Evening Star Newspaper, January 11, 1896, Page 14

(Copyright, 1895, by Lucy S. Fr Mrs. Melissa Allgood and I sat in her Kitchen peeling apples. She dropped a naked white apple into the pan at her left, and paused to brush up with the back of her hand the tiny little curls that had es- caped from their straightness and lay damp on her forehead. Her round, happy face was markeg by no single line of care, nor tell-tale wrinkle under the kind eyes. A white lawn Mother Hubbard wrapper, with small, black polka dots, envelop2d her plump figure, and over that she wore a leng, white apron. Everything about her Was spotlessly clean and freshly ironed. ‘The little cottage, with its three rooms ard shed kitchen, was as clean and wholesome as its owner. “There's a heap of wickedness going on in the world,” she began. “More than you'd ever. believe. Last September Sister Pen Jobe stopped by to see me on her way from holiness meeting at Sandersville, and commenced telling about the general holiness convention that was to be held down at Reelfoot, in Tennessee, ihe middle of November, and how she was going, and bow the sanctified was to meet there from Kentucky and Georgia and Texas, and all over the country, and have a regular hal- Jelujah time—the biggest that ever was. And she say she got to leave Brother Jobe at home to take care of the children, and didn’t have nobody to go with her, and she Says, ‘Sist Allgood, I expect you'd enjoy go- ing and I'd be mighty glad to have your com- pany.” ‘Well, I reckon I would, I says, ‘but don’t count on me, Sister Jobe,’ I says, **cause I ain’t got no money to go on, and if the Lord don’t send me some money I Won't be able to go,’ I says. Sis*er Jobe she say tl round trip was $8, and she think it would be worth a heap more to my soul I told her I thought so, too, and I'd commence right away to pray for some money to go on; that I knew the Lord could provide a way. “So I set right in to praying, and look Uke the more I prayed the more I wanted to go. ‘Lord,’ I says, ‘you just must make @ way for me to go, somehow,’ I says, ‘I know you can do it, Lord, if you're a mind to, and I'm looking for It.’ And the very nisht I commenced praving I had one of the biggest blessings that ever was bad a show:ng I'd get te go. Look iike a voice 1st as plain as I’m talking now: ‘You'll get to go to convention” and after that I felt plumb easy and happy about it, and just rode out on the promise. “Well, next day I went up to Bundy’s store io get my mail, and Tommy T. Nick- ins handed me ottt The Narrow Path. I tcok it home and set right down to read it plumb through. When I come to the last page I saw a big advertisement up in one corner all about the Ararat Cactus Company of Cash Point, Texas. It was in great big letters and said they was mak- ing a special offer. That tne year before they done sent a’ agent over to the Holy Land, and he dug up a cactus plant off of Mount Ararat, and brought it back home, and said that actus plants was so Jong- lived that there wasn’t no earthly doubt but this'n had been there ever since the flood; that 4,000 years wasn’t no time for @ cactus to live. They said they done watered and tended it till it was growing fine, and they was now able to offer cut- tings from it to them that wanted ’em at & cents apiece, special price, though they ee Heyer Orrice of al Na “| was certainly worth anyhow $1.50 to earn- est Christians. They say send 65 cents to ‘em and get a’ Ararat cactus. They say they also got another big offer to make; that being anxious to introduce Ararat cactuses to.all Christian homes, they wanted to get personal letters about ‘em and that anybody that would send ’em 65 cents and get one of -hem Ararat cactuses had the chance open to "em of making $25 or $30 a week by writing letters about it. They say they was willing to pay 10 cents for every letter. Say the letters needn’t be too praising, but just what folks really thought, and the shorter they was the better. Say they’d pay the same rate for @ whole lot of. copies of the same letter: that they wanted to send ‘em to folks ali over the country, and didn’t matter if they was the same. “Well, bless the Lord!” I say. ‘Here’s the way right open for me to go to con- ventir Well, halielujah! And I mailed 6 cents to them Ararat cactus people that day, and a letter telling them to send the cactus right off. “Look like I couldn't breathe easy or settle down to nothing till that Ararat cactus come. I give it a week’s time, and then I commenced to keep the street pret- ty hot between me and Bundy’s. Finaily it come. I was kind of surprised when I unwra d it, it looked so little and or- nery, and no bigger’n a. hickory nut. It Was growing in a little two-cent flower pot. ‘What on earth can [I write about such a measly looking thing, and tell the truth?’ I says. But you know the Bible says, “Who hath despised the day of small things?’ and the more i thought about it and how that cactus come clean across the ocean, and all the way from Mount Ararat, and done been there ever since the flood, the better I felt, and more like I hadn’t thrown away them 6 cents. “I commenced on the letters right away. I went right back to Bundy's store end bought me a dollar’s worth of writing pa- per and a new pen. Tommy T. Nickins he asked me how much paper I want, and when I say about a dollar’s worth he look- ed plumb surprised, and I seen he got his suspicions. He reached his hand in the showcase and pulled out a box of pseper that had a bouquet of blue and pink flowers all across the front page, and he say may- be I'd rather have that than the plain paper. TI looked at him mighty straight. ‘Tommy T.,’ I says, ‘you needn’t be getting out no such as that for the likes of a ‘widow woman like me,” I says, ‘and sanc- tified. Gimme the plain paper,’ I says, looking at him right stern. I know it wasn’t no particular use, though, trying to go against Tommy T. Nickins’ suspi- cions, and sure enough, before night it was all over the station that I was writing every day to a widower down in Georgia and about to step off. “Well, I commenced on the letters. Folks always said I had a considable tal- ent for writing, and I knew I wrote a tol- able nice hand, and easy to read. So I never | had much trouble with the letters. I'd wrote @ heap of letters to The Narrow Path about my experiences, and it wasn’t hard for me to find the words. I wrote ten different letters, saying about ihe same thing, and as prais- ing as I could in reason, but wording ‘em Gifferent, and then I turned in and made fourteen copies of each one of ‘em. That made 150 letters. It took me all the week to do "em, g=tting up at sunrise and working all day. Of course, I wanted ’em all to look THE EVENING STAR, SATURDAY, JANUARY 11, OFA ANCT IFIED «x LOWN Lucy. §-FURmMAN nice, and I'd spoil a good many. At last, when Saturday evening come, I had ’em all done, znd was plumb wore out. But I laid ‘em all together, nice and flat, and done ‘em up in good, strong paper, and sent 'em off in the evening mail to the Ararat Cactus Co: pany, asking ’em please to send me the $15 right away, that I was in a big hurry for it, so’s I could get ready to go to general holi- ness convention. “Sister Pen Jobe come to the station to church next day,and I told her after preach- ing that she could count on me going to con- vention with her, that the Lord done made a way, just like I thought. And Sister Jobe come and eat dinner with me, and we talked pretty near all day about what we was go- ing to do st convention, and what a big time we'd have. ‘It'll take $8 to take me there and back,’ I says, ‘and I'll have $7 over and above,’ I says, ‘to buy me a new dress with and a winter hat. ’Cause, of course, Sister Jobe,’ I says, ‘I don’t want you or nobody to be ashamed of me, and the Bible says to do everything decent and in order, and if I go to convention at all,’ I says, ‘I want to go decent and in order.’ And we kept on talkirg about the joy and refreshment we was going to get in our souls. And I told Sister Jobe it wouldn't surprise me if I was to swing out at the convention, that I'd felt called to preach a long time, but look like I need some big outpouring to set me a-going, and I expect to get it at the convention. “It was still pretty near a month to con- vention, and I says to myself, ‘I'll give them Ararat Cactus folks two weeks. The $15 ought, by rights, to get here in ten days,’ I says, ‘but 2’ll give ‘em two weeks. It's a long ways,’ I says, ‘clean from Texas to Kentucky.’ So I waited tolable patient for the first ten days. Then I commenced tracking up to Bundy’s after every train, and every time I says to Tommy T.: ‘Any letters for ne?’ I expected to see him look in the pigeon hole and hznd me out a good, big fat one with the $15 in it, and my heart beat right fast while he was looking. But every tims he say, ‘No'm,’ and every day he drop his voice a little lower and sadder, and more consoling-like, and Tommy T. Nickins is mighty romantic, and I see he got some more suspicions. And pretty soon all the station folks commenced to look at me kind of sidewise and consoling, and Mary Alice Welden she ccme over one day to borrow some bluing, and kep’ a-talking about it not being no use to put any depen- dence in men, specially widowers, and it wasn’t worth while to expect any better things of ‘em. She say she think one of I the best things Solomon ever said was to ‘trust no man.’ I wondered what she was drivirg at, and more than ever at. Mary Alice Welden driving at anything. She generally hits the nail square on the head. I never said nothing, but next day old Mis’ Gerton come to spend the day, and up and consoled me, without making any bones, about that widower down in Georgia, and him a preacher, too, and got seven’ chil- dren, and done been married three times, and ought to krcw better, going back on me and the wedding day set! Well, I was mad enough to bust, righteous mad, of course, and I told old Mis’ Gerton my opin- ions of them that ain’t got nothing better to do than to go about telling lies and sianders. And she say she got it straight from Sister Gilly Jones, that got it straight from Tommy T. Nickirs’ ma. “Well, every day I thought sure that let- ter’'d come. I just worried and worried, and prayed and preyed, till I pretty near got thin. I didn’t wonder at folks thinking that preacher done flirted me. Look iike I was plumb set on going to that conven- tion. ‘Lord,’ I says, ‘surely you'll let them $15 come tomorrow! It wouldn't be right to disappoint me after giving me that showing I'd get to go,’ I says. ‘And es- pecially when I feel like I just need this convention to set me to preaching!’ I says. “One day, just about a week before con- vention, Mis’ Barnes come over to see me, and she look so hungry and down-in-th mouth, and Velorcus Barnes such a shift- less man, I asked her to stay to dinnet that I got some nice spareribs Brother Rol- ly McKittrick been killing hogs and sent me, and some nice turnips and things, and ybe she'd enjoy ‘em. Well, I reckon she did. She seemed to take a heap ef comfort, and have a real nice time. Af- ter dirner I was showing her my new rag carpet in the front room, and she run up Ararat cactus sitting in the win- ‘Law!’ she ‘the idee of anybody raising cactus! Why, taey jest burn it up in Texas. When we was down there last year we made bonfires of it. It finally run us cut. Where on earth did you get the onery thing? she says. I told her how 1 got it from them Ararat Cactus Company people, tor sixty-five cents, and she je: Jaid back and fairly hollered till she cried! I never saw Mis’ Barnes laugh before, and she taken it so hard it made me feel plum) queer. “The idee,’ she says, ‘of you being took in that a You're old enough to know better, Melissy Allgcod!’ She just piaughed and laughed! I didn't see what she was laughing at. ‘Them men, them Ararat Cactus men, is smart ones,’ she says. ‘They done made fifty-five cents clear oft | of you,’ she says. ‘It never cost them noth- ing but the postage and the pot!’ “I thought I wouldn't tell her about them letters I'd wrote, and I've always been glad I dicn’t. I commenced studying about it, and the mere I studied the more riled I got. Still I didn’t give up hopes entire, after that showing I'd had, and kept going to the post office once every day till Friday come, the day before we was to start to conven- tion. When I didn’t get no letter or no $15 on Friday, I jest set down and wrote them Ararat Cactus Company people a letter. “I told ‘em I reckon they done received my letters that it taken me a whole week to write, not counting the fifty cents’ worth of. postage I had to put on ’em, and the dollar’s worth of paper and the new pen, and which I had to borrow the money from ma to pay for ’em all. I told ’em I hadn't received po answer, and ‘sposed I never would, not to speak of the $15 which by rights they owed me for them letters, and which I been a-counting on to carry me to holiness convention. I told 'em I'd never believed, if I hadn't run right up on ’em myself, that there was such deceivers and evildcers in the world as they was, taking bread out of the mouth of the widow and orphant, full of cunning craftiness, where- by they lay in wait to deceive, yea their throat is an open sepulchre and the poison of asps is under their lips. I told ’em I never expected to live to see the day when I'd lose $1.55 of ma’s and a whole week’s work by the ungodliness of men, ‘me being a widow woman,’ I says, ‘and sanctified, and living righteous and godly. I’ve put my trust in man,’ I says, ‘for the last time. May you turn from your wickedness and live is the prayer of yours, truiy sanctified, Melissy Allgood.” “I wrote that letter, and another one to The Narrow Path, telling what sort of limbs them Ararat cactus people was, and sent ’em off in the evening mail. And then I went back home and cried. Look like I never was so plumb outdone. If I hadn’t had that showing I'd get to go, I wouldn't have felt so bad. But I never had had one of them showings to fail me, and I'd jest been resting on the promise. ‘Lord,’ I says, “the very idee of your lettin the devil hold me back from holiness convention like that’ I says. The very idee of him ram- paging around deceiving the very elect!’ Isays. ‘Lord,’ I says, ‘why don’t you smite him, hip and thign? “Next morning I got up early, to clean up befere Sister Jobe come, and look like it plumb mortifiel me to have to tell her I couldn't go. “I had early dinner for her, as the train was going at 12:30. We was pretty near through eating when little Ab Cheatham, the preacher's boy, come running in the back door and say nis pa done step off the porch and twist his ankle bad, and wouldn’t I like to go to convention on the ticket he done bousznt? He say his pa want somebedy to stand for the station. Well, I-just out with such «nother shout! ‘Bless the Lord!’ I says, ‘for answering prayer!" Sister Jobe she turned loose, too. And I jest got into my old black dress and hat in about two minutes, and you bet I never teok no time to primp! “Well, of all the full salvation times that ever was, we had 'em at that convention! You never see such a’ outpouring! I could ay: talk a week about it. And sure enough, like” I told Sister Jobe, I swung out then and there, and been preaching off and on ever since. You never see such hallelujah folks {n_ your life, and so much Iberty. Look like my soul was so full of joy it would certainly bust! That was Just the way I felt all the weak I was there. . “A day or two after I got back home, here come a letter for me. I seen it was from them Ararat Cactus Company folks. ‘Dear Madam,’ it says, ‘your esteemed let- ter received, and read with much interest. We know we're sinners,’ it says, ‘but we hope to git there just the same, if you keep on praying for us!’”” LUCY S. FURMAN. ——___-e+-—_____ HIGH WATER HUNTING. Game Too Plentifal on the Ridges in the Flooded Missouri Bottoms. From the St. Louis Globe-Democrat. The high waters have made a happy hunting ground of large portions of south- east Misscurl and Arkansas. All the bot- tom lands, where the turkeys and deer seek food and shelter, are now flooded like rice fields. This does rot refer to large cane- brakes, but to the bottoms where the dwarf cane grows in profusion. All through the flat country to the southeast there are numerous ridges or mounds, covered with beech, oak, pecan, and bickory trees. These mounds seem to have been designed by nature as a place of refuge from the ris- ing waters of the bottoms for the animal kingdom. Tom Parker of Charleston, Mo., who was in town on Friday, gives a most enthusias- tic account of several hunts in which he indulged in the past week with some friends: “I never saw so many turkeys and deer down the Iron mountain in the same lJength of time as I did this week,” he said. “But I have