Evening Star Newspaper, September 11, 1895, Page 11

THE EVENING STAR, WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 11, 1895-TWELVE PAGES, (———— 11 BSSSSSESS90S5 SSS0 SOSSO00808 SSSOSO8 © making now. SSOOOS & purchase for you. Sold Oak Bed Toom Suite, carved top and bevel phate mir: ror, well made. Worth $16.00,: Meee ais sak ier piesa $10.00 Solid Oak Cheval mai for Mirror (or Quartered Oak Chiffonter Desk, 5 drawers, elaterate desk In: terior, beveled drawer fronts. Worth $23.00, for. ‘$10.70 Lined Wardrobe Box Couch. in eretonnes or denims, sold with goa tee. Worth $15,819.00 Imitation Mahogany Morris Chair, with solid mahogany arma, loose corduroy cushions. Worth $23, for. $10.00 t Annual Furniture ; Clearance Sale —began yesterday—and there was the biggest kind of a rush for the bargains on the first day. why that rush shouldn’t keep up as long as the sale lasts. Every piece of furniture in the house is reduced from 10 to 50 per cent. The biggest offers we've ever made— we're Nothing falls below our high standard of furniture excellence—nothing here that won't prove a lucky There’s no reason G8SSEOS SOOSHOSHSSS Reception Chair, all or white, pink “or ‘blue enamel, $y g plush seat. Worth 33, for. -95'-S snTaney JU Arm coe ee i) in fig jenims, pF hack and seat Wort $a me BLO: 50 GS Quartered Oak Dining Chatr, é ox seat, new style cane. Worth $x 99° st @ $2.75, for. Solid Oak 6-foot Extension Ta- & Dle, heavy slides, neatly carved $6 25 ® base, polished. ‘Worth $9, for. & Sold Oak Tea Table, French g legs, ‘shaped top, polish finish. @2_ Worth $7, for.. 13 gs Overstuffed — Parlor Sn Mat” Wh Higay 85 for ‘$29.85 artered Oak Mantel Cabinet, Taree French beveled | mirror, y oe Worth $35, for‘?17-5 2) BSOOSOGOSSHSS ©0NHHODS 80HSHH9 OO = fiuely carved. W.B.MOSES& SONS.,8 Cor. F and mth Sts. e STORAGE WAREHOUSES, 22D ST. NEAR M. @SOoO @ SSSSSCS SOS SS95O5S 999005 OO THE ETIQUET OF JEWELRY ‘Tta Correct Use for All Women Who Would Study Good Form. Ornaments That Should Not Be Worn in the Street—The Proper Thing for Visiting and Dinner, Brom the New York World. Mme. de Maintenon declared that good taste simply I dicates good sense, but many women who boast of good sense seem not to have the slightest idea of the times and places for wearing precious stones. It is conceded by all authorities that ar- ticles of adornment consisting of or con- taining jewels or precious stones should zever be worn in the street. Exception is made in favor of rings, which may be worn at’all times, because of the sentiment sup- posed to be inseparable from them, for, ac- cording to the old rhyme— “Without a sentiment, a ring Is but a sair and senseless thing.” A watch, of course, Is also excepted, but. Properly speaking, a watch {s not carried as an adornment or for mere decoration. The woman who wishes to adopt correct form in dress will never wear any but the eimplest little pin to fasten her gown at the throat during the morning hours and on the street. If possible, particularly if ‘she wears a tailor-made costume, she will choose a small silver pin rather than a gold on. For Visiting and Dinner. Fer ceremonious visits a visiting cos- tume is, of course, de rigueur, and with this a silver pin would be inappropriate. A pretty and ornamental one of gold 1s proper, or of gold and enamel, but even then it should have a useful purpose—it should fasten some part of the toilet. The enameled and gold wreaths of myrtle or of forget-me-nots are extremely pretty for these simple pins. So are the true-love knots, or a flower of enamel upon gold, but without the all-prevailing diamond dew- drop or center. For dinner a woman may wear the rich- est gems, it being understood that the function is a ceremonious one, and that she shall wear a low gown. Should she dine in a more democratic way, and the men of the family do not wear evening dress, she naturally will wear a high gown, or one possibly open a iittle at the throat. She may wear a pin with a single gem under these circumstances, but it is much better form not to make any display of jewels except the occasion be one of cer- emony. For balls, operas or entertainments of corresponding splendor a woman, when she is not herself the hostess, may wear any number of well-chosen jewels; it is quite correct to be sumptuous in this particular, but well to remember that jewels, like flow- ers, harmonize or do not harmonize, and that emeralds and turquoises, for example, May not be worn In conjunction, because, as the French say, “they swear at each other.” Abuse of Coronets. It would seem almost unnecessary to say that any women with titles should wear ceronets, and then the coronet which their rank accords them the right to wear, but some American women have made them- selves ridiculous all over the world by calmly tgnoring this fact. It 1s estimated that there are fifty free-born American wo- men, all of them married to American men, who are decorated upon gala occasions with the insignia of a rank to which they have not the shadow of a claim. Of course, American girls who marry foreign noblemen have the right to wear coronets galore. The sacred emblem of our Savior's ag- ony should also be forever taboved as an ornament. The cross of Bethlehem, made up of diamonds and fastened on a woman's breast at feast or ball, shows a most pit- fable ignorance of the eternal fitness of things; yet we have all seen the cross, that most sacred of all outward forms, made a sacriiege of in this way. It is also not good form to wear orna- ments made in the form of Leasts or rep- tiles. A woman was seen the other day at a leading summer resort with a toad made of enamel, with ruby eyes, at her throat, a diamond lizard across her breast and a fearful little pig of emeralds and diamonds dangling at her chatelaine. Why should a sweet woman select pigs and lizards and toads, when there are stars and hearts and true-love knots and flowers, all so beaut!