Evening Star Newspaper, October 19, 1895, Page 17

THE EVENING STAR, SATURDAY, OCTOBER 19, 1895-TWENTY PAGES. io: 17 MANY INT! E HEAT WARPED MOST OF THE SURVIVORS VERY THE BUILDINGS IN HAMBURG ESCAPED BEING BURNED IN THE GREAT FIRE OF 1812, BUT THB MUCH OUT OF PLUMB. LEDERER IN HAMBURG | Observations More or Less Wise by a Traveling Humorist. =e PUT ON THEIR GOOD BEHAVIOR Teutonic Manners Compared With Those of America and England. UNWATCHED PARKS {Copyright, 1895, by Bacheller, Johnson & Bacheller.) HAMBURG, October 8, 1895. A chilly feeling of disappointment came ever me when I first struck the town. It ‘was so much like Chicago, including the smoke, that I felt that I had made a mis- take in coming here, expecting as I did to find everything different from America. With its six hundred and ofd thousand in- habitants, with its bustle and rush, Ham- burg has a passably metropolitan asp2ct. The buildings, while not so high as ours, are nearly all modern, and the streets in gen- eral remind one of the states, even if some of the cars are double-deckers run by dum- my engines. But the feeling that I was at home again wore off after a while, as the strange things loomed up in rapid succes- sion. My quarters are in a magnificently appointed hostelry on the Jungfersteig, a street forming one of the four sides of the iAlster-Bassin, a charming water park in ‘A German With a Map of Irelnnd and a Hamburg Flower “Girl. the heart of the town. The proprietor of she hof came out and greeted me as if I were his long tost dollar. Then he went in and charged his effusiveness to my bill—but that's only a joke (like the one that got the Devilbug into trouble), for the hotel charges are reasonably low, and there are no extras to speak of. There is an elevator here :nat ‘tthe manager of the hotel Is very proud of, even if it does wabble about in a nervous sort of way during its snail-like passage. ‘The fahrstuhl, as it is called, is vun by a young man who is wearing his life to an early close in his maddening endeavors to do the right thing by the guests, for he throws open both the folding doors of the elevator, makes a grand salaam as he exits ahead of you, and, whenever you happ2a to be the lone passenger, persists in piloting you to your room. He seems to be in mortal dread of your getting hopelessly lost, thus failing to fee him on your final ‘leparture from the hotel. ‘The stove in my rooms resembles a ventil- ated safe, but I am not sure whether ‘ne big ‘box in: the office of the hotel is indeed a safe or only a refrigerator. I asked in English what it was and the clerk answered that the porter would procure me tickets for the opera if I wanted them. Then I tried my peculiar German on him. I could have my meals sent to my rooms if I wished, but it f ‘would be twenty-five pfennig extra for each Portion. So I am stili in doubt. I let it go that I wanted to go to the opera and didn’t press the safe question. The porter = me seais for “Lohengrin’'—best seats in the house for seventy-five cents—same company that we pay two or three dollars a throw for in the state: Before I wen’ Btreet car ride, town th Ns good many buildings were saved from be- ing burned up, but they got terribly warp- ed. ' "re propped all around, but I was awfuily nervous while sketching a few of them. They seemed liable to fall at any moment, but I was assured by a soldat, who had made himself my volunteer pro- to the opera I and saw a bit of th tector, that they would last for many years y Those shaky old houses may be quite safe, but they don’t look it. After- ward I went by another street car to the outskirts of the city and saw a whole slew of beautiful residences surrounded by park- like grotinds. One can see everything from @ street car or other low vehicle in Ger- many. There are no prison walls or im- Penctrable hedges around the handsome Fesidences and finely laid out grounds of the wealthy people here, as there are in England. ‘The British “hupper clawses” are always in deadly fear that the “caw- mon people, doncher know,” will steal or even see what their bettaws hav» got. Neither have the Germans cultivated that awful I-haven’t-the-pleasure-of - your-ac- quaintance manner that makes life so @greeaile to the stranger in England. Then I visited the Free Harbor. There I Baw the shipping and the sailors. Every me is willing to speak to the stranger in amburg on the slightest provocation— unlike the English exclusive—even if he ean't quite grasp what you are saying. Whey're all very polite, and I am getting @ little bit that way myself. erie As an cverture to my dinner I ordered & half dozen Holland oysters. Afterward the order was increased to four dozens. Few tourists will admit it, but I firmly Believe that one of the principal reasons Yor their leaving their comfortable homes, with all the modern conveniences with Which these same homes are provided, is to get a change of food and drink. And they set it with a vengeance. I have met a fhumber of my countrymen on their way back to the states, and about the chief topics of their conversations were the hotels and restaurants that they had vis. fted. “Don’t go to such and such a town,” @ sample tourist would insist vigorously. “The hotel there is vile, and the stuff at the restaurants is only fit for Eskimos.” hey haven't a word to say about the nat- ural or the historical attractions of the Places they have visited—of course there are exceptions, “To be frank, one soon gets into that (ay cne’s own self,” remarked