Evening Star Newspaper, August 31, 1895, Page 18

18 HALLIEHURST, ELKINS’ THE EVENING STAR SATURDAY, AUGUST 81, 1895-TWENTY PAGES. MOUNTAIN HOUSE. A PRINCELY DOMAIN The Extensive Country Place of Senator Elkins of West Virginia. FRANK CARPENTER A GUES? THERE He Describes the House and Chats With the Owner. PRESIDENTIAL PROSPECTS ——_+___ (Copyright, 3805, Frank G. Carpenter.) T WAS THE NIGHT I: the last state elec- ticn in West Virgi- nia. The republi- cans and democrats had been having one of the hardest fights in their history, and Stephen B. Elkins, the manager of the republican campaign and now Senator from the state, was seated in his library in his mountain home at Elkins, with his friends about him, receiving the returns. He had a spe- c'al wire and the dispatches came thick and fast. They were favorable, but the matter was yet unsettled, when the opers- tor turned to Mr. Elkins and said: - “Here is a dispatch about some shoes.” “Oh,” replied Mr. Elkins, “that must be one of Mrs. Elkins’ store orders. Tell them to hold that. What we want now Is elec- tion news.” This was done. There seemed, however, to be a lull in the dispatches. None were received for some time, and Mr. Elkins said: “You might as well take the shoe dis- patch. There don’t seem to be anything on the wire.” A moment later he was handed the fol- Elkins, West Virginia: here shall I send my shoes? a (Signed) “JOHNSON N. CAMDEN.’ There was a hearty laugh. Camden was the democratic United States Senator. He had received the news of his defeat in ad- vance of Fikins, and hence the dispatch. Mr. Elkins has already gotten the shoes. He has them on, and I shall be much sur- prised if trey are not stretched considera- bly in the way of a national reputation for himself and West Virginia befcre he gets through with them. Elkins, the Man. The people of the United States know but little of Stephen B. Elkins. He has a rational reputation as a politician and a business man, but only those who have come into close contact with him realize that he is one of the biggest and broadest men of the United States. I have known him for several years, and I have just re- turned from a visit to him at his home in the mountains of West Virginia. He has a strong personality, and his individuality grows upon you. He is full of ideas, and Biaine used to say that he knew more peo- ple than any man in public life. Mr. El- kins is of a literary rather than of a busi- ness bent, and today he keeps up his read- ing of the best authors and the study of the classics and the poets. He reads Latin, Gréek and Hebrew in the original, and he can quote Tennyson and Browning by the hour. He is thoroughly posted on the his- tery of his country, and he likes to discuss the leading novels, such as George Eliot and Thackeray, over whom he, Senator Allen G. Thurman, James G. Blaine and Abigail Dodge had many a literary fight while he lived in Washington. He keeps abreast of the times. You find all of the latest English magazines, as well as those of America, on his library table, and his Senator Elkins. books number thousands of volumes. He fs one of the healthiest psychical entitles that I have ever met. He never loses his temper. He is interested in every sulJect that is proposed, and usually has some- thing new to offer upon it. His soul is made of the finer fibers, and his language is clean and pure. Still, he is thoroughly in sympathy with his’ fellows, and the workmen on his place are as much at home with him as he fs in the presence of the United States Senators, after whom the stations on his and Senator Davis’ rallroad are named. He is a good judge of men, and he seldom forgets a name or a tace. He reads men easily, and decides quickly. He is a man of strong character. He knows what he wants, and usually gets it. He turns off work easily, never worrles nor ets, and at fifty-four he has the heart and energy of a boy. He enjoys life in ail ases, and almost goes crazy over the es of nature and the delights of a country life. He has a big forest at the back of his home, and he knows every tree in ft, and looks tpon them as his dearest friends. He has a dozen horses in his stables, but he prefers walking above all other exercises, and tramps his guests up and down over his estate, showing them his gardens, his flowers and the magnificent views which bourd it on every side. Not long ago he bought a mountain for fear scme fellow might destroy one of his views or take away its beauty by cutting off the trees, and he turned a county road in order to improve the symmetry of his homestead. The Principality Owned by Elkins and Davis, Senator Elkins and ex-Senator Davis, in connection with one or two other men, cwn tens of thousands of acres of the finest coal lands, and their railroad, which ts 160 miles long, goes for nearly 100 miles over thelr own coal. They have tens of thou- sands of acres of valuable timber, and there are towns and factories and great tarneries all along the line of their road. They mine from 2,060 to 4,000 tons of coal every day. They make hundreds of tons of coke daily, some of which is shipped far as Salt Lake and some goes to diff ent parts of Mexico. They own more towns than you can count on your fingers and toes, and they are building model settle- ments away up there in the heart of the Alleghenies. They made the railroad with their own money, and they are developing the properiy themselves. They laid out the towns, and they have caused them to spring up, like Aladdin's palace, almost in a night. The city of Davis five years ago was a forest. It has today 3,000 people and all the modern improvements. The town of Elkins four years ago was a corn- field. It has now a bank, a first-class ho- tel, @ magnificent public school building, a system of sewerage and water works and it is lighted by electricity, which is furnished so cheaply to the people that cottages with two rooms can afford it, the service costing them 75 cents a month. The town has a public sauare or plaza in the center, filled with trees, and there Is an- other large park at the back, which Sen- ‘atcrs Elkins and Davis have given to the reople for all time. On one side of