Evening Star Newspaper, December 7, 1895, Page 13

: THE EVENING STAR, SATURDAY, DECEMBER 17, 1895-TWENTY-FOUR PAGES. 13 THE CATHEDRAL OF MEXICO. MEXICO'S WONDERS Extraordinary Diversity of Sights for the Curious. le a THE KALEIDOSCOPE OF AZTEC LAND An American Combination of Spai and Egypt. DISCOMFORTS AND CHARMS > No. L. Editorial Correspordence of The Evening Star. HEN THE CURIOUS cler wishes to Indulge in polar exploration without risk of freezing or starv: tlon, of eating or b Ing eaten by his fel- low explorers, of smashing aluminum bosts or of falling from a_ pole-bound balloon, he follows, in a comfortable Nf steamer, the warm, ice-melting gulf stream to the North Cape of Norway and to Spitzbergen. When the same traveler wishes to penetrate the trop- ics without exposing himself to sunstroke, to fever, to savage cannibalistic tribes, to dwarfs shooting poisoned missiles, or even to the horrors of sea sickness, he now glides down the mountain backbone of the continent in a railroad car to southern Mexico, far Into the torrid zone, at an alti- tude which saves him from equatorial dan- gers and renders It possible, through rapid descents in short excursions to the righ and left, to taste, with impunity, the full delights of the tropics. I have recently enjoyed a rapid tour of this sort In Mexico, visiting the principal cities and the notable sights of the great central plateau, at an average h the level of the sea exceeding that of the summit cf Mt. Washington,—diverging to the left as far as picturesque and semi- tropical Orizaba, only eighty miles from the Gulf of Mexico, with its Swiss moun- tains, mountain torrents and picturesque buildings, and its Javanese co! palms aud bananas,—diverging to the right as far as attractive and prosperous Guadalajara on the Pacific slope of Mexico, with its lake, {ts waterfall, “the Niagara of Mexi- co,” and its canon that boasts the temper- ate zone at Its top and the torrid zone at its bottom; and pushing southward as far as Oajaca and the famous ruins of Mitla, also in the vicinity of the Pacific, and many miles nearer to the equator than is the sec- ond cataract of the Nil Wonderfal Diversity of Sightseeing. © principal plateau city is of course Mexico, a great modern capital of nearly 400,000 population, the center in succe: on of Aztec, Spanish-American and Mexican civilization, and wonderfully interesting, both from what it is and from what hus been preserved of the striking evidences concerning what is has been. But there are on the plateau a half-dozen other distinct wes of city, as, for instance, beautiful ebla, the cathedral elty; unique Guan- . a typical minirg town, and Aguas the Arkansas Hot 5j Me: the world so short a di I doubt whether a display a more stril There are exhibited the charac acles of the torrid, temperate and | here the tropical jungle, nd the the or maguey, dian corn and bean then the cactus of the arid wastes of the Mexican desert; and finally the ice-plant of the glaciers of etl, volcand In cro Orizaba or F with perpetual snow. tions and re! diversity. There are Juarez and Maximilian, of Gen. Santa Ana, of Spanish viceroys and Hidalgo, of Cortes and Montezuma, and of the un- builders of pyramids and palaces, that antedate the beginnings of recorded history in America, Among the men of the Mexico of today there is in appearance and customs a similar diversity. There are a few hundred men of vast wealth and mil- lions of paupers, there are feudal lords and vassals, and there are representing or suggesting the proud Spaniard and the ph- Egyptian, the Ethiopian and the Mon- 6olian. More Foreign Than Europe. Mexico is more foreign in appearance than nine-tenths of Europe, the thoroughfares of which are well trodden by the tourist myr- fads, and which has few by-ways remaining to gratify curiosity with the new and strange. Mexico's twelve millions of natlv are, speaking generally, either pure Indi Girect and unadulterated descendants of the Aztecs and other Indian tribes, or mixed Indi nd Spanish, or (much the smallest 1 Spanish. Four-fifths of the peo- » Indian blood, t fths are Indian ard about one-third can neither k nor understend Spanish, and use their known original Indian dialects. In the outward appearance of the men, women and children and in thelr habitations, costumes and habits it suggests In its different sections and amo ried peoples now Europe in Moorish in. now Asia in Palestine. now ) pt. Suggestions in Mexico. cities are Spanish, with low s of the Moorish type, }: built The large flat- “d hom and f ding tains. fi Iron grat lover from the as they ‘lo in the ca and both young wor carding th uresat Jatest Paris fashion an senorita, vanish sister. ntilla | the S Plexions with Parisian rouge. The Mex ) horseman is even more dash- ine uresque than his old world ©o s in . the clty’s heart fs often a plaza, a promenade park, with a nd musie, with the cathedral facing the plaza on one side and the palace or other government building on the other. In both countries no city is com- plete without a paseo, the Sunday afternoon driveway, where all the world displays itseIf in its best bib and tucker, and a bull ring, where also on Sunday the national sport at- tracts the multitude. Mexico’s churches, Lke Spain's, are notable for size and beauty, fer masterpieces of painting or treasures of gold, silver and precious stones within, and for begzars at their doors. When the Spanish conquered this country its surface was dotted with countless Aztec temples. The order given was to tear down every one of these structures and to erect in its place a Chr stan church. Thus it results that there are churches today in the most inaccessible spots, on the sumiitt of py , the vast artiticial mounds, which formed the favorite founda- tion of temples of Aztec sun-worshipers