Evening Star Newspaper, October 13, 1894, Page 15

ee ee ee ee THE EVENING STAR, SATURDAY, OOTOBER 13, 1894-TWENTY-FOUR PAGES. 15 EMPEROR OF CHINA How This Young Tartar Monarch | Looks, Acts and Lives. HIS ROYAL HAREM AND HIS EUNUCHS | : A $10,000,000 Marriage and the Tartar Brides. ee EUNUCH OF RICHEST CHINA pene ere sright, Written for The 1sM4, by Frank G. Carpenter.) Evening Star. WILL DEVOTE MY Lo Vetter this week to \@)| the or al China. the most secluded mon- arch o1 the face of the giebe, and no is guarded carefully than officials have ‘artar city king. and you have to go through three approach the build- | fets of wails befor ing in which he is. kept, guarded b chs. First, there are the immense of the great Tartar city, which ar sixty feet thick an 3 tall as a four- story flat. These inclose a large area filled up with the houses of ‘Tariars and government buildings, which run around @ space in the center of which Is known as the Imperial City. This h: high wall of gray bricks about six miles in length, and it includes the outside pal- gees, the pleasure grounds and the tem- ples of the Siered City. The emperor is kept in the third pen inside this, and his exely quarters are Known as the Pur- The walls of this last narded. They inclese the Ti Tsian 14, the Famous Ennuch, quarters of the emperor, his family, the ladies of the revel barem and the thou- ho make up the serv- 's in the center for there are small don the two sides of a ridge of palaces, which runs from the north to the south. The emperor him- of eunuchs It ceremonies, di and n court buildings arranged » empress dowager has a p In another part of the in- closure ts the hall of literary abyss, or the imperial library, and in this the cabinet s hold their sessions, and {t concains also a department of the royal treasury. No one outside of the foreign legations has ever gotten into the palaces of the Emperor of China, and no foreigner ts permitted to see him. Our minister has been granted an audience, but even the Chinese of Peking do not know how he looks, and of hundreds of millions who rake up th pire 1 venture to there are not five thousand m: of his eunuchs who nave him. He knows absolutely nothing about the actuel condition of his peop "i capi- tal. When he goes out into the city mat- ting is hung up ie front of all the houses ever set eyes on end ef cloth are stretcacd across the al streets through which the procession must Our minister warn¢ ali Americans not to go out their peril, fer the ¢ ccompanicd by soinie peeps around the corner fastened to a hole in the matting to be blinded with a bullet or arr streets are fixed or the or his eye is liable The All on. the Fooths a s are driven away and the roads red with bright yel- | fow «1 I sa | such city in | during my reking fe emperor's 0 s the Koes i F ne of his tours v f his an- | estore exte will that it « y of elay auling to Kood track to move view y walls, 4 round rat I met a to} mation from Peking six had of his palaces and during the the with ny Chines pho mber of offic end that I prowl w re quite too tr 3% t t n the throne, he w close ne or tw years ago, at the time that Wrens dowage> picked out Nis first’ wives, and some of the stories J will tell further on were given me in a whisper, and if their S were known they might lose their The truth of the matter is that the young emperor is by no means an angel, and the eunuchs told me that he hops 4 down in his ra, against him » when He is merely nything goes the tool of th Off empress dowager, and he has been un- der this lady's thumb since he was a. baby ~ ucation. She Picked out his wives for him, and she makes the ladies of his harem how! today if they don’t walk chalk in her presence. Of cours: she took her own friends when she selected his wives. and sh: about with her offi had a will « to use It. 4 old at the tim ago, and she has him so hemmed is and giris that tf he his own he wouldn't know how emperor Was seventeen years bis marriage, six years « him three wives to start with. The selection was curic AN the pretty Tartar girls of the empire. number- ing many thousands, were gathered togeth- er and sorted. and the best of them were sent on to Peking. The selection was first made by the governors of the provinces, and no girl was who was over eighteen nor unde years of axe. The choice lots w clothes, and were ted from all parts of the empire into Peking. They were here submitted to the inspection of the old em- press dowager, being brought into her pres- ence in lots of five. She passed upon them as fast as she could, ana weeded out the poorest and dullest. Thos? who remained were taken out for the time and brought In fn new lots, and so the sorting went on un- ul the thousands had dwindled to the hun- dreds, the hundreds to scores. and the scores at.last down to fifteen. These fifteen girls were put into traiping. Their paces ed in the finest of | th were tested, and all sorts of experiments were made as to their tempers and traits. After some months the old empress picked out the three girls she liked, and the eldest of there, who was eighteen years old, be- came empress. The two others became what are called secondary wives, or chief concubines, and these two latter were sis- ters, one of whom was thirteen and the other fifteen years old. The marriage of emperor was celebzated on the day that Jent Harrison was inaugurated, and 1 may have some idea of the occasion when I tell you that it cost ten million dol- lars. In addition to his wives, he has no end of concubines, and the laws of China provide that a sorting like that I deseribed Pr High Chinese Lady Dressed Like the F press Dowager. must be made every three years of all the pretty Tartar