Evening Star Newspaper, July 7, 1894, Page 14

14 THE EVENING STAR, SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 15, 1894—EIGHTEEN PAGES. THE FRENCH METHOD The Big Shops of Paris and Their Management, GLOVES ARE SOLD AT A GREAT Loss The System of Commissions and Profit-Sharing With Clerks. TEMPTATIONS TO STEAL Special Correspondence of The Evening Star. PARIS, September 1, 1804. N PARIS THE BIG Bhops are eating up the little ones. ‘rhe focialists say that they are preparing the way for the great revolution, when the State shall handje all capital and run every business. For in these [reat shops the count- Jess employes, who, otherwise, would be selling on their 6wn account, are directed by a central organization and receive their share of the profits at the end of the year. ‘Until then, the great shops certainly rep- Fesent the use of capital pushed to its ex- treme. French politicians have worried their heads about the matter, and the par- Mament has quarreied about the special taxes to be imposed on these big shops which eat up the little ones. ‘The great objection against these grands magasins, according to Cucheval-Clarigny, & member of the Institute of France, is that “they embrace at one and the same time so many branches of commerce that they ex- tend their business operations beyond all bounds, and make life impossible to the lit- tle shops, which are unable to hold out in so unequal a struggle.” It is admitted that the great shops ace victorious in the strug- Ble only because they are profitable to the general public, whose interest they serve &nd whose taste they satisfy more com- pletely. There is great choice offered to customers, and customers are allowed to exchange goods purchased ill-advisedly or hurriedly—a liberality which is quite out- side the business ideas of the small Paris tradesman. ‘The power of purchasing many different things under one roof, without Tunning here and there across the city, is &lso a vast economy of time and money. On their side, these establishments can af- ford to sell cheaply because their general expenses are so reduced by being lumped together. This bas even been brought up in politics as a reason why they should be taxed more than the smaller shops, in pro- { hay whose proprietors are regularly for- jen by their leases to handle anything bet their own special line of merchandise. A Sliding Price Seale. ‘Whatever may be said of all this, it is fertain that the big shops have revolu- ttonized all the habits of buying and sell- ing in France. Up to 1830 everything went by barter, and there was no fixed price. ‘Traces of this practice are still found in the small shops around Paris, where the price first asked has very little to do with what will be accepted. If you ar2 evidently a foreigne>, and especially if you are accom- Panied by a man who looks like a commis- sionaire, or a guide, or a lady of the land of France, whose sharp and hungry looks pro- ¢leims her to be on the make while showing you about, the prices charged will be higher than if you were alone. This is the Paris shopkeeper’s way of recovering the com- mission which he exp2cts your companion to come back and collect when you are safely out of the way. It is a regular meth- od of the small Paris shops to mark up the Price of articles which remain long on their hands. as it were, to recovez interest on the capital invested. This {s called “guelt’-ing. It is Claimed that, even in the big shops, each department has its damaged or trper- fect or worn goods, on whose adroit sale the clerk is allowed an extra commission. But, in general, th2 big shops have brought into France the “one-price system.” This was begun a little before 1830 by La Belle Jardiniere, which is still one of the geven biggest shops, and owns three of the Others. It fs still in the hands of the fam- ly that made this great change in French fommerce. “Belle Jardiniere’ means the Beautiful Garden Girl; it is a sample of the ames which the French have always been Shop Girls Going to Work. Yond of giving to their shops. “Aux Bon- heur des Enfants” (At the Happiness of Children) is the name of a great toy shop. “The Blue Dwarf” is another. Au Bonheur des Dames (at the Happiness of Ladies) ‘was the fancy name chosen by Zola for his Breat book on the big shops. So houses which make a specialty of mourning goods have mournful, resigned, hopeful or sym- bollical names, such ‘Le Cypres (The Cypress), “La Scabieuse” (a little flower which the people strew on graves), “Les Deux Saules” (the Two Weeping Willows) and “Le Sabler” (the Hour Glass). Five of the seven great shops have fanciful names =the Grands Magasins du Louvre (named from its location opposite the palace), the “Bon Marche” (cheap market), the “Prin- temps” (spring), “La Samaritaine” (named from the first public bath built in the river Seine in the time of Henry IV, which In turn was named from the | Samaritan woman at the well), and the Belle Jar- diniere, already spoken of. The two re- paining Sreat shops have plain names—"“A Place Clichy,” which refers to its loca- tion in the city, and “La Menagere” (the Housekeeper), which simply indicates its line of trade. Commissions to Clerks. With the abolition of barter and the con- tinuation of fancy rames, these great shops have created a new career for those who might otherwise have been each at the head of his own little property. In the mew system each clerk is not without in- terest to sell the articles on his shelf. For the ctstomers the price is fixed, but the lerk gets his commission on each sale. is varies accofding to the kind of goods and the demand that exists for them, so to put all the clerks on an equal foot- ; Thus the one who sells silk has 2 per it, while 5 per cent is given to the seller Z. Mnén. It méy sometimes happen that 6ne who gives out dollar slip for gn hour together recetves but cents, hile in the Bamé time he oan see the one Heo. protien ver marriage troussequt with his $4 commissions from a sin- gle sale. But this does not happen every day, and in the long run things are sup- posed to eq! e themsejves. Not alone at the Bon Marche, but also at the Louvre and some of the other big shops, clerks who remain long encugh