Evening Star Newspaper, June 2, 1894, Page 20

Written Exclusively for The Evening Star. E WAS A CON- gressman, and he; stood in the florist’s, “Doubtiess God could have made a sweeter; thing than a rose, but He didn’t,” he re-| marked, and then| buried his face in the basket of rare red| roses which he had{ just arranged with his own hands, and) among which he had| slipped a white card. He broke off one of the iong-stemmed beau- ties and stuck i in his button hole, repeat- ing to his friend, as he did so, those lines of Scott's: “The rose is fairest when 'tis budding new, | And hope is brightest when it dawns from fears; The rose is sweetest washed with morning | dew, And love is loveliest when embalmed in tears.”* And then he swung off up to the Capitol to drown sentiment in a sordid discussion of how to keep “pound foolish” men from Cutting down the rose gardens of the gov- | emmment. As he passed through the ro- tunda a poor little half-scared woman, who | had been let out of office, caught him and Deured her tale of woe in his unwilling ears. | Abstractedly ne pulled at the rose as she talked, and finally dropped it in her lap. She held its cool petals against her sallow cheek as he answered her, and hid her tears with it when he told her gently as he could that her case was hope! ‘As she | hurried down the avenue, heedless and des- | Ponding, the rose dropped unheeded from her nerveless hands, and almost before it touched the pavement a bit of a bootblack | Bounced on it. “Hult ge!” he shouted. “Ain't it a beaut jist? Won't de kid open she’s eyes wen I | Bives it to ‘er? And before the sun went beautiful rose lay on the bed of the little | sick girl, whose big hungry eyes had never seén anything so beautiful before. Close to her heart she held it, with hot feverish hands, and as the sweet perfume of the | dying Jacqueminot filled the dingy room, it feemed as though the mission of one rose had been fullfilled, at least. The Roses of June. How all the world does love June and her Foses! How many poets like Lowell have 3ung— “What is so rare as a day in June? ‘Then if ever come perfect days; ‘Then heaven tries the earth if it be in une, And over it softly, her warm ear Ia: Of all the myths that hang about flowers, the rose has most, and they all breath and tenderness. “Pretty fancies only,” the | Strongminded mutter derisivel: life | Would be a barren thing if we were to strip | it of its fancies. An old writer has said: “The grace of childhood and the glory of the flowers is about all that remains tu us ef Eden.” The Orientals endowed flowers With souls and invested them with a thou- aand mystic meanings. The Buddhists say: “We are but the flowers put forth by the Plant of life in successive incarnations, dy- ng only to be born again, like the blossoms of the ever recurring spring.” It is @ little odd that all the legends of to sleep, the love | ‘the roses—except that about the white ene—connect their birth with the death | Of some sweet creature loved by the gods and adored by men. whita rose says that, of life, it 3 the fi blossomed in the work The legend of the excepting the tree t flower that ever . and its perfumed breath was the first of all to fan the fair and face of Eve as she through the garden of in the morning of the world. when God said: “it is good.” ‘There are many myths of how the | Yose was born, but some way this se to be the prettiest. It is a safider story of how the rose came to be red—for ail the roses were white till sin came. When Eve went out of the garden, crushed and | humiliated, the poo> little white rose was touched by her erring feet and blushed red with shame. Nev have the roses been all The Hindus have a legend of the white rese which is almost as sweet as the story of first flower. They ve that the * of the World.” the God of life, discovered his wife, Pagoda the mother of all, in the heart of ite rose, which came up miraculously a milk white sea. The Turks say that the rose 3% born of a drop of sweat m the brow of Ma- homet. The Olympian myth reincarnat one of Flo fairest goddesses, blessed by Apollo, bathed in nectar by Bacchus and perfumed by Vertumus. Roses in History. There are so many roses craving admiza- tion that one can his money and take his choice” of over three thousand varieties. The oldest of them all is the blush rose, whi Straggles in neglect in our kitchen gardens and about the de- caying doorsteps of tumble-down cabins. It is the richest of all, too, in wealth of Perfume and certainly one of the fairest, | for its color is just the tint of a young maid's cheek when first touched by the Adam walked lips of love. It is the rose which Richard Plantagenet placed over his heart in proud defiance to the of Lancaster when the brawl which grew to a faction in the temple garden “sent a thous to | death and deadly night.” It was a ly | prized in those days and figured often | in the tales that are told of the intrigues | of the times. De Chastelard dyed one of | these ro: his blood when for love | of his be 2 queen his head was laid | on the bloc “The blush Ah, ‘tis the true lover's flower,” he said, and it bore his message of unquenchable affection to Mary of § land after his death. have sc she How he hing her own nt of re full of t rd of few most devoted s: gardens abo: neglected re octagon house bushes—the san Dolly her Sweeter than and as poodiz bution of b It was in Washir of Flora was bort Vited, but not garden George I é unexpected gues care. It grew tall dening petais the rarest rv t vants an Washington In a doub dison rs; which nose- ri: | ak root in a} and Mr.