Evening Star Newspaper, May 26, 1894, Page 15

th EVENING SIAR, SATURDAY, MAY 26, 1894-TWENTY PAGES. WRITTEN FOR THE EVENING STAR BY HOW- ABD FIELMING. (Copyright, 1804. by Bacheller, Johnson & Bach ) CHAPTER IX, A Plot Against the University. AWRENCE BANGS had been reading rom the works of Quintus —Horatius Placcus, a gentle- man for whom h: entertained in hi tustomary state 0: mind the most cor dial sentiments. Ox this occasion, how- ter, he laid dow. the monument more lasting than brass, and scowled at it in a dark and menacing fashion. 11 o'clock, and that was @ very ar for Lawrence to cease studying. le had less appetite for study on this ht than on any other that he could re- : er, The truth is that he had reached 1 crisis which usually comes much later in the college life of a thoughtful man, that period, to put it plainly, when he first realizes that he does not know as much as w. The information of a cow regard- t sphere of Mfe to which she is called is apparently exhaustive, and em!- nently satisfactory to herself. She has learned to chew the cud, an operation which yields greater contentment with less visible result than anything else in the To the college professor is often an almost identical blessing, but it different with the student. He will certainly feel, now and then, a desire to do moze than chew the cud. He will wish to swallow it. In other words, he will desire to make an end of something, not merely by laying it e, but by getting the whole of it. And he can’t do it, in his line of life. Not one educated man in a thousand really knows very much about the alphabet. He cannot give its full history, nor sug- gest a truly valuable improvement upon It, nor even say it backward without making a mistake. When the student finds that this is true of everything which he had sly thought that he knew, he may very naturally feel a desire to turn to some other pursuit in which the triumphs are speedy and final. He will find such a pur- suit right under his nose. He will see that the man who makes a home run with the bases full exhausts the possibilities of the situation, so that anything which he or anybody else may do afterward will be at best no more than a repetition. And though the finest player in the world may Scarcely hope for so much glory as that, | there are lesser achievements which have | the same agreeable quality of completeness, and are nearly sure to come. Lawrence's thoughts took such a course as this while he sat scowling at his book, and when he had reached the point to which the reader has been brought he lifted his gloomy eyes from good old Horace and fixed them upon Paddy O'Toole. The hour, which was early for Lawrence, was late fo> Paddy, who was ordinarily asleep by 10. The sight of him at that moment Would raturally have led one to believe that a co Taking Notes on Pitchi the ycuth had been kept from his bed by : multitude of th t agreeable thoughts He sat in a chair, with his heac thrown back, and smiled at the ceiling. What are you thinking about, Patrick? ered Paddy, with th man! Your minc blank.” pout my mind,” seems to worry er bothers me any. positively. “Your head doubtfully. ed at last, “I was feel- the distinction,” fs sald Law- well taken. I would nd think less myself. I to change places with you, mean that you'd like to play to that, I would; t was o1 small part of my the mai id gentiy pitched an im- mly 2 Sher. he sab 1. “It isn’t in you.” ck me.” ousand years,” said Paddy, promptiy. a t believe {i ould kuow Ic is incredible that ning that I can’t t. pond. The idea failed rence tried another sing in my life,” he asked, you wish to change with * responded Paddy. es that I'd like to go to. ‘iris any time that you , they're a great crew! y like it in my uIked the ears off of n in any time he they're ready. joyed their atior “ It was tp thi But rt get a show. I. any- | thing but yes and no; an telling you | there were times when {t was all I could a to many words as that. They tolke all the time themselves,” “I can readily believe it.” “I had things to say, though. I'm no tell the girl that t about the game, that she joush about base ball to keep ith a piece of chalk. But ouldu’t do it. I'd promised rother. @ pity you didn’t say it,” said Law- been thinking that perhaps It was that I didn't,” said Paddy, re- 5 might have got mad.” tionably; but the other gtris would ved you forever. There is no gain world without some small loss, and especially not in society, for you lose your } time, if nothing else. However, you should have said it carefully and with tact. It is Possible that I could teach you how to do those -” 1 you do it?" said Paddy, with animation. “I'd like to’ learn IT ain't much on grammar and those things that your brother tried to drive ne, but I can learn anything that’s to it, and is going to come handy ow. said Lawrence, “if teach me to play ball.’” sat up and looked Lawrence in the ‘You don’t mean that you want to get gut there on the eld and pitch @ gamer” mean just that.” ‘ot against Harvard Against Harvard espectally.” : 24 gO Up against those fellows,” said Paidy in a hushed and solem- tone, “they'll make a thousand home runs “Let them do it if the; can," responded all I can about how to behave in society. Then you can fix it so that I can Ditoh * game, and I will get you into the swelles' af af New Haven during “It's a go,” said Paddy. t ain't quite a square deal on your brother, but it's even worse for us. Say, they'll bat you out of the box. It will ruin you.” “It may be,” sald