Evening Star Newspaper, August 24, 1895, Page 16

16 YOURS TO COMMAND The Delight of Being Master of Your Own V&sel. AMERICANS ARE YACHTSMEN Kinds of Sail Boats That Do Not Cost Fortunes. YACHT CLUBS AND HOUSES Se Written for The Evening Star. ACH ADVANCING year makes more japparent the uni- versality of a taste for aquatic pleasures among ,the people of America, and every variety of miniature sailing craft — from butterfly canoes to shapely vessels—are made to cater to the modern yachter’s in- satiate desire for : sport. In yachting the United States takes first rank, her yachts and yachters outnumbering those of any other country. It is safe to esti- mate that there is at least one yacht to every ten thousand people in the land, and that means there are at least six thousand yacht owners in the country. The public hezrs much of vessels of the Volunteer and Grayling types, champions of the “big boat” classes, but the real yachters are the owners of small boats. Figures that are somewhat . incomplete show that there are over 200 organized yacht clubs in the United States, which enroll nearly 4,000 yachts. Of these, less = Cat Bont. than one-thirteenth® are steam vessels, launches, ete., and not sailing boats at all. One-eleventh are classed as large yachts, including many steam and sail vessels, big schooners and sloops; all of more than forty feet water-line measurement. That is to say of 4,000 recorded yachts, five- ixths are sailing vessels under 40 feec; jhowing conclusively that the majority of American yachts are small boats that are managed by their owners. * Enormous Sums Invested. ‘The 200 clubs repcrt a membership of over 7,000 mer, 4,000 of whom are craft- owners. Leaving out one-sixth of them as owners of large and costly vessels, rang- ing in value frcm $5,000 to perhaps $500,000 each, and assuming the average cost of the small yachts to be about $1,000 (which is a low figure), one finds that five-sixths of these 4,000 yachts represent an invested capital of over $3,300,000; a large sum when it is taken into consideration that a craft never pays back anything prefit to the owners. The earliest form of yacht was, of course, @ row boat with a sail. This in time gave way to the wider-beamed boat with greater sall-carrying ability, and a center board. ar A “Sandbagger” Sloop. ‘With the adoption of the latter the era of American yachting really began. The steady improvement of eenter-board mod- els, and the importation from England of the cutter type of narrow, deep-keeled boats, furnishing our own yacht builders and designers with material for thought and experiment during many years; and their efforts to improve are not less earn- est teday than they have been in the past. From the primitive sprit-sail pleasure boat comes the ever present and universaliy fa- vored center-board catboat, a type of yacht . Which, for speed, handiness and unsafeness hus never been surpassed. Keel catboats ere built, but the typical American “cat” is of light draft, big beam and huge sail. From the center-board catboat grew the jib-and-mainsail sloop, a type which is werthily noted for its great speed and gen- eral unhandiness. Small yachts of this kind are always racers, and for this reason they are in the lists of popular beats. In design they are like the catboats, the only difference being in their rig. These two boats, the center-board cat and the jib- and-mainsail sloop are what watermen call “sandbaggers;” that is to say, their ballast consists of bags of sand which are shifted to windward with every tack, and.in this way serve to keep the yachts right side up. oa boats are neither safe nor comfort- able. The next popular and most universally used pleasure boat is the ballasted sloop, “Cutter” in a Good Breeze. = which may have a center board, a keel, or @ combination of both. She has only one most, and carries a topmast. Her sails are jany, and, like the cutter, she is permitted jo carry clouds of canvas when racing. echnically speaking, a cutter differs from sloop only in one point, as the term aye and “cutter” really apply to the ig of the yacht. The cutter has a sail set ym her stem to her masthead, while the loop has not. This sail is called a forestay- gail and its presence marks the cutter rig. ‘he term “cuttcr,” however, 1s usually ap- Plied to the long, narrow, deep-keeied ves- sel, and has grown to mean a boat of that pe. Nearly all yachters who cruise about in some » and especially those who are fond o: jy boats, use either sloops or cutters. little cutter or sloop not twen- ty-five feet long will be provided with terths for four men, besides a dining table, ¥ ers, cook stove, and other general com- lorts; a yacht thirty-five feet long will ac- fommodate six people without over-crowd- Wg, and have one state rcom. ‘The average yachting man soon finds fis Principal delight in being master of his > eee THE EVENING STAR, SATURDAY, AUGUST 24, 1895-TWENTY PAGES. own vessel, and as this is impossible aboard a big boat, he longs for one which he can handle alone. This independent and sports- manlike instinct has brought into im- mense popularity certain classes of very A “Catamaran.” small boats, or ‘‘single-handers,” as they are called. | = Simplicity and handiness have been con- sidered in their construction, and this has led in many cases to the adoption of what is known as the yawl style—a rig which for safety and convenience has never been excelled in the manufacture of little ves- sels. The yawl is really a schooner with very small mainsail. Some of them are not over sixteen feet long, yet the solitary skip per-crew-and-cook of such a boat finds in his craft comfortable sleeping quarters, room for a cook stove, dinner table and all necessary “fixings.” A few years ago the sailing public was surprised by the appearance upon the waters of a spider-like contrivance, which {ts friends said was a “catamaran.” This new claimant for favor was like the raft of the South Sea islanders—only in name, however. In fact, it was not a catamaran at all, but a new device for racing over the water by means of sails. Wonderful feats were predicted for the future of the novelty, but after a long trial it was dis- carded ‘as a