Evening Star Newspaper, February 9, 1895, Page 15

THE EVENING STAR, SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 9, 1895-TWENTY PAGES. 15 == AIDS TO MATRIMONY. —— Odd Methods in Vogue in Paris for Prometing Marriage. SUPPLY OF WIVES FROM THE COUNTRY Some Agencies Are Designed to Bring the Unwilling Together. ea ge Oe THE MONEY IN IT ¥ ghia Special Correspondence of The FE: Star. PARIS, January 22, 1805. HAVE MARRIED infirm people, lame peo) hump-backs, wooden-legged and | men and women with goitres. Marriage Is an association and it is forbidden to no one. No one is so disgraced by nature 7 that he may not hope for an auxiliary. France is fertile in devoted companions; but how out the benevolent aid of “L'Un- ‘amilles?” And we ve never yet On the contrary, every mail brings thankful letters to our agency. A marriage agency? I tell you it is an agency of happiness, prosperity and high morality! Now listen.” * * * ‘Phe {ittle old man snatches up a letter from his desk: “Tulle, 18 January. Mon- sieur: Thanks to you I have put my hard vpon an honest woman.” * * * Signed, “Draguignan, Bergerac.” He stops to take bis breath and then goes on: ‘That pretty brunette girl! whom you sa the waiting room is at her sixth inter. in fers the second man 1 introduced to her, a doctor from Fecamp. They ple: other. ‘they loved each other. Why should not sentimen The Introdveti as well as elxewher That y reading a novel was a widow. I presented a journalist to her—another af- fair almost concluded! Except that in their first interview he boasted of having written eight romances, and she desired to read them first. She is now reading ‘The Bride of the Rop hile waiting for Monsieur, now you know the whole me horn blonde e ism of our establishment; shopkeepers, soldiers, clerks, government employes, ¢ tors, : notaries and even “ddress themselves to us. If you rious in desiring to marry, you have only two formalities to go through with me, Indicete t me your subscription to our weekly journal, ‘L’Union des Familles,” month, 28 franes for two months, 35 francs for three months, and when you have been satisfied, a certain sum upon your marriage day. I leave that to your generosity. As Goods on the Market. This strange oid gentieman—“Fere En Rapport.” as ne is called, or, “Father Put- together"—directs his marriage bureau from that northwestern central part of Paris called the Batignolles. His journal, “The Union of Families,” like “The Alli- ance of Families” of the Rue Milton, a dis- trict more unsavory by far, does bona fide work, and in all France. What distin- guishes these two concerns, besides their geod faith and their practicability, is the elass of people they deal with—folks from the lower-middle rank of life and citizens of the various smaller towns of France. ‘The feminine clientele is almost altogether provincial. There is a good reason for this, apart from the two special reasons which make the business of marriage-broking so im- pertant, and, you might almost say, so proper in all Gaul. men of all France. But, briefly, the time comes to the young Frenchman when he ought to “range himself” and rise up to the level of a “serious” life—as if his strug- gle for existence heretofore had not been serious. So he awakes, to find himself with- ~ out the knowledge of a girl to marry. “I should like to have a Breton maid he says to the marriage broker, “because the Eretons are religious; and my wife must be religio The old man rings his bell. “Book No. ¥ ‘The beok is brought him. A dozen hotographs are gleaned from various Pages and passed over to the young aspir- ant, photographs of girls of Nantes, of The Signal. nes, of Rennes and Quimperle. Sup- pose that he d -I know a man who did s oh showed ing girl, a trifle meian- ‘irl, half ious well-conducted young*¢ it a father, ele @ neat, s choly orpha \ withe ligio’ sents, and whose mother--ab- horrir town in whic he saw her hush: would willingly accompany hei to F other y x men have looked fa- yorably on that portrait.” said the mar- riage broker, “and I think the time kas} come to sen ree others? How? med hre Explain almost at a bi jealousi in counter ri ther ping ladies cles which she herself buy or may not buy, she has not yet decided. “Of course, three others—or a dozen if I had them. Do you expect the young girl and her mother to take a six-hour railway Journey that you alone may have the pies e of fi ecting them? You cannot throw your handkerchief at serious girls. They want to have a choice as much as you do, Again, before I introduce you I must have an outline of your life and ways. Lo you agree to give me that? “Oh, tainly.” “Then come back in a week.’ Good Deal of Mother-in-Law. The week passed by. The mother and the daughter, In the private parlor of the marriage bureau, were sitting, waiting to inspect and be inspected. The girl was es up in arms when ek to fing ti- discover } ; but it is my idea that she pre- | 4 of esteem and affection be | kind of wife you want and give | 15 francs for one | Paris drains the young | the suitor | ing lady | charming in ber looks and modesty. “I might have done well to have married her.” the young man says today, “but she rejected me. Her only fault was in a cer- tain brownness of her skin, so tanned that I feel sure it would be insensible to | fleas.” | Her mother spoke: “Instead of standing there so awkardly, young man, will you sit down and tell us something of your past and of your income?” He described them. | “At least. you have no present liaison dame; but I might have if my wife or my wife’s mother ordered me about too much.” “Now. that is what I feared,” she an- swered. “Once the honeymoon is past, and, crack! Please heaven, that such a sorrow may not come upon my daughter, 1 | i Interested In Music. my datighter whom I have brought up my- | self! Do you think it costs me nothing to | Separate from her? To me she slways seems a litle child still, playing with her dell, and now they want to marry her! Is it possible? Are they to rob me of my child? I always answered, ‘No! and no and no a second time! In Nantes they call me a bad mother because I have re- fused four offers for my daughter, and how the young men do not ask for her. Then I resigned myself. And I have come to Pa away from all their tittle-tattle, to mrarry my daughter in the capital, and fix myself there also, where I can see her daily, for I will not have a son-in-law who will not let me see my daughter every day: Another thing, she ought to have a hus- | band who can take her into good society. She has a rank to hold. So say at once if your own family is well placed, and all its members are the pink of honor! The young man gnswered hastily, “I am an honest fellow, and have always been so, but I an enele now in jail | ‘That sufficient. Pere En Rapport told him he should not he discouraged, and agreed to send henee- forth for gi either completely orphans or with beth their parents living. | “And how about the doctor from Fe- camp, has he given up that pretty brunstte girl I saw on my first visit?