girls in their teens, and that t of tho lot must be shipped ‘The efperor {s not re- to the number he takes, and he icks out those he likes best. He has a right to dismiss them at any time that he | pleeses, but they usually remain until | twenty-five years of age, when, if they have dno children, they expect to be sent way from the palace. They have no trou- ble, how in getting good husbands. ‘The whole Chinese court is made up of intrigues and Intriguers, and the nobles are glad to have thelr daughters in the royal harem. These Tartar girls have a dress of their own, and they wear long skirts instead of the silk pantaloons of their Chinese sisters. They do not bind up their feet, and there are “no squeezed feet inside the imperial palace, They are indeed the prettiest girls of the empire. Their faces are a delicate m verging on the bloom of a large yel- peach, and their black almond eyes are soulful enough to stir the blood of the ccldest Caucasian. No man with such sur- roundings can devote much time to a ttle matter lke that of a war with Japan, and doing what his highest officials and the old empress dowager direct, amusing himself, in the meantime, with his wives and his eunuchs. He Fas, in fact, much the same plece that. the Mikado had in Japan under he Shozuns. He is a sort of @ holy figure- head, and his officials know the more sacred they make him the more power will be given to them, and the more license for their squeezing and stealing. Living by Law. erything connected with the emperor ts regulated by law. He has imperial phys!- claus who watch over his health. The law provides just what he shall eat, and I am told that he squats on the floor at his meals and eats out of golden bowls with ivory chopsticks. According to the old Chinese books, there must be placed daily before | tain one-hundredth the amount of the ma- terial in one of the Saturday editions of The Star. The newspaper begins at the back instead of at the front. The lines run up and down instead of across the top, and you read from right to left across the page | instead of from left to right, as with us. It has no advertisements, no editorials and no social gossip. The government allows no comments on its actions, and it is a crime to add to or subtract from its matter in its republication. The newspaper is made up of official acts and reports, and such of the reports as the emperor thinks ought to be published are looked over by him and he marks with a red pencil his comments upon them. These are pasted upon bill boards outside of the palace, and the scribes copy them into books, which are sent out each day. These first copies are the original 1s- sues of the Peking Gazette. They are beau- Ufally engrossed, and they command a price of about a hundred dollars a year. Private printing firms buy them, and the engraver, make blocks, from which the cheaper copie! are printed. Some editions go for thirty cents a month, and numbers of Chinese families club together and buy these cheap- er editions, so that a man may pay perhaps one-twentieth of a cent for reading a copy of the Peking Gazette. I have a bound volume of this paper, which has been trans- lated into English, and I get translations every week in the English newspapers which I receive from China. Practically nothing is as yet given about the Chinese- Japanese war. except that in the issue of August 28 it 1s stated that “the empress dowager has sent 4,000 boxes of cooling pills to the soldiers in Corea,” and the cour- Jers probably bring the news in on horse- back and retail it to the people. There is noe doubt that there is more lying done in the dissemination of official reports than can possibly be committed by American re- porters, and 1 learn from Peking that the people are kept in entire ignorance of what is going on in the war with Japan. In the Dark. : It is doubtful whether the emperor him- self understands his real situation. He has, I venture, never reviewed his own army, and he knows nothing about military tac- ties. It is a common amusement with him to go out and shoot with a bow and arrow, and his only experience as to traveling by railroad has been in a small train of cars which a French syndicate, who wanted to set railroad concessions, presented to him. The train cost them, I am told, something like one hundred thousand dollars. The emperor refused to accept it as a gift, and sent them back the sum of ten thousand dollars, in order to relieve himself from any obligation. It ts now six years since the present was made, and they have gotten no concessions. I saw these cars in Tien ‘Tsin some years ago, when they were on their way to the emperor. ‘They were car- ried into Peking by water, and his majesty’ had a track laid in the palace grounds, and they were run for a short time with steam. ‘This, however, was too fast for his maj- esty, and I understand that he now har- nesses up his eunuchs to the engine and as them whipped right royally by the brakemen, as he rides through the grounds. The emperor knows nothing of modern cililization and modern warfare. He does not even know his own country, and did he possess a great character it would have been ruined long since by his surroundings. The Thieving Eunuchs. This is the man who is supposed to be at the head of the great Chinese empire, and who ought to be directing the war with Japan. He is, I am told, largely governed by his eunuchs. They have been his closest associates throughout his life, and different estimates state that he has all the way from four to ten thousand of these eunuchs in the palace. Our own minister, Col. Denby, says that he has actual information that there at least four thousand, and when you remember that this immense