Evening Star Newspaper, March 16, 1895, Page 17

THE EVENING STAR. SATURDAY, MARCH 16, 1895—TWENTY-FOUR PAGES, CHINESE NOBILITY Distinction Conferred by the Yellow Jacket and Peacock Feathers. HOW LT HONG CHANG BECAME A DUKE The Chinese Buttons and What They Mean. HOW THE NOBLES DRESS (Copyrighted, 1895, by Frank G. Carpenter.) Il HUNG CHANG has been given back his yellow jacket and his three-eyed pea- cock feather, The emperor has called him to Peking, and +he should by this time be on his way to Japan to aid in the settlement of the war. His career shows the ups and downs of Chi- nese officials, and a look at it will give some idea of queer ranks and orders of nobility with which the empire of China Is honeycombed. Li Hung Chang is a self-made man. His father was a poor scholar in the province of Anhui, and he had to scratch around and skimp himself in-order to pay for Li's education. Li passed the examinaiions ci his own province and those of the district in which he was located, and when he was still in his teens he went to Peking and wrote his essays in the big examination halls there. Seventeen thousand other stu- dents of all ages, from eighteen to cighty, were being examined at the same time, and Li came out the highest. This gave tim ‘his start, and he was put on the staff of Chinese Officinl With Peacock Feather one of the generals, who were acting against the rebels in the famous Taiping rebellion. This war occurred in China about the time Franklin Pierce was Presi- dent. It cost the country 10,000,C00 of and it was largely through Li that it was put down. Li Hung Chang is a dip- lomat, as well as_a statesman, and he 7 “i his way up from one position to an- other until he got to be commander-in-chief. He took Chinese Gordon into his confidence and made him one of his generals. Gordon drilled the Chinese according to foreign and together they vanquished the ‘The result was that Li became the ina. He was given one big office after another until he became only second to the emperor. This is the position which he holds today. He is super- intendent of northern trade, and controls the commercial matters of all North China, numbering more than 170,100,090 of people He is the governor general of the province of Chili, and is practically the secretary of state. He has for years been the chiet medium of communication between the Chinese and foreign nations, and he is the most progressive Chinaman in the empire It was he who introduced the telesraph into China, and the wires that run into his palace at Tientsin connect him with every court of Europe and with every part of the United States. He is said to be a very rich man, and his income ranges between $50,000 and $100,000 per year. No one knows how much he has made outside of his offices. I heard it said in Tientsin that he was worth $50,000,000, and on the other hand his friends claim that he is not worth more than $2,000,000 or $3,000,000. What- ever-he has must come from his own idea of his share of the receipts, for the Chi- nese government pays »mall salaries and expects the officials to steal the balance. Peacock Feathers in China. Li has risen in rank as well as in power. He is now an earl, and when I saw him last summer at a banquet in his palace his head was decorated with a cap out of the back of which stuck his three-eyec peacock feather. This last is even a greater distinction than the yellow jacket. It is ond of the greatest things an emperor can give, and is usually conferred only upon princes and nobles of the highest de- gree. The feather was about two feet long and was fastened to a big cap with a turned-up brim by a great button, which rested on the center of the crown of the hat, and which was also a mark of high rank. The feather stuck out behind the hat and quivered as Li Hung Chang put his yellow fists together and bowed low in saluting his guests. There were other peacock feathers upon some of the Chinese high officials among the guests, but Li Hung Chang was the only one who had a three-eyed peacock feather. The double- eyed peacock feather is a much lower honor, and the single-eyed peacock feather is worn by many ordinary officials, and it is possible to buy the right to use it. Even lower than this is what is known as the blue plume or the crow feather. This is cenferred as a reward for services upon officials below the sixth degree of rank, and is worn by the Imperial Guards. As to the yellow jacket, this is only to be used when the man who has it is in A Chinese General. personal attendance upon the emperor in the field or upon journeys. It is a sort of a riding cape, and it has been awarded to two Europeans, one of whom was Gen. Gerdon and the other a Frenchman named Giquel, who established the arsenal at Foo Chow. Li Hung Chang has been getting all sorts of presents from the emperor right along. I have before me a list of the gifts which he received on his seven- tieth birthday. This was about five years ago, and all the officials gave him presents. He had cartloads of silk, a ton or so of gilt scrolls and jewelry and other stuff valued at more than a million of dollars. Both the emperor and empress dowager sent him valuable presents. The emperor gave him sixteen pieces of costly .satin, one dragon robe, an image of Buddha and a lot of autograph proverbs signifying good wishes and good luck. The empress also wrote him a lot of autographs, and gave him a statue of Buddha. She donated him twelve pleces of satin and a robe which was made of the throat skins of sables, which are in China considered the most valuable of all furs and can only be worn by the special permission of the throne. At another time the emperor gave Li Hung Chang $10,000, and he has already received more honors than any other Chinaman who has not noble blood in his veins. Few people have any idea of the no- bility of China. The country is divided =D among the officials and it is generally supposed that offices are only given on A Chinese Duke. account of literary merit. The truth 1s that the best places are given out through influence, and every Chinese state 