useless, dangerous and decid- edly unsatisfactory specimen vf_ sailing craft. Another style, now out of date and rarely seen, is the pirogue—a double-ended, narrow-hulled contrivance, rigged with two pole masts, each carrying a gaff sail; what might be termed, in brief, a double cat- rigged boat. “The Watermelon.” A new aspirant has recently come into the yachting field, of which great things are expected by advocates of shoal-boat sailing. This new craft is really nothing but an improved model of the duck-hunt- ing beat in use all over the country. This creation is known by the somewhat non- nautical-name of “watermelon.” It is a spoon-shaped, sloop-rigged little vessel, which has been tried for two or three sea- sors with favorable results. Comfortable Club Houses. Every yacht club has a home of some de- scription, if it be nothing more than a tumble-down structure, with a set of lock- ers and a few chairs, but the majority of clubs erect really useful houses, and take pride in having them cozy and well fur- nished. Mary of the buildings are ex- pensive, well-designed structures, such as the Atlantic and Brooklyn clubs of Brook- & “Watermelon” Sloop. lyn: the Eastern Club at Marblehead, Mass., and the Minnetonka Club of Minne- apolis. These club houses contain not only ample locker accommodations, sail lofts ard store rooms for small boats, oars. spars, etc., but also magnificently fitted meeting rooms, ladies’ parlors and quarters for the stewards, besides sleeping apart- ments, billiard rooms and salons. —>———_ Bar Harbor. From Life. Bar Harbor is the capital of Mt. Desert, which is an island several miles in diam- eter and several. feet high. It is entirely surrcunded by water, and inhabited by millionaires, who derive a scanty subsist- ence from its sterile soil by yachting, driv- ing and golfing. The island abounds in rocks, drives, salt water and girls. The principal products are morning calls, afternoon teas and dinner dances. When not attending to the cultivation of these staples the inhabitants are occupied in driving up and down to see that none of the scenery—to which they: are much at- tached—has got away during the night. Mt. Desert was discovered several years ago—before the @hristian science era—by Frenchmen, who looked over the menu, and finding nothing there within their means, gave their names to several dishes, and left the island to be rediscovered by the hardy race of millionaires who came after them, and who still subsist there. The dwellings of this curious and inter- esting people are called cottages, and are constructed of bricks, mortar and bric-a- rac. The people are gregarious and migratory in habit, nesting and raising their young and giving dinner parties in their cottages in the summer, while during the winter they migrate to large cities, where they fight and devour other millionaires; the victorious ones returning to Bar Harbor the next season, while the unsuccessful re- tire to less favored resorts, such as New- pert, Long Branch or Nantasket. The millionaire is exceedingly industrious during the summer season, attending most assiduously to the arduous social duties or functions by which he supports existence, and from which he rarely allows himself to be diverted by any considerations of en- joyment or recreation. = The female of the species “is deciduous, shedding its plumage frequently—some- times as often as five or six times in a single day—the feathers generally becoming more and more brilliant as the day ad- vances. Scientists have been undecided as to whether the brilliant female millionaire is protective or imitative or for the purpose of attracting the male, though I believe the best modern thought inclines to the latter opinion. ——___+e-+_______ GRINDING CREDITORS. Were Mean and Perverse Enough to Spoil the Honest Man’s Plans. From the Chicago Post. “We can’t go to Europe this year,” said the progressive business man decidedly. “But, John—" . “It’s no use to argue,” he interrupted. “You wanted to go and I did my best, but my scoundrelly creditors won’t let me. ‘They're #he most unaccommodating lot I ever had dealings with.” “"They—they won’t have you arrested, will they?” she asked, anxiously. “Arrested!” he exclaimed. ‘Well, I should say not. But they’re mean and petty. Why, Maria, when I failed I figured that I could pay them twenty cents on the dollar, and then we'd take a trip around the world, but they’re so small they wouldn’t accept it. Then I offered 'em thirty cents and arranged for a trip to Europe, but they wouldn't take that.” “Then what can we do, John?” “Well, I've made up my mind to offer them fifty cents tomorrow, and if they take that we'll try Narrangansett Pier or Bar Harbor for a month.” “Do you think they will accept it?” “I don't know. When men get so mean and small that they’ll hold a poor un- fortunate man for more than twenty cents on the dollar when he has his plans all made for a tour of the world you can’t tejl what they'll do. These fellows are so grind- ing mean that I don’t believe they’d care if they made me pay 100 cents on the dol- lar and beat me out of my vacation en- tirely. There are some awfully annoying and perverse men in this world.” THEY LIVED LIKE RATS Discoveries Respecting Some Re- markable Arizona Aborigines. BURROWS IN EARTH FOR DWELLINGS Wonderful Ruins of the Rio Verde Valley. —__+—__—__ FAMOUS CASA GRANDE RUINS —_.