Evening Star Newspaper, May 10, 1895, Page 13

SILVER’S PARADOX Representative Coombs States Some Interesting Facts. NO REAL DEMAND FOR FREE COINAGE Revision of Banking and Currency Laws Wanted. STATE BANKS OF ISSUE Congressman William J.Coombs of Brook- lyn is unequivocally opposed to the free coinage of silver, which is being so per- sistently agitated by the free silver ele- ment of the various parties throughout the country. In a conversation with a Star reporter this morning Mr. Coombs was asked his opinion in regard to the attempt being made to force the free coinage of silver in this country. “The crusade in behalf of the free coin- age of silver has some peculiar features that are deserving of comment. It is claimed that a majority of our people want silver and resent the discontinuance of its coinage. I find nothing to justify this claim; but, on the contrary, I find that dur- ing the last four or five years, in which the silver contest has been the hottest, there has been a growing indisposition on the Part of the people to use it as a medium of exchange in their daily transactions. This can best be illustrated by the follow- ing comparison taken from the reports of the Treasury Department: “We find that in 1890, when the total coinage of silver dollars was about three hundred and eighty-one million, there were in ac’ circulation among the people over $65,000,000, While at the present time, when the coinage has been increased to nearly 3423,000,000 there is a little less than $54,000,00) in ctrculation, A decrease of More than $11,000,000. In 1890 the percent- age of ined dollars tn circulation was about 17% per cent, while today it is only 12% per cent. This falling off has not been due to any lack of effort on the part of the government to increase the circulation, for the Treasury Department has at all times stood ready to pay the freight on the silver to amy point in the United States. In fact, large sums have been expended for that purpose. The Struggle to Maintain Parity. “In the meantime the government has also expended immense sums in various Ways to maintain the parity between gold and silyer—and has maintained it up to the present time. The claim, therefore, that our stoppage of coining has limited Its circulation must fall to the ground. We have coined eight times as much as the People will take, and in order to make the other seven-eighths available for the pur- Pose of the government, have been obliged to resort to the expedient of issuing silver certificates for the dollars that the people refused to take into circulation. “If you want an object lesson go to the treasury apd see the enormous vault full of the coin that the people have rejected. I was there a few days ago and saw that in order to prevent the walls of the vault from bursting open they had been obliged to brace them from the outside. Why, think of it, the government has stored up in the treasury in this city and in the va- rious subtreasuries of the country over three hundred and sixty-nine million sil- ver dollars, which it holds awaiting the demand for-silver that we hear so much about. “In addition to the colred dollars,we have silver bullion that cost us more than one hundred and twenty-four million dollars that can be colned into money as soon as the people have found use for the dollars, already coined. Instead of drawing out any of it they are every month depositing more and taking paper in its stead. “No civilized nation of modern times has sacrificed so much in the effort to main- tain the value of silver as we have done. ‘We can do nothing further unless we are prepared to sacrifice every other interest to it. No Effect on Prices. “In view of the above statement, the ac- curacy of which no one will dispute, the assertim that our stoppage of coinage has had the effect of lowering the price of wheat, cotton or any other of our products has no ‘foundation whatever. The long ar- ray of figures and tabulations designed to prove the contrary are found to he 58 and misleading in face of the at we have coined eight times as circulate. No one s m that the further of silver dollars and storing them mints and treasury can have any effect in the way of increasing the price of our products. Whatever the effect of the action of other countries in this matier may have been, we certainly have had no are in it. I do not believe that there is any established relation between the prices of wheat and cotton and silver, they sll three gdverned by the laws of supply and demand, and are Influenced by the constantly changing conditions that goyern the world. “In the misleading statement Issued by the silver propaganda, by which It attempts | to show that the lowering of the prices of silver has had the effect of lowering in a corresponding degree the prices of wheat ani cotton, and which they illustrate by parallel columns, they Ignore every other af the forces that hdve Influenced the world during the last generation. Let us see what thoy are. rees That Are Ignored. “The extending of the area of produc- tion, caused by the bulldjng of railroads, anf not only in our own country, but in India, the Argentines, and Chile, as well as the opening of tho Suez canal. “Tho choapening effect of corhpetition not only in freight, but in the production of the article itself. “The invention and application of laber- saying machinery of all kinds. “The improvements In the application of steam and eleotricity. “The tendency to over production in- duced by the inoreased facilities for pro- duction. “All of thege consiforations, which should enter into any argument that was intend- ed to be fair, ara conveniently ignored. Qno can hardly escape the gonclusion that the intention to mislead is deliberate, and