hunted the ridges during many a rise before. Myself and a man named John Beckel started out in a ‘dug-out’ ‘Tuesday morning from a point a short dis- tance above Oran, and struck across through the timber for Beech Ridge, which lies close t® Hubble Creek bottoms, and not far from Little river. We struck the ridge about 10 o’clock and prepared for sport. Our intention was simply to get a couple of turkeys and some squirrels for Christmas, but as we entered a cornfield, the only clearing on the ridge, neariy every step we took quail buzzed from under our feet and rabbits darted away in droves. “I had some shells of fine shot, but am not much on wing shooting. Before we got to the timber I knocked over fifteen quail, however, killing seven at one shot. The birds lit in the trees and bushwacked in large flocks. Just as we got over the fence fifteen turkeys arose from a fallen tree top and alighted in the big timber right at the edge of the overflow. We got three of these, and before we had gone a hundred yards from the place, three deer were started on a point of land that ran out into the water, but, as they dashed off into the overflow, we didn’t get a shot. “It wasn’t more than twenty minutes later when Beckel sighted an old buck and a doe right among a drove of young steers. Beckel was using a long, muzzle-loading rifle, which he rested against a tree, but had to wait for some time for fear of hit- ting one of the young cattle. Presently the buck raised his head, evidently getting scent of us; but it was a bad move for him, as Beckel’s rifle cracked, and the old buck fell to his knees, arose again, floun- dered about, and then fell to rise no more. I tell you it was a fine big buck, and we got so excited that we did not know what to do for a few moments, for when Beckel was cutting the buck’s throat, two more deer went by us at a moderate rate of speed, and stopped only a couple of hun- dred yards away. The rifle had not been reloaded, and my old shotgun was not equal to the emergency at the distance the game was resting, but before Beckel got the buck taken care of I had brought down another turkey from a drove that walked it into my range of fire. said Beckel, ‘this is gettin’ mighty lively. But I don’t see how we will pack much more big game in that old dugout and dodge all them cypress, knees as we paddle back. We don’t want any more deer er turkey on this trip. We can't ship 'em, an’ it tain’t fair to kill "em when they're roostin’-like on this ridge.’ “f was about of Beckel’s mind, but to add variety to our bunch of game, I began knocking off a few squirreis, as there was lots of them in the trees. I wandered away from Beckel, and saw several turkeys, and one of the handsomest bucks I ever saw in the timber. The big brute started toward the point where I had left my friend, and presently I heard the crack of John’s lon: ranger. I started back, but hurried myself when I heard Beckel yelling like a Co- mapche Indian, Breaking into a run, I soon got in sight of a man and a buck just tearin’ the ground up. It was nip and tuck, but I think the buck would have got the best of it if I hadn’t rushed into the bat- tle. Soon as I arrived the infuriated and wounded brute made a dash for me, but I met his assault square in the forehead with a feet. That was a settler for the buck, IT thought, and I made a dash to get the knife into his neck, but he met me half way, and then he and I had it. I called to Beckel to do something, but he said in his slow and deliberate w: “It's your turn now, Parker; I'm tired.” “Do you kn that fellow just sat there on a log looking as cnol as Cooper’ while [ wrestled with ombat was short, as the animal iz frenzy at the time he raised up, and he scon collapsed. ‘After we had wled the buck I asked Berkel why he had shot it, as he knew we could not carry both the deer in our light craft. “Oh, you didn’t think I wuz goin’ to stand here and let the durned thing bite me, do ye?’ was the reply [ got. “After considerable effort we got the big. buck hung up out of the reach of wild hogs, then we packed our turkeys and the first deer killed in the dugout, and struck thro; the spreads of Hubble creek for Parker's station, left them there, and then returned for the biggest one << A Chorus Girl's Idea. From the New York Herald. During one of the rehearsals at a theater recently a dance was being practiced, in which the chorus had an eight-bar move- ment. “Take one step forward to each bar,” said the man who was directing the rehearsal. The directions were followed, and the chorus, after eight steps, found themselves in a bunch in the center of the stage and bumping up against the principals. “That won't do at all,” said the manager, who was watching the rehearsal from the front. “Have them take only six steps.” “There he goes economizing again,” said a chorus girl, under her breath. “Trying to Save expenses and cutting the steps down.” ————+ee--____ England and Armenia. From the Westminster Gazette. Never, O craven England, nevermore te’ thou of generous efforts, righteous aim! rayer of a People, know thy shame! amer hath passed, and autumn’s threshing floor een winnowed; winter at Armenia's door narls like a wolf; and still the sword and fame ep not: thou only sleepest; and the same unto Heaven ascends as’ herct ¢ red stream thou mig! yet runs; : And o'er the earth there sounds no trumpet’s tone To shake the ignoble torpor of thy sons; But with indifferent eyes they watch and see Hell's regent sitting yonder, propped by thee— Abdul the Damned, on his infernal throne. WILLIAM WATSON. Be re; have stanched es Lamp Was Not Lit. From