in their employ are affiliated to the house and share in the profits of the company at the end of the year, besides recelving their commissions, salaries and meals. All clerks who remain regularly employed, year in and year out, by a house receive their two meals a day, including wine. The salaries of the great Glove Fitting. majority are extremely small. So what is in one way is lost in another. From $ on sales an ordinary clerk, if lous, may make $800; ff he is lazy will not #400. In each case his salary would be little more than §2 or $3 a week. Of course, as he mounts up into places of trust, all these sums are increas- ed_many times over. The “chef de rayon,” or head of a de- partment, is a much more important man (or woman) than the head of a considerable shop would be on the old plan. At the be- ginning of each month the director of the whole establishment gives to each of these chefs the credit which they can dispose of during the next four weeks. It is deter- mined by recent sales and the correspond- ing sales of the same month in the previous year. With this credit the chef has to stock his department. This may require frequent journeys to Lyons for silks, to Belgium for laces, to Grenoble for gloves, and so on. Sometimes these simple em- Ployes can turn the scale in favor of some national manufacture. Thus one of the chefs at the Louvre has been the means of establishing a velvet factory in France, where goods are purchased which formerly came from Germany. To these higher Places the lowest clerk can mount by suc- cessive steps. There are many lucrative Pests by the way. And, in general, each employe has a moral right to count on re- taining his place, with his chance jor pro- motion, as if he were in a civil service. It is the French habit never to discharge a clerk who behaves himself. One of the chefs de rayon in each of the great shops isin a very curious position. It is he of the glove department. The es- tablishment expects to lose on all his sales (though his commisston is none the less), and at the end of each month he {s bound to show a deficit. The mission of the glove counter is everywhere in Paris chiefly for advertising. The price of the gloves is marked up on an average at only 4 per cent net above the cost. Now, as the run- ning expenses of these establishments are from 16 to 17 per cent of the total business, the glove counter is constantly losing at the rate of from 12 to 13 per cent. Ex- changes, accidents and bad bargains further increase the Joss. This may explain the dozens of gloves ordered by every American lady passing through Paris, and why so many gloves are sent home to America sealed up in letters (one glove in each let- ter). The Temptation to Steal. In the advertising way there are other things than gloves. The Louvre gives away each year $10,000 worth of toy balloons, lettered with the name, to children whose Parents have brought them to the shop on their szarch for “veritable occasions”—. e., real bargains. Another item of expense consists in the undetected thefts. These amount in both the Bon Marche and the Louvre to $20,000 a year. At the Bon Marche last year 662 persons were arrested for kleptomania, and 467 at the Louvre. One couple arrested at the Louvre was u newly-married pair of Italians on their honeymoon in Paris. Both bride and groom had succumbed to the strange temptation which very honest people admit to feel at the sight of so much seemingly ownerless Property strewn about in such prodigal variety. The hypnotizing influence of the per- fumed air, the lights, the hurry, the excite- ment, the heat, has brought many a per- fectly upright person, who would scorn to steal a penny’s worth in a small shop or from an individual, to a disgraceful folly of the moment, to be atoned for afterward by much distress. Last year a young English governness cut her throat immediately on being set free from arrest for taking two silk handkerchiefs. This spring an honor- able French lady, wrongfully accused, never recovered from the hysterics into which she fell on being examined by the rude, in- delicate French spies employed by all thesc big shops. It was at the Bon Marche. The press took up the matter, and the great house suffered many thousand dollars’ worth of loss thereby. For Americans and other foreigners it is never safe to touch an article except it is handed you by a clerk. This is the worst feature of the big shops. STERLING HEILIG. —_——>—_—_ HOW WE WALK. ‘The Muscles Used and the Mechank Work They Do. From the London Hospital. The chief muscles concerned in walking are these in the calf and back of leg, which, by pulling up the heel, also pull up the bones of the foot connected with it, and then the whole body, the weight of which is passed on through the bones of the leg. When walking, the trunk is thrown forward so that it would fall down pros- trate were not the right foot planted in time to support it. The calf muscles are helped in this action by those on the front of the trunk and legs, which contract and pull the body forward, and the trunk slant- ing forward when the heel is raised by the calf muscles, the whole body will be raised and pushed forward and upward. This ad- vancement of each leg is effected partly by muscular action, the muscles used being (1) those on the front of the thigh, bending it forward on the pelvis; (2) the hamstring muscles, which slightly bend the leg on the thigh; (3) the muscles on the front of the leg, which raise the front of the foot and toes, preventing the latter, in swinging for- ward, from hitching in the ground. When one foot has reached the ground the action of the other has rot ceased. There is another point in walking. The body is constantly supported and balanced on each leg alternately, and, therefore, on only one at once. Hence, there must be some means for throwing the center of gravity over the line of support formed by the bores of each leg, as it supports the weight of the bedy. This is done in vari- ous ways, and hence the difference in the walk of different people. There may be slight rotation at the hip joint, bringing the center of gravity of the body over the foot of this side. This “rocking” motion of the trunk and