| t of this | it with t honor to its which fragranc as the Amer: eatnut Hill, Philad ; me of its na- tivity. | A long time > a Persian wre “I sometimes t Th Ss, as t nd delici n 5 ik that where some v So red ried Caesar ad; That every hyac wears, Dropt in ‘her lap from ence lovely head. i And this reviving herb, whose tender green Hedges the river om which we Ah, lean upon it lightly! for who knows From what once lovel, seen!” it springs un- Great Rose of Florida. There a which seems akin to this western part of Jefferson county ws and blos- soms into mz rose seems to be ind small area country, but wil t flourish tn a local or bush and vigcrous and the leaves glossy green. “he petals of the rose curve! slightly inward, and are the color of bright | | In latitude | te. j when the little arterial blood. The odor is pungent and slightly sickening, fasctniting. and yet un- pleasant to a marked degree. The pecu- liarity of the rose is that the dew that drops therefrom is of a faint pinkish cast, @ marvel seen in no other fiuwer that grows, the bafiling wonder of everybody that has ever viewed it. it is called the Great Rose and it has a history sad and melanchoiy. it was in the year 1885 that the Seminoles, then in Florida, went upon the warpath, and where this rose now rows kilied in horrible fashion a mother |and her nursing babe, and close by the father and husband. When found by hun- ters the mother and child lay in a pool of blood. A year or two later the hunters who had found the bodies had happened to be in that vicinity again, and they found on the spot of the massacre the curiously beauti- ful rose. They took some of its roots to another part of the state, but they would not grow, and no one has ever been able to get the strange plant to live out of sight of the tragedy. Not unlike the Great Rose is that Gf the superb Jacqueminot, which takes its‘ame from a tragedy in the life of Napoleon's favorite general. This man of uncontrollable passion In a fit of anger killed the lover of his only child, in her presence. A few months later she, too, died of a broken heart. the story of surprised them grew a beautiful blush pirfk Louis Quinze rose. The blood of the mur- dered lover reddened the roses as it gushed from the rapier wound over his heart, and with his own hands Gen. Jacqueminot cut the blood bespattered bushes to the earth. When June came again the gardener hap- pened to enter that portion of the grounds, which were shunned because of the awful tragedy, and a miracle met his gaze. He hurriedly called his master, and with a dawning horror in his old eyes the general saw standing straight and defiant above the roots of the once blood soaked tree a tender heot crowned with two splendid roses, as red as the heart's blood that had fertilized them, beautiful as the daughter his passion- ate anger had sent to an untimely grave, ond fragrant as the memory of her pure “It is the flower of their love,” he murmured, and from that day the lover’s cwn rose has been the Jacqueminot. The Marechal Net. One long time favorite had its birth in Italy, the Marechal Neil, and the story they tell of it has to do with gallantry and, per- haps, love. Love is of so many kinds and of so many degrees that it need not be al- | ways the grand passion, you know. This is Such a pretty story that one would like to believe it, and it is not so far away from our own time that myths and legends have got it mixed with their fables, so I think We may accept it as true. It was in 1850 that Gen. Neil for distin- | Suished services at Magenta was created marechal of France by Napoleon. Broken in heaith he songht rest in Italy, and one day there came to a basket of roses, of which flower he was very fond. He kept them till all were faded but one, and he found that—a pale yellow marsh rose—had a bit of root which was keeping it alive. He sent the tender shoot back to Paris, hop- ing to propagate the fragrant flower in his own clime. The next season it put up four splendid buds, double as could be, and pale yellow with a blush in their hearts. Just these were bursting into full roses, 1 Neil was suramoned to court to he then highest military decoration Close beside where | the lovers were sitting when the general | in the world, the Grand Cross of the Legion | of Honor. He carried with him one of his Precious roses, and when the Empress Eu- genie, then in the height of her beauty and power, extended to him the whitest hand in the world to kiss, he touched it with his lips, laid in the pink palm the perfect rose, and | tcld her its history. The empress greatly admired this, the handsomest and bravest ot all the marechals France ever had, and Was not a whit behind him in flattery. A Romantic Incident. for you,” she said, as she flashed upon him a look such as mary men have died to win Marechal bowed low before her, and, touch- ing the rose with her lips, she said, “It is named the Marechal Neil, for the soldier Sans peur et sans reproach, as gallant in th salon as he is brave on the field of battle. Emboldened by the half-velled tenderness, he sald eagerly, “You will wear it tonight. your majesty, will you not, and afterward give it to me to keep, this happy rose?” His Irish gallantry had overstepped the bounds, and the empress, blushing beneath the pleading gleam of his eyes, said haught- Monsieur Marechal!” ily, “I presumed, and you are angry.” ‘0, no, I am not 2s angry as I ought to be; but—but people might hear;” and still holding the precious rose, she turned to give audience to the other guests crowding her salon. A few days later Neil's chief-of- staff, Lewal, who afterward became minis- ter of war of the French republic, saw the marechal take from a newly-opened en- yelope a faded yellow rose, whose fra: was sweet, even in death. He brushed it lightly with his lips—had it not been so | touched by the Nps of his sovereign?—and | then he locked it away from the eyes of the curious. That rosebud had been christened d kissed by an empress, and for one long evening had rested above her heart—“this | happy rose! They are all so sweet, the roses, that one does not wonder that they are made the servants of sentiment, from the time the tiny wave of life starts till It breaks at last on the shores of death. We send roses and congratulations, roses and condolence, roses and sympathy, roses and regrets. We lay white roses beside the new born babe, and hands, “like rose leaves dropped from the rose lie still,” we pillow the tiny head on thernless white buds. The same white roses fill the hands of the bride, and Mermets, Marechal Neil and La France burden the arms of the bridesmaids. The | banquet board glows under its weight of | 20"Sensical missives so long as an answer multi-colored roses, they fill the cathedral with incense, like odors for the christen- ing, and they fittingly mark, from loving the flight of years. The June rose | daughter of the Congressman will find on the white card hidden in her Jacqueminots a bit of verse, original and not unmusical: “Eighteen years of shine and shadow, Since the early light of morn Made the sweet