Evening Star Newspaper, April 27, 1895, Page 17

THE EVENING STAR, SATURDAY, APRIL 27, 1895-TWENTY PAGES. 17 MISS HOLLIDAY’S AF- TERNOON NAP. BY HOWARD FIELDING. , by Bacheller, JohfSon & Bacheller.) CHAPTER I. The “Long Room” at Sunnyside. Gen. Frederick Holliday, my uncle, served his country in the field from the opening of the civil war to its close. He entered the army as a first Meutenant and rose to the rank which I have coupled with his name. Few soldiers of that war particl- pated in so many battles; and his tremen- dous energy urged him ever to the front. It 1s therefore the more remarkable that not & drop of blood was exacted from him as the price of his devotion to the cause. shot under him, comrades fell dead at his sid>, but neither steel nor lead could touch him. Yet his name was writ- ten on a bullet; and it was ordained that, when scenes of violence had become mere dreams, in the home of his peaceful old age, and in‘an hour of absolute tranquility, the death he had so often gone to meet should come to him. It was a drowsy summer afternoon. I lay in a hammock under the trees before my uncle's home, called Sunnyside, on the banks of the Hudson, some miles below West Point, Some one passed along the concrete walk near me, but I was so near te sleep that I had not the energy to turn (Copyright, 18! ¥ Found Her- There When I Entered. my head to see who it was. I supposed, however, that it was Capt. Charles Mar. shall, an officer of the United States army, and the accepted suitor of my uncle’s daughter. My feeling for Marshall was not cordial. I would have much preferred to see Mar- garet engaged to Horace Preble, whom I liked exceedingly. Two years before I had believed that they would make a match; but my uncle's influence had turned the scale in favor of Marshall. I say this on my own authority, and as an expression of my belief at the time. The accepted theory, however, was that Preble’s loss of his small fortune, through the dishonesty of a trus- tee, had caused him to withdraw from the contest. I had seen comparatively little of him since, though recently I had begun to meet him in society, where, being of good family and remarkably attractive appear- ance, he was a favorite, despite his utter lack of interest in the gayeties of that world. Marshall was forty years old and a typl- cal soldier. The idea of Margaret’s mar- riage to him suggested an incarceration in @ military prison. 'A few minutes after the steps which I took to be Marshall's passed me I sudden- ly remembered that the general had asked me to confer with him upon a matter of business that afternoon. I knew that I should find him at that hour in the “Long Room,” as it was called, an apartment ex- tending the full length of one side of the house. This somewhat unusual ‘ature had been added to the house, considerably to the detriment of its external appear- ance, by the general's orders. He made it his parafe ground in bad weather, and there he used to march up and down, at- tend: by many a soldier’s wraith, sum- d by his old commander from a grave h. The furnishings of the room liar as its dimensions. At one desk, where he wrote ‘There was also an easy chair ding, and some small, revolving ses. The other end had somewhat the appearance of a conservatory; and mid- way WwW a couch with cushions, a work basket, with colored wools, and other indi- cations that Margaret often kept her father company in the Long Room. I found her there. She lay on the couch fast asleep. I stood by her side, lovicing down upon her beautiful face, and she did not know. The general, at his desk, had not moved at the sound of my coming. The somnolency of the summer’s day seemed to hold them both. I put my hand on Margaret's forehead and waked her. She did not start, but only opered her brown eyes and looked up at th instant recognition. Before either poke, Mrs. Holliday appeared in a rway, and said: “Capt. Marshall is here.” I was looking straight ‘0 Margaret's face when the man’s name was mentioned, and somehow I got an _ impression that there might be hope for Preble yet. The girl followed her mother to another part of the house, and I walked to the gen- eral’s side. He was bent over his desk, and his head rested upon his hands. I spoke and he did not move. I laid my hand upon his shoulder. My touch disturbed the equi- poise of his body. It slowly, heavily slid from the chair, and fell to the floor, where it lay face upward. A single glance at that face showed me that Gen. Holliday was dead. I am not one of those who tremble in the presence of death. The dominant senti- ment of my heart, as I knelt beside this lifeless form, was poignant grief for the loss of one whom I had loved and rever- enced many years. But when, after a. moment, I saw blood vpon him and upon the floor where he had fallcn, and much more beneath the desk,- I was alarmed and cried out for help. Ste- phen Hanley, my uncle's butler, ran into the room by the door close fo where I stood beside the corpse. He was the only- S pi end was the general's his letters. for re A Glance at the Face Showed Me Gen. Holliday Was Dead. person who heard rry cry. It is notable about the Long Room that sound does not readily pass out of it. The butler was so terror-stricken ag to be of no use to me. He dared not touch the body. The sight ‘of the blood, which had startled me, seemed utterly to have unmanned him. “Find Dr. Hilton,’ I cried, nd send him here instantly. Tell no one else.” Hanley- obeyel with alacrity, and in scarcely more than a minute Dr. Hilton came. He was a