—for I took a Hiking to her.” o ke hesitates, he trifles. Between that fine girl, who has not much of a dot, and a pale, bony one, who is extremely + well off, his heart balances. I have ac- corded Rim a second interview with each. But she [ think, has almost ided on a post office clerk. a young n who is crazy for her. His love co a thun- der-clap. But you can never tell! Take that blonde widow, for example. She was willing to espcuse the journalist, the au- thor of eight romances. By a fatality, in opening of his “Bride of the Rope’ sie fell upon a risky chapter, which caused her to b h, she says. And she a widow So it goes. ‘Tvo other styles of marriage agenc dispute the business of these serious mi dle-class concerns. Heretofore it was the office of the agency to bring together will- ing couples. The marriage ageney in the free has for its work to bring unwilling enes together. ‘The complication in the third desres is whore the agen «lex nds for all its gains on keepit i folks apart. ee It is a crooked proposition from the sta The young man arswering the advertise- ment does not doubt it when he sees the | marriage agent, who appears to he an evil lody, well aged, fat. with bleached hair and false teeth. And yet he has no ear. He simply puts on the air of one ef the stameless polished villains ont of Balzac, cynical and ready, and awaits everis. “What a woman's past has been is noth- ing to me,” he replies in answer to a le ing question, She smiles on him with favor. ‘The fifty francs indispensable. The yeung man pays it. He has an appeint- ment with the marriage broker in une of |the interminable picture galleries of the Louvre, to wait and be inspected by the lacy: hat shall T say to her?” “What, you, thirty years old and do not know how to talk to a woman?" t least, tell me, has she many before me?” “Be quiet! Don’t paralyze yourself with such thoughts as that!” | “One instant—what is her character of | mind? How shall [ fit my conversation to her tastes? Shall I talk of the theater, | poli travels, music, literature or the remembrances of my childhood? Does she Gesire to be amused cr to have her heart touched?” “Between the twi The lady comes. She is really beautiful, dressec. with quiet elegance, with charn | ing manners, almost timid, scarcely thirt: two years old! New, that is something real. Madame steps up to her, they speak to- gether, the young man is presented. ‘‘Oh, my God!” she says after a moment's pause and looking at her watch. “It is 4 o'cloc and I have an engagement with my dres: maker at half-past 3. Bonjour, monsieur e* darae!” ‘And what was ber impression? The young man never learns. He has paid 50 francs for an interview—and he has had it. There was no marriage intended. The beautiful lady is already married—to an | honest government clerk. The marriage | broker gives her $2 out of the ten for each “interview,” it being understood that she shall merely pass through the Louvre pic- ture gallery at a given moment. It is an honest way of getting money, and nobody risks or loses anything—except the would- be villain. ‘The other kind of marriage agency,which instead of living by the prevention of im- preper marriages, finds its profit in the bringing about of such unions, takes its name from its chief figure, a little lady with a note book, “marieuse au carnet In Paris look out for ladies, no matter of what nationality, who are always saying, “Yes, I must confess, I do love to act a match maker,” who is always taking in- terest in young girl: The marieuse au carnet is a wandering marryer. Her little note book is always in her pocket. Her only business is to note the names and details of any mar- riageable girls she comes across, physical maturity, character, amount of fortune, hopes, exigencies—that is to say, the kind of man preferred, if it is possible to come at that, his business, the age above which he will be “too advanced,” if the girl will be willing to live in the country, if she will marry a foreigner, if she wishes to be loved for herselfeaicne, and so on. All the ways and tastes of the young girl are put dewn methodically. But how does the marieuse come by so much information? Often she does not even know the “sub- ject.". There must be traitors. It is the business of the marieuse to pick up poor relations and be kind to them, to waylay servants and concierges ard make propositicns to them, to chat with boarding house keepers. Sometimes it 's a doctor, sometimes a notary, or a governess, or sewing woman—or even others. This marieuse only furnishes the brides. | The agency with whom she deals furnishes the bridegrooms. It not only furnishes the bridegrooms, but also the refreshments for the soires, more than often; for it has always on its books a list of respectable | householders in good society who are strug- | gling to make both ends meet. These come | to the agency when they are in great need | of money, and will give a “musical even- | ire” in return for it, inviting as many of their own friends as may be desired and | permitting the agency to take up as many invitations as may seem proper. Most often these party-giving ladies in good so- become “marryers” themselves, and their little books and work among their own friends and acquaintances, and with their friends’ friends, and ‘their | friends’ friends’ friends. P.S.It may be proper to add that the marriage agency reimburses itself for its good offices by taking a contract from | each young man, in which he binds himself } to pay them a tenth part of his wife's for- tune the week after its delivery to him. STERLING HEILIG. — It Hit His Wife. Frem the Lewiston Journal. As a Knox county man and his wife were passing the school house a flying snowball hit the wife of his bosom. He was en- raged, and justly, and turning to the school boys, shaking his fist in anger, he inspected | ciety | have | experience. cried: “It's lucky for you, you young rz that you didn’t hit me!” RAILWAY FLIERS ee Comparative Little Progress in De- veloping Speed of Late Years. 