and thus it also results that the church ed- ffices are numerous beyond conception, though many of the old buildings have long ago been disused and have fallen into ruin. The City of Mexico has even now sixty churches and Puebla, the sacred city, with less than a hundred thousand population, has quite as many. Not only are these re- gious structures notable for their num- ber, but many of them are impressive in size and architecture and rich in adorn- ment. They were founded by Spaniards in a cathedral-bullding age, and were con- structed according to the plans of Spa architects, at a time when Mexico was pouring countless millions into the lap of Spain, and when there was no deterrent in lack of money to the most extravagant building projects. When church property was nationalized by Juarez, and monaster- fes and nunneries were suppressed, it was found that three-fourths of the republic's evtre property were in the hands of the church. The wealth, and, to some extent, the rich adornment of the churches were affected by Juarez’s reform, but still today these structures are, as in Spain, the coun- try of notable cathedrals, the sights most proudly displayed to the tourist. Amerien’s Biggest Cathedral. The cathedral of the City of Mexico is to be compared in size with the vast cathe- dral of Seville, and that of Puebla in beauty of interior adornment with the best of Spain. The only church in the world that unmistakably and notably exceeds in size the Mexican cathedral is St. Peter's at Rome. The Seville cathedral is 398 feet by 201 feet, and the nave is 13 high. Baedeker gives the Mexican cathedral's dimensions as 425 feet by 20) feet; height, 185 feet; towers, 218 feet high. The Mex- ican cathedral is thus higher and longer than that of Seville, but not so wide. ‘The Seville structure occupies a larger ground area, but a part of that vast building has fallen in, and is practically a ruin, in the hands of repairing workmen, who will be engaged upon It for years and perhaps centuries. Meanwhile this portion of the cathedral is inaccessible, and spoils the effect of an interior view of the structure. According to Baedeker's fignres, the Mex- ican cathedral ranks in size in the class of Seville and Milan, surpassed only by St. Peter's, and surpassing not only all the other Spanish cathedrais, but every other in the werld, including St. Paui’s, London; St. Sophia, Constantinople, and the cathe- dral of Cologne. The Mexican cathedral, which was nearly a hundred years in build- ing, is also notable as having once boasted the richest altar in the world, and as being now unique in possessing a’ choir railing said to have cost a million and a haif doi- lars, and a wooden floor which certainly did not cost as many cents. The Puebla cathedral, with its floor of colored marbles, its rich'and artistically at- tractive high altar of different varieties of Puebla onyx, and the beautiful ironwork and. wood carving about the choir, boas an interior which equals that of the cathe dral of Toledo, or Burgos, or Leon, or ary other of the structures of which Spain is justly procd. The music at Puebla w: also pleasing. An organ, a piano, av! cello and other stringed instruments, men’s and boys’ voices (choir in vestmei and director with baton), combined with e cel'ent results. These boy choirs in scarlet and white vestments were also found m Oaja and Tiacolula’s cathedrals in the fur south. There is a magnificent displ of silver im remote Tlacolula’s church; 'Tiax- cala has the oldest church in North Ameri- ca, 3 eiling and beams brought from Sp: church of San Fran- Ss lon nd CIECO, CO: 21; there is artistic wood ¢ ing by Indian artists of power and taste in the Church of Ocotlan, 7 ed upon a hill in the same city of Ti. and almost every leading church o every considerable town has some sort, a Murill some cther exhibit Counterparts of Sp: Cities. orly have many individual Spanish sights their counterparts in Mexico, but even the cities may be grouped and compared. The City of Mexico is nearly as large as Madrid or Barcelona, and far surpasses borh in novelty and interest. derful picture gallery world, Outside of its w st the fir in in Ps attractive modern all of this, and in with oriental scenes and many of the sigh Barcelona and gay touches of scenes from the jalajara and Puebia Madrid is only an imita bright, is a n inte suggestions. It ha attractions of Madrid, Seville, streets ith EGYPT are nearer the size of Seville, and each has manifold attractions. Guanajuato is the Mexican reminder of Toledo and Gra perched on the rocky hillsides, quaint and picturesque. You hear the same language spoken as in Spain, you pay separately so much for each act at a theatrical performance in both countries; the male citizens (and some of the citizenesses) smoke constantly and everywhere, as in Spain, but the Mexican dces not stare quite so hard at the ladies as rd does, nor does he make such stentatious and juley use of a toothpick betveen courses at table d’hote. In some of the Mexican homes there are reminders in architectural effects and in stucco work !n horseshoe arches and grace- ful columns of the Moorish Influence upon the’Spaniards during the period of Moorish | occupation of Spain, but Mexico has noth- ing to compare with the delicately beaut!