Evening Star Newspaper, December 10, 1895, Page 13

y THE EVENING STAR, TUESDAY, DECEMBER 10, 4895-SIXTEEN PAGES. 13 (Copyright, 1895, by Bacheller, Johnson & Bacheller.) PART I. The largest tent of the Tasajasa camp meeting was crowded to its utmost extent. The excitement of that dense mass was at its highest pitch. Rev. Stephen Master- ten, the single, erect, passionate figure of that confused mediey of kneeling wor- shipers, had reached the culminating pitch of his irresistible exhortatory power. Sighs and groans were beginning to respond to his appeals, when the reverend brother was seen to lurch heavily forward and fall to the ground. At first the effect was that of a part of his performance; the groans redoubled, and twenty or thirty brethren threw them- selves prostrate In humble imitation of the Preacher. But Sister Deborah Stokes, per- haps through some special revelation of feminine intuition, grasped the fallen man, tore loose his black silk necktle and drag- ged him free of the struggling, frantic crowd, whose paroxysms he had fst evoked. It may have struck her that his own condition was not essential to that condition in others. Howbeit, he was pale and unconscious and unable to continue the service. Even the next day, when he had slightly recovered, it was found that any attempt to renew his fervid exhorta- tons produced the same disastrous re- sult. Z It so chanced that the medical practi- tioner of the district was a man of large experience, of military training and plain speech. When, therefore, he one day found in his surgery a man of rude western type, strong limbed and sunburned, but trem- bling, hesitating and neurotic in move- ment, after listening to his symptoms gravely, he asked, abruptly: “And how much are you drinking now?” “I am a lifelong abstainer,”” stammered his patient, in quivering indignation. But this was followed by another question so frankly appalling to the hearer that he staggered to his feet. ‘I'm Stephen Masterton—known of men her, of the northern Call- he thundered, nd an h in all its forms: “I beg your pardon,” responded Dr. Duchesne, grimly, “but as you are suf- fering from excessive and repeated exci- “I have no hankering after the flesh- pots.” tation of the nervous system, and the de- Pression following proionged artificial ex- altation—it makes little difference whether the cause be spiritual, as long as there is @ ceftain physical effect upon your body— which I believe you have brought to me to cure. Now as to diet. You look all wrong there.” “My food is of the simplest—I have no hankering for fleshpots,” responded the Patient. - “I suppose you call saleratus bread and salt pork and flapjacks simple?” said the doctor, coolly. “They are common enough, and if you were working with your muscles instead of your nerves, in that frame of yours they might not hurt you; but you are suffering as much from eating more than You can digest as the verfest gourmand. ‘ou must stop all that. Go down to a quiet hotel in some watering place for two months. * * * ¢ “I go to a watering place?” interrupted Masterton; “‘to the haunt of the idle, the frivolous and wanton—never!” “Well, I'm not particular about a ‘water- ing place,’ said the ductor, with a shrug, “although a little idleness and frivolity with different food wouldn’t hurt you— but you must go somewhere and change your habits and mode of life completely. Call your vocation a ‘calling,’ if you like— it’s a vocation, all the same, and you are suffering from its excess; if you wish to be able to continue it you must do as [ say. I will find you some sleepy old Span- ish town in the southern county, where you can rest and diet. If this is distaste- ful to you,” he continued, grimly, “you can always call it ‘a trial.’”” Stephen Masterton may have thought it so when, a week later, he found himself issuing trom a rocky gorge fto a rough, badly paved, hilly street, which seemed to be only a continuation of the mountain road itself. It broadened suddenly into a square or plaza, flunked on each side by an irregular row of yellowing adobe houses. Rev. Stephen Masterton felt his throat” swell with his old exhortative indignation. A‘gaudy yellow fan waved languidly in front of a black rose-crested head at a white-curtained window. He knew he was stifling with righteous wrath, and clapped his spurs to his horse. Nevertheless in a few days, by the aid of a letter to the innkeeper, he was in- | Stalled in a dilapidated adobe house, not unlike those he had seen, but situated in the outskirts, and overlooking the garden and part of the refectory of the old mis- sion. It had even a small garden of its own—if a strip of hot wall, overburdened with yellow and white roses, a dozen strag- gling callas, a bank of heliotrope, and an almond tree could be called a garden. It had an open doorway, but so heavily re- cessed in the thick walls that it preserved seclusion, a sitting room, and an alcoved bed room with <eep embrasured windows, that, however, excluded the unwinking sunlight and kept an even monotone of shade. Strange to say, he found it cool, restiul, and, in spite of the dust, absolutely clean. A