2s GERMANY HAS THE KING FLIER —_— Obstacles That Must Be Overcome Before Time is Made. a AND FAST AVERAGES a SLOW Writtea Exclusively for The Evening Star. HE MILE A MIN- ute railroad record, on an average, has not yet been reached, and perhaps the pres- ent generation of readers thirty years hence may not be witnesses to its ac- complishment. The fastest train in this country at the pres- ent time, running be- tween New York and Ss Chicago, attains an average speed of forty miles an hour, and from the present outlook it will be mauy years before this average is increased. In 1866 an average speed of twenty-eight miles an hour was recorded between the same cities. It is astonishing, all things ecnsidered, how little progress the rai roads have made in speed. The progress is so small, comparatively, that one familiar with the facts cannot fail to be puzzled, or to have suggested to his mind the question whether the system itself is not inherently at fault—whether it was not begun and de- veloped on the wrong lines. The man who stands in the open country and sees the limited express flit by like an argry, panting ghost is filled with wonder at the speed, and thinks ft fast enough. ‘The traveler who sits in his luxurious par- ler car and locks out at the stations as they slide past his window in a long blurred streak ef biack and gray finds his exhilara- ticn heighten in proportion as the train accelerates its onward motion. No speed is too great for him, provided the road is straight and the motion smocth. The switches click like clock ticks In his ear, and he looks with the eye of fascination on the landscape, distorting itself in all direc- ticrs as though made of india rubber. People like to travel fast. They enjoy the feeling of superiority which comes with | rapid speed. They want to go quick, whether they are in a hurry or not. As to Incrensing the Speed. It is an open question whether the rail- road has reached the limit of speed con- sistent with safety. Eminent engineers and practical railroad men are divided in their opinions, some arguing that the limit has been reached, others insisting that, if the curves are modified or cut out almost entirely, trains can be run from one-third to one-half as fast as at present. Will it be necessary to modify the shape of the wheels and track? Will the present type of | engine or motor have to be changed to one | where there will be no power lost in th back stroke of the piston? Will steam give way to electricity or some other force? These are the principal peints which are in doubt, and about which engineers drew radically different conclusion: m their There is now very little, if there is any, doubt as to whether steam will give way to electricity or some cther force which produces a better relative re- sult, with less noise and less wear and tcar on machinery, and is less susceptible to the weather. It is no uncommon thing for a fast expres to slow down speed in very cold weather, owing to what they call “freezing out the steam.” There is no theoretical doubt that the rails and wheels can be so modified as to make the engine and train stick to the track better and reduce the margin of danger. There is also no doubt, in theory, that an engine could travel much faster if some plan of mechanism could be devised which would do away with or red:ice to the absolute minimum the effects of the back stroke of the piston and connecting rods. The shrewd railroad managers of the country have about come to the con- clusion that the motive power has almost reached perfection, and that their r beds are now the real obstacles to great average speed. With curves and the deadly grade crossings eliminated, who can tell what may be done? Cities and towns, no matter how small the latter may be. have rights which must be respected, and while they are the speed of trains must suffer. Carves Are the Trouble. In England everything is plain sailing. When the roads were originally constructed they found thickly populated di icts on all sides. In America we built railroads first and imported the people afterward to patronize them. Over on the “little island” everything is fenced in and grade crossings are unknown. The engineer pulls open the throttle, the train starts, and he knows he will have to lookout for nothing but tower signals and other trains. American en- gineers are looking forward to the estab- lishment of a similar state of things in this country. Of course the real danger in increasing the speed of express trains driven by steam does not He in incidental risks. It is not denied that a modern locomotive might be built which could run up to 90, or pos- sibly 100 miles an hour, if the lines were straight. It is the curves of the existing lines which render any such speed_im- possible, unless the weight of the loco- motive and train were also increased far beyond what the bridges and permanent way would bear. At the first sharp curve the one-hundred-mile express would fly off the rails. The necessary relation of these curves to speed is accurately known, and it is that, and not the want of power, or novel dangers from wind pressure or boiler explosions, which sets the limit to ‘nodern train speed. As the force tending to throw off the line a train running at the sped of 150 miles an hour would be about six and one-hal? times greater than that which a steam ex- press train resists a curve when running at sixty miles an hour, it is plain that the present lines could not be used for the lightning expr even though the electro- motor were substituted for the steam en- gine. The lines must not only be stronger, but straighter than would be possible by any modification of their present form. ifty Miles an Hour. ‘The writer broached the subject of fast trains recently to one of the shrewdest civil engineers employed on one of the rords entering Washington. This employe has made railroading a life study, has In- spected the railroads of Europe and speaks by the curd. He said: “If our railroads could spare the money to elevat> their tracks in cities and at crossings, to say nothing of completing the work of straightening out curves, now going on, I. for one, will predict that we can make an average of fifty miles an hour between New York and Chicago. I say this with the Allegheny mountains al- mest staring me in ‘the face. We might lese time going up that range; but engi- neers, as a rule, like to coast, and wouldn’t they slide down the other side with a rcadbed minus curves and grade cross- irgs. In the matter of cost in making in:provements few reople are aware of the expense attached