- | ful relics left by the Moors in the Alham- | bra at Granada, and in the Alcazar at Seville, which, with the wonderful Moorish mosque at Cordova, constitute the chief at- tractions of Southern Spain. If, however, Mexico has not relies of the work of North Africa, it has in its Indian dark-skinned people reminders of the Africans and Aslat- ics themselves. In the small villages and country sections where the millions of In- dians dwell, oriental scenes are plentiful. I do not now refer to observed analogies in traditions and religious rites, in chronolog- feal systems and zodiacal signs, or in so- cial usages and manners upon which the argument for bellef in the common origin of early Mexican and old world civilization is based, but to the surface resemblances which impress themselves upon and Inter- est the ordinary unscientific observer. Hints of the Orient in Mexfco. The dark-skinned men. with bright eyes and white teeth, dressed first in white cot- ton and then draped in a serape, a shawl by day and a blanket by nignt, are dis- tinctively oriental, and the effect is not destroyed either by the immense sugar- loaf sombreros which they wear upon their heads or the sandals which, when not bare- foot, they fasten upon their feet. The women, oftea in gay colors, and draped in a dark-colored shawl, cailed reboso, which half conceals the face, also suggest Asia or Africa rather than America or Europe. The Egyptian shaduf finds its counterpart in the well sweep of Irapuato, where strawberries are grown and sold every day in the year, and Where irrigation is resorted to as in Egypt, systematically ard on a latge scale. In the absence of trees ard rocks the Egyptian shaduf is small. is composed of prepared timbers, and the counterpaise to the well bucket is an immense hunk of dried, hardened mud. The Mexican shadut generally util- izes a forked tree, and swings across It a lcug tapering tree trunk oz branch, and the counterpoise consists of a larg single stone or a mess of stones fastened together. Though Mexico stretches farther south than Egypt, the two countries lie, speaking generally, between the same_ parallels of latitude, ‘but the altitude of 'Irapuato 1s over 5,000 feet above the sea level or the level cf the Nile, so that the sam degree of undress is not expected or found in the Mexican as in the Exyptian shaduf worker. I saw, however, the neighborhood of Irapuato two In at well sweeps work- ing side by side, +. 4 were dressed enly in white cotton loin clothes, and who looked ke the twin brothers of shaduf workers whom I have seen and photosraphed on the Nile. In the tropicai altitudes of Mexico, and in the Hot Springs sections, as at Acuas Calientes, without regard to altitude, there is at least an Egyptian disregard of ag Mexico. Egypt. the conventionalities In attire, and a dis- pesition 43 noted to take a daily fashion hint from the garden of Eden instead of from Paris, the children ‘liscarding even ef. ‘The water-carrier of Cairo i e his brother ef Guanajuato, where ris used. The groups about the fountains all ove: with jars of rounded pottery nan’s head on a protecting turban or balanced on the man’s shoulde: so oriental. Corn {fs ground becween ones in Asiatic fashion. The Egypt of the New Wor Egyptian sand spouts are common; also Egyptian types of domestic utensils of pot- The Mexicah woman, with her ba Kk, secirely fastened in the cboso, Waich throws the infant's weight the republic, jorge on the ke on the mother's shoulders, is be com: pared yptian woman, whose “reboso” covers her face while the child ex shoulders, holding to her nds un- fashion. ‘There but even more burros. numerous dot The Indian villag of bamboo, with thatched roofs and or cactus fences, and whether alive goats, donkeys or snarling cur: con in effect. ‘There ings resembling the Exyptian, being made from the maguey popytus. The Aztecs empioye Aztec picture wr the inste great public works, in ico thus pyram: much br : than those of Egypt, though not based nearly so high, and idois quite as ugly. Gold ornaments, beads, masks and other highiy prized antiquities are found in the tembs Egypt. Wherein Mexico Falls Short. There are disadvantages and annoyances on the Mexican trip. After crossing the Rio Grande an arid desert waste anno; the traveler with heat and dust for many lroad trip to the City of Mex- owever,not so far as to San Fran neteen hours from A ew York, in southern, the spi nerally, unprepared for the cold, ir 1 wave both visitors The hotels are, with a pocr, but they are- than the reports concerni ir days rtable. much bette them pr: t in the United States le: one to ct. Ore can fare a: well F The foreign language to the American who sropean travel. Eut Americans ought to learn Spanish. Next to slish lt fs the language of the Americas, and in ent growing commercial rela- t panish should ery other mod- age in our public s ‘The worst nulsanc encounters in M of southern fur countries in iterranean ubiauity and nsect kingdom. the is not the slightest trace of the Mexican procrastination in the s of the bed bugs, fleas and ttever they have to do, they do nd with all their might. “The of the Mexicans need public schoois soap and water; varied industries and insect powder. But today I am considering them, not in the more serious phases of their conc nd needs. but exclusively rom the point of view, which sin rags and dirt. boasts the richest silver mines in the wor Ameri arden of Eden, if it w uated on this con id the Towe ; the spot wher ropean set foot on tht as sit- nent, and in the Cholula fan tra- of Babel of In the first kno’ continent to which he gave his name—the place, the coast near ‘fampico, the man, Americus Vespucci; the largest meteorite in the world; in the statue of Charles IV on the Paseo in the City of Mexico the first and according to some authorities the largest bronze ever cast in America, and according to Humboldt the fines equestrian statue in the world next to that of Marcus Aurelius at Rome; tl stoutest tree on the continent and perhaps in the world at Tule, 14 feet two inches in circumference six feet from the ground; according to the latest figures, which reduee Mt. St.Elias and exalt Orizaba, the highest mountain on the continent; the largest American church building in the Mexican Cathedral and the most beautiful in that