Evening Star Newspaper, August 3, 1895, Page 15

THE EVENING STAR, SATURDAY, AUGUST 3, 1895-TWENTY PAGES. 15 MARKETS OF PARIS A Graphic Picture of the Great Marts of Food Supplies. BAD SYSTEM FOR THE FARMERS The Lively and Virulent Tongues of the Fish Women. THE LITTLE COMMISSION Gorrespondence of The Evening Star. PARIS, July 16, 1895. O THE HABITUAL patron of Paris up- per middle class res- taurants, who pays 12 cents for a dimin- utive plum tart «nd 20 cenis for a stuffed tomato, who, ever seeking, ever reject- ing, roams in his helpless folly forever further and further from the peace of plain cooking into more and more bar- ren occasions of sorrows,hurried, as it were, by the lust of truffles over the precipice of desire to sink into the abyss of innutrition; to this deluded sitter at the table of the Barmacide the glory and the fullness and the realness of the food supplies found in the Paris central markets comes with an ecstatic thrill. His stomach squirms, .con- torts and twitches, and his eyes bulge out; tis cheps drop water and his soul yearns @s a lover's. For here, inside and out of this fresh- smelling, monster temple of the true and beautiful, more like a series of exposition halls than a mere place of trade, you find in all their green virginity those dainties which for months you have but known heretofore on silver-plated platters, shrunk- en, shriveled and bedizzened, padded, painted and adorned like a fine lady. | Ten thousand handsome servant matids, ) With earrings, fresh-washed and combed and breezy in the morning of their youth, of opulent contours, flower-faced, bright- eyed, fresh from their beds and bubbling , With delight at knocking down a quarter of a dollar on their masters, rattle their stiff skirts and swing their healthy hips and ) Show their sturdy calves encased in black | silk stockings stolen from their mistresses to wring the hearts of market men, and so confuse them as to quite forget their prices ard accept bad silver. Slow, cow-eyed peasant girls, astride their pumpkins, count their cabbages. Fine la- dies who take pride in marketing turn, shuddering, from the taunts of the gross women of the Halles, whose tongues are scorpions. Sworn porters, in official blue, with numbers on brass checks sewed to their hats, compete to carry home the bas- kets with the broken-down and tattered loafers, absinthe-soaked. The wholesale dealers and the great commission. mer- chants stand in corners, whispering and planning how to further still combine in their evasion of police control and further rob the distant farmer and the far-off fisher. Rounders, male and female, who have | passed the night with wine and song, jaunt through the throngs of sober workers, im- pudent and loud, exhilarated by the morn- ing air and the fresh, healing perfumes where their drinks and spices and tobacco left them nerveless. All is noise and riot, all is bright with color, and the air of Paris in the morning, cool and coffee-fragrant, makes one for a ilme forget the air of Paris in the afternoon, of horse sweat, dust, absinthe and violet powder. ‘These Halles Centrues, as thcy called, consist of a vast structure, m: iron, and situated in the center of the great French capital. For two full blocks b r open square is , on every side, the streets are made impassable by trucks and hand-earts, barrows and great heaps of produce, with a countless throng that rends the air with cries. The open squares around the structure of the Halles are still rrore packed, so that no vehicles may pass them, and the foot passenger must thread his way amid undying jests ani curses and appeals. The great iron buildings, which have ten pavilions, are a town itself, with streets and cross-streets, all arranged and ordered with strict regularity, and where one wanders from the cabbage market to the street given over to black radishes, and from the cheeses to the tripe, and from the lobsters to he violets. All goes by rule. The muuicipal labor- atory has {ts sworn inspectors, nosing doubtful fi and meats and probing into butter, tasting, licking, snooping, fingering. ‘The prefect of the Seine, state officer, has his detectives hunting tax frauds, his swern welghers and sworn measure to hunt out frauds upon the public, his sworn ac- countants in continual conflict with the de- tectives, weighers, measurers and account- arts, also sworn, pertaining to the prefect of police, another functionary of the state, not of the city. And the municipality has its own corps, intent on satisfying the never-ending differences between the retail traders, all of whom obtain their places through ward poiities, intent on making new encroachments on wholesale interests, and bewailing always that the city may not run its market. All goes by rule. The city may not run its market, for the Paris Halles Centrales, by reason of their magnitude, do not per- tein to Paris oniy, but io all of France; the central government itself must regu- late this giant wholesale dealing in the in- terest of the far-off cultivator. Such is the theory. ‘e goes on daily in these government-infested halls a most gigantic series of outrageous frauds on those same distant cultivators, frauds which the pow- erful empire could rot check, but tried to, and which the present government, by deputies, torn with a thousand jealousies, can make no fight agai For there stands always in the way the powerful and corrupting municipality of Paris, caring nothing for the country—all must be for Paris—levying tribute on the thousand times already duped provincial through a market systern which smacks more of bunco than of commerce. The very government commissions sit- ting periodically on this question, fearful lest the fisheries of the coast shall throw their nets down in disgust to join the peasant cultivators in their movement to- ward the factory towns, are so infected with the egotism of the capital that they start regularly with the proposition that “the dominating interests of the question of the Halles is that of the provisioning of Paris.” x The ancient mbnarchy, before the time of Louis XIII, had accepted this astonishing- ly centralizing theory. Within a circle of eight leagues around the capital ail land was sacred to its feeding. Under Lou's XIII the limits of the circle were increased to thirty miles. In it no outside sales ard speculations were permitted. All must be sent to Paris