wrinkled Indian woman, browned and veined like a tobacco leaf, ministered to his simple wants. But these wants had also been regulated by Dr. Duchesne. He found himseif breakfasting on a single cup of chocolate instead of his usual bowl of molasses-sweetened coffee; crumbling a crisp tortilla instead of the heavy salera- tus bread, greasy flapjack, or the lard- fried steak, and, more wonderful still, completing his repast with purple grapes from the mission wall. He could not deny that it was simple—that it was even re- freshing and consistent with the climate and kis surroundings. On the other hand, it was the frugal diet of the commonest peasant—and were not those peons sloth- ful idolators? At the end of the week—his correspon- dence being also restricted by his doctor to a few lines to himself regarding his Proxress—he wrote to that adviser: The trembling and unquiet has almost cecsed; I have less nightly turmoil and visions; my carnal appetite seems to be amply modified and soothed by these vi- ands, whatever may be their ultimate ef- fect uvon the weakness of our common sinful nature. But I should not be truth- ful to you if I did not warn you that I am viewing with the deepest spiritual concern @ decided tendency toward sloth, and a folding of the hands over mattérs that often, I fear, are spiritual as well as tem- porai. I would ask you to consider, in a spirit of love, if it be not wise to rouse my apathetic flesh, so as to strive, even with the feeblest exhortations—against this sloth in others—if only to keep oneself from falling in the pit of easy indulgence. What answer he recefved !s not known, but it Is to be presumed that he kept loyal faith with his physician, and gave him- self up to simple walks and rides and oc- ¢asional meditation. His solitude was not broken upon; curiosity was too active a vice and induced too much exertion for his indolent neighbors, and the Ameri- cano’s basking scclusion, though unlike the habits of his countrymen, did not artcct them. The shopkeeper and innkeeper sa- luted him always with @ prefound courte: which awakened his slight resentment, Partly because he was conscious that it Was grateful to him, and partly that he felt he ought to have provoked in them a less satisfied condition. His afternoon meditations and the pe- rusgal of his only book—the Bible—were regularly broken in upon at about sunset by two or three strokes from the cracked bell that hung in the open belfry which reared itself beyond the gnarled pear trees. He could not say that it was ag- gressive or persistent, like his own church bells, nor that it even expressed to him any religious sentiment. Moreover, it was not a “Sabbath” bell, but a daily one, and even then seemed to be only a signal to ears easily responsive, rather than a stern reminder. And the hour was always a sin- gularly witching one. It was at this hour, one afternoon, that, with the released scents of the garden, there came to him a strange and subtle perfume that was new to his senses. He laid aside his book, went into the garden, and, half unconscious of his trespass, pass- ed through the mission orchard and thence into the little churchyard beside the church. He walked to the door of the church; to his surprise it was open. Standing upon the threshold, he gianced inside and stood for a moment utterly bewildered. In a man of refined taste and education that bizarre and highly-colored interior would have only provoked a smile or shrug; to Stephen Masterton’s highly emotional na- ture, but artistic inexperience, strangely enough, it was profoundly impressive. The heavily-timbered, roughly-hewn roof, bar- red with alternate bands of blue and In- dian red, the crimson hangings, the gold and black draperies, affected this religious backwoodsman exactly as they were de- signed to affect the heathen and acolytes, for whose conversion the temple had been reared. He could scarcely take his eyes from the tinsel-crowned Mother of Heaven, resplendent in white and gold and glitter ing jewels, the radiant shield before the host, illuminated by tall spectral candles in the mysterious obscurity of the altar, dazzled him like the rayed disk of the set- ting sun. He was turning quickiy away when the keeper of the Tienda—a man of sloth and sin—gently approached him from the shadow of a column, with a mute gesture, which he took to be one of invitation. A fierce protest of scorn and indignation swelled to his throat, but died upon his Ups. Yet he had strength enough to erect his gaunt, emaciated figure, throwing out his long arms and extended palms in the attitude of defiant exercism, and then rush swiftly from the church. As he did so he thought he saw a faint smile cross the the shopkeeper’s face, and a whispered ex- change of words with a neighboring wor- shiper of more exalted appearance came to his ears. But it was not intelligible to his comprehensien. The next day he wrote to his doctor in that quaint grandiloquence of written speech with which the half-educated man esac the slips of his colloquiai phras- ing: Do not let the purgation of my flesh’ be” unduly protracted. What with the sloth and idolatries of Baal and Ashtaroth, which I see daily around me, I feel that without @ protest not only the flesh but tHe spirit is mortified. But my bodily strength is mercifully returning, and I found my- self yesterday able to take a long ride at that hour which they here keep sacred for an idolatrous rite, under the beautiful name of “The Angelus.” Thus do they bear false witness to Him! Can you teil me the meaning of the Spanish words, “Don Keyhotter?” I am ignorant of these sensuous southern languages, and am aware that this is not the correct spelling, but I have striven to give the phonetic equivalent. It was used, I am inclined to —_ in reference to myself, by an idol- ater. P. S.