Evening Star Newspaper, December 29, 1894, Page 18

18 ——— eB THE EVENING STAR, SATURDAY, DECEMBER 29,,1894=TWENTY PAGES. NEW. YEARe IN CHINA The Great National Holiday and How It is Celebrated. THE CELESTIALS PAY THEIR DEBTS They Also Make Calls and the Emperor Receives. HOW THEY KEEP WARM (Copyrighted, 1804, by Frank G. Carpenter.) His CHINESE WILL celebrate New Year day ‘his year with quite as much en- thusiasm as they ever have in the past. not- withstanding thelr terrible punishment by the Japanese troops. ‘The majority of (he Chinese people, in fact, hardly know that a war has been going on, and noth- ing could make them give up their New Year celebration. It occurs later than ours, and comes on the edge of the spring. It is, however, the great festival of the year, and it Is a sort of Fourth of July, Christmas, birthday and Sunday mixed up together. It Is the birth- @ay of the whole Chinese people. Eyery man, woman and child in the empire is a year older on New Year day, and all trot about and wish each other “many happy returns.” It is the only Sunday that the Chinese have throughout the year. The working people labor from ten to twelve “purs every day, and they put in thirty solid days every month. At New Year all lay off for a rest, and for about two weeks they do nothing but call, eat and amuse themselves. For ten days before the New Year the country gves wild in preparation. ‘The stores all tave low prices and new goods, and the bargain counters are thronged quite as much as they are in Compliments of the Se: America. Every one buys presents, and all who can get a new suit of clothes for the occasion. ‘Those who can't buy borrow or rent, and the Chinese on New Year dress in satins, furs and silks. It is about the only day in the year when the whole Chinese people are comparatively clean. Every person is supposed to take a bath the day before, and this for the majority of the people is the only time they get bathed during the year. A National Pay Day. New Year ts the national pay day. All Accounts mugt be squared up at that time, and the man who can't raise enough to pay his debts has to go into bankruptcy. The laws are such ‘that the creditor can enter the debtor’s house and take what he pleases if there is no settlement, and fam- ilies club together and make ail sorts of compromises to keep up the business repu- tation of the clan. I was in China just after New Year this year, and I found lots of bankrupts. It is a great day for the pawnbrokers, and their shops are crowded With people who want to pay their debts and redeem their best clothes, in order to get them out of pawn before New Year. There are crowds who want to pawn other things, In order to get money to pay their debts, and the Chinese probably patronize the pawn shops at this time of the year more than any other people in the world. Pawnbrokers receive very high rates of interest, and they are protected by the government. Speaking of bankrupts, they @re not permitted to begin business again until some settlement is made, and when I wanted to buy some pictures in Shanghal I was told that the artist who kept them was a bankrupt, and that he could not open until he got more money. An Empire Painted Red. The Chinese paint their whole country red, figuratively speaking, on New Year, in more senses of the word than one. Red 1s the color with them which denotes good luck and prosperity and all the New Year cards and invitatiois are on paper of this color. Every child gets its New Year pres. ent wrapped in red paper, and red inscrip- tions are pasted over the doors-of the houses. These inscriptions bear characters praying for good fortune, wealth and hap- Ppiness, and they are posted op each side of the outer doors of the houses. New pic- tures of Chinese generals re put on the front doors, and the houses are scoured d made clean. Among other things, eggs e dyed red, and are offered to the gods, and dinner parties are gotten up in bright vermillion. The red used ts that which you find around oar firecrackers, and the Chinese spend more in firecrackers on New New Year Callers. Year than we do on the Fourth of July. The night before every one is firing off packs of crackers, and there are all sorts of fireworks, including birds and fishes, and scenes of al! kinds tn fire. The fire- crackers are used to scare off the evil spir- its, and hardly any one goes to bed the last night of the old year. The Chinese say that the man who sits up the last night of the old and sees the first sunrise of the.New Year for ten years in succes- sion will certainly have a long life, and there are all sorts of New Year supersti- tions, , How the Boys Take It. The children of China all expect to get something on New Year, and they gener- ally receive presents of money in the shape of copper cash, wrapped in red paper. On the last night of the year they run through the streets, shouting out good resolutions for the next. One says; “I want to sell my laziness,” and another says, “I am ready to 1 my folly, in order that I may be wiser next year.” They go cut with their fathers to make New Year calls, and, where families can afford it, they give their children new clothes in honor of the occasion. They carry lanterns through the streets, and they have balloon-like fishes of paper, which are tied to