1s sur- rounded by intrigues and intriguers. There is no court in the world about which there is so much plotting as about that of Pe- king, and there is none which has so many nobles and officials of different rank. The emperor is, of course, at the top. He is the son of heaven, and 1s supposed to hold communion with the gods. All of his rela- tives are nobles, and the impertal clan has a court of its own, which holds secret meetings and regulates matters concerning the family. There is a genealogical record kept in Peking and at Mukden, and this contains a record of all the branches of the emperor’s family. Each of its mem- bers has an allowance from the govern- ment, but they have not a great deal of vower. The emperor is supposed to be su- preme, and he can appomt his own suc- cessors, choosing which of his children shall succeed him. He is supposed to make this selection in secret and the announce- ment of his choice is not to be made until his death. The present emperor has a number of relatives who are known as princes, and among these is Prince Ching, who is now at the head of the bureau of fereign affairs, and who is said to be some- what progressive in his tendencies. These | princes have thelr own rank, and there are twelve different orders | of nobility among the members of the imperial house- hold. The highest princes get about thi teen thousand dollars a year, and they each have a retinue of three hundred and sixty servants and an allowance of rations, so that it costs the government about sev- enty-five thousand dollars a year apiece for them. Thesc highest princes ure the broth- ers or sons of the emperor. Next to them are his majesty’s cousins, who get about forty e thousand dollars a year, and the other relatives get less, until the lowest of the imperial nobility are paid about four dollars a month and rations. In addition to these there are dukes, counts, barons and marquises, which ranks are conferred by the emperor and not a few of which are soid. The Manchus or Tartars have a nobility, and the different ranks are confer- red upon the Chinese, as well as the Tar- tars. The empress must be a pure Tar- tar and all the ladies of the imperial harem are of Manchu blood. It is not ne- cessary that they be of royal blood, and a pretty Tartar girl, even though her fa- ther be a plowman, has a chance of getting into the palace. The mother of the Em- peror Hien-fung was a keeper of a fruit store. She was very beautiful, and one day the prime minister saw her and took her into the palace. She was taken up by the emperor and made his favorite concubine and in due time became mother of the succeeding emperor. Some Quecr Princes. Some of the members of the eraperor’s family are very poor. I was totd of a num- ber of princes who live in Peking and who are chronically hard up. I heard of others who delight in going about through the city in disguise, and who do all sorts of curious things. The emperor's father Is now dead. He was a great noble and when he was alive he was a man of considerable influence. The empress dowager has more power than any other person in the coun- try. She educated the emperor and she winds him about her finger. He has not yet been able to cut loose from her apron strings, and she governs him also through his wi’ She picked out the women who compose his imperial harem, and she has the whole court under her long-nailed thumb. She is a strong friend of Li Hung Chang's, and it is through her influence that Li is sent to Japan. She also governs the eunuchs of the palace, of whom there are supposed to be three thousand, and she is, in fact, the power behind the throne of the Chigese government. Every one has heard of the Chinese but- tons and how they indicate rank. A great many people, however, have no idea what the official button is. All Chinamen have buttons about as big as a hickory nut on the tops of their skull caps, and in the case of the common people these buttons are The Tantoi of Hunan. made out of blue or red silk thread, and when a man gees into mourning they are /vhite silk. The average common cap is of the finest black satin, and it surprised me to find that the shapes of these caps change from year to year, and that last year's bicck is not the proper shape for this year. The Chinese are as particular about the cut of their clothes as we are. They have their favorite fashionable colors, and there are just as many dudes and dandies in Peking and Canton as there are in New York and Washington. The official button is about three times as large as the ordi- nary silk button. It is about as big as the largest buckeye and its color and material indicates the rank of the wearer. It stands straight up on the crown of the cap and it sometimes fastens on the peacock feather. The highest button is of dark red coral. Members of the second class of nobility wear a coral ball of light red. The third class have a button of light blue, and the fourth of dark blue. A noble or official of the fifth class wears a ball of crystal, and @ mandarin of the sixth class has a little round ball made of mother-of-pearl on the top of bis cap. Below these come the mandarins of the seventh and eighth classes, who wear big marbles of gold, and members of the ninth class, who have their hats decorated with silver balls. These official caps or hats fit close to the head, and have brims which are turned up all around, and extend as high up as the top of the cap. The caps are of black beaver, and they are usually covered with a red silk tassel, which begins at the button and runs out to the edges of the top. The laws provide as to the kind of a hat an of- ficial myst wear, and Fis dress is regulat- ed by the statutes. The sleeves of all of- ficials must be very long and come down over the hands, and whenever the nobles and officials cali on the emperor they must not have their sleeves rolled up. The !dea is that no man can fight well with his arms enveloped in bags, and a would-be assas- sin, when he is ccmpelled to come in upon his’ knees and have his sleeves extending for a fcot beyond his