thereto. In round num- hers our road ‘blew’ in fully $5,000,000 in the latter part cf 1892 and the beginning of 1893, That was before the financial de- pression set -n. We are now resting on our oars. We cut out one curve over a mile long, and the work cost us fully half a million. Other roads have been doing likewise, and with the return of a pros- perous period we will surprise the world, 1 especially the English, with the av- speed our trains will attain. any people will be surprised to learn Germany, and not this country or Sngiand, furnishes the fastest train in the world. The United comes second and England ti ‘The German train runs from Berlin to Hamburg, a distance of 178 miles, in 204 minutes, an average out- side speed, that is, not counting stops, of over fifty-two miles an hour. The empire state express on the New York Central read runs from New York to Buffalo, a distance of 440 miles, in 520 minutes, and its outside speed average is nearly fifty- j of one miles an hour. The fastest English train, that comes third on che list, is called the ‘west coastfilyer,’ and runs from Lon- don to Edinburkh, a' distance of 400 miles, at an average outside speed of fifty miles an hour. : Limited Tratns Don’t Pay. “The further We go west the slower: the train service becomes, a thing not looked for on account of the miles and miles of treck traversing prairie land. The Bur- lington road’s best train averages about thirty-six milesjan hour. That on the Mil- waukee road, the limited, ean only reach ar. averege of thirty-four miles an hour. The Denver limited, on the Northwestern road, has to hustle te score an average gait of twenty-nine miles an hour. “Very few of the fast limited trains in this country pay for the experse of run- ning them, and it 4s an open secret that the limited between this city and New York, the limited between New York and Chicago and the empire state express be- tween New York and Buffalo and the Chi- cago limited on the New York Central road cost their respective roads a good deal more than they bring in; but they are great advertisers for thei: respective roads. “The advantages of fast train service on well-built, and well-equipped railroads are not confined to the carrying of passengers swiftly from one point to another. They are felt all through the operating depart- ment of a road, and exercise an important y influence. The running of such extraordinary fast trains as the congres- sional Hmited and the empire state express has had a wonderful effect in increasing the vigilance and efficiency of all the train hands. The schedules on which such trains are run require the most arbitrary enforce- ment, and they consequently keep the men all itiong the line traversed constantly on the alert. Each man is made to feel his full share of the burden of responsibility, and the never-ceasing admonition to ‘watch for the flier’ reduces to a minimum personal inclinations to be slack or neglect- fal. The telegraph operators have a sus- pension of thirty days staring them in the face for the slightest delay to the Hmited, and similar penalties are imposed on other employes. “Bosides this stimulus to duty, the fast trains serve as an Incentive to the men to str for promotion. Conductors, en- gineers, firemen and other hands on the limited get more pay than do the men em- ployed on the trains of subordinate grade. ‘That the ‘fler,’ in its generic sense, is actually an improving Influence in rail- roading is evidenced by the remarkable careers of the congressional, the royal blue and the empire state express. These are the fastest trairs in this country, and have been running several years back, and, with one unimportant exception, have met with no mishap. These trains pass through yeat after year without a singie mishap, and I believe it is all from the discipline put upon the employes by the fast service. ‘The men take a pride in the fast trains. > ONLY LIBRARY IN THE How Good Books Saved a Regiment From Gambling in Camp. The only regiment in the service during the war that kad a library was the nine- teenth Ohio infantry. Senator Manderson Nebraska, who commanded the vregi- has written to Milton S. Lytle of Huntingdon, Pa., a history of that unique literary collection. A volume belonging to this library fell into Mr. Lytle’s hands dur- ing the Atlanta campaign of 184. The books became Scattered, and, it is believed, losi, except the one which Mr. Lytle res- cued and preserved and brought home with him. This book is a copy of Milton’s poems, and has. upon the inside of the WAR. ment, cover a label, whieh reads: “Library of the Nineteenth @hio V. 1., No. 26."" y The following is* Senator Manderson’s letter giving the history of the librar ‘I never knew of ény other regiment in the army that had angthing that approacned a library for the tse of the men of the command, and the way the regimental iibrary, so called, of th nineteenth Ohio infantry came ‘into existence was this: When i was in éommand of the regiment I found great difficulty in stopping gambling among the men, and no amount of pun- ent seemed ‘to bring about the result ‘ired. We had an ex Smith, who came to nie one day he believed he could help me break up gambling, and [ asked him how. He said: ‘If I had a pair ef horses or mules, a light wagon and a large tent, and was per- mitted to move Ahead with the troops, and not with the transportation train, and had the money to buy books, subscribe for periodic and purchase sets of checkers and chess, I could move with it, and have my tent in position for the use of the men at their camping place.’ “[ said to the chaplain: ‘The idea fs an excellent one, and I will make application for the use of a pair of mules, a light wagon and a large hospital tent, for the purpose named.’ I made the application, which was favorably received by Gen. Rosecrans, commanding the army, and procured the wagon, mules and tent. The officers of the regiment then subscribed several hundred dollars, the exact amount I have forgotten, and with it we bought books and subscribed for periodicals. From that time on, until the activities of the Atlanta campaign forbade it, Chaplain Smith moved with the command, and would put up his tent, with conveniences for the men to write their letters, play chess, backgammon and checkers and read the periodicals and books that were car- ried along, which were also sometimes loaned to them to read in their tents. “It was an admirable affair, and unques- tionably the book that you found is one of that library. What became of the hooks finally I do not know. Being wounded on the 2d day of September, 1864, I lost all track of the matter, but I do know that the exigencies of the campaign had de- prived us of the use of the tent some time before.” _—__+e2____ USE OF DRY GOODS. An Increased Consumption Now as Compared With Former Years. From the N. ¥. Price Current. It should be remembered that sixty years ago the market for dry goods, taking the words in a large sense, was much less ex- tensive than at present. A great deal of linen, cotton and woolen cloth was made in families, and men’s clothing was largely prepared by domestic seamstresses, Home- spun was still much worn. Men and boys who were not afflicted with rheumatism did not wear undershirts and drawers, and the corresponding garments were not used by the other sex till after 1825. Car- pets were unknown among the poor eighty years ago, even in the rustic form of those made of rags. It was after this date that a parishioner of Dr. Lyman Beecher, see- ing a neat and gay rag carpet in the par- son's house, inquired solemnly if he thought he could have all this and heaver too? Ingrain and Brussels came into use among the middle and lower classes ir cities about 1830, and in the country ten or fifteen years later. Cotton goods were very dear in 1820, but have steadily been sirk- ing ever since, as the facilities of manu- facture have improved. Ready-made clothing fifty years after the Declara- tion of Independence was only to be found in seaports or in those places where there was likely to be, ag any time an influx ot backwoodsmen, boatmen or miners. The stores w then familiarly known “slop shops,” and the garments made very little pretense to fitting. Countless varie- ties of cloth and,a multitude of accessories im the dry gocds,trade have come up with in the half century, Refore that the sup- y was scanty. Men and women in society in Jefferson's time were weil dressed: their velvets, their lace, their satins and their gloves would compare with those of today, or were even finer, but the great mass of the people had few varieties of material to choose from, and made no pretense of following the fashions. They could not. } Hoos Strange Incident of the Mails. From the Boston Herat. A lady in Boston, wrote some letters and sealed them, as is her custom, with a Moorish coin having a tiny hook in its back. Her correspondents all knew this peculiar seal and how highly it is prized, frem its antiquity and the stylish form it takes in the wax. Called suddenly from the room, these ‘letters were soon after posted by a servant in the nearest box, and not till then did the owner of the rare coin miss it from the table. The room searched, and finally the maid di to await the letter collector on his round. But he declared nothing had been seen of any such seal, and then the search began indoors again, but with no better luck. A few days after this lady recaived a letter from Canada sealed with the fa- miliar Moorish hieroglyphics! The nys:ery was soon explained, for on opening the envelope it was learned that this heavy seal had stuck to the letter sent from Lcs- ton, and, though passing through so many hands, had arrived intact, to the great as- tonishment of the recipient. ANIMALS IN EFFIGY The Famous Collection Which is Owned by the Smithsonian. VALUE T0 STUDENTS AND HISTORIANS eS How Casts Are Made of Rare and Bulky Animals. INGENIOUS ee DEVICES Written Exclusively for The Evening Star. TREWN ALONG for a distance of fifty yards in the rear of the Smithsonian In- | stitution are blocks of plaster of paris of every imaginable shape, some of large size and others fitted together as if to ! form boxes. For the most part they look like the refuse of a workshop. Here and there one fragment or another is seen to resemble a part of a fish or other animal—perhaps a tail, or a head with a, pair of fore-flippers. A vig slab bears the impression of a snake, as if the creature, having buried itself in sud for the winter, had waked from its torpid state aud crawled away. Other objects yet more strange are faces and various parts or hunian bodies apparently fossilize These odd-looking things are molds. The Smithsonian Institution has been collecting them for thirty years past, and some of them have cost a great deal of money. Quite a number have been fetched all the way from Alaska, representing various ani- mals peculiar to the regions of the frozen north. If a queer reptile or fish is found anywhere there 1s nothing better than to make a cast of it in plaster of paris. By this means its shape is copied to perfec- tion, ard that is a great help for museum purposes. When, a few years ago, a whale was stranded on the New England coast, Dr. Palmer. taxidermist of the Smithsonian Institution, was sent to make a copy of it in papler-mache. This he did—that is to he made a mold of the cetacean in of which he took several barrels ith him, ard the papier mache cast wes produced afterward in Washington. Valuable for Study. Only one-half of the whale was cast, however, representing what might be termed the port side of the animal. This is now hung up in the National Museum. On one side it shows the outside of the creature, and from the other side the in- side. It was a clergyman who on a cer- tain occasion not long ago was steering some members of his flock through the building. and, pausing in front of the whale, remarked, pointing to the capacious interior of the great marine mammal: “You see, my dear friends, that there was plenty of room for Jonah!” In such ways the Smithsonian Institution has collected molds and made casts of a great variety of animals, often sending long distances to get them. Of reptiles alone it has secured several hundreds, each representing a typical species, while the fishes run up to 1,2% and upward. From each plaster moid about fifty casts may be made, if desired. This facility of j multipitcation is utilized to a considerable extent .n another branch of the work, not relating to animals at all. To schools and to museums all over the world the Smith- sonian Institution sends sets of typical aboriginal implements of America. These are valuable for purposes.of study. A mold from an actual ston will furnish fifty fac-similes, which only have to be painted in order to look exactly like the original. If more are wanted another mold fs easily made. While it would not be easy to ship a whale or a walrus to the Smithsonian Ii stitution, smaller animals are readily trans- ported. ‘Nearly all of the creatures of which these molds are made are sent to this city for that purpose. When practica- ble, two living specimens are forwarded. One serves for the mold; the other is a model for the artist. Before going further, it should be explained that the casts are intended to represent the animals them- selves in the museum, and they must be as lifelike as possible. ‘They are painted by men who are specially skilled in this branch of art. Life-Like Casts, Before making a mold from a snake, the Highest of all in Leavening Power.