considering tho great interests involved, devilish. P fool Ike apologizing for. pay- ing any attention to them and would ig- note them only that I see the effect that they are having upon the people. ‘the great mistake was made when we, by the act of August, 1888, resorted to the pian of issuing silver certificates in order make available the ninety-three million Iver dollars at that time In the treasury when it was found that the people would not (ake them into oirculation. If that had not bean done it would have soon be- come apparent to the dullest Intelleot that ‘Silver had lest tts hold upon the regard of the peapie, it would have been obliged to and or fall upon !ts own morits. When we deaded to Issue them wo added an- othee factor to tha complicated problem of our national ourrency, by reviving in a new and stronger form the old theory of greaackism. Papee Moncey Wanted. “The contest today in the minds of the peaple is not go much for silver, as it Is to secure largee issues of government pa- per. The sYver producers aro skillfully umiting thar interests with those of the old greenback party. In peoof of this as- sertion fet us examine into what they pro- pose to have the government do. Their proposition is that the holder of stiver bul- lian, whether ho be a speculator or pro- ducer, shall have the right to take to any mint of the United States 371 1-4 grains of fine silver, worth in the open market less than %) cents, and demand therefor a sil- ver dollar boaring upon its face the stamp of the government, certifying that it is worth a dollar. This dollar he can recelve from the mint and pay to his neighbor, to whom he is indebted, at Its full face value. If he finds this inconvenient he can dis- gifise the fraudulent transaction by de- positing It with the treasurer of the United States and rocelve In its place a silver cer- tificate, -waich his experlence has tayght him is more easily disposed of than the silver dollar itself—the dollars remain in the treasury, while the certificate of the United Stata} goes out to swell the volume of currency.” “You do not consider this a strictly hon- orable transaction then, Mr. Coombs?"" “Iwill say nothing of the hardihood of the proposition -by whtch they would force @ great and honorable nation to become a party to a fraudulent transaction, the vic- tims of which shall be its own people; or of their further proposition that the gov- ernment having become implicated shall Teceive these false tokens in payment of its just dues. No such bald-faced proposition has ever before received the serious con- sideration of any intelligent people. They find their chief allies among those who be- Heve that we need a larger volume of cur- rency to profitably carry on the business operations of the country. They demand it no matter in what way it comes, or what its ultimate cost to the country may Currency Reforms Needed. “You consider, do you not, Mr. Coombs, that our currency laws are defective and need revision?” “Yes. While I believe that the volume of currency is sufficient and more than suffi- cient for our wants, if properly distributed, I am convinced that there is a lack of Proper distribution, and that by wise and safe amendments to our banking laws we can remedy this defect. I believe that this Gemand can be safely met, and at infin- itely less cost than that involved in the Proposition of the silver propaganda, and by meeting it we shall deprive them of their strongest supporters. Even green- kism, pure and simple, would be more desirable than an adoption of their plan, for we could limit the amount of our is- sues of government paper by action of Congress; but with free and unlimited coin- age of silver and the consequent unlimited issue of silver certificates we should take away from the gqyernment of the country the power of limiting it at all. “No large portion of our peaple would seriously consider a proposition to issue greenbacks unless it was disguised under such a pian as is proposed by the silver Propaganda. While I believe that the volume of currency is sufficient and more than sufficient for our wants, taking the country as a whole, I am equally well con- vinced that owing to defects tn our bank- ing laws there ts a great lack of proper distribution of it. That the natural ten- dency to accumulate at the great financial centers to the detriment of other parts of the country is increased by some unwise provision of our laws. We frequently find that money is loaning in New York at 1 or 2 per cent per annum, while it {s worth 6 or 8 per cent per annum in some parts of the west or south. Such a state of things is not desirable either for New York or for the interior. I am sure that my own peo- ple would be glad to have it changed.” Changes in Banking Laws. “But can a plan be effected by which these objections can be overcome?” “Yes. This, I believe, can be easily ef- fected by a change in our banking laws and by giving the right to establish state banks of issu@under proper conditions governing the security of such issues. I would not make it obligatory upon such banks to re- deem their bills in Washington or at any of the @nancial centers. Their circulation would then be practically confined to their own immediate neighborhood or state, and assist in carrying on the home industries. I believe that such banks could exist along- side of the national banks, without scrious injury to that system, for they would profit by tho broader circulation of their paper, and would naturally, on account of their connections, become their medium for dis- tant transactions. There ts one thing that we must recognize,- and that is that the ccnditions existing at the time of the es- tablishment of our present banking