Evening Star Newspaper, March 2, 1895, Page 14

14 * 3 LENTEN DIVERSIONS The Gait in Society is Not Quite so Rapid. ATTENTION PAID T0 CHURCH GOING The Sewing Circle and Other Mild Forms of Amusement. WALKING AND DRIVING OCIETY HAS mighty resolutions‘on its hands for Lenten diversions and every- day occupations. There is no use try- ing to upset the ac- cepted theory of how society spends the leisure hours of these seven weeks. Every- body knows that all the surplus energy which hitherto spent itself in reducing the ~~ soles: of dancing slippers to paper-like con- sistency now goes in for very much church- going, Dorcas societies, canton flanrel meets and long equestrian and pedestrian outings. Experience has also proved that the sewing societies are really practical organizations, where a great deal of work is accomplished—if not at the meeting; at least in anticipation of it. The first fervor of the average sewing guilder is calculated to take the breath away from a disinterest- ed observer; but ah! when the fine days come, when the suspicions of spring become realities, when “‘lazaria” weak- ens the strongest resolutions, Lent be- comes a period of preparation for the Joys of Haster, and needles and threads are forgotten, But we are right in the beginning of it now, when the weak- est endeavor has not had a chance to see how dreadfully frail it is, and there is plenty on hand in the way of mental diver- sion, healthful relax- ation and generous helping to make the churchgoing spirit, which suggests all the good works, the crowning triumph of them all. The wisest philosophers on the theories of life, who were not churchmen, either, have always insisted that great intellects and enormous appetites are not usually found in the same person. The desires of the body must be subordinated to those of the mind—if the latter is to shine. Another set of wise heads declare eating is but a habit, and that ordinarily nature could be sustained, and, indeed, life prolonged, if one-third of the food consumed each day was left alone. So, fasting and abstinence are not such bad things after all. Any one who has stopped to think of the nervous tendencies of the age also appreciates the benefit of the fast and rest cure. Now, Lent is pre-eminently the season for this, and it is by no means as uncommon as may be thought at first. Busy people look for- ward to a day in bed on the plainest diet as a luxury worth striving for, and one almost hardest of all to secure. The little details of everyday life are so absorbing that no one fesis how chained down he is by them till he tries to shake them off tempo- rarily. So, now, whether you had thought of it or not, take a day off for the rest cure. If you want to have any real part im the Easter revival, commence now the process of “throwing off the old man.” This is a scriptural expression, it may he said, in passing, and its application is plain enough to the Spiritually minded, and does not re- fer, as the giddily inclined may suggest, to the breaking up of home ties in the inter- est~ of mental spring cleaning. A rest cure is not necessarily a sojourn in Blanket street. That would do for some, but for others would be misery. But rest- ing from the things which have taken all the leisure before, “withdrawing from the world and its amusements,” as the Lenten regulations read, refreshing the memory by rereading all one’s good ‘books, gen- erous almsgiving, inspired by personal sacrifice, all these, covpled with church at- tendance, will make Lent a joy. Sewing societies are venerable institu- ticns, and should, therefore, inspire the respect which is their due. Adam and Eve, it will be remembered, composed the first one, when the work consisted of fashion- ing iig-leaf tunics for @he oldest inhabit- ants. Sewing clubs nave had their ups and downs in society, but this seems to be Bi\their golden age. N Originally Lenten foundations,they now form all-year steady- going —_ institutions. Pretty much ‘every church of every creed encourages their for- mation and views their development with delight. Upper-tendom, because it represents leisure, goes in for them nat- urally. They presume the maximum of effect with the minimum of effort. It is the long pull and the strong pull all together that does the work. Among the Catholics the Tabernacle So- ciety is perhaps the only real sewing cir- cle. Its rooms are open nine taonths in the year and its members spend a great deal of their time sewing on church vestments and altar linens for poor churches all over the country. Mrs. White, wife of Associ- ate Justice White of the Supreme Court, is the president. The sewing guilds in the Episcopal churches come to mind at once, because their membership is made up of ladies prominent in society. They are earnest and industrious workers. Outside of the general aim, which is to make clothing for the poor, they are now undertaking a more advanced step, in teaching the poor how to do their own sewing. It would be a much more powerful sermon than could be preached by the greatest orator if frivolous society fofks could peep into these sewing guilds held in the poorest neighborhoods, and watch some of the queens of the social world teaching a child how to sew. There is no gossiping at this sort of sewing so- ciety, and precious little that is attractive, except to those who can understand the promptings of real charity. Society is devoted to church going, there is no doubt about that. The services at all the Catholic and Epicopal churches on Ash Wednesday were as crowded as on Sunday. To particularize, the bells of St. Matthew's and St. John’s churches are not falling on unwilling ears. Morning devo- tien at St. Matthew's aecessitates early rising. The masses at 6 and 7 are well attended, but at 9 the largest congregations are seen. At St. John’s the first service at 8 is not as well attended as the afternoon meeting at 4. So it is in other churches and localities. After church duty is accomplished a walk down town is just as natural. For the one society dame seen on F and G streets a week ago there were twenty today. The shops be- gin to be attractive with spring novelties, and it would be ask- ing too much to deny one’s self the !ooking at them. When a fine market day inter- venes society goes to market and makes itself acquainted with the prices of pota- toes and orchids and other substantial and fleeting necessities. In the afternoon the fine turnouts are seen on the up-town