Lawrence, “both ways. But I'll take the risk.” “Don't you be afraid of my part of it,” re- joined Paddy. “That'll be all right. Say, shall I put on that swallow-talled dress suit of yours now, and learn to sit down in it?” Lawrence agreed; and thus was ratified a nost nefarious agreement, calculated to be vighly detrimental to the university. It snust be itted that Paddy did extremely Paddy and Florence. well. Within an hour he had mastered the fashionable handshake, and had learned to enter a room without giving the impression that he was hunting for trouble. Lawrence Was a patient teacher, and encouraged his pupil heartily. The next day, however, the boot was on the other leg, and the relations between teacher and pupil were less cordial. Lawrence may have been by nature as apt a scholar as the other, but the young gentleman from the South Cove was wholly lacking in educational method. ‘They went to a vacant lot in a secluded part of the city, and there practiced in the shelter of a board fence. “You've got to learn the curves to begin with,” said Paddy. “We'll begin with the outeurve, because there's some kind of a chance that you can learn it in two or three years. Now take the ball this way and slam it in.” Paddy hurled the ball against the board fence, and splinters flew off the board which it struck. “I would suggest,” said Lawrence, turn- ing his spectacies toward Paddy, “that you give me some brief theoretical demonstra- tion of the leading principle involved.” “Give you what?” gasped Paddy. “Say, I ain't got it with mi “I mean that instead of resorting to sim- pie imitation, which will be extremely difti- cult for me, as I am unfamiliar with the method, you would do better to give me a sort of lecture on the subject at first. Then I can begin work with an intelligent appre- elation of the necessities of the case.” He drew a note book from his pocket and sat down on a log, ready to reduce Paddy's lecture to writin; But the “Speechless Wonder” had never been less able to talk. “Perhaps I have not made myself clear,” said Lawrence. “Let me explain. The ball as propelled by you takes a course which varies from that of ordinary projectiles. Now, what makes the ball curve?” “I do,” responded Paddy, promptly.““What lid you think it wa: this way,” said Paddy, and he barged the ball against the fence once more. This scrap of conversation may give some dea of the difficulties under which Law- ence labored. And it is, therefore, the nore to his credit and to the honor of the porting blood of the Bangses in his veins hat he triumphed over these obstacles and cared to piteh a curved ball within a eek. Lawrence, as has been said, was strong, though very thin from overwork. He de- loped speed wonderfully soon. “It’s your build,” Patsy said. “You can't : absolutely no good. You're too much se me. But this is only part of it. Have ou got it In your head? That's the ques- on.” ‘I believe that I have,” sald Lawrence. ‘Only I can’t do it as well as you can yet. tut wait awhile. There's a fortnight yet efore the next Harvard game.” CHAPTER X. The Parts Are Changed. The second Harvard game was played In vambridge. It was preceded by the usual atalities. Although the first meeting had 2en So disastrous to the crimson, there was . strong hope among Johnny Harvard's »oys that the nine might win on the home grounds. Yale in New Haven is like that nt of mythology whose strength was In- v’ ible while his feet rested upon his moth- r earth. But he was conquered when Her- ules lifted him into the air. So the Cambridge boys kept up a good heart and encouraged the nine. However, 13 two or three of the best men happened to be disabled just before the game, there was very little money bet. Previous to the New Uaven game ft had come down like enowflakes in the great blizzard. Larry Bangs—the real one this time—ap- peared in the box for Yale. The reader knows very well that he had no business there, but Larry did not know that himself. He had accomplished wonders, considering the time that he had had for preparation. He had learned of a master of the art, and he fondly hoped to fill that master’s shoes. If he had come anywhere near doing it, Paddy O'Toole would never have worn a Yale uniform again. Probably Paddy knew that, but he had no fear of losing his Job. His prayers were all for Lawrence. The student had surpassed all Paddy’s expectations, He had learned Paddy's Social Triamph. to stand up calmly in the corner of a field, and throw curves very cleverly. But that is not pitching a ball game, and Paddy knew it. “If the luck’s all with him,” said he to himeelf, “he may not get batted out of the box. Well, the luck was with him in a sur- prising degree. The terror of his mighty name helped him at first. Harvard men went to the bat with the idea that they weren't going to hit the ball, and some of them didn’t. Those who did find it batted it straight at the large Y on a Yale unl- form. As the gentlemen from New Haven Were not obliging enough to dodge the ball and made only a couple of errors, Harvard did not score. Yale got three. Lawrence thought that he was doing amazingly well and he could not under- stand why Johnny Wilkes wore a brow of gloom and kept repeating, “ Bangs, what's the matter with you today?” ‘The unreflecting crowd on the blue side of the field cheered lustily, for the game seemed to them to be going the right way, and Lawrence heard his name mingling with the almost continuous cheers and was a than he had ever been before in his re. “If