system no longer prevail, and that it must be ad- ivsted to meet the demands of the new order of things. We have too long ignored the demands of the west and south for such a change in our system as will give them.a better chance to secure their proper share of the circulation of currency. We may say that there is sufficient bank circu- lation for the wants of the country, and may thoroughly believe it. But they know their wants better than we do, and a per- sistence on our part will continue to do as it already has done, excite sectional jeal- ousies and foster the growth of rank finan- cial heresies. “Although upon the surface the present movement seems to be in the direction of greater influence on the part of govern- ment in the matter of currency, I think that I discover that the underlying motive is the resentment at the part it has taken in controlling the details of financial mat- ters that under normal conditions should have been left to the machinery of com- merce; at all events, it is a legitimate result of it. We have not been satisfied to legis- late upon broad lines within which auto- matic action might have existed, but have brought the strong hand of government in- to every detail. A sudden change of policy may bring temporary trouble or confusion, but the bad effects will not compare with those which will result from a persistence in a course that has been abandoned by every great commercial nation. Our govern- ment has not only asumed the power to regulate the currency, but in doing so has also taken upon itself responsibilities that should have been avoided. “There is, for instance, no good reason why the task of maintaining the parity of gold and sllver should be thrown upon its shoulders. It is one of those things that any nation enjoying an average degree of prosperity can afford to leave to the action of commerce, and the laws of supply and demand. We have much to do before we can get back to normal conditions, and the result of attempts at Jegislation upon finan- cial questions in the Fifty-third Congress were hot encouraging. Nevertheless, tha discussions threw a flood of light upon our position in relation to the banking question and convinced us that the government can- not remain in the banking business with any advantage to itself or to the country, and the next Congress may find it more easy to solve the problem as to how we can retire from it. No Oompromises. “In conclusion, I wish to say that we shall have to meet the enemies of sound money by -alterimg our banking system ip such a@ way as to gtve more currency to the sections of the country that demand it, anu thus withdraw from the ranks of the silver men those who have no personal in- terest in making a market for that metal. We fortunately have two years In which to make these obanges, and in which to push forward the campaign of education. “The violence of the assault convinces me that no compromises will be accepted, and none should be offered. Experiments in the way of compromises have been very ex- pensive and demoralizing to the country, and should not be further encouraged. It 1s duo to the business interests of tho country that we shall determine, as soon as possible, whether we are to have an honest currency upon which they may base thoir business operations among themselves and with other nations, or whether wo are to be governed by tho wild theorists who, im- pelled by selfish motives or political am- bitions, ignoring every lesson ,of history, would establish conditions. which would soparate us from the qther oommorctal na- tions of the wofid.” ” $ Oost of Foreign ‘Torpedo Boats. From Rnginescing. zg : ‘A blue book juat isetbd gives tncifiontelly, hidden almost by a mass of otHer informa- tion, the contract peice of a large numbor of the torpedo boat destroyers now being constmoted by ptivate firms for the navy. These yoowels are about 20) feet long, of about 230 or 240 tons displacement, and, with engines of 4,000 to 4300 Indicated horse powee, attained a specd of twenty- seven knots, Mewes Yarrow, London, have built three of this largor type, tho price for each being £37,400. Messrs. Thornycroft, Lomton, haye also built three at each; Palmers’ Ship Building Company, Jarrow, get £37,107. Messrs. Thomson, Clydebank, who have aome ex- perience of high-speed vessels, have dons thetr work most satisfactorily for £847: the Naval Constriotion Company, at Bar row, aro to get £28,977, ard, although their vewsols have not yet ‘beon tried, there is every prospect of successful Issue. By way of comparison, ft may be Interesting to state that the French pald £30,588 for a twenty-seven-knot torpelo boat only 14£ fest long, of 123 tons displacement, and 2,700 Indicated horse power. Tho costs are not available for any larger torpelo boats of the French, but it ts pretty evident that our craft are built at a. very much less rate, The torpedo boat Aventurier, 151 fect leng, of 148 tons displacement, and 1,500 Indicated horse power, and 23% knots speed, cost tho French £18,354; our ‘otal fleet of ten first-class torpedo boats, 140 feet long, and of 2 knots, cost us on an average f14,- 491 each. The samo parliamentary book states that tho contract price Sf fhe hull and ma- chinery of the 14,000-ton cruiser Terribie, with Belleville boilers and engines, to sive 2 knots apead, Is 42 It is betng ballt hy Messrs. Thomson, Clydsbank.. The con- tract price for the sister ship, Powerfal, allding at Barrow, is €35,252. THE EVENING STAR FRIDAY, MAY 10, 1895-SIXTEEN PAGES. A RACE QUESTION Different ‘Views About the Negro and the Atlanta Exposition. OPINIONS OF COLORED MINISTERS Some Enthusiastically in Favor of Sending an Exhibit. THE MONEY PROBLEM The colored people of the District