a friend Who left New York last spring, not for gmusement, but to make a close study of Pompelian excavations. He was already ® past master of American vernacular. At the restaurants here in Hamburg it rather startling to an Ainerican when he nds h's order filled with such superfluois Pnish of detail. Imagine ordering a roast- ed chicken and having the head and feet icely cooked and served with the rest of he fowl, just as the small reed birds are ®eoked where you are. Presumably the Paterial government requires it. The Ger- an government fs peculiar in some things, if I may say so without embroiling myself (with the imperial authorities. The gevern- tment doesn’t permit people to express too much in the opinion way, and I am keep- (eg within the law by sending my crude Opinions by It is a strong govern- Gient they ‘have here, somewhat in keeping with some of the meats they serve. The peopic, I learn from perfectly unreliable sour are circumscribed in their lst* of topics for conversation, though I must ccnfess that I have not discovered any re- strictions from personal observation. They don't allow people to “roast” the emperor, and I shouldn't permit them to if I were in his place, nor would Mr. Cleveland if ha had his way. Now, I hope that squares me with the government of the German em- pire. The Hamburgers are at least allow- ed to talk about the weather, certainly have a great variety of it to talk about. Hamburg people like to talk about it, but I should think the less said about stch an unpleasant subject the sooner mended. Haiburg claims to have a climate of its own, The three-towered town is wel- come to it. Surely, no other town, in its scund senses, would envy the Hamburgers the climate they have to put up with. There is nothing so bad for miles. If Chicago, even, had such a climate, she'd take it out on the prairie and bury it. When it isn’t raining it is unbearably ccld or roasting hot. The rest of the time the sky is overclouded, and nobody knows what it is going te do or when it is going Ue GO He . . . . . ‘ . While the tipping system is quite as much an established nuisance in Germany, it is not quite so apparent on the surface. But you can’t get along without tipping, just the same. As in England, everybody is looking for a tip. That is to say, every- body except a few grafs and barons and bons. They’d like to be tipped, too, but their family escutcheons keep them from it. Sometimes they become very poor and go to the United States and hire out as waiters. They accept tips then. I am wondering whether I shall have to tip both my chambermaids—I mean whether they both expect tips. It requires two of them, it seems, to “do up” my room. They travel in pairs all over the house, iike po- licemen in a tough district—for protection? There are no regular bell boys, but around the hotels are innumerable small ‘“‘Knechts” —midgets in full dress—who are always ready to fly at your command. Luckily, a few pfennigs satisfies their cravings. If there is any one thing here that is more than another deserving of condemna- tion it 18 the national brand of cigars that they smoke as a steady diet in Germany. The cigars are cheep—and that is abso- lutely the only kind word one can use in speaking ef them. There are imported ci- gars to be had here, but these apparently are stored in such close proximity to the domestic cigars (‘‘domestic” by courtesy; the tobacco {s wild—untamable) that the imported cigars lose all their original Cuban patriot flavor. There is not, so far as I have heard, any government inspection of cigars, but most of the peopie who smoke them adopt individual sanitary precautions against the effluvial German cigar. They accomplish this by means of long cigar holders, which keep the smoke out of the rosirils of the smokers. There ought to be a bell or rattle attached, to give warning of the smoker’s near approach. What they reed here is a good smoke inspector. I trust that my host of German friends on the other side of the Atlantic will not seriously object to the harmlessly intended caricatures I have made, and intend still io make, of their countrymen. I trust that they will agree with me in thinking that there is no particular reason why I should be more careful about hurting the feelings of the Germans in Germany than the latter are about ridiculing Americans in general, native or naturalized. Wait until I get to Ireland, mein lieber freund. And wait until I get to France. Wait for me. The people of Germany—those that I have seen in Bremen, Hamburg and Lubeck—are cer- nly not all like those I have sketched, any more than they are all like those the German comic papers so artistically and cleverly depict; but there are enough of them, I must assert, not to make it neces- sary for one to lose much time looking for them. Che en ere aCe ee In Lubeck, which is cnly a couple of hours from here, the peoyle are mo-lern in their ways, uctwithstanding the ancient appearance of their surroundings. It is the cleanest, prettiest place I have yet struck. SKETCHES OF and they | THE DELIGHTFUL some young man, and his mustache fits | him all right, but that “doesn’t say” that it is becoming to every mother’s son ot the vaterland. I don’t wish to make my- self able to prosecution for majestats beleidegung, but I am free to confess that I am glad that the brilliant ruler of this empire doesn’t wear galways. I would like to have this sentence submitted to a good international lawyer, and if it looks libel- ous—cr