Evening Star Newspaper, August 10, 1895, Page 17

THE EVENING STAR, SATURDAY, AUGUST 10, 1895-TWENTY PAGES. 17 THE WATER SUPPLY Storage Capacity of the City Sys- tem Doubled. COLONEL ELLIOT'S CROWNING WORK Dalecarlia Reservoir Made Avail- able for Public Service. THE ENGINEER’S SKILL - By the completion of the improvements to the Dalecarlia reservoir the capacity for the storage of water from Great Falls in the city's water works system is doubled, the quality of the water itself improved by the greate: settling facilities afforded, and a danger which menaced the reservoir is removed. The finishing of this work, so important to the city, by Col. George H. Elliot, corps of engineers, U. S. A., is coin- cident with his retirement from active service and the last duty which he per- formed, work wnich, he says, has been the most interesting of his life, was dis- charged in behalf of the citizens of the District. basin. The method by which this has been accomplished is a very interesting one and includes a number of engineering features of a high order. After buying the necessary land, so as to obtain full and uninterrupted control of the locality around the basin for the govern- ment, Col. Elliot proceeded to harness the turbulent little torrents that had caused all the trouble. Beginning with the first water course toward the top of the watershed, known as East creek, he threw a acioss its mouth, where it had discharged its waters into the reservoir, and turned the stream into an open canal, whose depth and width were carefully calculated to carry off the maximum amount of flood. This required elaborate calculations, and Col. Elliot used the most approved formula, allowing a generous margin for unusual rains. This water was carried along the hillsides on a gentle decline, so as not to give too great headway and wash out the banks, skirting the shore of the reservoir at a safe distance and taking in the waters of two smaller streams along the route. After Proceeding in this way for several thousand feet, the cana] opened into Mill creek at the point where that stream emptied into the reservoir, Mill creek is a formidable body of water at times of freshets, after heavy or protonged rains, and here an extensive piece of engineering was necessary. A strong earthen dam was thrown across Mill creek where it joined the reservoir, and the polluted waters of this stream were shut off from their old outlet, together with the volume brought down from the hills by the canal that drained East creek. It was then necessary to find some outlet for the water backed up by the dam and another open canal was ccnstructed, wid- ering and leep2ning as it progressed, to accommodate the ircreased requirements made upon it. This ceral still followed the margin of the reservoir, but was construct- ed in a manner to prevent the possibility 9 oo lS bund A LITTLE FALLS BRANCH SHAFT. ‘The improvements consist in restoring the abandoned Dalecarlia reservoir to the city’s water works system by preventing the drainage into it of polluting water. The work, which presented several difficult problems of engineering, has been done in + and the cost has been kept with- The city now has an_ addi- voir, capable of holding 170,00,- ns of pure Potomac water. The Dalecarlia reservoir, lying cast of the Conduit road, a short distance this side of Cabin John bridge, was built by Gen. Meigs about thirty-five years ago for the storage and settling of Potomac water from Great Falls. For a quarter cf a cen- tury the basin was used for this purpose, and then came complaints. It was found that a humber of small streams and one pretty good-sized creek, draining a water- shed having a total area of nearly 4,000 acres, emptied directly into the reservoir ard mingled the filth carried in their waters with the city’s supply of drinking water. One of these creeks drained Tenleytown, and now carries the refuse discharged from the sewers of Chevy Chase. The fact be- ing demonstrated that the water supply of Washington was being contaminated by the use of this reservoir it was abandoned, and the life-giving stream from Great Falls Instead of passing through Dalecarlia reser- voir was diverted to the lower reservoir nearer the city, while Daiecarlia became a fish pond. Several years ago Col. Elliot, then in charge of the Washington aqueduct, con- cluded that this reservoir should be re- of its ever washing into the reservoir. After sweeping along the north stcre for some distance the canal was carried under a- hill by means of a brick-lined tunnel 400 feet long, emptying into the basin of the stream known as Little Falls branch. This creek flowed int» the reservoir also, so it was necessary to construct another dam here. When this was Gone, however, there was ne further visible cutlet for the great vol- ume.of water thus concertrated. On one side were the reservoir and the dam, on the other rising ground and in front was Dale- carlia hill, firty or sixty feet high, through which ran the aqueduct tunnel, bringing the city’s supply of water from Great Falls. It would be impossible to cut a channel through that hill, for it would destroy the aqueduct itself. But Col. Elliot was not to be balked by a little thing iike this. He had foreseen it and prepared for it. At the point where Little Falls branch found its further pro- gress barred by the aqueduct hill Col. El- liot dug a shaft sixty feet deep and ten feet in diameter. It was lined with brick and cement. At the bottom it connected with a tunnel 1,000 feet long and seven feet in diameter, carrying the water a safe dis- tance below the aqueduct tunnel, which it