June roses redder, In the hour that you were born. “You have filled our lives with fragrance, Bud most precious, daughter sweet; And the fairest of earth's flowers, See your sisters at your feet. Then, “There's rosemary, that’s for re- membrance,” and the faint, sweet fragrance of the rose, more often than that of any | flower, comes up to us from the treasure boxes of the vanished years: | “When love was sweet in the lives we led As the leaven that lves in the latter spring To grow in the flowers, the books that we | read, The romp and rush of the grapevine swing, In rds and work, to be filled and fed On brooks of honey and wasted bread, a in the songs that we used’ to ing. ? es 8 © «© “Though the red and white roses have lost their leaves In the ashes of summers long ago, They come, through the mellow and mar- velous eves With the harvest of love that we used to As_rich When ti Come as garlands the sunset weaves red reapers, with fragrant sheaves, out of the corn when the sun Is low.” ISABEL WORRELL BALL, eS Some Difference, From the hier and Furnisher. Twickenham (to Mrs, Sl.mson)—"1 there is always some expense. I Was going to get me a swell gown this sum- ‘, and now my husband tells me he has > spend $75 for a new dress suit.”* tle Willie Slimson—“Phew! Papa one the other night for only $3." P™ 59% soe His Opinion. Vink of th arm clubs? ubbum (twirling his baton)— ‘re lighter to handle. But I ir yor color satist, for the WANT A REL! an ¢ | pick out for him a “likely woman” and [written to the department and got some | ecasion he wrote for seeds, and, though his ‘ow, marechal, I shall christen this rose | j from the women they’ loved. Monsteur Ie | ¥, your forgiveness,” he craved in- | ‘ance | | day for a loan of agricultural implements, | schooner | rendering them smaller and more conv. CRANK LETTERS Crazy Correspondence That Pours in “on Uncle, Sam. PEOPLE WITH INSANE SCHEMES A Curious Plan for a Religious Garden. A MODERN ALCHEMIST LARGE PART OF Uncle Sam's mail comes from insane asylums. It is a fact that people con- fined on account of dementia, having nothing better to do, commonly amuse themselves with writ- ing letters to the gov- ernment. Every one of the departments here receives great numbers of communi-| cations from cranks of all sorts, most of | whom, however, are not under restraint. | Many of them are the wild gibberings of | hopeless lunacy—nearly always religious | lvnacf—while some are exceedingly amus- ing. ‘There is one man who*wants the Depart- ment of Agriculture to establish what he calls a “religious garden.” His plan is that trees, shrubs, etc., shall be obtained from the Holy Land for reproducing in this coun- try the garden of Eden. Incidentally, the | suitability of American soil and climate for the plants of dawning creation will be demonstrated. Plant# possessing a sig- nificance in connection with Bible history. such as the olive, the palm and the cedar of Lebanon—would be included, of course. ‘The | plan pays no attention to the scientific be- lief that the vegetation of the Garden of Eden could not have been comparable to | that of the present day,the evolution of plants toward beauty and perfection having been steadily progressing since the begin- ning. ‘A note of alarm ts. sounded by a New York crank, who writes: “The extent to which the nation is using electricity 1s most seriously affecting the atmosphere and, consequently, the weather and climate, and, consequently again, both |animal and’ vegetable life. The grip was unquestionably caused by the action of artificial electricity upon the oxygen of the air. The use of electricity has thus ruined the health of millions, sent tens of thou- | sands into untimely graves, and caused the loss by fire, storm and flood of hundreds of | | millions of dollars worth of property, and, | | without one word of protest from the press lor government is still permitted to con- tinue {ts devilis> work of death and destruc- tion.” | To Prevent the Earth's Destractio | Another lunatic gives notice of the ap- proaching destruction of the earth by a comet. He wants a government board ap- pointed to hear his plans for escaping from the danger. In his last letter on the sub- ject he says: “When I see the lives of all men and ani- mals in peril, while you seem callous to my appeal for your own preservation, I as- sure you it is not pleasant.” A man in the state of Washington wrote to Secretary Morton the other da: saying that he had lost his wife and w: very lonely, He wantéd the Secretary send her along. He stated that he had | books, and they were good. On another oc- | neighbors told him that’ they would not | amount to anything, they turned out all | right. So he thought that he would be like- | ly to do equally well in ordering a wife from the department. Not long ago a lady in the same depart- | ment received a proposal of marriage from a man in Iowa. He had seen her picture |and a brief sketch of her Iife in the Ladies’ | Home Journal, and it had struck him that | the portrait resembled his late wife. He ad- | dressed a letter to the original, offering to | her a carriage, three norses, a house, two barns and his heart. The lady, who is the widow of a confederate general, replied in the negative. She told him that she had four grandchildren, and suggested that he would do better to select a younger woman for a maie. Nevertheiess, he wrote agajn, |asking her to reconsider her decision. The Department of Agriculture put up and distributed 9,000,000 packages of seeds jlast year. It is impossible that a few mi takes should not be made. in the execution of so enormous a labor. So now and then | lt happens that a person gets seeds that are | wrongly labeled, and when they come up he writes angry letters to Washington. | There is some excuse for disgust when a man has planted his lawn with clover and tinds it coming up turnips and radishes. That most destructive weed, the Russian } | thistle, has been much abused of late. Nev- | | ertheless, it is said that sheep will feed on it. Hearing this, a man in Oregon writes to ask for some’ seeds of the plant. If, as ‘alieged, it will grow anywhere and Will afford ‘material for mutton, he wants it. Furthermore, he suggests that an experi- ment station might be established for the cultivation and improvement of the thistle, People are constantly