- fully made, with or without sewels, and so fitting for her adornment? There are few women who do not hon- estly love gems, and a clever man will not forget that the girl who was so proud and happy in the possession of her diamond en- gagement ring remains the same true wo- man always, and will experience a thrill of joy i: a gift of like nature, which nothing More useful or substantial can duplicate. Symbolism in Rings. A ring is an emblem of fidelity, and has always been symbolical; Indeed, the word symbolum, for a long time, peant ring. The circle signifies gteruity, The golden band hag fof ages been the outward sign SF Gn endless bond of love or power. The Marriage ring may be traced back to Ter- tullian, and probably came into the Chri: tian religion from Roman usage. The Vir- gin Mary is represented in Raphael's beau- tiful picture “Lo Sposalizio” (iiterally “The Espousal’) with Joseph placing the ring on the third finger of the right hand. The confusion as to the hand ts explained by the statement that the espousal ring was Placed during the ceremony on each finger of the right hand, and finally upon the third finger of the left. The French custom, which still prevails, of making the double alliance or grimmul ring for the wedding ring is an extremely pretty one. This ring is constructed of double hoops, which play within one an- other like the links of a chain. Each hoop has one flat and one convexed side, and each is twisted once around. The twist in each is made to correspond with that of its counterpart, so that on bringing together the flat surfaces these unite in one ring. It was the custom, and may still for the lovers to have their names inscribed, one on either part, with appropriate posies. This is the ring described by Dryden: “With joints so close as not to be per- ceived, Yet oh ad both each other’s counter- part, . And in the midst A heart divided in two parts was placed.” Fitting Sentiments. Every man may select the sentiment for hia bride's ring, but nothing can be prettier than the one chosen by a young New York millionaire for his fiancee. It was “Friend, Sweetheart, Wife.” Other pretty sentiments for wedding rings are: “Thou and I foreve ‘With this the giver for eternity.” “My love like a golden circle shall sur- round thee.” “All thine and thine forever.” One of the prettiest sentiments for a ring is taken from “Cymbeline’—“Remain thou here while sense can keep it on.”” Well-bred young girls are limited as to jewels—a string of pearls for the slender reck, a ring with the natal stone or an ar- mament of turquoise and pearls, a little gold love manacle atout the wrist; that is all, and quite enough, until after marriage. A bride may wear for the marriage cer- emony either diamonds or pearls—never gold ornaments. +o+—_____ THE FITTING OF SHOES. Sins of Foot Treatment Committed Through Vanity and Ignorance. From the New York Tim There is a threadbare joke afloat about the woman who wears a No. 3 shoe on a No. 5 foot—a feat that is impossible in exact ratio to the antiquity of the story. There is a distinct limit to the squeezing capacity of any shoe, no matter what may be the endurance of the wearer. But, on the authority of the most experienced shoe dealers, we find it true that the ma- jority of feet are distorted and turned from their natural growth by the obstinate and misplaced vanity of the general shoe buyer. Very few persons get their shoes long enough. The great foot folly lies right here. The masses buy short, broad shoes, so that widths such as double C and double D, that never ought to be man- ufactured, are in much demand. When a woman tells the size of her foot, she likes to make use of a short number—nothing is said about the breadth. The best authorities assure us that any one could have what sculptors call the per- fect foot, a long, narrow one, if mothers would only begin, with the first shoes, to put their children in those that are a little longer than the foot, adding all the extra space necessary before the toes instead of at the sides, as they are for some unac- countable reason so prone to do. Thus, without injury, but rather to the advan- tage of the foot, a pleasing shape may early be secured at the expense of the present squat extremities. The other day a woman, who had worn her shoes so short that her feet had bump- ed themselves up at the instep in the most unsightly protuberances, told a salesman who tried to persuade ber to lessen the width and to increase the length of a new purchase that she was considered by her friends to have a “perfect Trilby foot. She added, with a toss of her head: “. longer size, indeed! Why, my foot was modeled on the other side!" “For what, unless it were as a mon- strosity?’" thought another customer, who overheard the remark. The Chinese are not the only race who disfigure their useful extremities. They go systematically to work to accomplish their deformities, while our women do it by blindly ignoring the pedal space that na- ture