Evening Star Newspaper, December 28, 1895, Page 17

EVENING STAR, SATURDAY, DECEMBER 28, 1895—TWENTY-FOUR PAGES, 17 I was watching the day before Christmas the crowds blocking the streets and stores, thinking of the spirit of St. Nicholas trans- forming :he pagan festival of the winter solstice into a fitting commemoration of the birth of the Savior, when I heard a voice that sounded familiar to me, that of the street car conductor who has charge of the car vhich T usually ride down town in mornings when I don’t feel lke walk'ng. He was married about a year ago, and a friend asked him: “Well, are you buying handsome for your wife?” said he. “We talked It over, and she would rather have me lay off a day than to buy her a present. I could not do both, and I have newer spent a day with her s'nce we were marr‘ed. I could never afford 't."" And as mothers and fathers, wives and husbands, sisters and brothers, lovers and friends passed me with bundles in their arms, I could not help thinking of the man who could be happy that he was able to make his wife glad with but one present, and that only his compan‘onship for one day of his married life. For he was happy; every tone betokened that, as he spoke of his twenty-four hours’ cessation of labor, and to me the genuineness of his Joy jut increased the pathos. There are lives that are but slow tragedies, without climaxes or thrilling exper‘ences enough to make them interesting even to those who live them. x eK KK I walked down Pennsylvania avenue on Christmas morning as the stores were clos- ing for the day. I noticed a young girl who seemed almost too tired to move. I had seen her before, and after a closer look at the wan face with weary lines about the mouth, I remembered where she stood be- hind a notion counter in one of the big stores. The girl stopped, looked at a car, then opening a little purse, counted its scanty contents. After a moment's hesita- tion, she went to the corner, where a man ‘was selling balloons and walking alligators. She bought the toys, then across the street she walked and emptied her pocket book to add some fruit and candy. Then she started for her home, in Southeast Washington, with the lines about her lips chased away by Christmas smiles, for at the end of her long and tiresome journey there were little ones who would be made glad and who would make her glud because of the sac- Tifice she had made. ek ee OK I went out to the Soldiers’ Home Christ- mas afternoon. There is a veteran there who fought valiantly for his country from the time of the first call for troops until the last gun was t'red. After the war he en- gaged in business successfully; but re- verses came, his relatives died and the old man found refuge in the home. He was erying as he held a gold Iccket In his hand- and told me the story. It had come from @ soldier In Georgia, who had fought on the confederate side. It was not an uncommon Ancident that had brought it all about. ‘There had been a skirmish and the confed- erate was wounded. The veteran was also ‘wounded and lay near his enemy. The man who wore the gray moared for water, and the soldier in blue divided the scant contents of his canteen. And now, over thirty years afterward, the Georgian heard that the man who saved his life was at the Poldiers’ Home, and in an earnest letter ‘Wanted him to go down and pass ‘his re- maining days upon the southern plenta- tion as an honored guest and member of the family. The wife of the ex-confederate also wrote, in a sweet, womanly way, and inclosed was the golden locket with pic- tures of his old-time enemy and his wife. I don't know what the old veteran will do, he does not know yet himself, but it is probable that he and his friend who wore the gray will before long again drink from the same canteen and recount in friendship the adventures of days when they were enemies. a ed I met a man on the street yesterday who had received lberation from the peniten- tiary as a Christmas present from the gov- ernor of a neighboring state. I had been Present at the time of his trial, but had forgotten him. He accosted me and told me who he was. “Every hour during the three years I werved,” he said, “I was planning what I ‘would do when I got out. I was going home to Baltimore and live right. My mother was there, and she had not heard trom me for a long time Lefore my arrest. and had no idea where I was, and when I received a pardon, which I did not expect, I was the happiest man In the state. I went to my old home, and found that my mother was dead, and my cld friends knew all about my trouble and shunned me. I could not live there, and did not have money enough to go farther than Washington. I came here. No one knows me, but I have rot found work, and it seems that the free- dom for which I longed during the three years was the worst thing that could have befallen me.’ x OK KK OK 5 I was talking to a florist the other day about fashions in flowers, and he made an interesting prediction. “Large flowers have very nearly had their day,” he said. “While chrysanthe- mums are used a great deal, the fad has about died out, and there fs no further effort being made to produce extra large speci- mens. Jn fact, there is a growing feeling that the old-fashioned small flowers are the prettiest, looking more like flowers and not so much like artificial products. Orchids will probably be popular, but they are by no means as fashionable as they were. Even in roses the smaller blooms are beginning to be preferred, and the very large roses will not be popular long. By about next season florists will display the flowers that were in vogue twenty-five years ago. ‘Four-o'clocks,’ poppies and ‘hach- elors’ buttons" will be called for, and flower raisers will see what can be developed out of marigolds, which I regard as more prom- ising than chrysanthemums were when they first began to be studied with a view to their improvement. Golden rod fs another that is universally liked which can be made very much finer. The fringe can be perfec that it will be regarded as wonderfui x ok Kk OR «Ke “This is the first time I have paid a visit to Washington since the winter of 1850," said Col. Chase, from Carroll county, Va., to a Star reporter, at the Metropolitan. “On my last visit I made the trip from Richmond to Alexandria by stage. ‘Extra’ Billy Sinith, afterwards the war governor of Virsinia,was the proprietor of the route, I think, and by the way, it was for claims of extra services to the general govern- ment in connection with his stage route that he got the title of ‘Extra Billy.’ “On the trip to which I allude there were members of Congress on the stage, returning to their duties in Washington after having spent the Christmas holidays at their homes. “Between Richmond and Frederitksburg our route lay across the Mat, Po and Ny rivers which form the head waters of the Matapony. There had been considerable rain, and the mud in places was so deep, it Was all that our four horses could do to get through with the heavily loaded stage coach. “Binally we str a hole, where the coach sank to the axles, and no amount of shouting and whipping on the part of the driver could budge us another inch. After repeated, but futile efforts, the driver dis- mounted and came to the door of the stage coach with rather a crestfallen look, and said: ‘Gentlemen, I will have to ask you to alight, as I am stuck fast and can't pull out." Well, we all complied, but not without some grumbling on the part of one or two of the passengers. He whipped up his team again, but the horses were tired and dispirited, and he could not meke the pas- fage. ‘Gentlemen, will you kindly go over there to that fence and get a rail apiece and give me a lift to start the team? was the next request of our jehu. ain we complied with his wishes, and ifter a great deal of whipping, shouting any prying, he finally pulled through. We were just on the point of throwing our rails down to get back in the stage when the driver shouted back: ‘Hold on, gentle- men, don't throw your rails away, plea ‘There is another piace a few hundred yards ahead, where we shall need them again, and there is no fence near there.” “There was a big, tall man in the crowd, I think he was one of the new members from ‘Texas, who, when this proposition was made, drew himself up to his full height, and swelling with indignation, tlurted out: ‘Well, I'm willing to pay my fare and walk part of the way, but I'll not consent to carry a rail.’ * “Yes, sah, means of traveling have great- ly improved since I was last heah,” con- cluded the gray-haired colonel, as he edged over towards the bar. “4 Fs At a recent wedding the bride had re- tired to her dressing room to don her trav- eling gown. Her mother had been dead a year or more, and she had had the con- stapt care and companionship of her little sister ever since their affliction. The maid was buttoning the bride's boots when the little seven-year-old entered the room. She went to her sister's chair very thought- fully. Drawing a letter from the little pocket, she said: “Alice, here is a letter to mamma. I have just written, telling her all about the wedding. Will you send it to her?” ‘The elder sister, a little shocked, replied as gently as possible that she couldn't send a letter to mother. Then the little one, looking quite bright, said promptly: “Oh, yes you can, because, now you are married, you will be getting a little girl, and when you eend for her just give the doctor this letter, and he can take it to mamma when he goes for the baby.” And there on the envelope was the ad- dress, printed as best she could: “To Mamma, In Heaven. Kindness of the Doctor.” She took the letter, and hugged the little one close to her, to hide the tear which was rubbed off on the curly, brown head. Congressman Southaré of Ohio owns two dogs that are in striking contrast. One is a full-blooded English mastiff, weighing about one hundred and sixty pounds; the other is one of the smallest of the terrier species, his weight not being over three Pounds. The little dog will curl up and go to sleep on one of the paws of his big com- panion, and the greatest affection exists between the two. The terrier takes the greatest liberty with the mastiff, barking at him and biting him. Don will stand this patiently until the small dog nips his heels and hurts him; then he picks the ter- rier up by the nape of his neck, and, tak- ing him to the house, deposits him at the feet of his mistress, as an indication that he wants him kept away for a time. In a tow hours they will be playing together again. * ee KOK The following anecdote Is told of Judge Minchell, chief justice of the supreme court of Ohio: It seems that he, with a legal colleague, were striving one rainy afternoon in sum- mer to pass the hours in a pleasant man- rer with the aid of conversation and cigars. An empty chair stood near an open win- dow, and the rain drifted in, completely flooding the seat. This seat consisted of a leather cover supported by springs, which rested on a wooden bottom. When the rain fell on the seat it passed thropgh the holes in the leather anf completely filled the space below. A friend entered after the storm had passed and walked over to the chair, the seat of which now gave no evidence of the moisture beneath, but when he sat upon it the springs allowed him to subside to such a degree that the water by a natural law was forced up- ward, much to his discomfort. He did not receive any sympathy in his gad plight, but being possessed of a nimble wit, proceeded to “get even” by catching some one else in the impromptu trap. He suggested to Judge Minchell that he should deliver a political address and thus attract a crowd, who would serve as victims of the bath. “The judge accordingly stepped upon a box and began an impassioned harangue upon the rights of mau, while the origin- ator of the plot went out and spread the news that Judge Minchell was making the effort of his life. The water-logged chair was placed near the door, and the first man to enter naturally dropped in it with a sigh of relief that he had been so lucky as to find a place to rest himself. Of course the seat was at once vacated amid sundry expressions of surprise and disgust. He was then informed of the state of af- fairs and given another seat. Still the ora- tory went on, and each succeeding auditor sat in the chair, swore and moved on. It is said that the greater part of the male population of the village where this oc- curred, called for their “other pants" upon going home after the diversion drew to a close. * Ke KK “I heve always been inclined to help a woman in distress,” said a western man, “but there was one occasion when this chivalrous feeling resulted somewhat dis- astrously to myself. “I went out to Montana several years ago, and without having had any previous experience in western life, took up the oc- cupation of sheep herding. Sheep herding, by the way, is one of the most monotonous methods of acquiring a livelihood in which a man could engage. It takes him away from ell civilized life, and he sometimes does not see a fellow-being for a month