—You need not trouble yourself. I have just ascertained that the words in question were simply the title of an idle novel, and, of course, could not possibly refer to me. Howbeit it was as “Don Quixote’—Le., the common Spaniard’s conception of the Knight of La Mancha, merely the simple fanatic and madman—that Mr. Stephen Masierton ever.after rode all unconscious- ly through the streets of the mission, amid the half-pitying, half-smiling glances of the people. In spite of his meditations, his single volume, and his habit of retiring early. he found his evenings were growing lonely and tedious. He missed the prayer meet- ing, and, above all, the hymns. He had a fine baritone voice, sympathetic as may be imagined, but not cultivated. One nighi, in the seclusion of his garden, and secure in bis distance from cther dwellings, he raised his voice in a familiar camp meeting hymn with a strong covenanter’s ring in the chorus. Growing bolder as he went on, he at last filled the quiet night with the strenuous sweep of his chant. Surprised at his own fervor, he paused for a mo- ment, listening, half frightened, half ashamed of his outbreak. But there was only the trilling of the night wind in the leaves, or the far-off yelp of a coyote. For a moment he thought he heard the Metallic twang of a stringed instrument in the mission garden beyond his own, dnd remembered his contiguity to the church with a stir of defiance. But he wis re- Meved nevertheless. His pent-up «motion had found vent, and without the nervous excitement that had followed his old ex- altation. That«night he slept better.) He had found the Lord again—with Psal- mody! The next evening he chanced upon a softer hvmn of the same simplicity, but with a vein of human tenderness in its aspirations which his more hopeful mcod duly rendered. At the conclusion of the first verse he was, however, distinctly con- scious of being followed by the same twanging sound he had heard on the pre- vious night, and which evgn his untu- tered ear could recognize as an attempt to accompany him. But before he had fin- ished the second verse the unknown play- er, after an ingenious but ineffectual es- say to grasp the right chord, abandoned it with an impatient and almost pettish flourish, and a loud bang upon the sound- ing board of the unseen instrument. Mas- terton finished it alone. With his curiosity excited, however, he tried to discover the locality of the hidden player. The sound evidently came from the mission garden, but in his ignorance of the language he could not even interrogate his Indian housekeeper. On the third night, however, his hymn was uninterrupted by any sound from the former musician. A A Bymn of t:xaltation. sense of disappointment, he knew not why, came over him. The kindly overture of the unseen player had been a relief to his loneli- + ness. Yet he had barely concluded the hymn when the familiar sound again struck his ears. But this time the musician played boldly—confidently, and with a singular skill on the instrument. The brilliant prelude over, to his entire surprise and some confusion, a soprano voice, high, childish, but infinitely quaint and fascinating, was mischievously uplifted. But alas! even to his ears, ignorant of the language, it was very clearly a song of levity and wantonness, of freedom and license, of coquetry and incitement! Yet such was its fascination that he fancied it was reclaimed by the delightful, childlike and innocent ex- pression of the singer. Enough that this tall, gaunt, broad-shoul- dered man arose, and, overcome by a curi- osity almost as childlike, slipped into the garden and glided with an Indian softness of tread toward the voice. The moon shone full upon the ruined mission wall, tipped with clusters of dark foliage. Half hiding, half mingling with one of them—an indis- tinct bulk of light-colored huddled fleeces like an extravagant bird's nest—hung the unknown musician. So intent was the per- former's preoccupation that Masterton actually reached the base of the wall im- mediately below the figure, without attract- ing its attention. But his foot slipped on the crumbling debris With a snapping of dry twigs. There was a quick little cry from above. He had barely time to recover his position before the singer, impulsively lean- ing over the parapet, had lost hers, and fell outward. But Masterton was tall, alert and self-possessed, and threw out his long arms. The next moment they were full of soft flounces, a