young physician, resident in the ily, with which he had a distant relationship. Gen. Holliday had paid for his education, and had supported him since he had taken his decree. Hilton was not @ money-maker, and would have fared r the gener charity, dis- > form of a y to a “family physician;” but with s erous a helper the young man might have been an object of a luxurio and of com- He was assured ng the ge of envy ell of Dr. Hilton's . but the ost done no more in th olliday had been shot tb let had s r resulted m1 fect certa must have i directly and have aimed well, for the bullet, ind his victim, if it had not been deflected slightly by the spine, would have pierced the heart. Gen. Holli- day had been dead a very short time—cer- tainly less tha: an hour. Considering his medical training, Hilton was extracrlinarily affected by this terri- ble event. He was far less calm than I was, and for that reason I decided that it would be best fur me to do what must be done about informing Mrs. Holliday and her daushter. Hilton begged me to do it, speaking with pallid and trembling lps. It even seemed to me, as I turned away, that he dreaded to be left alone with the body. We speak in the most ordinary y of breaking such news as that, to those who will be heart-broken when they hear it. I did my best, speaking to Margaret first, be- cause sho was stronger than her mother; but I doubt if either could have suffered greater pain at the most brutally sudden announcement. Mrs. Holliday was utterly prostrated; and I believe that nothing but her mother’s dire need saved Margaret. 1 have already confessed my prejudice against Capt. Marshall, and it is therefore with the greater pleasure that I admit him to have proven himself a serviceable man in such an emergency. If it is in him to face the perils of battle with an equal calmness, he must be a good soldier. it was under his direction that we at last began to make an investigation of the tragedy. We had already telephoned to the police of West Point. Evidently the extraordinary _circum- stance—the seemingly impossible detail which distinguished the case from all other mysteries—was the presence of Margaret when the shot was fired. Of that fact there could be no doubt. She told us that she had come to the long room immediately after luncheon. Her father had come in very soon afterward and had gone at once to his desk. She must have fallen asleep immediately, and she remembered nothing more till the moment when she saw me standing beside her. “This is beyond belief,” said Hilton. “It is utterly incredible that Margaret should not have been awakened by the report of the weapon, but it is even more prepos- terous to suppose that any human creature would have had the hardihood to commit this crime right before the girl’s face, even though sie slept.”” “He might have felt sure that she wouldn't wake,” said Marshall, and I no- ticed that his cold gray eyes scanned Hil- ten’s face narrowly. The suggestion seemed to escape the physician, but it came like a blow to me. Margaret's sudden and deep sleep might furnish the explanation of the entire mys- tery. Hilton sat next to Margaret at the table. He might have drugged her food. This necessitated the supposition that he knew that she and her father would be together in the Icng room after luncheon. It-was not impossible that he should have known it. But if that seemed an obstacle to the theory, another and more reasonable one suggested itself immediately. Mar- garet’s sleep might have been natural in the beginning. Then some one might have come noiselessly to her side, as I had done, without disturbing her slumbers. He might have caused her to inhale some so- poriferous vapor which would have dulled her senses while the murderous deed was done, passing away afterward without leaving a trace upon her. We three were silent while these thoughts were passing through my brain. Hilton sat in a chair and his head had fallen upon his hands. Before him stood Marshall, stern and soldierly. I stood at one side observing them. If Margaret was drugged, I thought, who but this doctor could have done it? Is there some secret passion in the man’s heart for Margaret? Did she favor him, and did he hope to win her when his rival should lack a father’s influence in his fa- yor? Then there was the will; and Hilton knew its contents. “They make powders nowadays,” sald Marshall, “which develop extraordinary energy but very little noise. I think it possible that a weapon so charged might have been fired in this end of the room and not have been heard by anybody but the murderer. It is extremely improbable, but we must not forget the fact. A shot was’ certainly fired in this room. It must be ex- plained somehow. “Where were you?” I asked, with unin- tentional rudeness. He turned upon me with a sort of mili- tary wheel. “I was in the parlor with Mrs. Holllday,” he said. “And your question reminds me of one that may be pertinent. Dr. Hilton, from your examination of the body, should you think it likely that Gen. Holliday was shot after Margaret left this room?” I flushed hotly and was on the point of uttering a sharp retort. And then suddenly the thought of the true-hearted, kindly man—the friend whom all of us had lost— came over me, and grief conquered resent- ment. “Gentlemen,” I said, “we waste time with {dle suspicions. Let us confine ourselves to the facts of the case.” CHAPTER II. Horace Preble. There is a police officer in West Point who has a considerable reputation as a de- tective. His name is Bernard Kelly. With- in an hour