or mere. My cabin was on the headWaters of Arrow creek, at the base of the Highwood mountains, wkere, after the sheep were corrale] for the night, I would lie in my bunk and think of the home and friends in the states, which I would not see again for I knew not how long. ‘One dark, stormy night, when the rain eat on the roof and the lightning flashed thrqugh the chinks in the wall, I was star- tled by a cry, a long wail of distress. It had a note of anguish, not such as a man would utter, but in the faltering tones of a woman. “In a moment I was at the door, and throwing it open stepped outside. As I did so I was struck down, my back was lacer- ated by sharp claws and the coat was torn from my shoulders. Then, as I rushed into the cabin and closed the door, the low wall- ing cry arose once more. “IT never again attempted to rescue a mountain lion, under the impression that I was aiding a female in distress.” Permanent. From Harper's Bazar. you got a permanent position, Jawley?” “I think so. Snip & Co. have employed me to collect your account with them.’* SEEN AT THE CAPITOL “Oh, mamma! mamma! there he is! I see him! Indeed, I do!” rather startled the sightseers in the Senate gallery Tuesday, as a child’s thin, shrill voice waked the echoes of the sleepy old chamber, and caused more than one reproving face to be turned up from the floor below. The kilt-skirted small boy who was the cause of the disturbance leaned away over the gallery coping, thus breaking another rule of the “House of Lords,” and, pointing with his small forefinger at Senator Stew- art, who was talking silver some more, said reprovingly: “There he is, mamma. You said that I couldn't see Sarta Claus only in my dreams, and I can see him right now, with both my eyes wide open. Say, mamma, I am awake, ain't I? Oh, but won't sister be mad when I tell her that I saw Santa Claus and she didn't?” And the only way on earth to stop the chilt’s clatter was to take him out of the gallery. “Ain't much reverence in the House, in :my opinion,” remarked one man to another, as they looked down on the members from the visitors’ gallery. “Why don’t some of | them young cubs give up their good seats to old wheel horses like Hitt of Illinois and Payne of New York and Cannon, who were fighting the battles of the party be- fore they were born, like as not. It riles me to see a kid come here and try to make believe that because he belongs to the young crowd, and has a highfalutin idea of his own importance, he has a right to shove men who have grown gray In the service to the wall. There is some sort of courtesy due gray hairs, if a man ain't so brainy back of them, but when a man is a leader, and a fellow knows it, the proper thing ‘to do is to give him the best in the business, and sit at his feet till the country sees fit to lift him because of his own ac- knowledged ability.” It is very funny to see the people who go up to try the Speaker's chair. Sometimes it is a Woman. She looks all around to see if anybody 1s looking at her, and then sneaks iim by degrees, from reporter's desk to clerk’s, and finally she lands on the Speaker's platform, and plants herself in the capacious chair. One would like to know what thoughts are ambling through her brain at such a time. Whether she is cogitating over what women will do when they reach that height of greatness, or how she will tell her friends of her feat when she gets back home, where It will be talked of at the tea tables for a month. Women are not the only ones who try Mr. Reed's chair, though. Some of the mem bers are fond of making a pretext of sit- ting in it for a few moments before the session opens or after adjournment. Some of them roll back contentedly, and one rather looks to see them put their feet on the desk, as they do, much to Mr. Reed's disgust, when they are on the floor. Others Jean over and thoughtfully tap the desk with a pencil or key, no doubt “play- ing” that {t is a gavel, and thinking how they would bring order out of chaos, if they had the power, when the House gets too turbulent. It is quite harmless as an amusement, and entertains two parties— thos2 who ‘are looking on and those who are trying the chair on. This is a young Congress. Most of the men look well kept, and scarcely a member of the House presents a “back-woodsy” appearance. All seem to have pride in their personal appearance, while a large number approach dudishness. So far, no “posers” have developed, and the lounges in the lobby have been singularly free of even the older members who vsed to be fond of stretching out there for the great American public to gaze upon. There is a member of the House who Is a lover of violets. He has sent to him every morning a small bunch of them, a dozen or two, perhaps, and lets them lie on his desk all day. This member has a wife, and she is mortally jealous of her spouse. She came up to the House for the first time this,session last Monday, and, taking a seat in the gallery, leaned over to see her husband in his seat below. The moment was unlucky. A page appeared on the scene with the bunch of violets just sent up and a card, and the member took them and held them to his lips, evidently to inhale their delicious odor, which r even to the gallery, and his wife's nose. She colored up, shut her gloved hand in a manner that forboded ill if those fingers were to close on her unsuspi husband's curly locks; then she sailed up to the door and ordered a page to come up The doorkeeper hustled away, and soon had a page running breathlessly down the steps to where the irate wife was nursing her_ wrath. “Go down and get me those flowers off my husband’s desk,” she said to him, “and be sure you bring the carg that came with them. Walt till Mr. leaves his seat before you take them,” she added, catch- ing the page's coat; “and I have a quarter for you if you don’t say anything about it;” then she let him go. He went, with a grin on his face, and soon caught up the flowers and a business-looking card, both of which he deposited in her lap, got his quarter and sped away. All there was on the card was written coarsely’ in pencil: “Mr. : The violets are not good to- day. I'll have a better supply tomorrow. John Doe.” The surprised wife didn’t know that a Star reporter picked up the card, which she carelessly let fall; but this will tell her. + ee Out in that corner of Statuary Hall which might be called the chamber of hor- rors, because of the dreadful stories of want and woe, of tribulation and oppression that are told there, a different kind of a story was being told