the mountains rise two Sreat buildings which. with their turrets and towers, make you think of the castles Elkins as Member of Congress at Thirty-Three Yeurs. on the Rhine, and on another hill a little to the left is another big stone residence which is being built by Mr. Richard C. Kerens, the milllonaire of St. Louis, who has been connected with Senator Elkins for years and who has some interest in this West Virginia property. The two cas- tles are the homes of Senator Elkins and his father-in-law, ex-Senator H. G. Davis, who served in the Senate for twelve years from West Virginia as a democrat. The grounds about the Elkins house contain More than sixty acres, and they are as well kept as an old English park. You ride by them for a full quarter of a mile before you come to the entrance, which is @ mile distant from the house. Its Wonderfal Interior. The house is an immense structure of three stories. Its big rooms are so furnished that there is nothing barn-like about them, and the house is more like a comfortable home than a mililonaire’s palace. And still, its size is enormous. The stone porch which runs about its two sides Is 180 feet long, and so wide that you could run a freight car around it and not touch the edge of the walls. The main feature of the ground floor is the hall which runs through the center, and into which the parlors, the library and the cining room open. This hall is so big that you could drive a wagon load of hay in through the front doors and drive out again without grazing the wood- work. Sixteen big chairs and two large sofas form a part of its furniture, and it has a fireplace at one side which eats up wood by the cord, and in which the logs are put without splitting or sawing. At the right, as you enter, is the parlor, and beyond this the Senator’s library. This Ubrary has the biggest fireplace in the United States, and the room is, I venture, larger than any committee room in the Capitol. It is walled with books, and the pictures of the great Americans of the time, who are close friends of Senator El- kins, look down from its walls. Opposite the parlor is the dining room, which ts, I judge, as big as the dining room of the ‘White House, and at the tables of which from thirty to forty often sit down to din- ner. Senator Elkins keeps open house, and his friendships are so many that he has plenty of guests. Not long ago he had a large number of friends stopping with him, when a crowd of sixteen more appeared without notice. Mrs. Elkins took care of them all, and nearly every guest had his own sleeping rocm. The bed rooms are ar- ranged in suites, each of which has an ele- gant bath room, with a porcelain tub, and some of the guest rooms are enormous. The furniture, however, makes them look smaller, and it gives you some idea of the size of the house when I say that it took many car loads of furniture to fit out the rooms. The house is heated by steam, and it has all modern converiences. It has its own gas plant, but it will soon be supplied with electricity, and the steam will come from the railroad company’s works in the town. The ice house connected with it now con- tains 200 tons of ice, and the Senator has all the luxuries of the city here on the top of the Allegheny mountains. He entertains ee @ prince, and his home life is delight- ful. ‘This mountain estate is named after his wife. It is called ‘“Halllehurst.” The word “hurst’” means wood, and Mrs. Elkins was, you know, Miss Hallie Davis, the daught of Serator Henry G. Davis, when the Sena- tor married her, now twenty years ago. The family consists of four boys, the eldest of whom is ninteen, and one girl, Miss Catherine, who at nine is the baby of the family, and who is a host in herself. In addition to these, Senator Elkins’ married daughter, Mrs. Bruner, and her husband are now with him, and his father, who at eighty-six is one of the brightest old young men of the country, is an important part of the es- tablishment. Mementces of Great Men. During my stay at his house I felt very close to Grant and Blaine. His library is filled with relics and mementoes of them, and Mr. Elkins knew them so well that talking with him about them seems almost like chatting with the men themselves. One morning, I remember, I asked him to explain to me the meaning of a frame filled with closely written man- uscript, containing many erasures and cor- rections, which hung on one of the walls of his library. “That,” said he, “is the first draft of Blaine’s estimate of Grant, which he published in his book. This manuscript had something to do in bring- ing Grant and Blaine together, and to make them friends again. They were great men, and it seemed a pity to me that they should not be friends. I knew them both very well. While they were not on good terms I was living near Gen. Grant, on 58th street, in New York, and during his latter days I visited him very frequently. I often had Blaine visiting me, and I would excuse myself and say I wanted to go over and see Grant for an hour. Grant would ask me about Blaine, amd Blaine never had a bad word to say against Grant. ‘The two men were too great to stoop to lit- tle things. At this time I had a summer house at Deer Park, and Grant came up and spent a week or so with me. I got to know him better at that time. He looked upon me as a kind of a boy, and I was 1s much at ease with him-as with you. One day I got a Jetter from Blaine, in which he spoke very kindly of Grant, and I then asked Grant why he and Blaine could not be on better terms. Sald Jy “You are both great men, and it seems to me as great Americans you ought not to go on through the world closing your careers without betng closer to one anoth- er, Here is what Blaine has written me about you, and I know that he has only the kindest feelings toward you. I wish you two could come together.’ “Grant thereupon sald that he had no objection, and shortly after this, when he was at Washington, Mr. and Mrs. Blaine called upon him, and were well xeceived, and the two became reconciled. How Grant Felt in Battle. “Gen. Grant,” Senator Elkins went on, “was a great, big man. The closer you got to him, the bigger he grew. He was a broad gauge man in every sense of the word, and entirely unselfish, and with all his greatnese he was the soul of simplici- ty. Simplicity belongs to greatness, you know, and no great man was ever a selfish man. One day, as we sat on my porch chatting and looking out over the moun- tains, the thought of his great deeds in war came to me, and I asked: “General, I want you to tell me how a great man feeis when he {fs in the midst of a battle which is to decide, perhaps, the fate of a nation, and make a mark in his- tory for all time, knowing, as he does, that the world is looking on, and the success or the failure o§ the battle is largely depend- ent upon him as the commander? “Grant smoked a moment and _ replied: ‘I can’t say now how I felt. All that I thought of was whipping the enemy and putting down the rebellion, and saving the Union.’ ” The Religicn of Grant and Blaine. “Senator, was Grant a religious man?’ “Yes,” was the reply. “He was a simple, earnest Christian.” “How about Blaine?” “Blaine had a strong faith in religion,” replied Senator Elkins, “‘and he did every- thing he could to strengthen it. He would never discuss the foundations of his faith. He did not want to doubt, and he did not want to reason on the matter. His mother was a Catholic, and this influenced him greatly, and made him respect her faith. I am told the cardinal and Father Tom Sher- man saw Mr. Blaine before his death, and still, the last time he went to church, it Was at the Church of the Covenant, in Washington, which is, you know, Presby- terjan.” : Elkins and Religion. “How about yourself, Senator? You are a Catholic, are you not?” “No,” replied Senator Elkins. “I come from the old, cast-iron Scottish Presbyter- ian stock. My ancestors were all Protest- arts, and my church is the Christian Church, sometimes known as the Church of the Disciples, or Campbellites, which I joined while at college. During my term in Congress, I attended the New York Avenue Presbytefian Church, and I suppose I will go back there when I return to the capital to live. The reason why I sometimes have been thought to be a Catholic arises from the fact that I have a great many Catholic friends. One of these is Cardinal Gibbons, who spent some time with me here at El- kins not long ago, and who is, by the way one of the great men of the United States. My daughter married a Catholic. She asked my advice about the matter, and I told her that if she really loved the man she was about to marry I did not think the difference of religion was to be con- sidered. Her husband was very strong in his faith, and as she did not think the question of denomination made much dif- ference, she became a Catholic. As for me I believe in the Christian religion, but I am rot much of a sectarian. All of the churches are doing great good for civilfza- ton, law, peace and order. If I cannot attend my own church, I am content to worship at any other at hand. I was a vestryman five years in the All Souls’ Episcopal Church in New York. Here at home my family and I worship at the Presbyterian Church. My religious belief, in short, may be summed in a quotation from Tennyson, which is: ‘There’s a Something that watches over us, and our individuality endures.” “That's my faith, and that’s all my faith.” How John Sherman Lost the Presi- dency. “Speaking of Tom Sherman, Senator, what do you think of his Uncle John, the Senator? Will he cut any figure in the coming national convention?” “I think not,” replied Senator Elkins, “for I have understood that he will not be a candidate. He is perhaps the best equip- ped for the presidency of any of our pub- lic men. He is a great statesman and a great all-around man, and he would have made a good President. He might have been nominated in 1888. The choice waver- ed for some time between him and Harri- on. It swung on the turning of a hair, but he hair was turned in the direction of Harrisen, and he was nominated. The turn was made through the friends of Blaine. Steve Elkins at Twenty-One. They felt that their favorite had been de- feated partly by Sherman’s friends in 1876, and again in 188), and they could not for- get this. The truth is, it was understood among the friends of Blaine that if it came to be a question between Harrison and Sherman, the Blaine strength should, as far as possible, be cast for Harrison. But that there should be no mistake, Mr. Blaine was asked by cable, being in Europe at the time, and the answer came back, ‘Har- rison.” The Convention of 1880. “You can’t tell enything about a conyen- tion, however,” Mr. Elkins went on. “Take that of 1880. We thought we would surely nominate Blaine, and the convention clear- ly wanted Grant or Blaine. I foresaw the close contest which was bound to come be- tween Grant and Blaine, and I urged Gen. Garfield, who was for Sherman, but after him for Blaine, to give us twenty-five votes from Ohio, if at any time it should be shown that this would nominate Blaine. He promised to do this. But during the next ballot his own name was sprung, and, in order to end the contest, he was nomi- nated. “You are -:nentioned as a presidential candidate, Senator. Have you aspirations that wa; “No, I have not,” replied Senator Elkins. “T have, you know, lived a long time both in the east and the west, engaged all the time in active business. For sixteen years I have served on the national committee, have attended the four national conven- tions and have taken part in all the cam- paigns. This has given me a wide ac- quaintance and made me many friends throughout the country, some of whom, in their partiality, have mentioned my name, even in connection with the presidency. That is all. I do not say that if the presi- dency were in my grasp that I would not reach out and take it. Such a statement would be very conceited, and no one would believe it. I am ambitious, but I do not believe that I am the logical conclusion of the situation. I am content to be a United States Senator. I see in that position a field where I believe I can work to advantage and where I think I can do good to my state and the country. It {is a position which I think is worthy of any man and his best energies.” “How