the New York World. In discussing reform, a minstrel said on the stage that he discovered a couple of burglars making away with some booty from his house the other night, so he im- mediately jumped on his bicycle, pursued, captured and was handing them over to a policeman when the following conversation occurred: Dougherty—“Officer, I want you to arrest those men; they are burglars.” ad Officer—“‘Whose bicycle is that?” Dougherty—“‘It’s mine.”” Officer—‘‘Come to the station house with me; your lamp ain't lit.” ——-+0e+ Hope for Him. From the Indianapolis Journal. Mudge—“There is no doubt that woman is losing all those finer instincts she once had. Wickwire—‘Well, if that is the case, you may find one of them yet who will marry you.”” —__—_—_+0+—____ Question of Grammar. From the New York Herald. Among the new lines introduced in a play is a catch play on. words. An actor dis- guised as a school girl at the seminary asks the other girls: “Which is right, ‘Girls is’ or ‘Girls are?” ‘Girls are,’ of course,” the rest all an- swer in chorus. “Well, then,girls,are my hat on straight?” ARE YOU “ALL BROKEN UP?” Take Horsford’s Acid Phosphate. It steadies the nerves, clears the brain and promotes digestion. Makes a pleasant and whole- some beverage. | gress LABOR -AND CAPITAL What Workingmen Think of Mr. Phillipe’ Proppeed Commission. HELP FOR THE WESTERN FARMER Views of Well-Known Labor Lead- ers of the District. Uighseteccs THE MEASURE APPROVED A leading topic of discussion in labor cir- cles lately has been the bill recently in- troduced in the House by Mr. Phillips, chairman of the ccmmittee on labor, which is designed to provide a way for the set- tlement of questions that may arise involy- irg labor, agriculture and capital, without recourse to such extreme measures as strikes. The bill is much like a similar bill intro- duced by Mr. Phillips in the last Congress, but which failed of passage on account, it is believed, of lack of time to discuss it. Since that time varioug labor leaders in different parts of the country have given the proposed bill much of their attention, and so far as heard from, they are unani- inously in favor of its enactment. In this city the sentiment among a num- ber of the well-informed labor people seems to be almost entirely in favor of the bill. “You can say,” said Mr. James F. Mc- Hugh, president of the Federation of La- bor, “that I am heartily in favor of Con- gressman Phillips’ bill for the appointment of a non-partisan commission to collate in- formution and to’consifer and recommend legislation to meet the problems presented by labor, agriculture and capital. “It is well known that there are no more important problems demanding the atten- tion of the people of the United States at this time, nor are there likely to be in the near future, perhaps for many years to come, than those arising from the condi- tions which now environ labor, agriculture and capital. “Of these questions agriculture has here- tofore received comparatively little atten- tion, certainly none at all commensurate with the importance of the subject, both to those engaged in that pursuit, as well as to the people of the country at large, who, to a@ great extent, are dependent upon the prosperity of the farmer for their own suc- cess in business matters. “There are some western states to whose farmers it is a matter of the most supreme importance that if they are not to become depopulated by reason of the agriculturists being forced to remove to other states, they must, without unnecessary delay, have a system of irrigation. Lack of rain year af- ter yeer has been the cause of successive drouths, and human aid must be provided to remedy tnese troubles as far as possi- ble. This can only be done by irrigatio. and such a system as is needed can only be provided by the general government. Should Congress authorize the expenditure of the necessary.sum to accomplish this, a large number of men now out of work could be given employment. * “And I further believe that the sum need- ed, although:-,weuld be very large, could be fully repaid, tc the United States treas- ury inside of thn years by making a small charge to the usérs of the water. “J might add:im reference to what I have said about the, threatened depopulation of some of the western states that this is not only my opinion as based on personal knowledge of the state of affairs there, but is, I am informed by a high official of the national bureau of labor statistics, the fe@r that is entertained in that department of the government, where they base their opinion on investigations made under the supervision of competent authority. I do not sce how the subdjects referred to could be better provided for than is done in Mr. Phillips’ bill, and I am sure that if it Is enacted Into law the information that will be gathered and the reports diffused will result in the greatest benefit to many of the interests of labor, agriculture and capital. Mr. $.'H. Bell's Views. Mr. S. H. Bell, a leading member of Columbia Typographical Union and also a member of the committee of the Internation- al Typographical Union selected to urge up- on Congress the purchase by the govern- ment of all the telegraph lines in the United States, said: “I approve Mr. Phillips’ bill and hope that it will be ea law, thoush do not think the commission pro for in it will do more than collect the facts in regard to the matters upon which Con- esires information, and recommcn appropriate legislation thereon to Congress, but this T believe will be very benefici:! to labor aed other interests involved. to me that the commission, as arrang