Tuesday. There was a woman and a man. It was a member of the lower house of Congress, and the wo- man was the wife of a government em- ploye. Both the member and the employe are of a convivial turn, and it seems that ‘on some recent date the two of them have been doing the artistic in red, where nose paint and painted women are of the free and easy variety. “No, indeedy, Mr. Blank,” said the irate little woman, “you needn’t think I'm going to put up with this nonsense just for the sake of being able to say that my husband is hand in glove with a member of Con- gress. I'd rather he wouldn't be. He was a nice, respectable sort of a man till you got hold of him. Out last night till 2, the night before till 1, and the night before that till $! Isn't that simply disgraceful?” “Now, see here, Mrs. C.,” said the mem- ber, somewhat confused by the sudden- ness of the attack. ‘See here, if you won't say anything more about this, so that it will get to the ears of my wife, I'll make you the handsomest pres—" My patience, how the little woman’s eyes blazed! ‘Don't you dare to finish that sentence!” she almost screamed. didn’t come here to be insulted by you. Now, just listen to me. If my husband is out to- night after 10 o'clock, I will take a police- man and hunt him up. Then I will have it put in the papers where I found him, and who he was with. I'm going to break up this disgraceful business before it breaks my heart. You can stand from under or not, as you like. But I don't think your wife and daughters will like to see your name in print as I will put it there if you give me any more provocation. That's all I want of you.” And the mem- ber walked-back to the House as meek as Moses. There has been no notice in the papers, so he must have “stood from under.” Brave little woman. * ek Ke OK One day this week when the Senate was not in session, and everything in and around the Senate chamber, even in the corridors, was as Still as a mouse, with the exception of the tick of the telegraph in- struments in the press gallery, and with not a soul apparently visible on the Sen- ate floor or in the galleries, a young lady entered the gallery, and at once became in- tensely interested In a book she was read- ing. She did not see the page who was ap- parently asleep in a corner, nor the young man in the press gallery, and, supposing she was alone, began to read aloud. She continued this for several minutes. Even- tually she arose, and, with outstretched arms, began a series of fascinating ges- tures, which reminded one of the time when Roger Q. Mills, in his address to the Senate on the tariff last year, endeavored to upset all the cuspidors and books within a three-yards reach. Her volce grew so loud that It aroused the page, who, not seeing any one In sight, and, as the occupgnt pf the press gallery arose, the young lady Blushingly withdrew. I recognized in her one of our school teachers, who perfiaps’ found the time an opportune one and_the, echo of the Senate walls a source of )fespfration for her out- burst of oratory, which was unhappily ended by the page ROY'F yell, ONE SEROUS EFFECT yelled, “What's thi ff only a boy can, us Of the Recent R ican Victory in the Commonwebiti of Kentucky. It was somewhaj early in the morning when The Star reporter dropped into the wet goods departujgnt pf a popular down- tewn hotel, where there is always to be fcund a large souyherm contingent—in the hotel, not the W.G> dep&rtment—and stand- Ing at the countey there he saw a well- known Kentuckian of the older school. It was about ten days after the election news had been received from Kentucky, and the Kentuckian’s brow was not crowned with sunlight or laurels. On the contrary, it was swathed in heavy gray clouds. It may be explained here that the reporter was not in that locality after a drink, but after a iman who was after a drink. As he stood talking to him, his attention was attracted hy the Kentuckian’s talk to the barkecper, who had shoved a well-worn black bottie cut in front of his customer. . ‘ake it away,” said the Kentuckian, gicomily, with a funereal wave of his hand. “What's the matter with it?” asked the surprised barkeeper. “‘It’s the same Ke tucky lrand you've been using for yea “I know it,” he said, regretfully, “but ever since Kentucky went republican it dcesn’t seem to taste natural, and I've got to try something else. Suppose you give me a little of that Maryland rye.” “Certainly, sir,” said the barkeeper, defer- entially, and turned to get it, but stopped half way. “Fexcuse me, sir," he ventured, didn’t Maryland go that way, too? The Kentuckian thrummed on the coun- ter with his knuckles nervously. “That's so, that's so,” he mused; then he broke out fie "I wonder if I've got to drink water,” and walked out of the place indignantly. a CHAMPION MEAN MAN. A Discovery In Virginia That Far Eclipses All Previous Ones. “TI located the meanest man In the world a few days ago,” said a traveling man to a Star writer. “I stopped at a small Virginia tcwn, and, the hotel being crowded, had to sleep in the room with another man. I left a call for an early morning train, and when I was awakened found that my roommate had taken a still earlier train. I also dis- covered that he had taken my trousers, in the pockets of which were about $30. I complained about it at the hotel, and the clerk said the man was a horse buyer, and it would be made all right, so I took the train to a town ahout 100 miles distant.. On the train I examined the pockets of the trousers I had on and found a wallet con- taining $3,000. I telegraphed the real own- er at once, saying I would return them, which I did, not paying the express charges, as I was out of funds, he having all my money. After two days, during which I wore borrowed trousers, I received mine with express charges unpaid and a C. O. D. bill attached for 25 cents he had paid on his own..I borrowed the money and got the package, but if there is a prize attached to the discovery of the meanest man in the world, I want it.” = SS ee A DETECTIVE MYSTERY. py rea Was the Noted Sleuth Himself a Suc- cexsful Bank Cracksman, he most mysterigus affair I ever knew in detective circles," said a well-known Sleuth to a Star writer, a case in the west. A detective mad become famous by reason of his success in ferreting out heavy rcbberies. It seemed that none of the pro- fessionals could escape when he once start- ed upon their trails. After a time all such cases were placed In his hands. The first one that he could not discover the thief ig hank robbery, then after a year his