hands, would require some time to prepare for action. Dragon Gowns. The laws provide that certain colors shall not be worn by cemmon people, and only the highest nobles and the emperor can wear dresses embroidered with the five-clawed dragon. A great many of the officials have their gowns embroidered with dragons, and you can tell the rank of a man by the number of gold dragons he has on his gown, but these dragons must be four-clawed dragons and not five. The laws regulate the length of the gowns. They state how the sleeves must be cut and the number of buttons that an official must use on his underclothes. Their cuffs must be cut in the shape of a horse's hoof, and the man who understands the Chinese can tell just how high an official is and what he is by his clothes. Every high noble ard many of the officials as well wears a square of embroidery on his breast and his back. This is made of gold or sil- ver thread, and a stork embroidered on a man’s breast shows that he is of the first vank, while if the bird be a pheasant, its wearer must be of the second rank. For the other ranks there are peacocks, wild geese and quail. Each of these squares is abcut the size of a lady’s pocket handker- chief, and the work is beautifully done. The military officers have their breasts embroidered the same way, but they use beasts instead of birds, and lions, tigers and dragons take the places of the quails and the storks. Umbrellas on the Battle Field. One of the funniest things in the eyes of the foreigners during this war has been the fact that the Chinese generals carried um- brellas and fans when they went into bat- tle. This is also a matter of law. Each officer has his own rank, and this is indi- cated by the number of umbrellas and ban- ners which are carried in front of him when he goes out to ride. Even the small- est mandarins whom I saw going through a Chinese city had one or more dirty red umbrellas carried on a high pole in front of them, while a Falstaff’s army of serv- ants carried red bannefs upon which were the Chinese characters indicating their ti- tles. An officer cf the first rank has the right to two fans, and every great man as he goes through the country has men in front of him who beat gongs te warn the common people to get out of the way. These ambrellas and ban- ners are always in red. The fans are of the same color, and officials have carried fans in China from the remotest antiquity. It is impossible to enumerate the little things which indicate official rank in Chi- na. Everything has to be just so, and the foreigner who tries to go about in style is sure to make mistakes. For instance,when I went to call upon the Viceroy Li Hung Chang T had to go in a sedan chair coyered with blue cloth, while the American consul went in one of green. Green is the official color, and I, as a private citizen, could not use it. These chairs are swung between poles and are carried by men. You can tell the rank of the man in the chair by the brass tips at the ends of the poles. Those of high nobles have dragon heads, and be- low these come heads of lions, while com- mon tvitizens must have the ends of the poles perfectly plain. The winter dress of these officials is different from their sum- mer dress, and one of the Tautois of the Hunan province whom I saw had on an official coat lined with fur, while his offi- clal boots were of black broadcloth, with soles of white wood fully two inches thick. Chinese Memorial Arch. I met a Chinese noble at Nanking and took a photograph of him. He had on a black fur cap, with a peacock feather sticking out of its back. His blue silk jacket was fastened with buttons of gold, and his long gown was of light yellow satin. He took me through his establishment, which was made up of a number of houses surround- ing courts. In one of these courts the family furs were hung out for airing, and there were hundreds of fur-lined garments of all kinds, some of which must have been worth several hundred dollars apiece. One of these big officials always has a lot of lackeys about him, and there is a world of pomp connected with each one of them. In every town there are government offices which ure known as Yamens, and the gov- ernment clerks and subordinates are called Yamen runners. The number of these officeholders are legion, and the office seel ers are found everywhere by the thou- sands. Foo Chow contains half a million people, and I have heard it estimated that it had 25,000 men who held office, thougr a large number of them were probably con. nected with) the government of the province in which Foo Chow is located. Supposing each of these men to have five hangers-on, or to have a family of five, this woulg make a total of 125,000 people to be supported in some way by offices. : Honors After Death. The Chinese have a way of ennobling men after they are dead. When a man does something great he not only gets honors himself, but his dead grandfather may he made a marquis or a count. Memorial arches are often erected on account of good conduct and for ‘Needs which have caused the death of the doer. Widows who have committed suicide out of grief for their husbands have sometimes such arch- es erected for them, and young girls who have cut pieces of their own flesh out of their bodies in order to cook them and give them as medicine to their dying friends have been so honored. FRANK G. CARPENTER. ——__—+e+_-___ THE IRISH SCHOOLMASTER. Many Storics Told of Him in Regions Where He Prevaliled. From the Scottish-American. ‘ In the days when teachers were few and far between an old-fashioned {rish school- master went the rounds from district to district. Of him many stories are still told in the regions through which he traveled. He did an excellent work on the whole, and trained in the “three R’s” many men who afterward became prominent in public life; but his broad Irish accent was the occa- sion of many laughable scenes between him and his pupils. On one occasion the master examined his school from the spelling book before the committeemen. He always called the boys by their last names, pronouncing their Christian names last, as in a roll call. “Brown, Payter!” the master shouted. eter Browr: stepped forth tremblingl; “Phat is the pleyrul of the wurrud ‘fut?’ ” Peter had no knowledge of any such word as “fut,” but he answered at random: ‘Wrong ye aire!” thundered the master. ‘he plyural of ‘fut’ is ‘fate.’ Sit down. Bill, Jeems, shtand opp!" James Bell rose. ‘Diffoine the wurrud ‘lake.’ ” “A lake is a large body of wate! “Blockheads ye all aire the day!” shouted the master, angrily; “sure then wuddent yer ow?rsins till ye that a ‘lake’ is a hole in a booket o’ wather? Nixt_ b'y—Dooly, Moichael!” Michael Dooly stepped up with a confident and somewhat roguish gleam in his gray eyes. He was the son of a recent settler of the schoolmaster’s nationality. ‘The master quickly perceived the knowing look in the boy’s eye. “An’ whoy do ye luk at me wud the car- [ner 0 ‘yer oi, Dooly Moichael!” he exclaim- ed. “Is it that ye think I'd be puttin’ ye a wurrud in the Girish language? It’s a brogue ye suspect me af, is it?” Michael’s freckled features betrayed a grin, though he tried to suppress it by keeping his lips shut together very tightly indeed. “Faix, ye shall have ut!” said the school- master. “Spill and defoine me bhfeiteamh- nuibh.”” This real word from the Irish language, which means “transgressions,” was too much even for the special knowledge of the bright Irish-American boy, and “Dooly Michael” went down with the rest. é The committeemen were convinced that they had a schoolmaster of wonderful eru- dition and capacity. pri SENS eee eet Octogenarinn Amusements in Maine. From the Lewiston Journal. Mr. William Weeks of Bunker Hill, eigh- ty-four years old, has been making two trips a day with two yoke of oxen from his wood lot to Damariscotta pond, and an eighty-five-year-old Rockport man is seen out horseback riding occasionally, but “The Sheepscot Echo” is excusable for thinking that one of its neighbors, Mrs. Sarah Mathews, yet takes the lead. That lady was cighty-six years old last Janu- ary, but “The Echo” reports seeing her out ccasting recently, and thoroughly enjcying it, too. 18. PIRATE :: af 3 CAPTAIN: AVERY AND THE GREAT “TREASURE ‘ F{S HE ADVENTURES of two of the great B buccaneers of the Spanish main have already been told—of Pierre le Grand and how he took the great Spanish treasure ship; of Sir Henry Morgan and the sack- ing of Panama. Sir Henry Morgan was the last of the great buccaneers; af- ter him came an en- tirely different sort of pirates, who preyed upon the ships not only from Spain, but of all. nations. After the peace,of Ryswick, when Eng- land became alHed with Spain and Holland against France, it became no longer possi- ple for the buccaneers to devastate the West Indies as they had done. if lawless and bloody men desired to become pirates they now had to seek elsewhere for prey. For. England 2nd Holland would no longer allow. Englishmen and Dutchmen to rob their allies, the Spaniards. So it was. that buccaneering came to an end. At that time the European nations had just fairly begun that trade with the East "ndies that afterward poured such a flood of wealth into the western world. Already a great stream of commerce came and went around the Cape of (iood Hope and up back of the Island of Madagascar and through the passage betwe:n Johanna and_ the smalier isiands. li was here that these later freebooters found fresh fields for their enterprise. The WeSt Indies, no longer open to free- booting, were comparatively near to home, but here on the further coast of Africa the would-be pirates were so far away from all the rest of the world that no law could touch them, It only depended on good, hard, stubborn iighting to win almost whatever fortune they chose. ‘The later pirates were called, not buc- caneers, but marvoners. If you will look in your dictionary for the word “maroon,” you will tmd that-it means “To put ashore on a jesolate island.” It was from this meaning that these later pirates gained their name, for it was thus that the pirate captains used to serve those of their crew who mutinied against them; or, if the mutineermg crew were stronger, it was thus they used to serve their pirate captain. Or if the pirates captured a ship and did not know how else to dispose of the crew, théy tarooned them on some deserted islend, sailing away and leaving them to their fate. Among the earliest of the famous ma- rooners was Capt. Avery, who captured the ship of the Great Mogul together with his daughter, her court and all the inesti- mable treasure in jewels and gold. The earliest known of Capt. Avery is as first mate aboard, a ship called ‘The Duke,” which, after the peace of Ryswick, had been fftted out;by the Spanish govern- ment at Bristol, til England, and sent to the West Indies to act as a guarda del cos- ta, or coast guard, to keep away the French smugglers who used to sall over from Martfnique to travel along the coast of the Spanish main. ‘The commander 6f ‘The Duke” was one Capt. Gibson of Bristol. He was, as the historian expresses it, “mightily addicted to punch, s0 that he passed most of the time on shbre in some ordinary.” Thus it came about that the ship and the ship's company were left altogether in charge of First Mate Avery, who spent all this time in’ persuading the crew to mutiny and turn pitates. ‘The crew, many of whom were from the” West Indies) were only too willing to iisten to him. So, one night While the captain lay siupefied in a drunken sleep in_his cabin, the mutineers, under command of Avery, slipped the cable and sailed away to sea, passing directly under the stern of a Dutch frigate of forty guns, which did not seem to think it worth while to stop them, Meanwhile, Capt. Gibson slept on, snoring like a good fellow. Nor did Avery disturb him, allowing him to sleep on until the next day. Then, when he was as fairly awake as he could be in his tipsy condition, the mutineers put him into an open boat with those few who refused to join with them and watched them as they pulled away toward the distant line of tropical shore. Then they hoisted sail and bore away