crossed at nearly right angles, and empty- ing it on the west side of the Aqueduct road into a stream whose final outlet was the Potomac river. Thus was the drainage from the 4,000 acres of watershed finally diverted from Dalecantie reservoir into the Potomac iver. UNDER DALECARLIA HILL. stored to the system and estimated that it could be done at a comparatively small cost. He carefully planned the improve- ment and submitted his ideas to Congress. So patent were the necessity and practica- bility of the work that Congress adopted his suggestion and in the appropriation bill of March 3, 1893, authorized Col. Elliot to proceed, giving him $10,000 to start the undertaking. Col. Elliot's idea was to divert the three streams around the reservoir by means of a series of channels and tunnels. of land on the immediate watershed of the reservoir that could not otherwise be pro- vided for, clear the tracts of all improve- ments and by these means forever prevent tbe nallution of the water in the Dalecarlia Then the | government was to buy some small pieces | The construction of that thousand-foot drainage turnel was a difficult undertaking, in view of the peculiar conditions surround- ing it. A large portion of the rock through which the tunnel passed was very seamy and liable to s! the joints being filled h a material resembling mud, and heavy timbering was necessary to prevent acci- dents. As the drainage tunnel passed di- rectly underneath the aqueduct tunnel di- pecial precautions were taken not to injure | the latter tunnel, which is unlined at the point of crossing, by the dynamite blasts in the former. | ‘To this end the drill holes were limited to | three and one-half instead of six feet in depth, which was the rule in other parts of the tunnel, and the charges were limited | to one and one-half pounds of 40 per cent dynamite. Over 330,000 brick and 2,231 bar- rels of cement were used in lining the tun- nel. The oversight of the work by Mr. -F. W. Johnson, the assistant engineer, and Foreman McAtee was so careful that there was no loss of life, and not a man was even injured from the beginning to the end of the work. This is said to be a record in the use of high explosives In tunnel work that has rarely, if ever, been excelled. ‘The tunnel has a grade of 0.0031, or 0.31 foot in 100 feet. With this grade the ve- locity of the water in the tunnel when just full will be about ten feet per second. This will be the condition when the discharge from the entire watershed will be 385 cublo feet per second. and this will obtain so rarely, it is said, that the abrasion of the invert by sand and pebbles need not be feared. At the request of a Star reporter Col. Elliot accompanied him to the scene of the operations on the Dalecarlia drainage works a few days ago, soon after their comple- tion and when the last drop of foul water had been diverted from the reservoir. The thorough and capable work of Col. Elllot can best be appreciated by personal ob- servation, and a tramp around the reservoir and across the dams is well worth the time of any one interested in the subject. Com- mencing at the head of the system of canals, it is immediately apparent that selence and painstaking labor have joined hands to produce a highly finished work. The canals, which are generally five feet deep and five feet wide at bottom and six feet decp and nine feet wide at bottom, follow some artistic curves whose trend is calculated to facilitate a vigorous flow of water. ; % ~The bottom of the canals are paved and the sides are treated in like manner to about half the height of the banks. The tops of the banks and a portion of the sides are sown in grass and black-eyed Peas, producing a luxuriant growth of vegetation, which will prevent the banks from washing and caving in. The peas were sown to shelter the grass from the rays of the sun while it was growing, and next spring the banks of the canal will te rich green lawns. The canals wind along the sides of hills, and just above them small paved gutters have been constructed to prevent the side slopes from being. washed and gullied in heavy rains. Ordinarily but slender streams run down the beds of the canals, but in times of heavy rains they will run nearly bank full, A trip up the thousand-foot tunnel to the bottom of the sixty-foot waterfall down the shaft at the head of the tunnel Upper Portal of Tunnel, is exciting as well as interesting. It is recessary to wear rubber boots and wado through the water, half waist deep, and the journey can only be made when there is a moderate head of water flowing. The noise of the young Niagara can be heard upon entering, like the sound of distant thunder, and grows louder upon approach- irg, until at the head of the tunnel the noise is almost deafening. A keen draught is made through the great hole, and the spray from the cascade is carried far down the tunnel. As the water drops from the height of sixty feet down the well it falls upon a “water cushion,”’ six feet deep, preventing the wearing away of the ma- Sorry at the bottom of the shaft. As Dalecarlia reservoir stands today it forms a lake of surpassing beauty. . The shores are thickly wooded to the water's edge and form graceful bends and bays. The water itself, flowing in from the upper Potomac, is clear and limpid and in marked contrast to the sluggish, muddy pond made by_the floods from its former feeders. Col. Elliot’s friends in the engineer corps who have examined the work are naturally proud of the outcome of his labors and consider the result a fitting end of an hon- orable and useful career of forty years in the service. He was