thigh is accompanied by a move- ment of the whole trunk and leg over the foot planted on the ground, and is accom- panied by a compensating outward move- ment at the hip. The body rises and swings alternately from one side to the other as its center of gravity comes alternately over one or the other leg, and the curvature of the spinal bones is altered with the varying position of the weight. ea a Cee The Origin of Forest Fires. A writer in the New York Herald gives an interesting suggestion about the origin in forest fires, “All this talk,” he say “about passing through the tail of Bicla’s comet 1s poppycock. “I have seen forest fires, though never one so terrible as this last one in the north- west. Let ms give you a plausible theory to explain those sheets of flame, balls of fire, and explosions in the alr away from any inflammable material. “Those pine forests contain a vast quan- tity of turpentine, resinous gums and vola tile alts The intense heat distills those oils —Volatilizes them. The want of oxy, prevents immediate Cage and they i = by the cycloné in advance of the and explode ag soon as they get suffi- cient oxygen. As they ex new fires, new gases are seme repeated. Seen st settee eos o rks and burni dg, and the hell-like holocaust proceeds the velocity of the wind.” witl INDIANS WHO WORK Only About Twenty-Five Per Cent Receive Government Rations, THEY HAVE LEARNED 10 LABOR The Large Sums Which Some of the Tribes Earn Yearly. CHANGING THEIR HABITS Written for The Evening 8tac. HE AMERICAN IN- I| dian has become so far subdued and civ- flized that the Sec- retary of War re- cently thought it safe to order a con- centration of govern- ment troops near the Great railroad cen- ters, stating that the presence of so many was no longer need- ed on the frontier. The United States army ia no longer an “Indian police,” as it has been called so often. It is more likely to be summoned to quell a riot than to put down an uprising. The secret of this change in “Lo” is that he has been taught the white man’s ways and has been con- vinced that it is better to labor in the fields than to indulge in ghost dances and to go on the warpath. His occupation as a disturber of domestic tranquility is gone. Hereafter he is a factor in agriculture and commerce. Dr. Dorchester, the late superintendent of Indian schools, has said that it was the duty of the government to teach the Indian to work the fields and to engage in other industrial pursuits. Some tribes he found which hed been converted very easily to this new life. They were people who had been accustomed to a certain amount of toil for many years. But the nomadic tribes were more difficult to han- dle. Indians of middle age belonging to these tribes—even some Indians between twenty and twenty-five years of age—could not learn new, habits easily. The chief efforts of the Indian bureau for many years have been directed to training the younger Indians. Now that these are be- coming the leaders of their tribes the ef- fect of this training is noticeable in the great increase of industry among the In- dians. Major Powell, the chief of the bureau of ethnology, writing about the Indians some time ago, said: ‘More than two-thirds of all the Indians now wrest from the soil and from industrial occupations the means of subsistence without aid from the gen- eral government, having abandoned hunt- ing, fishing and the gathering of native vegetables, except as_a pastime and for oceasional supplies. Two-thirds of them are actually engaged in civilized industries end are fighting their industrial battles with success. One-third have not accom- plished this much and subsist in part on native products, in part on __ civilized industries and in part on the charity of the government. All have learned to work to some extent and all have learned the utter hopelessness of contending against the forces of civilization and have abandoned the expectation and generally the desire to return to their’ primeval con- dition.” Influence of Government Rations. So small is the number now living on gov- ernment charity that less than twenty-five per cent receive government rations today. Only the aged and the blind among the In- dians west of the Rockies and Chief Jo- seph’s band of Nez Perces, which have a special treaty, now draw rations from the government. Every Indian agent is opposed to the rations system. ‘The Mohaves, with half a chance, will come out all right in the end,” says George A. Allen, the agent at the Colorado River agency, “but * * * allow me to suggest here that as long as rations are issued to Indians they won't do any- thing for themselves.” George H. Monk, agent at the Fort Hall agency in Idaho,says that a large proportion of the Indians do absolutely nothing but run horses, gamble, eat, sleep and drink. “It is a difficult mat- ter to make any impression upon this class so long as subsistence {s issued to them,” he says. There are jealousies among the Indians at the Flathead agency, Mont., be- cause some receive rations and others do not. “A regular issue of rations or supplies to Indians is a detriment to industry, advance- ment to independence and _seif-support,” says Peter Ronan, the agent. Writing of the Indians at the Mescalero agency, the agent says: “They appear to be very’ con- tented and happy, but their advance in civi- lization is very slow, and will be as long as the government gives them good blankets, clothes to vear and plenty of food to eat.” These are but saraples of the letters which come to the Indian commissioner constant- ly. But the appropriation of money for the “miscellaneous support” of the Indians has decreased fifty per cent in the last nine years, and it is growing less and less, fortu- nately for the Indians. There are about 175,000 Indians outside the five civilized tribes, and they earn about $1,000,000 a-year from the United States government alone. Of this they receive about A”, for products of Indian in- dustry, But Uncle Sam is not their best customer. They make nearly $1,000,000 a year from the sale of their products to oth- ers. And they earn a great deal besides by the transportation of freight and by day labor of various kinds. The government pays them