struggling figure was agatnst his breast, and a woman’s frightened little hands around his neck. (fo be continued tomorrow.) ——._—_ FOR CHRISTMAS SHOPPERS. The Holidays and the Stores—Many Attractive Displays. If one may judge by the appearance of the streets and shops this week the holiday season this year will be livelier than ever before. It is still a fortnight before Christ- mes, but every year people seem to begin their shoppirg earlier, realizing that it is unwise to put it off until the last mo- ment when the stores are overcrowded, and the best things gone. Never before did the stdres of Washington present a mcre attractive appearance than they do this year, and merchants generally seem to have made unusual preparations for the holiday market. The Star this year, as in other years, presents some suggestions, which may be found of service by people who are not quite certain what they want or where to go, but are on the lookout for novelties and bargains. For substantial presents that canndt fail to be appreciated a most attractive lMne can be found at Baum’s well-known estab- lishment, 416 7th street northwest. Mr. Baum is offering the palance of his stock of rugs at less than cost, and he declares his determination to give his patrons the benefit. The list includes door rugs, Mo- quette rugs, Smyrna rugs, hall rugs and Japanese mats and rugs of all sizes and at very low prices. Turkish cough covers are also offered at a bargain, as are plain che- nille portieres and Irish point lace curtains. Special attention is called to bargains in screens, the specialty being Japanese con- ceptions, handsomely embroidered in gold, with large birds on black ground, with some painted on light grounds. Sofa cush- ions also make acceptable presents, as do jardinieres, of which handsome patterns in china and majolica may be found at Baum’s. The well-known establishment of M. W. Beveridge, 1215 F street northwest and 1214 G street northwest, has made special arrangements to withstand the onslaught of Christmas shoppers by adding largely to its customary stock of beautiful articles suitable ,for Christmas gifts. A specialty Is made this year of Austrian decorated glass vases. Were you to spend all your time from now until Christmas, according to Mr. Beveridge, looking for rich presents, you could not find anything more elegant for decorative purposes than the Austrian vases. They are in cut, rich gold and col- ored decorations, in various styles and shapes, and the prices are very reasonable. A complete stock of pottery, porcelain and glass ware is also shown. While some may consider it a delicate subject, the majority of tne gentler sex would undoubtedly be very well pleased with a pair of corsets as a Christmas gift. Howard’s Emporium, 1003 F street north- west, claims to be the only “exclusive” corset establishment in the -south, and states that it carries more corsets in kinds and pairs than any three department stores. Money will be refunded for all cor- sets not proving satisfactory, and each pair is guaranteed. Everything pertaining to the corset business is handled at How- ara’s, where the articles are fitted, altered, laundered and made to order. Any way to save money at this time of the year, when it Is absolutely essential to go down deeper into the purse than at any other time, will be gladly received. To the readers of The Star, Cole, the jeweler, of 1201% F street northwest, states that to those mentioning his advertisement, which appears in another column, he will make a discount of 5 per cent off marked prices for his entire stock of jewelry, watches, diamonds and silver. ware. There Is probably nothing that adds more to the decorative effect of a salon or par- lor than wax candles, with fancy shades, and there is certainly no place in this vi- cinity where such articles can be found in greater beauty and variety than at the two stores of J. H. Magruder & Co., one at 1417 New York avenue, and the other at the corner of Connecticut avenue and M street. They have candles of all sizes and colors, and beautiful shades to match all decorations. In order to be thoroughly comfortable during the winter months, and especially during the gladsome Christmas time, it is absolutely essential that your home should be properly heated. This desideratum to health and comfort can be satisfactorily attained by a business transaction with Robert M. Harrover of 438 9th street, who has a complete line of all modern heating apparatus, No member of the female sex can be en- tirely happy during the holidays unless her raiment is in spick-span condition. Anton Fischer of 906 G street has a way of making soiled gowns and all other apparel look better than new. As a trick of econ- omy this operation has no rival. Since the establishment of the Columbia Phonograph Company at 919 Pennsylvania avenue you no longer have to pay big money to go to the theater in order to hear the popular songs of the day. They are all on tap in the graphophones of this com- pany, and can be listened to, at your con- venience, at any time, at an expense too trifling to mention. Several selections from “Princess Bonnie” and