retired from the army some time ago, but was continued in charge of this work by act of Congress, and when he adds the finishing touches, which will be done in a few weeks, he will, figurative- ly, put on his coat and literally “knock off” for good and all. “One result of the improvement of the reservoir,” said Col. Eliot, in reply to a question by The Star reporter, ‘is the doub- ling of the capacity for the storage of Po- tomac water from Great Falls, and another result is that the detritus brought down by the streams is now carried with the storm waters into the shaft in the valley of Little Falls branch, and thence through the tunnel under Dalecarlia hill and off in- to the Potomac. This detritus probably amounts to thousands of tons annually. It had materially shoalgd the reservoir and in time would have ruined it. “In addition to these results it Is expected that the increased time for sedimentation furnished by the slow passage of water through this long reservoir will materially improve the quality of water after heavy storms in the valley of the Potomac, al- though it is not expected that anything short of filtration works will at such times clear the water of all its clayey matter cr materially improve its color.” —_.___ The Boy in Gray. Fredericksburg had had her fray, And the armies stood at bays Back of wall and top of hin Union men and men in gray Glowered at each other still, In the space between the two Many a hapless boy in blue Lay fac> upward to the skies; Many another, just as true, Filled the air with frantic cries, “Love of God!" with pity stirred, Cried a rebel lad who heard; “This is more than I can bear! General, only say the word, ‘They shall have some water there.” “What's the use?’ bis general, Frowning, asked. “A Yankee ball Drops you dead, or worse, half way, Once you go beyond the wall.’’ “May be!’ sald the boy in gray. “Still I'll risk it, if you please,’* And the senfor, ‘ill at esse, Nedded, growling under breath, “For his mortal enemies T have sent the lad to death.” Ther a hotter fire began As across the field he ran; Yankee shooters marked a prey; But beside each wourded man Heedless knelt the boy tn gray. Parched lips hafled tim as he came; ‘Throats with fever all afame, While the balls were spinning by, Drained the cup he offered them, Blessed him with thelr dying ery. nddenty, through rain of those it Firing ceased, and enger foes * Made the welkin ring with cheers. Foes they were, of bitter need, SUT to every noble deed Hearts of men, thank God, must thrill; And we thrill, too, as we read f those cheers on Marye’s hill. re Tr r Cruel work of sword and gun; But rome deeds are treasures yet. White a grateful nation showers Graves of herovs with her flowers, Here's a wreath for one today: North or south, we claim him ours; Honor to the Boy in Gray! —Mary Bradley in St. Nicholas. She Named Them. From Punch. The Professor (who has just come back from the north pole)—‘‘—-and the fauna of these inhospitable regions is as poor as the flora! You couldn’t name a dozen ani- mals who manage to live there.” ‘Oh—I dare say I could!” ‘Really—what are they?” ‘Well, now—five polar bears, let us say, and—and seven seals!” woe His Right to the Title. From the Boston Stacdard. Jenkins—“Hello, colonel! title in the civil war?” Colonel Jonsing—‘No, never fo't a stroke, sah.” Jenkins—“ Well, what are you called ‘col- cneY’ for? Colonel Jonsing—“Bless you heart, sah, I do’n’ know, ’nless {t's "cause I'm from Dela- ware, down in the peach Gistrict, sah. They calls me the peach colcnel, sah.” Did you ever get Indeed, sah, I WONDERS "OF THE WEST Abir Sa Trip to the World-Eamous Grand Canon of lo, or} == From a Typical.jfestern Town to the River + ffemarkable r Nvitews. io ___ ob Speclal Correspondencé'#f The Evening Star. GRAND CANQN, Col., July 25, 1898. Many attempts shave been made to tell of this “glory of the world,” but none have been successful in conveying any adequate idea of the Grand Canon of the Colorado. The scenic effects are not describable. There is nothing in the werld by which one can measure the impression, or the effects of colcring and form. Old Dame Nature has taken a hand at carving out a unique piece of work, and all other spectacular shows are reduced to the level of the common- place. However, the trip to the canon is suffi- ciently interesting to warrant description. The nearest railroad station is Flagstaff, on the line of the Santa Fe railroad, in northern Arizona, The eastbound and westbound trains reach Flagstaff in the evening, and the tourist stays all night in the town, which is typically western. Lumbering and mining both flourish in that region, in addition to stock-raising, and the streets of the town are crowded with cowpunchers, miners, lumbermen ond sheepherders, the latter a very lawless and tough element. The main street has one- half of its length given over to saloons side by side, sans blinds, shutters or screen, and the brilliantly lighted inteciors are in plain view; faro, keno, poker tables run- ning in full blast—dealers calling and rat- tling the chips, and each place crowded with men always drinking, but never arriv- ing at full-fledgtd drunkenness. It is a lively and cheerful crowd, by no means of the low type to be seen in mining and lumbering regions of the northwest, in Minnesota or Wiscousin. ‘The general effect of costume resembles one of Frederick Remington's sketches of western cowboy country set in motion; the high-pointed Mexican’ sombrero, loaded with silver lace and tied under the chin, high-heeled boots, with huge spurs rat- tling and jingling at every step; the wear- ers