reputa- “but tion was during the in othe ing, but it was ne period he lt cases. with fever; and while delirious told himself had perpetrated th scribing every ment in de he recovered, it was claimed that his fail- ure to unravel the mysteries had caused the raving confessions, but other men were put upon them and they failed to find any clue whatever. The detective retired and lives in elegant style, but whether or not he was as successful in eluding law as in enforeing it will probably never really be known.” ———— INTENDS TO BE POSTED. A Bright Western Boy Who is Study- ing Electricity. The other day Commissioner Seymour re- ceived in the usually large mail of the pat- ent office the following nice little letter from a boy away ‘out in Seattle, Wash., saying: “Dear Uncle Sam: Will you send one of ycur nephews one or two volumes of pat- ent office reports of recent date? I want to find out about electricity most, though I would like to know about other patents, too. I am twelve years old, and I am go- ing to be in the navy sometime, I guess, and I want to be posted about things. Your Nephew.” ‘The commissioner was much pleased by the letter, and calling Mr. J. W. Babson of the Gazette division to his aid, they made out a handsome batch of documents, illus- trating not only electricity, but all the lines of scientific and mechanical study which might interest a boy, and sent it on to hitn. The commissioner also wrote the following letter to the lad, who will be a happy lad no doubt when he gets it: “Dear little sir: I have your esteemed let- ter of December 14, 18%, stating that you are twelve years of age and expressing your desire to find out about electricity and other subjects for electricity, in order that you may post yourself, and in the end at- tain your ambition to enter the navy. I take great pleasure in sending you, with this letter, some of the reports of this office and other reading, which, I hope, may be interesting and helpful to you. A great many little boys have shown genius and ability in the exercise of the inventive faculty, and patents have been granted to trem by the government of the United States for their inventions. As you may know this is a protection for seventeen years to use exclusively and enjoy their own inventions. Your interest on these subjects is very praiseworthy, and this office will be glad to hear from you and of ycur suceess. ——__ Why Rice Isn‘t Mentioned in the Bible From the Aberdeen Examiner. A book before us says: “Rice is not men- tioned in the Bible, as {t did not grow in the countries in which Bible happenings cecurred.” We think*the author is mis- taken. The fact that the word “rice” does not appear is no evidence of the non-exist- ence of a product’ that’in the Bible era was feeding the majérity ‘of the world’s peo- ple. From the earliest'uges the blanket ex- pression, “corn” has ‘been used to cover all manner of gtains'and seeds used for food. In Englané the word now applies to barley, rye, oats and more specifically wheat; in Scotland it usually means oats, while here it only refers to maize. The word “corn” frequently occurs in the Bible, and when we consider. the enormous com- merce of Palestine, particularly in the days of Solomen, it is natural to suppose that rice was among the imports, and that, like wheat and other grains, it finds shelter under the market term “corn."’ ~ Jo. —— Father—“What! whip you again? aren't you!” Son—"Well, II got even this time, pop; you ought to see what I did to his’ little brother.”"—Truth. little darkey e-looking chap, EXPENSIVE TO THE GOVERNMENT. How Much a Patent for an Intricate Invention Costs. The government has recently granted two patents, which cover probably the most in- tricate and complex machine ever con- structed. It is claimed that before the first machine was perfected the company con- structing it had expended $1,300,000. The first application filed contained 204 sheets of drawings having over 1,000 separate views. During the eight years the case was pending in the office before allowance the numter of sheets was reduced to 163. When it is remembered that the majority of patents have but a single sheet of draw- ings, and that to require as many as ten sheets is quite an exception, the magnitude of the invention can be understood. The fees charged by the patent office are uniform fcr all cases, no matter how com- plex or how simple—$15 on filing the case nd $20 additional on allowance of the patenr. a When this case was filed it was turned over fer examination to an examiner, who received a salary of $1,800, and he spent six weeks in studying the case before being able to make the first action. The entire specification was tw rewritten, each time by a different attorney. How much this cost the Irventor is not known, but it is rumored that the attorney who first. pre- pared the case reccived a fee of $10,000 and an allowance of $2,000 extr@ to pay for the drawings. While the cese was pending the examiner who first had it in charge resigned from the office, and it was turned over to an- other stant of the same rank. This cs- sistant went over the entire ground three times, cor suming several weeks, and finally he was authorized to go to Chicago and spend a month in examining a_ working mechine. When the request was first made 0? the commissioner that the examiner be permitted to make the trip it was promptly refused. For argument the chief of the division ther carried in the papers, mak- ing a pile some two feet thick of unfolded drawings and typewritten specification, and the commissioner said: “He can go.” The machine is for the setting, justifying and distribution of type.