other new operas have recently been added to the extensive repertoire, available to music lovers at all hours of the day and evening. Brightwell’s complexion cream, handled only by Evans at his drug store, 938 F street, is said to be the*best thing for beau- titying the skin on the market today. It effaces wrinkles and eradicates pimples and black heads, and gives a complexion as soft as velvet and as white as the lily. Flowers are even more welcome at Christmas time than they are in the spring. A. Gude & Bro., at 1224 F street, have a large stock of beautiful flowers, but at this time they are making a specialty of the cultivation of fragrant Roman hyacinths, the great value of which for decorative purposes is recognized by everybody. If you are in need of floral decorations give them a call. If you haven't the ready cash, Santa Claus will not turn his back on you. You can get furniture and carpets, the most useful and best of Christmas presents. House & Herrmann, leading house furnish- ers, YIT to 923 7th street, will give credit, and are offering furniture, carpets, draper- les and all household furniture and bric-a- brac at low prices. Their removal sale has greatly reduced prices and the customers get the benefit of these prices without being compelled to pay eash. They have everything, from a cooking range to a fancy parlor lamp, from mattings to the finest draperies, Small payments down and a litle cach month or each week are terms offered to make the purchase easy. For fine hair and toilet articles go to Sic- cardi, 711 11th street. It is next to the Palais Royal. The establishment was formerly on Broadway, in New York. Gen- uine bargain prices prevail in an extensive stock of the finest grade of hair and toilet goods. There is no excuse for dowdy bangs and a poor quality of head decora- tion with these bargains available. If you want an overcoat to look as if it were made for you, and not as if you had come across it by accident, go to Owen, the tailor, 423 11th street. You can get original work, a perfect fit, and a garment which will not look like every other gar- ment of the same class. A specialty is made of giving a distinctive personality to the work. Tyy Owen, the tailor. W. B. Moses & Sons is one of the most reliable establishments in Washington. They have done business so long and are so widely known that when they make a special offer to their customers it is known to be reliable. Christmas presents which are useful as well as elegant may be had there from their regular stock of all sorts | of furniture, rugs and carpets. The selec- | tion ranges trom all plain and substantial furniture to the highest grade 6f artistic ) and ornamental. Their carpet department | is very €3 ve, and they are offering some remarkable bargains. They have fine frame body brussels and fine frame Eng- lish Brussels, which would be good quality for $1.25, which they are offering for 95 | cents per yard; three-dollar Wilton for | $1.50, and Axminster and Wilton velvet, $5 cents and % cents. It is a rare oppor- tunity. There probably was never a time when carpets could be bought at such low figures. Every floor should be covered, and not with cheap carpets, without beauty or durability, but by those of high grade and handsome design, at very low cost. Moses & Sons’ establishment, corner of F and 11th streets, is known to every one. Those who visit the establishment of W. S. Teel, merchant tailor and men’s fur- nisher, at 9385 Pennsylvania avenue, have no uncertainty as to what would be suit- | shoes. {0 2 Just _—- Atr- PS S| vo oedar look im at the door . for a minute =--and watch us turn out the cleanest, whitest and prettiest laundry work done in thecity. Weuse nothing but the purest filtered artesian well water and the best washing ingredients. A $50,000 plant, embracing the new- est, finest and quickest laundry ma- chinery in existence. wash all the collars and cuffs soiled We have nothing We invite a thorough in- vestigation of our plant and our Let us wash for you -then weknow we'll have you. - in Washington. to hide. methods. ONCE- for a life customer. Drop a postal—our wagons will cal L. Ee ALS F. H. WALKER & CO., Main Branches: *Phone 1092. 514 1oth Street, 1104 14th Street. Plant, 43 G Street N.W. Facilities to Steam ? Laundry, has jackets and bath robes, silk umbrellas, silk handkerchiefs, linen handkerchiefs, gloves and neckwear. His stock comprises what is useful as well as ornamental, and the prices are reasonable. Some of the prices that are quoted by George Spransy, 434 7th street, for men’s clothing will be found to be attractive and interesting. He is still selling the $10 and $12 suits for men for $7.50, while the $1 and $15 overcoats he has placed at $ Mr. Spransy makes a_ specialty of pric that are expressed in figures of special in- | terest to those in need of the articles which he has for sale. Shirts that fit is what Mayer, 943 Penn- sylvania avenue, is ready to furnish. Harry T. Miller, the expert shirt cutter, is with ; him. Orders for three shirts for $4.50 can be filled, and they need not be taken unless they fit. A fountain pen that never fails to write