you don’t feel well, old man,” said Daggers = pony ale took the fleld for @ seventh time, “I'll let Whit the game out.” ee “Oh, no,” said Bangs, “I’m i Gl Foe rs getting along “Well, don’t take any chances, and for mercy’s sake use your head. ‘ou don’t seem to have it with you toda: If it had been anybody else except the great Larry Bangs, Capt. Wilkes would Lawrence firmly. “All I ask of you 1s to give me a chance to try. You teach me alt you car about pitching, and I'll @gach you have sent him to the bench without saying by your leave. Bar.gs was pale with ex- citement and ¢>light, and tae color which he had acquired on the roof and in the field with Paddy seemed to have faded all off his face. The first man at the bat in Harvard's seventh inning was so exceedingly fortunate as to miss a Yale man. He put the ball into right field for two bases. The next man scored him with a pretty single; and then Bangs lost the head which Wilkes had not believed to be present at all on that occa- sion. He knew that this was an emergency calling for what Paddy would have denomi- nated “head work.” He tried to think of the counsels which Paddy had given him, but it seemed as if he could remember nothing except some fragments of Greek grammatical rules. He pitched the ball without the faintest attempt te “size up” the batter or to meet the necessities of the situation. Paddy wouldn't have thought either, but he would have felt, and that have been much better. It seemed to Lawrence that the ball was not fairly out of hts hands when he be- came aware that the center fielder was chasing it in the direction of Mount Au- burn cemetery. Then a hundred or more red-legged demons to run aro} him in dizzy circles, amid loud jeers of derision. It would be painful to prolong this scene. There were eleven base hits and three dispensations of Providence, the last of which sent Harvard to the field. Whitley pitched the last two innings, and the final score was 12 to 3 against Yale. “Never mind, Larry,” said Wilkes, in a husky but sympathetic tone, “everybody has an off day once in a while. I’ve played like a jackass myself, and I know how you feel. “You got out of it better than I expected,” said Paddy, when they met in’ Lawrence's room in New Haven. “The luck was with you, and if that h of yours hadn't to- tally gone back on you, you might ha’ made a fight for it. All the papers say so. And he pointed to a large number of them on the floor. Lawrence groaned. “I feel,” he said, ‘the combined agony of @ murderer and his yictim. I have both the injury and the remorse.” “You've made your play,” said Paddy, “end now it's my turn. Just watch me. Tomorrow night I'm right in it with the swells.” Lawrence had kept his agreement with Paddy, but he had shaved it down a little. It was not an event of the first rank in which the young man from the South Cove was to make his debut. But then, he didn’t krow that and was never likely to find it out, so it is hard to say that he was cheat- ed. it was a very nice affair after all—a spread given by the Gamma Delta, @ minor Greek letter society. It was held im the yme residence of Gilbert Pa: sons, whose son was the president of the Yale chapter and seme of the bluest blood in New Haven were there. There was a crush of pretty girls and among them was Florence Lorne, who had come down to New Haven on purpose to attend. Lawrence had selected this affair because he felt sure that Florence would not be present. He was still jealous of Paddy. It must be admitted that the moment chosen for Paddy’s experiment was not auspicious. The Harvard game was the great topic of conversation among the friends of the New Haven college, and the name of Larry Bangs did not shine brightly as heretofore in the galaxy of fame. But Paddy did not mind that a bit. “Wait till I talk to ‘em,” he said, as he sallied forth. ‘They'll see that I’m all right.” 5 ee was tco sadly orvshed to care what Paddy did in his name except so far as it had to do with Florence Lorne. As ‘o that he was deeply interested, so much so that he watched the parson’s house till the rout broke up, patrolling the sidewalk be- fore it, clad in a costume strongly suggest- ing the youthful detective of fiction. He had a slouch hat and a false mustache, and he imagined that he was prepared to do something desperate. Of Paddy's advent into society the! enly a word to be said. There js a strange and grotesque character in fiction which called the college student. By “‘fiction” is meant pretty nearly everything that Is writ- ten about college life, whether in books or in current news paragraphs. This character gets into courts; he assaults peaceable citi- zens and always gets the worst of it; he disturbs the audiences at theaters; he speaks in a dialect so full of slang that only the police can understand it; in short, he is as near like the real student as Paddy O'Toole is. The character is so strongly fixed in the public mind that it is very hard for a real student to do anythi bad enough to ex- cite remark. Paddy's eccentricities fitted this character so nicely that even those who knew Lawrence well did not regard them as extraordinary. In fact, Paddy succeeded much better than Lawrence, for he was so much more like a real, live col- lege boy. There was a “stand-up feed” that night and Paddy supplied the needs of dozens of giris. Nobody stood any chance against him in the struggle for salads or ices, and when he appeared with about forty plates piled on his right arm as he had seen the wait- ers in