—Latest U.S. Gov't Report Royal Baking Powder ABSOLUTELY PURE plaster mold had onty to be broken away and there remained the perfect shape of the whale in papier mache, fortified with woocen ribs. Of course, the animal could not be made entire at once in this fashion, but would have ta be done piecemeal and put together. Composition vs. Plaster. For casts of this kind blotting paper is the best stuif to use, but it is rather expensive ind ordinary brown’ paper serves well enough. Many of the casts of fishes in the Na- tional Museum are made of a glue com- position painted. This material has some- what of the “feel” of Jesh, and a snake composed of it is as flexibie as the living nimal. But it is vei vy, and in warm ather it is apt to saz and get out of shape. The collsction of plaster casts in- cludes many faces taken from living human beings of various races. These are useful of individuals typical ples are to be setup, the physio: of real men and women being all ready for them. Dr. Palmer has a mold of the skull of a gerilia and also a cast of a roc’s egg. The latter Was taken from an acti g of the ex- tinct giant ostrich of Madagascar, which stood 12 feet high and was the original of the roc of Sinbad the Sailor. See ANIMAL SLEEP. In Many Cases Slumber ts Apt to Be Broken. rom the London Spectator. Though many animals look on sleep as a luxury, and make comfortable beds for its enjoyment, as was shown in .the “Spec- tator” of December 1, others sleep but Jit- tle; and their slumbers are so light that they seem to have the power of becoming instantaneously awake, however soundly they may have been sleeping. It is com- monly said of some creatures that they “sleep with one eye open.” The instanta- neous transition by which, when wakened, they pass into action, such as flight and escape, with full possession of their facul- Ues, almost suggests that they have some additional sense, which takes the form of vigilance in sleep, and remains conscious when all other consciousness is lost. This is an easy but not a satisfactory explan: tion of this quick covery of sense by a taculty not possessed by man, under conditions in which the life of men and animals wouid naturally be supposed to differ least—that is, when the use of their higher faculties is for a time partially sus- pended, There is good reason to believe that the broken nd timid form of animal si #reater number of spec is x s they would naturally choose, but is the re in centuries of danger and avoidance of their enemies, and that the same causes which have medified the hours of sleep have also modified its character. Of th animals which, when wild, now sleep by y, Shatching broken periods of unrest- ful slumber as and where they can, not a twentieth part are night-feeders by nature or choice. The true nocturnal animals are those which can only find their food at night. With the exception of the owls and opossums, which are partly insectivorous, they are nearly all insect-eaters, bats, le- murs, lorises and nightjars; and though the last, like the owis, do move with ra- pidity and some precision when once dis- turbed, the others might be distinguished from those creatures which are only noc- turnal by necessity, by the absence of that wakefulness in sleep which the latter pos- sess in such a marked degree. A Deep Repose. The bats, lemurs and lorises are during the day steeped and drugged with slumber. If once discovered they make no effort to escape; like the opossums, which let the “biack fellows” chop them out of zheir holes in the hollow trees without_ mov! from their sleeping places, it dos seem possible for them to awaken. benumbs their faculties like freezing cold, and they seck darkness with the same in- stinet that a human being-with seuses be numbed by sickness demands more light. Bats, the only purely nocturnal anim: in this country, show this characteris: in its completest form. Their daylight sleep paralyzes them, though not because they are unable to see and fly with safety in the sunlight, for they can do both. But if handled and disturbed they make no effort even to spread their wings, and seem un- able to shake off the drowsy intluence. Not even the great night-flying moths are so completely the slaves of this unyield- ing habit of diurnal sleep. Contrasted with this deep repose, the animal, if alive, receives a dose of chloro- form. It may or may not recover. There have been instances where serpents have got over the effects of the chloroform two or three times in succession, only to be subjected to further doses and made to serve again and again. Perhaps an an- aesthetized ophidian will be coiled grace- fully about the branch of a tree, and the mold will be taken from branch and snake tngether—to be subsequently painted, of course. Or, if it were a rattlesnake, it would probably be coiled in a spiral, as if ready to strike. In the west wing of the Smithsonian Institution is a beautiful ex- hibit of the rattlesnakes of the United States. They look as if alive, though only casts, so well are they painted, with sur- roundings of herbage, eic., to counterfeit nature. It is the same way with reptiles of other kinds. There are ever so many queer sp cies ot lizards in this country, particularly in the western deserts. The horned toad is one of these, not being in reality a toad at all, though it looks like one. There are the edible’ lizards of Death Valley, and others which are able to outrun the fastest race horse. Such creatures as these are easily molded, every scale in their armor being reproduced with wonderful accuracy of detail. With land mammals it is diffe: ent. for’a cast of a creature with a furry coat can hardly be made to look like lif Nevertheless, Dr. Palmer's collection in- cludes casts of portions of many land mam- mals. For example, hanging on the wall of his studio in the rear of the Smith- sonian Institution is a plaster head of a tapir, taken direct from the animal. When he has occasion to stuff.a tapir, he will not he obliged to guess at the measurements of that part of the beast. Close by is a cast from the head of a sea