sticks over their houses in honor of the occasion. All men who have had children during the year buy lanterr.s and hang them up in sign of rejoicing over their good luck. There are games >f all sorts, and many of the boys come out with new kites. There 1s dancing in the streets, and there are jugglers and dime museum shows and all sorts of theatrical entertainments. The people have festivals and there are family reunions. The rivers are covered with oiled paper, which is set on fire, and the harbors become flaming masses. Every- where there are shrines, with burning joss sticks before them, and the people fairly xo wild. Chinese New Year Calls. All people receive visitors on New Year day, and the relatives who call are taken into the ancestral hall, and they worship the ancestors of the family. After this the youne people go in and pay homage to their parents and elder brothers, and then go to their schocimasters and teachers. The emperor has a New Year reception in Peking, and it may be that the foreigners will be received this year, although they have not been in the past. The emperor sits on the dragon throne, and the princes and all the officers go in and get down on their knees and bump their heads on the grouna before him The day after New Year the officials all go to the temples to worship, and for about ten days afterward there are all sorts of New Year ceremonies. The secona day is called ladies’ day, and if the weather is good the women go out into the country to picnics. They dress in the brightest of silks, their faces are painted in honor of the occasion and their little feet are 1 costly shoes. They wear @ great mary cicthes, and it is wadded cot- ton and not coal and wood that keeps China wa.m. Winter in China. The winter is now at its worst in the Chinese empire, and the whole northern country is troztn up solid. This means a great deal more there than It does here. The rivers which form the only means of travel outside of dirt roads are frozen up, and Peking, the capital, is shut off from the rest of the world for four months of the year. It is reached by the winding Peiho river, which flows into the Yellow sea near the Taku forts. Tien-Tsin fs fifty miles in- land, and this ts a city of a million people. Peking ts about eighty miles north of tt, and the only conveyances are rude Chinese carts. Letters which go to Peking in the winter have to travel overland several hundred miles after they reach China, and they first go to Shanghal, and are carried by pony express. A Nation in Sheepskin. Nearly all the nurthern Chinese dress in sheepskin during the winter, and coats of this kind and jackets and pantaloons of quilted cotton make up their clothes. The colder it gets the more garments they put on, and a girl, who, in the winter, looks like the fat woman of the circus, may slowly fade into the ethereal type of the living skeleton as she sheds jacket after jacket, when the warm weather approach- es. Clothes of this kind cannot be washed, and those of the poorer classes are dirty in the extreme. The richer people wear magnificent garments of wadded silk lined with fur, and I saw one man's wardrobe which contained at least $1,000 worth of costly fur garments. The furs used are of all kinds, and you can get magnificent cloaks of Thibetan goat, such as our ladies use for opera cloaks, for about $10 in gold. They have fine sables, but they are costly, and a number of Li Hung Chang’s nobies had silk gowns lined ‘with mink. The fur markets of China are as fine as any tn the world. There are long streets in Tien- Tsin which are filled with fur stores, and there is # square in Peking which Is de- voted to a fur market. Every morning about 4 o'clock you may find there several hundred wholesale fur dealers with their goods spread out on the ground, and you can buy all sorts of skins from the cheap- est of squirrels to the finest of seals. There are lots of second-hand fur stores, and Bae furs are bought and cleaned and resol Chinese Fuel. The Chinese do not use fire to keep warm, and It fs only in the rarest of in- stances that you will find well-heated houses. Fuel Is remarkably scarce, and everything 1s carefully saved. I saw hun- dreds of women pulling up stubble and gathering straw and old weeds in order to make fires, and one of the chief businesses along the Yangtsee-Kiang ts the cutting the reeds which grow on the low shores, and tying them up tn bundles to be carried into the cites for sale. I saw no iron stoves in China, and the rooms which they pretended to heat were furnished with what are called kangs. These are ledges or platforms of brick about two feet high, which fill one side of the room. They are heated by flues, and a fire of straw is started under them, and ts kept burning until the bricks are hot. The people sleep A Happy New Year. on the kang, but the trouble I found with them was that when they were fired up they roasted me, and as soon as the fire went out the kang became as cold as a stone. I slept on them many nee dur- ing my interior trip, and was continually afflicted with a cold. Had the fuel been wood or coal, they might be better, but with straw they were worse than no fires at all. The stoves of China are usually of clay, and charcoal 1s largely used for cook- ing. There is said to be coal in nearly all