also $150,000 a year for cutting and banking logs. There is an Indian police which draws more than $100,000 a year from the public treasury. Indian employes at agencies draw $100,000 a year, and employes at Indian schools almost as much. Farmers and interpreters and judges of Indian courts are the other Indians on the government pay roll. Health of Indians, Who would believe an unauthoritative statement that a band of Indians contain- Ing less than 1,000 men and women made $250,000 in a single year cutting and bank- ing Icgs? Yet that is what the Menomonee Indians of Wisconsin made in the year 1893; and they could have made more if the goy- ernment would have permitted them to cut more timber. Their surplus energies sought an outlet In the cuttiag of the waste timber into shingle bolts; but this occupation was denied them, because it was found that some of them cut green timber for the pur- pose, contrary to the department regula- ons, The Navajos, who got their first stock of sheep from the Spaniards in Mexico by appropriation, are now the owners of 1,250,- 00 sheep and 100,000 horses and mules. The Sioux and Northern Cheyenne Indians at the Pine Ridge agency, the scene of che last Indian outbreak, are the owners of 11,961 cattle and 10,774 horses and mules. Even the Apaches at the Mescalero agency in New Mexico—the much feared Apaches, the terrors of the trail, as “Old Cap Collier” would probably call them if he was writing this story—own 100 cattle and make 75 pounds of butter during the course of the yea The entire aggregation of Indians under government supervision and control makes about 100,000 pounds of butter in a year, owns 205,000 cattle and hauls 25,000,- 000 pounds of freight in a year, with 300,000 horses and mules. At the Umatilla agency in Oregon are the great Indian farmers. They market 600,000 bushels of wheat alone every year, with a total male population of 50S and a female agoreoay of 606. The female element must taken into serious consideration in an estimate of labor, for the redskin has rot abandoned the idea that labor was designed for women. “The older Indians,” says Dr. Dorchester, “and also many of the younger, are impregnated with the ideas of the olden times among this aboriginal people—that the man’s glory is war ‘and the chase achievements by the bow and hatchet, and that the heavier tasks are the exclusive work of the women. Eyen the fndjan women are thoroughly saturated with this ery RG comes to them as g heritage,” And e Crean Indian does not take to occupation with tl e best grace is shown by the letter of the agent: “the ogress of e Indian toward labor and industry ts slow; he is not built that way, but they will get-into the harness before many years and make-a-whole team. Now that they have their n land iney realize more fully that their fifing must come from it, that their eatin, ili be in proportion to their work. If it was reversed and their work was in preportion to their eating it would be immense.” Besides tnese inducements, the India1 ve before them at all times the excellent example of the white renters, who raise eyery year nearly half a :ntilion bushels of Swheat under their nosi Sold to the Government. The New York Indians are taking up agriculture nidw, having been through a farming experience. The St. Regis Indians, about 2,009 in number, derive a revenue of $35,000 a year from the sale of Indian bas- kets. They jans at the Neah Bay agency in Washington devote themselves entirely to fishing, and e $20,000 by that work, But, as a rut the chief revenue of the I dian tribes is derived from the sale of ium- ber and agricultural products and from freighting. Much of their produce is sold to the government. The Sioux Indians of South Dakota sell more than $100,000 worth of wheat, corn, oats and barley to the gov- ernment in a year: the Sioux of North Dakota sell $35,000 worth to ihe govern- ment. This is in addition to the $30,000 North of produce sold to outsiders, The Mojave, Yuma and Apache Indians at the San Carlos agency in Arizona seli $30,000 worth of goods, chiefly agricultural, to the government, and $20,000 worth to outsiders. Other work is found for the Indians in the making of roads (of which they will make 250 miles in a year), the running of saw mills and flour mills, and the erection cf agency buildings. But the occupation in which the industrial salvation of tle Indian is to be found is agriculture: and to foster development in this direction the govern- ment assisting to irrigate the Indian lends and is issuing mowing macaines and other implements which will heip the Indian to be a farmer instead of a loafer. Eee vc NEGRO HOODOO NOTIONS. Did Shakespeare Get His Iden of the. Witches’ Broth From Africat From the Atlanta Constitution. I was ruminating about this peculiar su- Perstition of the negro race. One of their color has been very sick in this town and it got spread among them that he was con- jured, or “‘conjud,” as they speak it, and right there comes in the difference between the blacks and the copper-colorel and mulattoes. The belief in “conjurin’ ” seems to be confined mainly to the black negro. Old Aunt Ann declares that he was “cui Jud as sho’ as you're born, for he is turnin’ right green.” It was these same black Afri- cans who had all the superstitions about Brer Fox and Brer Rabbit. We had all colors among our slaves when I was a boy, but it was only the black, broad-nused and thick-lipped ones who told us stories by the cabin fires at night. They only had a love for the marvelous, and the!r descen- dants have it yet. They believe in hoodoo or voudoo and con- jurin’. They have a strong emotional re- ligion, and if the spirit throws them down in a faint it is a sure sign they’ve got it good. What it is they get I don’t know, but it suits them, and there does not seem to be any change in their mode of worship. Education has not made any that we can perceive. Some white pecple are affected the same way, but it is the exception and not the rule. With the negroes it seems to be spasmodic. Its effects have no good influence after the spasm is over. We used to say of one of our servants: “Becky is going to cut up today. She fell down in a trance last night