lion that was killed in the Pacific. Another cast is from the tongue of a bear. Scme day the taxider- mist will desire to set up a stuffed bear with its mouth open, and there will be a tongue ready. There is also a calf's head, which is very li like, though it would not make good soup. Leads the World. The Smithsonian Institution has some su- perb casts of porpoises. There are none like them anywhere else in the world, save only a few in New York city. The mu- seums of Europe have only stuffed speci- mens, which are very inferior for practical purposes. The painted casts look exactly like the~“clowns of the sea’? themselves, as they appear in nature. Dr. Palmer has a grampus twelve feet long in plaster; it is a mammal related to the whales. His studio ts a wonderful place, crowded with the counterfeit presentments of animals terrestrial and marine, from many parts of ‘the world. One cast represents a big fish of the ray tribe, somewhat resembling a skate. From the body of this fish, a fe- male, was. taken a young one almost fully developed, but still inclosed in a sort of sac. A cast was made from the young ray in this condition, and then another one was taken from the same little animal after it had been taken out of the sac. Thus a single specimen was made to furnish a se- ries of casts. Casts of large fishes, such as sharks and of marine mammals, like perpoises and whales, are commonly made in papier mache, because plaster is too heavy. Take the whale already referred to for exampie. The mold was first made in plaster and was then lined with moistened sheets of paper, the latter being prevented from adhering by a coat of sizing applied te the inside of the mold. Sheet after sheet of paper was added to the lining, the sheets being made to adhere to each other with glue, until the lining was thick enough. Next, a thick coat of a mixture composed of glue, earth and whiting spread upon the lining, and, as it hard- ened, wooden laths made flexible by soak- ing in hot water were bent and buried in it. After the hardening was complete the j animals, which have a power of vig slumber of the great body of herbivorou animals :s so :ight and broken that it may be doubted whether their senses are ever sO completely at rest as to deserve the name of sleep at all. In human sleep the sense of hearing is that which remains awake longest, and to which the brain most readily responds. But in sound and heavy sleep hearing often suggests a long train of thought in dreams before the brain awakens to a sense of reality. In most sleeping animals its warning is in- stantaneous, and the faculties obey the call for action with no apparent interval of in- ertia. A sleeping fox will rise, gallop off and dodge the hounds with as much cool- ness and knowl had been surprised on the prowl, with all of its wits awake. It may have allowed the pack to approach fatally near; but when once roused it is wholly awake—not drowsy, bewildered or confused. The Larger Animals. Hares seem never to sleep; however closely they may lie in their forms, the eye is alert and vigilant. Stags sleep soundly when watched by their hinds. But a soli- tary stag, sleeping on a hillside, retains the two senses of hearing and scent in full vigor. Deer stalkers have discovered by experiment that the sleeping senses of the stag are sensitive up to a distance of at least 200 yards the windward le. Between the drowsy sleep of the nocturnal enimals and the hypersensitive sleep of those which spend their lives in constant fear of their enemies, a place must be found for the torm of slumber enjoyed by the large carnivera, and that of domestic animals; the former have no enemies to fear except man, and the latter, protected hy man, enjoy to the full the blessing of natural rest. Tigers are frequently foun. fast asleep in the daytime. Native huniers have been Known to track them after a “kil” to the place in which they were ly- ing fast asleep and gorged with food, and to shcot them as they lie. When teking its midday repose in districts where it is little disturbed, the tiger does not always retire to a place of security, like the bear, or even the leopard, which usually sleep on the branch of a tree. It just lies down in some convenient spot, either shady ot warm, according to the weather, and there sleeps, almost regardless of danger. They have been found lying in dry nullahs, un- der trees, and even in the grass of the hill- sides, unobserved, until their came within a few yards of them. Douglas Hamilton, when Dandilly forest, came upon a tirress and two cubs lying fast asleep on their vacl with their paws sticking up in the air, un- der a clump of bamboos. When ne was within a few yards of the group one raised its head, and, without moving its body, Gen. shooting in the quietly oked at him along the line of its body between its pa’ Dogs, which are at once the drowsiest and most wakeful of domestic animals, ac- cording to their state of mind and circum- stances, seem to sleep lightly or heavily at will. Nothing can be more slow, reluctant and leisurely than the enforced waking of a petted house dog when it does not wish to be disturbed. It will remain deaf to a call, twitch its feet if tickled, but nc close its eyes, and finally stretch and ¥: like a sleepy child. But mention something interesting to the same dog when sleeping, such as the word “walk,” or click the lock of a gun, and it Is on its feet in an instant, and ready for enterprise. Thus, animals seem capable of three forms or degrees of sleep—cne the deep stupor of the noc- turnal crestures; a second, the semi-human slumber of carnivorous and domesticated at command, and, lastly, the vigilant sleep of the persecuted rumirant and rodent tribes. IF THE iA) gray the and. colv lant is y and stimu: sleeping animals, for it attributes to them | tof habits acquired.and transmitted | 4 - ige of the ground as if it | forests of valuable trees, The name Gua | lis aif ABOUT GUATEMALA The Minister to This Country Talke About the Republic. The Proposed Railroad to Join the Atlantic and Pacific—Boundary Line Dispute. Written for ‘The Evening Star. Little Guatemala is in some fespects the most wonderful country on the face of the earth. She is beyond doubt the most prosperous nation in the world at present. Just now she is building a railway to con- nect the Atlantic and Pacific oceans, which is a marvel of engineering, and promises to be the chief pathway of traffic across Central America, climbing over mountains a mile high. The minister to the United States from Guatemala is Senor