are be- coming daily more interested in Knowing what part they are io take in the coming cotton states and international exposition at Atlanta. The colored comm'ssioners who have been appointed for the District are attempting to interest all classes of their people in the proposed exhibit, and to that end the co-operation of the pastors of the several churches and others of influence is being sought. Objections have been made to the colored people of the District taking any part in the exhibit on account of the discrimination which, it is claimed, will exist at the exposition. While there is opposition existing to the negro exhibit, the leading pastors of influence in the Dis- trict seem inclined to encourage their peo- ple to make a creditable show at the expo- sition, The colored commissioners are depending in part upon the good offices of the pastors of the churches here to secure funds neces- sary to defray the expenses of the proposed exhibit. A representative of The Star visit- ed several clergymen today, and their opinions as to the part that the negroes should take in the coming show were learned, Dr. Jennifer’s Views. Dr. J. T. Jennifer, who has just been as- signed by the Baltimore conference to the pastorate of the Metropolitan A. M. E. Church for this conférence year, said: “I think that the colored people ought to encourage the proposed negro exhibit by sending their exhibits to Atlanta. I intro- duced a resolution in the Baltimore con- ference, which was adopted, urging the colored people throughout the country to send to the exposition visible evidences of their genlus and achievements. I think that such an exhibit would redound to the credit of the colored people throughout the country. I was an early advocate of such an exhibit at the Chicago world’s fair, but we did not secure such an exhibit there. I am in favor of the Atlanta ex- hibit. Some object to the exposition on ac- count of the railroad accommodations for the colored people, But I believe that the exposition will be one of the means of breaking down the ‘Jim Crow’ car arrange- ments in the south. I deprecate the hu- millation to which the colored people may be subjected, yet I think that the south owes it to itself to show now her willing- ness to keep in the march of enlighten- ment by stopping its discriminations against the negro. But I do not think that the negro should debar himself from such a splendid opportunity to show his material progress on account of its tendency to discriminate against him at the exposi- tion. I think that the proposed exhibit of the negro race is somewhat of a fra- ternal proffer, or the olive branch of peace being extended by the south to the negro, and I don’t think that the negro ought to slight the opportunity. Public-spirited men should come to the rescue of the com- missioners and give them aid to make a creditable exhibit. Genius is always poor, so it becomes the duty of the leading col- ored men to co-operate with the commis- sioners in order to present a craditabdle ex- hibit of the genius of the colored race at the cotton states and international exposi- tion.” Dr. Alex. Crummell said: “I hope that the exposition will be respectably satisfac- tory to its promoters. I would not discour- age it, but so far as the negro exhibit is concerned I fear such things are too early for a people only a generation old.” Dr. Johnsap Favors It. Dr. W. Bishop Johnson of the Second Baptist Church, and the editor of the Na- tional Baptist Magazine, said: “In the offer of the cotton states and international exposition to the Afro-American to show by a separate exhibit his material progress we have the opportunity of a lifetime. A quarter of a century has many revelations to make of our industrial developments as well as intellectual attainments, and we should see to it that every section of the country is represented in the most thor- ough manner. We have no time to split hairs and indulge in vain bickerings about social lines and social prejudice; we can- not afford it. Only a short time ago we contended for a separate exhibit at the world’s fair and were refused. Now the south—the home of the negro—opens its doors and bids us enter and give material evidence of what we have accomplished since emancipation. The south knows the negro better than any part of the country. She is aware of his interest in all that builds up that section and of what he has contributed to make her as prosperous as she is. The north will find a greater inter- est in the exposition when she looks at what the negro has already done as-a skilled artisan, as an honest tiller of the soil and as a lover of the arts. The proposed negro exhibit is a just recognition of our growth as a people; it is a concession that progress has been made of so eminent a character that It is worthy of the observation of the civilized world. Shall we stand back with ‘folded arms and tacitly let this privilege pass? Everybody should help make the negro exhibit a success. Let us awake, arise or be forever fallen.” Dr. Grimke Xct Enthusiastic. Dr. Francis J. Grimke, pastor of the Fifteenth Street Presbyterian Church, ex- pressed himself as follows: “I haven't taken any interest in the exposition. I don’t see how the negro part of It Is to be done. The negro gxhibit would be a good thing if the Commissioners had the money to carry it out suocessfully. If the men who are at the head of it were to put their hands in their pockets and defray the ex- penses incident to making the exhibit, it would be all right. But they can never make any exhibit by appealing to the ohar- tty of the people. Thé colored people haven’t the money to keep up their churches and other institutions in which they are immediately interested, and