parts of the empire, but only a little is mined. All of that brought into Peking is carried on the backs of camels, and I saw many coal merchants who sold nothing but coal dust. They mixed the powdered coal with dirt, and molded it up into lumps of about the size and shape of a base ball. It was sold by the basket, and it brought high prices. Chinn's Immense Coal Mines. Still, China has some of the largest coal fields in the world, and a German geologist who has examined into the matter says that the extent of the workable coal beds of China is greater than that of any other country. There is coal right near Hankow, which is now being used in the making of fron, and every province in the empire Is said to have coal in it. There is, however, only one mine which {s being operated on anything like scientific principles. This 1s at Tong Shan,abcut eighty miles from Tien- Tsin, and the Chinese have been mining about two thousand tons of coal a day here for years. I visited the works last summer, and took a look at the miners. They re- celve about sixty-three cents a week, or nine cents a day, and the mines pay very well. The coal is bituminous, and it was about the only source of supply which China had during the trouble with the Japanese. The railrcad runs right throvgh this region, and it was first built to carry this coal to the sea. There is said to be good anthracite coal in the hills near Peking, and when China is covered with railroads coal will be the cheapest of fuel. How the Rich Freeze. I was surprised at the way the richer Chinese suffer from the cold. I almost froze during my talk with Li Hung Chang, and he wore a fur gown during my inter- view. In some of the Chinese homes which I visited there were little bowls of char- coal in the best rooms, but there were no signs of open fires anywhere, and the Chi- nese know nothing of the joys of the fire- side. Their buildings have many draughts, and the windows and doors seldom fit weil. When they get out of order, they are al- lewed to remain so, and nearly all of the old houses are shabby and dilapidated. I took a trip over the great plain from Peking to the mountains of Mongolia on the edge of the winter, and I nearly froze to death in the hotels. During this time I passed many of the Mongols riding on the great woolly camels which are common to north China, and which you find, I think, nowhere else in the world. These camels have wool about a foot long, «nd it hangs down in great fringes from their necks and thetr bellies. They have two humps, and they are usually of a tan color. The Mon- gols upon them were all dressed in furs, and both men and women wore pantaloons. Both sexes rode estride, and they were very insolent and rough tn their greetings. They are dirty and greasy, and they eat all sorts of fats. They carry great quantities of brick tea from Peking tnto Mongolia, and they make a tea soup which they strengthen with muttor. tallow. Some of them have on robes of sheepskin with the wool of the sheep turned inward. and these fall from their necks to their ankles. They wear shaggy fur caps with earlaps, and they sometimes put their feet into bags of wolfskin, or other fur, to keep out the cold. The Japanese in China. A great deal of sympathy Is being wasted | on the Japanese soldiers who are now in China. Many suppose that they have come from a warm country, and that they can- not stand the rigors of a Chinese winter. There was never a greater mistake. Japan is a land of many climates. If I remember correctly, the country is about thirteen hundred miles long from one end of it to the other, and the north is very cold in the winter. You find snow all over central and northern Japan, and Tokyo has severe ow storms. The climate of Japan is moist, and a damp cold is much more try- ing than the dry cold such as you find in China and Corea. The Japanese are used ‘Keeping Warm. to cold veather, and the daily baths which they take prevent them from taking cold easily: They are well hardened, and I have seen men in Japan trotting about in their bare feet in the snow. They have made good provision against the climate, and if they carried out the policy wh'ch the army had when it entered Corea, they probably have their fuel with them. During the first part of the Corean invasion they car- ried shiploads of wood from Japan for cooking their rice. The wood was done up in bundles just large enough for a coolie to carry, and they brought a lot of coolies along to transport the fuel. Corea .n win- ter is much like some of our northern states, save that its cold is dry, and the sky is usually clear. The houses are heat- ed by flues which run under the floor, and the people of the Corean capital are, on the average, much more comfortable than those of any Chinese city. They wear more clothes than the Chinese, and a Corean’s winter stockings are about two inches thick, and they are made of wadded cotton. There are good coal mines near Pinyang, and after the war troubles are thoroughly settled these will probably be developed. Dank 4, Cutenes — iG YOUNG OYSTERS, An Experiment to Determine the Pro- per Kind of Food, From the Baltimore American. Charles P. Sigerfoos of the Johns Hop- kins University, who, last summer, con- ducted experiments in oyster culture at Beaufort, N. C., under the direction