thoroughfares, and their occupants are cut for the pleasure of the drive, not for the purpose of making calls. Dancing is bad form in Lent, so ys the highest authorities. The seasoa has been so long that the gay world has had ali it wamted of it, anyway, and ti nerves, exhausted from late hours 4 late suppers, will not give it a thought, least for a week or two. After t ; “Young speople must be where's the harm?” Theater fonable, lectures commend reasonable and 5 o'clock teas Lent. The 5 o’clock tea in Lent primar’! t ‘THE EVENING STAR, SATURDAY, MAROH 2, 1895-TWENTY PAGES. poses many soft! Set table and the =z coming in to distract attention but the dearies in one’s own particular set. Only these and nothing more. Each circle a daintily society for the dis- semination of the very latest thing in gossip. How many good resolutions evaporate like the steam from the tea cups at these gather- ings! It is so easy just to put in the missing link in the little Story some one is telling, when you could bite your tongue a minute later for saying that which would have been so much kinder unsaid. Lent gives the time for the enjoyment of outdoor life. Nature rewards those who love to watch her awakening, and the first to find a crocus peeping up in the dull brown earth experiences a thrill of excite- ment that the artificial joys of life cannot give. Society of late years has been mak- ing a fad of muscle producing exercise; it has gone in heels over head sometimes for bicycling; and this Lent will glve a chance to the devotees of the wheel. The fashion of long walks set by Lady Pauncefote and her daughters has many followers in the smart set. It is not uncommon for the leisure class of maid- ens to do five miles every morning be- fore luncheon, or “breakfast,” as the noon-day meal is called. ‘A large part of so- ciety is fond of brushing up its knowledge of foreign tongues and customs during Lent. There- fore the much-trav- eled gentlemen of the diplomatic corps are ten times as fasci- nating ani necessary than during the dancing period. Lots more go in seriously for study, history or lan- guages, or the higher philosophy. It would be simply impertinence to suggest penman- sbip and spelling, but they would be use- ful to revive in. the way of accomplish- ments. Lectures at the club or in one’s own drawing room are pre-eminently the thing, and will be more popular than ever. Current events and other forms of discus- on are natural. sequences. Lent is also a nice time to go to some place where thé weather will be milder and the festivities ‘wilder than the austere features of period mentiontd above. The woods are full of such places, but all such places are not full of woods, where every- body wants to flee when they get tired of the everlasting chatter in society. But with the army of departing statesmen and families, whom we are to see no more in official life, at least for some time, it would be too depressing if the rest of the social world should decide to travel, too, the next wee weeks. Here are some good resolu- ions: Make up your mind to do your duty to those about you. : Make the fact of your living a great big streak of sunshine to somebody. Make no unkind remarks. If you can’t say something pleasant, let your turn pass. Make a practice of going to bed early, rising early and taking long walks. Make this Lent a season-.to look back upon with satisfaction all your life. — EARLY’S RAID. GEN. Alarm Felt in This City in View of a Possible Invasion. Noah Brooks in the Century. The raid -of Early, which occurtéd in July, 1864, gave us the only serious scare in the national capital which we had, al- though many alarms were sounded during the war and after the first terrors of the civil insurrection had died away. That in- eursion of the dashing rebel hosts was evidently twofold in its purpose, forage and plunder in Maryland and Pennsylvania being part of the scheme, while the more important and highly desired purpose was to seize upon Washington, then left com- paratively defenseless so far as troops were concerned. The news of the approach of Early was brought to the city (whatever may have been the information lodged in the War Department) by the panic-stricken people from Rockville, Silver Spring, Ten- Jeytown and other Maryland villages. ‘These people came flocking into Washing- ton by the 7th street road, flying in wild disorder, and bringing their household goods with them. In a general way we understood that the city was cut off at the north and east, and that the famine of market-stuff, New York newspapers and other necessaries of life, was due to the cutting of railway lines leading northward. For two or three days we had no mail, ro telegraphic messages, and no railway travel. Our only communi- cation with the outer world was by steamer from Georgetown, D. C., to New York. Washington wes in a ferment; men were marching to and fro; able-bodied citizens were swept up and put into the District militia; and squads of department clerks were set to drilling in the parks. It was an odd sight to see men who had been thus impressed into the public service, dressed in linen coats or in partial uni- form, being put through the manual of arms by an impromptu captain, who in his turn was prompted by his orderly sergeant (@ messenger employed in the War De- partment). These sons of Murs were all under the command of Brig. Gen. Bacon, a worthy grocer of Washington, who was the militia commander of the District of Columbia. The city was also garrisoned by one hun- dred men, Veteran Reserves, as they were called (or invalid corps), with a few dis- mounted cavalry. These weak and unor- ganized forces were thrown into the fortl- fications, and Washington stood agape while we listened to the sound of the rebel cannon less than ten miles away. Gen. Halleck was then living on Georgetown Heights, where the blue-coated invalids mcunted guard over his residence, and the bugles nightly blew “peas on a trencher.” Mil-natured people were ready to suggest that the rebels might be guilty of petty larceny should they rapidly march down Rock creek and seize upon Halleck, who for various reasons was bitterly unpopular in Washington. The President and his family were at their summer residence, the Soldiers’ Home, on the outskirts of Washington, about half-way between the outer line of fortifications at Fort Stevens and the city, but on Sunday night, the 10th, Secretary Stanton, finding that the enemy was within striking