eastward toward the far distant coast of Africa, bound for Madagascar and to make their fortunes. There is no need to follow the beginning of Capt. Avery’s adventures. It is only necessary to say that he was so fortunate in his cruise of several months that he was able to gather around him and under his own flag a fleet of pirate vessels that he felt strong enough to undertake almost any venture that he chose in those out of the way seas. So, with this fleet, he cruised about the south coast of India for awhile, making now this capture and now that, until one day, off the mouth of the Indus river, he came up with a large ship which he thought at first was a Dutch East Indiaman homeward bound. - They had really come upon a richer prize than any peaceable Dutchman in all those waters. The pirates fired across the ship's bows, expecting that she would at once surrender, but she immediately hoisted the Mogul colors and stood upon her defense. It was 2 short fight, however, for in a little while the pirates had hauled up alongside, had grappled, and presently were pouring aboard of the devoted prize; half naked, screaming, yelling like mad and driving the poor Indians helter-skelter down be- low. Then it was that Capt. Avery found indeed what a prize he had captured. “She was,” says the historian, “‘cne of the Great Mogul’s own ships, and there were in her several of the greatest persons of his court, among whom, it was said, was one of his daughters, who was going on a pilgrimage to Mecca.” Ne one can tell just how great was the treasure teken from the Mogul ship. One can only know from Capt. Avery's after history that it was enormous. All that day the pirates were busy strip- ping their prize and making merry with rich food and wines. Then when evening came they sailed away, yelling and cheer- ing over their booty, like madmen, leaving the Great Mogul’s Ship floating upon the water, stripped of her inestimable treasure, helpless and silent. "The pirate fleet was composed mostly of small sloops and brigantines. Capt. Av- ery’s own ship was far the largest and most powerfully armed. Accordingly, for safekeeping,‘ all thé treasure which they had captured was ‘put aboard his ship. People talk of Honor among thieves. If there is suth a thing Capt. Avery did not have any df‘it. That night when the fleet was all sailing toward Madagascar, there to share their botty according to agree- ment, Avery gave orders to change the course of “The Duke,” and when morning broke the other pirates found that the cap- tain and alt the inestimable treasure which they had jpst captired was gone, never to be seen in, Nothing was there but themselves, the boundless stretch of ocean and sky. : And now: for a While in the gloom and indistinctnéss cf thet far-away past we see only a dim image"df the figure of Avery. We know thit he came in his ship and his pirate crew to ton, in the Americas, where for ‘@ while‘he and his men were seen about °thé streets and the harbor front; strange, suspicious figures, now and then tippling and drinking in the taverns, but always appearing objectless, aimless, morose, sullen. What would the good people of Boston have thought had they known that the pir- ate captain had, slung about his neck, a little leathern bag in which was a treas- ure of glistening, shining, precious stones— diamonds, rubies, emeralds—enough for a king’s ransom. The historian of this famous pirate says that he designed to sell his treasure and perhaps_to settle in Boston, but that there was nobody in that ttle colonial town who krew the value of such gems or would dare to handle them. So the pirates sailed away back to Eng- land again. There they separated, some going this way and some that, Captain Avery settling in Ireland, his leather bag of jewels still hung about his neck. But he himself was now grown so poor that he had to beg his way from place to place without even food to eat except what charity gave him. His vast treasure might as well have been so many pebbles from the seashore, ght, 1 . Copsright 845, by Howard Pyle.) for he was afraid to offer a single one of his diamonds for sale for fear lest suspicion should be raised against him. At last it occurred to him that maybe some of his friends in Bristol might help hfm, for he knew that there were mer- chants there who dealt in ‘precious stones. Accordingly he set about returning to Eng- land. He was too poor to pay for a pas- sage and so-he had to work his way across the Irish channel, landing at Portsmouth and walking afoot down to Devonshire as far as Bideford. There he put up at a poor inn and sent word to some friends in Bristol whom he could trust to come,to him. The fame of Captain Avery had traveled before him and his friends came down by post in answer to his message. They ‘found Captain Avery in the tap room when they arrived. He was half tipsy, but had sufficient wits left to ask of the landlord that he and his freinds should be shown into a private room. ‘Then! he took out a leather bag from his breast and poured out before them upon the rough deal table such a streaming, glistening heap of diamonds, rubies, emeralds, sap- phires as dazzled their eyes and left them standing dumfounded. Then the pir- ate scraped the jewels back into the leath- ern bag again and hung the bag about his neck, where it had been before, and he was just as poor as ever. , He and his friends sat for a long time discussing what was to be done. At last it was determined that certain honest, re- spectable merchants of Bristol- should be asked to take charge of the jewels and to dispose of them from time to time as they could. Accordingly a week later‘a party of gen- tlemen came down to Bideford to see Capt. Avery. Again in the back room of the inn he poured out upon the table the little pile of jewels before the dazzled eyes of the merchants. As soon as they had recovered from their amazement they begen carefully inspecting the stones one by one. Then, after consulting together, they told Ayery they would do what they could for him— that they would take the stones and sell them from time