colony is scatiered over an area not much larger than that of a farm, you will see that eunuchs are thicker than blackberries in August. They are graded in different departments, and each has his own duties. Those of ordinary rank receive from two to twelve dollars a month, but they make fortunes out of squeezing and Stealing, and there is one eunuch in the palace who is said to be worth mfilions. His name 1s Mi Tsiau Li, and he ix the confidential servant of the old empress dowager. He is a great office broker, and I heard of in- stances of his getting a hundred thousand dollars and upward for single offices, and 1 have no doubt that he divides his ‘profits with the old empress. All of the officials of Peking are afraid of him, and thovgh he began life as the son of a shoemaker, he has more power than many of the princes. His father was a cobbier in the city of Tung Chow, about fifteen miles from Pe- king, but since his son has become so power- ful the old man has been elevated to a fat © Latest From the War. him thirty pounds of meat in a basin and seven pounds bolled into soup. He has a @aily allowance of about a pound of hog’s fat ana butter, and he has the right to order two shecp, two fowls and two ducks, while his drink for the day 1s restricted to the milk of eighty cows and the steeping of seventy-five parcels of tea. It 1s probable that his real diet is different, and I doubt hot he is now taking bits of roast leopard and Uger-bone soup to keep up his courage, for the Chinese think that these things really make a man brave. If he desires | anything that is not on the menu, the board having charge of the imperial table has to be consulied, so I am told, before he is supplied. What the Emperor Looks Like. The emperor is by no means a physical giant. He ts lean and unh » and his | features are long and unlike those of the | typical Chinaman. His eyes are almost straight, and he bears the marks of his pure Tartar blood. His life is by no means con- ducive to health. He does all his business t night and he sleeps in the daytime. He begins his work about midnight, just after his breakfast. and he receives his cabinet ministers under the rays of the electric light. He has numerous audiences, and the big off ante-c as ofien lals have to cool their heels in the mber of the palace s they do in the | are restricted to twenty. office, and he has a feather in his hat. I saw a number of instances myself in Pe- king which gave me an insight into the stealing of these eunuchs. The finest of the silks and embrolderles of China are taade for the emperor. He has vast silk looms at Nanking, and he has great por- celain factories in different parts of China. He receives his satir: by the cartload, and one of his recent orders, as I see by the Peking Gozette, included thirty-four hun- dred rolls of silk gauze, five hundred rolls of brocades, and three hundred and seventy rolls of satin. He buys his pencils by the thousand, and paper is carried to Peking for him by the shipload. He receives many presents, and he can't keep track of ail his possessions. The eunuchs sneak ,oods cut of the palace and hand them « er to second-hand peddlers, and I was offered gowns which were probably made for the royal harem again and again during my stay in Peking, and you can buy fine pieces of embroidery there with the five-clawed dragon upon them, which ts the imperial coat-of-arms, for a song. Many a fine plece of porcelain is smuggled out of the palaces and sold, and the officials probably Get a squeeze on all orders of goods that they make for the emperor. Just one word more about the eunuchs. The laws provide that none but those of royal blood shall have the right to employ them, and prircesses can have thirty eu- huchs, while the nephews of the emperor Every fifth year certain of the officials of China are re- | quired to furnish for the use of the palace eight young eunuchs each,and these princes are paid three hundred dollars aplece for them. Even the priests who attend to the worship of the harem are eunuchs, and the emperor goes no place without them. There were several hundred guarding the roads when the foreign minister came into the audience, and the old empress dowager has quite a corps of them. The Empress Dowager. The empress dowager will be sixty years old next month. She is said to be a most remarkable woman, and she has been prac- tically the ruler of China for the past gen- fon. She was the secondary wife or the first concubine of the Emperor Hien Fung, who died along about the time of get down on their knees and Symp their heads again and again on | the flobr, and they have to remain on their while befe him. Not long ago he took @ notion to learn English, and two students of the college at Peking were pointed as his teachers, He recited his les- sons at 1 o'clock in the morning, and for some time these boys who acted as teachers had to remain on their knees while his The Imperial Editor at Work. majesty butchered the king’s English before them. ‘He kept up his studies for some time, but I was cold in Peking that he had given up the attempt. The Peking Gazette. The Emperor of China ts, to a certain ex- tent, the editor of the famous Peking Gazette. This is the oldest newspaper of the world, and it has been published almost daily for eight hundred years. It was read by the Chinese centuries before America was discovered, und it was six hundred years old when the first daily newspaper of our civilization began its publication, in 1615. It is nothing lke our newspapers, however. The copies, which are sent ali over China, are more like the cheapest of patent medicine almanacs than anythi: else. They are bound in yellow covers, ai are printed