after the message was sent out from Sunnyside Kelly arrived. Meanwhile we had made several impor- tant discoveries. First, we questioned the servants. There were six. Three of them believed that they had heard a sound like a pistol shot about the time when the crime must have been committed. The other three were sure that they had not. Of the latter, Hanley, the butler, was the most important witness. He was nearer jo the Long Room during the critical period than any other person not actually within it. He had heard nothing, but he had seen something of consequence—namely, a man whom he did not know walking hurriedly away from the house. This person the but- ler had seen from a window. He attached no importance to the circumstance at the time; indeed, he did not mention it until I had sharply questioned him. This was just before Kelly arrived. My first vague suspicions had centered upon Hanley. They were founded only upon his demeanor at the time when he and I were together in the Long Room im- mediately after my discovery of the crime. Certainly there could not have been a more perfect picture of guilty terror than he fur- nished then. His horror of the body, and especially of the blood; his eagerness to escape from the room; his dread of ques- tioning, were all sugegstive. But I could not at first supply a motive for him. That came later, when, with Kelly's assistance, we examined more closely my uncle’s desk. Our first exami- nation of it had but one object; we wished to trace the course of the bullet. This was not difficult. After passing entirely through my uncle’s body it had penetrated the back of the desk and the wall also. I was amazed at the power of the projectile, but Capt. Marshall was not. It supported his theory that the new explosive for small arms figured in this case. He was an expert upon this point; indeed, he was at that time conducting experiments with a rifle intended for the army. This dread- ful wecpon when fired on a level from the height of a man’s shoulder would send a bullet nearly two miles, and at 2,000 yards would drive it through the bodies of seven men. ‘He stated these facts to me with profes- sional calmness; he even offered: to exhibit them to me if I would go some day to his laboratory and proving ground, which was on the outskirts of West Point. His knowl- edge of the subject was undoubtedly great, and the more I thought upon it the more important, in my mind, became the coinci- dence of the presence of such a man in that house at a time when a mysterious and terribly powerful weapon had been murderously emplcyed. My interest became horror when I found soon afterward that this circumstance im- pressed itself mor> strongly than any other upon the mind of Bernard Kelly. Throug! Margaret he learned from Mrs. Holliday that she had left Marshall alone in the parlor for fully ten minutes. He seemed not to have moved when she returned, but he had had time to go to the Long Room and return, ‘Marguret told me of Kelly's questions, despite his warning to her to keep abso- Icte silence about them. She sald, frankly, that they indicated to her his ‘suspicion that Marshall had committed the crime. “That is not to be thought of,” said the girl. “He, of all others, had most reason to wish my father to live.” Perhaps; yet it is true that a living father may change his mind about a daughter's marriage, but the expressed desire cannot be recalled when death has sealed the lips. ‘Then came that other discovery relative to the desk, and it threw all my theories into confusion. ‘On the forenoon of that day I had seen a pile of bank notes In a drawer of the desk, and the topmost had been of the denomination of $100. How h was in the pile I did not know. My uncle had Closed the drawer immediately. I had seen only one of the b When we searched the desk, under Kelly’s direction, there was no meney at all in it. My uncle had only a few dollars and a gold watch in his pockets, If robbery was the motive, whom should we suspect? I thought of Hanley instantl ard, in private, I described to Kelly the di menor of the man at the first alarm. The detective received my communication with- out any comment whatever. Indeed, he did not speak ten words, except in questions, while he was in the house. About an hour after he had gone away, I received a telephone message from him seying that the case would soon be cleared up. He spoke as if he already had his hand on the murderer's shoulder. I begged him to name the guilty man, but his only reply was that he would be at Sunnyside early themext morning. The night in that house was one which I shudder to remember. Suspicion was ram- pant. In my own mind Hanley, Marshall and Hilton figured in turn as the murderer. Then tho absence of the weapon suggested the mysterious stranger whom the butler had seen, My thoughts were in a whirl, Conspicuonsly Shunning Me. and their confusion be¢ame more as I per- ceived that both Hilton and Marshall were ccming more and more closely into confer- erce and conspicuously shunning me. I heard one of the servants say to another that Capt. Marshall had done it, and the reply was that, whoever had fired the shot, Margaret Holliday was certainly a party to the crime. Another servant in response to my questioning said that he had seen Hanley enter the LongRoom from the dining rocm which adjoined it, not ten minutes be- fire my discovery of the murder. Hanley, with white lips, denied that he had been in that room since the morning. Marshall and Hilton divided between them the care of the body and did not con- sult