—_—_ N EXPLORATION in the Rio Verde vat- ley of Arizona, con- ducted for the bureau of ethnology by Cos- mos Mindeleff, has = prought about some new and interesting discoveries re spect- ing a prehistoric race. ® These people bur- rowed in the earth like rats. Their houses were holes in the hills, some of them so extensive as to be veritable sub® terranean hotels, the apartments being in suites for the occupancy of families. Eight miles south of Verde, on the east side of the river, is the now empty home of a once prosperous underground community. It has 200 rooms on the main level, divided into seventy-four distinct and separate sets. On a level above, constituting a sec- ond story, are fifty-six reoms in twenty- four sets, It is believed that the entire es- tablishment accommodated 150 to 200 peo- ple. Rooms in Clifts. Hollowed out of the faces of the cliffs in vhat region are thousands of rooms, some- times in clusters of two or three, while now and then will be found such an elabor- ate excavation as that just described, af- fording quarters for a community of con- siderable size. The places chosen for such workings are along the faces of cliffs,;where strata of soft rock occur. The rooms gen- erally are rudely circular, the largest being thirty feet and the smallest five or six feet in diameter. In the underground hotels a suite ordinarily consists of one large main room in front, entered by a narrow hall from the face of the bluff, and a number of smaller rooms connected by narrow doorways or short passages. There is no outlet into the open except through the main room or parlor. Usually there are a number of little storage rooms or cubby holes, corresponding to closets. These are from one foot to five feet in diameter, on a level with the floors. The deserted dwellings of these burrowing people have been found in New Mexico and Colorado also. In some places the hills have been literally honeycombed by them. Along the Rio Grande, in New Mexico, near the modern Pueblo of Santa Clara, are cliffs of volcanic sand and ashes. Into the face of these cliffs many chambers have been excavated, the rock being friable and easily worked. The specific gravity of some of the rocks is so low that they will float on water. For mile after mile the hills are studded with such dug-out rooms, of which there are many thousands. Some of them evidently were used as stables for asses, goats and sheep. Others were for the stor- age of grain. Often steps were cut in the cliff-faces,forming rude stairways by which the chambers could be reached. Not much is known about the history of the Rio Verde valley. Within recent years that region has been a stamping ground of the hostile Apache and Walapai. So late as twenty-five years ago, when settle- mient by the whites was begun, the rifle was more neceseary than the plow for successful agriculture. At present the vak ley is cre of the best-known mining d!s- tricts in Arizona. In early times the Verde was known as the Rio San Francisco, and trappers and prospectors told many tales of wonderful ruins to be found along its banks. After the Fashion of the Pueblos. By no means all of these prehist8ric peo- ple lived in burrows. The latter were made to serve for purposes of habitation where suitable rock formations occurred. Re- mains of large villages are found on the river terraces, some of them of elaborate and complex ground plan, indicating long occupancy. The biggest of these was on the east side of the Verde, one mile above the mouth of Limestone creek. The ruins cover a space of five acres. This village, like all of the others, was built after the fashion of a pueblo, being merely an ag- gregation of rooms, most of which were only one story in height. It had 225 rooms on the ground floor and about 300 rooms in all, providing accommodation for per- haps 450 persons. This interesting struc- ture of autiquity is of roughly dressed stone, with a number of courts or open spaces separating the clusters of rooms. One room that stands by itself is imagined to have been a sacred ceremonial chamber. An Agricultural People. These ancient villages were built in much the same style as the modern pueblos of the southwest. A pueblo is a town con- structed on the principle of a house—an assemblage of rooms instead of a group of separate dwellings. This style of archi- tecture was evolved out of the peculiar conditions environing the people. Agricul- tural, and by no rreans warlike, they were victims of frequent raids by fierce tribes. Owing to this pressure from the outside, they huddled together for mutual protec- tion. Usually such a village was situated on an elevation overlooking the surround- ing cultivated fields. These bee-hive towns are disappearing, because the people are no longer obliged to huddle through fear of attack by savages. The largest inhabit- ed pueblo today is that of Zuni, which has a population of 1,600. The ancient inhabitants of the Verde valley relied mainly, if not wholly, upon agriculture for their support. Of the mil- itary art they knew so little that they built no fortifications of any kind. The farming industry was highly developed among them. They grew much corn, and remains of irrigation canals‘ and reser- voirs ufilized by them are found. That they domesticated the sheep and the dog is proved by the pictographic writings which they have left behind them. In the rooms which they once occupied have been discovered such relics as fragments ef brackets, bits of grinding stones, bun- dies of fibers, pieces of cotton cloth, pot- tery, arrowshafts and sandals of woven yucca fiber. Sometimes the house was provided with a cavity in the sock for holding fifteen or twenty gallons of wa- ter—a month’s supply for an aboriginal family. The ruins in the region are so numerous and extensive as to be attributed formerly to an immense population, estimates run- ning as high as 600,000. But these people had « way of moving continually on and on, and a band of 500 of them might leave behind them the remains of fifty villages in- a century. Family Relations. Among the Pueblo Indians of today, who are the descendants of these people, in- heritance in real estate fs in the female line. When a man marries he becomes a member of his wife's family and house- hold. If the wife's home is not big enough to accommodate the extra membership, additional rooms are built adjoining and |. connected with those previously occupied. The women build the houses, though the men supply the material, and do the heavy work. As a result of the system described, @ family in which there are many daugh- ters occupies a dwelling that is continually growing. On the other hand, a family that has ever so many sons and no daugh- ters will soon have no home at all in the village. In the mcdern Pueblos it is not uncommon to see several rooms in course of erection, while a.dozen or more within a few steps are abandoned and going to decay. The village is always growing, though the population may be stationary or even decreasing. The Casa Grande