South Cove restaurants carry them, he was loudly applauded. It was the hit of the evening and did much to retrieve the honor lost at Cambridge. Also in a mo- ment of inadvertence when he forgot that his name was no longer O'Toole he as- serted that his ancestors were kings of Ire- lend and thereby added the only luster that the name of Bangs had lacked. He succeeded in accompanying Florence to the door of the house in which she was staying, which was only a stone’s throw from Mr. Parsons’. Lawrence trailed them in the style of the best melodramas and heard Paddy promise again and again to retrieve the awful disgrace of the Cam- bridge game. “Don’t you be afraid,” said Paddy, “when the tie is played off I shall be myself again.” “Be your true self always,” replied Flor- ence, “for my sake.” (To be continued.) tee Stopped the Play. From the Paris Figaro. There is a law in France which embitters the life of every dramatic author, as it con- fers upon every French citizen the right of having a novel or play immediately sup- pressed by the police if his name happens to be mentioned in it. If a character in a comedy bears the name of Dupont or Du- bois, all the Duponts or Duboises in France are entitled to insist on a change of the name, or if the manager refuses, of the re- moval of the play from the bill. In their anxiety to avoid unpleasantness the paro- dists of the Cluny Theater decided to desig- nate the characters in their piece de salon by means of numbers. The effect thus pro- duced is somewhat pecullar,as, for instance: “Ah! charming 132, you are the most adorable of all women.” “And you a flatterer, Count 18." While the two are thus exchanging com- pliments an elderly gentleman suddenly ap- pears and calls out in a voice of thunder: “I have caught you now, Count 18! Say, are there any cowards in your family?” “Heavens!” whispers Count 18, trembling in his shoes. “Heavens! Duke Duke 53 rings the bell; a lackey appears. “Seventy-four,” exclaims the duke, “turn this gentleman out.” But at this point a man in the audience springs to his fest. “That is really too bad!” he shouts in the direction of the stage. “I will send you a summons.” The Duke answers in surprise: “Whi have you to complain of? Seventy-four a number.” “That’s just It. It is the very number which I bore when in jail, and I am not going to allow it to be degraded by having a servant dubbed with it.” Everybody had to give in to that argu- ment; it was the law. The play was stopped there and then. I have never been able to ascertain what further befell the charming 132, Count 18 and Duke 53. I have not been able to sleep at night through speculating on the subject. e+ Ingenio Meanness. from the Fargo Forum. A good story comes from a neighboring village and a report of the ingenuity of man’s acquisitiveness may be a pointer for some of those not adverse to turning an honest penny—their way. It ts reported that a village not far from here is on to a new racket because a certain brother in the fold, who takes an active part in church work, and in whom implicit confidence has been placed by his associates, has been detected of having a piece of sticky flypaper in his hat when he went to take up the collection at the church, All the coins that dropped upon the flypaper stayed there, and it was amazing how the big pieces crowded the lit- tle ones off. When the audience had been solicited, this smooth individual would advance and turn his hat upside down over that of anoth- er who had been soliciting the audience on the other side of the house. All the coin that dropped belonged to the church, and all that remained in the hat was to remunerate him for the work he had done, so to speak. There is said to be blood on the face of the moon, and the good brother, who has politi- cal aspirations, and the ones who caught him in the act are having a time. The sequel is yet to be written, but when daffodils begin to show their heads through the sun-kissed sofl and buds herald the leafy days of springtime, a convocation of wise men and elders of the church is ex- pected to siz on the matter,and—meanwhile druggists who want to sell sticky flypaper should advertise in the Forum its newly discovered uses. at is |SHORTHAND WRITERS Modern Stenographers Must Be Men of No Small Capacity. PITFALLS FOR THE BEGINNER j Washington’s Tremendous Array vi: Stenographic Talent. EXPERTS BORN, NOT MADE Written for The Evening Star. oO cITY IN THE United States con- tains more stenogra- phers than Washing- tor This assertion came from a_ well-known member of that pro- fession who has made a hobby of collecting statistics, and for this reason cannot very well be contra- dicted. It was while discussing the avoca- tions of certain people, as they passed along F street, that the remark was made to a reporter of The Evening Star. It ap- peared as if nine out of every ten people ef this city were employed in following the ideas of Pitman, or Graham, or “a dozen others, for a livelihood. “You can hardly conceive,” continued the stenographic statistician, “how many people in this city possess the knowledge of short- hand. I have calculated that there are in the neighborhood of 7,000 people in Wash- ington who are paid salaries to follow dic- tation with the mystic characters, and al- most again that number who have @ know!l- edge of shorthand, but do not follow it regularly. This state of things is, of course, brought about through the passage of the civil service law. Any one passing an ex- amination of clerk or