has allotted them. The Mongolian feet are shortened by a long turning up of the toes, ours by cramping the members till the instep is slowly raised in self-de- fense. A naturally high instep is a thing of beauty, but one that 1s elevated by force is nothing but grotesque. And (but of course this is a secret) we find, if shoe dealers are to be trusted, that women are not alone in this vanity. They declare that men commit the same folly of broad and short, and, what Is oddest of all, that country people are much more prone to it than city-bred men and women. Another word of warning may prove use- ful, as it seems aot generally to be under- stood, that when one goes Into a shop to try on shoes the feet are contracted from the exercise of walking, and are in the best condition for making them feel easy and comfortable. Due allowance should be made, too, for the first morning hours, when, after a night's idleness, the feet ard somewhat enlarged, and quite likely to be aggressive In the matter of space. ———-+e- What She Had on Board. From London Tid-Bits. Port Officer—“What have you on board, captain Captain—“Our cargo consists of 1,000 cases of oranges. Port Officer—“‘Yes."* Captain—"One thousand cases of eggs."* Port Officer—“Yes.” Captain—"Three cases of yellow fever.” (Copyright, 1805, by Irving Bacheller.) (Cortinued from Tuesday's Star.) CHAPTER V. When Paul Whittier said that he had Photographs of the man who had been injuring the Ramapo steel and iron works, showing him in the act of opening the safe, Mr. Whittier and Mr. Wheatcroft looked at each other in amazement. Major Van Zandt stared at the young man with fear and shame struggling together in his face. Without waiting to enjoy his triumph Paul put his hand in his pocket and took out two squares ef bluish paper. “There,” he said, as he handed one to his father, “there is a blue print of the man taken in this office at ten minutes past 3 yesterday afternoon, just as he was about to open the safe in the corner. You see he is kneeling with his hand on the lock, but apparently, just then, some- thing alarmed him and he cast a hasty glance over his shoulder. At that second the photograph was taken, and so we have a full-face portrait of the man.” Mr. Whittier had looked at the photo- graph, and he row passed it to the impa- tient hand of the junior partner. “You see, Mr. Wheatcroft,” Paul con- tinued, “that although the face in the photograph bears a certain family like- ness to Majer Van Zandt’s, all the same that is not a portrait of the major. The man who was in here yesterday afternoon was a young man—a man young enough to be the major’s son!’ The old bookkeeper looked at the speaker. “Mr. Paul,” he began, “you won't be hard on the—" Then he paused ab- ruptly. confess I don’t understand this at declared Mr. Wheatcroft, irascibly. ‘I am afraid that I do understand it,” “Pm afraid I do understand it,” Mr. Whittier Said. Mr. Whittier said, with a glance of com- passion at the major. “There,” Paul continued, handing his father a second azure square, “there is a photograph taken here ten minutes after the first—at 3:20 yesterday afternoon. That shows the safe open and the same young man stand'ng before it with the private let- ter book in his hand. As his head is bent over the pages of the book the view of the face is not so good. But there can he ro doubt that it is the same man. You see that, don’t you, Mr. Wheateroft?” “I see that, of course,” returned Mr. Wheatcroft, forcibly; “what I don’t sce is why the major here should confess if he isn’t guilty!” “I think I know the reason for that,” said Mr. Whittier, gently. “There haven't been two men at our have they?” asked Mr. Wheat- ‘the major and also this fellow who has been photographed?” Mr. Whittier looked at keeper for a moment. “Major,” he said, with compassion in his voice, ‘you won't tell me that it was you who sold our secrets to our rivals? And you might confess it again and again, I snould never believe it. I know you better. I have known you too long to be- eve any charge against your honesty, even if you bring it yourself. The real culprit, the man who Is photographed here, is your son, isn’t he? There Is no use of trying to conceal the truth now, and there ig no need to attempt it, because we shall be lenient with him for your sake, major.” There was a moment's silence, broken by Mr. Wheatcroft’s suddenly saying: “The major's son? Why, he’s dead, isn’t he? He was shot in a brawl after a’ spree somewhere cut west two or three years ago. At least that’s what I understood at the time.” “It is what I waated everybody to under- stand at the time,” said the old bookkeeper, breaking silence at last. “But it wasn't so. The boy was shot, but he was not Killed. I hoped that it would be a warning to him, and that he would make « fresh start. Friends of mine got him a place in Mexico—but luck was against him, so he wrote me, and he lost that. Then an old comrade of mine gave hira another chance out in Denver, and for x while he kept straight and did his work well. Then he broke down once more and he was dis- charged. For six months I did not know what had become of him. I've found out since that he was a tramp for weeks and that he walked most of the way from Col- orado to New York. This fall he turned up here in this city, ragged, worn out, sick. I wanted to order him away, but I couldn't. I took him back, and got him decent clothes and told him to look for a pl: for I knew