to time, paying him his money as they disposed of them. Then the stones were counted, a receipt given for them, and the merchants took their leave, carrying away the stones and leaving a little money for the pirate captain’s present needs. Capt. Avery remained in Bideford walit- ing to hear from his friends, the merchants. He waited and waited. A week went by— two weeks, but not a word from the Bris- tol merchants. By that time his money was all spent and he was as poor as ever. At last he wrote to the merchants a very pressing letter and after some delay a small supply of money was sent to him— hardly suffictent, we are told, to pay his drinking debts at the inn. Again in the course of a week he received another small remittance, and then again after another week a few shillings more. After that there was no mcre money paid to him, nor could he get even an answer to the letters he wrote his agents at Bristol. At last, growing tired of this neglect, he went to Bristol himself to speak to the merchants, “where,” says his historian, “in- stead of money he met the most shocking repulse, for when he desired them to come to an account with him, they silenced him by threatening to discover him if he at- tempted to push them further.” He did not dare to go back to Bideford again, for he owed money at the inn which he could not pay. Poor, despairing, and in absolute need of food and clothing, he made is way to Plymouth and thence back to Ireland, where he lived for awhile, writing letters, first to this merchant and then to that, now of a threatening nature and now pleading piteously for just a little money to keep soul and body together. But the Bristol merchants paid no atten- tion to him, sending neither a word of re- ply nor a farthing of money. At last in very desperation he started back to Eng- land again, determined to go to Bristol no matter what it might cost. Once more he worked his way to Plymouth and traveled to Bideford afoot. He got no further than the inn where he had lodged before. Here he fell sick and died, “rot being worth,” the historian says, “so much as would buy him a coffin.” Such is the story of Capt. Avery and of that vast-fortune of precious stones which he won from the Great Mogul’s ship and which hung around his neck as useless and so many pepper corns, while he himself suffered all the pangs of the most abject and miserable poverty. ———-e- —__ UNCERTAINTIES OF BOOKS. Manuscripts Frequently Rejected Of- tem Score the Best Successes. Chicago Record’s Woslington Letter. It is a well-knowh fact that the shrewd- est und most experienced publishers are often mistaken about the commercial vaiue of manuscript submitted to them. Every- body knows that “Uncle Tom’s Cabin” was rejected again and again before any one recognized its merit, and yet it has had a larger sale and has been translated into more languages than any other story except Bunyan’s “Pilgrim’s Progress.” “Alice in Wonderland” was also kicked about for four years before it could find a publisher, although its sales have been larger than any other book for children except the melodies of “Mother Goose;” and I’ve heard a story of a more recent publication which affords equal consolation to authors who kave rejected manuscripts. . While the copyright law was under con- sideration by Congress, and its fate was doubtful, an aspiring young author called upon the committee of publishers who came to Washington to promote its passage and informed them that he could control the votes of four or five friends in the House of Representatives, which he would bring to the sxpport of that measure pro- vided they would publish a book he had written and had offered to several of their trade without success. Votes were scarce and very necessary, but wien the manu- script was examined by one after another of the publishers they promptly declined to take the risk, but as the bill approached the final stage, and was soon to be voted upon, they agreed to cast lots to determine who should buy the votes and stand the loss. One of the largest publishing houses in the world was the victim of fate, and received the condolences of its competitors. The votes were delivered according to agreement, and a few months later the de- spised book was placed upon the market, when, to the astonishment of everybody familiar with the circumstances, it made an instantaneous “hit.” The first edition, which was small, sold in a few weeks. The second was disposed of before it left the press, and now fhe fifteenth edition is on the tables of the booksellers, the total hav- ing passed 60,000. It has brought the pub- lishers a profit of between $20,000 and $30,- 000, and over $9,000 has been paid the au- thor as royalties, ——— ‘The Obstinate Juror Vindicated. From the Lewiston Journal. A standing joke around the Maine courts is the juror who stands out and refuses to agree with the eleven obstinate men who don’t think as he does. Judges are not apt to take kindly to this style of man, and have beensknown on occasion to give him a terrible snubbing. “There is still living in this city,” says a Bangor gentleman who thinks jurors have rights of opinion: as well as judges, “‘a man who is very proud of a little experience he had as a juror. It was in Judge Cutting’s day, and that excellent jurist was on the befich. The jury had heard an {mportant case, and failed to agree because this particular juror stood out against the arguments and solicita- tions of his fellows, and declared he would stay there till the ants ate him up and carried out his remains through the key- hole before he would consent to what he believed to be an unjust verdict. Judge Cutting asked how they stood, and the foreman replied, ‘Eleven to one, your hon- or.’ ‘Who is the one?’ asked the judge, angrily. ‘Let him stand up.’ The juror arose and received a scathing rebuke from Mr. Cutting, who peremptorily discharged him from further duty. The case went over to the next term, and was again tried, resulting in a verdict in accordance with the views of the one juror. It was then taken to the law court on motion for a new trial and was upheld by the full bench as manifestly right. The man says when- ever he thinks of that case, he thanks God he hed the sand to stick to what he be- lieved to be right, and take the rebuke a mistaken judge gave him for so doing.” This will do for an exceptional case, but the one man against the eleven is not al- ways filled with good judgment as this onc seems to have been. 00 A Difference. From Judge. Police Captain (severely)—“You say that, as you were going home from your club, an hour or so ago, you were held up and robbed?” Gen. Booze (indignantly)—“Nossing of th’ kin’! I say I was stopped an’ robbed. I want you to understan’ I could stan’ up without assistance.” Highest of all in Leavening Power.—Latest U.S. Gov’t Report AN EXAMPLE FOR OTHER CITIES. How the City of Glasgow Got Street ‘Transit. From’ Shaw's “Municipal Government in Britain.” In all of Glasgow's municipal experiences, I find nothing so likely to interest city au- thorities elsewhere as that which relates to street railways. It is an experience which may well make American cities blush for thelr own short-sightedness. * * * It was agreed that the city should keep the control of its streets, any part of which it was.so unwilling to surrender, and that it should construct and own the tram lines, while the two syndicates were to unite in one ccmpany and work the lines on a lease. The first lines were opened in 1872, and the lease then made was to terminate in 1894. By its terms the company was required to pay to the corporation: (1) the annual in- terest charge on the full amount of the city’s investment, (2) a yearly sum for a sinking fund large enough to. clear the en. tire cost of the lines at the expiration of the lease, (3) a renewal fund of 4 per cent per annum on the cost of the lines, out of which they were to be kept in proper con- dition and restored to the city in perfect order and entirely as good as new in 1894, and () a yearly rental of $750 per street mile. Such were the money conditions of the lease; and certainly the city’s interests were well looked after. But, meanwhile, the interests of the public as passengers were equally well secured. First, it was provided that in no case should the charges exceed a penny per mile. This, it should be remembered, was at a time when fares were nowhre else less than twopence. Fu ther, the parliamentary act described a rumber of important “runs’—those most likely to be used by laboring men and large masses of population, several of them con- siderably exceeding a mile—and specified that one penny should be the charge for these, and that morning and evening cars should be run for workingmen at half price, equal to one American cent. The company which accepted these re- markable terms took advantage of a pass- ing mania for investment in tramways, and sold the lease to a new company of local capitalists for a premium of about $759,000. This new company experienced hard times for two or three years; for besides running expenses, interest upon the capital invested in the business, and the heavy payments on the four accounts to the corporation, there was the burden of the premium to carry. Not until 18) begin to pay its stockholders dividends. After 1889, however, the business flourish- ed, and dividends averaging 10 per cent were paid, after writing off each year a due proportion of the unfortunate premium charge. The city was so compact—covering, as T have said, only 6,111 acres of ground before the extension of 1891—that a large mileage of tramways was not to be ex- pected. The total of thirty-one miles at that time served the public very well, the system providing ¢ontinucus lines across the city from north to south and from east to west, with convenient access from the center to almost every outiying neigabor- hood. In arranging the system original. just at the time when the ercat improve- inent scheme was fairly begun, the author- ities had in mind a service that would help them to relieve the central congestion of population and would aid in the symmetri- cal development of the city. To this end they wished to build certain additional lines that did not seem to the operating company to promise immediate profits. The system as scheduled by the act of par- liament embraced about seventeen miles of lines, and the city found that it had no authority under its lease to compel the company to work additional lines on the same conditions, A compromise was made by which the company agreed to pay the interest and the renewal cost upon the new lines, and was relieved from rental and sinking fund charges. This was per- fectly fair under the circumstance The total capital investment of the city had been a little more than $1,700,000, in- terest charges upon which were paid by the company. On the Ist of July, 1894, the sinking fund, provided by the company, had reached somewhat more than $1,000,000, paying the full cost of the original system. ‘There remained the cost of the newer lines, some fourteen miles in extent. The re- newal fund had left the system in perfect repair. The city had received in_ rental money a sum amounting to about $225,000. As for the company, it had paid its prem- fum incubus, had earned good dividends and had made due allowance for deprecia- tien in the value of its working plant. It was expected that when the time came for making a new arrangement the old company would be granted a further lease, on terms still more favorable to the city treasury and to the general public, and that after 1894 the tramways of Glasgow would yield a large municipal income. But tedious negotiations resulted in a total fail- ure to reach any agreement with the com- pany; and during the progress of these negotiations there began to be heard among the citizens a very distinct demand for the experiment of direct municipal operation cf the lines. This demand grew to the point of practical unanimity on the part of the community, and the council, having obtained due authority from par- liament, voted to obey the popular will. It was then expected that the stables, cars, horses and