Ruins. The Secretary of the Interior has just received a ccmmunication from Isaac T. Whittemore, honorary custodian, and other people residing in the vicinity of the Casa Grande, asking for $7,000 to put a roof on ithe store. that famous ruin. The Casa Grande in many respects i¢:the most interesting ruin in the United States. It is a remarkable specimen of al inal architecture, being the best-prese: example of a type of structure once! widely distributed in the Gila valley andvfound nowhere else. It is supposed to be,ahout 600 years old. The ruin proper is what remains of a big house. The house has,three central rooms, each ten by twentyzopr feet, and two other rooms nine by thirty-five feet. One of the rooms is three, stories high, while the others are only -¢wo stotles above the ground. The northeast and southeast cor- ners of the building have fallen, and the 7, large blocks of which they were composed are strewn «boyt.: The house isi but a surviving fragment of what was once a town of considerable size. The surface of the ground in the im- mediate vicinity is'covered with ruins over an area of sixty-five acres. The structure described is near the southwest corner. Its wells are composed of huge blccks of earth from three to five feet long. These were not molded like bricks and put in position, but were manufactured in place. The damage dons to the Casa Grande by relic hunters during the last twenty years has been much greater than that wrought by the elements in the preceding two cen- turies. Even the stumps of the floor joists have been torn out and carried away. RENE BACHE. —_——- “NOT TO BE VISITED AGAIN.” The Book Agent Wrote This Note Op- posite the Name of a Town. From the New York Tribune. Some time ago in the state of Michigan a young and enterprising American book agent was in the country, traveling from town to town, selling a work called “The Early Christian Martyrs,” which he soid at $5 a copy, delivering the books and col- lecting the meney as he went along. He had been two days in a certain town and had taken a fair number of orders there, when a little before ngon he called in a grocery store, where he found the Proprietor alone. The old grocer asked him what he had, seeing from his sample that he was an agent of some kind. He replied: “I’m taking orders for a work called ‘The Early Christian Martyrs,’ and have only a few copies left.” The old man’s eyes beamed with delight as he said, “Is that so?” Why, it was only a few nights ago my wife and I were ‘talk- ing about that book and wondering how we could get it. She wants the book bad and so do I.” The agent delivered him @ copy, and as the old man gave him a $% bill in payment, he said: ‘‘Now, look here, don’t you go over to the hovfse and sell @ copy to my wife, because we only want one ic the famil: “Certainly not,” sald th® book agent. “I wouldn’t think of such a thing,” and, bidding the old man good morning, he left It was then about a quarter to 12, and the train which was to take him to Chicago started at 12:15 p.m. He said to himself, “I have just time to sell a copy to the old lady and get on that train.” So he entered the nearest drug store, and getting the home address of the old man from a directory, he at once hurried there. Of course, he had no difficulty in making the sale, as she was anxious to get the work, and, having received the $5, he made all haste to catch the train. The old man came home for dinner at 12 o'clock, reaching there not long after the book agent had gone. His wife came toward him smiling and congratulating herself upon haying secured what she had for so long wished to possess, a copy of “The Early Christian Martyrs.” He did not smile, howeyer, but swore angrily, and, muttering something about he would fix him, hurrifd ott (not stopping for his dinner) in the’ hope of reaching the station before the train stirted for Chicago, think- ing that the book ‘agent would be sure to leave town as soon as possible after this. © When he came Within 200 yards of the station he saw from the top of the hill which sloped’,down to the station that the train was‘on the point of starting, so, recognizing a friend of his who was nearly at the bottom’ of the hill and consequently close to the fain he began gesticulating and shouting to him to stop the book agent. His friend could only catch the words book agent, so he ,apprgached the book agent, who was smoking a cigar on the rear platform of @ Re: and asked him what the old man on the hill wanted. The book agent, pretended to scrutinize the figure in the distance, of course, knowing full well who he, was and what he wanted. In a few mfnutes he said, as an idea seemed to strike him: “I know; I know now. That is a cus- tomer of. mine. He wants a copy of ‘The Early Christian Martyrs,’ and like a fool I never called on him. I forgot him. If you want to do him a good turn,” he added, just as the train was going to move out, “you had better take the book from me and give it to him, so he won't be dis- appointed. The price is $5.” The man gave the book agent $5 for his friend and took the book, and the train started for Chicago. As the book agent leaned back in his seat he took a small book, containing a list of towns, and wrote opposite this town the words, “Not to be visited again.” The Colonel and the Melon Thief. From the Atlanta Constitution. A prominent colcnel of Swainsboro has a watermelon patch which has been raidéd by enterprising darkies on several occa- sicns. The colonel missed so many melons that one night recently he seized a double- barreled shotgun and repaired to his :nelon patch to await the coming of the thief. He soon saw what appeared to be the fig- ure of a man, when he immediately opened fire. At the report of the gun the fun com- menced. The colonel thought he saw the man draw a revolver to return the fire, and this, together with other extreme excite- ment, so unnerved him that he forgot to fire the other barrel of his gun, and dashed with all his might for his residence. He knew the front door was barred, so he made for the back door. But during his atsence his wife had barred that door also. When he reached the door he was travel- irg at such a rapid rate he