and there sold. No farmer might keep grain stored more than two years. No cattle dealer might kesp his young beeves above a given time. For fish the limits of the circle were ten miles; but when the provinces of Picardy ani Nor- mandy were added to the crown the very coast fish of these districts were confiscat- ed to the profit of Parisians. All must be bought and sold in Paris. It was forbid- ¢en to producers t2 siop on the road and seul @ portion of their stock before arriv- ng. Fishers, farmers and stcck raisers in the fatal circle came to choose commission- aires (commission merchsnts), charged with representing them. Between the cultivator ard kis Paris agent there was then no Intermediary and no government control. These traders took advantage of their place and the necessities of those they rep- resented; and In the course of time the scandal was so great that, to assure the provisioning of Paris, menaced by pro- ducers robbed and cesperate, the govern- ment was forced to intervene. The bad commission merchants were replaced by special government Cflicials, called sworn sellers, now called facteurs, who exist to- day, but who have conquered for them- selves all the advantages of traders, and backed up by law and their official place, repeat the very naughtinesses of the an- cient bunco operators of two hundred years ago. The written law of the great circle round the capital exists no longer; but the Iaw of strong necessity and custom has replaced it. And in a circle which is drawn around all France the fishers, farm- ers, peasant cultivators and stock raisers look to Paris for tkeir more important sales, even when the goods must be re- shipped to large owns nearer to them. In the great pavilion, built on state ground expressly for the benefit of distant fishers, there sit 200 hardened ladies, fish women of the Halles. Their rent is a de- rision and their taxes come to nothing. They have city gas and water free. As it is in the fish market, so it is with flowers and fruits, meats, butter, eggs and cheeses, and the whole round of provisioning. It is a charming sight to see these same fish women of the Halles engaged in grow- ing rich—for they are not poor creatures struggling bravely, but_rich traders, with large bank accounts. Their flow of lan- guage is proverbial. Coarse, grasping, lying, they unite the obscenity of the ape with the virulence of the serpent; the craft of the fox with the insensibility of the rhinoceros. ‘Madame wishes to give only 20 sous for a sole like that!” she delights to cry out tos timid little Parisiennes, new- married, who come marketing and try to bargain; “twenty cous for a sole like that! ah! malheur! Madame must have the habit of robbing her kitchen to pay for her toilets! Is your lover so poor? Get out, you are dead-broke!” Or—“Madame, I ad- vise you to buy carps, as being extremely suitable to madame. My son Julot calls them demi-mondaines, because they keep fresh such a long time.” Madame had bet- ter let her servant-maid come bargaining. The servant-maid will naturally knock down a commission, but the family mar- keting will be done cheaper, rotwithstand- ing. This practice on the part of servants to exact commissions on all they buy for their masters’ tables strikes a keynote of Paris- ian habit, which one may see exemplified a thousand times around the Hailes Cen- trales. Nothing is done for nothing, though all picking and extortion must be done according to time-honored customs. The bonne will do her best to market for her mistress, fight furiously with the women of the Halles, be it the question of a fish, a pumpkin or a pound of eggs. But only when the meney has been paid, and when tho goods are in her basket, she will then turn round ond coolly ask the market woman for her whack—about which there is never any fight at all. The sou in the franc, one cent in every twenty, is the cus- tem never deviated from. As a result of these minute pickings every one is cheerful, every cne is handling ready money. Of the G0,(4 persons who are said to have some place or other in connection with this market, from the municipal Inspector of meats to the licens- ed porter—or poor devil, as you please— who carries home your basket, there Is never a one who does not get his little whack outside his regulation pay. There- fore, the Halles afford a unique theater for the display of French good nature at its best—when Frenchmen are engaged in Raining centimes. And the street fakir, selling patent leather slippers to the serv- ant maids, cries to them jokingly, and they all smile: “Come, mesdemoiselles, and treat yourselves to patent leather slippers, very cheap. You only need to add them to the price of the provisions! A little fin~ ger stroke to benefit your little feet!” STERLING HEILIG. ——.—_—_ Business All Right. From the Cleveland Plain Dealer. First Surgeon—“I don’t see why you're so blue, Scaipel, this soon after the Fourth” Second Surgeon—“But there isn’t an ache, nor pain, nor accident—” First Surgeon—“But the threshing ma- chines have started, and they are always ready to give us a hand.” ABOUT OULD IRELAND Chatty Topics From the Note Book - of a Traveler. RICH MEN IN THE EMERALD ISLE The Good Hotels and the Small but Luscious Strawberries. AN IRISH YOUTH Ow THAT A titled Irishman has come to the British embassy, anecdotes with a shamrock fla- vor are timely. The majority of people, and some of them world-wide travelers, too, who have never been in Ireland, have an idea that the rich Irish, who are sup- posed to be few and far between anyway, are never found in their own country, and all that the average traveler may hope to observe is poverty, dirt and misery gener- ally. We used to hear a great deal a few years ago about the absent landlords, and it is no less true now, but that does not drive all the rich from the “ould sod” by any means. Last summer the Cork cricket team was playing for the championship against the English military team, and the latter beat them, too, by the way, more’s the pity, for the Corkies played a mighty pretty game for the three days the contest was on. The captain of the Cork team is Sir George Colthurst, baronet and J. P., a charming man socially, and one of the best crieketers in the United Kingdom. He is the owner of Blarney castle and the many productive acres with which it is sur- rounded, as well as the new Blarney castle where he lives. Four