of Prof. W. K. Brooks, told yesterday of the experiment which demonstrated that young oysters could be fed artificially. “It has for some time lgen known,” said Mr. Sigerfoos, “that the food of the oyster is purely vegetable. The only difficulty was to find something of a vegetable na- ture minute enough to be eaten by the young oysters when but a few days old The egg of the oyster is exceedingly small; so small, in fact, that it can barely be reen with the naked eye. In a season an oyster is supposed to lay séveral million eggs. At Beaufort, where the experiments were ¢ ducted this year, the oysters lay their exgs about the 15th of May. A large quantity of eggs which had just been taken from the oysters were placed in a glass aquarium, where their growth could be easiiy watch: ed. For a few days after being hatched the young oysters can live without food. “In order to get food that would be suf- ficiently minute for the young oysters, we took the leaves of the sea lettuce and crushed it as fine as possible, and put it into the aquarium. On this the oysters seemed to thrive, and we watched their growth for eighteen days. They grew much faster than they would if left to themselves in the water. For the first month or so after the oyster is hatched, it floats around in the water in whatever direction the tide may carry it. When it grows to be about one-fourth the size of a cloverseed it attaches itself to some sta- tionary substancé, and there remains. It is not known just at what age an oyster FEEDL arrives before it attaches itself. It is prob- ably between one and two months.” * ——— -ee+ ——_ THE IDE. FEMALE ARM. Expressivencs’, as Well as Beauty, an “Important but Rare Feature. From the New York World. “I tind great difficulty in getting a model with good arms,” said a well-known sculp- tor recently. “It 1s astonishing how few women there are with arms that conform to the standard. A perfect arm, measured from the wrist Joint to the armpit, should be twice the length of the head. The upper Paty of the arm should be large, full and ell rounded. There should be a dimple at the elbow. The forearm must not be too flat, not nearly so flat as a man’s, for in- stance. "From a_well-molded shoulder the whole arm should taper in long, graceful curves to a well-rounded wrist. It is better to have an arm that harmonizes, even if the parts do not conform to the generally ac- cepted lines. For instance, a full, round upper arm which fs joined to a flat or thin forearm has a very bad effect. Perhaps it is only a little worse, however, than a graceful, well-molded forearm tacked on to a thin, scrawny upper arm. “Correctness of form is not the only thing necessary for a good arm. The owner must possess the power of expression with her arms. American women are deficient in this as a rule. Those nationalities which show the most expression in their arms are the Spanish, French and Italians. The warmest admirer of Sarah Bernhardt would not claim that she had beautiful arms, yet no one can say that the divine Sarah ever appears ungainly in conse- quence. Much more lies in the faculty of arm expression than is generally sup- pois soo A Baby Prince’s Elaborate Carriage. From the London Telegraph. Prince Edward of York, the royal babe who will in the long future be the head of the British empire, will shortly have his first English-made carriage. It consists of a perambulator of the highest class work- manship, of the “Princess Irene” barouche pattern, 1s fitted with non-vibrating leath- er-hung cee-springs and silent cycle wheels, with hollow rubber tires. ‘The vehicle is upholstered in finest dark- green morocco leather, softly padded with horse heir cushions, so constructed that the infant occupant can recline or ride ; with face or back to the nurse. The age 1s protected from rain hy a cowhide hood, easily adjusted to any position, and in sunshine this can be removed and the prince shaded from heat by an awning of tussore silk, lined to match the carriage, and trimmed with delicate and beautiful lace. Baby cars of a somewhat similar pattern have been built by the same firm for the children of the Duchess of Fife and Princess Henry of Prussia. poet aes One of the Impoverished. From the Boston Transcript. Little Girl—“Please give me a few pen- nies. Mother {s dead, and my father can’t go out nights any more, by the doctor's or- ders, and so can’t earn any m y" Charitably Disposed Lady nights? Why, di father's business Little Girl—"He's a burglar, ma'am, and before he was taken down with a cough we used to live beautifully.” see Eany to Effect. From the Syracuse Post. McSwatters—"I wish I could get out of paying Dodson that $10 I owe him.” McSwitters—“Why don’t you go up to him with a roll of bills In your hand and say: “Dobson, here's that fifty I borrowed of ou?” i McSwatters—“‘But I only borrowed ten.” McSwitters—‘That's ail right. The object is to kill Dobson by the shock, and the $10 ‘an’t go out r child, what is your TWO SOUTHERNERS + Old-Time Leaders Who Have Recent- ly Passed Away. EX-SENATORS BROWN AND ALCORN Similarity and Points of Difference in Their Careers. RESULTS OF THEIR WORK seb SESE EAE SE It Is a subject of comment in political cir- cles that the dawn of new conditions and new alignments in the south has witnessed the death of two of the