could not stop to unbar it, so he decided it wasn’t much in the way, anyhow, and as he dashed against it the door flew all the way across the room, striking the wall and shatter- ing twelve window panes. Investigation next morning on the scene of action developed the following facts: The melon patch is virtually. ruined, it be- ing torn to pieces by the colonel and the thief, each doing his best to see who could get’ out first. The first leap the colonel made he jumped clear from under his hat, which was found next morning. He ran cver melons, bursting them right and left, tearing the vines off the land. On the other side, where the thief went out, was found blood on the vines, trees and fence, and where he went out of the melon patch there were twelve panels of plank fence knocked down. —_——_+e+____ Competent. From the Youths’ Companion. The esteem in which the sailor's calling fs held in Massachusetts coast towns is indicated by,a true.story that comes from Gay Head, & primitive community on the island of Mattha’s“Vineyard. ‘A teacher Was wanted at the village, and a sailor, with Indian blood in his veins, applied to the tow committee for the po- sition. He hhd toopass an examination by the committde, and drembled at the ordeal, betng sadly amlearred in book lore. The chairman bégan the examination: “Mr. —,cwhat ds the shape of the earth?” 1 a “It is round, sir;"'the candidate answer- ed. z “How do you know?" “Because F havé''sailed around it three times.” = : “That wilk do, sir.” He received his “certificate” as a teacher without snother quéstion being asked. ; Absurd. From Harper's Bazar. “What were your husband’s‘last words?” “He didn’t have any.” ‘SOME CURIOUS HOBBIES. Queer Whims of Minds Given to Con- templating Important Matters, From Tid Bits. A very peculiar hobby was that of an old woman who had been employed at court in the capacity of nurse, and who had a most extensive collection- of pieces of wedding cake. The cakes to which the fragments belonged had been cut at the marriages of the highest in the land. Ti lace_of honor was given to a portion of Queen Victoria’s wedding cake, and nearly every royal mar- riage that had occurred since the acces- sion of William IV was represented in this curious collection. Lord Petersham, a noted dandy in his day, had a hobby for walking sticks and also for various kinds of tea and snuff. All round his sitting room were shelves, those upon one side laden with canisters of Souchong, Bohea, Congou, Pekoe, Rus- sian and other varieties of tea. The shelves opposite were decorated with hand- some jars, containing every kind of snuff, while snuff boxes lay here, there and every- where. Lord Petersham prided himself upon possessing the most magnificent ar- ray of boxes to be found in Europe, and was supposed to have a fresh box for every Gay in the year. When some one admired a beautiful old light blue Sevres box he was using, he lisped out, “Yes, it is a nice summer box, but would not do for winter wear.” Count Henry von Bruhl,.a famous Ger- man diplomatist, busied himself in collect- ing, boots, shoes, slippers and wigs of ail shapes, sizes and fashions. This curious hobby was rivaled by that of a late King of Bavaria, whose collection of hats was unique. ’ A King of Wurtemburg béasted the pos- session of above 9,000 copies of the Bible; and a nicotine-loving American reveled in a treasury of pipes, cf which he could count 365 specimens in meerschaum, brier, glass, china and clay. The Duke of Sussex, brother of King George II, had a pair of hobbies that were wide as the poles asunder. He was an in- defatigable collector of Bibles and of cigars. Pope Pius IX was a collector of slippers. He always had twenty-four pairs in his wardrobe, made of red cloth embroidered with gold, and ornamented with a solid gold cross, his chamberlain being strictly enjoined not to part with a single pair, however well worn they might be, to any of the many devout applicants for them. Wigs and walking sticks were the special vanities of Mr. William Evans, some time principal clerk in the prothonotary’s office for Anglesea Carnavon and Merioneth, and so highly did he value them that he be- queathed one of each to three different maiden ladies, for whom he had in turn felt a tenderness in early life. Another gentleman had a Hobby for scarf pins. He is said to have kept a book containing as many pages 2s there are days in the year, in each of which a different pin was stuck. Every morning he fastened into his scarf the pin which occupied the space al- lotted to that particular date, returning it to its place when he undressed at night. M. Nestor Roqueplan, a Frenchman of letters, was a collector of warming pans, and devoted a gallery in his house to this article of furniture, where visitors might enjoy the privilege of beholding the identi- cal warming pans that had aired the beds of such celebrities as Queen Mary of Scot- laud, Catherine de Medici, Gabriel d’Es- trees, Diana de Poitiers, Mme. Pompadour, Marie Antoinette, Mlle. de Fontange and other noted personages. Another eccentric Frenchman was a bean enthusiast. He wrote a book upon the history of haricots e1d their influence upon humarity, and re- Joiced in collecting beans from all quarters of the globe and carefully labeling and arranging them. Some of the specimens were very valuable, having cost as much as 500 francs. His death was hastened by the mysterious disappearance of some Japanese beans, upon which he set especial value. A European lady living in Japan acquired ro fewer than 700 teapots of various pat- terns ard kinds. Another lady had a hobby for collecting bonnets. She made a rule never to part with one she had worn, and, when she died, left behind her a wonderfui collection of feminine head adornments. Gillott, the founder of the werld-renown- ed steel pen business, had a passion for Cremona fiddles, although he was absolute- ly without musical knowledge. A London barber's hobby was the collecting of dress- ing cases—a hobby which he pursued with such avidity that on his death 300 of these cha came into the hands of his execu- crs. The Queen of Italy is said to be an en- thusiastic collector of boots and shoes. Her collection