about the vice presidency, Sena- tor?” “I am not a candidate for the vice presi- dency,” replied Senator Elkins. “I don’t know that I would like to give up the six years of my senatorship, which I am now assured of, for four years of the vice presi- dency, even if I were sure I could have it. The position in the Senate is an active one, and I like it for that reason. I would not like to give up a possibility of doing some- thing, whfch I think I have as Senator, to that of the vice presidency, where I,could do nothing but preside.” “As to candidates, there are plenty of good men and great men in the field. “Tom Reed of Maine would make a good President. So would Harrison, McKinley, Morton or Allison. Although I have no right to speak for Gen. Harrison, yet I be- Neve he will not enter into any scramble for the position before the convention. Having b2en one of the greatest Presidents the country has had, and having received @ second nomination, in my judgment he'll not enter into any contest for the place. He might accept if the nomination were given him unanimously.” “How about McKinley?” “I think Gov. McKinley would make a strong candidate,” replied Senator Elkins, “though his selection will depend some- what upon whether the party at this time concludes to make a fight for an entirely new tariff. He stands as:a great leador in this line. I gon’t think, however, that the important question now fs that of candi- dates. What we want ig>to secure party harmony, and to decide\‘upon the issues which will insure success. It is not a ques- tion of men; it is of principles.” Began as a Poor Boy. “You ask something abqut my wealth,” Senator Elkins went on. “I began life as a poor boy, with nothing;but my college education. I have made what I have with- out ald from any source. I know I am set down as a man of large wealth. This Js not so. I am comfortable. and have an organized and promising business to leave my children. I am not a rich man in the sense of the rich New Yorkers, but Wa have a great property here in prospect and a chance to do something. We have altogether about 100,000 acres of coal and timber land, and we are rapidly bullding up a population along the lines of our railroad. We will probably extend our lines east and put in a branch south to connect with the Chesapeake and Ohio. We are now sending our coal and coke to the west, to the Atlantic seaboard and to Mexico, and our supply is practically inexhaustible. When we came into this region with the road, the most of it was wilderness. It now contains tens of thou- sands of people, and it is just on the edge of its development. West Virginta is one of the richest states in the Union, and I think it has a great future.” “Senator, you have been a very success- ful man. You started Hfe poor, and you have yourself made a great fortune. I want to ask you if you think the chances are as good for money making today as they were when you began.” “Of course they are,” replied Senator El- kins. The universal and everlasting Now is full of opportunities. It fairly bristles with them. The world is just on the edge of its development. Take the matter of selectricity. It promises to change every- thing under the sun, and its possibilities are inestimable. This country now has 70,000,000 people. It will ‘support 700,000,000, and until it grows to that there will be in- numerable opportunities and unlimited possibilities for fortunes and fortune mak- in; ‘How about the times? Has prosperity como to stay?” “That is a question,” replied Senator El- kins, “which I am not able to answer. As to ultimate prosperity, there is no doubt. ‘As to an immediate change, I do not know. This may be merely a spurt, or it may be a steady race for the better. I fear, how- ever, that we have before us an era of lower profits and lower wageS, and I doubt whether there will be permanent prosper- ity until after the next presidential elec- tion.” FRANK G. CARPENTER. ios FAKE GREEN CORN DANCE. t Would Have Been a dit to Barnum. From the Syracuse Standard. Ever since the days of Hiawatha and the time when his beloved Minnehaha was sent out at night to bless the fields of maize, the Five Natfons have held the festival of the green corn as the most holy and happy of the year. As can be imagined, their disgust at the fact that the pale faces would come in {dle curigsity, and with evi- dent amusement look onthe! religious dance of the ancient Mingoe$;"was deep enough to bring Le Reynard Spvt{f from the bot- tom of Cooper's gorge, beyond the Lac du Sainte Sacrament. But, for all that, every year, when the harvest maon did come, the Yengeese would gather, at the council hall of the Onondagas to seé the show. At last a scheme was hit upon which seems to sat- isfy all concerned.- Some two weeks before the date of the annual celebration of the festival a fake dance ig arranged. The af- fair is widely advertised,as the old original. Spectators come from fat and near, and the counci! hall of the descendants of the rulers of half this continent is growded. Every guest is welcome, for ,all..who go inside must purchase tickets, and every horse that is left outside needs some one to hold it. What a» harvest is brought to the red men. What a lot of firewater those dimes and quarters will buy! The whole population of the reservation was gathered in and about the council house at an early hour in the morning. Dan La Forte, the head of the nation, was standing around with his hands in his pockets, not saying a word, but directing everything. By noon the crowd began to come, and as soon as there was a reason- able number of paid admissions inside of the big hall the dancing began. Three or four old men performed the accompani- ment, using Indian drums and rattles as their’ instruments of torture. The song and dance artists, decked in war paint and feathers, took thelr place in a cleared space in the middle of the floor, and the excitement began. Round and round they went, with steps more weird than the witches of Macbeth, chanting, as they moved, some uncanny dirge. With a liberal application of imag- ination one might place the scene on the shores of Horicon and fancy that in