me. I passed the night in torment, re- lieved only by an occasional sight of Mar- garet, who twice or thrice came from her mother’s room to speak with me. She would not see Marshall. I think that she believed him guilty. ‘At 8 o’clock I was standing on the veran- da in front of the house when the sound of wheels startled me, and I saw a carriage containing Bernard Kelly and a man who leened far back with his face in the shadow. It flashed across me in a second that Kelly had solved the riddle, arrested the murderer, and was bringing him to the horse. If that was so, the prisoner could be no other than the man whom Hanley had seen. And then I thought of the steps that I had heard, and had supposed to be Marshall's, as I lay in the hammock. Had the murderer passed me then? The carriage rapidly approached. In a few seconds it was near enough for me to seo the face of ihe shadow. Kelly’s com- panion was Horace Preble. I hope to get through this mortal life without suffering such a shock as that again. Preble got out of the carriage with Kelly close behind him. “In heaven’s name what is this?” I de- janded. mThe young man_ looked disconsolately down upon the ground. He had at first extended his hand toward me, and had withdrawn it. “This thing had to come out,” he sald. “T'ye tried to cover it up as much as I could, but it was no use. You might as well know the truth.” “Speak!’”’ I cried. “Why, you see, about two years ago, when I lost all my money, I was in a des- perate fix. I had hoped to live without work, and that hope failed me. I got into sad straits, and at last—of course, you'll regard this as confidential?” “Confider tial!” “Well, it’s known to a few. Every time a thing of this kind happens to me some- rcdy has to be let in. “Look here, Preble,” I exclaimed, “I'm altogether too nervous to stand this strain any longer. Since yesterday I've been sus- pected of murder by half a dozen people, and have convicted, in my own mind, half a dozen others in town. I convicted you, when I saw you with Detective Kelly. But, of course, when I stand here face to face with you I know it can’t be true. Yet you have some part in the shameful secret, as you have confessed to me. What is it? Don’t keep me in suspense!” A sickly smile distorted Preble’s hand- scme face. “I am a detective in the pay of the New York police department,” he said. “I’m here professionally.” He shuddered at the thought. t's a little different from the old times,” he continued. “I'm heartily ashamed of it, my boy, but it can’t be helped now. There's little to choose between detective and crim- inal, in my opinion. The criminal inflicts an injury on society, and the detective in- flicts an injury on the crimina), and the The Search for the Bullet. best defense that the detective can make is the old schoolboy claim: ‘The other fel- low began it.’ Why can’t we all let one arother alone?” I was leaning upon the railing of the veranda and laughing weakly, almost hys- terically. ‘To see Preble out of that scrapa was too much happiness for me. Little I cared about his profession. I thought it as gcod as most others, and much better than the law. But I knew him well enough to be sure that whatever profession he had chosen would immediately seem to him the most disgraceful and unbecoming that men’s needs had ever produced. ‘We wired to New York for a man,” said Kelly, “‘and Byrnes sent up Mr. Preble. Between us, I guess we can sift this matter down. Would you like to look at the body, Mr. Preble?” “Not yet,” he replied. look at the room.” Capt. Marshall joined us while we were busy there. Preble was examining the bul- let hole in the desk and in the wall. He enlarged the latter until. he could see through it, and then he looked out, follow- ing with his eye as nearly as possible the direction of the ball. “There's a chance that we can find It,” he said, and led the way to the grounds at the rear of the house. Fifty yards back we came to a large tree, and in its rough bark, near the ground, after most careful searching, Preble found a bullet hole. Five minutes later he held in his hand the leaden missile that had Killed Gen. Holliday. “Capt. Marshall,” he said, “you, as an expert, will be able to tell us what sort of weapon carries such a bullet. “You know already,” replied the captain, with a sort of gasp. “I can see that in your face. It is the bullet which the rifle I am testing carries. There is no other like tee I looked anxiously at Preble, and saw, to “Let us have a my surprise, that he not regarding Marshall. He was iooking over the cap- tain’s head. I turned and saw a man running through the grounds. He was bent double, and seemed to fancy himself to be shielded by some low shrubbery. I recognized Hanley, the butler. “You'd better ga after him, Kelly,” said Preble, and Kelly obeyed, exhibiting a sur- prising swiftness of foot. He overtook Hanley before he had reach2d the road which bounds the estate upon the south; and in a few minutes the trembling servant stood before Preble. The detective nodded to Kelly, who instantly began to search Hanley. In one of his pockets was a Package of twelve one-hundred-dollar bi “Now, let's have your story without a moment's delay,” said Preble, sternly. “I swear to you, sir,” replied the butler, solemnly, “that I had no hand in his death. I robbed him, but I did not kill him. It was this way: I wént into the Long Room to speak to him. Miss Margaret was asleep on the couch. Theggeneral also seemed to be asleep, with his head on his desk. And right there in plain sight was all that