copyist with stenog- raphy as an auxiliary will stand a much better chance of receiving an appointment than without this extra knowledge. “Strange as it may appear, the govern- ment is almost continually in need of ste- nographers, and very frequently has to ad- vertise for them. There 1s so much work of a nature that requires dictation in the departments that it would be almost an impossibility to get along without it. This is one reason for the demand. Another is the promotion of worthy people to higher positions, thereby taking them out of the ranks of stenographers.” The Ratio of Ability. “It has been frequently asserted by out- of-town stenographers that the government does not pay salaries large enough % secure the pick of the profession, and that, with the exception of the stenographic force up at the Capitol, the ratio as to ability is very low in Washington. Is that @ true assertion?” asked the reporter. “To that question I would give an em- phatic no!” replied the stenographer, though there is some slight foundation upon which to base the charge. Leaving the Capitol force out of the discussion—as there is no question that the stenographers up there are the best in the world—the only cause for complaint with the force in the departments is that in a great many cases their work is so light that they almost un- consciously slip backward. Then comes a time when their ability is tested, and their weakness brought out. There are hundreds in this class, and the danger of slack work has become a menace to the professio: “I know a young man up in the Treasury Department that held an $1,800 position up until a few months since that will aptly tl- lustrate my point. When he first entered the department it was at a big salary, as he was one of the best stenographers In the country. As ill-luck would have it, he was assigned to the private secretaryship of one of the chiefs of department. This gentle- man was a slow thinker and talker. For several years those two worked {n harmony and thoroughly understood each other; but, unconsciously, the stenographer drifted backward. Not long ago the chief was ‘fired’ on short notice. The man that took his place came out of the west, and was full of nervous energy. He started in with @ rush on his dictation, and, in the lan- guage of the profession, ‘put it up the back’ of his stenographer. It was at a speed the young man would have smiled at when he entered the department. The chief fumed and fretted at the stenographer’s breaks and mistakes, and in one week's time the latter was relegated to a $1,000 position. Practice the Secret of Succe: “Almost everybody knows that practice is the secret of success in shorthand, and there is no such a thing as too much of it. I can imagine the smiics of sarcasm that would illumine the faces of the force up at the Capitol if they heard that expression, but it is a fact, notwithstanding. The art of shorthand writing is not learned without continued study and patience, and ready longhand writers are more apt to acquire it in the shortest time. The number of those who are able to fit themselves as office shorthand clerks is, however, solely de- pendent upon qualifications entirely apurt from a knowledge of swift writing. In other words, an intelligent person with a good general education is capable of learnini enough of the art to make a successful business amanuensis. It takes years of constant practice to become thoroughly pro- ficient, and probably not more than one per- son out of a hundred who study shorthand ‘is physically and mentally qualified to make a verbatim reporter. “Although shorthand colleges endeavor to teach the practice as well as theory, it i not until a pupt! obtains a situation that his or her training begins and they really com- mence ‘o learn how little they know. The civil service examiners, as a rule, keep this class of stenograpfiers out of the govern- ment service, as the person that does the ining is generally an expert and can tals greener" at a distance of fifty feet. Business men who employ this class have to exercise considerable patience before these inexperienced people meet their re- quirements. As I have before remarked, competent stenographers are scatce; they are seldom out of employment and com- mand from $900 up to $2,500. This, of course, does not take in the Capitol force. The work down there ts done by contract, and the salaries range as high as $5,000 a ear. or great and growing evil to be found in each and every city in the country is the ‘professor that guarantees to learn the student a certain kind of shorthand in three months, and at the end of that time to furnish a position for his innocent pa- tron, The people that patronize these ‘pro- fessors’ are generally from the country, and have but glight ideas as to the length and breadth of Pitman or Graham's Ideas. Sometimes, I will admit, they do secure po- sitions, but the retention of the same is hardly long enough to warrant the expen- diture of car fare to the expected El Dorado. These three months’ graduates, when they do secure employment, receive salaries but little higher than those paid office and errand boys; but business men soon become weary of revising their work and correcting their errors, and they are set adrift to seek new victims of their in- competency or to buckle down to work,and finally win out in their battle against false representation, Must Learn the Rudiments. “Until the theory of shorthand is thor- oughly mastered success as a writer and ai curate