I know that they won't contribute to tho suc- oess of the exposition. Such an exhibition would be educative and would open the eyes of the south. But the south ts so hide bound that it lacks all common sense when it comes to its treatment of the oolored people. The negro exhibit would not have the least tendency to lessen the prejudice of the south against the negro, so I have paid very little attention to the matter. And whether or not I would appeal to my people in behalf of assisting the negroes of the District In making an exhibit would have to be wall considered by me.” ——_—_ The Poisouces Otgarette. Bron tie National Undeewrttor- One of the largest life insurance com- panies refuses to take risks upon the Itves of persons who have been habitual smokers of cigarettes between the ages of elght and eighteen years. Shopkeepers and business men are discovering that the usefulness of boys who smoke cigarettes is 30 rapidly impaired that they are likely to prove of Uttle service, and hence decline to employ them. In view of the enormous extent of the cigarette vice, Mr. Hubbel, a prominent lawyer of New York, has started among the schools of New York city a movement, the purpose of whioh is the. organization of an anti-clgarette-smoking league. eee A Magnifymmg Show Window. Prom the Londan Answers. One of the most extraordinary devices for attractg custom on record was that of a ftuiterer in a MHiland town. Instead of the ordinary plate glass, a large num- ber of reugh magnifying siasses formed the window. Seen through one of these panes, an orange looked as large as a pumpkin and cherries as large as apples. A great disadvantage attached to this novelty was the fact that at the distance of a few yards from the window it was quite impossible to see nto the shop. Hvery- body knows that you must hold a magnify- ing glass very close to the eyes to see any- thing through it. Nevertheless, for some time, at all events, the enterprising proprie- tor did @ roaring trade. WASHINGTON IN SUMMER The National Capital offAUl Seasons # Moat Reply to Some Red@: Statements—Comforts and Diver-. sions of thgPeople. Defamatory ‘Written for The Evening Stk.) I have read an article on “Our National Capital” in Harper's Magazine for April. It is, in the main, enjoyable, interesting reading, but the author has most certainly Bever spent a summer in Washington, and the information which he Has obtained at second-hand regarding the city at that sea- son has been grossly exaggzerated—fur- nished, perhaps, by some one detained here by force of circumstances, who longed for a breath from the Blue Ridge mountains or a dip in the waves on the Jersey coast. The author speaks of “the long summer- time, when those who are forced to live there speak of the place as the subbase- when “the asphalt be- comes hot lava,” when “the carriage wheels make ruts in it—ruts that quickly close up again, as marks made in molasses will do,” when “detectives can trace a fugitive by his footprints,” etc., etc. During a resi- derce of nearly fourteen years in this al- most ideal city ft has been my fortune to spend a part of every summer, and some- times the entire season, here. I have no personal knowledge of “‘the subbasement of hades,” yet the comparison is odious to me. I have never seen any “hot lava” flowing through the streets, nor any “ruts” that in any way reminded me of “marks made in molasses.” I have seen detectives chase criminals in summer, but they were more likely to find them through the aid of some ragged little darkey, who would run in ad- vance and shout: “Dis way, mister; I seen him run in de alley. He jes’ roun’ de cor- ner, sah," than by the “tracks” in said ‘lava,” for a criminal’s tracks in Washing- ton are not so different from other foot- prints, as‘many of them wear very pointed shoes! Then what a travesty upon our charming summer evenings, when the author says people “venture out for breath,’and the enjoyment of a respite from the terrors of the day, .t0 prepare for the ‘terrors of the night.’ ‘At 9 o'clock all is dark. All is silent as if it were a city on the Mozam- bique coast’”—‘‘shadowy forms are seen on the porches of the dwellings, on the high stoops and galleries over the bay windows. They are the women”—“their dress is such that they would not tell how little they have on!” “They can an Sandwich Islanders.” d do dress like Now, it is true that after 6 o'clock din- ner is over all Washington turns out upon the front porches. It is also true that in some quarters where cheerless lives are spent in crowded tenements, “terrors of the night” may be anticipated, as they may in any large city north or’ south, but one walking through any of the city’s best streets may see large, roomy houses,which have been closed all day to exclude the hot air, now thrown wide open to admit what- ever of breeze may enter, and hundreds of front porches simply alive with beauty! Rich Persian rugs are drawn out from halls and drawing rqoms. and cover the steps. Light bamboo ‘3 or gay cush- ions serve as seats, and, possibly, where space will admit, a little;stand containing a pitcher of lemonade fs given place and the tinkle of the clinking, glasses mingles refreshingly with the merry talk and laughter that come ffam;the gay groups without, Diaphancus organdies, soft silks, and dainty dimities fiytter from one porch to the other in little friend]y visitations, as big-sleeved and fuil-skirted as can be found on the plazzas of any summer hotel. It is true that one woman was conveyed to the police station one warm evening re- cently clad In one scanty garment, but she was a notable exception and not’ the rule as regards summer clothing. Street pianos send “forth their popular strains, while lttle