in the bill. will be too large, but I's it will be divided up into beomnmittee The commission, if the bill shall become a will be a sort of addition to the present national bureau of labor. I was stronsly in favor of that, because I believed that it could collect av. amount of facts which could be made serviceable to the labor cause generally, and under the proposed commission the field of usefulness will be greatly widened. “For a quarter of a century we have in- sisted that the conditions of the great econ- omic problems, as far as labor is concerned, were all wrong. During the same time the capitalists, on the other hand, have con- tended that the conditions of wages and hours of labor were more favorable to the working people than ever before. It was in order to arrive at a true knowledge of the facts that we worked for the institution of the national labor bureau and the bu- reau of statistics as they now exist in as many of the states as we could get the nec- essary legislation. 1 think the commission will cover a field that the labor bureau, for lack of sufficient force, has only partially tcuched. I further think that the work of labor organizations has been greatly ac- centuated already by the aid of the national and state agencies, and E am sure that anything that can be added to these facil- ities will be beneficial. “It seems to me that while there are a large number of new members of Congress— one-half being brand-new—yet owing to the fact that a presidential election is approach- ing this ought to be a good Congress from which to secure legislation in the interests of labor.” Rev. Dr. Alexander Kent. Rev. Dr. Alexander Kent, who is looked upom by many laboring men of the District as a champion of their interests, in speak- ing to a Star reporter about the Phillips bill expressed a fear that the proposed com- mission would simply add to the political offices to be bestowed by the President, and the men appointed wculd not be those most competent and best fitted to perform the duties. “Ag I look at it the problems presented by agriculture; labor and capital,” he said, “are today very‘serious, and I do not be- lieve they cin be’ hastily solved on the pres- ent lines. i do not believe that the present Congress fs really prepared to pass any measure radicak enough to meet the re- quirements‘ of the case. In my judgment the urgent need of the present time is a system of»irrigation, undertaken and car- ried out by, the ational government, with a view of making productive all that vast extent of territéry that is now threatened with depopulation by reason of continued drought. it has. seemed to me that if the government could undertake a work of that Kind it would go a long way toward solv- ing one branch ‘of the labor problem, ard would secure to the people the certainty of crops. As to the relations between labor and capital I do not hope for much from legislation: I do not believe that trusts can be prevented or’ that legislation can secure good wagés to the laborers. I believe that the trusts will have to go on unifying the industrial interests of the country nel they have brought all the interests of whe coun- try under the management of a few trusts, and when that is done the people will have to own and operate these trusts themselves. That seems to me to be the evolutionary process of the case. There are between 300 and 400 of the industrial interests of the United States that are ndw in the hands of trusts, and I look for this process of combination, -consoildation and unifica~ tion to continue until the whole of the in- dustries of the country have been organized in the most economical manner possible. Then I look for the peeple, white recogniz- ing the advantages of economy in manage- ment, to step in and see that the advantage is reaped by them and not by the trusts, as at present, and I do not think that the ccmmission to be appointed »y the Presi- It seems “d for se dent will be made up of mien who will ree- ommend such radical measures.” Mr. Henry B. Martin. Mr. Henry B. Martin of the general ex- ecutive board, Knights of Labor, said: “In my judgment the Phillips bill, pro- viding for the appointment of a non-parti- san commission to collate information and consider and recommend legislation on the Problems presented by labor, agriculture and capital, is one of the most important measures now before Congress. “The principle embodied in this bill has been indorsed by the General As- sembly of the Knights of Labor and every labor organization, and should cer- tainly receive the earnest support of all friends of labor and legislation in the in- terests of the wealth producers. I have been for several years past strongly in favor of having such a commission cre- ated. The precedent for all good legisla- tion should be a thorough investigation of the subject to be legislated upon. All civ- ilized governments are beginning to ree- ognize this fact and the wise custom is becoming established of appointing compe- tent, impartial, non-partisan commissions to make the necessary investigations and Proper recommendations when grave and important subjects are to be acted upon by governments. “This was the case in the numerous monetary commissions, railroad commis- sions and others of similar character, and very recently in the Venezuelan boundary commission. The labor question tran- scends all these in gravity and importance of the questions involved. Surely if Con- gress can afford to spend one hundred thousand dollars investigating the boun- dary dispute over a strip of comparatively unimportant territory belenging to another