making absurd re- quests. Farmers often write to ask that their plowing shall be done for them or their wheat fields weeded. They consider that the government is rich and ought to help poor folks. One man applied the other which he could not afford to buy. Another requested the gift of a dictionary and a Bible. An individual with a grievance wrote: “Please hand this to’ Uncle Sam and see that he attends to it.” From the phrases he employed it was evident that he thought that Uncle Sam was an actual personage. Replies are made to the most is not likely to encourage indefinite corre- spondence, maginary Claims. Ever so many people imagine that the government owes them immense sums of money. One man has a claim for $500,000,- 000. Every now and then he sends in a de- mand for payment on a postal card, stat- ing that he cannot give any longer credit. There is a man who gives himself the title of universal peace commissioner. His busi- ness is to maintain peace among the na- tions by acting as general arbitrator. His salary of $7,500 a year is far in arrear and he duns the President for it at reg lar intervals. Another person offers to teach the government how to turn silver into gold. Such a process would be so ex- tremely desirable at the present time that Uncle Sam would not begrudge the $3,000,- 000 demanded for the secret of it, if only any faith were had of Its practicability. An ingenious citizen of Louisiana has conveyed a suggestion to the effect that | 4-cent pieces shall be coined, to take the place of nickels. By this means the price of pretty nearly everything that now sells for a nickel would be reduced to 4 cent: The workingman would pay a cent less} for car fare, for a loaf of bread, for a! of beer or what not. Another scheme offered is that silved dollars shall be made to contain small discs of gold, | | nient to carry. There are human sharks who obtain money from poor immigrants | He |master General to send me enough money | dressed to cabinet officers for loans or gifts ‘asey (alderman)—“Phwat do yez | as wrong to do away wid der | lof money to lift mortg: by palming off upon them worthless a vertising scrip and other stuff. The victims often write to the treasury asking for reimbursement. Some of their letters are very pathetic. Newly appointed postmasters frequently write to ask for photographs of the Post- | masier General. They say that they want | them to hang up alongside of portraits of | Washington and Lincoin. An applicant for | a postmastership recently sent a_ photo-| graph of his wife, himself and ten children. explained that he thought his contribu tion to the population deserved recognition from the government. A religious crank wrote and inclosed a circular, with a pic- ture of an ark on wheels. He said ‘I have ilt a tabernacle to God on wheels, but ave no horse to draw it. I want the Post- to buy one.” Reauests are commonly ad- es from farms or for othe vorthy purros The Post Office Bothered. Mr. Bissell got a letter the other day from . who said that he had written to retary of the Interior on the same subject and had received no reply. The commurication was about a patent. The writer said: “If I should discover that Hoke Smith has thrown my letter into the waste paper basket I would consider him a very unenterprising man. In that event I Ithat his money allowance from the’ gov- will make it my particular business to get Square on him some day.” Another person sends a complaint from Hot Springs, Ark. He says that he has written to Mr. Cleve- jand, Buffalo Bill and other great men on @ certain subject, but has had no reply. He adds: “All these things look very suspicious and dark for our postmaster. I don’t like the looks of our postmaster.” Of course, his notion is that his letters have been in- tercepted at the local post office. One man sends thanks for his appoint- ment as postmaster, and refers to Mr. Cleyeland as his “second God." Persons afflicted with the stamp-collecting mania are constantiy writing to the Postmaster General for complete sets of all the United States stamps ever issued. Sometimes, however, they want only certain rare ones. Of course, Mr. Bissell has no stock of out- of-date stamps to draw on. Nearly all of them could be reproduced from the original dies. in possession of the department, but the latter is not engaged in that sort of business. There is a stout and shaggy man, with somewhat the aspect of an anarchist, who bothers the Post Ottice Department a good deal with an imaginary claim. He repre- sents himself as attorney for a man who in the sixties earned a vast sum of money by carrying mails. The money was never raid. Several reports have been made on this matter, but it is wholly a delusion. Claims are brought up in the department again and again with each succeeding ad- ministration. They are most numerous in the Interior and Treasury. Some of the cranks have a poetic turn. One of them wrote to Secretary Smith the other day, saying: “Being disengaged, it | occurs to me to pen a brief essay for thee and thy fair lady. Thou knowest there are thoughts that burn the brain and sear the soul far more than blazing coal.” And so on for a dozen pages of closely written manuscript. An old soldier asks to be pro- vided with a first-class, well-improved and furnished small fruit and truck farm. He offers to pay for it with the net income of the property in ten years, “provided it is near a good market.” Chopping Wood With a Razor. A lunatic in Nebraska inquires: “What is thie best form of lew to regulate the American industry of chopping wood with a razor?” It is a milder crank who, refer- ring to a ‘patent, incloses to the Secretary of the Interior a phrenological chart of himself, to show what an inventive genius he is, Another man desires to know if there is any law by which an honorably discharged soldier can withdraw his dis- charge and sell it for cash. One corres- pondent wants to know where he can pro- cure a divining rod for use in_ finding money buried in Texas during the Mexican war. Another, in Pennsylvania, asks to know about a reward ich the govern- ment is supposed to have offered for the iscovery of a tin mine in his county. Kecently a man who wanted a place in a land office out west addressed the Secretary of the Interior. He said that he supposed the best way was to be friendly and not