- It comprises no less then 18,000 separate parts. The patent office is a money-making in- stitution, It earns, above expenses, about $200,000 per year, and now has deposited in the treasury a neat little balance of over $4,000,000, Upon this job, however, it lost heavily. It is egtimated that it consumed about $1,000 worth of time of the various patent office officials befcre maturing into @ patent, and when issued the usual rule @ to be followed of preparing copies for sele at the regulation price of 10 cents each. Tne 244 sheets of drawings had to be photolithographed and the entire body of the specification and claims set up in type, costing for the first edition, as estimated by the ordinary rules, a few cents over $6 per copy. These copies are sold to the Public for 10 cents each, or 20 cents for the two patents, covering the entire invention. As soon as one edition is exhausted an- other is ordered. A great many people or- fe copies of the patents just for curiosi- jes. —— ABOUT TEXAS GEESE. Remarkable Intelligence Displayed as Reported by a Citizen. “I have been having a good deal of trou- ble lately with the birds’ on my goose ranch,” said Col. Stitt-Floyd of Wharton, ‘Tex., to a Star reporter. “I had an order for a thousand dozen goose eggs, and my troubles all arose in trying to fill that order. It is the first lime I ever attempted to market any eggs, always heretofore relying on the sale of feathers and live birds for my profit. “This is the laying and hatching season with us, and I thought I would have no trouble to get eggs enough to fill the order. Now, a hen, you know, will let you rob her nest right along, just so you leave one egg. It is supposed that a hen has no idea whatever of numbers. But this Is not true of Madame Goose, as I found out to my sorrow. “The first two or three days we secured a big batch of fresh eggs, but after that the ‘find’ began to dwindle down so fast that I determined to make a personal investi- gation. I went down to the river bottam next day and found that Instead of being off attending to business all the geese which were not sitting had ‘flocked’ and were roving about feeding, just as if they never expected to lay another egg. When I approached them, instead of running away they all sat down and began to hiss at me. “It was a clear case of strike, and I was at a logs to know how to settle the troub I tried putting hmlf a dozen porcelain eggs in each nest, but it would not work. The Reese came up, eyed them solemnly and ked off. ‘Then. in despair, I told the boys to put the eggs we had gathered back and see if that would break the strike. “Well, sir, inside of two hours after the eggs were returned every goose was back on her nest, and for the next four or five f there were more eggs laid on the Floyd’s ranch than there had been before in years; but I dare not undertake to fill the egg order.” ———— BACHELOR IGNORA ‘CE. Especially When Children Happen to Be Under Consideration. Frem the New York Tribune. Bachelors who have lived long alone or in hotels and clubs acquire strange ignor- ance about children. One of these was telling a friend how his little nephew en- joyed “The Jungle Book.” Tow old is he?’ was asked. “Oh, I don’t know. Seven or eight. May- be ten.’ “Then he can read the stories himself?" “Let me see. No, he can’t. He’s too young. He has the book read to him.” ‘Then he must be less than ten years old.” The uncle was puzzled. said, reflectively. ‘My brother hasn't been married nearly so long as that. I don’t be- lieve it's more then six years. No, the boy eee be over four or five. I think he’s just ou in’t_ you tell his age by looking at asked the friend. answered the uncle, hope- “All children look the same age to lessly. ™me except infants and those that are about ready for college.” It was another bachelor who was visit- ing friends, when a caller came with his young son. The boy was four or five years old, and a manly little chap. The bachelor attracted by his appearance, and, pat- his cheek, said to the father: “He's a sturdy boy, isn't he? He'll be ready to go out and’ play ball in a few years.” “I can play ball already,” spoke up the ohild, proudly. “Why, he can talk, can’t he!’ exclaimed the astonished bachelor. “I didn't know children could telk at his age.” ‘The company would have doubted the sincerity of his ignorance had he not been too evidently in earnest. ————+e+-____ SORDID IN HIS LOV! Gets Back Part of His Marringe Fee With Interest. From the Chicago Times-Herald. In September Rev. W. B. Matteson of the Baptist Church at Owosso, Mich., was called upon to marry a couple, the groom being a man of seventy and the bride con- siderably younger. At the conclusion of the ceremony the groom handed the minis- ter $20. Several weeks later Mr. Matteson was informed that owing to the excitement of the occasion, the aged bridegroom was somewhat rattled, and had mistaken the $20 for $5, and demanded a rebate of $15. The reverend gentleman sent his check for the required amount to correct the error, but this was not sufficient. It seems in the old man’s third venture three months was all that was required to exhaust the glamor of matrimony, and life with him had become once more simply a matter of business. Consequently he demanded that the minister pay him interest on the $15. The request was immediately complied with, and a second check was drawn for the sum of fifteen cents, and when the youcher was returned a few days ago the minister caused ft to be framed and it now hangs in his study. ———+e+ What He Drew. From the Yonkers Statesman. — Bacon--"I was up to Artist Penn's house last night.” Yeast—“Did he draw any for you?” “Yes, indeed, he did. “What was the best thing he drew dur- ing the evening?” “A cork.” MYSTERY OF A MURDER. Peeu Story of Somnambulism and the Dilemma of the Narrator. A Star writer is In receipt of a letter, duly stamped, bearing the postmark of Eden, UL, .dated December 18, written on a typewriter and uns'gned. Evidently the writer of the letter knows The Star writer, as the letter will show, but The Star writer is qbsolutely at a loss to determine who the letter writer is. Nelther is he sure that the letter was written by a person in Eden, IIL, Inasmuch as it is easy to mail a letter at any point, however remote the writer may be from that point. In any event, The Star writer will give the letter for what it is worth, and let it go at that. It is us follows: “My Dear Friend: You will no doubt be surprised to rece've this letter, and you will no doubt wonder from whom it comes and why I should have written it to you; but there are reasons why I should write as I do, and I think the writing of it may be of assistance to me in extricating me from a painful dilamma. The facts in the case are as herein stated. About six months ago my office partner, a young man of unusual ability and char- acter and associated with me as friend and partner for seven years, visited a town of considerable importance in an adjoining county on business for the firm. He re- mained there a week or ten tdays, attend- ing to the matter so successfully that our profits in the transaction were in the neighborhood of $5,000. He was stopping at the best hotel in the town, whiclrat the time was full of guests, owing to an influx of visitors attending a fair or convention, or something of the kind, and on the third night of his stay a man was murdered in his bed in a room on the third floor, my partner occupying a