money. & “I've been }aird’ préssed, sir, of late. There’s been some’as bad as me at a dis- advantage and havé used their power. It's their fault, sir, that ¥ took the money. I'm no thief at heart. I did it in sheer ner- vousness, at,the sight of what I needed so much. % “The general never stirred. He was dead then, sir, I've no doubt; but I didn’t know it. I got away with the money and hid it in my room. Then’ when the murder was discovered I was néar frozen with horror. I would have restored the- money, but there’s been no chance. Somebody has been in that room:-all: the time. So this morning, when I learned that one of the servants had seen me go into that room and had told on me, I resolved to run for it That's the whole truth, sir, and I'm glad to have it off my mind.” “I believe you, my man,” said Preble. “It's never a good thing in this world to be too smart, and it’s your good fortune that you're not nearly smart enough to have committed this erime, supposing that it is a crime at all.” He directed Kelly to keep an eye on Han- ley and then we all went into the Long Room. We found Margaret and Dr. Hilton there. Margaret greeted Preble with great cordiality. She said that she felt much re- lieved at having his advice and aid, for she had always thought him to be gifted with an exceptionally clear mind. “If my present theory of this terrible tery proves to be correct,”’ said Preble, “TI think we shall all feel greatly relieved. It is only a theory at present, and its basis is no more than this.” He opened his hand and showed a splinter of wood about an inch and a half long. For my part I had no idea of its bearing upon the case. The others seemed equally at a loss. “I found this on the floor at that end of the room,” he said, pointing away from the general's desk. “It was knocked off the inside of the wall by the bullet which killed your father. It surprises me, gentle- men, that when you had found where the ullet went out you should not have looked ‘or the place where it came in.” “But, Preble,” I exclaimed, “you are not going to tell us that the murderer fired through that wall and across the whole length of this room?” “And a mile of open country besides,” said Preble, calmly, “if my theory is true. Capt. Marshall, will you tell me whether I am correct in saying that a line drawn from the spot where Gen. Holliday was struck down and extended through the wall one foot to the left of that window would pass close to your laboratory on the other side of the valley?” Marshall's forehead was wet with per- tion. is true,” he sald, in a low voice. “I am afraid that your theory is right.” “You mean,” I cried, ‘that the accidental discharge of a rifle which was being tested is responsible for this, terrible calamity?” “You have seen the bullet,” said Preble, nd I have proven the direction in which it came. The weapon could not have been fired near the house or you would have heard the report. The shot must have been accidental, for the distance and the impos- sibility of seeing into this room preclude the possibility of intent. I can see no other explanation. However, we need not be long in doubt. If Capt. 'Marshall will accompany me to the spot we can learn whether there was an accidental discharge of a rifle at the hour named. “I may add," he continued, “that the whole aspect of this case indicates the work of chance. It had not from the first the appearance of human device. The abso- lutely impartial bearing of the facts,which implicated equally every person who could have been physically ‘present, showed a broader grasp of detail than any man can claim. The minor crime of Hanley strikes in discordantly with the rest. You can readily see the difference between design and fate which can have no purpose. This terrible event is the forerunner of many which will follow upon this new develop- ment of modern arms. And the tragedies will not all be accidents. If a murderer can by repeated trials at last strike down his victim at the distance of more than a mile, he will be less often restrained by mere cowardice. He bade us good-bye and went away with Marshall and Kelly. In an hour we re- ceived a telephone message from the last named, that Preble’s theory had been con- firmed. BISMARCK’S TRAITS. Mow the Old Chancellor Came Out Ahend of a Stupid Hotel Keeper. From the New York Pest. Perhaps the chief trait of his genius ts to be found in his entire freedom from the pre- conceived notions, ‘and in the limpidness of his mind, which refused to submit to ac- cepted fallacies. This tendency in early age earned for him, of the dull pedantry and prim Philistines ground him, the soubriquet of “Tolle Bismarck”—the mad Bismarck; but later on it resulted in the complete de- molition of the old system of diplomacy. For equivocaticn and downright falsehood his powerful intellect substituted a kind of outrageous frankness,which bewildered and outwitted his adversaries. Nothing, how- ever, marks his strong personality more vividly than the intense hatreds and blind devotions with which he has surrounded himself. He bad the courage to be himself, the power to rely upon himself and to look at things in the face, while his keen sense of humer enabled him to see clearly the vast array of sham and pompous pretense of public and private life. Never had madness more method than Is shown by the originality of this strange be- ing, half Mephistopheles, half dragon, who, before subduing to his iron will the whole of European diplomacy, shocked and horri- fed the fogies of the old school with the innuendoes and