heavy, for I don’t relish heavy sentences—have it cut out. I don’t want even to be escorted to the frontier. I've seen the cars that they do the frontier es- cort act with and they’re no Pullmans. They’re fourth class, and the passengers have to stand all the way. I saw one German official with regular Pat Rooney features, and he wore gal- ways—the Kind you see mostly on the stage: | I thought perhaps the official was an exiled | Irish patriot, but after short converse with him, I found that his name was Fettenstein and that it wasn’t even a corruption of McFadden. He claimed that he came by his features by accident, and that his whis- kers were a birthmark that had been in the family for centuries. Core wel? fe. et oe There are In Hamburg a few human relics, as well as architectural reminiscences. Of the former- the most numerous are the flower women, or “girls,” who sit around the principal’ public resorts and quietly And the Elevator Kept Agoing. await purchasers for their sweet-scented wares. They are dressed quaintly in a@ costume that has been in vogue among the flower sellers of Hamburg for ages. These “girls” are rever abducted. Theirs is a style of beauty that is unique, but very much out of date. * * . . . . . . The parks of the three German cities that I have visited are all fine. It is not neces- sary to put “keep off the grass” signs in the parks in this country. The people are too well behaved. heir early training has been full of things that they mustn't do, and besides they know they'd take a good chance of being cut down by the swords of the sparrow-cops if they walked on forbid- den places. But I shouldn’t write in this manner when I know full well that the parks in Germany are placed in the care of the public. Every one is put on his honor to assist in keeping everything in the best of order. There isn’t that desire here to climb under the ropes that thero is in the land where the eagle screameth, and where the sovereign people, when untrammeled, Gelight in giving a public park the appear- ance of a dumping ground. Perhaps if the ccmmissioners of the parks in American cities would be as lavish in the matter of seats and lunch tables as are those in charge of the parks in Germany, there would be less complaint against the picnic parties in our parks. Here the people are not compelled to squat on the grass in order to eat their basket lunches. In fact, there is a profusion of sit-down places ATLANTIC CITY OF HUBECK. The houses are cozy and homelik>, the stores tastily arranged and attractive to the passer-by—so alluring, in fa to me that I nearly lost myself following a de- lightful trail of quaint sheps through a winding street. For a peaceful, lovely city, give me old Lubeck, but give me no more of the marzipan, for which it is n Marzipan is the most indigestible subs: except putty or a railway station sandwich, that my interior ever came into contact with. Marzipan is a very sweet and rich substance, besides being raw. It isn’t cake and it is cake. You'll simply have to keep guessing. It must be tasted to be realized, and my advice is, don’t taste it. ° . . * . . oe There is nothing to recommend abont the laundries that have unraveled my under- wear in Hamberg. In England the vandals commenced the destruction of my fine linen, not to speak of a magnificent assort- ment of silk, cotton and flannel goods. Here the job is being completed. In Eng- land they started in by bringing me speci- tens of articles in the “gerts’"’ furnishing goods line that otrer fellows had sent to the wash, and by putting saw edges on my new American collars—peece to their ashes. The chambermaid said, with a great air, that they hac a steam machine to do the clothes with. In my case the laundry ma- chine must have been mislaid and a har- vester substituted. In Hamburg tkey do up shirts like your mother used to do ‘em. But what is the use of being severe about such trifles? It is more than probable that there Is a starch famine in town. Yet, from the laundry lst they gave me to e an inventory on, I was led to expect wonders. It was in three larguages, and had the general appearance of an internal search warrant. * ta Or The citizens of Hamburg wear their mus- taches—of course, I mean the male citizens —in the prevailing style, the military style; and it is effective, if not actually pleasing to the eye. ‘Three American tourists whom I met in Lubeck at a little austellung or exhibitton, wkich was held there until a few days ago, let their barbers bivsh their mustaches in German style, until the natives thought the tourists helonged to the vaterland, and no longer expected tips from them. They say that the German men all wear their mustaches in the same fashion that the emperor wears his. I haven’t seen him, but his photos depict him as a hand- everywhere. “Standing room only” is a sign no more needed than “keep off the grass.” There are besides plenty of places where music is provided and places for the shelter of thousands in case of sudden showers. But at the theater the behavior of the Germans is simply scandalous. We Ameri- cans like to have people act like mourners when they are in parks and such places of recreation, but at the theater or at the opera we have a right to expect something different. What Is the use of people going to a the- ater if they don’t chatter while the per- formance is going on? And for what earthly reason does your best girl buy a cart-wheel hat, if not to wear it at the theater? The attention that is