foremost of the old- time leaders of that section, who figured prominently in affairs at the time the con- ditions now passing first took shape. Ex- Senator Joseph E, Brown of Georgia and ex-Senator James L. Alcorn of Mississippi have gone to the grave within a fev weeks of each other. Both, in their day, were commanding figures in the tics of the south. Both served the cofifederacy zeal- ously, and both were intensely southern in all of their sympathies and associations. Both were men of superior natural gifts, and both received the best finish the best schools in the country aiforded., Both ac- quired wealth. Ex-Senator Brown was the richest man in Georgia when he died, his estate footing up nearly $4,000,000. Ex-Sen- ator Alcorn was the largest and most suc- cessful cotton planter in Mississippi, and during his closing days supported a style of living strongly resembling that of an En- glish baron of old. An active man, mounted on a good horse, could hardly, even by fast riding, inspect the estate in a whole day. Differed in Personal Appenrance, Although so much alike in their business sagacity and success, and in close agree- ment at one time on the more important public questions, these two men had noth- ing in common in personal appearance or in social characteristics. Mr. Brown was the more familiar figure in Washington, be- cause of his later ang longer service in the Senate. His deliberate movements, his grave face, his patriarchal snow-white beard, made it diihcult to associate him with controlling political power among a people whose later productions and heroes were the fiery Grady and fhe fervid Gordon, But for forty years this man, without dash or eloquence of any kind; with only the genius of common sense and everyday business methods at his command; had held bis own with, and sometimes overborne at the polls, the most brillianteof his contemporaries. Mr. Aleorn, on the other hand, gave rea- son in his very appearance and carriage for the great place he had won. Large of stature, eloquerit of speech, with a fine fund of humor and a captivating personal address, he had every quality to command attention, either on the stump or in the Senate. He had great personal courage and self-commend, as well. Their Course Just After the War. These two men achieved their greatest prominence immediately after the war, and by a course so bold as to bring them for some years Into the bitterest opposition to those with whom during the war they had acted with the closest brotherly ac- cord. When hostilities were brought to a close, both mem accepted the result in the Lroadest spirit of acquiescence, and urged thorough co-operation, politically and otherwise, with the, dominant party for the rehabilitation o¥ the south. With characteristic energy and courage, having decided upon their course, both Mr. Brown ang Mr. Alcorn started upon it Without hesitation, Both became republi- cans and offered for office. Both were furiously assailed by their former political associates and comifades in arms. General Longstreet, it will bg remembered, took the same course, ‘and, at a much later day and under different circumstances, General Mahone went over to the republicans. But the feeling aroused in those two cases was as nothing to that manifesied\in the cases of Mr. Brown apd Mr. Alcorrf Longstreet and Mahone had repute princ{pally as sol- diers, and their accountability\was that of plain, blunt men, with but li experi- ence in civil affairs, But Mr. }frown ana Mr. Alcorn were skilled in-¢lvil affairs; were men of experience in bees leaders of their people fore the war. They became subjects of fiercest a tacks, both In southern newspapers and at the southern firesides. Brown as a Republican and Democrat But neither man turned back. Mr. Brown put-himself at the head of the republican party in Georgia, and supported Gen. Grant for the presidency in 1868. In the winter of that year he was a candidate before the republican legislature for United States Senator, but was defeated by Joshua Hill, who had been a Union man during the war. Mr. Brown was then appointed by ,the re- publican governor, Bullock, chief justice of the supreme court of the state, and held that office until 1870, when he resigned to take charge as president of an important system of southern railroads. Meanwhile, the democracy had regained control of the state, was beginning to administer Its af- fairs aggressively, and in 1872 Mr. Brown renewed affiliations with his former poiiti- cal associates. He came to the Senate as a democrat, by appointment to succeed Gen. Gordon, and was afterward twice elected to tnat office. Mr. Alcorn’s Difficulties. The difficulties encountered.by Mr. Al- corn in Mississipp! were even greater than those with which Mr. Brown was contend- ing in Georgia. The democratic opposition was less formidable,but the party of which Mr. Alcorn found himself at the head was very hard to manage. Among the white leaders he was the only man of prominence thoroughly identified with the interests of the state. His old friends and associates had not only declined to follow: him into the republican camp, but were holding aloof from him and would render him no assistance of any kind. He ran for gov- ernor and was elected, but his party insist- ed on sending him to the Senate, and