at a meeting, and had to be carried out.” And she did cut up. She was the hurse for four children and they had to keep away from her until she got over her fit, She-was accused of being a conjurer, and a black negro named Luke swore out @ warrant for her, and Tom Per- ry, the 'sguirg, issued it, to see what Luke couid ‘prove. He said that she made him sick in the back and kent bim sick, and he handed the ‘squire a dime that she gave him jfor a chicken, and fointed out a Spot on it that was the sign—the proof that she had conjured the money before she paid it to him. That was all. Had Done Everything. “What do you wish done with her?" said L. “She have to swaller de dime,”* he sald, “and dat Break de spell. I tried rabbit foot, and I bur¥ Mzard under de door, and I plat de old mare's mane when de rcosters crow for midnight, but it don’t do no good. I is dyin’ evéry' day But Luke got well and Becky difn’t swal- low the dime, either. One of my father’s negro women got jealous of Minty, the cook, and determined to poison or conjure her ‘to death. Minty got sick and my father told Juno to make her som? chicken soup. She got from an old rag a red scorpion’s head, a Izard’s leg, a bat’s wing, a betty bug, and three or four centipedes, or thousand legs, as we call them, and the tail of a green snake, and had the horrible mess cooking in a saure- pan when my mother happened in to see how Minty was, and took the top off the pan to look at the soup. Juno confessed that she had been gathering material for that soup a good while, and she wasn't much disturbed at the discovery, She de- clared that Minty had “conjud” her hus- band and I reckon she had. So my father had to separate the families. Now, did Shakesperre get his witches’ caldron and its venomous contents from the old Afri- cans of England? Fillet of a fenny snake, In the caldron boll andebake; Eye of newt and toe of frog, Wool of bat and tongue of dog; Adder's fork and blind worm sting, Lizard’s leg and owlet's wing. - see THE WAY TO REST. A Change of Occupation ts the very Best Sort of Repose. Frem the New York Times. Rest is change, not idleness, When men quit work and start to do nothing they either get into mischief or go daft. The | summer resorts are filled with miserable women who do nothing but sit around, dress up, eat and sleep. They get no sympathy, but deserve a great deal. To map out a plan of resting is as difficult as to arrange a summer menu—it is all a matter of in- dividuality; the cook calls it taste, and the physician temperament. A small boy will 0 off with his dog, tie in the grass and be as happy as a harlequin; his father will sit on the string-piece of the nearest pier and fish or smoke himself into a meliow frame of mind. One reason why so few women succeed in getting rested is because they get too thor- oughy ready. Order is heaven's first law, but it is a helpful and wholesome scheme to drop out of order without any fuss once in a while. Baking day, ironing day, sweeping day and kindred days of torture might be skipped twice a month or oftener if the mercury is cavorting round the head of the column. Let the family eat crackers and wear crinkled clothes for a change. It will be all the same in a hundred years. There Is no rest in a rocking-chair—bellieve that, O woman, girl! The abomination on rollers is conducive to round shoulders, bad thinking,; hysterics, nerves, hollow backs and disiccated stomachs. The doctors say 80, the Delsarte teachers say so, and the proofs spéak'for themselves, “Get on h dduch and go to sleep if you are tired,” Sargent, Savage and the rest of the physical trainers say, ‘and when you wake up do something.” The most restful occu- pation, these, athletic physicians agree, 1s the one thatyexercises the mind most and the body;least. Mental supremacy is all- conquering. «,That is why book lovers, dreamers nd hobby-horse riders have their own roadq to,happiness. A love of reading is one degree lower than the musician's paradise. ; The restfulness to be found in beoks—"the only things that live forever”— is irexhagstible. The late William Walter Phelps, speaking to some German Indies about the various resources; of dls countrymen, once said that the “salvation of the men ‘and women he knew best and admired most was thelr fads.” He then went on to enumerate the studies his asscciates had prosecuted ever since their college days, the club schemes of the ladies, and the pleasure, profit and rest he had got out of a German grammar and a work on horticulture. Instead of a change of physical action he advocated novelties for the mind. Sit not idly resting, saith the psalmist. .Women think they think, whereas the mind ften consumes itseif brooding, grieving, fretting over petty troubles, fo ‘this in: diovs habit needle work lends its baneful aun When it is too hot to be diligent, find rest in being desultory. ~soo— It Proved Nothing. From Life. Willis—“I_ never can get an Englishman to laugh at my jokes.” Wallace—“But that’s me sign there is any point in them.” football for the orok: $4 @ share, sud- JONES OF NEVADA Sa Ser a Te matt The Ups and Downs in a Life of Stirring Adventure, HOW HE MADE AND LOST FORTUNES One of the Bonanza Kings of the Western Coast. NOW A POPULIST Written for The Evening Star. HE HERO OF THE recent political sen- sation, John P. Jones of Nevada, is the most picturesque fig- ure in the United States Senate today. ‘There have been oth- ers who have risen to wealth and polit- ical eminence from very small begin- nings, but none of them look back on s0 varied and sensation- al a career as that of Senator Jones. Mr. Perkins of California was a cabin boy and shipped before the mast. Mr. Brice, the multi-millionaire, was a school teacher. Mr. Gorman was a page in the Senate. Mr. Hansbrough of North Dakota was a tramp printer. Mr. Pettigrew of South Dakota was a laborer in the employ of a deputy surveyor when he first made Dakota his home. Mr. Martin of Kansas was cierx in @ country store. Mr. Walsh of Georgia was a printer. But none of these men had such stirring adventures in early life as Mr. Jones, with the possible exception of Mr. Perkins, and no one of thein ias nade and Icst so many fortunes as the Nevada