is what Is claimed for the Lancaster gov- | ernment fountain pen, sold by the Lancas- ter Government Pen Company, 919 F street, It is fitted with a solid gold pen, and sold for $2 up. It can write 40,000 words with one filling. Parlor and banquet lamps, far from be- coming less stylish, are daily growing more popular. Two hundred patterns of these handsome parlor ornaments have been re- ceived by Grogan’s mammoth credit house. Every lamp is adorned with a shade of exquisite beauty, porcelain. These “lamps range in price from $2 to $17. The lower-priced ones are handsome, the ones bearing a higher price being of brass and onyx, with gladiator base. Grogan has also determined to close out a large assortment of parlor furniture by January 1. An attractive feature of Grogan’s is that payments are made ea! very little cash and a little payment every month, It is not everywhere that a banquet lamp can be purchased for $1.50, with handsome shades for $i. Yet this is the inducement Geo. F. Muth & Co. of 418 7th street north- west offers his patrons for Christmas. | Muth & Co. handle a very large stock of lamps and lamp shades. The quality is un- questioned and the price is what it should be. Half of the people who never wear glasses have defective eyes and don’t know it. Many a person has been surprised at his lack of vision without artificial means after he has once been given normal sight by a pair of well-fitting glasses. Franklin & Co., the opticians, have a complete line of optical goods. They will remove from 1227 Pennsylvania avenue to 1203 F street northwest on January 18. A rainy day is not to be dreaded when one has a first-class mackintosh. There Is no need to get wet with such an addition to one’s wardrobe. The Goodyear Rubber Company makes" specialty of this class of goods, and his laid in a large assort- ment of these waterpoofs for their Christ- mas trade. Thete is‘nothing more appro- priate for Christinas’than an article that combines utility: with beauty, and such is the character of the mackintosh. There is no hafness so cheap as the very best harness. ‘Phe Goncord harni always been advertised as a first-cl: ticle—one that will be as good next year as it is now. Lutz & Bro. of 47 Pennsyl- vania avenue narthwest sell the Concord harness, together with horse blankets, lap robes, &e. The Houghton'Company has made a spe- cial effort to have a great variety of ar- ticles of furniture suitable for Christmas gifts. They hayé a large assortment of handsome rugs. There are fur, Smyrna, Japanese, French, Wilton and remnant rugs, all handsome and at reasonable prices. The Houghton Company has also a splendid assortment of furniture at their store rooms, 1214 F street northwest. No one is really well dressed who is not well shod. This fact applies with especial force to the ladies, It is not always neces- | sary to pay a large price for handsome Havenner & Davis, 928 F street, have demonstrated this fact in the style of their $% shoe, which combines good quality with cheapness. t The day has passed when only the rich could supply themselves with a good time- piece. If there is anything the young peo- ple, especially the young men, want more than another it is a watch. A. Kahn, 985 F street, has a stock of jeweled nickel Waltham movements in handsomely en- graved, gold-filled cases, all sizes, which he is selling for $10, A likeness may be a likeness, and be able for a Christmas present for men. He either graceful and pleasing or awkward either silk or | nie sia an and a tormenr to both the subject and his friends. It depends upon the artist. Mr. Prince has made a life study of the art of posing, and he has the impressionist’s faculty of at once grasping the best points of a subject. Prince's art studio is at the corner of Pennsylvania avenue and llth street. Paper fancy work is a favorite this sea- son. It combines beauty with economy. | J. J. Gould, dth street, has everything for paper fancy work, everything with which to trim the Christmas tree, to make | paper dolls and napkins, &c. | Time is of the essence of this ante-holi- day period. You must keep account of it, and Hatterly, 682 G strest, opposite the city post office—he can help you to do it. His hospital for sick watches is well known, 2nd many a fine timepiece goes there for rest, good nursing and general correction. Half hose at half price! There's an equa- tion for you. P. T. Hall, the shirt maker, 90S F street, has them. ‘The quality more than equals ‘the pric The-Christmas hatter—Charles H. Ruoff (up-to-date also), at 905 Pennsylvania ave- nue—offers you the genuine thing in Der- bies and Alpines at extremely low prices— the same prices that others charge for really cheap and poor goods. 