of Puebla; the first pulpit and first church structure in the new world at Tlaxcala; the largest bell in Amer- ica and one of the largest in_ the world in the Mexican Cathedral. It is said to be nineteen feet high. The ‘“‘Monarch of Bells” in the Kremlin at Moscow is twenty feet high and weighs 444,000 pounds, but it is cracked and useless, while Mexico's 5 sound and serviceable. Finally Mex- s the most pretentious theater on ent. That of Guadalajara ts an immerse structure with an imposing front of numerous columns of the Greek style of architecture, but it is now excellend by that of Guanajuato, which is one of the showiest and most elaborate buildings of the kind In the world. It is the sight of Guanajuato. It Is under government control, and official permit to visit it Is Issued by the governor of the state. It has been a dozen years In building, at great expense, as !f It were a European cathedral or an American state capitol or the Washington post office. They do not hurry things in Mexico. It is the land of “manana,” tomorrow. The na- tional coat of arms as depicted in the tn- itial at the beginning of this letter repre- sents an eagle standing on a cactus, with a serpent in {ts mouth. It {s popularly known as the bird and the worm, and it has been hastily Inferred therefrom that the national motto reads: “It ts the early bird that catches the worm.” But only a few Gays of Mexican experience demonstrate the fallacy of this interpretation, and sug- gest that the real national motto is elther “More haste, less speed," “Some day, some day,” or “In the sweet bye and bye."’ THEODORE W. NOYES. DECEMBER -SKIES Seven Stars of the First Magnitude and Their Poci¥ion. eee A VARIETY OF STELLAR COLORS ees Shifting Constellations and Hints cots 3 to the Amateur Gazer. i ————e PLANETS AND ‘COMETS ACING THE EAST at about 9 o'clock to- morrow evening, we shall have before us seven stars of the first. magnitude—one- half of the number of stars of this order of brilliancy that are ever visible to an ob- server in any part of the United States. Exactly in the east, and near the horizon, Ze may be seen Procyon, the Little bog (Canis Minor); to the right of Procyon, and at about the same altitude, is Sir'us, the Dog Star (Canis Major); above Sirius reclines the constellation Orion, with its two brilliant stars, Betelgeuse and Rigel. the former in the right shoulder, the latter in the le*t foot; above Orion is Aldebaran, the “Bull's Ey in the constellation Taurus; to the left of this star, at a some- what greater altitude, in the northeast, is Capella, in Auriga; below Capella and about equally distant from this star and Procyon are the Twins (Gemini), of which the upper, Castor, is of the full second magnitude, and the lower, Pollux, being somewhat brighter, is usually classed as of the first magnitude, although it is considerably less brilliant than any of the other stars just named. Aldebaran, Betelgeuse, Sirius and Rigel form a large diamond-shaped figure, the sides of which are nearly equal, and at the center of which are the “Three Kings” that form Orion's belt. Procyon, Betelgeuse and Sirius form a triangle, the sides of which are of about the same length. A curve run from Capella through the Two Twins and Procyon and terminating at Sirius, is nearly a half circle, the center of which is near the head of Orion. Capella is in the left shoul- der of Auriga; the right shoulder is marked by a star of the second magnitude, which may now be seen directly beneath the brighter star. Observe that these two shoulder orna- ments are of the same magnituies, and are at the same distance apart as the two which mark the shoulders of Orion, and that these four stars form a large parallelogram, the length of which is above five times {ts readth, At the center of this parallel-sided figure is the star El Nath, one of the two- third magnitude stars which tip the horns of Taurus. This star is also in the right foot of Auriga, to which constellation it is considered to belong. It i8 at about equal distances from Capella‘ a@d Aldcbaran, forming with them a noticvable triangle, of which the base is a line Joining the two brighter stars. Aldcbarah ‘is, furthermore, marked unmistakably bys position at one corner of the V-shape@/ cluster of the Hyades, which form the Bull’s face. The a jades, above it, are im the Bull's shoul- jer. Observe next the colors of these stars. Capella, Pollux and Prodyon are yellow stars. In the modern claSsification of the stars they are of the “sglar’ type. Their “spectra” resembte that of the sun in being crossed by dark lines, which are now known to indicate the presence of the va- pors of various metal4 4n their atmos- pheres. Sirius and Rigel, are beth of a bluish-white color. They afe hoth “Sirlan? stars and their spectra: indicate that they m. They are, doubtless, as well a6 surpassingly brilliant, are usually thought to represent an carlier stage of world-life than the solar or yellow star: Idebavan and Hetelgeuse are of 2 de- cidediy reddish hue. They belong to still another of the five classes into which the stars are now divided. They are either de- crepit suns, verging upon extinction as lu- minaries, as is generally held to be the case, or, possibly, they have not yet reached their point of highest temperature, and are nascent suns. At any rate, they are, doubt- less, luminaries of a quite different order from our own sun. * In the opposite quarter of the heavens three other stars of the first’ magnitude may now be seen at the hour named—Fo- malhaut, low in the southwest; Vega, barely above the horizon in the northwest, and Deneb Cygni, in the head of the North- Positions of the Planets. to the left of the is of about the same as Pollux, and, like that star, tt is sometimes considered simply as a bright star of the second