looking as if they were walking on tip- toes, and everyWhere that inevitable em- blem of the great southwest—the cigarette. Flagstaff is generally referred to affec- tionately by the residents ang Arizonians as “Flag,” and as being “up the hill,” the hill being the San Francisco mountains, and up meaning some 7,000 feet of altitude. The air is exhilarating and laden with the perfume of the pine forests which sur- round the town; the soil 1s a rich, brilliant red; the sky the deep velvety blue Known as Arizona turquoise, while the back- grcund for this brilliant contrast is the gleeming, snow-crowned San Francisco mountains, the landmark of hundreds of miles of desert. The whole impression of the place borders upon the sensational, and the United States seems a far-away, for- eign land. To the Canon. The stage for the canon leaves Flagstaff Mcrdays, Wednesday and Fridays at 7 a.m. These stages,‘are large three and four-seated wagpns, ,the old-style Concord stege proving unsuitable for the country. The regulation stérybook stage driver ma- terializes in the'péfson of Ike Wheeler, who can be depbpded upon to keep things, meaning four’wixy hgrses, moving along at a lively gait. dke never condescends to speak to the horses, but instead keeps up a shrill whistle, ‘Wwhi¢h seems to be much more effective than the yoice or whip of other drivers. The journey is divided into four stages, and horses are changed three times, sixteen horses: being used for the trip. The first-stage: is seventeen miles, tke second eighteen, the third twenty, and the fourth sixteen. miles; the whole dis- tance fs seventy-ona! miles. Tne first, sec- ond and fourth stages are through magnifi- cent pine forests, while the twenty-mile stage lies through-the most uncomprising desert of hard lava! the wheels of the stage ring as if in contact with pure metal, and, save for a wild-looking cow or two, the whole distance is without sign of life. A breathless silence prevails, as if the sun had poured heat to the point of suffoca- ion. There is, in fact, no sign of human habl- tation after the first ten miles of the journey; not a place in all those miles to stop und get a drink of water, except at the stage stations, which are simply rude corrals and a tiny tent for the man who cares for the horses. Water is hauled twelve—sometimes twenty—miles, and hay forty to seventy miles :o these stations, The morning ride is delightfully cool, but by 11 o'clock the Arizona sun is master of the show, and at Cedar, the lunch station, the thermometer registered 140 degree: the shade at that. Strange to say, ever, there is very little discomfort; atmosphere is so dry and light that th is no serious effect, even though one were to walk a distance with head uncovered. Cedar possesses an attraction in addition to mere food and drink, as there is a petri- fied forest a few steps away, which yields some beautiful specimens of agate. In Camp. The camp at the rim of the canon is reached at 7 o'clock in the evening, and it is a little village of tents under the great swaying pines, rather in a hollow, and no sign of the canon. As the stage dash2s down hill and comes to a stop with a grand flourish the weary tourist climbs out, and his first word is always, “Where is ihe canon?” “Up that little hill a hundred yards,” and in spite of stiffness-and thirst the first im- pulse is to breathlessly climb the hill for a look at the canon, and then very often strange and unexpected things happen. It is as if the mind of a man was laid bare in the first shock. Strong men have burst into tears, while others have been seized with a great terror and stood stock still, afraid to move and frantically shouting for help, and has to be led away. A great silence falls upon all who withstand the first feeling of terror, and when they come down the hill there is very little said; the ordinary expressions of wonder do not seem to tit the case; and later, when those who have visited the canon are asked to de- scribe it, one and all stammer over some suitable words, and finally you have to be coutent with the statement, “I can’t; go and see for yourself.” Chas. F. Lummis has an apt and loving pen with which to write of the many wonders of that south- western world, but he, too, shies at de- scribing the Grand Canon of the Colorado, and only says: “It is the one thing that beats the Mar,” and it indeed does that thing. Trip to the Bottom of the Canon. After a half dozen visits to the rim, restless humanjambition comes into play again, and therasis wsdetermination to go down, to penetnate thé very center of the arena of that upkeavaland the good offices of Capt. John Hishce are asked for. “‘Want to go to the river? Well,others have want- ed and have went. Gan you ride? It's pretty much all day ‘in the saddle, man’s saddle at thatamo side saddles used on John Hance’s trail, women folks have to ride astride; no, place,for skirts, this ain’t. Bloomers and leggins is the outfit for this place,” and the‘party ‘¢omes in for a criti- cal gaze. Most ‘women, visitors have learn- ed that lesson, and sxjrts are usually left at Flagstaff, anil a mote sensible and suit- able costume donned. ~ Seven o'clock {i the'thorning is the hour for the start “tq the'Tiver.” The trail is some nine miles Jong John Hance made it and tt ranks ds’ a great achievement in mountain trail-makins of the world, al- ways safe, but such daring! A path which looks like a scratch across the face of a perpendicular cliff, one mile up and one mile down, sheer. Drop a stone at arm's length and dewn, down it falls, not a pro- jecting ledge. Such heights bring a sense of ease. An