distance of that point, sent out a carriage with positive orders that the President should return to the White House. Lincoln, very much ir- ritated, and against his will, came back to town. He was subsequently greatly dis- composed and annoyed when he found that the assistant secretary of the navy, Capt. G. V. Fox, had kept under orders a vessel in the Potomac for the President’s escape in case the rebel column should succeed in piercing the line of fortifications. ‘ The wildest estimates of the force of the invaders were made, and flying rumors were to the effect that Early, Ewell, Im- boden and Breckinridge were in command of some forty thousand men. As a matter of fact, there were, according to the records, not many more than 12,000 men. There was a vast amount of hurrying to and fro between the War Department, the White House and the exterior lines of de- fense, and the telegraph wire was con- stantly worked to its fullest capacity. There were not a few Gomestic rebels in Washington who looked on this commo- tion with undisguised glee. It was popularly believed in the north at that time that President Lincoln was greatly disturbed by the imminence of the danger of the capture of Washington; but I learned from nis own lips that his chief anxiety was that the invading forces might not be permitted to get away. Speaking of their escape afterward, he said that Gen. Halleck’s manifest desire to avoid taking any responsibility without the immediate sanction of Gen. Grant was the main rea- son iy the rebels, having threatened Washington and sacked the peaceful farms and villages of Maryland, got off scathless. It Lincoln was the meddlesome marplot in military affairs which some have repre- sented him to be, he would have peremp- torily ordered a sortie of the Union forces, then numerously massed inside the de- fenses of Washington; but although he was “agenized” (as he said) over the evi- t failure of all attempts at pursuit, he pt his hands off. eel Range, improvement over every- nz, baking, boiling and water heating. oO during exhibit. B. FP. Guy & Co., AS MERCHANDISE Silver Shipped From This Country to All Parts of the World. LONDON 1S THE GREAT MARKET The Demand for This Metal in Various Countries. DEALERS IN GOLD Written for The Evening Star. OW THAT UNCLE Sam has ceased to purchase silver for coining, that metal is being shipped out of this country as mer- chandise in enor- mous quantities. During 1894 we ex- ported $47,000,000 worth of it, and in the previous year $46,000,000. Nearly all of it goes direct to London, which is the great silver market of the world. There it is dealt in just’ like wheat or cotton, and is delivered from thence to buyers in every civilized country on the face of the globe. More than half of our silver finds its way eventually to Asia, the whole of which continent employs’ this substance for money. The business of buying and selling silver in bulk as merchandise is more than or- dinarily interesting. It is controlled by a few dealers in New York city, who have enormous capital and practically unlimited credit. The metal actually passes through their hands, and is shipped by them to London. To them the refiners are obliged to look for advances of cash, of which they are always in more or less urgent need. The refiners must pay promptly for the ores furnished to them from the mines. A single firm will sometimes carry as much as 1,500,000 ounces of silver in the ore, which may be gold-bearing also. This requires a lot of money. ‘The refiner must pay the mine owner not only for the silver in the ores, but also for whatever gold, copper or lead they may gontain. The silver is made into large bricks, commercially known as “bars,” weighing ordirarily from 1,000 to 1,200 ounces. Each brick is stamped with fig- ures indicating its weight and _ fineness. These figures are absolutely reliable; not the government itself could be more care- ful to have them correct. The bars are bought and sold, passing through many hands, without any further test for de- termining their value. If one of them should prove to be not as represented the credit and standing of the refiner would suffer serious damage. Shipping Silver Bars. The refiner forwards his bars by express to the dealer in New York. They are de- livered usually at the office of the dealer, where several tons of them may be stacked up at one time on the floor, with no other protection than a wire fence. No special guard is necessary, because the big chunks of white metal are too heavy to be carried away easily. Robbers would have to bring a truck with them. A brick weighing eighty or one hundred pounds is a pretty good lift for a strong man. Sometimes the refiner, at the dealer's order, sends the bars direct to the ship, and they are put down into the hold like any other merchandise. Ordinarily the silver bars are not placed in the specie vault, even though the ship may have such a convenience for safe de- pesit. No greater care is taken of them than of other merchandise in the cargo, be- cause it is practically impossible for any- body to get away with them. On the ar- rival of the ship at Liverpool the bricks are sent by rail to London, consigned to brokers in that city. In due time they are sold and forwarded to various parts of the world. Some of them may go to the conti- nent, while others are shipped to Egypt, Bombay, Madras, Penang, Manila, the Brazils and New Zealand. Dealers in sil- ver everywhere look to London for their supply. The demand from India for silver has been greatly diminished of late, owing to the fact that the British government in that country has stopped coining the metal. It is still coined to a considerable extent, however, by the mints of the native princes. A great deal of silver goes to China, where the bricks are cut up into pieces, which circulate and have value as currency, according to their weight. These pieces are called “taels,” and those em- ployed in different parts of the empire vary in weight, so that the merchant in conclud- ing a bargain must be sure as to whether he is to be paid in taels of Shanghai or of Haikwan, or of Tien-Tsin, or of Chefoo. Coin in Foreign Countries. Our silver bars are known on the Lon- don market as “cake” silver. The latest quotation for cake silver is 59 1-2 cents per ounce. “Fine bar” silver is worth 56 cents an ounce. The quotation for fine bar silver containing five grains of gold to the ounce is half a cent more. This kind of silver