that hard work was the only thing that would keep him out of mischief. He did not find a place—p%rhaps he did not look for one. But all at once I discovered that he had money. He would not tell me how he got it. I knew he could not have come by it honestly; and so I watched him. I spled after him, and at last I found that he was selling you to the Tuxedo Com- pany “Dut how could he open the safe?” cried Mr. Wheatcroft. “You didn’t know the combination.” “I did not tell him the combination I Gid_ know,” said the old bookke=per, with pathetic dignity. “And I didn't have to tell him. He can open almost any safe without knowing the combination. How he does it, I don't know. It is his gift. He listens to the wheels as they turn and sets first one and then the other; and in ten minutes the safe is open.” “How could he get into the store?” Mr. Whittier inqnired. “He knew I had a key,” responded the old bookkeeper, “and he stole it from me. He used to watch on Sunday afternoons till Mike went for a walk and then he un- locked the store, and slipped in and opened the safe. Two weeks ago Mike came back unexpectedly and he had just time to get out of one of the rear windows of this offic the old book- Paul remarked, as the major paus- Mike told me that he had found a dow unfastened.”” “I heard you asking about it," Maj. Van Zandt explained, “and I knew that if you were suspicious he was sure to be caught sooner or later. So I begged him not to try to injure you again. I offered him money to go away. But he refused my money—he said he could get it for himself row and I might keep mine till he needed it. He gave me the slip yesterday after- roon. When I found he was gone, I came here straight. The front door was unlock- ed; I walked in and found him just closing the safe here. I talked to him and he re- fused to listen to me. I tried to get him to give up his idea—and he struck me. Then I left him, and I went out, seeing no ope as I hurried home. That's when Mr. Wheatcroft followed mé, I Suppose. Tho bo¥ hever cAM*é back all night. I haven't seen him sine2; I don't know where he is— but he is my son, after all, my only son. And when Mr. Wheatcroft accused me, I confessed at last, thinking you might be easier on me than you would be on the boy.’ Sty poor old friend,” said Mr. Whittier, sympathetically, holding out his hand, which the major clasped gratefully for a moment. “Now we know who was selling us to the Tuxedo people, we can protect our- selves hereafter,” declared Mr. Wheatcroft. “And in spite of your trying to humbug me into believing you guilty, major, I’m will- ing to let your son off easy.” “TI think I can get him a place where he will be out of temptation, because he will be kept hard at work always,” said Paul. The old bookkeeper lecked up as though about to thank the young man, but there seemed to be a lump in his throat which prevented him from speaking. Suddenly Mr. Wheatcroft began, explo- sively: “That's ali very well!—but what I still don’t understand is how Paul got those photographs.”” Mr. Whittier looked at his son and smiled. “That is a little mysterious, Paul,” he said, “and I confess I'd like to know how you did it.” “Were you concealed here yourself?’ asked Mr, Wheatcroft. “No,” Paul answered. “If you will look around this room you will see that there isn’t a dark corner in which anybody could tuck himself.” “Then where was the photographer hid- den?" Mr. Wheatcroft inquired, with in- creasing curiosity. “In the clock,” responded Paul. “In the clock?” echoed Mr. Wheatcroft, greatly amazed. “Why there isn’f room in the case of that clock for a thin midget, let alone a man. Paul enjoyed puzzling his father’s part- ner. “I didn’t say I had a man there cr a midget, either,” he explained. “I said that the photographer was in the clock—and I might have sald that the clock itself was the photographer.” Mr. Wheatcroft threw up his hands in disgust. ‘“‘Well,”’ he cried, “if you want to go on mystifying us in this absurd way, go on as long as you like! But your fatker and I are entitled to some consideration, I think. “I'm not mystifying you at all. The clock took the pictures automatically. I'll show you how,” Paul returned, getting up from his chair and going to the corner of the office. Taking a key from his pocket, he opened the case of the clock and re- vealed a small photographic apparatus in- side, with the tube of the objective oppo- site the round glass panel in the door of the case. At the bottom of the case was a small electrical battery, and on a small shelf over this was an electro-magnet. “I begin to see how you did it,” Mr. Whittier remarked; “but I'm not an expert in photography, Paul, and I'd like a full explanation. And make it as simple as you t's a very simple thing, indeed,” sald his con. “One day while I was wondering how we could best catch the man who was getting at the books that clock happened to strike, and somehow {t reminded me that in our photographic society at college we bad once suggested that it would be amus- Ing to attach a detective camera to a time- piece and take snap shots every few min- utes all through the day. I saw that this clock of ours faced the safe, and that it cou:dn’t be better placed for the purpose. So when I had thought out my plan, I came over here and pretended that the clock was wrong, and in setting it right I broke off the'mfnute hand. Then I had a man I know send for it to repair it; he is both an electrician and a