accident means certain, pain- less death long before the bottom would be reached, but then there never has been an accident, and on the back of those sure- footed animals, and Capt. John in the lead, there is a great sense of confidence, and as one wonder upon another unfolds, every petty fear is forgotten in the overwhelm- ing feeling of awe. It may be truthfully said that uo one has really seen the Grand Canon until the trip to the river has been made; the hu- man eye cannot measure distance in look- ing down. There is no conception of what a depth of two miles means until one looks up the face of those blood-red or -range- colored cliffs, and sees that strip of tur- quoise blue sky above, and 2ven then the eye must wearily climb, height upon heignt the ere again and again, to realize some part of the truth. The River. Hance’s river camp is reached by noon, and what had seemed a little ribbon cf water, viewed from the rim, becomes a rushing, roaring river, the huge rocks in midstream throwing the spray twenty feet in the air, and the roar is so great that shouting is necessary in order to be heard. The little open space is hemmed in on all sides by many-colored towering walls,which seem to be melting in the fierce, pitiless sun. The sand on the river banks is burn- ing hot and is like live coals to walk upon. Such a thirst! In spite of the warning of Capt. Hance, one cupful after another of the yellow water is eagerly swallowed, al- though it has none of the virtues of water save that of wetness. The captain has a good camp outfit, and in a very few moments has a good luich ready. He prides himself on a particular brew of tea, which he calls “double-breast- ed tea,” and it is to be said of it that those who have tasted it there on the banks of the Colorado have at last drunk the nectar of the gods and go forth into the world bound together with a deep and lasting tie of good fellowship and understanding. The return trip to camp may be made the same day, in which ease the stay at the river is limited to an hour. A more satisfactory trip is to continue down the river, crossing it and camping on the cther side. There are some extraordinary cliff dwellings some twenty miles down the riv- er and an Indian village at the foot of Bright Angel trail, some thirty miles be- low Hance's, by way of which the return is made to camp on the rim. Moran's point is the objective point of one of many rides along the rim, From this point Thomas Moran painted his fa- mous picture of the Grand canon, and the most extensive view is to be had from it. The canon at this point is twenty-five miles wide, and the views up and down comprise some fifty miles. The atmosphere is so light that distances are very deceptive. San Francisco peak seems to be but twenty miles off, as one looks back across the sea of green pine forest, instead of eighty miles, the real distance. From All Over the World. The canon is visited every season by a goodly number of foreigners and travelers from all over the world, and during the world’s fair year the ratio was two for- eigners to one A: ican itor. Columns of description were written about it in German and French journals, and Ameri- cans came in for a general scoring on ac- count of their indifferenc2 and lack of krowledge of its whereabouts even. But every year shows an increase of travel, and it will in time take fts proper place as a great American shrine. A party of surveyors have lately been over the stage road, and there is to be an electric road from Flagstaff to the canon in the near future. But while that im- provement will increase the travel, it will never have the charm and inierest of the stage journey. The best time of year for the trip is in September and October. Just after the Arizona rainy season, which is In July and August, the country looks its best and the dust is laid) The season closes by the mid- die of November 9n account of the snow, which falls to the depth of ten to twenty feet on the rim of the canon, while at the river it remains at summer temperature. The country for miles about abounds in interesting and unique features, and a tmonth spent.at the canon would afford a series of extraordinary adventures. T.L.K. AS A CIRCULATING MEDIUM. The Use of Senp Among the Inhab- itanta of a Mexican Town. From Harper's Magazine. Here is an amusing account of a traveler who went many years ago to Mexico and found the natives using a strange kind of currency. Says he: : “In cne of the small towns I bought some limes and gave the girl one dollar in pay- ment. By way of change she returned me forty-nine rleces of scap the size of a small biscuit. I looked at her in astonishment and sho returned my look with equal sur- prise, when a police officer, who had wit- nessed the incident, hastened to inform me that for small sums soap was legal tender in many portions of the country. “I examired my change and found that ach cake Was stamped with the name of a town and of a manufacture authorized by the government. The cakes of soap were worth three farthings each. Afterward, in my travel, I frequently received similar change. Many of the cakes showed signs of having been in the wash tub, but that I discovered was not at all uncommon. Pro- vided the stamp was not obliterated, the soap did not lose any value as currency. Occasionally a man would borrow a cake of a friend, wash his hands and return it with tharks. I made vse of my pieces more than once in my bath and subse- quently spcnt them.” oe TREES AND SUNSTROKE. Death of a Sugar Maple Attributed to a Rather Singular Cause. From Meeban’s: Monthly. During the late extraordinary warm spell