given to the play or the opera in the Hansaic cities is, as I have said, scandalous. I can find no better word than that. These people didn’t move or make a sound until an act is over, and then they all go out to a big hall— corridor or foyer seems too small to ex- How the Spring Chicken Was Served. Btess it—and chatter for all they are worth, and drink, if they feel like it. What is the use of chattering if you can’t spoil gomebedy else's enjoyment, I should like to now. Hats are no more permitted in German theaters of the first class than are dogs. The gentlemen are even expected to check. their hats and canes. Don’t we do these things better in the states? eee 6: ie er ce ®ve The Hamburgers are a sporty people, in their way. The people who frequent office buildings specially are athletes—made so by. the elevators in these buildings. They're athletes of the same kind as are our people who live on the lines of the electric and cable cars-that seldom stop—only the ele- vators in the Hamburé office buildings nev- er stop during business hours. You have to catch ‘em a-going and catch ’em a-com- irg. They’re an endiéss chain of little cars that go spinning frém floor to floor and then down again, but never stop for pas- sengers. There are W® doors, but just two openings in each floor—doorways without dcors. The cage glides past and the pas- senger has to jump %n while it is going. Only two can ride at‘ time, for there is a sign inside that says so. The passenger has to take his charftes. If he calculates correctly he gets inste all right. If he is a little wild in his €ness as to the exact mcment to jump in}"Re is liable to lose a head or an arm or t#®, not to speak of the pessibllities in the Way of legs. I enjoyed it immensely. By t good luck I man- aged to get in withdht the loss of a single limb, but I made efht round trips before I plucked up courk¥e to make an exit. At last I jumped and'lit into a man witha large waist measuré and an overweight temper. It was a good thing that I can’t understand German when spoken very fast. Otherwise I might have felt insulted at the language he sputtered at me. No one can tell what the consequences might have been. CHARLES LEDERER. —>+—_ STATESMEN FOND OF CATS. President Cleveland and Mat Quay Among Them—Tom Platt’s Cat Julius. From the New York Sun. Several leading statesmen and politicians | have lately shown a great fondness for cats. Possibly the popular belief that cats have nine lives, and cannot be downed, has made them the mascot of the politicians, whose fortunes are always at hazard. Any- how, it’s a fact that cats now reign in the affections of some prominent people. President Cleveland has six of them, and no nook or corner of the White House is sacred from them. Senator Hill, who has been accused over and over again of hav- ing no human affections, has lately suc- cumbed, and now rejoices in the possession of two cats, known as Tom and Jerry, who have the run of his beautiful home at Wol- fert’s Roost. Wheneyer he is at home the Senator has these pets about him, and he appears to be very fond of them. Some of his Tammany friends have been disap- pointed because he did not choose tiger cats, but the Senater says they have the proper spirit, and that.is all that is neces- sary. They are all*egal black, which color sets off to advantagestheir flashing eyes. Friends cf Mr. ‘Thomas C. Platt know that he has béen sad ‘since the loss of Julius, his pet. Julius was a large and well-educated animal, who always had a chair at the table with his master and mis- tress, and had the privilege of touching the bell at the conclusion of each course to summon the butler. Although Julius saw one dainty after another served at the table, he never manifested the slightest de- sire for-any, but waited philosophically until after the-meal was finished, when he as fed in the kjtchen. Julius resided at Mr. Platt’s home at Highland Mills, Orange county. Recently he contracted a cold, and, in spite of the best medical attendance and careful nursing, he <died. In Mr. Platt’s apartment at the Fifth Avenue Hotel is a beautiful oil painting, which cost him $1,000. It represents Julius erect, with his bushy tail standing out behind him. It is a very natural portrait. Julius’ eyes are particularly good. They seem to regard the beholder quizzically. Friends of Mr. Platt contend that Julius had a good deal of his master’s spirit, and that the expression so pronounced in’ the} portrait has been seen on Mr. Platt’s coufffenance more than once during the_presenj paign, They say that when Mr. Pla€t/stands in front of the portrait looking at At there is a very mark- ed resemblance betwgeh his eyes and the painted eyes of Juliyé. Jultus was a tiger cat. Ex-Gov. Flower’s varjous residences aré overrun with cats. He has two of the Mai- tese variety, which are extraordinarily in- telligent. These he secured from a friend who runs a hotel gt; Adexandria bay. The cats are said to have taught the ex-gov ernor a number of Clever tricks in the way of dodging people.