Sen- ator. Finally, Mr. Jones has made a great- er name for himself as a close student and an original thinker than perhaps all of these men put together. In this he Ciffers from the other “bonanza” Senators. Colo- rado has sent to the Senate some queer specimens of miners—notably Mr. Tabor of fragrant memory. It was sai] that when the report reached Washington a few years ago that Mr. Tabor was to succeed Mr. Bowen in the Senate, Mr. Teller said that if Tabor was elected he would resign. Then Nevada sent Sharon and afterward Fair, two of the heroes of the famous Comstock mine. Fair was the sec- ond member of the famous “bonanza” firm, of which John Mackay was the head. He was a figurehead in the Senate—inoffenstve, but useless. He was seldom seen on the floor, and he contributed nothing to debate and introduced no original measures. He was one of the men who gave to the Senate the name of being a “Millionaires’ Club"—~a reputation which it is losing gradually as the new states are admitted to the Union. Early Days in California. Mr. Jones went to California in 1849 by the water route from Clevelaad. Probably he and his brother were the only Forty- niners who chose that particular route, It took nine months to make the journey. They traveled on a 300-ton schooner, which made frequent stops on the trip. So, per- haps, Mr. Jones should not be called a Forty-niner, for it was 1850 when he reach- ed his destination. He did not go to mining immediately, but worked for a time as a laborer in the custom house at San Fran- cisco. Then he and his brother began pro: pecting along the Feather, Yuba and Stan- islaus rivers. At that time placer mining, which yielded sure returns for small effort, Was most popular all over the state, but it began to “peter out’ presently, and then the Jones boys turned to quartz mining, in which chance is a greater element. This was in 1867. During the time of his placer experiences Jones had been a resident of Maryville, Cal., and his associates at a boarding house there were Stephen J. Field, afterward as- sociate justice of the Supreme Court, and Geo. C. Gorham, who was for a long’ time secretary of the United States Senate. In the house next the one in whicit Senator Jones lived was a family named Murphy, one of whose members was a rosy-cheeked girl. Old Murphy used to correct this girl with undue harshness until the matter be- came a subject of comment among the rders next door, and one day Gorham remonstrated with the father and the old man moderated his style a little. This Mur- phy girl afterward married William Sharon, one of the Comstock owners, and her daughter became Lady Hesketh. During his stay in California the Senator was a sheriff, and he can tell of some thrill- ing experiences. In fact, he does tell of them when he gets in a storytelling crowd, and he tells them so well and has them to tell in such variety that those who have listened often say that they have never heard the same story from him twice. Here is his story of the finding of a atch at an opportune moment: The Solitary Match. “We set out one day to go up a great canon,” says the Senator, “and we found it most fatiguing, for there was no road. Six miles of travel in the canon was equal to twenty-five miles on the level. One of my deputies was with me. At noon we had gone about half our journey and we stopped for a rest. I was very fond of smoking and I pulled out my pipe, intend- ing to take a smoke, I loaded up and then xeached for a match. There was not one in my pocket. My deputy was not a smoker and he did not carry matches. I | was almost dying for a smoke. As I was looking around despairingly I saw a match lying on the ground right beside a little stream that ran through the canon. I was almost frightened at the sight of it at that moment, in such an out-of-the-way place. I picked it up, saying to myself: ‘Of course it won't light. It has been lying | in the ee sand a long time and I can't expect It to light.’ But it did light, and I had my smoke. I never knew a piece of luck to beat that. It is not the most im- portant incident in my life in which good fortune has stood by me, but it is one of the strangest.” The Senator saw many hair’s-breadth ad- ventures in his career in the mining coun- try of California. He fought with the Indians and whipped them, and he nar- rowly escaped death in a great many forms. But he was too clever a man to remain a sheriff. He soon had an oppor- tunity to go to Nevada to act as superin- tendent of the Crown Point and Kentucky mines. “At that time,” said the Senator, “Mackay and Fair had bought for a ‘small sum several little mines on the Comstock which no one thought of much value. When they struck their world-famous bo- ranza there I had already a bonanza in the Crown Point and I was a very rich man.” The Crown Point was the south- ern end of the Comstock. But it was not the richest part of that famous lode. John W. Mackay took out $45,000,000 from the Comstock consolidation; James G. Fair's profits footed up $35,000,000, and J. C. Flood and W. S. O’Brien, the San Francisco part- ners in the firm, received $30,000,000 and $16,000,000, respectively, for their shares. Sharon made $16,000,000 in Comstock and W. D. Ralston and D. O. Mills made about $6,000,000 each. John P. Jones came in between the highest and the lowest of this group of Comstock millionaires. His Crown Point profits were about $10,000,000. Made and Lost Fortunes. The Senator has always been of a specu- lative turn of mind, and he took his big profits in Crown Poirt and invested them in cther properties, chiefly in California. The result was that he lost his first for- tune very quickly. But he had retained his control of the Crown Point mine and he soon took enough out of that to put him on his feet again. He had made and lost two fortunes when he was elected to the Senate in 1873, and he was then reputed to be worth $5,000,000, Five years later—in July 1878—he went west, made virtually a pauper by speculation. He owned any quantity of. mining prope! fn the Sierra Nevada, but it was thought to be exhausted. No gold had ‘been found in these mines below the 1,800-foot level and the general belief was that none was pene found, larry