magnitude. Overhead we shall find a notable array of second magnitude stars, helonging to the constellations Cassiopei, Andro- We will begin with the great Square of Pegasus, which will be found toward the west, nearly mid- way between the horizon and the zenith, The star at the northeastern corner of this rectangular figure—the uppermost corner, as the figure is now posed—is Alpheratz, in the head of Andromeda, only three of these stars belonging properly to the old constel- lation Pegasus. This winged horse of mythology is now descending head fore- most toward the western horizon. His nose is marked by a star of the second magni- tude, directly beneath the Sqpare and at a distance from it about equal to the length of one of its diagonals,“ ‘The Shifting Cotistelintions. Alpheratz is the first of four stars of about the same splendor and at about the same distance apart, which lie in a curved line in the direction of Capella. The second star from Alpheratz Is ‘Beta, In the belt of Andromeda; the third ig Gamma, in her left foot. Like Pegasus, Andfomeda is now descending head foremést téward the ho- rizon. aw ois The star which he haf not#d as above is now below, and that whfeh wds on the right is on the left. To illustrated Orion, when rising, reclines on his right side; when in midheavens toward the south, he stands erect; when setting, he reclifes on his left side. These points seeni too imple and too obvious to need statement; and yet a be- ginner, from neglecting to consider them, finds himself continually looking for some particular star In the wrong place. It is better, therefore, that In making his mental notes he should discard the terms up and down, right and left, and think of a star as north or south, east or west of some other well-known star, E Some Interesting Stars. ‘The star Gamma Andromedae is a beau- tiful colored double and is an excellent ob- ject for a small telescope. It consists of an orange-colored star and a green companion. The belt of Andromeda is formed by three stars—Beta and two of the third or fourth magnitude in line with it, on the north side. Near the outermost of these three stars lies the great nebula, visible to the naked eye as a pecullar-looking star and unmistak- ably recognized with an opera glass. The fourth and last star in the line re- Deneb ferred to above is Alpha Persel, nearly at the center of the group of third and fourth magnitude stars, which form the body of Perseus. On the southern side of a line from this star to Gamma Andromedae, forming with these two stars a nearly right- angled triangle, {s a third star of the sec- ond magnitude—Algol, in the head of Me- aeee whjch Perseus carries in his left nd. Algol is a very interesting variable star. Ordinarily, it is of the second magnitude, as will be found to be the case tomorrow night. But at intervals of a little under three days it undergoes a very noticeable change of brilliancy, descending in the space of about four hours to the fourth magnitude and as quickly recovering its usual brightness. This singular behavior of the star, to which, doubtless, it owes its name, Algol (Al Ghoul, the Demon), Is completely ac- counted for on the supposition that it is attended by a dark companion, or satellite, which, passing periodically between the bright star and us, intercep*s a portion of its hght. A “minimum” of Algol will occur at 11 p.m. on the 19th of this month and another at 8 p.m. on the 22d—two occur- rences which will repay watching for. A Variable Star. Another remarkable variable star—one of the most remarkable, owing to the great range of its varlability—is the star Omi- cron, better known as Mira, the Wonder- ful, in the constellation Cetus. This star is about to give us an exhibition of its ec- centricities, under circumstances peculiarly favorable for observation, and no one should miss this opportunity of forming its acquaintance. The peculiarity of the star is this: Ordi- narily it is a telescopic star, away below the limit of the naked eye vision, being, when at Its faintest, of only the tenth magnitude. Occasionally it takes a freak and begins to brighten slowly, and after a while it becomes visible to the naked eye. It continues to brighten for six or eight weeks longer, when it attains a maximum of brilliancy, which is usually that of a star of the second or third magnitude. It may remain at this point of Lrilliancy for a week or a fortnight, and then it begins to wane and at the end of about three months it is again beyond the reach of the naked eye. Two comets, both belonging to the Jovian family of short ,eriod comets, are now pay- ing us visits and both are before us as we face tne south at 9 p.m., but neither is visible except through a large telescope. Swift’s comet, discoveted by Prof. Lewis Swift on the 2ist of last August, is in the constellation Pisces, about midway between the pair of stars in the head of Aries and the tail of Cetus. Faye’s comet, discovered in 1843, and now making its seventh return, its period being about seven and a half years, is in Aquarius, midway between the third magnitude star which marks the left shoulder of the Waterman und the pair in the tail of Capricorn. It was first sighted on the occasion of this return at the Nice observatory on the 26th of September last. The Planets. With the exception of Jupiter and Nep- tune the planets are now all morning stars, rising between midnight and sunrise. A‘ter the 20th Mecury will be an evening star, but it will not become visible during this month. Jupiter now rises at about 9 o'clock and is already in a position to be an object of in- terest to the possessor of a telescope. Venus is still a splendid morning star, but has passed its greatest brilliancy for this season. 