of the men on his team, about as good-looking a quartet of brothers as could be found anywhere, each enjoy an annual income of $100,000. Of course, most of the rich mén, and rich men’s sons, too, have accumulated their wealth by vulgar trade, and are still attending strictly to business, but if there is any pleasure or comfort which these people have not tasted or surrounded them- selves with it is only because they have not heard of it. The four young men just quoted are all married, but there are plenty more just like them in Ireland; and if something could be only devised to en- courage that class of ‘emigration to our drawing rooms it would make the problem of “What shall we do with our daugh- ters?" much easier to solve here, where eli- gible men are so scaérce. At Blarney Castle. Talking about Blarney castle as a purely business speculation, the ruins pay, not because of the price of admission, for that is entirely voluntary and does not any more than cover the salary of the care-taker. She Is a plessant-faced, red-haired woman, whom tourists find in the intervals of their visits to Blarncy looking always the same and never growing a day older. It is the little railway from Cork to Blarney, with @ half dozen stops between and along the “running waters of the River Lee,” that makes the shillings for the corporation operating it, of which the owner of Blar- ney castles, new and old, is a heavy share- holder, From the top of the ruins one of the prettiest pictures on which the sun ever phone repays the traveler who has climbed so high to look down on the Blarney stone. The stone is there, and venturesome in- dividuals for a couple of centuries have easily distinguished themselves by hanging cver the parapet to kiss it. It takes some rerve, but the Irish air is full of that, and no end of confidence can be reposed In the steady fellow holding your heels. There is another way. Poke your umbrella through the opening and kiss the point which touched the rock. The charm will prob- ably work as well at long range. About the Hotels. There are good hotels in Ireland, some almost as good as in this country. The best of them are not found in the cities, though, but at the lake and seaside re- scrts, Too many of them in Ireland, as well as in England, make too strong a card of the martial glories of the gorgeous hall porter. He is done up in gold lace and a showy uniform, with a background of shin- ing brasses and other front door effects. As a rule, be is really the only perfect fea- ture about the establishment, and, to the American iljea, absolutely worthless. In the south of Ixeland hotels are uni- ormly bad in every respect but food. ‘hat would be hard to spoil. There is a new hotel, or, rather, an old one trans- formed, in Dublin, owned by English capi- tal, which is about as near perfection as the traveler will find in any country. The room furnishings are daintiness personified in every particular. The electric lighting and a telephone in each room are wonders for the old country, and, indeed, the latter is not common in this. French cooking and French waiters are other surprises, and the price is a trifle lower than the hotels in the neighborhood of the national galleries ir London. Strawberries in Abundance. The summer tourist in Ireland wilt not find the variety of vegetables and fruits that is in our markets now. If you long for pineapple, a small one will cost at least $1; peaches, home grown, 12 and 15 cents apiece; tomatoes will be just as expensive, and hothouse grapes will obtain our winter prices. Oranges are about the only standby to be recognized by home prices. Plums and green gages at 25 cents a quart are not the food of the multitude; but the strawberries, the currants and the big gooseberries come the nearest to it. The Irish strawberry is very small, but it makes up in sweetness, provided it has not been deluged with rain. At this season the strawberry beds around Dublin, be- yond Phoenix Park, are places of fashion- able resort. The beds are on the hillsides, and along the base rushes with tumultuous leaps the Liffey, soon to lose all its sparkle as its waters receive the dirt of the city, and becomes instead an inky stream. The public houses are pretty close together for a mile or two. The proper refreshment with your berries and powdered sugar. is milk and soda, or rich cream, or a nice hot punch, with a raisin loaf. You can have all this out on the roadside, with a cabbage leaf for a plate, or in a little summer house way back from it, or in the low-ceilinged dining room, which has snowy white curtains in the windows and the reddest of geraniums blooming on the sills. And the whole busi-~ ness, simple as it sounds, is well worth crossing the ocean to enjoy. % A Progreasive Youth. Talk about the precocity of Young America, why, it is nothing compared to Young Ireland. He was about as high as a seat of the chair, as broad as he was long, and was simply stuffed into hig first pair of breeches. He had high heels on a stiff pair of boots and made consider- able noise as he strutted up and down the railroad station in Killarney one fine day lately. He was just exactly four years old, and was puffing away vigorously at a cigarette, a package of which he had se- cured by putting his last big penny in the sict. All at once his light went out, and cap in hand up he stalks to a man among the waiting passengers—with a “Please, sur, gi’ me a match. He refused, but others did not, and he got all the matches he wanted to keep that cigarette going till it was burned down to his baby lips. A lady who was watching the performance was horrified, and when the youngster came near her, said: “Who taught you to smoke?” Off came the bit of a cap, “The sogers, ma’m, up to de barracks.” “Where is your mother?” was asked. “She’s gone away to Limerick and I stole out.” “Well, don’t you know that good little boys never smoke, and besides that fs go- ing to make you awfully sick in a min- ute?” sald the lady, mfxing up morals and hygiene of the situation, as she noticed something of a change coming over the chubby face of the yovngster. But the expression turned into the very broadest of grins a3 this blase young man of four tender years ‘turned on his heel end (in the most patronizing tones) said: “Well, that’s very & speak for you.” And the lady did not m inclined to con- tinve the conversation, either. She had