the writer of this paragraph was called upon to see a large sugar maple tree that was supposed to have been de- stroyed by a leak of the city gas main at the root; but an examination showed that the tree died, literally, from sunstroke. It is strange that close observers of trees are unable to see when anything is out of the common run of things, and consequently note that something is going wrong. This sugar maple had been planted on the street probably a quarter of a century ago, and was {bout four feet in circumference; but the trunk was almost triangular, and yet this peculiarity seemed to attract no at- tention. The tree was simply triangular because on three sides of the tree the bark and wood had evidently been destroyed years ago, while the outer bark still con- tinued to cover up the injury, and the only live wood was on the angles of the trunk. Only about one-third of the trunk was practically alive. When the exceedingly -varm spell came, it was impossible for these limited ducts to supply the moisture required for such a large surface of foliage, and the tree,chere- fore, literally died from ‘nability to furnish the moisture required for transpiration. It may be always taken for granted that when the trunk of a tree, naturally cylin- drical, takes an angular form, there is something wrong beneath the bark, and an examination should at once be made. The flatter portions will usually be found dead. In this case, the bark should wholly be cut away from the dead portion, and the de- nuded part painted, in order to check rot- ting away. In time, the healthy wood may grow over the wound or lifsless part, an the life of the tree be eventually saved. — Trustworthy. From Life. “So your papa is willing to trust me with you, is he?” “Yes. He seemed sure you'd fetch me back to him.” —__—__+e+-____. The Power of the Human Eye. From Life. THE JAPANESE MEMORY. We Have Nothing Like It in These ‘Western Regions, ‘Tokyo Letter to Chicago Record. The Japanese memcry is one of the won- ders of the country. For example, it is the custom to number the houses on a street in what you may. call their chronological order, instead of their sequence; that is, in the order of their erection, so that No. 11 may adjoin 999 on one side and No. 70 on the other. No. 1 may be three miles from No. 2 and No. 10 midway between them. In the city of Tokyo there are 1,330 streets, and by the last census 318,320 houses, which are divided into fifteen ku, or wards. When a street passes through more than one ward ‘the houses are numbered inde- pendently, so there may be five or six num- bered 20 and eight or ten numbered 2—per- haps miles apart. Therefore when a stran- ger sets out to find No. 217 Motomara machi, which is the name of the street, and Azubu, the name of the ward, in which our friend, Tsuda Sen, who was a commissioner to the Chicago exposition, lives, he might as well look for a needle in a haystack. After hunting for three or four hours and finding seven or eight houses with the same number on the street six or elght miles apart, he will sit down in the nearest tea house and cry or curse, as the case may be, until he gets cooled off. Then he will hire a jinrikisha man, write the address on @ piece of paper, and go whirling up and down streets and alleys, around corners and through short cuts until he is landed at the proper place without the slightest Physical, mental or moral damage. The jinrikisha men are coolies, without education or mental training. Most of them can read and write the names of streets and men and merchants and fac- tories. They know the location and the number of every one of the 313,320 houses in Tokyo and the naine of almost every one of the 1,500,000 inhabitants. They are very seldom puzzled to find an address, even theugh it may be given incorrectly, and if you will tell them accurately where you want to go they will take you without the slightest delay or hesitation. ‘The same phenomenal memory appears in other classes of the people, and you have to be careful about telling a Japanese gentleman the same story twice. This is the result of centuries of training. But the ieee rd bowers have had ao such exer- cise. ——___-+ A NOVEL PRICE LIST. The Way of Those Desiring City Priv- ileges Made Easy. From the Chicago Evening Post. “Have you got your plans all laid for your Vacation?” asked the man in the plaid suit. “I'm not going to have any,” returned the young man with the dark mustache. “Why not?” “I've got too good a scheme on hand, and it will occupy all my time until the council meets again,” he repiled. “What's the council got to do with it?” “Everything. It’s to be an aldermanic Price lst.” “Giving the cost of aldermen?” “Not quite, but it is something in that na- ture,” explained the young man. “You see, the trouble is now that people who want Streets or franchises or anything of that sort have to go it blind. There is no telling what it will cost before they get through, and so lots of people who might go into the market and buy a street or two are fright- ened off. My idea is to simplify all that by getting up a price list that will give all the information desired and put a franchise- Seeker in the position where he has a basis upon which to work. I'd charge for streets at so much a block, grading the price ac- cording to their location, the inconvenience of tearing them up would cost, and the mount of kicking that would be likely to be made against the aldermen for giving up the city’s rights; then I'd have a regular scale of prices for franchises of all descrip- Uons, so that any promoter desiring to get one could see at a glance