from blocks on the thinnest of rice paper. A page of the Peking Gazette is about three inches wide and seven inches long. and there are sixteen pages and up- ward in each Issue. None of the issues con- the beginning of our civil war, and she has been practically the boss of the harem and the empire since then. She at the head of the empire during a greater part | of the Katping rebeilion. She managed its affairs during its war with France, and she | had a Lttle taste of Russian diplomacy in \ her fuss with the czar of some years ago. | She is said to have a mind of her own, and | all of the Chinese respect and fear’ her. She ts a stickler as to form, and she in- sists that ail business shall be done through the young emperor, though she really di- rects what he is to do. She is very vain, and she had consented to the spending of about twenty million dollars on the cele- bration of her birthday this year, and this money was being collected for the purpose when the war with Japan broke out. A large part of it is to be applied to the war, and if the Japanese approach Peking before the celebration it is probable that the old empress will really give the whole of it to the war, as she has promised to do. The empress dowager {8 even more secluded than the emperor, and when she receives her officials she sits behind a screen and the cabinet ministers get down on their knees and talk through it at her. She is said to look much like the ordinary Chinese woman, and I have a picture which looks, I am told, much like her. It represents a tall Chinese woman with a crown on her head and with a gorgeous silk gown deco- rated with embroidery covering her per- son. She sits as straight as a poker, and looks as though she might ‘be able to rule. The real photographs of the empress dow- ager, the Emperoy of China, and of the empress have never been taken, and if they were they wetld not be allowed to go outside of the palace. One of the biggest magazines of the coun- ry recently published pictures which it labeled as those of the emperor and em- press. Any one who has even a slight ac- quaintance with Chin:, knows that the ob- taining of real photographs of this kind is absolutely impossible, and I am surprised that the editors should have been so easily deceived. FRANK G. CARPENTER. Fk 4, Crrpenet ’ e STORY OF A MONITOR How Admiral Brown Took One to Japan After Our War. AN EVENTFUL VOYAGE A Strange Meeting Among the Giant Patagonians. REFUSAL OF A BIG BRIBE Written for The Evening Star. S vom AFTER THE close of our war our government sold to the Japanese govern- ment a monitor call- ed the “Stonewall Jackson.” ‘This mon- itor had belonged to the confederates, but come into our posses- Se sion. The Japanese SSS = having purchased it, —_—_— made a contract with Capt. George Brown, now Rear Admiral Brown, to deliver it in the Bay of Yokohama. He was to receive some fifty thousand dollars for the venture, but he was to provide his own crew and take all risks. Capt. Brown happened not to be on any regular duty at the time, and the Navy Department made no objections to his undertaking this commission in a private capacity. To sail a monitor across two oceans was no easy undertaking. Of course, he went around Cape Horn, and, of course, he had to make frequent stops for coal. One of his stopping places for this purpose was Punta Arenas, in the Straits of Magellan. While the coal was being stowed the captain went ashore, and among the interesting things he found there was a camp of giant Patagoni- ans, fellows whose dress consisted of a bunch of feathers on their heads and a shoestring around the loins. One day while he was straying along through their camp he was decidedly surprised upon hearing himself accosted by one of them, in good English, with: “How are you, George Brown?” The man was dressed like the rest of his companions and was duly paint- ed according to the custom of the Patagoni- ans, and the captain did not recognize him as any one whom he had ever seen before; but he soon found that his acquaintance was an old schoolmate whom he had known in Indiana when he was a boy, and who was here masquerading @ savage. Capt. Brown's friend had gone to sea when a bo been stranded in that region, joined thi tribe, adopted the Patagonian customs and was then one of their “big Injuns.” ‘The captain saw his acquaintance several times. At first he seemed contented with his lot, but after a few interviews he con- fided to the captain that the meeting with | him had made him homesick for the United States, and when the vessel was ready to leave he asked to be allowed to come aboard and to be carried to San Francisco. He said that he would have to wait until the last moment and then watch his oppor- tunity to slip aboard unseen, as his com- panions would kill him if they knew he was intending to leave them. The captain consented, and when the monitor got under Wey the false Patagonian emerged from the hold, where he had concealed himself, and was supplied with a sult of United States clothes. Hoodwinking a Chilean, The vessel's next stop was in the bay of Valparaiso, Chile. 