Jone’, the Senator's ther, now in the eos wire and to the 3,100-foot level. His persistence wag rewarded by the discovery of a vein of gold richer any the mine had shown. The find was made in September, 1878, denly jumped to astonishing ad- vance, The new find made the Senator again a rich man. He then acquired a large interest in some = mines on Douglass Isiand, Alaska, and when his Nevada prop- erty gave out again, he found another for- tune in the Alaska yenture. His income from his Alaska investments was said at one time to be $12,000 a month. In addition to his mining property in Alaska and Califor- nia, the Senator owns a big tract of land at Santa Monica, Cal., which is becoming a much-frequented winter resort. Although Mr. Jones’ business interests are all in the extreme west, he spends most of his time in the east. When he is not in Washington he is usually in New York. He leads a bachelor life here now- adays. At one time Mrs. Jones spent her winters in Washington and entertained a great deal. Of late the Senator has lived at Chamberlin’s most of the time. There he can be found almost any evening, sur- rounded by a group of friends, telling stor- ies or listening to them. He plays an oc- casional game of poker, but that is almost the only social life he knows. He does not care for stereot: social entertainments, and he would rather discuss the silver problem with a casual visitor than go to @ reception at the White House. his time is given to study. Silver His Hobby. He is perhaps better informed on the financial problem than any other man in public Ife today. Even his political ene- mies admit this. His old friends in the re- publican party, while they differed with him on the silver question, never hesi- tated to admit the strength of his reason- ing and the extent of his knowledge. They have always spoken of him as one of the part in general debate on any tion, unless it be the tariff. protectionist and almost as fluent in de- He is a strong bating the abstract tariff question as in supporting the free coinage of silver. But silver is his hobby; and it is a singular fact that among those who disagree with him entirely on this subject there will be found very few who will claim that they can answer his arguments. The last speech on silver made by Jones in it. He could have completed it in two days, but he would have had to occupy the whole time of the Senate each day. The filled more than 100 pages—75,000 words. As soon as it was known to the country that the Senator was going to speak re- quests for copies of the speech began to pour in on him. He filed them all and every one was granted. The Senator is the greatest missionary the silver interest ever had. His speeches have a wider circula’ tion than any other speeches delivered in either house of Congress. And they are not dis- tributed merely to gratify the Senator's vanity. Mr. Jones delivered a speech in which consumed the whole of two legislative days of the Senate and more than 100,000 copies of that speech were 1890 printed and distributed. Some of them were sent out into the west many thousands response to requests. A few comparatively were mailed to newspaper offices. The speech of 1843 for cam purposes; were sent to indivi iduals in has not gained the same circulation yet, but it is approaching high-water mark rapidly. The Senator's mail every day contains requests for copies of it. Doubt- less it will be in still greater demand, now that the Senator has become so conspicu- ous. Mr. Jones’ speeches are the longest ever delivered in the Senate—with one qualified exception. ae eee ‘h” was longer. ir. Jones’ capacity ‘Summed up in a few other populists in the Senate at one end of an intellectual see-saw and drop Mr. Jones on the other, and Mr. Jones’ end will come down with a sudden and em- phatic thud. GEORGE GRANTHAM BAIN. SENN oe MORTALITY IN BOSTON SCHUULS. The High Rate of Deaths of Puptts, as Compared With That of London. From the Independent. According to the returns of the school census of Boston; the average annual popu- lation of the city between five and fifteen for the years 1885-'00 was 71,000 in round numbers; and, according to the registration repcrts, ‘the average annual number of deaths of Boston children (five to fifteen) Was 471. During 1885-90, according to the school census returns, the number of chil- dren (five to fifteen) in the public schools of cent on the average of Boston was 76.8 per the whole number of such children in the city. Had Boston’s death rate been as low as that of Berlin—viz., 4.8 per 1,000 children of five to fifteen—only 341 deaths of this class would have been registered annually, @ saving of 130 lives; while a death rate of 3.9, as in London, would have called for the registration of only 277 such deaths, an average annual saving of 1 lives during 1885-'90, In other words, Boston threw away 130 children of school age, on the average, during each of the six years in questicn, judged by the Berlin standard; while, according to the London standard. the average annual needless loss amounted to 194 children’s lives, of which number 77 per cent, or 149, belonged to public school children. During the period in question Boston spent $27.53 annually on the average for every child belonging to its public schools (exclusive of expenditures on new buildings, ete.), which sum, multiplied by 149, gives us $4,101.97 as the amount of taxpayers’ cash annually thrown away on children who die because they are Boston- ians rather then Londoners, while the total loss, computing the money value of 149 school children at $478.41 each, would be $75,385, or about 5 per cent of the annual ie expenses of the Boston schools in —_+e+-__ Almost a Dare. From Life. Jages—“How did you ever dare to em- brace Miss Boston?” Naggs— that night sip of woods by the river and remarked, “What a romantic lace to be held up.” Jaggs—“Yes Naggs—“Well, I held her up.” as a A Story Without Words, Lite. Jtstte oc... BRE the Senate was delivered in Oc- tober last. It took him six days to deliver = Sa CREEDON TALKS. THE STURDY AUSTRALIAN IN FRIMB CONDITION FOR HiS CONTEST He Tells Something of His Inner Life. Makes no Seeret of the Means He Employes to keep