transcriber is impossible, and this accounts for the scarcity of competent stenographers. If students would bear in mind that it is absolutely necessary to un- derstand the theory before they commence to practice, the standard of stenographers in all our cities would be raised, employers would be saved much time and labor spent in correcting their errors, and there would be fewer failures. Correct spelling, correct grammar, good business form, and rapid and legible penmanship or skill in the use of the typewriter are essential qualifica- tions, and are now being demanded of ap- Plicants by business men. Lacking these needfuls, a student may expect to make slow progress, and, unless endowed with an indomitable will, in the end will suffer much disappointment and distress. “One of the best experiences a student can go through with is to secure a position that embraces all kinds of dictation, and plenty of it. I recall a young man who se- cured @ place with a wholesale drug firm * with a over in Baltimore. He was only seventeen years old at the time, und his compensation about $5 a weck. The firm had a tremen- dous mail to answer daily, and the words used were necessarily out of the usual run, Time and again the boy wanted to throw up the position, but his father persuaded him to hold on. He did so for three years, and at the end of that time had really be- come an expert. Then came his opportun- ity. A prominent man wanted a secretary and stenographer, and was willing to pay for a good one. The boy entered the com- petition for the place, and easily secured it through his proficiency. The place paid $100 a month, and substantiated the keen foresight of his father. That boy is now one of the best stenographers in Baltimore. “Although the principles upon which horthand is founded are not hard to com- prehend it is quite aucther matter to put them into application and become really a successful stenographer. Good shorthand men, like poets, are more frequently born than made, which is only another form of stating that one must possess certain facul- ties to an unusual degree in order to attain any considerable success in either work. The work of taking rapid dictation in shorthand is two-fold. One must strain every nerve to catch each word as it falls from the lps of a rapid speaker and at the same time he must have every expe- dient in shorthand writing constantly at his command, so that no time may be lo: in jotting down the correct characters to represent the words which are being de- livered. If one stops an instant to recall the best outline for an unfamiliar word be- fore it will be remembered and transferred to the note book the speaker will probably be a dozen or more words ahead, and the text of the specch hopelessly lost. The only recourse when one gets behind is to drop the word and continue with the speaker, and trust to the memory or to reasoning to supply what is missing when the time comes to transcribe the notes. This course ts adopted by all the experts up at the Capitol, but they seldom lose a word. When they do, through noise end confusion, they are bright enough to sub- stitute a word that will be perfectly ac- ceptable to the one who has spoken. Work of the Expert. “I have noticed that the older one grows in the business the less attention is neces- sary to be given to the mechanical part of stenographic writing. One becomes so thor- oughly familiar with the system that it is as though the writer was for the time being transformed into an automaton and made the necessary characters mechanically and without effort as each word came to his ear. Then, too, in special kinds of work, where shorthand is of value, such as court reporting, certain words and phrases are 80 frequently used that very contracted char- acters may be used to represent them, and afterward the eye readily recognizes them without any attention being paid to their phonetic meaning. In other fields, notably in newspaper work, although I am told in this field the stenographic art is very little used now, the application of shorthand writ- ing {8 so varied that phrasing or contracting 4s impracticable to any great extent, for the reason that usually no time can be lost in transcription. The reporter who goes to a political meeting at which an important 8peech is to be delivered that is wanted ver- batim, and starts for his office after it is over, with only an hour or two in which to write out his copy, cannot take too many Precautions against illegible writing. Every nee font unt jfuch times counts triple inst making headway, aj cnorter knows this fact thoroughiys sages “The great stumbling block to begt: is reading their notes after they have once written them. In a majority of the short- hand schools dictation usually never varies much from this form: ‘My Dear Sir: Your letter of the 7th instant received, and in re. ply we beg to state, &c.’ Confining practice in writing and reading shorthand to this class of matter makes the student so famil- {ar with the outlines that in a short time he is able to be graduated as a full-fledged ‘stenographer.’ It is only when, in prac- tical work, he endeavors to take matter with which he ts totally unacquainted that he begins to realize how much he has to @ hundred to one that when he cot translate his characters hi himsclt in a dreadful muddle. icmeihaas z “There is much in common betwi ing and reading on the t ‘and sony the same with shorthand characters. One can soon learn to send the matter over the wire at a hot pace, but it takes a t deal of practice to receive it as rapidly. The — is true of shorthand. Many ° ‘8, a8 soon they can resent stereo- typed characters and business mwa in shorthand, imagine that they are competent Stenographers, but there usually comes a sudden and disagreeable dispelling of the Mluston when a test in practical work is at. tempted. Almost a Tragedy. “To illustrate to you how complicated a thing shorthand 1s, let me tell you a story sabi one of the brightest men in the ‘orce on the House side of the figured as a victim. sacig “It was several years ago, and at that time he was private secretary to one of the highest officials on the Pennsylvania railroad. The position was a hard one, and consequently paid big money. The official Was something of a wag, and one day during the absence of the stenographer from his room for a short time he deftly inserted several shorthand characters among the latter's notes. When the sten- ographer returned to his desk the official carelessly asked him to read over the last letter he had dictated. The letter was a long one and full of technical railroad phrases. The stenographer started in read- ing in a matter-of-fact way, and when he came to the false characters hesitated, stumbled and finally stopped. The official looked up in well-assumed surprise and in- quired the cause. The young man was of a Super-sersitive nature, and without reply- ing rushed from the room. I nappened to be in the room at the time, and noticing something in his face I didn’t like, I went after him. I found him in the wash Toom and on the point of putting a bullet in his brain. After considerable trouble I per- suaded him to drop the idea of taking his life, and told him the particulars of the joke. The offical came in and offered pro- fuse apologies, but the yor fellow never forgave him, and after dra’ the money due him left his service, He told me after- ward that he had been troubled with his thinking apparatus for some time, and that when he discovered the wrong characters in his note book, he thought his m weakened. It was not long after that thet he came to Washington, and through his ine work as @ shorthand writer secured place up at the Capitol.” 5 * From the New York Sun, The charcoal business has been on the de- cline for thirty years. Its first great start downward came with the introduction of kindling wood, a business that has grown to large proportions. Kindling wood has, in this city, almost entirely taken the place of charcoal in its ordinary domestic uses. Nowadays charcoal is hardly used any- where except in hotels and by plumbers, tin roofers and coppersmiths. Hotels use it for broiling; a first-class French cook in @ hotel won’t'cook unless you give him a charcoal fire to broil with. It is used for this purpose in some private houses, but not In many. Most of the soft-wood charcoal that is used here comes from New Jersey and Delaware, all by rail. Thirty-five years ago there were thirty schooners engaged in bringing charcoal to this market; now there is not one. Most of the hard-wood charcoal used here comes from chemical factories jn Delaware county, this state, where the wood has been treated for wood alcohol and acetate of lime. Seven-eighths of the hotels in New York use this coal, but, perhaps, a little less is sold every year, for even in first-class hotels gas is to some extent tak- ing its place. Charcoal has other uses, however, Placed in retorts or kilns, it ts subjected to fire in such a way as to get the gas out of it and make it as near carbon as possible. It is then ground in different grades of fineness and sold to distillers for use in rectifying high wines. Granulated charcoal is sold to ice manufacturers for use in filtering wa- ter. The use of ice machines is increasing in the north as well as the south, and New York granulated charcoal is shipped to all parts of the country. That trade is in- creasing. —— 0 That Fatal Opal, From the Detrolt Tribune. With a sweet smile she took his hat and cane. “Dearest,” she cooed, when they were seated in the glaoming, “I have something to tell you.” ea all his fortitude, he bade her 3 “ak. “Dearest,” she proceeded, a delicate flush overspreading her cheek, has at last consented to our marriagi He was too deeply moved to express him- self for about forty-five minutes. When at last he found voice, the latter thrilled with emotion. “That—" A gentle © essure of the hand told him she was beurre “Is wha get by monkeying with an opal ring. His eyes rested upon the fateful jewel fascinatioe of horror. 15 HYGEIA HOTEL, Old Point Comfort, Va. Frain aL OU LONG FOR A SALT SEA RATH, OR Do ¥ ARE YOU IN CHEER AND ‘Would you know che place where si brain rolaxes into tetade IMPORT, VIUG for it SEARCH OF A SPOT WHERE COMPORT PREVAN ‘EVER! ILS AND DULL CARE Ni ‘ ‘EVER ENTERS? tefrgnanen CONDON iY PRCRPCT FIEARen Wika Bo tired, free from’ all the Uis 0! of Views and moving the waters, the beach—the children's paradise—the safe and art & month earlier than at any resort on the coast, the ‘of guests from ail sec- tions, and at garrison i the visiting batteries from @aily the great siege in target practice, f) war ships, the nydeia i with its improved ‘and now perfect itary ea cuisine, embra: every delicacy in land and comfortable ‘sleeting ‘sp is, SOFT SHELL CRABS Over @ Thousand Men Employed in the Fisheries. MILLIONS HANDLED IN A SEASON How They Are Caught and Sent to Market. THE “SHEDDING” PROCESS ‘Written for The Evening Star. HE SEASON OF mer’s table dainties. The