too stiff in addressing the Secretary, Fol- lowing out this idea, he began with® Dear | Hoke," and used the utmost freedom of style throughout his letter. No answer was | returned. Three weeks later a telegram | ftom him was received by the Secretar’ It read simply, “Hoke, I start for Was! ington overland on one horse. Hold office ll L arrive.” He has not arrived yet, and pothing further has been heard from him. Innumerable people have written to Hoke Smith claiming kinship with him on the | strength of similarity of last ‘There are people all over the wine that it is part of the duty of the Attorney General of the United States to | give free legal advice to anybody that asks for it. For example, a man will write, say- ing: “If L owe two weeks’ board and have $12 due me for carpenter work, can the boarding house keeper attach my wages?” ‘To all such communications reply is made by 4 circular which states that the At- torney General is not obliged by law to furnish information to anybody except the President and officers of the cabinet. Not even a Senator, by the way, could demand information from him, though he would probably grant it as a matter of courtesy. Appeals are often addressed to the Presi- dent for pardons {n cases where applica- tions have been made in vain to the gov- ernors of states. Of course, Mr. Cleveland has no jurisdiction over criminals convicced under state laws. One such appeal reached the White House the other day. It was written in behalf of a colored man, who languished in jail owing to anZil-restrained appetite for other people's chickens. The Jetter quoted a poem about a little bird pining for freedom in a cage. It ended by saying, “Will you not touch the spring that opens the cage door and let the blackbird fy?” Esra, King of Heaven. A regular correspondent of the Depart- ment of State signs himself Ezra, King of Heaven, No. 38 Perhaps that is the number of his mansion in the skies. At all events, his fad is postal cards. He will write a letter on twenty postal cards, num- | bering them consecutively, and putting his signature on the last ohe. Sometimes he mails letters, using small advertising pic- tures gummed to the envelopes, in lieu of postage stamps. What he writes is mostly incoherent, but it is intended to announce the issuing of edicts by himself for the gov- | ernment of the country. Whenever any international complication occurs, the Department of State gets lots of advice. On such occasions race antag- onisms among adopted Americans come out strongly. Irish-Americans want Uncle Sam to jump on Engiand. French-Ameri- cans do not believe in tolerating Ger- | man interference in Samoa, and_ so} it goes. Another regular correspondent of the Department of State is a_per-| son who calls himseif the Old Man on the | Hudson. He complains that the poor are | being ruined by machinery. People apply for pensions on queer | grounds—for instance, because a rather Cis- tant relative was Killed in the war. Or per- haps the applicant will say that she is first cousin of an old soldier recently dead, and ernment ought to be paid to her. One woman recently demanded a pension on the ground that she had nursed a Union soldier through an attack of smallpox, con- tracting the disease herself. If that was not fighting in the war, she thought, it came pretty close to It. All sorts of curious inventions are offered to the War and Navy Departments. One of the latest is for covering a vessel with a sort of honeycomb armor made of hex- agoral pockets, These pockets are designed to receive any projectiles which hit the ship, catching them as a base ball catche= takes the ball. How the device would pre- vent the projectile from piercing is not sat- isfactorily explained. Another plan ts for protecting vessels with steel chains. Yet another gealus proposes to propel a ship by | utilizing the “power of the water closing up after it.” The notion is to take in water through the sides of the vessel and pour it out at the stern. There is a popular, though mistaken, no- tion that a rifle bullet in traveling leaves a vacuum behind it. If this were true, it | would obviously diminish the speed of ‘the projectile. To overcome the imaginary dif- ficulty a man has invented a perforated gun barrel. Another new idea is to provide soldiers with aluminum chains to hang from | the helmet to the shoulders. This would afford protection against saber strokes. Yet another idea is chain armor of alumi num. Hints for Guns and Projectiles, Inventors often offer to the ordnance board of the army ideas for new guns, pro- jectiles, &c. Reply is made always with a circular asking them for complete draw- ings. In three cases out of four nothing mere is heard from them, for the reason that their conceptions have never got be- yond the first stage of development and the production of drawings and specifications is too much for them. Inventors are very apt to become abusive when th government failS to accept their suggestion: One of the oddest letters received at the | War Department was from a pious young than of military taste He desired to have | put in modern milita terms the Bible ¢ scription of the Exodus, showing how many fighting men there were among the Israei- | ites, the proper formation for the army of chosen people on the ma . the quantit; food required for forty days’ t the wilderness, number of wagons needed, &c, It should not be forgotten to mention the crank who has devise] a method of drill- ing soldiers four times faster than by the process now employed. In this day of rapid- firing weapons, he considers, there should be a corresponding in evolutions on the field. RENE BACHE, Order Change From the Detroit Tribune. It was the holy calm of midnight. The clocks were even then striking the hour. He toyed nervously with the menu card. | “Darling,” he faltered, “I fear you are | deceived in me.” A startled look came into her great eyes. “George Henry—baron,” she gasped. He was rale, but resolute. “Yes,” he proceeded, with a visible effort, ile my patrimonial estate is large it is heavily incumbered. For me minutes both were silent. She w the first to speak. ‘There is but—" Her lips were firmly pressed together. “—_one thing for me to do. I wil—" | She heeded not his deprecatory gesture. | “—change my order from strawberries | a cream to a plain soda, with sponge