enough. A VACATION JRESOURCE. —+ The Possibilities 0 to Those Who Ride a Wheel. From the New York Tribune The bicycle has not, Shy opened fine op- portunities for recreatijh and exercise to hundreds of men and women who otherwise would get into the open air Ilttle, if at all, but it has further illustrated its use- fulness by affording a new method of en- joying the annual holiday. Its advantages are especially great in the cases of those whose summer vacation is brief, but those whose time is longer will find it a delight- ful experiente to take to the wheel for a week or two. Bicycle tours have for some time been popular with men, an ladies have also taken extended journeys with pleasure and profit and without experienc- ing any serious inconvenience. Occasion- ally, too, family groups may be seen tak- ing thelr outing a-wheel, traveling, per- haps, several hundred miles in the course of two or three weeks. Hardly anything can be imagined more delightful than such @ vacation, which affords unequaled op- portunities’ zor seeing the country, for studying nature at first hand and for in- creasing one’s knowledgé of birds and flow- ers and trees. The only thing comparable with it in this respect is tramping, which is far more wearying. involves the personal carrying of considerable luggage, and for the majority of women and young people is absolutely out of the question. On the bicycle, however, women in average health and most boys and girls of twelve or fourteen can journey from iwenty to thirty miles a day without exerting them- selves unduly or becoming overtired; and thus a family tour on wheels, covering 200 or 300 miles, or more, becomes an easy pos- sibility in almost any direction where there 1s a reasonable prospect of finding fairly good roads. ‘The equipment needed for such a journey is not great—for these who undertake it must resolve in adyance to dispense with luxuries—and can be readily siowel away in the luggage carriers made to tit in the “diamond-frame” wheel. Ladies riding “drop-frame” bicycles are at a disad- vantage here, but then it is no more than fair that they should travel. “light” and that the burdens should be borne by the sterner sex. The addition of fifteen or twenty pounds of luggage to an ordinary bicyele, if properly placed, is no serious obstacle to pleasurable riding. At the same time, a valise or trunk can be for- warded from point to point on the journey, if deemed necessary. For a trip of this kind a carefully prepared program is de- sirable, but {t should be of the elastic rather than the hard-and-fast- variety. It is impossible, of course, to tell what delays may be caused by bad weather, poor roads or accidents; hence the program should be “subject to change without previous an- nouncemant.” In the matter of luggage It may be added that waterproofs are indis- pensable, since a shower is likely to over- take the party at any moment. To reap the full benefit of a vacation on bicycles it is necessary to abandon ell thought of records or rapid riding. Re- member that you are out for health and exhilaration, not in order to do a certain number of miles in @ certain number of hours or days. Don’t hesitate to ride at a moderate pace and to tale frequent rests. You will eat heartily and enjoy your meal: and will sleep as yoy beve not since yo were a child. You will acquire a handsome brown as to hands andiface, which will excite the wonder and@ admiration of your town friends on your return. You will gain many interesting experiences and lay vp a store of memories that will prove a per- ennial delight. Withal, you can have and enjoy all these things,at 4 moderate outlay by the exercise of a little care and fore- thought. ‘ The bicycle tour is a modern invention and an excellent one,.and commends itself to those who are tired;of hotels and board- ing houses and surfeited with the ordinary methods of occupying the time of the sum- mer outing. * ———_ 9 1 CHARM OF THE “AUTOCRAT.” Dr. Holmes Wrote It When He Was Nearly Half a Century Old. From St. Nicholas, Then, when Holmes was forty-eight years old, an age at which most men have stif- fened themseives into habits, he showed the freshness of his talent by writing one of the wisest and wittlest prose books in the English language. The Atlantic Monthly was established in the fall of 1857, and Lowell made it a condition of his acting as editor that Dr. Holmes should be a con- tributor. Therefore it was that the first number of the new magazine contained the opening pages of the “Autocrat of the Breakfast Table,” which every reader fol- lowed with delight month after month, until at last the book was completed and published by itself in the fall of 1858. Since then it is rather as a writer of prose than as a writer of verse that Dr. Holmes has been most highly esteemed. The “Autocrat of the Breakfast Table” is a most original book; not that ft is espe- cially original in form, for it is not entirely unlike the Spectator of Addison and Steele, wherein we have a group of characters de- scribed, and wherein their sayings and doings are duly recorded. In the American beok the group of characters meets at the early morning meal, and one of them—the Autocrat himself—does most of the talking. ‘The other figures are lightly sketched; some of them are merely suggested; and even at the very end there is but the thinnest thread of a story. The real originality of Dr. Holmes’ work is in the frank simplicity and sincerity of the Autocrat's talk. He seemed rather to be chatting with himself than conversing with others; and no such talk had yet fallen from any American lips —Mone so cheerful with humor, so laden with thought, so mellow with knowledge, so ripe with’ experience. The reader {3 borne along by the current of it, unresist- ing, smiling often, laughing sometimes, and absorbing always, even if unconscjously, high and broad thoughts about life. So ample a store of humor—and of good humor—had Dr. Holmes, so well filled a reservoir of sense and of common sense, that he had an abundance of material for other volumes like the “Autocrat.” In 1860 he published the “Professor at the Break- fast Table,” and in 1872 the “Poet at the Breakfast Table.” Though these two vol- umes have not all the freshness of the first one, they are inferior only to it; they have the same wholesome spirit, the same sunny sagacity. And these are the qualities which