag- ination, to make out the lion’s shape. The curved group of stars popularly known as the Sickle forms his bushy head. Regulus, sometimes called Cor Leonis, the Lion's Heart, is in the fore shoulder. The animal is represented In the act of springing on his prey, and his fore paws, extending for- | Ward, are maked by a little group of fourth and fifth magnitude stars just In front of Regulus. Denebola, a bright second-mag- | nitade star, easily recognized as the bright- est of four which form a small ‘four-sided figure @ short distance to the left of the in the brush of the tail, which ig represented as held aloft and curving downward intg a loop. The two right-hand stars of this little quadrilateral are in the Lion’s hind quarters, and his hind legs and feet are marked by an elongated group of faint stars, which extends downward to- ward the bright star Spica. Leo offers a very rich field for survey with an opera glass, particularly the eastern portion of the constellation. Adjoining Leo, on the east, is the constellation Virgo, the princi- | pal star in which, Spica, the Wheat-car, a | Star of the first magnitude, is barely above the horizon at the hour of our observation. Near the hind feet of the Lion is the | point at which the sun in its annual round of the heavens—performed in a direction from west to east—crosses the equinoctial, or the celestial equator, from north to south. Upon passing this point —the au- tumnal equinox—about the 21st of Septem- ber, it enters the constellation Virgo. The in is said in the almanac, however, to “enter Libra” at that time; and since on the 20th of this month it will pass the ver- |nal equinox, coming northward, and will “enter Aries,” according to the almanac, although it will really enter the conste!- lation Pisces, a note of explanation may be in place here. The Signs of the Zodiac. Anciently the 12 “signs of the zodiac,” with which alone the almanac is concerned, coincided in position with the 12 zodiacal constellations which bear the same naines. They were, in fact, identical, sign being an astrological rather than an astronomical |term, In the time of Hipparchus, some 2,000 years ago, the sun upon crossing the | celestial equator from south to no>th en- tered the constellation Aries, which was considered as beginning the series of the signs. But one of the discoveries of this father of exact astronomy was that the two points at which the sun crosses the equator were not fixed, but were slowly retreating westward—that the vernal equinox, for ex- ample, was slowly slipping back into the preceding constellation, Pisces. This move- ment, known as the “precession” of the equinexes, proceeds at a rate which, since the time of Hipparchus, has carried these | Points to the westward 30 degrees—the ex- act length of a zodiacal sign—and which in about 26,000 years will carry them around the entire circumference of the heavens. Thus it happens that since the “signs” have a constant relation to the shifting equinox- es, moving with them, while the constella- tions remain fixed, the sun now reaches each sign a full month before it reaches the constellation which bears the same name. The cause of this movement of precession is a certain gyratory motion of the earth, while turning on its axis, a motion which has been compared to the gyration of a spinning top, in consequence of which the two poles of the earth's axis slowly de- scribe in the heaven's circles, having a ra- dius of 23 1-2 degrees, while the celestiul equator correspondingly shifts its position among the stars. Since the ecliptic, or sun’s path among the stars, remains in- variable in place, the points where it is crossed by the shifting equator are contin- vally sliding along it. As Shown by the Chart. To render this matter more intelligible a dotted circle has been drawn on the planis- Phere, showing the path passed by the shifting north celestial pole. Let the reader examine this chart, held inverted, and let him imagine that he is facing the north. On the right, at a high elevation, he will see the Great Dipper. On the left is the constellation Cassiopeia. Within the circle are the Little Dipper, or Little Bear (Ursa Minor), and the most of the stars of the constellation Draco. The arrow shows the direction in which the invisible pole of the heavens moves. At the present time it is very near the star known for this reason as the Pole star. Some 4,000 years ago it was near the the star Alpha Draconis, a third- magnitude star midway between the bow! of the Little Dipper and the handle of the Great Dipper. In about 13,000 years from now, to look forward a short way into the future, it will have performed one-half of its circuit, and it will then be 47 degrees from its present position. The vernal equi- nox will then be where the autumnal equi- nox is now. The celestial equator, which now runs through the middle of Orion, will then run near Capella. Thousa: of Years Hence. What will be the effect of these changes upon the appearances of the starry hea- vens? It will be this: The whole celestial sphere will appear to have been shifted and placed upon new pivots. Orion will be a summer constellation, and he will be so far to the south that only his head and