is used almost wholly by refiners in the pro- cesses of their business. Mexican dollars are quoted at 50 cents an ounce. These dollars are a favorite circulating medium in China end the Straits Settlements, and they are regularly quoted on ‘change in New York, as well as in London. The silver dealér in New York buys for- eign coins of all sorts. Suppose that a merchant in the City of Mexico owes a sum of money to a merchant in New York. He pays the debt by a shipment of Mexi- can dollars. The New York merchant finds no use for Mexican dollars in his business, and so sells them to the dealer in silver. The dealer forwards them to a broker in London, and the latter ships them to China and the Straits Settlements. The dealer in New York also purchases coins from im- migrants. This seems like a petty busi- ness, but in the aggregate it amounts to something. In the course of time the met- al money finds its way by exchange back to the countries where it is the circulating medium. It seems rather odd to find on the adver- tising lists of the London brokers notes of regular exportations of silver from Great Britain to the United States. These, how- ever, are in the shape of American coins, sent back to this country by a process similar to that just described. The Bank of” England never melts United States coins, but holds them in its vaults until a balance of trade in our favor makes it con- venient to ship them across the Atlantic. We import quite a good deal of silver from Mexico, most of it in the ore, because it can be returned more economically here. Some of the metal, too, we get from the Central American republics, and not a lit- tle of their coin floats into the hands of the silver dealers in New York. The great chain of mountains which forms the backbone of the new world, ex- tending from Cape Horn northward throug! Central America and continued by the wall of the mighty Rockies, is full of silver. In South America its wonderful deposits, though wholly undeveloped, are be- ing pecked at to some extent primitive methods of mining, and some of the white metal thus obtained is im- ported into the United States. Though sug- gesting the idea of carrying coals to New- castle, the product naturally seeks this country for a market. A minor fraction of our own silver goes direct to China through brokers in San Francisco. One fact suggestive of reflection is that in 1891 our exports of silver exceeded our imports by only $9,500,000. in the Market. The United States government was then buying, under the law of July, 1890, 4,500,- 000 ounces of silver per month. In other words, it was purchasing almost the entire output of the country save what was util- ized In the arts. Think what a misfortune it was to progecers of the white metal when Uncle Saf declared that he wanted no more of it and withdrew from the mar- ket! That was in November, 1993. Since then the mine.owners have been obliged to find a sale for their silver abroad, and thus, as has been said, the exportation has al- ready risen to nearly $50,000,000 per annum. Today the treasury has on hand $137,000,000 worth of silver bricks, the bulk of them stored at the mint in Philadelphia. ‘The advertising lists of the London brokers for the information of speculators make in- cidental mention of some of the causes which have brought about fluctuations in the price of silver during the last twenty years. Among these is noted the death of two German emperors in quick succession, which disturbed the market considerably. A great famine'jn India made it necessary for that am import large quantities of breadstuffs. These had to be paid for in silver, the available supply of which was thus ‘so. that quotations for the metal fell. of the Sherman law was a bi } silver, of course. On the. other hand; thé war between China and Japan has the price of silver some- what, use {those countries will need more mon which to carry on hostil- ities. If the ge indemnity in which China is to be mulcted should be made le in silver, the metal would go up. Gold is shipped by the bullion dealers and disposed of as merchandise in the same way as silver. Though some -gold bricks are ade by private concerns, practically all of e yellow metal produced in this country goes to the United States assay offices and mints. The law obliges the mints to man- ufacture gold bars and sell them to any- body who wishes to buy. But the pur- chaser must pay one-tenth of one per cent over and above the bullion value. This the dealer can afford because gold bars are actually at a premium over gold coin, for the reason that they are not subject to loss by abrasion. During a single voyage this loss on any considerable quantity of gold coin is by no means small. It used to cost the treasury a good deal of money, but it does not amount to nearly so much nowa~- days owing to the fact that the bags and boxes used for carrying the gold are burn- ed afterward to get the metal dust from them. Gold coins of the United States are merely so much merchandise in London, being valued by weight. If the broker ships the metal in the shape of eagles or double eagles, he aces not get face value for it. Some of the pieces may have lost perhaps as much as one-half of one per cent of their substance while in circulation. Nat- urally, then, the dealer prefers to handle bars. These bars are from 990 to 990% fine —1,000 representing absolute purity, What are called “fine bars” are from 997 up. About $14,000,000 worth of = tee ee chased annually for use in the arts, jewelers mostly. RENE BACHE. see MEN WHO DA’ The Variety ns Seen on the Floor at a ¥ashionable Ball. From the New York Herald. I was asked to the Assembly ball at Sherry’s on Thursday night. It is a great privilege to get an invitation, because every one says that these balls are better than the Patriarchs’. To be better than a Patriarch a ball has got to get up—or close—very early in the morning. CE. I was interested in watching how the men took hold of their partners and what they did with them after they had got them on the floor. I came to the con- clusion ‘that there were six different kinds of dancers now let loose on the floor of the up-to-date ball room. 1 hurriedly _ sepa: rated these types " Aggressive, “The Languid,” “The Reckless,” ‘The Sen- timental,” “The, Cautious” and “The Boo- zie.” "As a matter of fact, none of the hand- some young fellows who were constantly leading out ladies to the dance had ever had much training. It is the girls who get all the advantages, if there are any, of dancing schools. To a certain and very limited extent the girls have taught their brothers how to dance, but they have never yet suc- ceeded in | brenking up the six different types which T speak of. Take them up in order; first, the ag- gressive. 