insinuations, the sarcasms and stories, the gibes and jokes which he flung at their heads mercilessly and con- tinually. The wigged and powdered pomp which covered diplomatic pretense and mendacity was torn aside the instant that Prince Bismarck got a grip of political re- alities, and his first appearance among the dignificd excellencies of the German diet constituted a veritable revolution. The incidents of his early relations with these empty-headed “importants sans im- portance” offer, perhaps, the most racy of the many anecdotes related—in Prince Bis- marck’s own words in many cases—by his Boswell, his faithful secretary, Dr. Moritz Busch. ‘His first encounter at Frankfort was with his hostler, who, like all the good burghers of th> free city at that time, was intensely anti-Prussian. The old hotel where he put up, as Prussian delegate to the diet, was not provided with a complete system of bells, and Bismarck asked for a hand bell, at least, wherewith to communi- cate with his valet. But he was gruffly told there was none to spare and that he must shift for himself. Early next morn- ing the loud report of a pistol set all the guests in a panic, with the exception of Bismarck’s servant, who explained that, as no bell was forthcoming, his master had summoned him by pistol shot. Five min- utes later the desired bell was placed with- in Bismarck’s reach. ee THE WICKLESS LAMP. Observations Carefully Made as to Its. Power and Cost. From the London Invention. The wickless petroleum lamp, the oll for which 1s claimed to cost only one-third of a centime per carcel per hour, is attracting attention. The carcel, the French standard of luminosity, 1s equal to nine and a frac- tion, say, ten standard. candles. This new lamp consumes petroleum, a _ non-volatile oil, which passes through a filter, falling drop by drop on to’a highly heated sur- face, and becomes immediately transform- ed into gas, when it is #ubjected to perfect combustion. The apsence of smeke is due to the interposition of a filter; the absence of wick, the slow and progressive feeding of petroleum and a strong draught. The lamp consists of four parts—an oil reser- voir and filter, a chamber with tubes for volatilization ‘and gasification connected with the reservoir by a special tube, with regulating cock leading to an annular burner with two series of holes; an alcohol burner inclosed in a glass globe, which closes hermetically by a spring, and a cen- tral chamber in connection with the chim- ney for taking off the product$ of combus: tion. By way of comparison with the third of a centime for an hourly light of ten can- dles, which is the stated cost by this lamp, it may be mentioned that the same amount of light afforded by the ordinary petroleum lamp costs one centime; that by the Wen- ham and Auer gas lamps, 0.9 centime; the moderator lamp, with colza oil, 5 centimes; ordinary ges burners, 4 1-2 centimes; in- candescent electric lamps, 5 centimes to 6 centimes, and arc lamps, 5 centimes to 7 1-2 centimes. ART NOTES. The extent to which the public appre- ciates the evening exhibitions of the Cor- coran Gallery of Art can be measured pretty accurately by the -attendance on those occasions. Thus, during the fifteen nights when the Gallery was open this season the whole number of visitors was 21,248. The largest number present on any one of these evenings was 3, —on the 18th of January, which was also the larg- est evening attendance yet recorded since the opening of the Gallery. The number present on Friday evening of last week, which closed the night exhibitions for the season, was 2,030. It may be added here that the whole number of night visitors to the Gallery since its opening was 113,672, and ‘that the aggregate night at- tendance for the season just closed was considerably larger than that of any for- mer season, although In at least two pre- vious years the number of nights when the Gallery was open considerably exceeded the total of open nights this season. . se American artists and American art are remarkably well represented, numerically, in the Paris Salon this year, and, what is still better, their works stand well, by comparison with the other exhibitors, most of whom, of course, are French. No less ‘than forty-nine Americans are listed in the catalog, and in oils, pastels and wazer colors, their contributions number som thing more than one hundred and twenty in all. This, whether number of contrib- utors or contributions, and the quality of the latter, be considered, is the best show America has ever made in the Salon. ate The statement in one of our city papers last Sunday that a painting by Raphael, entitled the “Madonna of Divine Love,” is owned in Washington, must have been a surprise to persons familiar with the prin- cipal works of that artist and their where- abouts. The celebrated original painting by that great master entitled “Madonna del Divino Amore” (Madonna of Divine Love) is in the Royal Museum at Naples, where it has hung for many years. The picture owned here is probably a copy of that can- vas, tho’ the description of it, as given in the statement above referred to, does not exactly describe it, In that it fails to men- tion the figure of St. Elizabeth, which, in the Neapolitan treasure, is shown seated at the side and a little back of the Virgin. In other respects the groups and their ar- rangement appear to be the same. It may properly be added here that no important original painting by Raphael could have come out of Italy at any time in the last twenty-five years without attracting