-Senator Murphy has a big cat to whom he confides all his secrets. He is said to hav teparked that his cat never betrayed hi ues Mat “Quay, the‘'Pe¥irsylvania boss, 1s another lover of cats, And has two of rare pedigree in his home at Beaver. Being a very secretive man,’ Mr. Quay has never told much about these pets, but it Is al- leged that every time the Goo Gao, papers print ‘stories #bout! his being downed, the Sendtor goes home and bas a jolly frolic with his cats. tee “ABOUT APPE: DICITIS, The Necessity of Resort to an Opera- tion Questioned. From the New York Ledger. It is many a iong year since so much unscientific and unnecessary butchery has been indulged in as is recorded in the treat- ment of appendicitis in the last few years. Severe pain and certain symptoms that might be attributed to a dozen other causes are charged to appendicitis, and a contin- uation of them suggests experiments to the minds of the doctors, and the operat- ing table looms up in the immediate fu- ture as the only hope for life. There are yet many physicians who insist that ep- erations of this sort are absolutely neces- sary, but it is a hopeful sign of the times that some of the more conservative and experienced doctors declare that only in exceptional cases is surgery positively necessary. As a simple home treatment, several patients have been immediately relieved by drinking large quantities of pure salad oil. This appears to have a beneficial effect upon the entire lining membrane of the alimertary canal, the oil seemed to spread over the surface, allay- ing irritation and softening whatever food products may have lodged in the appen- dical sac. he nonsensical theory put forth by cne member of the medical profession that no infant was properly equipped for life until by surgical means it had been deprived of the vermifcrm appendix, and thus fortified against future danger, is too silly to de- serve a moment's consideration. Millions of people have lived and died without ever knowing that there was such a thing, and the proportion of deaths that can by any possible means he attributed to this cause is extremely small. Some day doctors and patients will realize that a thorough washing out and cleunsiag of the interior of the body is quite as beneficial as the same process applied to the ex- terior. It is asserted by those who have had sufficient experience to entitle their statements to consideration that the thor- ough washing out of the digestive <ppar- atus by means of tepid water properly purified would prevent at least half of the diseases from which humanity suffers. 00 A Narrow Escape. From the Cleveland Plaindcaler. Capt. Gen. Spinner—‘‘I may have tran- scended military discipline, sir, and per- haps ought to have captured the whole band of insurgents——" you had a fierce battle, I understand—* # “We-er—made a,stgpd, sir, and when we saw them coming over the distant nill— a “You charged them! Bravo, bravo, my boys-—” ii No, sir; we—” ‘Ah, trapped them!. Bring in the villains! We'll have a jolly xilling—" “No, gencral, I—it may be I erred on the side of mercy, but when I saw them march- ing defiantly over the distant hill, I—” ‘You what?” hoisted a flag of truce and retired to give them a chance to bury their dead!” “Good! Bravo, boys We'll have them wound up in a jiffyi” 2or A Matter of Music. From the Detroit Free Press. A 3d street men’s neighbor had bought a new piano, and the daughter had been banging away on it ever since it had been in the hovse. “Got a new plano, I hear,” said the man over the back fence to his neighbor. Yes. Got it cn the installment plan.” “Ig that so? Wonder if your daughter can’t let us have the music from it in the same way.” —_—____-«+____ Adds to His Stock of Facts, From the Chicago Tribune. English tourist (out west): “Is it always as—aw—dangerous to travel about your country as it is now?” Native: “Great Scott, no! This is the time of year when the train robbers are always doing their biggest killing and robbing. That's why we call it the Indian summer.” English tourist (whipping out his note book: ‘Good ‘eavens?”” Got a cold? Take Dr. Bull's Cough Syrup. MOVING THE BOOKS Library of Congress Has Started to Leave the Capitol. AN ELECTRIC RAILWAY ON. STILTS —— Forty-three Miles of Shelves to Hold Fourteen Miles of Books. A BIG JOB FOR MR. SPOFFORD a T HE MOVING OF the books- from the Capitol to the ne w library of Congress has been begun. Within the last few days great quantities of duplicate volumes, foreign parliament- ary reports and other stuff of no im- mediate usefulness to anybody have been transferred. Mr. > Spofford proposes to effect tne removal by degrees, and in such a way that the great collection under his charge shall be kept open to the public without any interruption by the change. There is scarcely any doubt that a tem- porary elevated railway will be built for transferring the contents of the old library to the new one. It will run directiy from the floor of the rotunda of the Capitol to the main floor of the building with the golden dome. Over it small cars, propelled by electricity, will carry loads of books. When the job is finished the structure on stilts can be taken down and removed. The expense involved will not be great. This is Mr. Spofford’s idea. Mr. Bernard Greene, the engineer in charge, has given up his plan, which was to utilize the tunnel that connects the Capitol with the new library. This is a brick-lined conduit, three feet un- der ground, through which runs an electric car on wheels. This would serve to convey the volumes, but they would have to be lowered into the tunnel at one end and lift- ed at the other to the main floor of the li- brary, involving much waste of labor. Will Be Kept Togeth The library will be moved not all at once, but gradually, division after division. Po- etry is one division and fiction is another. Each division will be arranged by authors alphabetically. The divisions are split up