photographic ex- pert. Together *we worked out this device. Here is 2 smalf/snap-shot camera, loaded with a hundred Wad fifty films, and here is the electrical attachment, which connects with the clock, ’s0’as to take a photograph every ten minutes from 6 in the morning to 7 at night. We arranged that the mag- net should turn¥the spool of film after every snap shot’ Well,” cried 1Mr. Wheatcroft, “I don’t know much abéut these things, but I read the papers, an@F suppose you mean that the clock ‘presied the button,’ and the electricity ‘pulled the string. “That's it, precisely,” the young man re- sponded. “Of-cobrse, I wasn’t quite sure how it would work, so I thought I'd try it first on a week @#y, when we were all here. It did work al Aight, and I made several interesting» disebveries. I found that Mike smoked a pipe*tn'this office, and that Bob played? leapfrog in the Store; and stood on his red head imsthe cotner there up against the safe——" “The confounded little rascal! rupted Mr. Wheateroft. Paul smiled as he continued: “I found also that Mr: Wheatcroft was captivated by a pretty book agent and bought two bulky volumes he didn’t want.’ Mr. Wheatcroft looked sheepish for a moment. h, that’s how you knew, fs it?” he growled, running his hands impatiently through his shock of hair. “That's how I knew,” Paul replied. “I told you I had an eye on you. It was the long eye of the camera. And on Sunday it Kept watch for us here. winking every ten minutes. From 6 o'clock in the morn- ing to 3 in the afternoon it winked ninety times and all it saw was the same scene, the empty corner of the room here, with the safe in the shadow at first and at last in the full light that poured down from the glass roof over us. But a little after 3 a man came into the office and made ready to open the safe, At 3:10 the clock and the camera took his photograph—in the twink- ling of an eye. At 3:0 a second record was made. Before 3:30 the man was gone and the camera winked every ten minutes until 7 o'clock quite in vain. I came down early this morning and got the roll of inter- Sust Closing the Safe. negatives. One after another I developed them, disappointed that I had almost counted a hundred of them without reward. But the ninety-second and the ninety-third paid for all my-trpuble.”” Mr. Whittier gaye his son a look of pride. “That was very ingeniously work- ed out, Paul, very ingeniously, indeed,” he sald. “If it had;not been for your clock here I might have found it difficult to prove that the, major was innocent—espe- cially since he declared himself guilty.” Mr. Wheatcroft, rose to his feet to close the conversation “I am glad we know the truth, anyhow,” he asserted, emphatically. And then as though to relieve the strain on the old bookkeeper he afided, with a loud laugh, at his own joke, ‘"That clock had its hands before its face @¥ the time—but it kept its eyes open for alk that!” “Don't forget that it kad only one eye,” sald Mr. Whittier, joining in the laugh. “It had an eye.to its duty.” “You know the French saying, father,” added Paul: ‘tim, the realm of the blind the one-eyed maw fs king.” (The end.) —..+— The Next Continued Story. Immediately following the interesting tale, “The Twinkling cf an Eye,” which ends with today’s installment, The Star will give another continved story, under the title of “The Crime of Count Nikolas of Festenburg,” by that prince of story- tellers, Anthony Hope. It will be started in tomorrow's issue of The Star, and will run through the Issues of five days. —_—.__ Transfers of Real Estate. Deeds in fee have been filed as follows: Mary A. Wanstall to Mary L. B. Smith, lot 155, square 1051; $25. Mary B. Collins to Geo. E. Marshall, lot 17, square 919; $10. J. W. Peters et ux. to Sarah Chase, part lot 4, square 677; $950. -a sale was perfectly legal; and that inas- WIVES AT AUCTION A Onstom in Former Days Among British Husbands, Tradesmen Who Exchanged Better Halves—The Women, However, Re- fused tg Abide by the Bargain. From the Boston Herald. Though instances are extremely rare at the present time, there was a period in the history of England when the selling of wives obtained to some extent in the west- ern counties, and there was an impression general among the lower orders that such much as the wife formed part and parcel of the husband’s effects, with whatever other worldly goods she brought him, he had an undoubted right to dispose of her in any manner he saw fit. The Herald, a day or two since, made mention of the fact that a Yorkshire man recently sold his wife for three-and-six- pence, with the belief that he was free to marry again. Consequently he placed his head in the halter a second time, when he was arrested for bigamy and convicted. That the custom was at one time recog- nized in England, it is sufficient to say that the Gentleman’s Magazine, in 1778, opened @ correspondence on the question, ‘“‘Wheth- er a man could let his wife on a lease.” Let us instance some few of these sales, at the same time giving thanks for the generous construction of the laws govern- ing divorce in this country, which renders such a procedure on the part of the hus- band entirely unnecessary. The London Chronicle for the 22d of February, 1776, contains a notice of a double sale, or per- haps it would be better termed an exchange of wives. A couple of tradesmen in Lin- colns-Inn Fields, having partaken a little too much of “the rosy,” agreed, without consultation with their