5 | Jf any one has a Xmas lawsuit on hand, let him remember Elliott, the quick prin- j ter, at 506 10th street (phone 164). He can do brief werk in a surprisingly Short space of time—now or at any other season of the year. Wells makes shirts well. | ference of one letter. You can remember | jim by the phrase ‘% for 9"~six first-class shirts for $. Wells, 1411 Pennsylvania avenue. Nothing adds so much to the enjoyment of Christmas time as good sleighing—or, without the snow, good driving, behind a good horse, or two of them (not horseless | horses), and nothing adds to this pleasure | so much as a good carriage or sleigh robe. | James Y. Davis’ Sons, 1201 Pennsylvania | avenue, have them. They also have fur | apes, collars, gloves and many other | things in furs that are the richest and | best of their kind. The Christmas young man needs a dress suit. Haslett & Pistel, 1345 Pennsylvania j avenue, the up-to-date tailoring shop, make them at prices that really give every customer a Christmas present. Serer PROGRESS IN FLORIDA. It’s oniy a dif- | Palaces What Was Government land Twenty-five Yenrs Ago. From the Jacksonville Citizen. Perhaps there is not a tract of land in the United States that has enhanced in value so rapidly as that on the east side of Lake Worth for a distance of about ten miles. Twenty-five years ago the entire penin- sula was all government land and not homesteaded. Five years later a few people from the north,.among them scme of the llargest land owners and weulthies' | ple now here, took up 160 acres eac! | lived on it and gradually improved it. A few purchased their tracts from*the gov- ernment at $1.25 per acre after they had lived on it the required length of time. Many sold their holdings for what they could get. To find a purchaser in those days was not an easy task. The farnous Lake Worth region began to be attractive to a few northerners early in the eigh ‘They went as far south as Titusville, and took a schoorer for Lake Worth, and later for Biscayne bay. At the time that E. N. Dimick built the Cocoanut Grove Hotel the property was | not considered to be worth much. The finest piece of land on the lake could have been purchased for 3250. This same piece | of property was offered to Congressman Harry Miner of New York several years ago, but was refused. Mr, Miner was here last winter, and when informed that the same piece of property is held at $50,000 he was surprised. Perhaps the most money ever paid for a piece of this land was paid by Mr. Flager when he purchased the McCormick proper- ty for $75,000, He also purchased a piece of property from the Brelsfords for $0,000. ‘The improvements around Lake Worth | of the same WHY BIRDS MIGRATE. Lack of Suitable Food Regarded as E the Main Reason. ‘From the Boston Tranecript. The meeting of the Boston Scientific So- ciety recently was particularly interesting since C. J. Maynard, the well-known nat- uralist, presented his own ideas on the “Migration of Birds.” Why birds should migrate- with such exceeding regularity has always been a puzzle to scientists, and no hypothesis which has yet been suggest- ed has been adequate. In fact, some nat- uralists are of the opinion that it cannot be explained. Mr. Maynard’s own observa- tions have led him to what seems a solu- tion of the problem. For the origin of the migratory instinct one must begin at a time when life was confined within a comparatively narrow zone by the cold which extended below the ice-sheets of the glacial period. Here all migration to the north and south was im- possible. The necessity for a dispersion of the young, in order that all might ob- tain food, was a principle which led to moving to other places. As the ice melted, it was possible for the birds to move to the north to gain new food fields, and this range increased as the ice melted, and the northern country became fertile. But the regularity of the movement is still unexplained, for it is well known that certain birds make their appearance in our fields and forests within a very few days time each year. This, Mr. Maynard thinks, is due to the physical condition in the bird, which precedes the time of breeding; the male breaks into song, and in the south this is known to be a forerunner of the bird’s departure north. It seeks the haunts where it has been be- fore to rear its family, and at the advent of cold weather again returns to the south. ‘This return is due to a number of things, principal among which is the lack of food. With the cold weather the insects begin to decrease, and the bird is forced to seek places where they are still plenty. This is to the south. said Mr. Maynard, “some will urge that the birds which leave in August and early in September should still be able to find plenty of insects to eat.” In reply to this it is evident that certain of the birds, those which we see on the wing all the time seeking for food, are blessed with exceedingly active digestive apparatus, and need to eat almost continually. When, therefore, the nights get below a certain length, say ten hours, the bird gets hun- gry in the night, and Instinct or heredity ches it to seek some other place with horter nights. Some of the birds that have learred to stay with us during the winter havé developed modifications either in structure or in food, whereby they are able at all times to get sufficient food. The instinct of migration is therefore de- pendent in the first place upon the neces- sity of dispersion which has assumed a north and south direction through the re- cession of the ice sheet, modified by the shifting of