into classes. American biography is a class and British biography {3 another. Each class will be arranged by authors accord- ing to the alpnabet. This method is original with Mr. Spofford. By an ingenious system of juggling with the alphabet, the new library will be ar- ranged in such a fashion that any one of its 685,000 bound volumes or 230,000 pam- phlets can be touched at a monient’s no- ice. The great stacks of book shelves are so constructed that any class or division may be extended indefinitely without any trouble. These bookstacks have been lik- ened to gigantic honeycombs of iron. There are three of them, the two great ones being each sixty-five feet high, one hundred and twelve feet long and forty-five feet wide. Each of these mighty book cases will hold $00,000 volumes—more than the present en- tire contents of the library of Congress. The biggest books in the library of Con- gress are bound files of old-fashioned news- papers. Among the heaviest are Bibles printed in the middle ages, with brass clasps and covers of wood an inch thick. Contrasted with these giants of the collec- tion are dwarfs three inches by two in size, such as waistcoat-pocket editions of Horace and other classics. There are 20,0) bound volumes of newspaper files. Mr. Spofford binds regularly at least two newspapers representing each political party in ev- ery state and territory. In addition to these are many newspapers of the leading cities. The library of music is not bound as yet, though it will be some day. It com- prises over 1,000,000 compositions. All of them have been contributed by publishers desiring copyrights. Rare and Queer Books. The total bulk of these unbound pieces of music i3 enormous, yet they will be so ar- ranged that any one of them can be found at a minute's notice. In the new building there will be a room devoted exclusively to works relating in one way or another to George Washington. Besides, Mr. Spofford pro- poses to establish a literary museum, in which rare and queer books of all sorts will be displayed under glass. Among them will be old Bibles and other volumes copied and illuminated by mediaeval monks. ‘There will be an art gallery for exhibiting the best of the pictures copyrighted during the last few years, and a separate room will be devoted to maps. The bootstacks, which tower to the .-oof of the building, are nine stories or tiers in height. They could just as easily have been made nineteen stories high, or twenty-nine stcries, increasing proportionately the stor- age capacity for books. They are wholly of iron, ficors as well as cases. Like an Office Building. Hand elevators, telephones, pneumatic tubes and other mechanical devices render the huge bootstacks like a lofty modern office building, equally useful and conve- nient in all its parts. Little cars attached to endless chains will do all the handling of the volumes, carrying them from the stacks to the great central reading room and back again. The cars will run beneath the floor of the reading room, and all the ma- chinery will be noiseless and invisible. When a, volume is wanted Mr. Spofford will :ake the paper ticket, signed by the reader, bear- ing the title of the work, and will drop it into the pneumatic tube that communicates with the sta and tier where that book is to be found, In a second’s time it is whisked through the pipe and delivered to the assistant librarian in charge of that division of the library. He takes the book from the shelf and puts It upon the first car that passes on its way downward to the reading room. On its ar- rival there it is dumped automatically upon Mr. Spofford’s desk. It is one thing to have a library and quite another to make the books accessible. In the new Hbrary of Congress the reader will be able to get a book in a small fraction of the time required at the Br.tish Museum or in any other great library of the world. Ry telephones, pneumatic tubes and electric sigrals Mr. Spofford will be placed in imme- diate touch with every volume in the build- ing. He can, it may be said, place his hand at an instant’s notice on any one of the 900,000 books and pamphlets. At the same time he is connected by telephone with the Senate and with the House of Representa- tives. By Telephone to Congre: Suppose a member of Congress wants a certain book. Without leaving the legisla- tive chamber he will be able to converse with Mr. Spofford as easily as if that gen- tleman were at his elbow. The apparatus employed will be of a quality so unusually fine that the faintest whisper will be clear- ly audible, making talking easy. Mr. Spof- ford will instantly procure the volume re- quired and will send it by the electric car through the underground conduit to the Capitol. The car will deliver it automati- cally in a room adjoining the rotunda. There a messenger will grab it and carry it to the member. Congressmen will get books from the new library much more easily and quickly than they have obtained them heretofore from the same collection housed in the Capitol. Besides having the telephone at his ear, Mr. Spofford will be connected with the Capitol by a pneumatic tube that runs through the subterranean tunnel. Through this tube Congressmen will dispatch slips with written orders, Arranging the Books. On reaching the new library building, by way of the temporary railway on stilts, the books in process of moving will be delivered in the tentral reading room, whence they will be conveyed by elevators to the stacks. To arrange them