ladies, to effect such @ transaction; and one of them, who pos- sessed a wife which both of them agreed was more comely and presentable than the wife of the other, received a 20-pound note, a watch and a guinea. The next day he called on the purchaser and ‘‘delivered the goods.” The poor wife merely thought that she was going there to dinner; but when the business was explained both of the women refused to abide by the silly bar- gain of the husbands. , They Could Not Agree. In 1832 Joseph Thompson, who was a small farmer, renting between forty and fifty acres, ved at a village some three miles from the city of Carlisle, in North- umberland. He had been married about three years, but the couple had no chil- dren. He and his wife were in a per- petual state of disagreement, and there was besides a chronic feud between his family and hers. There being no har- mony, but an unceasing discord, they re- solved to part, so on April 7, at_an early hour in the morning, Farmer Thompson sent word to the bellman to give notice that a man would sell his wife at 12 o'clock in the market place. The oddity of the announcement drew a full audience. In order the better to display her charms of person Mrs. Thompson placed herself upon a high oaken chair, with a halter of straw about her neck, this being an indispensa- ble requisite in'a sale of this nature, and a large circle of relatives and friends sur- rounded her. The husband, who acted as auctioneer, stood beside her, and thus des- canted on the value of “the lot:” “Gentlemen, I have to offer to your notice my wife, Mary Ann Thompson, otherwise Williamson, whom I mean to sell to the highest bidder. Gentlemen, it is her wish, as well as mine, to part forever. She has been to me only a besom serpent. I took her for my comfort and the good of my house, but she became my tormentor; a do- mestic curse, a night invasion and a daily devil. Gentlemen, I speak truth from my heart when I say may heaven deliver us from troubleseme wives. Avoid them. as you would a mad dog, a loaded pistol, chol- era morbus, Mount Etna or any other pes- tilential phenomenon in nature. Now I have shown you the dark side of my wife and her faults and failings, I will introduce the bright and sunny side of her, and ex- plain her qualifications and goodness. She can read novels and milk cows; she can laugh and weep with the same ease that you would take a glass of ale when thirsty. Indeed, gentlemen, she reminds me of what the poet says of women In general: Heaven gave to women the pecullar grace To laugh, to weep and cheat the human race. “She can make butter and scold the maid; she can sing Moore’s melodies and plait her frills and caps. She cannot make rum, gin or whisky, but she is a good judge of the quality from long experience in tasting them. Therefore, I offer her with all her perfections and imperfections fer the sum of 50 shillings.” The Sale Was Made. Having concluded his harangue, Farmer Thompson called for bids. They were as slow in coming as cold molasses in run- ning. It was between an hour and a half and two hours before the sale was con- summated, but at length Mrs. Mary Ann Thompson was kno:ked down to one Henry Mears, a pensioner, for £1 and a Newfound- land dog. And then the newly coupled pair left the city together, the mob huzza- ing and cheering after them, Farmer Thompson in the meantime coolly taking off the straw halter from his quondam “winsome marrow” and putting it on his new dog. He then betook himself to the nearest inn and spent the day there, mak- ing heavy inroads on his £1 note. The lady was described as a spruce, lively damsel, apparently not exceeding twenty-three years of age, and she seemed to feel a pleasure at the exchange she was about to make. So far as Farmer Thompson is concerned, he repeatedly exulted in his happy release from bondage. The particu- lars of this unique “‘vendue” are to be fcund in the Whitehaven Herald and Cum- berland Advertiser for May 1, 1832. On Valentine’s day, 1806, a man named Gowthop exposed his wife for sale in the market at Hull at 1 o'clock in the day, but the mob interfered with such good effect that he was compelled to withdraw her. Nothing daunted, however, in the evening he again brought her out and sold her for 20 guineas to a man who had lodged in his house for some years. Got Rid of the Husband. A very laughable instance took place in which the husband of the wife to be sold came out in the wrong place. He was a young inan, hailing from Newcastle, in Cumberland, who, finding it impossible to live comfortanly with his helpmeet, re- solved to give somebody else the opportuni- ty of doing so, by disposing of her at auc- tion. Not being successful In finding a customer in their own neighborhood, the wife suggested that he should try New- castle. They went there, and the wife so contrived matters that certain gentlemen employed in his majesty’s service—in other words a press gang—introduced themselves to the husband, and he found himself one fine day safe on board a frigate bound for a long cruise in distant waters, and so the tables were turned, and instead of getting rid of his wife, she got rid of him. Allusion has been made above to tine dis- cussion of the question of leasing a wife, carried on in the Gentleman’s Magazine. Anent that discussion, it may be said in passing that a young and sprightly widow once appeared at a Bath masquerade with a paper pinned to her bosom bearing these lines: To be let