8ome portion of the en- gine had given out, and it necessary to stop for repairs. Upon examination it was found that the repairs required were most important; that in fact the vessel could not proceed until they were made. The captain was experienced enough to know that the Valparaiso mechante whom he would have to call upon to make the repairs would “stick” nim for five or #ix times what the job was worth if he found out that the vessel could not sail unless the repairs were made, and as the sum would have to come out of his own pocket he wanted to avoid any extravagant charge. Accordingly, he gave out that he had put in for coal, and while the coal was being stowed he sauntered into town in a state of mind of apparent unconcern. Drop- ping into the machine shop of the place, as if casually, he talked about things in gen- eral, and finally mentioning the fact that his vessel needed some repairs, he remarked that he didn’t know but that he might have them made in Valparatso if they could be done without causing him delay. The mechanic was anxious to get the job, and offered to examine the vessel and make a bid. This was just what the captain did not propose that he should do, at least not until the bergain was concluded, for if the machinist saw what state his v was in he would have him at his mercy. “Oh, you needn't take that trouble,” sald the captain. “What I want is a new cylinder head" (or whatever it was that was out of order). ‘The mechanic wanted five thousand dol- lars. “Five thcusand dollars! Oh, well; I see that you don’t want the job. I'll wait til I get to Sen Francisco.” Finally, after a good deal of dickering— the captain all the while saying that he guessed he would wait till he got to San Francisco—a price was agreed upon and a contract was drawn up and signed. When the shipmender saw the state that the ves- sel was in, and that {t could not possibly have reached San Francisco without the re- pairs, ne realized that the Yankee captain had outwitted him, In a Quandary, Firally, after many stops and all sorts of delays, the mcnitor steamed into the harbor of Yokobama. Capt. Brown congratulated himself upon the successful issue of his risky undertaking, and comtemplated with satisfaction the prospect of receiving the comfortable sum for which he had contract- ed to deliver the vessel but when he went shore he found that a complication had risen. Since he left the United States there had been a rebellion in Japan and two par- ties were then contending for the control of the government. He had contracted to de- liver the vessel to the Japanese government. But which was the government? Who rep- resented it? He conferred with the Amer can representatives in Japan, but they were unable to decide the question. They d him to wait until it appeared which party constituted the de facto government, and this he dectded to do. The contest was so close that It was be- lieved that the possession of the monitor would turn the scale in favor of the party that obtained it. Representatives from both sides besieged him to deliver the ves- sel to them, and both offered him the stipu- lated sum for its delivery. It was a great temptation. The captain wanted money badly. His crew had hot been paid, and it was becoming clamorous. Besides there was danger that the vessel would be forci- bly seized during the night, and in that event he would probably lose his pay alto- gether. It was a trying situation. The harbor was dotted with ships of half a dozen 1a- tionalities, all watching the course of events and waiting the outcome of the struggle. Such was the state of things that for any one of these nations to have decided that one or the other party repre- sented the rightful government would have been a disregard of international courtesy and might have inyolved serious complica- tions with other countries. Captain Brown was there as a private citizen of the United States, but he was in fact an officer in the navy of the United States, and he realized that {t would not do for him to take any action favoring either side, especially as his action, it taken, would probably settle the conflict in favor of the side whom he favored. He kept his crew aboard the monitor and stayed aboard himself every night, = every precaution against a surprise a: seizure. A Big Bribe. Matters had e on in this way for sev- eral weeks wi one day he was ap- proached by a Japanese, who told him that &@ man of high standing in one of the con- tending parties wished to see him; that this man did.not wish the captain to know who @ closed jinrikisha to the residence « Peraop who sought the irterview. had, at some time tain, who was plucky and rather liked the idea of an adventure, was inclined to ac- cept the invitation, and after consulting the officers on the American man-of-war which lay in the harbor, he decided to ge, the commander of the man-of-war assuring him that if he didn’t return the next day he would blow up the city but he would deliver him. A night was agreed upon, and going to a certain designated place he submitted to be blindfolded; he was then seated in the ve- hicle provided, which was closed on all sides, and in that he was borne to a man- sion, in the court of which he was liberated, and from there he was escorted to an in- ner apartment, luxuriously furnished. There he was unblindfolded and his host appeared. He was treated very courteously, and every argument was used to persuade him to de- liver the monitor to the party that was in Power when the contract for the delivery of the vessel was made. He was not con- vinced and declined to take any action in the matter until one or the other side should have obtained undoubted supremacy. His host then told him that if he would stay on shore and leave the vessel un- guarded one right, so that it could be avickly seized, he was authorized to give him $100,000. ‘The captain smiled and re- spectfully declined the offer, and the inter- view closed. The next day he had the breech pins taken out of all the guns on the monitor, and removing the essential parts of the engine, he had them taken to the American man-of-war, letting it be gen- erally known that he had done 80, in order that the Japanese might realize that the vessel would be of no use to them even if they seized it. Matters rested in