will be an enormous task, of course. If the volumes were arranged side by side, as on a shelf, they would stretch about fourteen miles. But there are forty-three miles of shelves now empty and waiting to be filled. They will hold as many volumes, put side by side, as would extend from Washington to Baltimore, and NAGGING HABIT NOT A VICE. Simply — Nervous Nagging {s a disease, says an eminent physician in the North American Review. “It is often,” says Dr. Edson, “‘the result of a diseesed condition or of strains on the strength." It fs the nervous men and women who most readily fall into that unfortunate class, and any- thing that does away with nervous weakness will cure the depression, irritability and the n. gzing habit that so often accompanies a run-down, nerv- ous condition. Perscns who lead an active life need something to invigorate thelz nerves and to give them fresh, reddy blood. It is the rebellious nerves overtaxed by domestic duties added to the constant Mving in the vitiated atmosphere of indoors that reduces the nervous strength of so mary women. Prof. Edward E. Phelps, M.D., LL.D., presented to his profession the results of accurate investiga- ticns in the medical laboratory. His formula for recruiting worn-out nervous tissues and building up the nerve centers when exhausted, this remarka- ble formula vow known the world ove: Paine’s Weakness---Usa Paine’s Celery Compound, celery compound, has become familiar to every medical practitioner and famfly physician. “Breakdown and nervons prostration come,” say these physicians, “unless the great nerve centers are promptly fed upoo proper nutritive material.”” Paine’s celery compound is the one great nerve feeder and nerve restorative. By its means all the functions of the body receive a fresh supply of nerve food. I: encourages the bedy to mann- facture an abundant supply of this indispensable vital force, without which there can be no health, strength nor happiness in living. From the lack of nerve force men and women are driven to despondency, melancholia, insanity and suicide. Thousands of letters like the following from Mrs. Lizyie Arnott of Mansfield, Ohio, are received by the proprietors of Paine's celery compound every smorth in the year: “I have used two bottles of Paine’s celery com- pound for nervousness, and have found great re- Hef from its use. It is truly a wonderful remed; I om better and am using no more medicine now. four miles beyond. Space has been pro- vided for the erection of other stacks, which will contain 2,700,000 volumes, and 1,000,000 in addition could be stored in the court yards. Thus, though it is expected that the Library of Congress some day will be the largest in the world, there is yet room for centuries of growth. When the collection has reached 6,000,000 volumes every one of them will be accessible at a moment's notiee. ‘That collection is the third largest in the worid, having 1,000,000 volume3. The na- tional library of France is the biggest in existence, containing 2,225,000 books. The British Museum has 1,700,000 volumes, and RAIDED THE POST OFFICE. Am Incident in the Career of Lord Wolseley in India, Brom the Springfield Republican. To illustrate some of the disagreeable things which the soldiers suffered in the Soudan, Mr. Nourse tells the following an- ecdote of the postal service, which also well shows how democratic was Lord Wolseley, the commandant. Nourse went into the post office at Kort! to look for some letters. The postmaster was a na- tive and not very much at handwriting, the Russian national library 1,000,000 vol- umes. Thus it appears that the library of Congress holds only the fifth rank in re- spect to magnitude. The Boston Public Library is a little more than half the size of the library of Congress, possessing 400,- 000 books. The bookstacks of the new library of Congress are mere skeletons of iron. Thus the books wili be kept cool and well ven- tilated, which is very important, inasmuch as heat causes them to decay and bad air makes them moldy. They cannot be de- stroyed by fire, because there is no inflam- mable material at hand, and books by themselves will only smolder and do not burn. Besides, the building will be heated entirely by hot water from bollers some dis- tance away from the structure itself and under ground. Ventilation will be furnish- ed artificially, the huge plate-glass wiu- dows that admit floods of daylight to the stacks being never opened. Such artificial light as is required will be supplied by in- candescent electric lamps. Immediately surrounding Mr. Spofford’s desk, in the center of the great reading room, will be book cases containing 10,000 books of reference, such as encyclopedias, dictionaries, bitliographies, ete. Readers will be permitted to help themselves to these volumes without signing tickets, and thus keys to all the world of books will be placed at their disposal for the trouble of helping themselves. This reading room, which will have desks for 300 readers, arranged in concentric cir- cles around Mr. Spofford’s desk, is the most beautiful room in the world. For its ceiling it has the great dome of the library. The dome is lined with exquisite sculptures, which are set cff with brillant effects in gilding. The walls of the room are of Ital- ian marbles, and are surmounted by groups of statuary and colossal allegorical figures, ——.