includes shoes of Marie Antoinette, of the Empress Josephine, Mary Stvart, Queen Anne and the Empress Cath- erine of Russia. ————+e+______ War Dog From the Militara-Wochenblatt. Some very interesting experiments as to the utility of wat dogs were made in con- rection with the Dresden international dog show on the race course near Dresden. A company was suppcsed to be covering some transports of horses against an im- aginary enemy. In order te do this more effectually some non-ccmmissioned officers, accompanied by traine¢ dogs, were sent forward to watch the approach of the en- emy. They advanced about a mile and a quarter, while keeping up communication with the company by means of the dogs. In this way the company was kept fully in- formed as to the movements of the enemy, and could stcp the transport of horses in good time before the attack. The same dogs were also used for carrying ammuni- tion to the firing line, each dog being pro- vided for this purpose with a kind of sac- dle holding 300 cartridges. The animals will go along the lines, stopping in front of every man, who takes the number of car- tridges he requires. When the ammunition is exhausted the dogs will hurry back to re- ceive a fresh supply, and thereupon re- sume the distribution. The dogs are also trained to find the wounded and attract th attention of the ambulance men in va- rious ways, some remaining near the man and barking until assistance arrives, ‘some running off to find an ambulance man and lead him to the spot, and others taking the man’s forage cap or tearing away a piece of his clothing and carrying it to the at- tendants. —__—_+e+_____ Quite Proper. From the Scottish Nights, Surely it is in a measure unkind to laugh at one who is determined to do the proper thing! A young farmer from the upper ward of Lanarkshire, who became a benedict re- cently, took his spouse to a Glasgow thea- ter on their honeymoon trip. “I see,” said the bridegroom, consulting one of the large posters displayed outside the theater before entering, “that there's a guid wheen different kind o’ seats. There's pit, and stalls, and dress circle, and family circle, and gallery. Which should we hae, Maggie?’” “Weel, Jemie,” replied the buxom bride, with a tecomirg blush, “reein’ that we're mairrit noo, maybe it wad be mair proper to sit in the family circle.” ————_+0+_____ Comparative Racing Records. ° From the Buffalo Commercial The following table is a good one for sporting persons to put in their scrap- books. It shows the record of a bicyclist compared with the best speed made iy horses: ¥%-mile, %-mile. %-mile. 1 mile. Johnson... .21.2-5 464-5 1114-5 1352-5 @icyclist) 2 Salvator.. .233-4 .471-2 1111-2 1.85 1-2 (race horse) Flying Jil 291-2 .59 1.28 3-4 1.58 1-4 (pacer) . Robert J.. .808-4 1.00 3-4 1801-4 2.01 1-2 (pacer) Alix....... 801-2 1.01 3-4 1.32 3-4 2.03 3-4 (trotter) In distane racing, whether on the road or track, the bicycle rider has greatly the advantage of the horse, and can beat that animal at any distance, the farther the dis- tance the greater the advantage in favor of the bicyclist. Imagine a horse attempt- ing to go 500 miles in twenty-four hours! ——+e+ Did the Hattdsome Thing. From the Atlanta Constitution. “We're about to“hang you,” said the captain of the vigilance committee; have you anything to say?” “Yes,” gasped the culprit. “My family’s poor. Please give ’em easy terms on my funeral expenses.” “Don’t let that bother you,” said the captain, as he tightened the rope. “I’m in the undertakin’ business, and I’m goin’ to make you a present of a box with pewter handles, an’ a cemetery lot to boot!” >] season.” PROFESSIONAL HOUSE HUNTER. The Way a Buffalo Woman Makes a Good Living. From the Buffalo Express. “Why don’t you get a house hunter to help you?” The landlady said this. ‘A what? exclaimed Mr. and Mrs. Jamison beth at once. “House hunter.” “Why, I never heard of on said Mr. Jamison. “What are they?” asked Mrs. Jamison. “Why, a house hunter is one who hunts houses,” explained the landlady. “You go to one and tell her what you want, and she does the rest. There is a house hunter who lives up in Prospect averue. If you will go and tell her what you want she or her son will go with you and get you just the very kind of house you want. All you have to do is to tell her the location in which you desire the house, about the kind of a house you want and how much you want to pay. ‘They seem to have the whole city right at command, and no sooner do you tell what you want than there it is, all fitted out ready to move into. I always get her to hunt houses for me when I want to move. You will pay her $1, and then she gets a commission from the other end as well. She has a sort of understanding with all of the real estate dealers in the city. Some- times she gets $2 and sometimes as high as $10 from the dealer, according to the drive and kind of a house. She told me all about it one day. When her husband died she did not know what to do. She tried to hunt up a little cottage that would fit her means, just as you did. Then she saw what hard work it was. “She would go to a dealer, just as you did, and get a long list of houses, and then start out and try to get one that would fit. She said that when she was riding along she would see hundreds of houses such as she wanted, but none of them seemed to be on the list. Then she thought what a nice thing it would be if one could have some one to hunt a house for one, and out of it grew the business which she has been en- aged in ever since. She finally found a horse such as suited her, and then she went to a real estate agent, one of the big- gest in the city, and asked him what he would give her if she would find tenants for his houses. He told her, and she went to arother. Finally she got rates from all the dealers and also got their list of houses. Then she begen to study the houses, the streets and the city. After a while she got tkem all so that she knew them. She knows about every rentable house in the city, and how much it will rent for. Then she began to study human nature, and by fitturg people to houses and houses to peo- ple she finally got so she could find just the house a person wanted in half a