3 On the 21st, at 8 p.m., Washington mean time, the sun will enter Capricorn and win- ter will begin. ———— THE CLIMB TO CARACAS. Venezuela's Capital City ix at an Ele- vation of 4,000 Feet. From Harper's. La Guayra is the chief seaport of Ven- ezuela. It lies at the edge of a chain of great mountains, where they come down to wet their feet in the ocean and Caracas, the cap- ital, is stowed away 4,000 feet higher up be- hind these mountains, and could only be bombarded in time of war by shells that would rise like rockets and drep on the other side of the mountains, and so cover a distance quite nine miles away from the vessel that fired them. Above La Guayra, on the hill, is a little fortress, which was once the residence of the Spanish governor when Venezuela was a colony of Spain. It is of interest now chiefly because Charles Kingsley describes it in “Westward Ho!” as the fortress in which the Rose of Devon was imprisoned. Past this fortress, and up over the mountains to the capital, are a mule trail and an ancient wagon road and a modern way. It is a very remarkable raflroad; its tracks cling to the perpendicular surface of the mountain like the tiny tendrils of a vine on a stone wail, and the trains creep and crawl along the edge of its precipices, or twist themselves into the shape of a horseshoe magnet, so that the engineer on the locomotive can look directly across a bottomless chasm into the windows of the last car. The view from this train, while it pants and puffs on its way to the capital, is the most beautiful combination cf sea and plain and mountain that I have ever seen. When you look down from the car platform you see first, stretching 3,000 feet below you, the great green ribs of the mountain and its valleys and waterways leading into a plain covered with thousands and thousands of royal palms, set so far apart that you can distinguish every broad leaf and the full length of the white trunk. You pass through the clouds on your way up that leave the trees and rocks along the track damp and, shining as after a heavy dew, and at some places you can peer through them from the steps of the car down a straight fall of 4,000 feet. When you have climbed to the top of the mountain you see below you on the other side the beautiful valley in which lies the city of Caracas, cut up evenly by well-kept streets and diversified by the towers of churches and public buildings and open plazas, with the white houses and gard of the coffee planters iving beyond the city at the base of the mountain. SERVANTS. umber Apparently on the In- crease in New York at Present. From the New York Sun. Japanese, almost for the first time, are ad- vertising in this city for places as ho! servants. The Japanese population of } York is extremely small, and it is composed in considerabie part of well-to-do young men, students, and others. One occasional- ly meets a Japanese at dinner or at recep- tions; a Chinaman, never, uniess he be an olficial of some sort. Japanese servants are een now and then. Sometimes one serves s buttons in a hotel or an apartment house. A few Japanese women were employed a year or so ago in a once conspicuous shop now retired to modest quarters in a side reet. Japanese lads have for many years beer employed as wardroom servants on beard some United States men-of-war. There is a tradition in the navy that the enly way to obtain a Jap servant is through some other Jap servant. Japs are strongly attracted to this country, and it is said that some who come qut here as serv- ants belong to families of good position at home. Naval officials never tire of praising Jap- anese servants as scen aboard ship and in their native Japan. One oflicer who kept house for a tine in Japan, declares that his Japanese majur domo could accomplish any- thing on amazingly short notice, and what- ever he undertook he did well. He would provide to the last detail, without spec: instructions, a dinner for half a dozen ver- sons, and upon receiving notice that his em- ploy ex was going upon a short journey, would pack a grip with everything that could possibly be needed. The occasional good fortune of Japanese immigrants to this country is likely to at- tract others. News travels fast nowadays. A lady having befriended some unfortunate Japs here, a letter came to her from a Jap- anese acquaintance of theirs at home say ing he thought of sending his young son to America, and confiding him to the lady's protection. Only a prompt letter of protest prevented the father from carrying out his project. ——— No Ground for Surprise. From the San Francisco Examiner. “My son,” said the irate parer.t, “I am surprised, mortified and amazed to find that you stand at the foot of your class. I ean hardly believe it possible!” “Why, father,” replied the son, “it is the easiest thing In the world.” FOR WAKEFULNESS Use Horsford’s Acid Phosphate. Dr. A. D McDonald, Wilmington, N. C., says: “y 0 bed, find eight drops taken in water, on goin| will rest the brain and cause a quiet sleep.’ AT WORK AND PLAY Minnesota’s Presidential Candidate Never Mingles Them. SENATOR DAVIS AND HIS LIBRARY He Has Never Become Accustomed to Public Speaking. SOME VIEWS OF INTEREST (Copyright, 1895, by George Grantham Bain.) ENATOR CUSH- SS K. Davis of Min- nesota lives ina handsome house on the heights on which stands the residence portion of St. Paul. The Senator selected this site many years ago so that he could remove himself as far as possible from his ff \\ work when his work- YA ing day was over. He has made It a rule of his life to leave business at the office and to devote his evenings to studies on other lines than that of the law. He told me a few nights ago, sitting in his well-equipped library, that he believed he did more work and better work by reason of the relaxa- tion he allowed himself after office hours. “None of my clerks was at the office as early as I,” he said. “And I think I work better and accomplish more in a day than many men who take their business into their home life. I never take a law case heme with me. I have less than half a dozen law books here, and those I have are only the Blackstone and Kent, and a few other books that my father gave me when I started in life. ‘The Senator has five or six thousand books on the shelves of his library. He has one of the finest collections of Napoleonic litera- ture in the country. He has a fine collection of Shakesperiana; and he is the author of a work on “Ths Law in Shakespeare,” which he tells me was not written originally for publicaticn, but which has attracted a great aeal of attention among students of Shakes- Senator Davis. peare and lawyers. He has written also a lecture on Mme. Roland, for which he ob- tained much of his material from France. ‘The Senator is a French scholar and he reads that language and Italian and Lati ‘The Senator does not confine his reading te history or biography, He is fond of a French novel and he is a student of the novel writers of all lands and ages. But though he himself has written a great deal, he has never been able to construct a story. He tas tried very often, but always without success. Still the Senator, successful lawyer and lawmaker as he is, believes he would have been more successful still if he had ckosen literature as a profession. “I don’t know just how I got into the law, be said, when I asked him about his work. “I did not inherit the profession, and I do not know that I had a particular aptitude for it. My father gave me the best education he could. “Just about that time the war broke out and I went into the army for twenty-seven months. I came out in bad shape. In fact, I never expected to get well, and I went to Minnesota for the benefit of that climate. I was a young man still and I had not a dollar in my pocket. I did not know a man in the state except Gen. Willis A. Gorman, under whom I had served. Nine years after- ward 1 was governor of Minnesota. His First Great Case. The Senator gave a little chuckle as he spoke of his early life in the state of his adoption. “Just how I got along in those first years I don’t know,” he said. ‘Business came in slowly for three years. Then I got a big nurder case and acquitted my client, and after that I had no difficulty in getting bus- iness.”” If there is one thing which Mr. Davis en- joys as a conversational topic almost as much as literature, it is the dramatic fea- tures of his professional experience, and he told me the story of that first great case “in brief,” as I had asked it, with the in- tensity of interest that one might expect to find in a younger and less experienced man. It was the case of a man named Van Solen, who was charged with the murder of an Englishman named Harcourt. Both were medical students, The had wet in Louis, where Van Solen had gone to stu: and to work in a drug store. Harcourt came to St. Paul, where Van Sclen 1 to visit his friend, and together they out fishing and shooting. One day Van Solen returned from a fish- ing expedition alone. He sald he had left Harcourt fishing from the boat, and had gone off shooting. Another man was fishing net far away. When he returaed, Harcourt had disappeared, and after waiting for him some time, he concluded that he had gone away with the other man, and returned to his home alone. Days and weeks and months went by and Harcourt did rot ap- pear, Meantime a body rose to the surface of the river at the spot ere Harcourt and Van Solen had been fishing. It was bloated and decomposed beyond recosnition, and the coroner buried it without much ex- amination. After eighteen months, the family of Harcourt began to make inquiries for him. ‘They had letters from him saying he was visiting the Van Solens at about the time of his disappearance, and they put detec- tives at work on the case. The body found in the river was exhumed, and b marks on the skull and certain thin in the pockets was thought to t as that of Harcourt. The iden identilied ication was made even stronger on the trial which fol- lowed by the comparison of the hair from the skull with a lock which Marcourt had given to his mother when he left home. From Life. The body when discovered was tied to a stone which had been used to sink it in the river. What a Dentist Knew. it was found, on examination of the skull, after the exhumation, that the man nad been killed by a charge of birdsnot in the back of the head. The circumstautial evi- dence against Van Solen was very strong. He was the only person known to have been with Harcourt just before his disap- pearance. It was shown that the boat in which he had gone out had blood stains on it when he returned. Harcourt was known to have had $200 with him, and it was proved that Van Solen had appearec to be rather flush just after the disappearance of Harcourt. Altogether, the case looked very hopeless for Mr. Davis’ client. One day during the trlal Mr. Davis was stopped on the street by a dentist named Patterson, a man of high standing in the community, who asked him on what date Harcourt disappeared. That date was undisputed. Mr. Davis told him. Then he took Mr. Davis to his office and showed him a record of a dental opera- tion performed on “Dr. Harcourt” only a short time before the date of his disappeat ance. The entry was clear. It show as dentists’ books do, that two teeth—describ- ing them—had been filled with gold, and one carefully specified tooth had been pulled. The dentist could not describe Harcourt accurately, but his general description tal- lied with that of the man who had disap- peared. Both Harcourt and Van Solen had gone by the title of “doctor.” Mr. Davis went to the court house in Sreat excitement. He asked the sheriff to let him see the skull of the man who was Supposed to be Harcourt. A hasty exami- nation showed that there were no gold fill- ings in the mouth, and that the tooth which, according to the dentist's record, should be missing, was in Its place. ‘The dentist went on the stand and attested the correctness of his record. The jury dé- cided on his evidence that the body was not that of Harcourt, and Van Solen was acquitted. “The day ofter the trial,” said Mr. Davis, as he completed the narration, ‘ommo- Core Davidson who ran all the steampoa woing from St. Paul--zte Mississippi river business was important in those days— walked into my office and offered me $3,000 @ year to look after his interests. 