—__ “THE BICYCLE SADDLB. It is Thought That the Present Style is Too Narrow. From the St. Louis Repubife. The one improverrent that physicians de- mand before pronouncing the wheel entire- ly safe and healthful, the chief improve- ment which manufacturers are now trying to produce, is a saddle that shall be wider than the ones now used, and with a short- er peak. The really hygienic saddle will be wide enough to extend under and support the ischia bones, thus throwing the weight of the body on the parts intended by nature to suppcrt it in a scated posture. This will prevent the dangercus pressure_on the soft parts of the body caused by the use of a saddle too narrow to press the iliac bones. The saddle for women requires exactly the same improvements, only to a greater extent. It should be wider than that cor- rect for men, and the peak should be short- er and narrower. With these improvements, the only ob- jections now raised against the wheel as a means of pleasurable exercise will be for- ever removed. ‘The English are tryirg to introduce wider saddles; they find it takes a little effort to become accustomed to the seat, as a slight- ly different movement is required, but the reward is great, not only from the hygienic standpoint, but from the fact that the firm, ratural seat thus obtained gives much more power the stroke of the limbs, and is of special nefit in uphill work. soe A Tale of the Wheel. From the Minneapolis Journal. Now fades the glimmering landscape on the sight ‘The heavy lady moauts the sporty, wheel; ee ‘The thin man holds her on with all his might While neighboring walls re-echo back her squeal. To hold tha lady on, with furrowed brow In vain will he his flavby muscles tax, Erstwhile the small boy from the nearest fence ols free with his advice of “Git an a O ride of ctreumstar.ce and pomp of power, What now avails the large, fat bank account? ‘The laws of gravitation hold ‘their sway; She of embonpoint has lost her mount. a He Had Raised Many Families. From the Denver Catholic. The elevator boy in the big flat was air- ing his views to a passenger on the proper conduct of children. “What do you know about it?” laughed the passenger. ‘‘You’re not married, are you?” “Well, no,” replied the boy, “but I've brought up a great many families in my time,” and then he gazed up the elevator with a rapturous expression. and said that there was nothing for him after a superficial glance at a big pile of papers and letters. Nourse asked to see the pil> of letters, and while he was look- ing them over a man with nothing to des- ignate his rank came into the office in compiny with another. He took in the situation at a glance and said: “Let's clean this thing out.” Whereupon they jumped over the counter and bundled the postmaster out, neck and heels. Then they began the examination of the office and found it congested with mail for the army. ‘They search2d every nook and cranny and threw the letters for one regiment into one corner, those for another into another, with all the newspapers in the center of the floor. Then they went through each pile and separated it into companies, and before night every letter was in camp and distributed, and the next day the papers were out. Nourse at the time did not know who his companion in the good deed was. He asked him his name and his answer was: “They call me Charley.” Some time afterward Nourse was going to see the commandant, and sitting near his tent saw his companion of the post office. “Hello, Charley,” he said, “I'm looking for the commandant; where'll I find him?” “Well,” said “Charley,” “you won't have to look very far. I'm the commandant. Come in- side and have a bit to eat and drink.” It was Lord Wolseley, and a man worthy of the title. —__+e+-_____ AN INVENTOR’S DREAM. Elias Howe Learned While Asleep to Locate the Needle’s Eye. From the Philadelphia ‘Times. Elias Howe almost beggared himself be- fore he discovered where the eye of the needle of a sewing machine should be lo- cated. His original idea was to follow the model of the eye at the heel. It never oc- curred to him that it should be placed near the point, and he might have failed alto- gether if he had not dreamed he was build- ing a sewing machine for a savage king in a strange country. Just as in his actual waking experience, he was rather per- plexed about the needle’s eye. He thought the king gave him twenty-four hours to complete a machine and make it sew. If not finished in that time, death was to be the punishment. Howe worked and worked ard puzzled and puzzled, and finally gave it up. Then he thought he was taken cut to be executed. He noticed that the warriors carried spears that were pierced near the head. Instantly came the solution of the difficulty, and while the inventor was begging for time he awoke. He jump- ed out of bed, ran to his workshop, and by 9 a necdle with an eye at the point had been rudely modeled. After that it was easy. This is the true story of an impor- tant incident in the invention of the sewing machine. oo ____ A Difference. From Pick-Me-Up. “Did Jack propose to you this evening?” “Well, not exactly; he asked if I could af- ford a husband!” Miss Della Stevens of Boston, Mass, writes: I have always suffered hereditary Scrofula, for which I t various remedies, and many reliable phy- sicians, but none relieved me. After taking 6 bottles of Iam now well, I am very grateful to you, as I feel told and shall wate , _bieanare in sy words ef. praise fer the wooderfol med- aan im recommending tt te all. mailed that it saved me Diseases free to any ad- SWIFT SPECIFIC CO., Atlanta, Ge. from a life of un- Gress.