characterize also his last volume of pros2, “Over the Tea Cups,” issued in 1890, when he was eighty-one years old. In all these books there is the precious flavor of actual conversation, the table talk of a broad, liberal, thoughtful man, full of fancy and abounding in humor, , ———es—_-_—_ Making Shot im Water. From Hardware. The shot-making trade hes legend, which recites that baek ix the days when guns were shot off by:lighted matches an were swiveled to supports because they were too big and clumsy tq be lifted to the shoulder, and when all shot was molded as bullets are today, some. workmen were fastening an iron grating to the wall of a castle. They had cut out the hole in the stone, and, after placing the iron in the hole, poured some lead in to hold the iron in place, just as they do today. Some of the lead escaped and ran over the edge of the wall into the:moat below. Svon afterward the attention of the soldiers was attracted to the lead in the clear water, and, dipping it out, they found that the metal in falling from the height had be- come globules. After that those soldiers made their bullets by sprinkling melted lead over the castle wall into the waters of the moat. tee A Slight Alteration. ¥rom Truth. 2 Ada—“Do you think the werd ‘obey’ should be omitted from the marriage serv- ice?” Ida—“Omitted? Certainly not. It should merely be transferrei to the other party fo the contract.” ———-+0+-__—_. A Kansas Conundram. From the Robinson Index, if the chigger were bigger, as big as a cow, and his digger had the vigor of a subsoiler plough, can you tell, dear picnick- er, where you would be now? CASE OF UNCERTAINTY WEITTES FOR THE EVENING 8TAR BY W. J. LAMPT ——— It was about 6 o'clock on a pleasant spring afternoon as I rode down off of a long ridge of the Cumberland mountains ard pulled up at a mountain house of the better class. It was a story and a half high, the windows glazed; there was a porch across its front, and it was two rcoms wide, with an entry between, al- though there were no doors leading from the entry into the rooms on the side. It was of logs, of course, but they were hewed, and this added further distinction to it. As I rode up to the gate I observed that something unusual was taking place. Several horses were hitched along the fence, a number of men and women were about the front of the house, and there was an air of social activity permeating the vicinity quite out of the ordinary. The people about eyed me curiously as I ad- vanced, and when I reached the gate, and it was seen that I did not intend coming in without some kind of an invitation, a long, lank woman, who had been standing in the doorway, moved out to the edge of the perch, “Can you tell me,” I said, bowing from my horse, “how far it is to Hart’s Mill?” Whether she could hear me at that dis- tance, or whether she wanted to talk at closer range, I cannot say, but throwing the dish rag that she held in her hand over her head, she came out to the gate. “Did you wanter know how fer 'twuz to Hart’s Mill?” she inquired. “If you please, ae I replied, for I al- ways like to be polite to a woman. if “Air you goin’ ter stay thar all night?’ “If I can get accommodation, and I guess I can, for they told me at Hogan’s that I could.” “Oh, yes; thar’s mighty nigh a plum tavern thar sence thar’s been s0 many strangers comin’ thar lookin’ fer timber an’ lands.” She had evidently overlooked my first question, so I propounded it once more. “How many miles did you say it was frcm here?” I ventured. “I reckon I didn’t say,” she smiled. “T wuz thinkin’ about somethin’ else, I reck- on. Hit's four mile, an’ you bar to the left all the way. Thar’s only two turn-offs an’ you can’t miss the road.” Having secured the object of my visit, so to speak, I should have gone on my way, but something in the woman’s manner, added,to the curiosity I felt In wanting to know what was going on, prompted me to linger. . “Is this your place?” I asked, pulling my horse arotnd as if about to go. “Yes; that is, mine and my old man’s. I don’t reckon you know him, do you? He's Jim Nagley. ‘Pears like you oughter know him, too, fer I reckon I've saw you down on Poor Ferk lookin’ up icgs, hain't 1?” “I've been there in that business, but 1 don’t remember to kave seen you. I’ve seen ycur husband, though, several times.” I may say at this point that while I had seen Mr. Nagley several times during my stay along the fork, it was not of my seek- ing, for he had ecquired the Winchester habit, and he had been known to shoot at his neighbors with more or less painful and permanent results. Being an “‘outsider” attending strictly to my own business, and that business in no way interfering with Mr. Nagley’s ideas of the proprieties, 1 was perfectly safe; still I vas not anxious to commingle with Mr. Nagley any more than was absolutely necessary. “Yes,” she said, “I've heern him speak uv the ‘cclcnel’ right many times, an’ I "re the one he means.” pe,”" I replied in my suavest man- ner, “that he spoke well of m “He did. He said you wuz about the peartest man he'd saw in a long while.” Compliments are unusual in the moun- tains and I felt flattered. “Tell him for me,” I said with Chester- fleldian politeness, “that I appreciate his good will” i . “*Tain't a bad thing to havé, I reckon, “she said sententiously, and with a certain degree of pride in her husband. “‘Least- ways, folks that knows Jim don’t think it is” “I know him well enough to realize what it is worth, I assure you, madam,” I hast- ened to explain. She didn’t appear to be listening very closely to me and there was a nervousness in her manner, in addition, which rather disconcerted me without making me any less curious and I continued to linger, the people about the front of the house also showing some signs of curlosity and watch- ing us closely. © had been assured that I stood well in the good graces of Mr. Nagiey I felt no alarm and was determined to see it out. “Air you goin’ right straight to Hart's from here?” she asked, after looking down the road a moment. ‘Yes; is there anything I can do for ‘ou mought, an’ then ag*in you mought- she answered, shaking her head. ‘In any event’'—and I bowed some more— “I am at your service, madam.” “Well,” she said, taking a long breath, as if she were about to make some unusual effort, and then she changed her tone and continued, “‘Do you know John Short?” “Do you mean Long