1 would not have been more surprised if he had sailed one of his steamboats into my little office.” After that my future in my profes- sion was assure: About Corporation Lawyers. I asked the Senator if he had ever been ss “corporation lawyer.” The corporation wyer is usually handi seni cabconsg ly icapped for political “My rule has been to give my services to the first client who got to my office,” said Mr. Davis. “I told the president of'a rail- road who many years ago offered me $12,000 a year to take charge of the legal business of his road that I would not undertake any contract which would give one the right to telegraph me to go here er there at his pleasure. Of course, it is very pleasant to have your office and your clerks furnished you, and to ride about in your luxurious private car; but it unfits a man for general Practice, and ‘s far less independent. A railroad lawyer becomes in time a special- The Senator keeps up his law practice very actively, partly because he appreciates the instability of public service and pro- poses to have an occupation if he should have to retire to private life. His practice is chiefly in the civil courts, but he has been counsel in a great many sensational criminal trials. The latest of these was the trial of Mary Milans, a young Irish girl who shot her cousin in the church yard after divine service after he had petrayed her. The Senator took the case out of re- gard for the brothers of the girl, whom he had known for many years. The act and its deliberateness were not denied, but the Senator made the plea that American law had never convicted any woman for aveng- ing herself in such a case of seduction, and the jury agreed with him. “I prefer civil to criminal practice,” said the Senator, in answer to a question which I asked him. “I don’t like the responsibil- ity of criminal practice. It is torture to feel that the fate of a fellow-man is de- pendent on my skill, and that an erorr in my judgment may cost him his lif Troubled With Stage Fright. Senator Davis does not get excited over civil cases as a great many lawyers do. But what worries him most is public speaking. “I can never get over my stage fright,” he said to me in the éourse of a long con- versation, in which public speaking w: discussed among other things. “In fact,” he continued, “I think my timidity in- creases year by year. I suffer a great deal of mental and physical anguish just before I make a public speech. I shalt never again read a speech from manuscript. I did that once in the Senate and 1 will never do it again. But I usually prepare ~ myself by considerable thirking in ad- vance, and I make it a rule not to speak unless there is some particular occasion for it. Too much of the time of Congress is taken up with speech-making.” When I told Mr. Davis about a recent conversation I had had with Senator Teller about the possible development of manu- facturing in Asia, he spoke freely of the great abilitv and integrity of the Colorado Senator. “The Asiatic problem,” he said, “is one which I have discussed with him more than once. It is a serious one, and one which may have to be considered in the near future. We are too apt to think concerning what {s not pressing for solu- tion, ‘apres nous, le deluge.’ But this problem is one which we may have to go out and meet. I beli¢ve with Mr. Teller that we are threatened with serious compe- tition In manufacturing by the Chinese and Japanese people. And as he says, American or English or German capital will go to Asia as quickly as any other place where it can multiply. Capital is a citizen of no country. It is a cosmopolite. It goes where there is the greatest chance of profit.” Before I closed a very pleasant and in- structive two hours’ conversation with Mr. Davis, I asked him if he had been paying any attention to politics during the recess of Congress, and he replied that as soon as he got free of the tread mill at Washington he had put polities and pub- lic affairs just as far away from him as possible. He ting his sum- mer to his d his reading and nothing else. It is altogether likely that Mr. Davis will receive the vote of Minnesota and several other states in the convention of June next. At least he will he one of the avail- able “dark horses” if the friends of the ief candidates for the nomination should have a falling out. And dark horses have fared better than light ones in the conven- tions of the republican party. eS Eleven Pups. One of the most Interesting exhibitions at the bench show in Bridgeport, Conn., is that sent by Francis W. Foley of New Haven. It is a litter of eleven St. Bernard pups. The mother is Rena, a massive and beautiful St. Bernard, and her litter is about two months old. There were a dozen of them originally, but one died, It is said to be the largest Htter of St. Rernard puppies ever whelped at one time, ‘The dam is two years old, weighs 152 pounds .d is handsomely marked. Rena’s sire was ir Bedivere, America’s greatest rough- coated St. Bernard, who was bought for $12,000 two or three years ago, and since died in Arkansas. A MEET OF THE CENTURY KUN BICYCLE CLUB.