cake.” | which every intelligent man and woman | practical politician. Mr. Joseph Wharton, | provide, among other things, for “an ade- | who have but a superficial knowledge of | book which she has written. The avowed NEW PUBLICATIONS. If CHRIST CAMP TO CHICAGO! A Plea for the Union of All Who Love in the Service of All Who Suffer. By William T. Stead. Chicago: Laird & Lee, The corrupt portion of Chicago is not yet through with abusing Mr. Stead for the com- plete expose he made of the many things that many men combined to keep hidden, but not even a Niagara of vituperation can wash away the testimony which Mr. Stead so as- siduously applied himself to gathering, and which he made public in this remarkable volume. The book represents an enormous amount of original investigation, and is of greater value to the student of municipal methods then any other publication known to book readers; the whole field seems to have been thoroughly and deeply plowed, and it will be surprising if improvement in the crop does not soon result. Mr. Stead has remarkable literary ability, but this is always a secondary feature in the products of his pen; his genius is displayed in the plain, matter-of-fact, convincing way in which he tells the unquestionable truths that caused Chicago sinners to squirm and groan more than a little. Some of the offen- ded dwellers on Lake Michigan's southwest shore have declared the book’s title to be blasphemous, and behind their assumption of superior Christianity would have hidden themselves; but the veil is too thin to afford shelter for hypocrites, and the cry they sent out has deceived none who were not anx- ious to be deceived and, if possible, justi- fied. The much-assailed title was, says Mr. Stead, suggested by James Russell Lowell's poem, in which Christ is represented as re- turning to earth to see what had been done with “His sheep” in all the years of His ab- sence; how he found the poor crushed and the multitude in tears because of injustice. oss we 8 ae . “Then Christ sought out an artisan, A low-browed, stunted, haggard man; And a motherless girl, whose fingers thin Pushed from her faintly want and sin. | These set He down in the midst of them, ae as they drew back their garment’s em, For fear of defilement, ‘Lo, here,’ said He, ‘The images ye have made of Me.’ The spirit of that poem inspired every page of the book, declares the author—the book which, beginning “with the simple object of recalling the conception of the man, Christ, Jesus, has developed into an attempt to illustrate how a living faith in the Citizen Christ would lead directly to the civic and social regeneration of Chi- cag Every thinking American should read the volume and thank Mr. Stead. PUBLIC LIBRARIES IN AMERICA, By William L. Fletcher, M. Librarian of Amherst Col- Jece. Tivstrated. "Boston: Roberts Brothers. Washington: Woolward & Lothrop. Mr, Fletcher is in every way eminently qualified to discuss the subject of which he treats in this modest volume—a subject in should be actively interested. The author has rot been selfish as to the vast quantity of library knowledge acquired by him. He discusses, in a non-technical way, the pub- lic hbrary movement; library la’ the pub- lic library and the community; library bulidings; classification and catalogues; mi- nor details of library management; selec- tion and purchase of books; the public li- brary in relation to the schools, to univer- sity extension, etc.; the work and training ot the librarian; the American Library As- Sociation; a few representative Nbraries; special libraries; public pair ag in Canada; end the future of the public library. An appendix contains a gréat deal of valuable information. Mr. Fletcher appreciates the usefulness of libraries as educators and he is convinced that the free public Mbrary will take its place among the chief agents cf civilization. Those who are bent on en- couraging the collection of books for the Public good will find in this, the second Volume of the Columbian Knowledge Se- vies, a great deal of good advice. TBE CITY GOVERNMENT OF PHILADELPHIA. A’ study in municipal administration. Pre: pared by the members of the senior class in the Wharton School of Finance and Ei 2 University of Pennsylvania. With an intro: duction by Edmund J. James, Ph, D., professor of Public Finance and Aduituistration in the Wharton School, Philadelphia: Wharton School of Finance and » University of Peun- sylvania, Prof. James strikes a chord to which all that Is best in our civilization will respond when, in his introduction, he says: “There is certainly no more fundamental need in our American system of higher education than that for a training which shall inter- est our young men in public affairs and qualify them to act the part of public- spirited and intelligent American citizens. In those few words he voiced the senti- ments of silent millions; many of the units tongueless oniy after protracted and ineffec- tual struggle with the national curse—the who founded the School of Finance and Economy in the University of Pennsylva- nia, wisely required that the school should quate education in the principles underily- ing successful civil government,” and that his wishes have been borne in mind is evi- denced by this deepiy instructive volume. Thirty students of the class of 189 handfed forty-one topics after a fashion that must have been delightfully refreshing to those Philadelphians who had long been striving to improve municipal conditions in the Quaker city, but with only trifling success. Every branch of the city government has a chapter to itself, and many of the chap- ters are luminous with brilliant suggestive- ness that will surely be applied as remedies before long in more cities than one. People the manner in which a big municipality attends to business would be surprised were they to read this clever and comprehensive collection of essays, than which no more valuable contribution to useful literature has recently been made. THD MISSING LINK IN SHORTITAND. A treatise on legibility and the acquirement of speed in Stenozraphie Writing. By Samuel C. Dunham. Washington: Published by the author. For sale by W. HI. Lowdermilk & Co, Unquestionably unique among publica- tions, and, although its uniqueness is due mainly to the mechanical work—every line of the text having been done in the