Jack, the young man who works at Hogan's?” “He's the one.” “Yes, I know Jack very well. He's been with me after logs quite a number of times during the past year. I saw him at Hogan’s last night, but he left before I spoke to him.” At this point I may explain that this Mr. Short aleo had some reputation as a handy man with a Winchester, although he had not, as Mr. Nagley had, made a record; at least, not such an extensive record as was Mr. Nagley’s. “You didn't know whar he wuz goin’ at, I ron 2" she said, half questioningly. “No.” 4 “Well, he come here,” she went on, hur- riedly, ‘‘and ez you go on to Hart's, ef you shed happen to see Jim "twixt thar and here I wish to gracious you'd git hi to go back with you. Tell him some kind uv a lie er other, I ain't keerin’ what, so long’s he don’t git back here tonight.’” This was growing interesting and I was about to take a part in it, without exactly knowing in what role I was to appear. “What's going on?” I inquired with-such an interest as a factor in the case had a right to have. “That's jist what’s been a-worryin’ me,” she said, somewhat relieved that she had found some one to talk with about what- ever it was. “You see, Jack and our gal, Mirandy, has been sparkin’ fer a yer er two, an’ Jim ain't faverable to it, but I am. Well, Jim went off day before yis- tiddy to be gone a week, an’/me and Jack an’ Mirandy thought ez how we'd have a supprise fer him when he got back, but I heern today that he wuz at Hart's, and wuz comin’ home. Things is all ready, an” I ain’t a-goin’ to spile the ’rangements ef I kin help it. Atter hit’s all over, I’m un- dertakin’ ter fetch Jim around our way, but he won't hear to nothin’ aforehand, and thar ain't no use talkin’.” “Oh,” I said, looking up toward the house, where a little group of women were clustered together, “it’s going to be a wed- ding, is ite” A wedding Is always such a joyous orca- sion that I smiled at the mere thought of it, and Mrs. Nagley smiled, teo; but her’s was about the wannest smile I ever saw. “Well,” she said desperately, “hit’s goin’ to be a weddin’ er a funeral, an’ I dunno which. Ef Jim don’t git here, hit’s goin’ to be a weddin’, but ef he does, hit'’s goin’ to be a funeral, an’ I ain’t shore whether I'll _be_a mother-in-law er a widder, er both. Jack fotch his Winchester along, an’ Jim’s got his’n, so you see the kind uv a furrer I’m follerin’.' This was a hard furrow to follow, indeed, and for a woman, tco; and I stood not on the order of my going, but went at once, determined to lie like a book agent if I should meet Mr. Nagley on the way or at Hart's; and so assuring the lady, I hurried off. Fortunately, the report was not true that Mr. N. was at Hart’s, and when he did return at the end of the week Jack and Mirandy had been settled so comfortably at Hogan’s, and there was reaily so little excuse for -Mr. Nagley to turn his Win- chester loose on their domestic bliss, that M Nagley readily persuaded him to bow humbly to the decrees of fate. ee Revealed Unto Babes. From the British Weekly. Lord Salisbury’s eldest granddaughter is a very clever child. and though she is kept wisely shielded from notice, several of her childish sayings have crept out at Hat- field. The following story is at least ben trovato. Toward the close of the last par- liament some one was asking Lord Cran- borne when a dissolution might be ex~ pected. He replied that he had no idea. “But I know,” said the little listener in the corner, “for I heard grandpa say he meant to hang on as long as possible.” Highest of all in Leavening Power.—Latest U.S. Gov't Report Royal Baking — Powder BONE GRAFTING. A Portion of a Boy’s Leg Replaced by That of a Sheep. From the New York World. About five months ago Boyd Folwell, a lad fifteen years of age, living at 18th and Wylie streets, in Philadelphia, was play- ing on the street with a number of boya, when he struck his shin. He gave little thought to the injury at the time, but a few days afterward he complained of vio- lent pains in the region of the bruise. Simple remedies were applied by his parents, but met with no success. This gave rise to the feeling that the boy was suffering. from rheumatism. A careful examination disclosed the fact that an abcess, jue to an injury to the bone, had formed, producing what is known to the medical fraternity as osteomyelitis. This became worse, and defied all treat- ment, and eventually turned into necrosis, or gangrene of the bone. It was found that the leg was very much swollen, and seven small openings dis- charging pus, all of which led to dead bone. ‘The lad was taken to the hospital, and on June 25 an operation was performed, krown as necrotomy (scraping and remov- ing dead bones). The wound was then dressed with anti- septic bandages and left undisturbed for a week, when the flesh was found to be in good condition, but the bone was still de- caying beyond all hopes of being healed. ‘The fact that the lower end of the tibia was in good condition led Dr. Vischer to believe that perhaps the leg might possibly be saved by bone-grafting, especially as the boy’s condition had so much improved since his admission into the hospital. The parents were consulted, and, upon being assured that there was absolutely no other way in which the leg had even a chance of being saved, they gave their full consent to the doctor to do as he thought best. A consuyation with the highest surgical authorities had impressed Dr. Vischer with the belief that {t was possible to remove the diseased portion of the bone and insert in its place a piece of bone taken from the jeg of a healthy sheep. Following out this theory, the physician secured a large, healthy sheep, which for two days was put upon a diet, so as to make doubly sure of its healthy condition. The boy was also subjected to a rigid diet, and the day before the operation the sheep's leg was shaven and put in antisep- tic dressings. The lad was anaesthetized and placed upon the table. Then Dr. Vischer opened the lad’s shin from about four inches be- low the knee down to the ankle joint. He removed an inch and a half of decayed bone and cut out seven and a half inches of bone down to the ankle joint. The cav- ity was washed out and prepared for the new bone. The sheep in the meantime had been chloroformed and the dressing taken off the hind leg. This done, Dr. Vischer cut out the humerus, and then, preparing it, began