1 was much struck by the ner in which ed his partner. He acted as if she hg opposite to him in a foot ball tackled her. aekled" the girl, unless brought up in a “fgot ball family, is practically squeezed obt* of existe She submits at first and then mildly explains with a blush, “Will you please hold me less tight, Mr. Snapback?” 3 The aggressive dancer clutcRes his lady’s right arm in his mighty left and saws about the air as if it was a fanor an Indian club. Oth- er. dancers watch him and doge him, but occasionally he strikes some poor woman on the nose or ear and he suf- fers horribly. A much more agreeable but less in- teresting subject is the languid dancer. This performer is too tired to get out of his own way. His hold on his partner is weak and limpid. He turrs her thrice and then turns her back again without moving five paces. He sinks exhausted into a chair after his performance. His collar shows signs 6f disintegration. He looks terribly bored and says, “Thanks, aw- fully!” The reckless dancer is perhaps the most dangerous of all. He is either a foreigner or copies the foreign style of dancing. Unlike the aggre: sor, he does not hold his partner loosely, but hardly touches her with his finger tips. His first move- ment is a loose slide down the room straight ahead. This is French and En- glish—almest the on- ly thing in which the nations come together. 4 Finished with her first slide, he closes his eyes and lets her go. He often does to the extent of serious injury to himself, his partner and others. Counts and princes are much addicted to the languid style of dancing—languid in appearance only, Perhaps a _ more dangerous dancer, and one who re- quires a lot of watching, is the sen- timental ‘dancer. He holds his part- ner off at a respect- ful distance, so that he can gaze into her eyes. Occasionally he glances over his shoulder to see if the aggressive or languid man is com- ing, but usually he is too wrapt up in his partner to watch for interference. ‘As for the ¢autious men, their name is legien. They are generally old fellows,who know what the uncertainties and dangers Ni York ball room are. otthey dont panes often, but when they do they expeet to save themselves and their partners from any possible harm. They hold. their ladies carefully and rath- er firmly. ‘They look about for possible charges from:any direction. They rarely stop for germans, but do a good deal of preliminary cantering. A vast ‘array of gentlemen,young and old, can be arrayed under this head—the most dangerous of | all who ever get ‘on / the floor, because’. they combine the ! faults of all. i, They are the fel- lows who pretend to hate dancing; who sit. in the supper room until they see themselves in fifteen | different mirrors; who are waiting for wives and daughters who are dancing the germaa, but eventually get back to the ball room and who e enticed into the maelstrom of the waltz. "The boozy dancer, when in good form-and not too far gone, has been known to save a stupid ball, while, on the other hand, he has often ruined a very pretty little dance. The boozy feliow is a great frequenter of the big subscription balls, like patriarchs and assemblies. He smells of tobacco smoke and other nerve tonies when he comes into the ball room, and it takes a brave woman to submit to his dancing em- brace, LEARNING TO WORK Argument for a Comprehensive Man- ual Training System. THE COLORED BOY'S CHANCES IN LIFE Adapting School Courses to Suit His Environments. PRACTICAL EDUCATION Written for The Evening Star. A proper respect for public opinion, par- ticularly in a matter so intimately connect- ed with all the peoples as public education, demands that an explanation be given of the purpose of those who advocate the new departure from established methods in the matter of congucting our high schools. The masses are generally slow to accept new ideas, and often oppose them simply because they are new, and wonder why they did so when their utility has been fully demonstrated. The discussion of the question in the United States Senate and Serator Gorman’s remarks thereon have brought the undersigned into promi- nence as an active advocate df the new system, and through whose efforts in its behalf the Senate provided for an appro- priation of one thousand dollars to enable the school board to examine and report plans and methods of introducing the new system in the high schocls, a provision which was, however, lost in conference. Therefore, it is proper he should give to the public the reasons that dictated his course, believing such a statement will strengthen the cause and make the public demand for its extension irre- sistible. “At first blush,” one would say, I thought we had manual training in our schools? And so we have, but so limited as to be of little use, since the pupils get only eight hours a month, not quite two weeks’ training in a. year. Now, it is pro- posed to give two hours or more each day, so as to make it practical, as well as theo- retical, and such as pass through will be equipped with sufficient mechanical knowl- edge that they will only need to have ex- plained to them the rules governing a particular branch to enable them to take up the work. ° Previous to 1880 little attention was given to manual training in this country; but in Europe the system has long been in operation, though somewhat different from that which fiads favor in this country. In Sweden and Finland the Slojd schools are deservedly popular. There are trade schools in every large city of France; nearly every industry has its special schcols, and these schools are increasing, not only in France, but all over Europe. The eminently prac- tical Germans, seeing the utility of manual training, have probably gone beyond every other pation in Europe in extending its benefits to the pupils in the schools, with- out lowering the intellectual or literary standing of the German people. Indeed, during the last twenty years the Germans have cut deeply into French trade, out- stripping them by their vast multiplicity of technical schools. Every large city in the United States except Washington has its industrial school, the result of private