day.” The house hunter, who is believed to be original in Buffale, not only finds houses, but locates rooms and board for people who desire them. She lives in a neat little cot- tage in Prospect avenue, and from the rail of the porch pends a neat sign which tells the pasesr-by of the peculiar occupation of the resident. The fee of $1 is asked only when the person desiring a house is in a hurry. Where the house hunter takes her time a house will be secured after a time which will please. The dollar is for hav- Ing the house hunter go with one at once and finding just the house wanted. That plan is usually chosen. ee AN AMUSING AD. How a Chicago Tobacconist Brew a Big Crowd. From the Chicago Inter-Ocean. An enterprising cigar dealer on La Salle street, who has original ideas on advertis- ing, certainly struck a good thing Wedres- day last when he cleared his show window and gave up the space to a huge St. Bern- ard, who almost literally filled the window. The cigar man soon had the sidewalk blocked. Bankers, stock exchange bulls and bears, insurance men, clerks and mes- sengers, all stopped to see the dog. Those who got near enough to the window read the following posters on the glass: “What kind of a dog is that?" “He is a St. Bernard.” ‘How old is he?” ‘He will soon be two years old.” “How much does he weigh?” “One hundred and eighty-two pounds af- ter a bath.” “How much does he eat?” “All he can get—honestly.” “Where does he eat?” “At home, and on Chicago Great Western dining cars (when allowed).” “How high does he stand?” “Thirty-three and one-half inches at shoulders.’ Will he grow any more?” ‘Yes, he is liable to burst his skin.” is he kind to children?” ‘Yes, he will rock a cradle all day.” is the boy proud of kim?” ‘Yes, he thinks he owns him.’ ‘Did he ever save any lives?” “No, he never was in the Alps moun- “Do tramps come in where the dog lives?” “No, not if they see him first.” “Then he does not like tramps?” “No, except well done, with chill savce.” ee ee The Summer Girl's Love. ‘W. J. Lampton in Life. (The first six chapters of a seasonable novel.) CHAPTER L “And wil you love me always?” she murmured, with her head on his manly and throbbing bosom. “Always,” he responded, kissing her rose- leaf lips. > CHAPTER II. “And will you love me always?” she murmured, with her head on his manly and throbbing bosom. “always,” he responded, kissing her rose- leaf lips. CHAPTER III. “And will you love me always?” she murmured, with her head on his manly and throbbing bosom. “Always,” he responded, kissing her rose- leaf lps. CHAPTER Iv. “And will you love me always?” she murmured, with her head on his manly and throbbing bosom. “always,” he responded, kissing her rose- leaf lips. CHAPTER V. -“And will you love me always?” she murmured, with her head on his manly and throbbing bosom. “Always,” he respoa-ied, kissing her rose- leaf lips. CHAPTER VI. “And will you love me always?” she murmured, with her head on his manly and throbbing bosom. “Always,” he responded, kissing her rose- leaf lips. (To be continued.) A monotonous sameness may seem to pervade the chapters of this novel, but we hastcn to assure the reader that it is of thrilling interest, in vicw of the fact that while the young woman remains the same there is a different Young man in each chapter. Life-Saving Sleeves. From the Boston Globe. A new use has been found for balloon sleeves, through the ingenuity of an enter- prising inventor, which promises great re- sults. The “bustle” inside the sleeves has up to date been adopted somewhat warily, as hardly filling a long-felt want. But now a silk life preserver is to take its place, which can be inflated at will, and enables the wearer to float in perfect ease on the water. Sailing parties made up largely of ladies will leave the man at the helm very much at ease, with each female member of the company transformed into an animated life preserver, for if one moves carelessly on deck and gets blown overboard, there is no danger. of a tragedy. The balloons will also add no little to the sail area in fair winds. The life-saving «sleeve will doubtless prove a big thing, and all that it is puffed up to be. ——__—-e.—_____ A New Word Invented. From the Boston Transcript. A new word has come out of England. It is “storgize,” which appears in a Lon- don paper. To “storgize,” we are informed, is “to indulge in laudable maternal affec- tions excessively and out.of due place and The British mamma _ has beer “storgizing’”’ In the presence of an editor who could only find relief from the bore- dom of hearing anecdotes of a bright three- year-old, of witnessing the letting loose of juvenil2 torment upon an unoffending party, by inventing the word. The anx- ious transatlantic world is now waiting to learn whether the ‘‘g” is hard or soft. IMPROPER AND DEFICIENT CARE OF THE sealp Will cause grayness of the hair and baldness Escape both by the use of that reliable specitic, Hall's Hair Renewer. SE eee —————__—__} DANIEL WEBSTER’S HOME. Where the Great Ex : His .Chik From the Manchester (N. H.) Union. Franklin is pre-eminently a city of fine distances. In one direction there rises to view a slope thickly built up with tasty. cottages and imposing mansions. In an- other line the roofs and chimneys of large manufacturing establishments appear above the cool shade of wide-spreading trees. Another way a pastoral landscape and the white spire of a church are seen, While yet again, the cultivated fields through which sweeps the Merrimack in the grace of its freshest beauty attracts the eye and holds the attention of the visitor. I hold that the pilgrim to the Webster mecca, two and a half miles down the river from the Franklin railway station, is lucky if he has to walk. Not that the teams are not good, but the first half of the road shows what the old granite state can really do in the shape of excellent farming lands, and the Merrimack keeps company a good part of the way, setting the pedestrian a lively pace to keep up with her. As said, the Webster place is two and one-half miles down the river road below the station. The old mansion is really there, and not much changed from the days when the great statesman last saw it. The residence of