to shape it for the lad’s leg. The ut- most care was taken that the bone re- moved from the sheep should retain the periosteum, for without that the operation could not possibly be successful. The bone taken from the sheep was then placed in the cavity formed by the removal of the diseased bone, the muscles forming a floor upon which the new bone was laid, thus helping to support it. The ends of the new bone were cut straight acrss and made a perfect joint. An incision of about five inches was then made in the beck of the boy's leg, so as to allow the wperating surgeon to bring to- gether the flesh on the top of the leg, where it vas then sewn up. The wounds were dressed, and the boy’s leg was put in a sling and so fastened as to prevent the slightest jar or movement which would in any way tend to shift the new bone from its bed. This having been done, attention was turned to the sheep. Its throat was cut, and, while under the influence of chloroform, it was allowed to bleed to death. During the whole opera- tion, which only lasted forty-five minutes, the sheep suffered absolutely no pain. For nine days the dressing of the boy’s leg was left undisturbed, and then, upon examination, the wounds were found to be healed for the greater part. Dr. Vischer was delighted with the results thus far obtained, and, as the boy’s appetite was greatly increased, and his physical condi- tion improved, he was led to believe that the chances of the extraordinary bone~w grafting operation gave every indication of success. A dressing was then left undisturbed for another five days, and, upon examination, the condition was found to be more favor- able than at the first exposure. The joint near the ankle, which was the one Dr. Vischer was the most dubious about, was In such a ccndition as to justify his belief that the operation was a success. He again washed and dressed the limb in antiseptic dressings, and left it undisturbed for forty-eight hours, when the condition of the leg was still more encouraging, and ten days ago another examination showed that there was every prospect of the opera- tion being successful. Bone-graftir g is not a new operation, but it has usvally been accomplished by taking a bone from a freshly slaughtered animal ard decalcifying it by removing mineral matter frcm the bone. The bone is then chipped up, and, being prepared, is packed tightly inte the place of the removed bone and the ligatures removed, the blood then flowing in and forming in clots around the bone, makirg callous joints. ———__-+ e+ IN THE SLEEPING CAR. What the Fastidious Woman Trav- ecler Takes on Her Journeys, From the Philadelphia Times. The over-fastidious woman is likely to be miserable In traveling by failing to ad- just herself to the meager accommodations that the sleeping car affords. On the aver- age sleeping car there is small space in the miserably contracted crib set apart as a ladies’ dressing room for the use of sponge, flesh brush, bath rag and cut-glass toilet bottles of perfumery, cosmetics and aro- matic waters. The happy traveler ts the woman with the practical common sense to know that a sleeping car is not the Place for a sponge bath in the morning. She remembers that there are others wait- ing to use the room, and she makes as quick a toilet as possible, so that they may not have to wait unduly. One small bottle will hold all that is needed by the most re- fined woman—this ccntains a mixture of the following ingredients: One-half ounce of benzoin, one-half ounce of ammoaia, ore-half ounce of aromatic vinegar, one- quarter ounce of borax. Use a little of this to soften the hard water in the toilet reom, and the refreshment that follows may easily persuade the practical woman that her toilet is perfect. The powder box she sensibly leaves at home or in her trunk, without, however, dispensing with the soothing property of the bath powder. By filling the puff with powder and cover- ing it with an old handkerchief, she has all she needs to dust under the arms and about the neck. Lemons are easily cer- ried, and a little of their juice in the drink- ing water will be a wise precaution. A few Grops in water used to brush the teeth will also be found refreshing. One mani- cure implement is indispensable—a pointed file. Requisites easy to carry are a button hcok, pin ball, needles and thread, a small pair of scissors, a rubber comb and a plain, wood-back brush. There is little satisfac- tion in carrying silver toilet articles. A small hand mirror for travelers has a wooden back and a wooden slide that closes over the glass, making breakage impos- sible. The woman who enjoys her trip must give due thought to her clothing. That there is subtle connection between a con- tented mind ard a becoming dress is not denied by the psycholosis: :] the fair traveler wisely dresses as w md as be- comingly as possible. A new suit of all- wool goods, quiet in design ‘i color, the perfection and refinement of fit, a stylish turban trimmed with ribbon or velvet loops and quills (but never a flower or a feather); loose, comfortable shoes and gloves, will do much to make her journey enjoyavie, As there is little chance for exercise, a reduc- tion of the food supply will be wise, and two meals a day will be found sufficient. GHOSTS IN SCOTTISH MANSIONS, Some of the Castles in the Land of the Thistle That Are Haunted. From the Gentleman. Scotland, the land of deep enthusiasm and Poetic feeling, is essentially a land of super- stition. Witness the firm belief of the peas- antry in the weird traditions of the west and the Highlands in the uncanny appari- tions, foreboders of evil to the family to whom they belong, and their avoidance of the so-called abodes of ghosts and evil spirits. Nor do they stand aione in their beliefs; among the upper class credence is given to much that is supernatural, and not without cause, as the history of the an- cient Castle of Glamis in Forfarshire re- lates, Although the whole house abounds in mysterious noises and ghostly visitors, one chamber in particular is known as the “haunted room,” and access to this fear- some place is only known to Lord Strath- more, his heir and the factor. There is no doubt whatever about the noises; one night when they were more weird and unearthly than usual, the pres- - ent earl, with several chosen companions, determined to investigate the cause, and went to the room. Hardly had his