origi- nal by the author with a Remington type- writer—it has many merits of a more Jast- ing character than the merit of being the finest piece of typewriting ever photolitho- graphed. In his announcement the author, | who ts a Washingtonian—a stenographer in the Department of Labor—says that his pro- duct presents suggestions, based on the prac- tice of the best stenographers, which will en- abie the student of any system founded on the Pitman alphabet to acquire a legible style of writing and at the same time in- crease his speed. It gives a Mst of con- flicting word forms and phrases and pro- vides the means of absolute distinction. The simple rules relating to phrasing are in- valuable to the student, removing, as they do, all hesitation in writing, and will be found useful to the old reporter. The symposium of autographic shorthand is e feature that will appeal most strongly to the stenographic profession. The con- tributors are D. F. Murphy, Theo. F. Shuey, E, V. Murphy, H. J. Gensler, Dan B. Lioyd, Milton W. Blumenberg, David Wolfe Brown, John H. White, Andrew De- vine, A. C. Welch, Fred Irland, George Cc, Lafferty, W. J. Kehoe, E. D. Easton and Eugene Davis—most of them experts who are the peers of any in the world and probably superior to all cthers who write sign language, Mr, Dunham has placed y of his fellow-workers under obliga- tions to him for an extremely interesting and very valuable compendium of practical information, the like of which has never before been’ attempted. 1892, A [rlef Review of the Continent of North America, of the Executives of the Colony of the a of Virginia, In Two Parts, By ell Smith, Washing- ton: W. H. Lowdermilk & Co. Miss Smith, who is the daughter of the Francis L. Smith of Alexandria, has ly rendered a great service in the with a Histor purpose of the authoress ts to lay before the public, In a convenient form, a review of the governors of Virginia from the es- tablishment of the colony, and in this she s succeeded admirably. Various rare and planatory state papers are embodied in the volume, and the personal sketches are gathered from the most authentic sources. ‘The author says she has done the work from pure love of it, without thought of pecuniary compensation, and with a view only to placing so much’ history easily and attractively within reach of the general reader, and of those interested in the old commonwealth. The style is smooth, terse and clear and the book ts well printed and bound, THE EPICUR A Complete Treatise of Ana- 1s wt Practical Studies on the Culinary Art. Ry Charles Ronhofer, chef of Delmoaico's. Illustrated. New York: Charles Ranbofer. It is not easy to !magine how much more of practical information as to high-grade cookery could be put within the covers of a single volume. In the nearly twelve hundred pages are atomach-distrese'nt on. A succession of romantic incidents, oc- curring within the scope of the author's personal acquaintance, cleverly collated and | admirably reproduced. Written more than twenty years ago, but unpublished until now, this novel differs very materially from the novels of today, but comparison is by no means to its disadvantage. Mr. Riddle’s opinion of the newspapers of the time and complete lack of respect for the journalism of the’ western -reserve in those days, but the chances are that those particular (or rather not particular) sheets deserved the raspy criticisms bestowed on them. INGLESIDE RIIAIMS. Verses in the Dialect of Burns. By J. E. Rankin. Ws " University Priat. Basen Tex This is a new edition of studies in the Scottish dialect, by President Rankin of Howard University—an edition which the author has gracefully dedicated to Ed- mund Clarence Stedman. More than sev- enty charming selections from the poetic productions of a ready writer, in whom Gwells the true spirit of poetry, and who has the close acquaintance of near relationship with the accents immortalized by Burns and Walter Scott. There is wide range of subject and great diversity of style— heroic, sentimental, humorous and religious. Lovers of Scottish verse will find in the unpretentious little volume much that can- not fail to please. ATHLETES FOR PHYSICAL UI Tee Kone. CULTURE. By Sons. New York: J. Selwin Tait & Treats in a popular way, yet conserva- tively, of all the many kinds of athietic endeavor in which mankind is known to be interested. Much of the advice given is of’ the common sense sort too frequently absent from works of this sort. Modera- tion is counseled, and there is no encour- agement given the young person who de- sires to take up professionally some form of athletics. A valuable and instructively illustrated volume, in which amateurs can- not-but take delight. FIRST LESSONS IN OUR COUNTRY’S HISTORY. By William Swinton. Avthor of “School His- tory of the United States," “Outlines of the ho gy pat ng 2 ‘the ao lomac."* vised ition. New = Book Company. Mr. Swinton has carried out his announced intention with all the skill of a gifted educator. He saw the need of a history in which only the important details were chronicled—a history for the younger of school children—and the one he presents is an ideal. OVERTIFARD IN ARCADY. By Robert Bridges. Illustrated by Oliver Herford, F. G. Attwood and a. E. Sterner. New York: Charles Scrib- ner's Sons. Washington: Brentano's, A bouquet of the cleverest sort of | Com sketches, in which ten of the best-known authors of today are deliberately and, per- haps, justly dealt with. The criticisms are brought out in the cheeriest of conversa- tional methods. THe Mecoustract facies? Actas py et ‘ons ry of Christ. By George D. Herron, The BE. D. College. Author of * ‘Christ, Piessage of Jesus to Men of Wealth.” “A Plea the Gospel’” and “The Call of the ‘Cross.’ New York: Thomas Y. Crowell & Co. Washington: John H. Wills. THE GREEN BAY TREE. A Tale of 2 i NG, By hiiiking QW. HL DeWinton). Jor of “St. Michael's Eve." “The Forbidden | Sacri- fee," de. Herbert Vivian, sometine editor of “the “Whirlwind.” Selwin Tait & Sons. THE WIFE'S VICTORY. A Novel. By ED. E, N, Southworth, author of “The Missing Bride, ‘The Changed Brides," “Ishmael,” “The Prince of Darkness,” “Cruel as the &e. New York: G."W. Dillingham. PHEMIE'S TEMPTATIO: Harland. Author of “Nemesis,” “Moss Side,” “Miriam,” * bank.””” “Husbands and 'Homes,”” Huby" band," &e, HOW LIKE A WOMAN. By Florence Author of “There Is’ No Death, Silence,” “The Master” Passion, Dead,” “A Harvest of Wild Oats, York: Lovell, Coryell & Co. FOUND GUILTY. By Frank Rarrett. Love and ilonor,”” “A Prodigal’s “Kitty's Futuer,” &. New York: Coryell & Company. TRE REJECTED SYMBOL. By Rev. Charles Ed- wards. Autbor of “A Visit to the Infernal Regious; Or The Hoorarer,” d=. New York: J.'S. Oplivie Publishing Co. HER SHADOWED LIFE, A Romance of St. fee res Mea® Se o jurst."