in Shape -His Manager docs not Believe im Doctors. (From the St. Louis, Mo., Chronicle.) As September 26, the date set for the $5,0% battle between Dan Creedon and Bob Fitz-ime mons, grows nearer its uncertainty grows Greater and the interest of the sporting worl@ increases. While Fitzsimmons will no doubt be a hot favorive in the betting, yet the truth of the matter is, that but very few have got a true line on Creedon. While the wise men of the ring who have come in touch with him, are Saying but little out loud, it is a well-known fact that Fitzsimmons’ foliowers are finding in & quiet way all the Creedon money they want, Personally Fitzsimmons has always believed that Creedon was easy game. But then, Cree don bas improved almost beyond belief since he came to this country. The instruction received while helping to train Corbett for the Mitchell fight aid him no end of good, whti¢ his method of living and manner of taking care of himself bas greatly improved his com dition. Some time ago it was reported that Creedog « Was a victim of muscular rheumatism and thag bis days asa fighter had passed. This bas no @oubt taken many of the sporting fraternity over to the Fitzsimmons side. Creedon is doing his training in St. Louis uy der the care of his foster brother, Tommy Tracy, He was seen in the office of his manager, Col. John D. Hopkins, in Pope's theatre, by « Chronicle reporter, and among other th ages upbosomed himself regarding ibe “ muscular rheumatism ’ story: “In December last” (he laughed when the subject was broached) “1 was giving sparring exhibitions with a variety and athletic com- pany. We played a week's engagement in Boston. During Christmas week it was bitterly cold, the theatre in which we played was mis erably heawed behind the curtain. The dressing. Tooms were so cold that you could actually see your breath. My contract with the manager Stipulated that 1 was to box two bouts of three rounds each, one of which was to be “tryout ‘With any local fighter possessed of an amb tion to make me “bite the dust.” “Though my task was not a severe one from. ascientific point of view, the work was hard and monotonous and the perspiration streamed from my pores as I scainpered from the stage into my cold, damp dressing-room, I resisted the shock of these sudden changes until the night before we closed our engagement, when, asl way dressing preparatory to leaving the theatre, @ sickening chill penctrated my back, my legs ached and I suddenly became sick at my stomach. I drank two hot whiskersing neighboring saloon, hurried to my hotel, and huddled up in bed. “On the following morning on awakening, my right ankle was stiff and sore, and the muscles of my arms were swollen and pained , excruciatingly. “I rapidly grew-worse. My physician om dered hot water bags for my feet and prescribed. an alkali concoction for muscular rheumatism, Within a week 1 was unable to bear my weight on my feet, % “I discharged my physician in despair and@ tried enough so-cailed rheumatic cures to stock a fair sized drag store. By the advice of Cob John D. Hopkins, my manager, 1 purchased @ box of Dr. Williams’ Pink Pills. Col. Hopkins had read s0 much in the papers of the marvel ous cures made by Pink Pilis, and being a vie- tim Of periodical attacks of rbeumatism, gave them a trial. “Physicians be hanged, I have spent hun- dreds of dollars on ‘em,’ here broke in Colonel Hopkins. “After using one box of Pink Pills,” com tinued Creedon, “the pain gradually relaxed, my appetite improved, I started taking a secon@ box, and the pain and swelling disappeared from my ankies and feet, and the muscles of my arins Were restored to their normal cond tion. “I left for Jacksonville, Fla., New Year's Day with “ Billy” Delaney, trainer of Jim Corbett, to assist in preparing the Champion for the im ternational glove contest with Charley Mitchel. 1 bad finished my second box of Pink Pills when 1 left Boston. The sudden change of clk mate, combined with the malarial atmosphere of Corbett’s training quarters at Mayport, re vived the pain in my muscles and 1 became alarmed at my condition. “I went up to Jacksonville and secured another supply of Pink Pills. The marvelous effect of these Pills almost baffles belief. 3 “The Pink Pilis battied successfully with e rheumatism and the sceds of malaria pianted in my system by the damp nights spent on the Florida coast. “1 was in condition to begim work with Corbett after a few days rest and rapidiy restored to health, the muscles of legs and arms being as strong and good a8 NST neverin my life worked harder than the Corbett training campaign at oe The rheumatic ankles of a few weeks previ were free from soreness apd stiffness, as visitors to Mayport who witnessed me hand-ball and over the burd sand = “A rem: ble feature ts, that I plunged from Ras the North into the dampness of the Florida ¢limate after a rheumatic siege, a Fecuiarity of my Pink Pin treatment my Pin! tment. Fay is every detail of the cuse In order to controversy about my condition. never felt better In my life and, barring acc dents, will be ready to fight the fight of my life 5 3 I hereby certify that interview 4s truthful in every detain, eee (Sig.) Dax Creepon. Dr. Williams’ Pink Pills are especially value able to athletes and those undergoing severe physical training. , stimulate the w! tion.” These pil all cases arising from overwork, mental or excesses of any nature. Sold by al! deal at 0 cents per box, or six boxes for plain hnik. Gt by the hundred act Carpets. Make your selections before the baey season. Our Fall Carpets arc now tn, and we are prepared to offer a complete line fi all grades, latest patterns and colo~ fogs. Rugs, Art Squares, etc. Prices ent workmanship guarenteed. Horace J. Long & Co., Wall Papers and Carpets, wn 524 13th St. N.W. DEUNKENNESS OR THE LIQUOR KABIT tively cured by ~ ae rely administering Dr. Haines’ Gol Bpecit, can de given in @ cup of coffee oF tea, or in food, without the knowlodge of Patient At te “adeolutely harness, and wilt effect & permanent Speedy cure, whethet the patient is @ moderate drinker or an alee holic wreck. It has been given in thonsends of cases, and in every instance a perfect cure bale a ie F 8