this condition some weeks longer, when the old government was finally overthrown. The new authori- ties received the monitor and paid the cash for its delivery, but before Capt. Brown left he was requested to show the Japanese how to manage the vessel, which he did. The next day, looking out into the harbor, he saw the monitor steaming about in a cir- cle as it had done when he was showing the Japanese engineer how to run it. ‘To his surprise, however, it kept on steaming around, and didn't come to anchor. At Jength a flag was hoisted, and pretty soon @ boat went out to ft. In a little while the boat came back and a messenger was sent to find the captain and to request him to came out to the vessel, as its new engineer didn’t know how to stop it. The captain politely complied with this request, and the next day he sailed for New York. JOSEPH B. MARVIN. ————_+-0+—. Women and Men, From All the Year Around. Women cannot leave the men alone. That war cry of theirs, “Whatever a man can do a woman ca is pregnant with meaning of which they themselves appear to be un- conscious. Whatever a man does they do— chiefly because a man is doing ft. If a man did not do it, they would not do it either. They crowd the risky entertainments be- cause the men are there. They read and write the suggestive books because their first and foremost theme is invariably the relations of the sexes. They play masculine games merely be- cause they are masculine. I would venture on something of the nature of a prophetic utterance. It is this: If every man were to leave off playing golf tomorrow there would not be a female golf player left in England in a month, Heaven knows that there are a good many of them just now! Where the men lead the women follow. ‘The “dear creatures,” as the old-time “bucks” used to have it, always did run after the men; it seems that just now they are running after them a little harder than ever they did. That, from the soctal point of view, is the Alpha and Omega of the cry of the “independent” women; that is not seldom the meaning of “women's rights.” It is the right of a woman not to be far away from a man. ry Woman. From the Detroit Free Press, She was versed in mathematics, quadratics, and the the mari . And to her cube root's extraction was as simple as substraction; she could figure vapor's tension to nine decimais or more Browning, who makes people skelly. was as plain to her as Shelley; William Shakespeare's mas- terpteces, line for Hine, she could recall; She was competent to lecture on Egyptian ‘arehi- she could write @ dozen theses upon any theme at all. On the mite of a bacillus, how it multiplies to kill nd its constant war with matuce, she ified to speak; Just how far'distant every asteroid tronomie nomenclature she could talk about 4 eek; She could give location, area and popula- tion of the smallest fishing village in the Jus- sian czar's domain; Could explat how our English with lage, cou prairies or the barren ¢ proper kind of til- to flelds of grain; With ld discourse hand on strata; a knew whence he genera of fishes, birds, plants, mollusks, reptiles vicious, insects, antwmals und flowers, she could classify and name. She had must 1 this culture within college Walls’ sepulture, and her bookish lore was set off with discretion above par: Yet, with all her wealth of learning aid intelligent discerning, she Was pever known to get off froutward’ when she left a car. a hw What He Needed. From the Detroit Free Press, ‘The woman was bringing suit for divorce from her scoundrel of a husband. “He has robbed me cf my good name,” she said, weeping, to her attorney. “My dear madam," he replied, consoling- ly, “don't take it so hard. Is there any- body | vho needs a good name more than he does?" allt cee A Desire to Please. From Life. Brother Browse, mon elder, had a long and lis: Which the first ought never te beard, wife of his bosom said thes Hence, of course, his second consort used to flout at it and scoff, And her daily tearful prayer was that he'd cut the horrors off manner shown above, ag mn ip ss ce as vd Ves ~ RETURN OF SOCIETY ALAS! THEY DO KOT KNOW, The Girls Chatter Gaily About Their Summer Experiences. — ey THE MEN HAVEN'T MUCH 10 SAY ee eee an The Chappie Who Has Bought His Clothes in London. a SEASON'S OPENING ey A THE 8 A WRITER FOR The Star was pass. ing along the street a few days ago he saw two girls almost rush into each oth er’s arms. “Oh, I am 80 @ to see you,” said one. “And I am so glad to see you,” the oth- er one exclaimed. “Come along,” they said in chorus, “let's go home and compare notes about the sum- mer. I have just had a lovely time,” and they went their way, both talking at the same time, and full of so much informa- tion that it was evident one visit would never suffice to exhaust it all. It would be interesting to know what the details (f a “lovely time” ure from a young girl's point of view, but it ts quite certain to involve a good deal of company, some agreeable men and perhaps a flirta- tion. If there has been an engagement it would not be spoken of so lightly. The en- gaged girl would probably be strangely quiet, but such a look of patronizing su- periority would beam from her eyes that there would be small chance of her con- cealing what hed happened from other girls, Of course, she could conceal it from men as long as she chose, for they are notoriously as blind as bats in all matters of this kind. These giris will probably talk about their summer experiences until the end of Oc- tober. Then the topic will be about the coming winter season. The girls who are already at home lie and salute them as they arrive with a volley of questions. In this way the girls in a certain set know all