darkigs by the dozea dance on the sidewalks, Keeping accurate time to the music watch they love, making a scene most picturesqhe. Then Wednesday and Saturday evenings the Marine Band giyes an open-air concert, where, on the grand plaza of the Capitol, or the ample grounds of the White House, the people assemble by the thousand, old’ and young. Men and maidens saunter in the yellow twilight, jaunty-capped nurses wheel seraphic babies, children in dainty costumes tumble about on the green grass, while playing fountains send cooling sprays of water through the thick foliage. All this time the.oven cable cars are gliding by, laden with people who can quickly reach the arsenal, and walk as long as they desire urder the trees on the river bank, or, if they prefer, can take an elec- tric road and enjoy a ‘stroll through the charming wooded grounds of the Soldiers’ Home. And so many of those who are not on the front porches or listening to the glor- ious Marine Band are flying in the breeze of the grip cars, or wheeling along the asphalt in their carriages toward the va- rious beautiful suburbs which enfold the nation’s capital. I have not spoken of the multitudes who fill the little steamers tat skim up and down the Potomac in the mellow moon- light and send soft strains of music to the strollers on the shore. How many citles are blessed with such an outing place—so easily and quickly. reached? Ah, lovely Washington, someone has mis- represented you to one, who, if he would only come.here himself in summer and hear your music and see your flowers and sit on a front porch in a white flannel suit, would write no more of lava and molasses, but would do as we do when the days are hot (as of course they often are), close his windows and doors by 10 o'clock to keep out the heat, and write a Christmas story or a sleighing song for a December maga- zine, and thus occupied he would forget all else and at evening he could have his choice of the various recreations of which I have spoken, and he would leave at last with sorrow and declare by all that was cool and comfortable that In summer or winter you were the most charming city in the world. ELLEN KNIGHT BRADFORD. Kiss the Place Ho Sat On. From the Boston Herald. Royalty worship reached an absurd point the other day. Tho Prince of Wales seated himself in a publio park to chat for a mo- ment with a friend. On his rising to re- sume his stroll three well-dressed young ladies hastened to the spot wich he had just Ieft and one after the other knelt and kissed the seat which had been honored, by supporting thelr future king—this, too, in the presence of several hundred onlookers. This ta even worse than the idiocy of the man who picked up the stump of a cigar thrown away by the princo and keeps it in a glass case, to be exhibited to all his friends. It is a rich manpfacturer in Shef- flekl who religiously pregerves a grease spot on the wall of hfs billiard room made by the august head of, hig royal highness when seated on the divan which runs round the room, while watoling a game of bill- lards after dinner. A niimber of years have since then, ang the billiard room has undergone many, alterations in the shapa of new wall gnd redecoration. One thing glono remains uptouched,namely, that little oleaginous mark on the wall. + A Sleeplens: Han. Prom the Indtanapolis New; 2 David Jones, the wealttiy, farmer, residing near Fiwood, Ind., alioutiwhom so much has recently been wrftted’ and published, hokis the record as th# sleepless man. Sev- eral days prior to 23, 1894, he rad sleepless spells, at night, when he would lie down to nest his sleep was greatly disturbed. On the night of Sep- tember 23 he failed to sleep, and it was at that time that his long period of sleepless- ness set in. Night after night and day after day came and went, and stfll no sleep visited his eyes. He lost a few pounds of flesh, but he was able to continue working. A numbes of noted medical men consulted over his tase ard prescribed relief, all of which failed. February 22, he began to feel and there was a feeling of hoy sleepless period was drawing to . He was not mistaken, for that night he laboriously slept half an hour. He has since been sleeping a little each night, and it is now thought that he soon will be all right again. He went one hundred and fifty-two days and nights without sleeps a record that has never been equaled. Three years ago he went ninety days and nights without sleeping, and now he is wondering what his third attack will do for him. He only lost t-n pounds during his long sleep- less period, now closing. THINGS HEARD AND SEEN * A gentleman. who. recently returned from California tells a story of meeting on the homeward-bound train a man -who had passed the middle age, but who yet seemed quite hale and hearty. He had with him @ young woman, whom he called baby, and the passengers, as passengers do, sized up the man to be a Californian of some means taking a bridal trip, with about his third ‘ride. Later the Washington man got ac- quainted with the supposed groom, and found that he was eighty-four years old, and that it was his granddaughter with whom he was traveling. In conversation the old. man talked of early life in California, of general busi- ness affairs, and incidentally mentioned that he was going to Europe. “How long do you expect to remain?” asked the Washington traveler. “Oh, four or five years,” blandly answer- ed the octogenarian. “I have laid out a plan of travel and study in Europe that I think will occupy about that time, and I want to take it all in, as I don’t know how long it will be before I shall care to repeat the trip.” Our Washington traveler also learned that the old man, who did not appear to expect death, had