benefaction or supported by,municipal aid. Brooklyn has its Pratt Instftute, Philadel- phia its Drexel School. Armour has pro- vided a fine one for Chicago. The Balti- more and Ohio Railroad Company main- tains a fine one for Baltimore. Boston, St. Louis, Toledo, Cincinnati and New York and many other cities have adopted and are extending the system, since its bene- fits are manifest to a greater extent day after day. Some of the Objects. It is not proposed to lower the intellectual standard or supplant the present curricu- lum or course of study pursued in the high school, but the aim is to so popularize the higher branches that parents will be willing to make the necessary sacrifice to enable their children to take the course, because of the prospect it opens to them of future gains. It also aims to dignify me- chanical knowledge, by emphasizing the fact that it is possible to win equal distinc- tion in those lines—distinction heretofore regarded as inseparable from the profes- sions. To the colored pupils it offers so many advantages that it may well be styled the new emancipation. It will open to them a thousand avenues of remungrative employment now closed, because of their lack of skill to do the work, and will secure better wages in the lines almost wholly theirs, since they, by their special skill, will be able to render better service. No ore will, I am sure, seriously doubt the wisdom of increasing the opportunities of tris claes. The conditions that confront them are very different from what the white boy must encounter. For the latter, no hampering cords renders his knowledge su- perfluous, or narrows the field of his oppor- tunities. He has an equal chance of secur- ing a market for his wares, without regard to their quality. To him all doors are open, he begins the race of Mfe on equal term: with the most favored. The colored boy must, to win success, be trained to win and hold the only field now epen to hime Why induce him to spend four years in a course of study that Illy fits him to successfully meet the adverse condi- tions that environ him? That education orly is right and proper which seeks to so fit the pupil that he may begin the race of life under conditions most favorable for him. Why persist in having 500 boys spend several years learning the art of bookkeep- ing, etc., when probably not five of them would find employment in the line of their attainments? Why not employ their time in learning the useful arts, which offer at all times employment, and thus remove the greatest incentive to crime, namely, false pride and idleness? That some should be trained to a professional career is very de- sirable, but their success must evidently eepend upon the material prosperity of the wagses. The skilled workman earnmg the wages accorded his craft, could afford to employ the skill of the professional man when needed and pay for it. Thus it is clear that this diversity of training is abso- Iutely necessary to insure the success of either. There is a mutual interdependence, which should be fostered and encouraged in every way. Still speaking of the opportunity indus- trial education offers the colored people, I wish to call particular attention to what is now transpiring in the south. A large party of New England cotton manufac- turers begin this week an extensive tour of the southern states, with a view of in- vesting their capital in developing the re- sources of that section. The governor of Georgia is now perfecting plans to send a committee of influential business men on a tour of the north to present to their notice the natural resources and advant- ages of that state, and if possible to in- duce them to remove their cotton mills to the cotton fields of the south. Should the movement succeed it will more than double the need of that section for skilled labor- ers. That the colored people are sus- ceptible of meeting every requirement in this new field is very well shown by what happened in South Carolina, where a ten- tative experiment was made with hands brought from New England in establishing a cotton factory. For some reason the success of the experiment was seriously threatened by the hands striking and walk- {ng out. The management thereupon filled their places with colored girls, who quick- ly learned the routine, and the testimony of the superintendent showed that they were equal to every requirement, and, sav- ing the temporary embarrassment, the fac- tory suffered no loss through the strike, but a great gain, in that it was shown that the south possessed an abundance of labor susceptible of utility, by training, in de- veloping its almost unlimited resources. Power and Wealth. Industrial education is the colored man’s opportunity; since it promises him wealth, material] prosperity of every kind. With this all opposition to his advancement must gradually disappear. The power of knowledge and wealth cannot be success- fully resisted. Let us consider another phase of the question, the pertinency of the discussion on the Business High School. Those Senators taking part in the debate cannot be counted as hostile to the Busi- ness High School, per se. From conver- sations with some of them on the subject their attitude assumes a different light. They were not willing to vote $100,000 to the Business High School, if it were true that thousands of children were unprovided with seats in the lower grades, Certainly no one will seriously contend a ae re ee SN that stenography or typewriting or any science that fits one to earn a living is out of place in the curriculum of a public Son a Ass Stee where, certainly no’ Those studies which both heed and hand are employed should be encouraged. To the question, why train ten thousand boys as mechanics when only half can find employment? the angwer is “the man- ual training schoo] is not a mere training of mechanics.” dustrial education fits boys not to become mechanics only, but men of intelligence and skill. It educates them so they may have open to them all the employments. Thirty-five years ago the French bought all their cot- ton goods from England. They then bought English machinery, brought over English workmen to run it, established a training school for the cotton industry at Mulhouse, and now the finest cotton goods used in England and in this country are made in France. “To twelve cents’ worth of cotton the French add so much skilled labor that we pay them a dollar for it.” In like manner ‘has France obtained