nation, two thousand miles distant from us, it ought easily to be willing to spend many times that amount on an investiza- tion of the problems of labor, capital and agriculture, that vitally and deeply affect every one cf the seventy millions of people right here at home in our own country. “I have not yet heard of a single rational or intelligent objecticn raised to the Phil- lips bill. It seems to commend itself, and ss ate should commend itself, to men of all rties, as it provides a prompt and en- lightened method of securing needed changes in existing laws on such lines as will tend to promote industrial peace and improve the condition of the great body of the working people. “The work of such a commission wisely carried out will do immense good in throw- ing a great flood of light on the industrial question in all its bearings, and encour- aging liberal and progressive legislation. For this reason, if for no other, it ougat to receive the cordial support ‘of every member of Congress, and the Indorsement of the President. “The bill embodies no extreme or radi- cal proposition of any kind that will give either laboring men or employers cause to feel timid as to the effect it will produce. It proposes a broad, humare, civilized method of setting out for the adjustment of the most dangerous and difficult prob- lems that confront the people in this age of the world. Mr. Phillips has earned the thanks of all friends of humanity for the able and thoroughly impartial lines on which this law has been framed. Members of Congress can do for the laboring people of America a great service by giving their support to this measure. ——.__ M. ANDREE’S BALLOON. The Proposed Expedition to’ Reach the North Pole by Air. Further details aro published by the Temps in regard to M. Andree’s balloon, the Pole-Nord, with which this explorer hopes to reach the north pole. The cubic capacity of the Pole-Nord, which is to be purchesed in Paris, is 4,500 meters, and will carry three persons, MM. Andrce, Ekholm and Strindberg. It is made of silk specially manufactured at Lyons, and in order to make it extraordinarily strorg, several pieces of silk have been stuck together and the whole varnished, so that no gas can possibly escape. The cost of the balloon, the cordage and the car will be about 50,000f. Those who have supplied tenders—and three have teen accepted from among those seat in—have agreed to have everything ready for May 1, under a forfeit of 25,000f. In addition, the maker who is chesen to supply the Pole-Nord will not only have to superintend the filling of it on one of the Spitzbergen islands, but will Le bound to make a cer- tain number of ascensions during the spring with members of the expedition. During the winter experiments are to be made in Sweden to decide upoa the firal details in regard to the construction of the Is and guide ropes, which are to be made in that country. On Wednesday, says the Temps, M. Ek- holm explained to M. Faye of the Paris ob- servatory the system of astronomical ob- servations that he has decided upon in or- der to ascertain the course of the balloon in its journey, and these will be made by sight- ing the sun, whick will be above the hcri- zon during the whole expedition. Acids and metals for the manufacture of hydrogen gas are to be taken in the car by the explorers. They will also be provided with three gvide ropes of a total weight of 1,00) kilos. One of the uses of these ropes will be to slacken the speed of the balloon in such a manner that the wind will fill the sails and allow the cecupants to rectify to a certain extent the balloon’s deviations. By setting ont from a position so near the pole as the Norskocarna Islands, the aecro- nauts hope in a few hours to pass the most northerly latitudes yet reached by any north pole expedition during three cen- turies. They intend to take photozraphs during the journey so as to give an exact idea of the geography of the northern re- neers over which they will be driven by the wind. M. Andree has no idea where he will de- scend from his balloon, but the descent will be made by means of an apparatus which will enable the balloon to be torn, as it is only furnished with small valves for pur- poses of maneuvering. According to M. Ekholm's calculations, it is probable that the expedition will remain at least a fortnight in the air. During this time the balloon will have traveled 5,000 kilometers, and the aeronauts will have ob- tained 2,000 photographs, each bearing the exact hour at which it was taken. WE EAT 500,000,000 LEMONS. A Big California Market Competing With the Foreign Importation. From the New York World. This country consumes in a year about five hundred million lemons, cr about six and a half lemons for each man, woman and child. This is going to be a good lemon year. Since the new fruit commenced to arrive, about the Ist of October, very near- Ty 100,000 more boxes have been received than came in during the same time last season. The crops are very plentifyl along the Mediterranean, but because so many oranges are being carried from that region these months, owing to the deficiency in the Florida crop, there is little room for lemons on board these ships. The Califor- nia lemon crop also is larger than ever be- fore, and supplies will be forwarded from there. The California lemons are exceed- ingly good ones, and only experts can tell them from the Mediterrarean crop. For culinary purposes the lemons of Sicily —that is, those from Messina and Palermo —are to be preferred, as they have a much better flavor. Other excellent lemons come from Maiori and Rodi, in the h¥l