the depths of the forests primeval about the campfire the noble red man was worship- ing the Great Spirit and thanking the Deity for the priceless gift of the maize. To the materialist of the living present the performance was an amusing farce. The war paint and those best $1.49 shoes, the waving plume sewed with cotton thread to a clothing company’s advertising cap, the valiant braves outside the door of the shanty all looking for a job holding some one’s horse, all in all, it would be a hard strain on the most vivid of imaginations to think of Uncas as among this motley crowd. Till 5 o'clock in the afternoon the jig was kept up, and then, when every one seemed to have had enough of the show, the crowd adjourned to the neighboring common, where, after the hat had been passed around several times to make an induce- ment, the young men of the tribe gave an exhibition game of lacrosse. This wound up the day's gayety, except that, it is sald, a number of the braves were sent outside of the reservation to procure some whisky with which to celebrate the financial suc- cess of the day’s work. The date of the real corn dance, the Indians say, has not yet been fixed. ———_~+ 0+____ An Original Notice. From the Atlanta Constitution, The following original notice was dis- covered tacked on a rural church door: “Notice—There will be preaching in this house, Providence permitting, Sunday; and there will be preaching here whether or no, on the Monday following, upon the sub- ject: ‘He that believeth and is not bap- ized shall be saved, and he that believeth not shall be damned at precisely half-past 3 o’clock in the afternoon.’ - + ——__+e+_____ The Chicken’s Age. From the Halifax Herald. Jones—“The chicken old.” Smith—“How can you! teM the age of a chicken 1 al Jones—“By the teeth. 1 Smith—“By the teeth! Chickens don’t heve any teeth.” Jones—“‘But I have.” A Show T c is ‘fourteen years —<—<— The latest thing out.—Life, IN OTHER LANDS Some of the Customs and Regulations of the Foreign Public Schools. THE VACATIONS. ARE SHORT Attendance is Compulsory and the Hours Are Long. THE MANY REQUIREMENTS Written for The Evening Star. UST ABOUT NOW, when the youth of the country is think- ing seriously about the annual return to study, it will be in- teresting to learn something about for- eign schools. A writer for The Star has been talk- ing to the specialists of the bureau of edu- cation and has learn- ed many bits of in- formation of interest to pupil, teacher and Parent alike, not to say those who have fond memosies of school days. This gov- ernment bureau receives reports from every country in the world, descriptive of school systems. When we consider that Uncle Sam prides himself on giving his young people better educational advan- tages than any other ecvntry In the world, these hints from other gcvernments would not at first appear valuable. But new and original schemes for training the young idea how to shoot, or at least how to aim, are continually cropping out in every en- lightened naticn. Here are some of the more interesting of these peculiarities, which will in a great measure cause the student of the United States to be thankful that he is where he is. School Children in Germany. Next to the United States, Germany sends more of her children to school than any other nation. In that empire every parent is required to scnd to school every boy or gicl between the ages of six and fourteen. No children can attend any but the public schools, unless their teacher es- tablishing a private scKool has undergone a rigid examination. The boys and girls going to the public schocls in that country must get up every morning and be at their desks at 8 o’clock. They remain at school until 1 o'clock, except in the case of the very young children, who are dismissed at noon. There is a vacaticn of one week at Christmas, one at Easter, one at Whitsun- tide and three at harvest time, in Septem- ber. This harvest holiday corresponds to our summer vacation, The German stu- derits therefore get six weeks more school- ing each year than ts had by the school children of the United States. But worse than all this, the German boys and girls must also go to school on Saturday, Sun- day being the cnly whcle holiday in each week. Two half days of leisure, however, are allowed. In the cities these are usu- ally spent in such places as the botanical gardens, museums, etc., where everything is fully explained by their teachers, who always accompany them. Beginning nt Six Years of Age. A peculiarity ‘of the German school sys- tem is that a parent, on first sending his son to primary school, at the age of six, must then decide whether he is to go through the classical, scientific or business high schools. A separate elementary course, beginning with the fitst day of tui- tion, prepares the pupil for one of each of these. Now, if a father wishes one of his boys to be a physician, another a clergy- man and another to follow mercantile pur- suits, he must enter each in a separate ele- mentary school at the age of six. The low- er grades, in Germany, only require four years of study, when the high schools are reached. In the high schools, however, the course is ten years. Thus by the time a boy graduates at the high school he is at least twenty years of age. If he desires to take an extensive course in the university the army service required of each boy igs re- ducéd to one year. Thus each boy is en- couraged to learn as much as he can for the sake of reducing this service. Girl Pupils and Women Tenchers. In Germany boys and girls attend the same school only in the lower grades. Many more girls than boys in that country go to private culture schools, supported partly by the government. There are quite as many girls as boys, however, in the high schools. There was not a woman's university in Germany until a few years ago. There are ten times as many men as women teaching school in Germany. This is on account of the long summer excur- sions, which women could not conveniently conduct. A great part of the harvest va- cation is spent in long journeys around the country, and sometimes into foreign coun- tries, visiting great factories, ship