Don Antonio Lazo Ar- riaga. Said he 1.cently: “Guatemala has no standing army, but every male citizen is a soldier and liable to military duty. We have no ships, but we could afford to buy them in case of neces- sity, for we have plenty of money. While ail the rest of the world has been suffering from business depressicn, we have not felt it at all. During the last five years there | bas not been a failure in Guatemala. The silver trouble does not touch us, because we do not produce silver in any quantity. We export more than 50,000,000 pounds of coffee every year, and all of this we sell for gold. Thus we may be said to grow gold. Ours is the only country in ihe new world that produces much more than it consumes; our exports are double our im- perts. “We have a labor question, but it is the very opposite of that which is making so much trouble in the United States. In Guatemala there is plenty of work and an unsatisfied demand for people to do it. It it to get the crops harvested for lack of hands, and in every branch of in- dvstry in the towns employment is seeking lebor. If 100,00) honest and industrious Americans were landed in Guatemala to- morrow, ail of them could find work tm- mediat With a few thousand dollars in geld you may go to Guatemala and make a fortunte in a few years. You can get for little or nothing a tract of fertile land, on which you plant coffee. For half a dozen years you receive no income from the in- vestment, but at the end of that time you are a rich man, Thousands of Americans now reside in Guatemala. They came poor, and already neariy all of them rich Such opportunities as are offered in Guate- | mala for the investment of capital cannot be found anywhere else in the world. “Two years hence the Trans-Guatemalan vay will be completed, zoining the At- > ocean with the Pacific. In order to realize what a wonderful work of engineer- ing this will be you must remember that the read has to climb over the range of lofty mountains which forms the backbone of Central America. On a lofty plateau of this range is situated Guatemala City, the capital. From S . the principal sea port on the Pa . the railway has already been built to Guatemala C In a distance of seventy-one miles it ascends to an altitude of 5,090 feet. This part of the railway has been constructed by Ameri- cars, with American money. The other part, which will conrect Guatemala City with the Atlantic coast, a distance of 2 miles, is being built at government ex pense by Americar engineers. Trains drawr by locomotives made in Philadeiphia are Turning between Guatemala City and Sar Jcse. This road is destined to be the greatest pathway of traffic acro: America, having marked adv the Panama and Tehuantepec 1 Guatemala fs the most north five Central American stat: southern boundary of Me: boundary Hne that is now in dispute. ras a population of a million and a half two-thirds of the people being white an: the rest Indians. The whites, however are largely of mixed blood, having inter- marrie] «with the Indicns pretty generally These Indians are for the most part qui civilized, being descended from the ancien! Aztecs, who had no mean civilization 0: treir own before the Spaniards reachec the shores of the new world. The whites, of course, are mairly of Spanish descent. and the language of the country is Spanish ‘The women of the country are particularly beautiful. Minister Arriaga showed to the writer a collection of photegraphs of pretty girls of Guatemala City, which, as an ex- hitit of female pulchritude, could not_be equaled in New Yerk, Philadeiphia or Bal- timore, nor yet in St. Louis or San Fran- cisco. ‘Two-thirds of Guatemala is untilled, and much of the far northern part has neve: been explored. In the department of Peten at the north, dwell tribes of savages, wh« are fierce and intractable, their appetite for gore being such as to discourege trav- elers with a thirst for knowledge respect- ing geography and natural history. The country is generally mountainous, the de clivities being covered with magnificent temala s‘gnifies “full of trees.” The cli mate is not healthy in the lowlands, but & more salubrious in. the higher altitudes On the way from San Jose to Guatemals City the passenger journeying by rai passes within three hours through a va riety of climates, each marked by it: proper vegetation, as he ascends from th: tropical to the temperate zo: The country was conquered by Alvaradc who was one of the lieutenants of Cortez He was a very handsome and gifted man equally pious and cruel. After he ha: killed many thousands of the natives and had established control he was made gov ernor of the country by the King of Spain He lost his life by an accident while on = warlike expedition, and his wife Reatric: assumed the reins of government. Thc capital was then at Antigua, and during the excitement which followed the death o: Alvarado the city was destroyed by a vol canic disturbance. Beatrice was killed and 6%) Spaniards lost their Hives, as wel as 1,00) Indians. The town was the head quarters of several powerful monastic or ders. From the tower of the Cathedral 0° Antigua today may be seen the ruins o forty-five churches, nearly every one of which had a monastery or convent at tached to it. Spain governed Central Amer ica for three centuries. Her dominatior ended in 1824, when the five States declare a federal constitution. Subsequentiy they separated by mutual consent. The govern ment of Guatemala is much like that of th: United States, having a president and Congress. -20- ‘The Tree-Planter. He who plants 2 tree Plants a bop Roctlets up through Givers blindly grope; unfold into horiz man’s life pm the clods Unto heavens sublime. Canst thou prophesy, thba little tree, What the glory of thy boughs shall be? He who plants a tree, He plants love: ‘Tents of coolness spreading out abor rs he may not live to see. ts that grow are best; nds that bless are blest. Plant: Life does the rest. Heaven abi earth help him who plants a tree, his work its own reward sI 0. — —LUCY LARCOM. eee Discouraging. From Life. “Does your papa object to my calliny upon you, Miss Dolyers?” “Not in the least, Mr. Spuds.” “Does your mamma? No. “Do your brothers? ‘I think not.” “Then I guess I'm pretty solid.” But there is one member of the fami you neglected to ask about and who doc object. most heartily.” “J thought I had named them all, bu: now I think of it, 1 did omit to ask abou your pug.” ‘Oh, Fido doesn’t mind you.” ‘Then who is it that objects to my com ing to see you?” “It is oniy J, Mr. Spuds.”