about each other, and if you go and see one of them you can get the news «bout all the others. Men Their Vacations. It is somewhat different with men, They tay a few words about the summer and then let it go. For one thing they have not enjoyed long vacations as a rule and they do not care particularly about discussing happenings in the city, for they are all familar with them. For another thing they are apt to spend more money than they can really afford on their vacation and the subject may be a little sore to them on that account. “How dye do, old man; been in town all summer?” Thus one swell addressed another whom he met on the sireet a few days ago. ‘Yes, I hav: was the reply, “but how on earth did you know it?” “Oh, you have the unmistakable air of one who hasn't been away,” said the first speaker. It is really difficult to define what the un- mistakable air is, yet it undoubtedly ex- ists. Thus the stay-at-home man, when he welxs the street, does not look 1bout him as much as the man who has just come back. He ts not in search of friends whom he may greet, and he does not keep his eyes on the buildings to see what impzove- ments have been made. He knows all «bout that. His countenance, too, wears a mcd- erately serene expression, in marked con- trast with the gloom and worry which are depicted upon the face of the man who has just returned from his vacation. The latter has been having a jolly, loafing time, and returns to the city and to work in anything but a spirit of content. He finds his desk piled high with mail. A part of ‘his is work which should have been done long be- fore, and his private letters have the mo- notonous ending “Please remit” at the tot- tom of the page. Some Sad Reflecth He reflects sarcastically that he would lke very much to remit if he had anything to do it with. He has spent all his money. It went for boats and horses and hotel bills. He spent a great deal upon that beautiful girl he met. As he settles down to his city life he wonders whether he will ever see her again, and whether he really made a wise investment. ° Did he get any adequate return? He hardly knows yet. Perhaps before the winter is over he will see her again, and then again, and something may come of the hovrs and days he spent in her society at the summer resort. Or perhaps her image will remain in his mind for a week or so and then quietly fade away. Next summer he will be ready for another summer girl, ated so the summers will pass, until finally he becomes crusty with age or perhaps gets married. But the person who comes back to town with the greatest airs of all is the man who has spent the summer in Europe. He has changed. It seems to be a rule of almost universal application that the man who goes to Europe should come home somewhat different from what he was when he left. It may be that his accent, like his mind, has broadened, and that he has acquired various new words with which to express his meaning. He now takes a “barth” in- stead of a bath, and keeps “dorgs” instead of dogs. He wears “to) "and packs his “boxes,” and complains to the “guards” that he cannot find his “luggage.” He Wears “boots” instead of shoes, uses the “lift” instead of the elevator, and calls a clerk a “clark.” It may be that travel has not changed his speech, but his habits, He abhor ice, and refuse to take a hearty fast in the morning. Hix Clothes From London, A change also usually manifests itself in his clothes, If he has any money he buys quan: of them, and especially ts this true if he has been to London. The writer met one of these men recently and talked with him. “Been to London, you say, and what did you get there?” “Clotnes,” replied the have seen Westminster Paul's, but he has bro lection of tem. sits to the tallor. “What tailor did you patronize?” you ask him. “Bond, on Regent street, the Prince of Wales’ tailor,” he says. “Really? And he is the tailor to prince? How do you know?” “His sign says so, and he has an official appointment, signed by the prince's sec- retary, hung up in his shop. Poor youth! There is no use in talking to him. Nearly every tailor in fashionable Le.don Fas one of these appointments. They are regularly sold, just as licenses are, Not a dozen of these tailors make gar- ments for the royal family. To find a tailor on Regent street who has not got the lion and unicorn above the door of his shop would be rather a difficult task. The signs are bait with which fish of the sucker fam- ily are caught. If you continue to converse with the “chappie” who spent the summer in Eng- land you will find that he has, by a strang® perversity, bought many things in Lendon which are known to intelligent men to cost lees and to be of superior quality in this country, and he may even in his in- fatuation bring home several pairs of those leather skiffs which Englishmen put upon their feet and call shoes. If somebody telly him English shoes are better than Ameri- can, he will believe it, and pay no attention to the evidences of his own senses, which point the other way. You see, he takes everything on trust, and, with the strange perversity which characterizes many feeble minds, he always believes the man who tells hira wrong. If one man gives him a correct opinion he will, perhaps, accept it, but he barbors it unwillingly, and will dis- iss it as soon as some one appears to give him an incorrect opinion. ~ When the Social Season Opens. As for this question of people return- youth. He may Abbey and St. ht home no recol- He only remembers the the ‘,fg to town it ts really very important to n wait for the others | This is the Great Trou’ With Many Women. AND THE CAUSEOF TROUBLE A Prominent Professor Gives Some Timely Hints Which Are Amply Con- firmed by Facts. ‘Women do net realize the came of (rows Des.”” ‘The nt of a medical college whe uttered the shed very : sad. He bad jost seen a ing Woman whe Was mear to death, cases out he continued, “the a's tr » the same, and yet Teallaed by thelr fronds, or their physicians, ‘Thousands of w the first stages of Bright's disease of € aympt tings, s! akvenses, wn by headaches, Lv. eg omen fully understand, realize, Now, these Tous, in many wut things anew but unt to ran abe are worse, mime, and then most carefully Lang life, health, haypiness and all th pies will rewult If proper care and the Ws tire Used. Sickimesn, disease, Ubappinsss and premature death are certain to come Mf they are neglected. 