lordship opened the door when he fell back swoon- ing. Nor could he ever be persuaded to tell what he saw, or even mention the sub- ject. One old story is that during a feud between the Lindseys and Ogilivies, some of the latter clan, in flight from their ene- mies, besought hospitality from the owner of Glamis, He gave them shelter in this room; but, under plea ef hiding them, lett them there to starve. It may have been the sight of the ghastly remains which startled the earl, but whatever it was is still a secret. Another story is that of Earl Patie,” celebrated for many vices, but above all for that of gambling. He played continually, hobnobbing with his humblest servitor, could he not obtain an- other partner. However, one “Lord's éay, no one could be persuaded to play with him. The chaplain heaped anathemas on the head of any one who dared to dese- crate the “Sawbath” by touching the “deevil’s buiks,” as he designated cards. Earl Patie rather thar be thwarted in his desire, invoking the “foul fiend” to be his partner, locked himself into his room. The “‘deil” came, and then the fun was fast and furious; curses, oaths and shrieks terrified the inmates, and the butler, braver than the rest, putting Tis eye to the key- hole, had it sorely scorched for his curi- osity, The earl, coming out for a minute to get the wherewithal to settle up, re- turned only to find the room empty, and nowhere could any trace of his ghostly comrade be found. After his death, five years later, the same noises were consiant- ly heard issuing from the rocm and along the corridors. Allanbank, the seat of the Stuarts, is haunted by the ghost of “‘Pearlin Jean.” She was the wife of the first baronet, and a Frenchwoman, whom he married in Paris and deserted. When returning to his native land, she appeared at the last moment to bid him good-bye, and stood on the fore- wheel of the coach to address him. Much annoyed, he bade the postilion drive on; the lady fell, and the wheels, going over her head, killed her. On his arrival home, whey driving under the arched entrance gateway, Sir Robert saw “Pearlin Jean” sitting on the top, her head and shoulders covered with blood, and for years the rus- tle of silk and patter of Louis XV heels were heard along the passages. There is perhaps no more notorious ghost than the “Airlie Drummer;” his haunt is an ancient stronghold, Cortachy Castle, belonging to the Earls of Airlie. When- ever his drum is heard, those around take it as a sure token of the gpeedy death of one of the Ogilvie family. The origin of the story is that the jealousy of a former Lord of Airlie was roused either by the drummer or the officer whose messenger he was. In rage he thrust the man into his drum, and flung him out of the window of the tower in which the music is usually heard. The victim threatened, if his life were taken, to haunt the family, and he has been as good, or rather as bad, as his word. The music of the hapless drummer has often been heard, and quite recently, within the memory of those living—in 1844, before the death of Lady Airlie, and in 1849, before the death of the ninth earl. Spedlin’s tower, now a ruined border fort- ress, was long haunted by the spirit @f a miller named Porteous, who, being suspect~ ed of arson, was incarcerated in the dun- geon by Sir Alexander Jardine. Having oc- casion to go away from home, he forgot all about his prisoner, who perished of hunger, No sooner was he dead than his ghost be- gan to torment the family, and gave them no rest night or day. At last by the aid of several ministers the demon was exorcised, and a Bible was pluced tn a niche in his cell. Years after it was thought necessary to have the Bible rebound. Accordingly, ft was sent to Edinburgh for that purpose. It had not been long on its way before the ghost left his dungeon, fled over the river to the new home to which the family had recently removed, hauled the baronet and his wife out of bed, causing much terror and disturbance. Only through returning the Bible to its niche in its old condition was Porteous’ revengeful ghost quieted and peace again restored. Woodhouse Lee, the seat of the Fraser- Tytlers, is visited by the spirit of Lady Hamilton of Bothwellhaugh. Her husband is known as the murderer of the Regent Murray at Linlithgow, in 1569, and surely no assassin had ever greater provocation, Knowing.Hamiiton was from home, the regent seized his house, turned his wife and child out naked into the fields; before morn she was a raving maniac, her infant dead, probably murdered, and now her restless spirit haunts the abode of her for- mer happiness. Part of the masonry of the old building was used for the present man~ sion, which is built on the Pentland hills, four miles distant from the scene of the tragedy; and but a few years ago the do- mestics were terrified by the apparition of a lady robed in white holding a child in her arms,which shows the specter is still faith- ful to her old home. The Inveraray ghost 18 another well-au- thenticated story, the hearse of which drives up to the door of the castle before the decease of any member of the Argyll family. It is said, during the illness of the late duchess, that two of the servants at Inveraray, while resting in the gloaming, heard the noise of wheels, unbarred the great door of the entrance hall, and, on opening it, found nothing there. Shortly afterward they heard of the death of their mistress. Dunvegan, the home of the Macleods, the oldest inhabited castle in Scotland, is vis- ited by those delightful spirits—fairies. There is still the fairy flag, given centuries ago to the chief of Macleod by the fairies, and which always brought them victory when they took it to battle. A room in the tower is devoted to them, music and danc- ing are often heard, but all vanishes whep the door is open. o+—__—_ Very Anonymous. From the Christian Advocate. Traveling on the Mississippi about the close of the war, we rode in the pilot house © for three or four days, and the pilot in- formed us that during the war, as one of the vessels was passing Vicksburg, a cap- tain put his head out of the pilot house and a cannon ball struck it off, the trunk falling into the pilot house and the head upon the deck. He said that he narrated this circumstance the day after it red to a lady, when she exclaimed: rible! It is the most anonymous thing I ever heard of!” -°+—_—_—_ From Trath,