on lease for the term of my life, I, Sylvia J—, in the shape of a wife; I am young, though not handsome, good- natured, though thin— For further particulars pray inquire within, Enough has been instanced to show that wife selling was quite frequent, and the custom has not wholly died out at the present time. By law the act counts as a misdemeanor, and the Yorkshire man men- tioned at the opening of this article was not the first to suffer for the offense. In ) Gail (Borden Eagle BRAND Condensed Mille HAS NO EQUAL 1887 one Joshua Jackson was convicted at the sessions in the West Riding of York- shire, and got a month’s hard labor as a reward. OLD VIOLINS. Why They Are Better Than New and Why Old Italians-Are Best. F-om the Cornhill Magazine. There are very good reasons why an old violin—of course, presuming it to be a good instrument to begin with—is bet- ter than a new one, and still better reasons why the Italian violins of the classical period should remain the masterpieces of their kind. First of all, there is the wood; that requires to be mellowed by age, and there fs no artificial process that can take the place of time in this matter. Vuil- laume, the celebrated Parisian maker and dealer, experimented in trying to the wood, both by chemicals and by bak- ing, but the idea proved worthless. Again, there is the kind of wood to be used, and that is not such a simple affair as some people suppose. A violin is made of about fifty-eight separate pieces of wood, and the kind and quality are of the first im- portance. Let us look at this point a little in detail, for it is not generally understood. The front of a violin is usually made of deal, the back of maple. Now, a piece of wood can be set in vibration just like a string in tension, and a certain musical note will be the result, the pitch depending, of course, upon the length, thickness and density of the wood. Well, the curious fact has been established by experiment that in all the best Stradivarius violins—the violins that are now the rage—the “note” produced by the front of the instrument is the same; and, again, that in no case is the note of the front the same as the note of the back. We now know that there are acoustic reasons for this, and these rea- sons determine the kind and quality of the wood. You want the front of the instru- ment to be light, soft and porous, and you take deal as answering best these qualities. When the wood is dry the mi- croscope will reveal a multitude of little hollow cells, once filled with sap. The more of these cells there are the more quickly will the wood vibrate to the sound, and here it is that the fine skill in selecting the wood comes in. You might cut up a dozen pieces of deal, and perhaps only one piece would be ab- solutely perfect for its purpose. Similarly with the maple, of which the back of the instrument is made. This {is a harder wood, containing less sap, and, consequent- ly, fewer cells when dry. It is used be- cause it vibrates more slowly than deal, and the effect on the violin is, as Mr. Haweis puts it, “to detain the waves of sound radiating from the deal, and to mix them with slower vibrations of the back in the hollow of the instrument.” The ribs and sides of the violin are also of maple, and these serve to connect the quickly vibrating front with the slowly vibrating back, and hold them until both throb together with full pulsation and body of sound. Now, there is abundant evidence to show that the old Italian makers paid particu- lar attention to all these details—or at least, if they did not of set purpose, they did unconsciously by an intuition, which amounted to actual genius. Stradivarius and most of the Cremonese makers of the classical period selected their wood from the Tyrol, and it is more than likely that they found some special quality in the tim- ber there which recommended it to their attention. And the varnish—the Cremona varnish. That is a romance and a mystery in itself. Ever since the traces of it finally disap- peared, about 1760, violin makers have been trying to discover the secret, and many chemists have given days and nights in futile attempts to find out its constit- uents. Charles Reade, who was an en- thusiast in the matter of old fiddles, says: “More than once, even in my time, hopes have run high, but only to fall again. Some have cried ‘Eureka!’ to the public, but the moment others looked at their discovery and compared it with the real thing ‘in- extinguishable laughter shook the skies.” At last despair has- succeeded to all that energetic study, and the varnish of Cre- mona is sullealy given up as a lost art.” There was a Strad in the collection of Gillott, the penmaker, which had lost all its original varnish without suffering in any way. But the wood had absorbed ll the varnish that was necessary a hun- d yeers before Gillott set eyes on it, ami the absence of surface varnish in this cage, or in the case of any other old Ital- ian violin, proves nothing whatever. The varnish is certainly an important facto: and, moreover, it makes a very great dif- ference whether it is dried slowly in the sun, as it most likely was at Cremona, or in the oven—whether it is coated by time or by trickery. And in the end, when all is said and done, we come back to what Charles Reade said more than twenty years ago: The masterpieces of Cremona eclipse every new violin in sweetness, oili- ness, crispness and volume of tone as dis- tinct from loudness. Age