shoul- ders will appear above the horizon for ob- servers in our northern latitude; Sirius will never be seen by them, since it will have taken a place among the south circum-polar stars; Procyon will appear above the hor- izon, but so low as to be rarely visible. As an offset to these losses, we—or rather our very remote descendants—will have added to their firmament many brilliant stars, which are now seen only by observers in the southern hemisphere. Among these ac- cessions will be the Southern Cross, which, in those days, will appear for observers in the latitude of Washington about 15 de- grees above the horizon, or at about half the latitude attained by Sirius when on the meridian. The Planets. Mercury will be in inferior conjunction with the sun on the l4th. This planet will, therefore, be an evening star during the first half and a morning star during the latter half of the month, but too near the sun to be visible. Venus passed her inferior conjunction with the sun on the 16th of last month. She may now be seen in the east before sunrise. On the 22d she will shine with her greatest brilliancy as Lucifer, the Morning Star. Mars is a morning star, rising at about 3a. m. Jupiter, near the Pleiades, is still a splendid evening star, remaining above the horizon until near midnight. Saturn in the constellation Virgo, near the star Spica, now rises at about 9 p. m. Uranus is also in the constellation Virgo, an hour and 20 minutes to the eastward of Saturn. Neptune, invisible to the naked eye, is in the constellation Taurus, at the point indi- cated on the planisphere MRS. LEASE OF KANSAS| The Success of a Remarkable Western Woman Her Advent in Politics—Says She Has Never Failed, for She Has Alw: Been in the Righ: Correspondence of The Evening Star. TOPEKA, Kansas, February 28, 1834. ‘The Masonic Grand Lodge of Kansas has been in session in Topeka recently, and, of | course, there was much speculation as to | how Mrs. Lease obtained the secrets of | Masonry, if she is really in possession of |them. Her claim that she is a member of Hugh De Payne Commandery of Fort Scott |has led to the suspicion that Charles E. Lease, her husband, who is a member of that commandery, has been guilty of di- vulging the secrets of the order. Mr. Lease | joined the Hugh De Payne Commandery a number of years ago when he was a resi- dent of Osage Mission, which is in the Fort Scott jurisdiction. Since removing to Wichi- ta he has maintained his standing in the order. The story of Mrs, Lease’s advent into politics is interesting. With her husband and children she lived on a claim in King- man county. One day she was in Wichita and leisurely strolled into @ union labor convention. She was requested to make a speech. She had never before attempted to speak in public, but the calls were so fre- quent and earnest that she resolved to try. For half an hour she surprised herself, as well as her audience, making a speech that | fairly started her on the road to fame and fortune. Soon after this the Lease family removed to Wichita, where the husband became a | drug clerk, and from the modest salary he received in that capacity supported his | family, which consisted of his wife and four | children. Through the influence of his | wife he was subsequently made manager of | @ leading Wichita drug store, but the pro- prietors having disposed of the business, he was thrown out employment, since which time he has been a gentleman of leisure. About a year ago Mrs. Lease purchased a handscme home in a fash- ionable residence part of the city and turned it over to the management of her husband. Two elderly female ser- vants are employed, who are paid by Mrs. Lease, but Mr. Lease has entire control of the establishment during his wife's absence, which is maintained in the best possible style. Since he lost his position Mr. Lease has looked after the minor details of caring for his wife's property and the children, while Mrs. Lease has been traveling about the country delivering lectures, aking political speeches and acting as member of the state board of charities. Interested in Hypnotism. About a year ago Mrs. Lease became in- terested in the subject of hypnotism. She made a study of the science, her ambition being to acquire hypnotic power. With this object in view she engaged the services of a professor who has been giving exhibition through the state. He pronounced her a good subject, and claims to have developed unusual hypnotic power in his pupil. Mrs. Lease dislikes to taik of her hypnotic powers, but admits that she has given the subject of hypnotism much study and thought. People in Kansas have ceased to wonder at any thing Mrs. Lease says or does. Her political career has been a series of sensa- tions. She is constantly in search of some- thing to say or do that will attract atten- tion to her. She first came into prominence in the campaign of 180, when her speeches, pregnant with bitter invective and sarcasm, caused many to compare her methods with those of Senator Ingalls, whom she took great satisfaction in abusing. Her success as a speaker consisted more in arousing the enthusiasm of her partisans than in making converts. Up to and including the campaign of 1892 she was the idol of her