the superintendents of the Orphans’ Home is built on the east end of the original house, but the old home is Practically’ unmolested save in color. The Webster family removed here from Salisbury when Daniel was two years old, which was in 1784. Judge Ebenezer Web- ster, Daniel's father, bought the place of the heirs of Phillip Call. As early as 1739 Call was placed in charge of a fort on this farm. ‘Judge Webster died in 1806, and was buried in the cemetery near by. The two sons, Ezekiel and Daniel, then became equal owners of the property. Ezekiel died suddenly while,addressing a jury in Concord, April 10, 1820. Daniel bought Ezekiel’s share, and soon after im- proved the premises by building what is known as the Mansion House. Here he wrote the celebrated Hulseman letter, and composed one of his most distinguished oratiéns. The trustees of Mr. Webster sold the farm to Rufus L. Tay, April 3, 1855. The heirs of Mr. Tay sold it to Jos- eph Eastman and John C. Morrison Feb- ruary 15, 1870, and Messrs. Eastman and Morrison sold it to the New Hampshire Orphans’ Home August 28, 1871. Fine trees border the highway in the locality. The great elm in front of the Webster house was set out by Danfel when he was a boy. The fine old tree spreads wide its branches above the man- sion, and casts a grateful shade even to the road. Of the interior of the old Webster house, the sitting room or parlor, with its wains- coted walls, is about the same as it was before the statesman left it to the muta- tions of time and the tender mercies of those destined to follow him in. proprietor- ship. The iron fireplace, with “brass and- irons, is there, and a long wooden table, once the property of the Websters, has a place in honor of the room. In one corner a door opens out into an entry, where a staircase, wrought with semi-ornamental workmanship, leads to the floor above. At the back of the mansion i$ a veranda, under which Webster used to sit and enjoy the cool shade of the afternoon. This. ve- randa or perch has not undergone any al- terations, and has felt the touch of the hand of time very lightly. —~++—____ < THROUGH GRAND CANYON. ler Lived im A Minister's Perilous Descent of the . Colorado River. From the Los Angeles (Cal.) Herald. Rev. David Utter of Salt Lake recently made the descent of the Colorado river on a raft built of driftwood, twenty feet long, six feet wide and well spiked together. Two boxes, with false bottoms, containing pro- visions, were nailed upon the raft. They served as seats when the water was smooth and protected the provisions from the swash. The navigators got into serious trouble only once. On the first day the raft was carried into an eddy about 600 feet long and 300 feet wide and very deep. At the ‘foot of the eddy the current was so strong that it required an hour of the hard- est kind of paddling to get over into the stream again. “If either of us had lost his footing there and gone overboard that would have been the end,” said Mr. Utter, “because the suck would have carried him down, and if he should be fortunate enough to come up < el there would be nothing to take hold “We were three days on the raft, tying up at night, and made about half the dis- tance the first day. The scenery well re~ paid the journey, and the Black Canyon, where the mountains reach a height of 3,000 feet, with sheer precipices on both sides, rising like masonry from the river, Was grandeur itself. We encountered one very unpleasant feature—a hot wind, such as I never felt before. Instinctively we turned our backs to the blast. It literally cooked the skin. I wet a towel and held it outspread before my face. I am certain it dried within three minutes—perhaps two. No nausea was connected with it; simply plain heat. When we reached the big bend at Fort Mojave I learned that this wind = from Death Valley, or the Mojave ——+e+______ Written for The Evening Star. . The Heart of a Rose. In the heart of a rose my secret lay, I looked at it cft and sighed; It lived with the rose one summer's day, And alas, with the rose it died. It died. Ah, yes, but the memory lives Of the dear dead summer goie, Of the face I loved, and the future gives No secret as sweet as that one. rP. ———>—__ Wires Over a Tunnel. From thg Paper Trade Journal. North Adams continues to be puzzled over @ queer crankism of electricity in its vicini- ty. Although when the great four-and-a- half-mile Hoosac tunnel was built no oes, ™agnetic or otherwise, were encountered, there was general expectation that rich ore pockets would be found. For an unex- plained reason, not an electrician has been discovered who can send a telegraphic mes- sage on a wire running from portal to por- tal of that tunnel, be such wire run inside of an ocean cable through the huge cavern or out of it. Such messages have to be sent on wires strung on poles over the top of the mountain, fully nine miles, and that is the way in-going and out-coming senger and freight trains are heralded to the keepers of the two tunnel approaches, In order to maintain this overland moun- teiri line, a swath of woodland has to be kept clear of trees and bushes directly up the steep mountain side, and it reminds one of a modern dude with a well-defined cen- tral hair parting from the forehead to the crown. ——_+-+__ - An Untimely Hymn. From the Ram's Horn, @ It is very often the case with an exces- sively demonstrative individual that he loves the shout and song more than the contribution box. I think it especially true in the case ef an old colored brother of my acquaintance who holds a membership with the African Methodist Church in a certain city. Just before the close of service the min- ister announced that a collection would be taken, and added: “Will some brudder please start an appropriate song?” The request found a ready response in Brother C., who immediately started that old faz miliar hymn, “Yield Not to Temptation,” and the collection box passed unheeded bye The Little One—“Let’s go play in the .| stable with the nice old horses. ‘The Other—“I confess I was once not averse to the close proximity of the beasts you adore, but from a hygienic point of view I think the stable odors nauseatingly, deleterious.”—Life.