room on the floor be- low. “The murdered man had evidently been smothered to death or choked, and ap- parently for the purpose of robbery, for nothing of value was found in the room. ‘The door of the room was unlocked, but it wee ev'dent that the murderer had come in through a window opening on to a shed. from the roof of which a ladder reached to the ground at the rear, a distance of only a few feet, as the hotel was situated on sloping ground. The night was warm and the window was up, thus inviting the marauder to his ugly work. Of course, there was great excitement in the hotel and in the entire town, and the police made the most diligent efforts to find some clue upon which to act, but their efforts were entirely futile, and beyond one or two suspicious circumstances and a deten- tion of one or two suspects, nothing could be done, and the affair is now merely wait- ing its own solution, unless by a strange fatality, or whatever you may call it, T am in possession of the true facts in the case. “Among the most active In the search for the murderer was my partner, that kind of work being in our line, and my partner being one of the most skillful in such work that I have ever known, and I have known them all. Since the murder he has been devoting some of his spare time to unrav- eling the case, but entirely on the qutet, and recently he has been giving his nights to it. Ten days ago when I retired on Mon- day night at 12, I left him poring over a diagram of the hotel floor with all the points of importance marked in red ink. At 1 o'clock I was awakened by a noise in my partner’s room, which adjoins mine, and called to him. “Receiving no answer to several calls, I went in to see what was wrong and found him on his hands and knees in his bed clutching the bolster under him and ap- parently choking the life out of it. It was so ludicrons that I fairly shouted, but he kept on at his work, and then it occurred to me that he was asleep. I soon found that he was, and, after considerable shak- ing. I got him awake. Then we both had a laugh over it, and I made him go to bed, after a lecture on nerves and the nervous system and the necessity of proper rest. Two nights later he was doing the same thing again, and after the third time I gave him a dose of bromide and sent him to hed before I retired. “Three nights ago he went to bed before I did, and he wes snoring peacefully whea I turned in. It was well, too, for we had received two important commissions, and we needed all the strength we had to carry them to a successful finish. At or about o'clock I was awakened by a heavy weight, as I supposed, falling on me, and I thought I was dreaming, but in an instant I knew that somebody was at my throat and that T had some fighting to do or I would be a dead man. It was as dark as pitch in the room, and I had no idea who my assailant was, but I did know he had me at a great disadvantage, and the first thing I did was to twist my throat out of his clutches and for Tom, my partner. ; And how I did yeil; once, twice, three times, and then suddenly the hands, feel- ing for my throat, relaxed, and right over me Tom’s voice, stammering and half awake, came, with: “Wh-wh-wh-what do you want? Is that you, Fred? What's the matter?” and then he laughed and began swearing at himself like a pirate, and went back to hjs own bed, and I heard him snoring within ten minutes. But there asn’t any snoring for me. I was doing some tall thinking. And the conclusion of it was and still is that my partner is on the chase for himself in that hotel killing. I'm sure he killed that man in his sleep, and kiNed him because, as it happened, the doors of the other rooms were loeked, and he simply wandered into the first room he could get into. I know it, but I cannot tell him my suspiciors, and it would do no good if I did, for he doesn’t know anything of it, and there ‘I am. Now, what would you do? The law can’t send him to the gallows, the penitentiary or the lunatic asylum, for he has committed no crime, and I'll swear he isn’t crazy. So what is to be done? “Yours in grave doubt.” The Star writer is no expert in matters of this kind, but as a suggestion he would suggest that this peculiar somnambulist have a time lock put on his bedroom door set to open at 9 a.m., when everybody in the house is up and able to defend him- self. ee IT WAS AN OFFSET. A Bachelor Who Had an Iden There Was Some Compensation. A Star reporter was talking the other evening to an Ohio man, who owns a peach ranche down in Georgia. He had been down there looking over it for a month or six weeks, and had learned sev- eral things about the Crackers, which he had not hitherto suspected. “They're a queer lot,” he went on, “and I had a most interesting time amogg them. You see I staid on my place right with | them, and was thus enabled to see them | and learn their peculiarities as I could not possibly have done in any other way. One of the oddest specimens was a bachelor farmer, who lived down the road from my place about half.a mule. He was an old chap and about as shiftless as any in the entire county, and the way he lived was a sight to behold. One morning as I passed his farm I saw him fixing a tumble-down fence, and I stopped. All around were ap- ples and pumpkins and other farm products going to waste, and off at a little distance were beech and chestnut trees with nuts in abundance and nobody paying any atten- tion to them.” * ‘Good morning,” says I. ‘How d’y’,’ says he. “You've got a good deal of stuff around here,’ says I. “Yes,” says he, yanking out a fence rail. ‘And it's all going to waste,’ says I. ‘I reckgn it is,” says he, carelessly. ‘You ought to have a wife and children to use it up,’ says I. “I don’t have to,’ ‘I've got hogs.” “And that was all the satisfaction I got out of him,” concluded the Buckye, with a laugh. says he, solemnly. “RN reproach.” TAKING IT COMFORTABLY. Not to Be Done or Outdone by Any of His Fellow Students. “When I was at Cornell, a dozen years ago,” said a Cornell man to a Star reporter, “we used to have great times—" “Which are not entirely discontinued,” in- terrupted the reporter. “I suppose not,” he went on. “Boys will be boys, and students will be something worse. I know we were. We had.one fel- low, though, a chap who Is now earning a salary of $15,000 a year, while his father re- ceives the largest salary of any man in the United States, who was too much for even us. We had a society in which the initia- tion ceremonies were something frightful, including, among other pleasing features, a coffin, in