con- trol of her own market for watches by es- tablishing schools for the watch industry at Bescanon and elsewhere. Another case illustrating the benefits of industrial education: “Mr. Perrot of Switzerland, came to this country in 1876 to exhibit his machinery for making watches. Landing in New York, he haSten- ed to Philadelphia to secure a place to show his wares. He was assigned space next to the Waltham Watch Company. He took just one look at the Waltham machinery, and then he telegraphed to his agent in New York not to permit his own machinery to be landed, but to send it back to Europe by the ship in which it had come. In the autumn Mr. Perrot went back to Switzerland and told his country- men that American workmen earned three times as much as the Swiss workmen, but by reason of the intelligence and skill of the American warkmen they were well worth their triple wages, and that high as were their wages Switzerland could never again to hope to sell watches in the Amer- ican market.” 132 Head and Hands. We can, if we will, raise the intelligence and skill of American workingmen, 50 that our industries shall be above all com- petition. Green, the English historian says, “that in the midst of the eighteenth century New England was the one part of the world where every man and woman was able to read and write.” Has the New England intelligence been profitable? Look at the wealth of New England. “If teday tho wealth of New England was in silver dollars, the silver dollars would al- most outweigh the rocks of New England.” All the result of high ciass industrial edu- | cation. ‘One great object of industrial education is to foster a higher appreciation of the value and dignity of intelligent labor and the worth and respectability of laboring men. A boy who sees nothing in manual labor but brute force despises both the labor and the laborer. With the acquisi- tion of skill in himself comes the ability and. willingness to recognize skill in his fellows. Again, it is highly desirable that a larger proportion of intelligent and well- educated youth should devote their ener- gies to manual pursuits, or to the develop- ment of mechanical industries, both for their own sake and for the sake of society. Hitherto men who have cultivated their minds have neglected their bodies, and those who have labored with their hands have found no opportunity to cultivate their brains. The crying demand today is for intellectual combined with natural training. It is this great want that in- dustrial education aims to supply. Neither Watt, Saxton nor Edison ever had more than ‘a few months’ schooling; they are il- lustrious examples in the world of me- chanical industry. Great as their names have become, it is difficult to believe that they reached the limits of their powers; they might have achieved more had the opportunities now open to ambitious boys been theirs. The success of this movement for increased facilities for industrial edu- cation rest largely with the school au- thorities. Congress will do its part; no doubt about that. If the matter is rightly presented a new era for Washington boys will begin, and from this point many will go to teach the blessings of industrial edu- cation to the struggling men and women throughout the land. DANIEL MURRAY. —_—.__ ‘Two Ways to Treat That Headache. From the Chicago Record. After the barber had begun shaving him the man in the chair said: “I have a kind of a headache this morning. ‘Would you please put a cold cloth across my forehead?” “Certainly,” replied the barber; “but wouldn't you rather have the cloth hot?” “My head’s too hot. I want to cool it off.” “Very well. You know what you want, but you have a head on you. The hot towel wiil do more good than a cold one.” “Go ahead, then, and try :t; but it seems to me that cold water would be better.” “Some say one and some «nother. The man who wants a cold towel says it sends the blood away from the head and cools the skin. The fellow who waats a hot towel says it draws the heat to the surface and sort of relieves the fever, and in a little while the head feels cool and clear. it’s funny that hot or cold water should be used for the same purpose, but it’s a fact.” A Distinguished Organist. From Tid-Bits. A good story is told of Mascagni, the composer. During the latter's recent visit to London, while in his room at a hotel, he heard an organ grinder play the inter- mezzo from “Cavalleyia Rusticana.” The man, playing the piece entirely too fast, exasperated Mdscagni, and, descending into the street, the composer addressed the organist, saymg: “You play this entirely too fast. Let me show you how it ought to be played.” “And who are you?” asked the wander- minstrel. “I happen to be the composer of that piece,” replied Mascagni, and then he play- ed the intermezzo for the astonished organ grinder in the correct tempo. Imagine Mascagni’s surprise, when, on the following day, he saw the same organ grinder in front of his house, with a placard on the organ, on which was in- scribed in large letters: “Pupil of Mascagni.” ———_—+e+______ A Dream and Its Fulfillment. From Il Secolo. A young man liviing in Florence dreamed that he had been bitten and mortally wounded by the marble lion which stood with open jaws in front of a certain church. Walking past the church with a few friends on the following day he told them of his dream, and placed his hand in the lion’s mouth, with the words, “Now bite me.” At that very instant he felt a violent pain, for a scorpion that lay concealed in the lion's jaws had stung him so severely that he died In a few hours. i Family Heirlooms. From Good News. Little Miss Brickrow—With all your airs, I don’t b’lieve your folks has any family heirlooms.”