wide public attention. oe Some of the best amateur work done here in a long time is shown in a couple of single-sitting portrait heads, by Miss Blackford, daughter of Mr. B. L. Blackford of this city, who is a pupil in the Core Art School. In cach instance the likeness is admirable, both in expression and flesh tints, and the result is secured by a cer- tainty of touch and vigor of handling that give great promise of future success in portraiture, at least, and probably in other lines of art. . At Veerhoff’s during the week an excel- lent opportunity has been afforded for a comparison of the relative merits of work of the same class done by foreign and local artists. The object lesson referred to was presented in four portrait groups, tempor- arily exhibited there, two of which were painted by. French artists of considerable note, the other two by less widely known artists of this city. It is likely that a small percentage of the community who perceive a sacrosanct aureole about pretty much every picture painted by a foreign artist may have been able to see or fancy they saw in the first mentioned canvases some rare quality not perceptible in those from the easels of home artists, and which would justify the mych higher prices undoubtedly paid for the former; but in the estimation of intelligent observers, whose judgment is not influenced by mere names, the product of the Washir.gton artists exhibited side by side with the others would, to say the very least, suffer nothing by the comparison. Mr. Hubert Vos, the Dutch portrait paint- er, sent as his contribution to the Salon this year the portrait of Mrs. A. C. Barney of this city, painted while he was in this country some time ago. This is about the only connection between Washington and the Salon this year, as, so far as the list cf exhibitors has yet appeared in this coun- try, none of our local artists are named in it. * ots The exhibition of paintings by Max Weyl at the Fischer Gallery will be continued there during the coming week. The num- ber of sales up to this time has far exceed- ed the expectation of Mr. Weyl or his friends, which tends to show that however it may be with prophets (or profits) a painter is not without honor in his own land. * a%e The principal attraction in artistic circles during the past week has been the exhibi- tion by Max Weyl, in the Fischer gallery. ‘A few of the notable pictures sold early in the weck were a large canvas, “Soll- tude,” “Hill Side,” showing a brilliant sun- light effect, and “Landscape Near Munich,” which was one of the most attractive can- vases in the collection. Other canvases were “Low Tide,” “Path by the River,” “Sketch in the Adiron- dacks,” “Potomac Marshes” and “Glimpse of Washington From Soldiers’ Home.” o%s Mrs. Adele Fasset, whose canvas, “The FlectoralCommission,” attracted such wide- spread attention a few years ago, is again in the city, after having spent the past year in traveling and visiting the various places of artistic and historical interest throughout the country, and is at present engaged on a number of interesting por- traits, among which is a life-sized one of Rev. Dr. Rankin, president of Howard Uni- versity, which will be placed on exhibi- tion before being hung in the college, and a strikingly lifelike one of Mrs. Chittenden of Mt. Pleasant. ote The portrait of Mrs. Senator Brice and her two daughters has just been received from Paris,, where it Was painted last year by Carolus Duran,'and as soon as reframed the canvas will be placed in the Brice residence. The painting is a large cre, and represents Mrs. Brice, gowned in black velvet and seated, while the young ladies, in evening costumes, stand on elther side. Mrs. James W. Dougherty, who during the past few years has been studying art abroad, expects shortly to leave Washing- ton for the summer, but will, with the coming of cooler weather, re-establish her studio here and become a regular member of the local art circle. ate R. N. Brooke expects nual trip to Europe this summer, dividing his time between Paris, London and Hol- land, and returning late -n October. to make his an- . ate Robert Hinckley is ccmpleting portraits of Gen. Baird and Judge Brawley. Finding a short vacation necessary, Mr. Hinckley will leave on Wednesday for a two weeks’ fishing excursion in the Adirondacks, from which he will return to assume direction of the Corcoran Art School during Mr. Andrews’ absence in rope. . . Henri Riker, who last season designed and executed the muraj decorations which have added so greatly t> the beauty of the ‘pall room in the Chinese legation, is at present engaged on a series of decorative panels, representing the seasons and exe- cuted on gobelin tapestries. ote Miss Minnigerode has organized a sketch- ing class for the purpose of studying from nature during the spring and early sum- mer. Weekly excursions are made to places of artistic interest atout the city, and PAINE’S CELERY COMPOUND. Best Spring Remedy in the World---It Makes People Well, ‘There 1s one true specific for diseases arising from a debilitated nervous system, and that ts Paine's celery compound, s9 generally prescribed by physicians, remedy that the scientifie reseerch of this country has produced. LL.D., of Dartmouth College, first prescribed what peund, a positive cure for dyspepsia, biliousness, diseases and kidney trouble again where everything else has failed. It is probably the most remarkable Prof. Edward E. Phelps, M.D. Low known the world over as Paine's celery com- ver complaint, neuralgia, rheumatism, all nervous For the latter Paine’s celery compound has succeeded again and ‘The medical journals of this country have given more space in the last few years to the many remarkable cases where the use of Paine's celery compound bas made people well than to any other one subject. —6 S30, OOO, TO AUTHORS FOR £6 ories of Mystery. 