in his early days been one of the leaders of the first band of vigilantes that was ever organized in Cali- fornia, He was the sheriff of Judge Lynch’s court, and many a desperado he had arrested. It was his duty to arrest and execute the men who had been tried by the “court,” whether present or not; it being often the case that the criminal had not remained in the vicinity after the commission of crime to stand trial. the accused was speedily convicted, and the “sheriff” directed to hang him as soon as caught. He often went into a gang of desperadoes and arrested a man who knew that he had been convicted, who knew that his apprehensiog meant death, and yet during all the time, though sometimes under fire, he was never seriously injured. He was one of the men who in the early California days made that state what it has since become. It was necessary to have law and order if every tough char- acter in the country had to be lynched to secure it. “In matters purely social,” remarked a cabinet officer to a reporter for The Star, “I never like to be quoted, so in what 4s to follow you may omit my name. Last win- ter one of our best known Senators from one of the gulf states lying between Loul- siana and Florida was at the theater. Af- ter the performance he, with a friend, re- paired to a German restaurant to be re- freshed. For the first time in his long and well-spent life he encourtered that power- ful confection known as Limburger cheese. He was delighted with it, as with a revela- tion in gastronomy. He craved of the own- er of the hosteiry a specimen of the cheese that he might convey it to his household, there to be exhibited and taught to them as a lessor in the palatable; and all to the end that large quartities of the cheese might be purchased and consumed by them. The good-natured restauranter gave the statesman an entire cheese, wrapped in the usual tinfoil, which is its market overcoat. “The Senator blithely received the cheese and mowed it away in the stern-sheets of his dress suit. Then he went home, and hanging his costume in the wardrohe, went to bed. In the morning, with the approach- ing cares of a tariff day overshadowing any memory of that Limburger, he pulled on his every-day suit and went down to the Senate. When he sought his home again at 6 p. m. he found doors and windows open, while his family went about in furs and similar defenses against the cold. There were artisans about who had taken up flooring boards, sawed into the wainscot and torn ragged holes in the frescoes over his head. The house looked as if some plumber who loved his art had been looking for a leak. “What's the trouble here? demanded the Senator with a strain of irritation in his naa ‘There's a dead mouse in the wall or floor somewhere,” said his wife from out her sealskins. ‘We've got to find it and get rid of it. We can’t live in the house.” “Then the statesman remembered the faithful Limburger lurking in_ his dress coat. It was removed from office, and a eclored person was employed to carry it to leeward of the Senator’s household as far as he could go for two bits.”” Some of the naval officers now in Wash- ington who were at one time in China tell of a day they spent ashore looking for sport. For a few yen, amountimg to about four cents, they secured the services of two Chinamen to fight for their entertainment. The fight went on bravely, and, as fights go in China, not being onto the American hip- podrome style, one of the Chinamen was whipped. But he was mad. As he moved away from the scene of combat he found a stonc, and, turning upon his late antago- nist, struck him a blow that killed him. The murderer was speedily beheaded, but the authorities held that it was no concern of the American officers if a murder re- sulted from their plan of amusement. One of the younger officers remarked: “We not only got a fight, but a killing and an exe- cution, all for ur cents. You couldn't beat those rates.’ Over in the Agricultural Department they occasiofially send a lot of publications to the government printing office to be bound. These documents, cr a load of them, came back the other day, and_a newspaper man picked up one of them. It was somebody's “Bartender's Guide,” and contained a hun- dred.or more recipes for compounding drinks, A question arose as to what use the Agricultural Department would make of such a publication, and the answer was that all, or nearly all, of the ingredients used in mixing drinks were the product of the farm, and some student (in the depart- ment desired to trace the seductive cock- tail and paralyzing whisky sour to its foun- tain head. But the publication was soon pronounced to be Incomplete. There was no “rickey” described, and a further ex- amination revealed many other defects. A lady in one of the down-town dress- making parlors was being fitted in an up- stairs back room. This room looked out on a small court or alleyway. Soon the lady noticed a woman speeding by on a bicycle. A moment later she saw another, and still another. In fact, the procession kept up until she concluded that the whole female bicycle population of Washington was passing in review through that alley. She was about to speak about it to the dressmaker, when she saw that the simi- larity of the many women passing was most marked, and a closer examination showed that it was the same woman mak- ing a circle of what proved to be a bicycle practice court, only a section of which could be seen from the window. Now, there 1s nothing startling in this; but it is gtven as an example of a great doal of literature that is finding its way .into_ print under such headings as “Strange Tales of the Tewn,” and “What a Woman Sees,” or “Rewarkable Coincidences.” Speaking of