total operating plant could be purchased from the retiring company. But a new difficulty arose. The tramways com- mittee of the council required from the company a promise not to engage in the operation of omnibus lines in competition with the municipal street cars, in case the city should take over the company’s exist- ing plant at a fair valuation. The com- pany refused to make this agreement, and negotiations were broken off. It was then determined bY the council, with the very geperal approbation of the citizens, to pro- ceed upon its own methods to create a working plant, and to have everything in readiness to begin operations on July 1, Bo Oe Peete The service was begun on July 1, 1894, with success and high prestige, and with every prospect of proving beneficial to the community and lucrative to the public treasury. Some extensions of the lines were Great at once begun, and preparations were also set on foot for the early use of cables om several routes. Provision was made ui v2 electric lighting of the cars, and in every detail it was determined to give Glasgow, * under direct municipal operation, the best Surface transit system in Great Britain. The experiment can but be observed with the greatest attention and interest by municipal authorities everywhere. ————_+-e+- ONE TOO MANY. Superfluity of Fools Acknowledged by an Easy Victim. From the Detroit Free Press, The policeman was standing dreamily om the dock looking out over the silently- moving river when a man, evidently from the rural districts, came up to him ex- citedly. “Say, Mr. Officer,” he exclaimed, “is the water there deep enough to drown a mam of my size?” “Well, I should smile,” grinned the off cer. eS s’pose I'd drown if I'd jump inte “Likely enough, if I didn’t fish you out.” “You wouldn’t do that i{ I didn’t want you to, would you?” he asked, in a hurt tone. “I'm afraid I'd have to.” “All the good it would do me, then, wo: be a wettin’ and a suit of store clothes drawed out of shape?” “That's about it.” “I guess I might as well ly n't, then,” he said, resignedly. “Just as well, I guess,” “4mafded the officer. . “But I wouldn't be responsible,” said the man, looking wild again. “Of course, you would be,” replied the officer. guess not.” ‘Why?” “Idiots ain't responsible, are they?” ‘No. But you are not an idiot.” ‘Ain't 1? Well, I guess you don’t kno» me.” “You don’t talk lke one.” “And I don’t look like one, I hope,” he said, more rationally, “but a snoozer up- town here took me for one awhile ago, and he didn’t miss it a millionth part of am hat do you mean?” ‘Just what I say. I come to town this morning from up the country with $27 im my pocket. I got to talking with a feller in the depot, and after a bit he asked me over and paid for the drinks. Then he walked me down town, and in front of a big store, with a bank in front ‘of it, he stopped, and said he had a bill to pay im there, and would I loan him a few dollars on his check, and then he could go to the bank over the way and get it cashed. The check was for $50, and he said he thought the bill was $25, but, if it was all th@same, he would take the $27 that I told him FE had and would come right back if I would wait outside. So I took the check and waited, keeping my eye on the bank ail the time, like as if it would git away. Well, I waited around there till I thought they’d sic the dogs on me, and he didn’t come, and then I went over to the bank. They looked at the check, and—well, you know the rest. If I ain’t a jack idiot, what am I? Now, get out of the way and let me jump in there. There was enough durn fools in the world before I got the habit, and I guess I won't be missed. Git out of the way,” and he began swinging his arma, but the officer restrained him, and finally got him headed up street, and watched him until he disappeared. —+e+—____ A Woman With a History. W. J. Lampten in Detroit Free Press, A well-dressed and sharp-faced woman passed into the lawyer's office, and very shortly was standing by his desk, “I beg your pardon,” she said, in saluta- tion, “but can you spare a few moments of your valuable time?” “I am very busy, madam,” he replied, “but if you have anything of importance to communicate I shall be glad to hear it, Pray be seated.” “Thank you, no,” she said, looking around at a clerk or two in a nervous fashion. “I am _a woman with a history, and—” “Excuse me,” apologized the attorney, seeing a fee appearing on the horizon, “possibly you had better step into my pri- vate office with me, where you will not be interrupted.” She thanked him and they went into the adjoining room. “Now,” he said, when they were seated, “I presume you wish to consult me on this matter of your history?” “Yes, sir. That is why I am here.” “Very well; proceed. Anything you may say to me will be held in the strictest com- fidence. You were saying you were a wo- man with a history?” This very sympa- thetically, as an encourager. “Yes, sir,’ she began, as she laid a docu- ment before him. “It is a history of Na- poleon Bonaparte in eighteen monthly parts at fifty cents a month, and—* He threw up his hands, but she had him, and he couldn't get away until he had put down his name, and now when “a woman with a history” is mentioned in his hear- ing it makes cold chills run down his back. ——— Wine in Tablets. From the Philadelphia Record. Attempts are being made in France te concentrate wine in tablet form for con- venience in transport. The ripe grapes are pressed as in the manufacture of white wine. By means of a pump the juice is transferred into an apparatus where it is evaporated in vacuo. The is drawn off by a pump and condensed. As soon as the mass has the consistency of a sirup it is mixed with the pulp. Thus a sort of marmalade is produced, contain- ing 80 per cent of grape sugar. In order to make wine this is dissolved in water and then flavored. This is the theory at least, ard the result, if practically successful, will be a boon to travelers and explorers im distant climes. THE RAINY SEASON IN THE From Harper's Young People. ee “PROPICS—SAVED BY A NECK. AWA AQ A NY AY TI \ WN \