he consented to résign the one office and ac- cept the other. This he afterward came to regard as the mistake of his life. His orig- inal purpose in going into the republican party had been to serve his state, and had he remained at the head of affairs at home he could have exercised a restraining, if not a controlling, influence over his politi- cal associates. But as Senator he found himself powerless to shape matters in Mis- sissippi, and the republican administration there was a failure. Unwise and reckless legislation was enacted, dangerous race gn- tagonisms grew up and the gravest crisis was precipitated. "As soon as his term as Senator exptred Mr. Alcorn returned home, offered himself for governor upon a plat- fcrm promising a correction of the evils complained’ of and made a vigorous can- vass. But It was too late. He had lest his hold on his own party without having won over any democrats, and the extreme wing of the republicans carried the day. This practically cl¢sed Mr, Aicorn’s political career. Unlike Mr. Brown, he did not return to the camp of his old assoctates, but re- mained a republican to the end. He es- sayed, however, mo further active leader- ship. ‘As the years rolled by the rancor of the old controversy, died out, and the most cordial social relations with his old-time friends were re-established. At the time of his death he was’ one of the most pic- turesque figures and one of the most pop- ular men in Mississippi. What Might Have Been. Whenever the question is propounded in a company of politicians as to what the effect would have been on the fortunes of the south had the policy of Mr. Alcorn and Mr. Brown been generally adopted it leads to sharp discussion. It never leads to agreement. But there are still men of conservative thought and recognized abil- ity who hold that Mr, Alcorn and Mr. Brown were the wisest of the southern leaders of that day, and that had their counsels been heeded, and could the native whites, obeying them, have been induced to put themselves as a restraining force at the head of the newly freed and enfran- chised negro, the worst features of the reconstruction period would have been impossible, and the south tncaleulably benefited. Those who take this view be- ‘ige, and had leve that, ballot reform and new leader- ship being now at hand ig the south, this whole question is destirf€d in the next Congress at last to revive a just and an unimpassioned investigation. « JAMES W. ALLISON. ee SUPPRESSED CHAPTERS. ~ an Account of How Trilby Spent Christmas. From Life. It was on the night of that famous Christmas supper in the Place St. Anatole des Arts, when Zouzou and the others had sung their songs, and the three policemen were laid out in a stupor behind the stove, that tho Laird and Taffy and Trilby and Little Billee had a little conversation (as they sat apart on the model throne eating their plum pudding), that is not recorded in the bcok. “Ay, maum,” said the Laird, “but they’re making a fuss about us in America!” “It's all on account of Trilby,” said Little Billee, with a fond look at her knuckle- bone teeth. they are all palavering a lot of tom- my-rot about me,” cut in Trilby, speaking in her best English which she learned from her Irish father, and which was classical, though it smacked of County Cork. “Worse than that," my dear Trilby, said Taffy, whirling Svengali around his head like an Indian club, between drinks. “Lots of pretty women over there, I am told, are raving over you simply because they think it is ‘advanced’ and ‘up to date’ to admire a woman whom they are pleased to think a lit bit wicked.” “Me wicked!’ shrieked Trilby, her Irish up—‘‘and me the best blanchisseuse de fin in the Quartier Latin.” “It isn’t the laundry work that attracts their admiration, my lass,” said the Laird in his most fatherly manner. “It’s the posing for ‘the altogether’ and several other little incidents in your career that make you interesting for them.” “Oh,” gaid Trilby, in real distress, “I’ve been trying for months to forget all those things, and now I am to become a literary classic on account of them!” (Trilby caught the fine language from the lament- ed O’Ferrall when he was loquacious in his E. The We thank our many patrons for the largest Xmax business of our 20 yrs.” experience. Still a few pleces left of those four specials which created such a before Xmas. We that Exquisite Cluster Dia- moid Ring at $:2.00, the Cluster Diamond Earrings at’ $16.00 and the $18.00 and $25.00 Marquise Rings. Plain figures—one price—and that price guaranteed. Jacobs Bros., DIAMOND IMPORTERS, 1229 Pa. Ave. Reception Lamps. Beautify the parlors with pretty Jamps—-niake them appear to the best advaitage—espe cially during the New Year's reception. Depend upon get- Ung any sort of a pretty lamp here— We keep up with the ‘flood of fashion." Every sot of a pretty lamp shade and Figured Lamp Globes. ‘ Brooks Co., rE 531 15th Street. az7-34e0 cups). “The penalty of fame,” said the philo- sophic Laird, to be indiscriminately praised, and generally for the wrong thing. I suppose that I shall be remembered longer for my singing of ‘The Laird of Cockpen’ than for my Royal Academy pic- tures.” “Which fs right,” growled Taffy, who had recently come from Barbizon. “The Royal Academy seldom confers immortal- ity on