the food itself and the homing instinct which leads them to seek the same localities year after year in which to rear their offspring. ~.e+—_____ . Indomitable Bedbug. From the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. The bedbug flourishes though all man- kind rises to crush it. The poet kas sung the indomitable perseverence and energy of the insect usder adverse circumstances thus: ‘The bedbug has no wings at all, But he gets there just the same. The boarder complains of the bug, but it is the boarder who goes; the bug continues to occupy his old quarters. The bug has more lives than a cat, and like the cat, if driven out he comes back. He flourishes on coal oil and insect powder, and burning sulphur cnly serves to stimulate him to fresh efforts. The bedbug is an institution and is here to stay. A short time ago on 14th and Clark avenne a man tried to ban- ish his crop of bedbugs with gasoline. Af- ter careful:ty smearing the furniture with the fluid he lit his pipe while he awaited developments. He was taken to the hos- pital minus his hair, his whiskers and much epidermis. The bugs stayed to keep house. have cost millions of dollars. Fine winter residences of wealthy people of the north are to be seen everywhere. Many of those who first came here own fine houses that front on Lake Worth. Many of these can- not be purchased. ceee Dr. Maurice Egan of the Catholic Univer- sity delivered a lecture last night at the Holy Cross academy on “The Tendency of the Modern Novel.” WHY HE JUMPED. | A Cowboy, Now Retired, Talks Proud« ly of His Horses’ Achievements | From the Chicago News. A gentleman, a former herdsman, relates a thrilling personal experience connected with a stampede of cattle. He was taking a herd of 400 steers to Leadville, and had camped for the night en Bear river, near its junction with the Little Snake. At midnight, when he went on guard, all was quiet, but in an hour or so, for some unexplained reason, the cattle were up and off, like a flash; some- thing had stampeded them. He says: I was riding an old blue-colored line- backed California broncho, just the beast for the work. I had often ridden him 100 miles aday, The night was dark and cloudy, and I had to rely on Sam's sure-footedness, as I strove to stay on the flanks of the steers and turn them until their scare should cease. It was a wild race. Four or five times Sam gave tremendous jumps, but landed right and went on in good shape. In the course of an hour or so I had the beeves quieted. When daylight came, being curious to know what obstacles had occasioned those tremendous leaps of the broncho,I set forth to look over the ground. Leaving the bot~ tom land, the steer had ascended a gentle acclivity and on the plateau at the top I had kept circling them. This plateau was intersected by a canon about four miles long and from 1,500 to 2,000 feet deep. Its walls inclined toward each other at the top, and the distance across was fifteen or twenty feet. During the chase Sam had jumped that frightful chasm four times. His hoofmarks were plainly visible, and down in the debris, hundreds of feet below, were a dozen man- gled steers that had been crowded off. ———— oo THREE POOR BOHEMIANS. The Publisher Made $10,000 Out of a ‘hree-Dollnr Song. From the Philadelphia Footlights. One day three friends were walking cn j the boulevards of Paris. All three were young and all three were poor. “Should I not like a good breakfast?” said one. “I should like any breakfast,” said an- other, “even if not very good.” “And I, also, the most simple of break- fasts, so long as it is a breakfast,” said the third. . “How much must it cost?” asks the first speakers. é “Two dollars, at least,” says No. 2. “I've got an idea—come along,” says No. 3. And all three went to a well-known publisher of music. ‘Sir,” said the young man with the idea, “we have come to ask you to buy a song, of which this gentleman has written the music and that gentleman the worde, and, as I am the only one of the three who has a voice, I will sing it to you. The publisher made a wry face, but he said: “Sing, and I will see.’ man sang. “It is a very simple ditty,” sald the pub- Usher, “but as I want a lot of songs for a cafe chantant which is going to open I will buy it aud give you $3 for it—$1 apiece.” The three friends looked at each other. They did not expect so much. They teok the money and left the manuscript In the publisher's hands in exchange. And with that $3 they went to breakfast like three princes of Bohensa, as they were. Now, the composer of the music was Mari- posa, the author of the words “Alfred de Musset,” and the singer Duprer! As for the song, it took all Paris, and from the cafe chantant it went to the theater, and to every aristocratic salon in Paris. The publisher made $10,000 by this song. Then the young == THE BEST PROOF = Of the wonderful curative qualitics of the Carlsbad Sprudel Salt is the fact that it is imitated. The genuine is without equal as an aperient for chronic constipation, rleumatism, dyspepsia, liver and kidney troubles, &c. Best taken when outdoor exer- cise can be had. Be sure and secure only the genuine.