yards, government institutions and every con- celvable place where valuable object Ies- scns can be learned. As a rule, the school master is a strong man, who can whip hard. Corporal punishment is.allowed in Ger- man schools. Throughout the whole em- pire will be found in each school room a standard instrument of discipline to be used on the pantaloons of bad bo; This is known in school parlance as “nought, comma, five,” written “0, 5," which means a half meter. The rod, therefore, is the half of a meter stick, The French Kindergartens. In France public schools are provided for babies only two years old. These are con- ducted as kindergartens, and are always under the charge of women. Each infant school has a directress, her assistant, and a sewing woman. Parents are not obliged to send their children to the infant grades, but most of them take advantage of this excellent system. Between six and four- teen, however, all boys and girls in France must be in school, according to a law strictly enforced. Corporal punishment is strictlY forbidden in France. In that re- public, as in Germany, school begins daily at 8 o'clock and lets out about 1. The pupils return again In the afternoon, when they are taught singing, sewing, drawing, manual training and such studies as will not tax their brains. The school year be- gins in Oetober and lasts until the follow- ing September, there being but one month’s summer vacation. There are many religious holidays besides Christmas, as, for in- stance, Passion week. Thursday, instead of Saturday, is a free day. ez: The French have lately introduced mili- tary drill into all of their primary schools. Thus every youngster of the male per- suasion has brass buttons, guns and swords to his heart’s content. The sec- ondary public schools of France, known as “lycees,” have boarding apartments, al- though children may also attend as day scholars. The boarders must rise at 5:30 in the morning and go to bed at 8:30 at night. They get four meals a day, how- ever. The Restrictions in Russia. The rules governing school children in Russia are applied not only when they are at school, but when on the street, or even at home. For instance, children in certain grades are forbidden to visit institutions of pleesure, excepting only the botanical gardens. They can go to the theaters only when permission is given by the authori- tles. They are never under any condition allowed to sit in the galleries. It is also against these rules for school children to attend “public balls, masquerades, clubs. dancing evenings, tea gardens, cafe houses, confectloneries, billiard halls,” etc., or to 50 beating, take pleasure walks, or be out of deors later than 9 o'clock. Each schcolboy has a regular uniform which must be worn at all times. To this is added a knepsack for books and other school supplies. It is a serious violation of the laws for a child to appear on the street without all of his buttons buttoned. The law also demands that schoolboys shall salute teachers and officials of the state with a polite bow, at the same time re- moving their hats. Customs in Switzerland. Switzerland has many unusual customs regarding the public schools. Great care is taken in that country to teach the laws of health and cleanliness. In some places bath rooms are built in connection with the schools, and in these pupils are taught the chemical effects of soap and water. Some cities heve int juced instruction in swimming, skating and open air games as paris of the school courses. In many places the government furnishes warm din- ners and clothes to poor school children. Oftentimes, when they come from long dis- tances in the rain, dry garments are kept in the schools, in order that they may have a change. It is said that illiteracy 1s almost un- known In Sweden. All children are expect- ed to be in school between the ages of seven and fourteen, which rule is strictly enforced after the ninth year. Swedish boys and girls have to attend school only thirty-six weeks in each year, leaving al- most four months of holiday. Swedes do not believe in incumbering the children of the primary grades with too many studies, but add more practical instruction than is given in other countries. School is held every day in the week, but Saturday is re- served tor manual training. Japan’s Excclient System. The excellent public school system of far- off Japan toa great extent tells the tale of the recent rapid rise of that nation to a high plane of enlightenment. The pupils of this empire are taught according to the combined principles of the French and American systems, with some original ad- ditions, Japanese boys and girls are, for the most part, educated together. Japan provides public kindergartens for children not less than three years of age, the parents, however, each paying a dollar a month to provide a part of thelr main- tenance. In the higher schools girls are taught such subjects as “mode of presery- ing flowers, mode of burning incense, mode of folding papers, sitting etiquette, eti- quette in tea party, standing etiquett all included under the study of “etiquett a and in addition, under the heading, “house- hold management,” they learn “hygienic training of children, nursing of patients, attention to furniture, garments, waghing, hair dressing, income and expenditure, and employing servants.” Free Schools in England. England has only given her children free sckooling within the past twenty-five years. As a whole, the English public | ehcol system is now much like our own. ®orporal Punishment, however, is very generally employed. In London it is against the rule for othera than head teachers to whip unruly boys. As for cations, the young Britisher, like the Ger- man youngster, gets only his week at Christmas, Easter and Whitsuntide, and three weeks only in summer, commencing With the first Monday in August. In London school cpens at 9 o'clock, ad- journs for lunch at noon, and holds another sersion in the afternoon from 2 until 4:30, And Woe betides the English boy who Plays truant. If after a certain number of warnings he fails to make a satisfactory record of attendance at school he is ar- rested by an