a worthy painter.” “Those Americans don’t seem to love Trilby for the things that make us love her,” piped up Little Billee. “They talk and write a great deal about the mere ac- eidental things in her character, but they don’t see that we all love her because she 1s simply a royal, good comrade with no frills about her—with a man’s standard of honor which she»keeps to the “ut‘er- most.” “Little Billee,” cried Trilby, reaching for him with her slipper, “in the language of an American friend of mine, you're chump!” "The trouble with Billee,” mused Taffy, ‘is that he is too high strung, and does not take exercise enough. He’ is just th Wi EXQUISITELY DECORATED FR. GHINA Dinner Sets Half ‘Price. Just ten of them, 60 be aqui Haviland and other best French grades of Decorated Dinner Set ethan ias'plece aMbortmente: at halt price. $60 Sets to $30. This set. in the plain white will cost you $45—half as much again, $0 you see how cheap they an $70 Sets to $35. $75 Sets to $37.50. ‘n, remember, See the “sample” set in the window. imarth & Edmonston, CROCKERY, &c., 1205 PA, AVE. 27-344 sort of fellow who generally ‘dies for lov in novels. It isn't nice and there is no need for it in novels or real life. Five miles a day on a trotting horse will save his life.” “Trilby will save my life," sighed Billee with a tender glance at her freckles. “The worst thing I've heard said about our good friend, Du Maurier, who is bound to make us famous,” said Taffy switching away from the sentimental Billee, “is that he writes neither good English nor good French, but a mixture of the slang of each, which thirty years from now will be al- most unintelligible without a glossary.” “And yet they call it a revival of the style of Thackeray!" snorted the Laird. “We must not pick our friends to pieces on Christmas night,” said Taify, rising. “What the story of our old studio Is teach- ing them cver in England and America is that there is nothing in this world to be compared to the loyal comradeship of men, and women too, who love each other « brothers, who seize the day of pleasure as it passes, and stand closer together when the night of sorrow comes. Up all of yo Dodor, Gecko, Zouzou—Drink the Christ- mas toast. Here's to my friend and my brother—all mankind! (Sings) “Drink, every one; Pile up the coals Fill the red bowls, ooo 26. SEDIGOSSSOSASHOHEDOSSIOGOSSO If You Want the est utterine-- Come to Us. Wilkins & Company, ! 3 SQUARE, MARBLE AND GLASS STANDS, @ Center Market. SSOP ISISIINO SS CFOS OCOCE Round the old tree!” -coe CHILDREN TALK ABOUT. besa Boys Talked of Girls and Girls of Their Studies. From the Kansas City Star. “I cnée dccupied two rooetifbeetne ground floor ef an old-fashioned house which stood on a corner where a large number of school children passed,” said a lady recently, “One day It occurred to me that it would be in- teresti.g to lsten to their conversation. So, as the pupils reached my front windows I walked with them to my side windows, and so to the length of the house, I being unobserved behind blinds and sash curtains. “after three weeks’ observation I found that boys from eight to fourteen years of age were bragging continually of the! supericr prowess in the line of ‘lickin, ‘base ball,’ ‘bike ridin’ and ‘big brother. Never a word of their studies “Girls of the same age talked: mamma-said; ‘and—teacher—said;’ I don't care, my numbers are too hard. I'll just tell mamma,’ ‘and she says,’ ‘and my doil is as pretty, mamma said so,’ etc., in the same strain, with mamma coming in at the beginning or end of every sentence. Both sexes of this age talkea as fast as their *And— 419-304 Clearance List Second-Hand and Shop- Look! 40c. for LADIES" SLIPPERS, 40c. for MED Ie. for BAB 80c, for LAD s 80c: for MEN'S SHOES. 65c. for BOYS’ SHOES. THESE ARE SOME OF THB Bargains Now = PhS ama UP Gfeat Shoe Sale. Tucker’s, 1923 Pa. Ave. SELLING OUT TO ‘CLOSE BUSINESS. December 1894. worn Wheels. tongues allowed. Evidently there were no as cata teee PNEUMATICS Of the ages from fourteen to seventeen Uececa\seats the girls talked, with scarcely an excep- | 9 x9. § pis . 2 eee ton, of their studies, and there were plenty | “5135, cor IRS DAB and of listeners. The boys of the same age talked, with scarcely an exception, of girls, 1 “IRWELL," No. 2637, G. & J. da y dew, “94 pneu- gifls; with plenty of listeners. matic tires. aces “Now, I confess, this surprised me! I acy : BS . had always been taught to believe just the (ley ee Papeete reverse, and it took various listenings and dircty new and ecartitene eae — Ms oni be v D ’ y senses. But i fe e" 3 shoy peeps before I would believe my senses, earn: pitts dood fan tie te. a the truth was before me. The boys talking iris, girls, girls, and the girls talking | 1 PRINCE, 261m. pneumatic tires, 2 Studi pistudies, studies. Ust, $50. ..