how much it would cost. Where honest franchises are desired I would have a fixed price, but where the rights are wanted only for sand- bagging purposes, why, then, of course, the aldermen would come in for a percentage of the boodle. I will consider the matter of wholesale orders, also. Corporations or in- dividuals who are constantly doing business with the council should be entitled to a re- duction from retail rates. They might make regular contracts with the aldermen for the delivery of such goods in the way of streets or franchises as they might desire, the price to depend upon the amount of abuse the aldermen have to stand for giving them away. As long as the city’s rights are dis- posed of in the way they have been it seems to me it would be more satisfactory to get the whole thing down to a straight business Sasis. Then both the aldermen and the corporations would know just where they stood. That’s my plan, and if it's adopted I think I should be well paid for it, in addition to having a statue of my- self put down on the lake front as one of the great benefactors of the city.” Threnody. Written for ‘The Evening Star. My heart is there: Where, on eternal bills, my loved one dwells, Among the lilies and asphodels; Clad in the brightness of the great white throne, Glad in the smile of Fim who sits thereon, ‘The gldry gilding all his wealth of hair, And making his immortal face more falr— ‘There is my treasure, and my heart is there. My heart is there: With Him who made all earthly life so sweet, So fit to live, and yet to die so meet; So mild, so grand, so gentle and so brave, So ready to forgive, so strong to save; His fair, pure spicit makes the heavens more fair, And thither rises all my longing prayer— ‘There is my treasure, and my heart is there. —RUTH G. D. HAVENS. —— —_ Some Curious Bulls. From the Cincinnat! Commercial Gasette. “Here is an English bull,” said Uncle Dave. “ ‘I’m afraid you'll be late at the party,’ said an old lady to her stylish granddaughter, who replied: ‘Oh, no, dear grandma, don't you know that in our fash- ionable set nobody ever goes to a party till everybody is there?’ “The Scotch yroduce some very good bulls, also. Two Scotchmen were discuss- ing the relative merits of churchyards and cemeteries, when one of them boldly ex- pretsed his aversion to the latter in this merner: ‘I'd rather no dee ava (at all) than be buried 'n sic a place.’ To which his companion retorted: ‘Weel, if I'm spared in life and health, 'll gang nae- where else.’ a “Here are some others: A minister in Arran is said to have made the following announcement from his pulpit: ‘My friends, there will be no Lord’s day here next Sab- bath; it’s the “acrament owre at Kilmory, and I'll be there.’ A Paisley gentleman, in discussing the right of women to practice medicine, in a letter to a newspaper of his place asked this pointed question: ‘Why should not women be freely allowed to be- come medical men?’ A Scotch lady was speaking strongly to a gentleman against smoking, which, she sald, must be very bad for the health. ‘I don’t know,’ said her friend. ‘There is my father, who smokes every day and he is now seventy years old.’ ‘Well,’ she said, ‘if he had never smok- ed he might have been esghty.’ At a benefit in Edinburgh, many years ago, the playbill stated that the evering’s entertainment wotld finish with an interlude! A Presby- terian minister, performing public worship in the Tron Church at Edinburgh, once used the expression in his prayer: ‘Lord, ksve mercy upon all fools and idiots, and particularly upon the town council of Edin- burgh.” ; : —_—_+oe+—____. She Was a Peach. From the Rochester Union and Advertiser. They sat in the hammock—he and she— swinging the hours away in a happy man- ner peculiar to lovers. Finally he whisper- ed in her shell-like ear: “You are like a peach,” he sighed wis fully. The maiden hung her head demurely for a few minutes, while a warm blush spread over her fair, blond face. “J_I'd rather be a pair,” she answered, tremulously. A long silence ensued; then like a beautiful dream the situation unfold- ed itself to the young man, and the cards are now out.” Those Base Ball Fines. From the New York Herald. Safehit—“I see our old friend Hithard is in straitened circumstarces. Bawle—Yes; he's a pfofessional ball player now, but his salary will not permit him to meet the fines imposed upon him by the umpire.” A TORTURED MAN. WONDERFUL WHAT CAN STAND, A MAN A Rallroad Man Who Knows W Suffering Means and What Joy There is in Relief. From the Herald; Baltimore, Md. Mr. N. A. Kraning, « rallroad employe, 414 Stricker street, Baltimore, = Iasewg eg cently of chronic rheumatism by Dr. Williams’ Pink Pills, Mr, Kraning was attacked by rheumatism over a year ago, The disease gained such a hold upon Lim that he was almost constantly unfit for work, and in order to make up for loss of time from his labors he established a grocery store in his house, which was attended to by his wife and mother. Now he is well and at work every day, and he and his family all declare that he owes his life to Pink Pills. When seen by a Herald reporter & week ago Mr. Kraning said: “Over a year ago I had an attack of rheumatism and for months evftered intensely. I used doctors’ prescriptions and several proprietary medicines, but without any Good results. In fact, I con*inued to grow worse, and finally the doctor told me the rheumatism had assumed a chronic form, and that he did not think I would ever be permanently cured. “I lost my appetite, suffered from nervous pros- tration and insomnia and became ao weak and de- bilitated that only at long intervals