has dried their vegetable juices, making the carcass much lighter than that of a new violin, and those light, dry frames vibrate at a touch. On the Buzsard'’s Bay Train. From the Brockton (Mass.) Times. A laborer boarded the local train at Buz- zard’s Bay, en route for Falmouth. The train was crowded, and he walked down the aisle of the car until, near the center, he espled a heavy-built’ man occupying ‘one seat, while on the seat in front of him rest- ed a big leather gripsack. The laboring man asked: “May I have that seai I'll take down my bag, the working man sat. down vis-a-vis with the President, who was on his way to see Secretary Olney at Fal- mouth. Fry your food in Cottolene instead of lard and it will be free from that greasiness and “richness” so distressing to dyspeptics; the flavor will be delicious instead of rancid, and your food will do you good. Put it in a cold pan, heating it with the pan. Cottolene reaches the cook- ing point much quicker than lard—care should therefore be taken not to overheat it. Follow these instructions— you will never use lard again. Genuine Cottolene has trade-marks—"Cote folene” and steer's head in cotton-plant wreath—on every tin. Made only by THE N. K. FAIRBANK COMPANY, Chicago, and 114 Commerce Street, Baltimore. REMOVES GREASE SPOTS INSTANTLY. Non-inflammable-- Non-explosive. Does not injure the most delicate fabric or color. At your grocer or druggist does not keep it Apply to MARSHALL CHEMICAL CO., Marshall, Va. 4y24-e03m King Lcopol PPOINTED Johann Hoff 2s Honorary Member of Brussels, in consideration the highly nutritious and beneficial action of the Genuine Johann Hoff's Malt Extract, Beware of imitations. The genuine Johanm: Hoff's Malt Ex- tract has this signature (27 on neck label. <4 EISNER & MENDELSON Co., Agents, New York, ASK FOR THE GENUINE JOHANN HOFF’S MALT EXTRACT. Craig & 1 Harding, » 13th & F Sts. “Odd” Pairs of CURTAINS Almost Half. . * We have engaged a new mana- ger for the Upholstery Depart- ment, and to give him a fair start we have concluded to close out all of the 1, 2 and 3 pairs in odd pat- terns of Irish Point, Swiss and Tambour Lace Curtains. We shall also close out a lot ‘of half pairs and “odd” pairs of Che- nille and Tapestry Portieres at al- most half price. Grand oppor- tunity to get 3 pairs of Curtain * for the price of two. 2 CRAIG & | HARDING, . 13th & F Sts. : HHH HER HHH Te jless here —for Telescope Cases—in fact, for most any sort of traveling than anywhere else in town. And yet, tls 1s an exclusive trunk and leather goods store—where leather is leather always—where ‘ion is never practiced. 35e. for a Tele- scope Cuse for which others Sle. $3.25 for a good Trunk which others get $4.50 and §5. Be- pairing done! Kneessi, 425 7th Street. 010-280 taco etirtnsotcs~ ES = z, ov *Cause when we move into POOSVSSOOOG9000000 ‘Jour new build- Furniture, ing we don’t Carpets, want to take Mattings, any of our Draperies, present © stock Refrigerators, | with us. We've Baby Carriages, | paralyzed the Stoves, Prices on Fancy lamps, jeverything. Pictures, You won’t Crockery Ware, | have to pay the = worth of it for am anything—and Credit 1¢ you that’s went it. \Why! House & Herrmann, ‘The Lending Housefurnishers, 917, 919, 921 AND 923 7TH ST. seT-S4d 636 MASS. AVE. GOSSSSG00800600000 OSSSS SOCOSé @ You’re Too Fat. There Are Others. Read What The; <The B =rphesk -y Say—They're Being Cured Obesity ‘Treatment—Hot Weather Dr. alson’s Pills, Sait and Bands —Not Patent Medicines—They Mpko Fat Folks Thin and Comfortanla, Florence Evelyn Merry, author of “Two Girls at the Fair,” writing fromi ‘the Great Northern Hotel, Chicago,” states that et= had been gaining fiesh rapidly ‘for five years until September, 1894, when she began using Dr. Edisoa’s Treatment for 3 “From Sept. 2 to Dec. 20 I took Dr. Kdlson’s Obe- ty, Pils and, Halt Sale, and was reduced 64 and entirely 0 com- ye ee a evant Wade writ! t Treasury Department, says: tix weeks Dr. Edison's Obesity Pills and Salt brought me down 44 pounds and cured me of chroale ailments.” Capt, Henry Caton, long connerted with the Pest Office Departmeat, writes: 3 Pounds ina tooth snd’ half na and a halt. Mrs. Col. Stanton, Georgetown, writes: “I took Dr. Edison's rae f Salt and Pills six weeks, re- duced 35 pounds and cleared my complexion.” Francesca Townshende, secretary of the Womat Ethical Culture Club, writes: “T bad been gettiog ‘rom 124 pounds T had grown Indigestion and dyspepsia made me neart Under Flison’s treatment fleehy seven years. to 1a, f physical wrecl have lost $8 pounds n eleven weeks and cured my "Mrar Helen Wandall Sturgess, from her residence on F atreet, writes: “Dr, Eitison’s healt: Band bas reduced my weteht 21 pounds and ¢ me of kidney troubles. Dr. Edison's Pills and Salt have cured my brother, Col. Wanidall of 1 Department of Stale, of liver disease and redu his weight 39 pounds in forty-three days.”” Obesity Pills, $1.50 a bottle: three bottles, $4, enough for one treatment; Obesity Frutt Salt, $1. Obesity Band, any size up to 36 Inches, is $2.503 10 cents extra for each additional inch In length. M1 mail, express or ©.0.D. orders to us. drug trade supplied by E P. MERTZ, 11th and F nw. ©, ©. G. SIMMS, 1346 N.Y. ave. Send for “How to Cure Obesity. Mention address exactly as given below. LORING & CO., General Agents, United States Chicago, Dept. No. 19, No. 113 State street. New York city, Dept. 4, No. 42 W. 22d street auld3m ‘Rend Retal by Dr. | is