soft-shell crab is distinctly an eastern product and one of purely eastern con- sumption; because the crab is so Gelicate that it is impossible to ship him with safety any great distance. The oyster can be shipped in cans to the Pacific coast or to any interior point; and in fact oysters have been planted along the coast of Washington and California until now the western oyster industry is of some ce. But the soft-shell crab is a delicacy which penetrates only a short dis- tance into the interior. It is a chief arti- cle of diet in all eastern cities, however, and particularly at the summer resorts, and one of which western visitors carry pleasant memories to their homes. The soft crab occurs on the Atlantic coast all the way from Massachusetts to Mexico and is abundant also in Chesapeake bay and as far up the tributary streams as the salt water reaches. The chief crab fishery is at Crisfield on Chesapeake bay, Just opposite the mouth of the Potomac river. Here more than 1,000 men are en- gaged in fishing for the crabs from May to October, their total catch being more than 5,000,000 crabs. The value of the industry to the fishermen is more than $100,000 in a season. There are other crab fisheries in the upper Chesapeake, in Indian river, Del- aware, and in the Shrewsbury and other rivers in New Jersey. But no one of these at all compares in importance with the Crisfield fishery. In fact, all of them put together are of far less value. The Short Season. Although the oyster is of more interest in and still more technically he is the calli- nectes hastatus Ordway. The soft crab is a soft crab only when he sheds his shell. When he is very young he sheds it frequent- ly. As he grows older he sheds only once or twice in a year. As he is of commercial value only when he is soft, it is of some im- portance to the fishermen that tured at a time when he has just shed his shell or is preparing to do so. When Crab 16 preparing t© moult and his shell ts loosening, he is wh to the fishermen of Crisfeld as a “comer,” a “long comer” or a “short comer.” When his shell has to = he is — a “peeler,” “s] or “buster,” according to the fancy of the “peeler” is wi ~ g sabesbestchGedaitads##ieoacti Sr Rthat REP erastEyFRsTherersPeecreresiRat his RFARFeedEsteltetes ds fisherman. localities, but the “comer” title only to Crisfeld. crab, and the hard crab has not the mar- ket value of his soft brother. ‘The ex- perienced fisherman will quickly tell what stage of development the crab ts in. As fast as the crabs are brought in from the fishery they are placed in floats and there they remain until they shed their shells. The best time for catching the crabs is just after daybreak. The fishermen of Crisfield belleve that the crabs are much more active during the night than during the day, and they make their start for the fisheries just at dawn. It is not uncom- mon for a crab fisherman to make his en- tire catch before breakfast. Certainly he catches more at that period than he does x= the later hours of the day. All of fishing is done in small boats of an average Value of, perhaps, $10. Usually the boat carries but one person, but sometimes it is large enough to have a crew of two or three. The boat chiefly in use is a small sail boat known in the vernacular of the Chesapeake region as a “kunner’’—the local corruption of “cans The industry ts carried on by individuals on their own ac- count. Most of the fishermen use a dredge or scrape, which resembles somewhat the oyster dredge. It is lighter, however, and is provided with a pocket of netting. Some few of the boats use dip nets. The dredges are attached to the sides of the boats by long ropes. If a stiff breeze is blowing the boat is brought well up to the wind or put under reefed sails and the dredge is thrown overboard and allowed to drag along the bottom. At intervals the boat is brought to, when the dredge is drawn up and emptied on a board. Then the crabs are separated by hand from the mass of mud and grass which has come up with them. Where the dip net is used the fish- ermen pole through the shoal water and dip up the crabs one at a time as they are seen. The Price for Soft Crabs. Each of the small boats will average sev- enty-five to a hundred crabs in a day. These are sold for cash to the shippers, whose sheds line the shore. As the crabs are brought in the dealers count them, sepa- rating the soft crabs, the “short comers” and the “long comers,” and paying for them according to the market value. The price received by the fishermen varies from 11-2 cents to 2 cents for each crab. ‘ths soft crabs are scparated from those which have yet to shed, and for immediate shipment. The “sheshers* re carried i t i ue ie delve HS iit i i 5 H fits i Hi | le it d ut ‘ s ir 4 H i z ag ru efi i i ile I i | He if ih j i i H if f tg i # sce é i ! i i i EIEEE ECE ial Bye 52 al if peldie rll ipl i988 sale i ye feat! hl | ° § HH eee Hil F i i #35 it i $ 8 3 4 { j i i : tt Hi i ; fF 78 »§ i iF al ft g i i } re if i an i i i Ly i é { i g if ry i i 5 3 i § 4 3 il tion about the emperor's He always ate | i i i i i i fit E puddings. His table manners refined. He bolted his food, used in preference to fork and bis bread into dishes hat gravies before they were ers at the The seeing the of Elba, recor Art Triumphant, From Fliegende Blatter. i i i i} BE ii i E i 9 é i aS at that if F ill Retired Gentieman—“My boys have write ten figures on this newly painted wail. Whar he done about it?” Artist—"Oh, we will soon have that all right.