party, and was called by people’s party pa- pers the modern Joan of Arc. Her in- fluence in party councils was greater than that of any other half dozen persons. Few ren leaders had the temerity to cross her path, and her wishes always com- manded respect, at least in her presence, for no one wished to invite the sting of her sharp tongue by opposing. A few tried it while she was in the height of her popular- ity with disastrous results. Her success turned her head, and she began to use her power in suc a bold manner thet frien¢s deserted her and enemies sprang up on all sides determined to crush her. Gov. Lewel- ling opened the battle by attempting to re- move her from the state board of charities to which he had appointed her. She fought back, appealed to the supreme court and came out of the fray victorious. She ts still president of the board, and@ will remain in that position until April, when the places now held by two republicans will become vacant. They will be filled by populists of the governor's choosing whom he can rely upon to reorganize the board by reducing Mrs. Lease to the ranks, and deprive her of all influence in the management of the charitable institutions of the state. Mrs. Lense Talks of Herself. Mrs. Lease delights to talk of herself and her achievements. She says that if she were a man she would easily be the ai knowledged intellectual giant of the people’s party. In an Interview, in speaking of her oratorical ability, she said: “I believe I owe whatever power I have in this line to parental influence. My father was an Irish exile. He was banished from Ireland and he fied to America, with a price set upon his head, and his property confiscated to the English crown. I was the first child born from my exiled parents in America. My earliest recollections are filled with a struggle against every form of injustice that came in my little world. I was liber- ally educated and finished at Allegheny University, and when fifteen years old I left school. The poor wages paid women aroused me, and when I began teaching, scarcely more than a child, I rebelled against this, and started a movement in northern Pennsylvania and southern New York for better wages for women teachers. Hearing that women were paid better in the west, I came to Neosho county, Kan., when I was seventeen years old, and taught at Osage Mission, where I met Mr. Lease and afterward married him. A few years later Mr. Lease got an idea that we would do better on a farm, 80 we moved away out west to Kingman county and took up a claim. I lived in the very midst of the desert. It was solitary and desolate, and there was no society but our children and no companions but our lonely thoughts. It was an awful life, dreary, monotonous, hard, bleak and uninspiring. After that we moved to Wichita, where I took up the study of law with Eby & McMahon. I did not go to the office much, but Mr. Eby came out to our house and heard me recite. When I was admitted to the bar and made my first address to the jury the court room was crowded. My first real public appear- ance was in Kansas City, in 1888, where I delivered the address of welcome at a labor conference, and whipped Mr. Powderly, who at that time was in favor of labor organiza- tions keeping out of politics. I championed the movement and I won the day. That was my first fight. There I got my first blood, and 1 wnt to say right here that I have never been defeated in my life in any fight, and I a> not Intend to icse my bat. tle now. My strength has always been, as it is now, that I am right. On the question of religion Mrs. Lease expressed herself as follows: “I think my religion is as broad as my political creed, for they are one and the same. I was reared in the Roman Catholic Church and I have at various times worshiped at other altars, but I am only a member of the great big church—the church without catechism, the church with no creed. I hate man-made beliefs and priest-made orthodoxy. I take the sermon on the mount and the golden rule and believe in them, that they are suf- &cient—sufficient unto salvation.” HENRY OWENS STORY. A FULL ACCOUNT OF THE SUFFER- INGS AND RESTORATION OF MR. AND MRS. HENRY C. OWEN RE- LATED TO A BLADE REP. RESENTATIVE. Most Excruciating Pain Endure@— Physisians Helpleas—A Remarkable and Interesting Narrative. (From the Toledo, 0., Blade.) During the past few months there have appeare® im the newspapers of the country accounts of mar velous cures from the use of a medicine diseov- ered by Dr. David Kennedy of Rondout, X. Xu. and kuowa as Dr. Kennedy's Favorite Remedy. These cases, many of them held by the medical Professiva incurable, have bees #0 frequently discussed in the newspapers that it bas led to many people using tuis preparation, amd they luvariably have bad @ similar statement ty make, Mary vf these peuple have been told by their et- tending physician that “there was mo hope; me Was impossible,” and a jittle later was ‘heir restoration io bealth and strength use wf Pavorie Remedy. the following i East Toledo attracted the attention of the Blade: No. 425 ued ave.. Hust Yoiedo, ©., Dr, David Kennedy, Dear Siri feel uo auty to “Tite you of the benefit your medicine, Favorite medy, bas been to my wite