9 THE CHICAGO RECORD offers to authors the sum of $30,000 for eriginal stories written in English, no parts of which have ever been heretofore published. The offer is made upon the following condl- $20,000. WILL BE PAID IN TWELVE CASH PRIZES FOR THE BEST TWELVE STORIES. THE MONEY WILL BE DIVIDED AS FOL tions: Lows: First Prize Second Prize Third Prize Fourth Prize Fifth Prize see = $10,000 = os 3,000 1,500 1,000 =-= =.= 800 Two Prizes of $600 each Five Prizes of $500 each Making a total of 1,200 2,500 $20,000 ‘The first prize will be paid for the story adjudged to be the best, the second prize for the story adjudged the next best, the third prize for the story adjudged to be the third in merit, the fourth prize for the fourth in merit, the fifth prize for the fifth in merit; two prizes of $600 each and five prizes of $500 each, thus making the total of twelve prizes in $20,000. $10,000 ADDITIONAL WILL BE PAID AT SPACE RATES FOR STORIES OF ACCEPTED VALUE BUT WHICH MAY NOT BE AWARDED ANY OF THE TWEL CASH P ication. 3 publication, 181 and F read and ju is competition are required to be ‘‘sto- s, Stories in which the mystery is not ptev, incorder that readers m: wes for guessing the solution of the mystery in advance of its be offered he stories must reach THE CHICAGO RECORD at its office of 1 on street, Chicago, TIL, 3 be made 23 son after that date as they'can ba before Oct. 1, 1895, For full information authors will address VICTOR F. LAWSON, Publisher The Chicago Record, Chicago, Ill., U. S. A. ap24-w&sit- ee much interesting study has already been accomplished. oe Miss Daisy Blackford is painting, under Prof. Andrews’ instruction, a spirited and lifelike portrait of Gen. Heth. ote Wm. Meacham, a prominent artist of Detroit, Mich., who has recently estab- lished a studio in the city, has just closed a very successful exhibition of his work. The paintings shown were interesting and clever and embraced a wide range of sub- ject matter, a lifelike portrait of Gen. Stedman and a number of admirably ren- dered “game” studies ranking among the most important. : ote The directors of the Champs de Mars Salen have invited John La Farge to show, in connection with the regular spring ex- hibition, a collection of his work on can- vas and in glass. This is the first time that such an honor has been accorded to any but a French artist. o%e Among the most successful exhibitions of the present season were those of the American Water Color Society, in New York, and the Boston Art Club. The for- mer was characterized by a generally high level of work; the latter by some notable exhibits among the somewhat small collec- tion shown. At the Boston exhibition sculpture was admitted for the first time, and for the first time cash prizes were of- fered, the principal one of $500 going to the newly recognized department, and awarded to a graceful bronze statuette, en- titled “Boy With Heron,” by Frederick Macmonnies; the second prize of $300 to a large decorative painting, “The Vintage Revel,” by R. V. V. Sewell, and the third prize of $200 to F. W. Benson for a marine, entitled “A Winter Storm, *, o%e An interesting exhibition which has at- tracted wide attention and favorable criti- cism during the past week is that of Mr. U. S. J. Dunbar, the sculptor, in his studios at 620 17th street, corner of G. . Portraiture in marble is Mr. Dunbar’s forte, and one is a of the best things in his exhibition nearly completed bust of the late Se: Windom. Several reliefs of the chil BE. Francis Riggs are also attracting pleas- ant notice. —— To Suppress Lobbying. A special session of the Missouri legisla- ture met at Jefferson City Tuesd: It was called by Governor Stone to enact laws to suppress lobbying, define the re- lations between railroad corporations and their employes, and to govern elections in cities of over 100,000 population. Demand for American Apples, From the Chicago Inter-Ocean. Apples have become almost as dear as eggs this spring, but it ts not due to the short crop at home as much as the export trade. The English and French have be- come very fond of American apples, and since last fall the New York fruit men have shipped 1,445,592 barrels of apples to Europe, as against 168,706 barrels in the winter of 1893-94. This export trade will encourage American fruit growers to take better care of their apple orcharis and give more attention to fruit growing and less attention to corn and wheat. It will help to develop the small-farm idea in the west, where a few years ago it was be- lieved only wheat and corn could be made successful crops. It still seems improbable to many in the east that the mountain states of the west are adapted to fruit growing, but already Washington and Idaho and Utah and Western Montana fruit growers are shipping apples to New York for the export trade and commanding the highest price in the market for the fruit grown in the arid belts of the cone tinent, “Why don’t you work? Don’t like it, I suppose.” Like it? Why, boss, work with me is a passion, a vic2. ‘That is just the trouble. The moment I commence to do a little, I cannot leave it alone, and it grows upon me like drink, opium or lawn tennis. That is why I have to make an effort and leave it entirely alone.”—Life.