bicycles, reminds me that the other morning Commisstoner Proctor of the civil service commission determined to count the “bikes” along his route on F street. In three squares he found fifty-one, and it was not a very good morning for bi- cycles, elther. On the west side of market squaro in Kansas City stands a three-story front of buildimgs known locally as Battle row,from the pugnacious bent of the habitants. These lapse into brawls and chance-meddle encounters with an ease which should alarm. Up under the cornice of one of the buildings is an Odd Fellows’ sign, “I. O. O. F.” If one’s eyes are sharp the white-paint mterior of the first O will show a huddle of gray, weather-hued spots very well in the center of the letter. They are the handiwork of that long-haired gentleman of the border, Wild Bull. It was back In the middle ‘7's, almost, if not quite, a score of years ago, when Wild Bill, “by request,” and merely to show his ‘witch-like skill with those wea- pons, stood across the strest, fully 100 feet away, and with a 4i-caliber Colt’s pistol in each hand put all the twelve bullets into the center of this "O.” He fired the pistols simultaneously, and the twelve shots made only six reports. The town was smaller at that tme, and in the Interest of science didn’t mind a ttle racket now and then. So Wild Bill's exhibition of crack pistol shooting excited nothing but compliment. Indeed, Speers, chief of police then, as well as now, was cne of the most interested lookers ‘on; and emphatically indorsed the exhibition as one of the most skilifui tricks with pistols it had ever been his luck to see. ————. Seymour Carter, confidential manager for Taylor Brothers and Compeny, Quincy, Ill, has been appointed receiver for that firm, and also for the Quincy Milling Company, owned by the Taylors. The total liabilities will not reach $200,000, In the assets is the mammoth flour plant, which cost $275,000. In these instances |, ) Cool Costume: Before the hot weather gets here () * in earnest, and you'll not find a Q * better place to get it than right () * here. At the prices we quote % * for Saturday a Suit, stylish, well * made, of fine material, can be obtained for very little—for far Y oe Jess indeed than you'd pay any- () *% where glise. Call and inspect % oe Se see plomeeee ne aif ee oe . . * . . Skirts and Waists and study the prices. They'll astonish you. SILK WAISTS. $4.00 SILK Wats#s, large, stylish sleeves, new blouse fronts, AN UN- rupee par- $1.O8 GAIN AT. . weeee $9.00 SILK WAISTS, velvet collar, newest stapes. choice patterns. Reduced to..... 59. LAUNDERED WAISTS, endless variety of patterns, beautifully made and finished, Your $1.25 LAUNDERED WAISTS, stylish in pat- tern and splendidly fin- ished, at. $1.48 and $1.69 LAUN- DERED WAISTS, a hun- dred patterns, in per- cale, lawns and batistes, Offered at. Stylish Skirts. $14.00 and $15.00 SILK and MOHAIR CREPON SKIRTS, extra wide, godet back, lned in hair cloth. Choice for Sat- urday only = 95.0 $5.00 NOVELTY MO- HAIR SKIRT, tn black, © vece, ‘nineacd andre, D2QS) vet bound. = 2 () We make TO ORDER % all the Latest Styles of Skirts, ard guarantee ab- solute satisfaction in fit $ and workmanship. We claim to produce the most stylish Skirts that can be made, from $4.00 up. SUITS. 50 of the latest styles, in “ETON” and “BLAZER” Suits. Each Suit has a distinct style of its own. To intro- duce them, we offer them in two lots. $7.50 Suits for $5.00: 3910.50 Suits for $7.98. %KID GLOVES. Last Sale of the Season. ALL OUR GLOVES of the $1.25, $1.50 and $1.75 values, in ONB GREAT Y LOT. 4-buttoa Foster Heok and Mous- Q x EXTRA OTICE. quetaire. Large choice of colors and all sizes. We offer them all at the one price of ) 79. 5 eee ‘CLARK’S “Dry Goods Houses, 3734-736. 7th St. = ) GAS | STOVES. It is for you to say, but it fs mis- taken economy to buy “‘cheap” gas hay stoves. We have gas stoves from Oe. up—good ones for their price, but of all the kinds can find in the world’s market these we consider the best. They stand on high legs, ve large double-flame burners and throw out more heat on a given flow of gas than any other kind. One=Burner for $1.75. Two-Burner for $2.50. Three-Burner for $3.75. © Double-tinad Ovens for $1.85, and the Russia Iron Ovens for $2.25. Wilmarth & Edmonston, Crockery, &c., 1207 Pa. Ave. my10-360 : BELTS. Ay assortment unequaled in variety ari} beauty. Genuine,” Sterling Sie Tok, Belts, <VEI1000 & fie.” Only , 91.25 Up. These prices. incledé’, an engraved mopogram. Merling Silvee-Stnds (3), collar but- tom and pair of link uff buttons, suit- and’ men’s sold lo for ladign’ _ shirt nogtize shtrtn a d at $1 pee sotsi.Ouly: 7T5C. Exquisite Mnameled Hdects m Sets, fromm $1.50 up. Trilby’’ <iltart Lockots—of sterling silver, latest mmmmer “fad,” "$2.50 Harris <6. Cor. 7th and D Sts. That Scratched-up BATH TUB —— Will lose fits untaviting look and sesame and wear of Paint ints, Varnishes, makes a visit worth your while, R. Pi. BROWN, Cor. 7th&N. "Phone 1490. my9-tt affticted with corns and bunions can PEET roar any =< soe we ing Georg: tent Ne TON and CORN SAIMLDS.” Charges very moderate. PROF. J. J. GBORGES & SON, 1115 PA. AVE. bi 8 to 6. CHIROPODISTS. Sundays, 9 to 1. my8-104 18 THE EVENING STAR has a Larger Circulation in the Homes of Washington than all the Other Papers of the City Added Together, because “it z Stands Up Always for the Interests of the People of Washington; Contains the - Latest _ and ‘Fultest Local and General News; and : Surpasses all the Other Papers in the ? City in the Variety and Excellence ofits . Literary Features. . It Literally Goes Everywhere, and is It is, therefore, asa Local ; Advertising Medium, without a Peer, Whether Cost or Measuré of Publicity be Considered.