+.... = 30.00 cleanser iain = pion re, colada fun in. some, but in go vidi cou- Sue Sieod of es sete- dition; Nos. 2175 and 4403; each... 6.07, 43.00 From Chambers’ Journal. : 2 CENTURY COLUMBIAS, "93 pattern, "94 The sleep of plants 1s so conspicuous a] g % J, tires; Nos. 09SY aud 1806S; uewly phenomenon that it excited discussion and | refinished: each = 63.00 speculation as early as the time of Pliny, and many explar.otions were given, which science has since disproved. The drooping of the leaves was attributed by some bet- anists to an aversion to moisture, a theory which had to be abandoned when such movements were made on cloudy days and dewless nights. The clover tribe, which al- ways close their leaves at night, revel in rain; and nasturtiums will go through a day of tempestuous weather without show- ing any inclination to change their posi- tion. Linnaeus was the first to give to the sub- ject special study and scientific research. While watching the progress of some plants of lotus he began that series of ob- servations upon which his great work, “Sleep of Plants,” is based. He found that nocturnal changes are determined by tem- perature and the daily alterations of light and darkness; movement is not actually caused by darkness, but by the difference in the amount cf light the plant receives during the night and day. Many plants, notably the nasturtium, unless brilliantly illuminated in the day, will not sleep at night. If two plants were brought into the center of a room, one from the open air and the other from a dark corner, the neutral light,which would cause the former tern, 1 No. fine feacl 1 DART, G. & J. pneumatic tires, “O4 pat- G. & J. tres, fine shape. 1 PSYCHO, very strong and durable wheel formerly $140; now cut t 1 GIRL'S IDEAL RAMBL most ue} 1 COMB. CUSHION RAMBLER, dition , 30-In. wheels 1 DIAMOND P CUSHION TIRES. 1 RUDGE, Model *D,"" No. 79810; new and ape; cut from $140 to... ut to, SULID TIRES. JUNOS, Ladies’ wheels, cut from $65 to i <5. (Wrop frame, ball bearing and in good condition.» Gormully & Jeffery Mfg. Co., 1325 14th St. N.W., Washington, D.C. 48-754 to droop its leaves, would act as a stimu- lant upon the latter. AT VALUE. nedics, which ap- peared in Medical Brief,” Prof, Willard H BS of ‘Westfield, N. J. nee In dy’s Favorite on as a curative affections of the the article, Dr. fore, treatm preventive exclusion of ali f rangements, Remedy, ot Br reputal othe oclé 497 Penw. ave. Get the Best. THE GONCORD LUTZ & BRO, adjoining National Lote, Horse Biaukets and Lap Kobes at low prices, ishments jcro. organiss of the ravages. 1 Dr. David Ki institutes and regulates th stroys the causal germ and repairs the broken down tissites."” David Kennedy's Favorite for stich diseases —t a ness peculiar to women, all élse falls. 12TH cures whei Sp Let Us Ciean Your New Year’s Dresses and Gloves. Fine work a specialty. Don't put off till he last mufute. Send tn your reception dress joves at once. Low rates. Prompt wor! Late of imdler’s, soc tok STREET, ONE DOOR ABOVE F ST. 427-04 4 Specials a Diamonds. BUT YOUR CREDIT Is GOON. We wouldn't wonder if yon would appree elate this offer now more than ever before— for it is the time of year when people feel poor, You dre just as welcome to select Furniture Carpets NOW—Jjust as wele come to CREDIT—as ever in your 'ife, Your promise is guod For A Houseful Of Furniture! Our Peerless Credit System is as sound ag @ bullet—and Just as accommodating as ever. No notes to sign—no interest to pay let us have a little money once a week oF orce @ month—whenever you can spare It best. Our prices are marked tn plain fge Ures—and we'll duplicate the lowest cash prices you can find elsewhere-ON CREDIT, All carpets made ard laid free of cost— bo charge for waste in matching figures, PLUSH oR BaAIRCLoTL VAKLOB BUITES—CHOICE, 422.50. SOLID OAK BED ROOM SUITE, $13, SPLENDID BRUSSELS CAKE Sve, PER YAbD. RELIABLE (NGRAIN CARPET, 8c. PER YARD. MADE AND LAD) PREF OF COST. SOLID OAR EXTENSION TABLE, $3.60, #0-POUND BAR MATTRESS, $7. WOVEN-WIRE SPRINGS, $1.75, HEALING AND COOKING STUVES—ALE SIZES-STANDARD MAKES. YOURS FOR 4 PKUMISE TO PAY, GROGAN’S MAMMOTH The Monumental. The Monumental. 939 F ST. NW. 989 F ST. NOW THE BARGAIN CENTER OF THIS CITY, Special. Our Trimmed Hats must ali co this week. We have divided what we bave left into three parte, as follows: 4.00 HATS POR. $2.90. 7.00 HATS FoR $1.50. $8.00 AND $10.00 HATS POR $5.00, Untrimmed Hats We have also divided our Untrimmued Hats inte three parts, as follows: 60 AND Tie. HATS FOR 1c Se. HATS FOR 256. $1.25 AND £) 48 HATS POR 50, , Doils. : We have a few Dulls left which we will sell at half price to close out. Ribbons. We have still a few of those Gros Grain Satin Eage Hibbons, which we will continue to sell at Also a new lot of Satin and G. G., which we will sell at the following low pri No. 2, at 8e.3 No. 5, at 4c.; No. 7, at at Se.; No. 12, at 1e¢.; No. 16, at 12 he; No. 80, at oar Mandkerchiefa Ve are selling the lalance at about half price. We b them froia 2c. up. 039 F Street. a27-Sod BREESE SOOTHE DATAEA ONO 3 Leads The World. ow “American Highest Award World's Fair If you want the finest quality Cat Glass, buy gods baring our trade murk. : a W. Eeveridge, Exclusi Agent for Washington. ocl-eo8m POSSO SPS OOO SHEP OCSSSIOOIESD Unmerciful Disaster FOLLOWED FAST AND POLLOWED FASTER= UNTIL ITS MELANCHOLY BURDEN BORE— “THE DEMNITION BOW-Wows 1 AM SORE. TRERIREFTEND FOUND ME! FIXED ME! TO THE EXTENT OF Cloture. ‘THE REOPENING OF AND FINISHED ME— to Per Cent Clothing House WILL BE ANNOUNCED IN THESE COLUMNS, Wat! 25-1 DOANE DYOTSTOTOOS 409060008 will close out all our Furs— Ling Ladies’, Me and idrcn’s garments, of all kinds, at reduced prices, C2 Karly buyers get sJas-Y.Davis’Sons cholce of 4 HATYERS AND FURRIERS, tizo1 Pe >