officer aud brought before a magist:ate, who sentences hin to impris- oument in the “truant school.” ‘The aver- age length of his confinement is ninety-five days. In some truant schools the whole of the play hour is taken up with tiresome Sener every hes has to remain locked in a cell for Sei ane a@ certain length of The bureau of education, being the na- tional headquarters of all of our own schools, is always considering the most modern educational systems to be recom- mended to the various local boards. Per- pendicular penmanship is a new departure which it is at present considering. This method has already been adopted in Wash- ington and other cities. One of the latest educational inventions is a cheap profile map to be furnished each pupil engaged in the study of geography. These charts are made of cardboard, which is pressed to resemble a plaster cust. Some are cov- ered with a washable coating. Cities, boundaries, rivers, ete., are to be traced by pencil, The pupil is thus given a vivid Wes of the physical features of each coun- —__—>__ HATS AND WRAPs. What Will Be Worn During the Fall 2 and Winter. The only suggestion of fall hats made as yet is seen in the felt sailor, which is ex- actly the same shape as that worn all ‘summer, short in the back. Brown is quite the favorite, and the crowns are low, with high trimming. “Pairs” are still popular as trimming two rosettes, two wings or two roses in front, and the rest of the hat almost smothered under feathers and flow- ers. Blue and brown are combined, and blue and black and green and black. If you have a blue gown and a green hat you are quite in the swimg Walking hats will be utilized for traveling and general Near, being of felt or straw, and but little trimmed. .A flat bow and band of ribbon, With @ buckle on one side and a few stitt uills on ae ie other, is about the right For early autumn wraps are essential, but what to get is pestering women dread- fully. It is toe early for a heavy wrap and too early to judge what will look well all winter for light wear, and so the trouble is nearly cape that will go a long way toward solving the difficulty. It is made on the perfect circle order, but is gored so that it will accommodate itself nicely to nar- Tow silks. An in- genious wontan could take an old partly worn silk skirt, a few yards of neat gimp and a bolt of black ribbon and fix a cape handsome enough for anybody to wear. The hat that is worn with it is a fair sample of the flower garden and nesting bird style now in vogue. If you don’t want a cape here is a charming Eton jacket. It will be harder to make, and you simply can't get it on without ruining your big sleeves, but it is certainly a _ stylish little affair. Its only warniture is a row of stitching, but itis much handsomer if lined with bright-col- ored silk. The hat is one of the charming new felt shapes that will be much worn. It has an edging of jet and a band of velvet and one fine ostrich tip on it. For something extremely dressy and charmingly airy a Marie Antoinette fichu fills the bill—and takes a Dill, a good- sized one, to get up. It is of silk muslin, folded scarf fashion, and has three very full ruffles of finely embroidered silk mus- lin, the back being square across the shoulders and the fronts coming down un- der the belt, which fastens in the back with a big bow. A cape like this can be worn quite late’ in the season. Long ulsters and cloaks are predicted for winter wear. And it is certain that long full capes will be worn as much as ever. Sealskin will be the high-priced favorite; blue fox will be used; but one might al- most as weil talk of wearing ruffles of greenbacks. All kinds of fur will be as much the fashion this wirter as it was eae and that is saying a gyeat deal for ur. SSeS The Voice of Modesty. From Life. “How can you face your Sunday school class after wearing those horrid bloom- ers!’ * i A Strange Numbness From Journal and Tribune, Lawrence, Kan. It was a newspaper article that caused Mrs. 3 L. Whipple, who was stopping at 1136 Pennsylvania st., Lawrence, Kan., to try ® medicine for which Were claimed valuable qualities for diseases and ailments that seemed to fit her case. She was then living in Michigan, and it was some time before She got around to taking the medicine, but in De- cember, 1898, she begun, and has since that time become a well woman. Mrs. Whipple never tires telling about the remedy that belped her so much, and when called on by the reporter was glad to give the desired Information about her case. She said that in December, 1893, she first com- menced to use Dr. Williams’ Pink Pills for Pale People. At times she would be so dizzy-headed nd 80 very nervous that she could hardly get around. She had spells of numbness, a pin stuck Into her body producing no feeling whatever. she took one box of Pink Pills she felt a good better, but kept on taking them till four bores had ‘been used, when she found herself completely cured, She no longer feels any dizziness or numb- hess and feels as though it was a duty to make Known to every one her hoppy experience with Pink Pills. Not only in justice to the proprietors does She gladly do this on every occasion, but that those similarly afflicted may learn where to look for @ remedy for every nervous disease, She reeommends the Pink Pilis “highly and thinks that they also ire. With ple ts getting well alone in Mrs. Whipple Is getting we for time was ahuost helpless. When she began taking Pink Pills her youth seemed to return and she was strong and hcarty again. She Ives at her Michigan home, but has been staying with her Tetatives In Lawrence for over six months, and be~ sides proclaiming the praises of Pink Pills from her home, she speaks of them wherever she is acquaint Dr. Williams’ Pink Pills contain, in a condensed form, all the elements necessary to give new life and richness to the blood and restore shattered nerves. ‘They are also a specific for troubles pecu- Har to fe les, a8 suppressions, irregularities and all forms of weakness. In men they effect @ radical cure in all cases arising from mental worrs, overwork or excesses of whatever nature. Pills are sold in boxes only