* H Weeks & Company. New York: J. New York: G. W. Dillingham. Marrrat. - ‘atal Author of well, a Pichereau. OUTRAGEOUS FORTUNE. A Novel. By Edgar Faweett. New York: Charles T. Dillingham & Co, Washington: J. J. Decker. FORBES OF HARVARD. By Elbert Hubbard. Author of “One Day,” “No Eoemy,” &e. Bos- ton: Arena Publishing Company. THE LORDS OF MISRULE. A Tale of Gods and of Men. By William C. Pomeroy. Chicago: Laird & Lee. THE GEM ENCYCLOPEDIA. A Peerless Com- = of Ready Chicago: Laird ee. TRAVEL REMINISCENCES AND BXPERIFNCES. ‘By Emil Klopfer. Almeda, Cal.: Emil Klopter. WAYSIDE SKETCHES. By Eben J. Loomis. Bos- ton: Roberts . REDEEMED. A Novel. By ©. R. B. New York: G. W. Dillingham. TABE ART OF TAKING A tegazza. New York: G. MR. BAILEY-MARTIN. By Percy White. New York: Lavell, Coryell & Co. ne iene To the Daisies. From the Chicago Record. e Hail! little sisters to the stare as they” is purple gardens, bloom 1 ‘Around tbe throne of God; ver sco Your facen Bot I do tose thuswiee:. + Ye are the gentle nuns of elds As stars are of the skies. And all do work His glory out Into a sweet design; Ye minister by day—at night Do ull your sisters shine, No bour but ba bloom ‘for us, Or sleeping or awake, And every moment nature plans Some beauty for our sake. WIFE. By Paolo Man- W. Dillingtam. Two Murdering Braggards. From Fliegende Blatter. “Eh! Hope you well! What Pyramid- like posts do you smoke, he?" “Eh, Season Premier, Havana Hercules. 375 per box.” “Eh, famous: Must make note of it!” “Eh, what pyramid-like crayon have you got there, he?" “Eh, Season Premier, Faber-Hercules. fon phere" * to 7:50 A.M. “for Kane Ningara’ Falla, datiy, 1 20:30 4-3, for Willlgtasport 7:10 PM, or, i a y inga ily, ing Car Washinetos datly, 2:1 |, Rochester, Buffalo aut YOR PHILADELPHIA, NEW YORK AND TH 4:00 P.M. “CONGRESSIONAL LIMITED,” all Por- 2: 2 rt af Ke Pre Hee if 7. es & ? ‘ 3 A.M,” 2:15, 2:01, B: ited), 4:20, 4:30, 6:40, 6:14. 7: 215. 1 gg yee’ on 1 Bae i | daily. Foyoss Richmond and Atlanta, 4: mond only, 10:37 A.M. week Accommodation for 4:25 P.M. ithed, 7:45 AM. @atly, and vs aa} 230, EX! SUNDAY—For Old Point rail line. Pullman locations and tickets at company’s of- fees, 513 and 1421 Pennayl 1 Ww PULLER, my25 General Passenger Agent. BALTIMORE AND OHIO RATLROAD. SCHEDULE IN EFFECT MAY 20, 184. Leave Washington from station corner of New enue and C st. For Northwest, Vestibuled Limited trains 11:15 a.m., §: 200 p.m. Cincinnati, St. Louis and Indianapolis, Vesti- buled Limited 3°30 p.m., z For Pittsburg and Washington, Sanction 29-50, wa HS ea at tations’ only. hoval “BLEE “Tse bor For Philadelphia, Fast. daily 4:30, Ing. Car), 5:00" alto et 10:00 ‘Orclock), ~ Batter Parlor Cars on all day trains. «Beg Se, a.m. end 12:00 noon Sundays, 4: oon Racgage led for checked trom botels and restdraces ty Ublos Tramsier Ch. ce ore ttt at ticket 619 and 1351 Pa. ave. and at R. B. CAMPRELL, CRAs. 0. SCULL, Gen. Manager. (my2i) Gen. Pass. Agr. RICHMOXD AXD DANVILLE RATLROAD. SAMUEL SPENCER. F. W. HUIDEKOPER AND REUBEN RECEIVERS. Schedule in effect May 20, 3 All trains arrive and leave at Mennsylvania Pas- Senger Station. Washington, D. C. day. 11:01 a.m. THE GREAT SOUTHERN FAST MATL. —Daih tes Pullman Buffet Sleepers, New York and Washington via Charlotte and Co- ber 2 Savennat and a Jecteenriite, patting harlotte with Sleeper Angusta, alse carr: through Pullman Buffet Sleeper New York to ingham, Ni x ——¥ ‘and Rew Orleans im, Mont ew y 4:45" p.m.—Daliy for P. Orange and tnter- mediate stations, and through train for Froat Royal and St . daily. 5 ts 10:43 _p.m.—WASHINGTON AND SOUTHWEST- ERN VESTIBULED LIMITED. compsed of P wan Vestibuled and Dining Oars, rons v Charlotte and Columbia to Angusta, Savannah, Jacksonville and Tampa, carrying Pullman Sleeper New York to Tampa. Also operates Pullun Sleeper New York to New Orleans via Atlanta and Montgomery, New York to Asheville via Salisbury. Washington’ to Memptis via Birmingham, and Washineton to Augusta vin Columbia. Dining car Greensboro’ to Montzomerr. TRAINS ON WASHINGTON AND ONTO DIV. SION leave Washington at 9:10 a.m. daiir. <:29 p.m., deily. except Sunday, and 6:33 p.m. Sandays enly, for Mound Hill and 4:22 nm, daily, Sundar, for Leesturg, and 6:32 p.m., dal Herndon. Returning. arrive Washington 8:2 6:00 p.m., daily, from Ronnd Hl dally, except Sunday, fran. Leesbunz, ant ma, daity. except Stmday, from Merndon only ‘Throngh g trains from the saath arrive 2:20 pom. and $229 p.m. Ma daily, exeept Sunday, Orn eeping Cor nese and informa- tion furnished at offices, S11 and 100 Pennssl nin avenue, and at Passencer Station, Dennsy! nia Retires. Washington, D. C. W. H. GREEN, Gen. Mon W. A. TURK, Gen. Pass. Act. jon. “Axt. Pass. Dept. my2t POTOMAC RIVER BOATS NEW PALACE STEAMER HARRY RANDALL — amity, at ail Leaves River View wharf, 7th Tuesday and Thnrsday at 7 a.m. Landi wharves as far down as Maddox creck on Mondays, Wednesiays and Pridars, senger accommodations firet-cl a until hour of ry. 9 F. fe19-tt WASHINGTON STEAMBOAT co, ENED, From Tih at. ferry har Steamer. Wakefield “ga “MONDAYS, | WEDNES. DAYS and SATURDAYS # creck. Taonardionn and #4, termediate : THURSDAYS and SUNDAY! 430.1 NORPOLK AND WASHIN SGTON AND NOKPOLK—SOUTH RovND, Tth st. wharf, arrive at Fortress Monroe a.m. next day. Arrive at Norfolk at 7 where railroad connections are made for all south and southwest. Nourit porn. <orfolk dalle at 6:10 p.m. Lee Be TO. pain. Arrive at 6 . next da: ONetets on sale at 51%, 619, 1351 and 1421 Peow. syivania ave. and G15 15th st. aw. | uxtifor' tickets via tew line. 750. cpceeaey JNO. CAUTAITAN oplitt Sort. bE UNE ST TLADEES Ths, eaves, Philadetphia every, Sate m. Washington every Monday, 5 p.m. Lo: to ail poitts north and PAS neo Kon. Agents. whazt foot « =. myst ____ MANICURE _ MRS. SMITH, LATE OF LONDON, Ma w RE found in the Manicure Parlor of the Palais itural, G and 1th ste 7