and for short Periods of time was I able to give any attention to my work. I was recently advised to try Dr. Williams’ Pink Pills and did so. In a short time I began to improve. After taking the pilis I was entirely cured, and am now a well man and able to attend to my business. I most cheerfully ree- ommend the Pink Pills and say they are the best and most reliable aud effective medicine I ever tried. I keep them tn the house, and iu case of any return of my old symptoms or in any other sickness I shall give them a thorough trial before resorting to a doctor or to any other remedy.” “You may well say so,” said Mr. Kraning’s mother, “for if you had not heard of the Pink Pills you would not be here today.”” Dr. Williams’ Pink Pills contain, fn a con- densed form, all the elements necessary to give new life and richness to the blood and restore shattered nerves. They are an unfailing specific for such diseases as locomotor ataxia, partial Paralysis, St. Vitus’ dance, sciatica, neuralgia, Theumatism, nervous headache, the after effect of Ju grippe, palpitation of the heart, pale and sallow complexions, all forms of weaknesses, elther in male or female, Pink Pills are sold by all dealers, or will be sent post paid on receipt of price (50 cents a box, or six boxes for $2.50—they are never sold in bulk or by the 100), by addressing Dr. Will- jams: Medicine Company, Schenectady, N.Y. ——= THE PENN TREATY ELM. To Survive in a Lineal Descendant Planted on the Spot. From the Philadelphia Prees. Chief Eisenhower of the bureau of city property, has pianted in the Penn Treaty Park a large shoot from the original elm tree under which William Penn made his treaty with the Indians in 1682. The shoot was sent to Mr. Eisenhower by Gen. Paul A. Oliver of Laurel Run, Wilkesbarre, and was planted in the exact spot where its historical ancestor flourished for so many generations. The treaty elm stood on the property of Gen. Oliver's grand- father, Matthew Van Dusen, which has been converted into the treaty park. When the tree was blown down in March, 1810, Washington Van Dusen dug up one of the few suckers that were growing from the roots and planted it on Gen. Oliver’s fa- ther’s place at Fort Hamilton, N. Y. The young tree grew to an enormous size until 1892, when Gen. Oliver had it dug up and carefully removed to his home in Laurel Run. It was so large that three railroad cars were required to carry it, and when the railroad company’s officials learned the history of the tree they refused to charge for its transportation. When the tree was transplanted to Laurel Run it continued to grow, until now its branches cover an area of many square yards. About a year ago a sucker appeared from the root of the tree, and when it was about four feet high Gen. Oliver dug it up and shipped it to this city to take the place of the original Treaty elm. BIG FISH; SMALL ROD. Extraordinary Catch Made by a Sport- ive Resident of Santa Crus. From the San Francisco Examiner. Al Cumming had an encounter with a buge shark at Santa Cruz Sunday. Cum- ming had engaged a boat and was out for salmon. Suddenly there was a jerk at his line that almost capsized the boat. The fish came to the surface, and his fins showed that he was a big shark. Cumming toyed with him for a while, and as the shark felt the sharp prong of the hooks forced into his mouth, he made a plunge, going down fully 100 feet and reeling out about 500 feet of line. Cum- ming had only 100 feet more on the reel, and if the shark had accomplished that distance he would have escaped. But he was exhausted and came to the surface again. Then, with the skill of an experi- enced angler. Cumming played the line carefully, and, after great effort, got the shark alongside of his boat. Both the shark and his captor were winded. The boatman killed the shark with one blow of his boathook. Mr. Cumming caught the shark with a twelve-ounce salmon rod and a linen sal- mon line. The fish was more than five feet in length and weighed fully 150 pounds. It is the largest shark ever landed there with a hook and line, and its capture was due to the perfect knowledge of fishing that Mr. Cumming possesses. The contest lasted just an hour, and exciting as it was for Mr. Cumming, it was also as much so for the onlookers. Fully twenty boats were in the vicinity. ————_+-o+___ The Life of a Bee. From Meehan’s Monthly. Every year may be seen in papers of considerable pretension to scientific accu- Tacy statements about various flowers pois- oning bees, the only reason for the state- ment being that the bees are found dead in considerable number beneath the trees, It does not seem to be known generally that the life of a bee is extremely short. Every bee that leaves the hive in the spring is dead before fall, and those which live over the fall die very soon after spring opens. The death of a bee is usually very sudden—they have been known to fall even in their flight, and to be dead in a few sec- onds after reaching the ground. This fact about the life of the bee is supposed to be generally known, yet the fact that the statement above quoted is so often re- ferred to in intelligent works shows that the knowledge is not as widely spread as it deserves to be. +o+—___. A Shortage. From the Detroit Free Prers, “Dear Fannie,” wrote a summer girl, “don’t come to this hotel under any con- sideration. The landlord is the only man here, and he is seventy years old and mar- ried.” “I won't, bache- “Dear Jennie.” was the reply. oe landlord is seventy, but he is a lor.” Not Exactly. be g—&—g00d woman, I never said I wan you to sit for Venus!” “There m—must some mistake,