at 50 cents a box or ai tenes toe $2.50, and may be had of all drag- ists, or direct mail from Dr. W! " Sine Co., Behenectady, N.S” Wiliams’ Medl- THE OTHER HALF. Happiness fs Not Any More Equally Distributed Than We: ° How does the other half live? And, come to think of it, who is the other half? Per- tinent questions, which will answer them- selves if you will get on a street car and take In the circle of the city, or take a cross-town line from river to District’ edge. The woe and the want and the misery, the high and the highest, the low and the lowest, that will stare you in the face, pull at your heart strings, bewilder your brain, and weary your soul, will make you think that there isn’t much poetry 'n ife after all, for everything looks so sor- didly selfish. The rich seem to haye every- thing, and the poor nothing at all. But do they? Qut on one of the swell West End streets a white marble palace of a house is furnished regardless of ex- pense; there is a retinue of servants; a father snd a mother, both devoted to a spindling, sickly slip of a girl, whose six short summers might be sixty for all the pleasure she gets out of life. She must not jump rope, because the action of her heart is weak. She must not play tennis, trundle her lovely hoop, or play with her beautiful set of balls, because she will overheat her- self. She goes to bed by rule and gets up by rote. She is perfectly miserable, be- cause what she wants is human com- ranionship and sympathy that isn’t served oP read pen gio ay fruit. ‘ust eround the corner from the is a queer little frame house, with ear big tree in front of it, and a brick pave- eee opr — euret ae Under that y long, unless 1 a little wheeled chair, ae and its occupant is a sallow little girl, who might be almost any age, but is really eight. Three years ago she fell and in- jured her hip, will never walk again. Her people ar- poor, poor to povert 7- stricken, but all day long the little suffer- er lies there, appar ently as happy as a bird, cutting paper (7 dolls and weaving wonderful stories for — the neighborhood children, for which they pay her in pictures from old books and papers for the wonderful picture scrap book she is making, and which is almost her only solace. The little rich child, as a great fuvor to the poor oné—so her mamma thinks—is permitted to go over and talk to the little Soy se five minutes each day, and they are the happiest moments of her small pampered life. The lesson of patience ond cheerfulness that she learns from the little ‘shut-in” is worth more than all the gov- ener ray teach ad in a week. 1a an example of two of the other halves, and the happy half doesn’t belong to the highest, either. After all, happiness lies within. The heart that aches is as of- ten found under a diamond pin as a brass one. Down in the slums of South Washington there is a black mother who has one small Toom and five small tumbling about her fect. In the suds and in the dirt she slops all day long, to get bread for the hungry mouths, and as she rubs che sings of “The kind and heavenly Friend who will keep her to the end.” There are bits of linen and lace which she handles very tenderly and hangs In the sun to ary quickly. They Ds are the clothes of her foster baby, and when she has pinned the last fluttering piece on the line she brushes her hand across her eyes and snatches the kicking, squealing, healthy youngster from the floor, and snuggling it to her croons it to sleep. She is oh, 80 happy in the thought that when the little white hearse went hurrying by it was not her own flesh and blood, but only her foster baby that lay within, covered with costly flowers. Gold wouldn't budge the balance in any mother’s heart if the weight in the other end was one of her children, yet the “other half,” the mother with the gold, was the one who che also. ‘Two young men enter your car. One has clear eyes and healthy skin, and there is no tremor in the hand that passes over his ticket. There is no odor of stale tobacco about him, no fumes of liquor offend you. Rut his threadbare garments tell a story of the struggling half of life, and you no- tice a frayed cuff about the hand which holds The Evening Star. The other man bears the stamp of good parentage, good tailor, good haberdasher and good hatter. But his eyes are bleared and watery, his hair unkempt, his skin lifeless and livid, his hands shaky, and he swears—under hig breath, it is true—when the car jolts so that he can’t read the vile-pictured paper he is evidently greedily interested in. and. you wish the wind was blowing his mixed drinic breath away from instead of on you. They are examples of the two halves of life, the rich roue and the refined poor, and certain- ly one would not change a birthright of health and self-respect for one of wealth ipation. angoar' the Louise Home an old lady hails your car, and the elegantly gowned pretty zirl of sixteen at your side turns to her equally well gowned companion and jaughs mirthfully at the quaint little figure in her laven- der and lace finery of half a century ago, and her queer little curls, standing out around her 1e- fined, gently bred face,over which falls the long, lace veil, fastened on with a // “draw” string. “18307 with a vengeance,” remarks one of the girls, and the other giggles. The old lady stumbles over the feet of the pretty girl, who makes her climb to the middle of the seat, and to save her precious white satin parasol, the white-gloved hand is thrown out, and the old lady gratefully catches it, thinking it is done to aid her! When she is seated, she turns and lays her hand on the knee of the pretty. girl, and says in her low,cultured voice, “Thank you, dearla. Always be kind to the aged. You may need assistance some time your- self.” And the girl has the grace to blush, for she knows that she didn’t mean it at all, but she accepts the lesson, all the same, from the “other” half of life, which she knows she will reach if she lives long enovgh. How does the other half live? Exactly as we do, generally speaking, proving that “the value of all things exists, not, indeed, in. themselves, but man’s need of them, feeding man’s needs.”