* Little Miss D'Avnoo—“We haven't, eh? My mamma has a breastpin that my grand- mother bought at the Paris exposition and smuggled in herself.” ——__+e-+______ Coiffure a la Lyre Bird. From Fliegende Blatter. EPWORTH ORATORS Interest in the ontest Which Will Take Place Monday. cee Chosen to Represent fx Va- rious Chapters in the Second An- nual Oratorical Event. The second annual contest of the Epworth League Oratorical Association of the Dis- trict of Columbia will be held Monday _ evening, in the Hamline M. E. Church. A great deal of interest and enthusiasm are being manifested in the event. sive con- testants, two of whom are young ladies, will represent their respective churches in the contest. The Oratorical Association was orgenized in May, 1893, Geo. F. Cahill of Foundry M. E. Church being the leading spirit in the enterprise. Various meetings were held in order to hear from representatives of Ep- worth League chapters in the District as to the sentiment among the lecal chapters in regard to the new departure. Great enthu- siasm in several of the strongest chapters was reported, and accordingly steps were taken which speedily resulted in a perfected organization, having for its object, as ex- . pressed in the constitution of the associa- tion, “to foster and promote the study and practice of oratory, Jnglish composition and literature.” To this end the constitu- tion provides that each chapter holding membership in the association shall an- nually hold a local contest to determine who shall represent that chapter in an inter-chapter contest. The churches represented by member- ship at present are Foundry, Metropolitan, Hamline, Waugh, Douzlas and McKendree. Four orators entered the first annual con- test in an excellent program rendered be- fore an enthusiastic audience at Metropol- itan M. E. Church February 2, i834. E. W. Williams of Hamline was the successful orator. The six chapters, with the excep- tion of McKendree, will be represented this year: The officers of the District as- sociation at present are: President, Harry O. Hine, who is chairman of the department of literary work in the District; vice pres- ident, Geo. F. Cahill of Foundry; secretary, Mr. E. W. Williams of Hamline, and treas- urer, Mr. Hedding Leech of Douglas. The judges for Monday night are: On thought and composition, Bishop John F. Hurst, Mrs. Mark W. Harrington, Maj. Geo. H. Harries; and on delivery, President J. E. Rankin of Howard University, Mrs. J. Ellen Foster and Rev. F, D. Power, D.D. Something about those who will take part in the contest will be of interest. Miss Amy L. May, who will represent Douglas Memorial Chapter, was born ‘n Loudoun county, Va. She has resided in this city since early childhood, and re- . ceived her prelimi- nary education In the public schools of this city. After passing with success through the various grades up sor College, at New Windsor, Md., from which institution she graduated in 1891 with second honors. She received during 1890 a gold medal, < “4 . | ' % - given by the college for the highest record + in physiol . She pursued a course at the National ‘Normal Kindergarten during 1891- 92, and graduated the valedictorian of her lass. “ishe has been useful in various ways to the church of her adoption, having besn organist at the Douglas Memorial Sunday school fer reais We teers She is also a cher in the scl ‘since the organization of the Epworth League Miss May has been one of its most active and enthusiastic workers. In recog- nition of her efforts and abiMties she has been twice elected to the position of chair- man of the department of literary work in the Douglas Chapter, which office she now holds. A vigorous Chautauqua circle is under her leadership. To Waugh will belong the distinction of = having the youngest orator in the contest in the. person of Miss Duana E. Mitchell, who has not yet at- tained her eighteenth birthday. Miss Mitchell hails from the far west, claiming Carson City, Nev., as her home. She was edjucated in the public high school of Carson City, graduating with the highest honors at the age of fifteen. Hav- ing removed to this etty early in 1893, she ‘was at once admitted to one of the ad- vanced classes of the Business High School of this city, and be- ” came the salutatorian of the class of 1894. Miss Mitchell is an active worker in league circles and in the Sunday school, in which she is a teacher. She presides at » the organ in the Scnday school orchestra, is the custodian of the league library, and is the secretary of the Chautauqua circle. Seth E. Tracy, who will represent Foun- dry Chapter, was born in Houston, Texas, and was educated in the public schools of —— his native city. ‘ After finishing his course in both the public and high “schools, he entered Ripon College, W sonsin. A few years later Mr. Tracy mov- ed to this city and was employed in one of the government |, Offices. He entered !' the Columbian Unt- / versity Law School, > from which institu- tion he graduated in 18M. Me is now taking a post-gradu- ate course in the same insiitution. Mr. Tracy is very active in church work, being on the board of stewards in Foundry M. E. Church, and president of the Foun- dry Chapter of the Epworth League. Mark A. Watson, who will represent Hamline League, was born in Lawrence, Kan., March 16, 1870. When but six years of age the family moved to Los Ange- les, Cal. so that Mr. Watson claims the name of Californian. His education was begun in the public schools of Los Ange- Jes, which he left in the third year in the high school to accept a position on the Los Angeles Tribune. When that paper failed in 1890 he was employed by the at- torneys for the cred- itors to aid them in settling the accounts, and then began the study of law, Wishing to attend a law school he took the civil service examina- tion as a meaus to that end, and received an appointment in the “Var Department fn December, 1891. In January following he entered the Columbian Law School, and after graduation he was admitted to the bar of the District of Columbia. Mr. Wat- son has been actively engaged in league » work for several years, having been presi- dent of the Icague in Los Angeles, and now has the honor of holding that office in the Hamline League. He won the first prize in the Ios Angeles county oratorical contest, besides partici- pating in many minor contests. Cc. M. Lacey Sites, who represents Met- ropolitan Chapter, is the principal of the Eastern High School in this city. He has spent most of the years of his life #0 far in this city, pass- ing through the pub- Hic schools from the fifth grade up and graduating from the Washington High School in the class of * ’83. He attended the Columbian —Univer- sity for a year and completed his college course at the Ohio Wesleyan University, graduating in 1887. Mr. Sites is an active worker in the Ep- worth League, was president of the Dis- trict League during the year just clo: and is at present the official head of thi fourth general conference, District Ep- worth League, which is to hold its ann’ convention the latter part of y in PI adelphia. « The successful orator will be awarded a hich is a handsome Bible, given to ciation by Weodward & Lothi Top. ~