which the Initiate was buried. That is, we put him in It, and nailed on the lid (there were air holes in it that he did not know about), and then with ropes we let him dow. through the floor to the next floor, where we had a pile of ashes, which were shoveled onto the coffm in a way that was really blood-curdling to the man inside. “Well, this chap I am telling about was to be initiated, but when the time came, which was Saturday night, he was what he was every Saturday night, so full that he couldn’t come to the scratch. We looked for him, but failed to find him, and the oppor- tunity passed, but not for long. About 1 o'clock in the morning he was seen reeling upstairs to his room, and thither we fol- lowed him, carrying the coffin along. He was so full that he didn’t know anything, and by the time we got into his room, after giving him what we thought was time to get into bed, he was sound asleep. “We weren't very particular how much noise we made, and, after knocking things around pretty lively, we had set the coffin upon some chairs, and then lifted him out of bed and laid him in it, putting in a blanket to make it easier on him. Then we withdrew to think over what he would think when he waked up in the morning and found where he was. I guess I must have been more curious on this point than the others, for as soon as I got up I slipped over to his room to get a place to watch him when he came to himself. I didn’t want to disturb him while I was getting in hiding, so E opened his door very carefully, and poked my head in, and the sight I beheld almost paralyzed me.” “His hair turned white in a single night?” interrupted the reporter, with more or less of horror. “Not in the slightest,” continued the Cor- nell man. “He was sitting up in the coffin, as comfortable as you please, smoking & cigarette and reading a Sunday paper.” “Of course,” he concluded, “it was on us rather than on him, but he explained that during the night he had had horrible dreams of being put in a coffin and buried, and he had some sort of an idea that he might be dead, but when he woke up he tumbled to the situation at once, and knew that some of the gang would be in to see about it, so he sent out for a morning paper, kindled @ cigarette and was ready for visitors.” CATS AND THEIR WAYS. Some Characteristics of This Popular Household Pet. From Temple Bar. Cats do not take punishment as dogs doy their temper rises, and if struck they are apt to strike back; but beyond a gentle cuff to a kitten, new and then, I find a scolding or an exclamation of rebuke enough. They are also less Intelligent and forgiving than a dog if unintentionally kicked or trodden on, There is no more beautiful expression in a dog's face than the look he turns to the friend who has involuntarily hurt him, before there is time to explain; his whole demeanor expresses the highest magna- nimity, not only the foregone pardon, but the eager desire that the offender shall think no more of the matter. In many respects cats are more like men and women than dogs are; they have moods, and their nature is complex. A dog is very much of a piece; he is a good dog or a bad dog, brave or cowardly, honest or a sneak; the eanine intelligence is much higher than the feline, but the disposition is simpler. Cats are exceedingly irritable by tem- Perament, sensitive to changes of the weather, to frost, to thunder; they are ex- citable and naturally disposed to bite and scratch when at play; there is a curious tendency in them, as in ill-balanced or cverstrung human beings, to lose their heads when in high spirits, and the self- command most of them show when full grown in resisting these impulses is a striking proof of conscious responsibility A full-grown pet cat scarcely ever scrateh- es a young child, no matter how much maaled by it. Besides being irritable they are moody and subject to aepression, proo- ably a physical reaction from the former condition. Princess, though not a sullen cat, would sometimes forsake the hearth or veranda, and pass days by herself, on a garden wall or under a bush, not ill or out of temper, but out of spirits, morbid, end wishing for solitude, instead of the sym- pathy which she always sought in her real ailments and bereavements. Her peculiarities, both of race and indi- viduality, were remarkably defined, even when she held them in restraint, but, with one exception, all the cats I have known are captious. Their instinct when ill or sad is to be alone, but this is entirely neu- tralized by petting; they become as de- pendent on caresses and sympathy as chil- dren, and much wiser than children when they are ill or injured, as they apply for re- lief with the most unmistakabie sucges- tions, sometimes indicating plain'y where they are in pain, and presenting the suffer- ing member for treatment. They are not so patient as dogs in taking medicine, or submitting to surgical care, but snow their recognition of its benefit by coming back for it under similar Circumstances. + A Permanent Cen: Col. Carroll D. Wright in the Forvm. If a permanent census office is to be es- tablished at all, the initiative legislation looking to that result should be taken with- out delay; for under sucn legislation who- ever might be placed at the head of such an office would have ample opportunity to study the whcle ‘question ani to report to Congress full and comprehensive plans for future census work. There are these three reasons, then, for prompt legislation: The action looking to the unification of certain Inquiries in the various censuses of the world for 1%); the necessity of preparation for the twelfth census; the desire to lish a permgnent census oflic?. In ering these three reasons, sity of indulging in any criticisms, for all criticism must come back to the fact that there has been no one whose particular duty it was to see to It that proper preparations were made, not only for legislation, Lut for the real work of the census. ——__—-+e+—____ Uselens Question, From the Chicago Tribune. . “Dis ting’s got to go t’rough,” said one of the aldermen at the committee's meet- 3 Bureau. ing. “Dere’s money in It “Fur de city?” asked a member of the council. And the only reply he got was the glassy stare. e+ Malicious, From the Fiiegende Blactter. A.—"Tom must have had an awful cold when he became engaged B.—“Why?” A.—‘Because when one has a cold one has no taste. ——____+e+______ Decency and Dress. From the Detroit Tribune. First diner—‘They seem to have brought us a very decent fowl this time.” Second diner—“Yes, the dressing is above WEATH «