and ‘msect EK uitered for years wit Kidbey Lrouble, complicated: With gravel” im the bladder and gall times 1 endured the mi bad that 1 would have my business. bey me the least; I ep" wing worse. Finally David Kennedy's Favorite Remedy was wt my woticee, 1 used 1 regularly and in @ short time after that 1 was a well man; have pever felt a return of the old trouble since. “My wife, who had been a sufferer from sickness Peculiae to ber sex, found wo relief from any medicine she hed ever used, until she began tae use of Favorite Remedy, and that cured her. 1 haven't Is to ekpress the high esteem in wich we hold Favorite Remedy; I bave recom- dozens of poopie hus it faised “Yours truly The above letter was so semakabic Worthy of the fullest inves:igation, and the determined to place the facts before the public for tie benefit of other sufferers, aud, if up- founded, to let their readers know it. With these instructions a reporter was sent to the Tesidence of Mr. Owen. In response to a ring @ the dour bell Mrs. Owen a When your reporter made his quission kuown sbe sald She would gindiy tell him about the Favorite Remedy has been to their family. “For years Mr. Owen ‘aad been the victim of gall stones, com- plicated with kiduey trouble and gravel in ee bladder. In spite of the efforts of @id not improve. 1, too, bad red with sick- ness peculiar to women i day I 4 Dewspaper an article referring to Dr. David K "a Pavorive . 1 told my husband that I thought it would trouble and We immediately bought a bottle. I did not many hoticed improvement, and then I suggested to my husband to try the ickness. for his si a “He did so and he felt the effects almost lke magic. Mr. Owen continued to use Favorite Bem: y until be permanently “ Before going into further dete!l it might be well to give in Mr. Owen's own words « stal as to what ft did for him. Mi man of about 42 years of aye, with gray. was found at Chesbrough Bros.’ Lumber © : “i have mot ‘steeia iu which I hold De, Remedy. I suffered for Dom t Favorite I with kidney trouble and gail endured pains which s-emed I used various prescriptions apd, like whe ie *, suggest t last my wife told Dr. K Ret took everything that my me of the good nedy"s Favorite 5 ed ° cone and I concluded to try it. I used it and it me, and there is no mistake about that. refer you to many of our neighbors who it with the ame results, @ frie f & i t.. i Ed z i e him afterwants end he and thanked me for my advice, 2 has @ similar story to relate. Ne buman tongu. commenced to Remedy. She Goctured with several physicians and was about to give op in deewmir when this eame to ber relief. I am confident that if she bad not takem br. Kennedy's Favorite Remedy she would have Deon in ss Mr. her grave to lis trogbis that the pain he b ansea pain after repeated retching, acid end wai mai tu Favorite Kenedy I don't know what the condition of Mrs. Owen and myself would have and Mra. Owen's friends and the accounts of their sickness and remarkable recovery, there were many other people in their who bad been cured of ae ailments A -4 Favorite Remedy. Dr. Kennedy's Favorite Rem- is an unfailing specific for Pright’s disease, Kidney, liver and urinary complaints, rbeumatiem, gravel. stone in the bladder and sick headache. It will cure the most obstinate case of consti- pation. In cases of neuralgia. dyspepsia, skin disenses, appetite, ‘sleep! Rerronsness or and female irregularities it has where all else failed. characteristics of Favorite Remedy ble quality and mild operation on the absolute freedom from irritating . Dr. Kennedy's Favorite Rem- archared of eny denler in medicine or six bottles for #5. A benefit js cienced from the first bettie, and it to cure when the directions are faith- fully carried out. ‘iooe roe Some Light * © —on the light question. 2 You merchants can ingrease © * the brilliancy of yur gas light 300 to 400 per cent without in- creasing the flow of gas, by putting im the Siemens-Lungren Gas m Light from the Slemens-Lun- ren Gas Lamp costs one-baif of electricity, and yet it's far supertor. :Gas Appliance Ex., 21428 N. Y. Ave. © mh? = POPC eo ee reesesesseseseeeoe eeeee seeee Oooo rere rereeeeees . . ° A Nod Of Your Head Starts our shears into the carpet—loads wagon full of furniture and delivers your house. That's how easy it ts to Us on credit. No notes to sign—no such as interest—fust @ little money a or once a month. Our Peerless Furnishes The House From top to bottom—AND FOR LESS MON. EY THAN THE IDENTICAL ARTICLES WOULD COST IN ANY CASH FURNITURE HOUSE IN WASHINGTON. We don't ‘this because it sounds BRAVE—we are rea@y to live up to every word of it, Credit Costs Nothing! BaBY CARRIAGES. More than a bupdred brand-new patterns select from. Prices PARLOR SUITES. ‘The largest and most elegant shown in this city. T-plece sul th, $22.50—and TH once ‘Credit i $13—apd on as bigh CARPETS, MATTINGS, Brussels er a grain Carpet, 85 cent all reliable “Cotton Warp.” Al sgfe waste in matching figures. Oak Extension Table, $3.50. 40-pound Hair Mattress, $7. Woven Wire Springs, $1.75. ‘These are cash prices or CREDIT prices Help yourself either way, GROGAN’S MAMMOTH CREDIT HOUSE, 619, S21, $23 TTH ST. NW. LET. H AND I STs. Wo clos every evening at Tm