1 Know of tut one in such ens: and that is te guard of Bright's diseane da plague. tse the this great mode a ure. T way the only kno m proven by sears of he only remedy. Wo- need” on which they enn rely when ti dit hax never failed. 1 know norht from the effects I have se 4 1 do koow that it tx pure, Tul, and that it does what be Mrs. E. says The doctor called the kia and said there was no help at aboat that time Warne re Cure came to ny fee. resolved to try §, and wan moch sur- prised one Week's trial to fied myself im Proving. T used a bottle every week for about Lhree months, Henig up strictly to the dire tens for diet given on bottle, and Ihave pot been sick a das since. I take a bottle mow and then to oad in good onder. In my judgment, & “to this wonderful medicine, the best Aixcovered.”” omb's exper js that could be « truths are + is only one of many ed. Do Fou not think Ly your careful con those people who depend largely upon others for the luxuries of life. Three or four young men were walking up ‘onnecticut avenue and comparing notes. iiss Blank ts back,” said one, The Dashes are here.” said anoth “The Dots came back on Thursday, a third, “How do vou know?” “I saw their butler yesterday, and he told me,” he answered. From this it would appear that Washing- ton is beginning to assume its normal autumn tone. The houses which have looked so gloomy al! summer, with their closed shutters and the front doors planked up, are beginning to open, and the smart traps, which make the northwestern section of the city look so gay, are making their appear- ance. Soon the poor society men, who have been obliged to spend their evenings at the club, where they have bemoaned the dull- ness of life, will have full opportunity to re- sume their favorite pursuits. Two or three calls in the afternoon, a dinner party every night and then a ball in the evening—such is the life that appears to men of this class to be most worth the living. When they can- not have all this they get along as well they can by talking about the pleasures they have known in the past and by anticipating the pleasures which will be theirs in the future, when the season begins again Where Are the Absent Onext Between the summer and the actual re- sumption of the gay Ife there is a transition stage, when only a part of the fashionable set are back and when this part remains quiet. What becomes of those who have not yet returned is always somewhat of a mys- tery. They are not at the summer resorts, for these are closed up and are no longer habitable, and they are not at their homes. said Those that have country places of their own are, of course, easy to locate, because every one knows they choose to spend October in the country, others? but what becomes of the If you go to New York you will of them there shopping, but this uunts for a small proportion, and you will find it an exceedingly difficult task to tell where are the rest. Give them @ week or so longer, however, and they will all have emerged from their hiding places, and the glorious Washington autumn life will begin. —_——-- EXPLOSIVES CAN BE PLAITED INTO CORDS. Prof. Abel Produces a New Gel "That Has Destructive Powers. From the Chicago Trilune. A new explosive, manufactured by the goverrment, has lately drawn much atten- tion. It is called “cordite” and is an in- vention of Professor Abel. It is in the main a similar product to the smokeless powders of other nations. ‘The name “cordite” orig!- nates in the process of manufacture, during which the gun cotton after being combined with a sort of explosive gelatine, is pressed through a plate with fine openings, thus re- ceiving the st ape of fine threads, The ob- ject of this process is that by proper selec- tion of the thickness of the threads, it of- fers great latitude in the control of the swiftness of the explosion, which is, in oth- er powders, attained by the finer cr coarser grain of the partie One can, therefore, according to requirements, manufacture a quickly combustible explosive for mining purposes, or a slowly burning, driving pow- er for projectiles. Cordite can be plaited into cords, which naturally increases its availability for practical use. The judicial side of the cordite manufacture offers special interest, as the well-known firm of Alfred Nobel--the inventor of dynamite— had instituted a lawsuit against the Eng- lish government for infringement of its patent rights. But, although the modern manufacture of explosives rests mainly on Mr. Nobel's efforts, the firm lost its suit be- cause the fundamental patents had expired. oo HE WAS ECONOMICAL. And Did Not Want to Lose by Having Only One Leg. From the New York Herald. A curious advertisement appeared in some of the morning papers the other day to the effect that a one-legged man would hear something to his advantage by applying at a certain address. Thovgh not one-legged myself, I called there and found tine ad- vertiser to be a Grand Army man who had lost a leg at Antietam. Questioned as to