regions surrounding Naples. Catania and Malaga lemons are yet another variety, and come in the early fall, just after the southern Italy and Sicilian crops have been finished up. A box of lemons averages about 300 }each. From 1,500,000 to 2,000,000 boxes are sold in a year here. It is predicted that the California crop in three years will average a million boxes. It will be interesting to note whethei they will drive out any or all of the foreign lemors. Prices are now a little lower tlan usual. In September $7 was obtained at wholesale per box, the highest price in years. ———_+e. Staid Close by Home. From the Lewiston Evening Journal. On o big farm in the eastern part of Maine lives a man who has just celebrated his ninety-fifth birthday anniversary, but who in all that long time has never gone more than thirty miles away from the room in which he was born. Neither has he ever seen a train of cars, ridden in a stage ecach or been on board a steamboat, or eaten a meal at 2 hotel, and never swore an oath. The unique cMaracter is H. Thatcher Leighton of Columbia, Washing- ton county, who is known in regions far be- yond those he has penetrated by the title of Uncle Thatcher. Today his form is as straight as an crrow; he is as smart as a whip, and is in as full possession of all his faculties as at twenty-five. Unrivaled, Dr. Bull’s Cough Syrup. 1896—TWENTY-FOUR PAGES. NOW 99 YEARS OLD Mrs, Grinnell Credits Her Vigorous Old Age to Paine’s Celery Compound. It is an uncommon thing to learn of persons reaching the age of Mrs. Emyle Hyde Grinnell, and years of good health such as hers come only to those who make use of the very best means of keeping well. No one will wonder that the bright-eyed old lads, whose mind today is as alert and clear ever, should be anxious for others to try Paine's celery compound. Mrs, Emyle Hyde Grinnell was born in Ben- nington, Vt., July 6, 1796, and is today living with her granddaughter, the wife of Martin Fowler of Colchester, Vt., a beautiful town near Fort. Ethan Allen. Her father was a farmer and hotel keeper, and she lived upon the farm until her marriage. Mrs. Grinnell bas none of the infirmities of old at daylight, works about the house weather will walks outdoors cine gives me relief and strength. even though much younger than I, enjoy as good health, for my appetite is natural, my sleep re- freshing and I can walk quite a distance without feeling tired. People are surprised at my vigor- ous appearance and activity, which, I believe, is the result of my using Paine's celery It has cured me of constipation, and is of great help to me when over-tired. “Gratefully yours, “Mrs. EMYLE HYDE GRINNELL.”” Paine’s celery compound is especially valuable for recruiting the strength and spent energies of men and women advanced in years. It is the cne preparation considered worthy the mame of a true nerve food and bicod remedy by physicians throughout the country. It is preseribed uy them in every state in the Union to tone up the rystem, regulate the nerves and restore health and strength. Nothing in the past bas ever approached it in power of building up weakened ‘nerve tissues aril cures that embraces every city and town in the wide sweep of the United States. Its remarkable power over disense lies in ite active replacing of parts by mew, healthy ones, and in its healing and purifying action among the most minute tissues of the bods. It searches out the weak parts at once, and sets to work to build them up. The tired body feels the strength- ening effects of Paine's celery compound forth- with. Give the nerves a chance to recover, and the entire body will regain its bealth and strength. Take Paine’s celery compound. MODIFIED WARFARE. What Invention Has Done to Change Methods of Campaigning. From the Engineering News. Let us take a concrete example of the change which modern weapons have wrought in the art of warfare. The cavalry charge has always been a thrilling feature of great battles, and has been celebrated in song and story more then any other incident of battle. It will probably surprise many to learn that there will be few charges either of cavalry or in- fantry in the battles of the future. The success of a charge always depends on the ability of the moving troops to cross the danger space and reach the enemy's lines witheut losses serious enovgb to check the | advance. There has been an enormous in- crease in the rapidity and effectiveness of infantry fire in the past ten years, or even the past five. The danger space is now so wide, the possibilities of rapid firing are so great, and the killing power of the bullets so ter- rible, that neither cavalry nor infantry could now reach intrenched troops without being a The a cherees history will not be repeated in future w: or, if repeated, the result will be the total destruction of the attacking party. Ten- nyson’s “Six Hundred” at Balaklava, sent by mistake “into the jaws of hell, rode back again; “‘but not, not the six hundred. Had that battle — sited yes fy day weapons, not only would none eed hundred ever have ridden back, but none among them would ever have reached the objective point where the turn was made. We may even go further, and say that the science of handling troops upon a battle field must be entirely revolutionized to sult modern weapons. The infantry rifle enables a soldier to fire a hundred rounds of ammunition in four minutes. The bul- lets will kill at a range of between one and two miles, and at point blank range will penetrate sixty pine boards each one inch thick. Besides this, light field machine guns can pour forth a perfect hail of mis- siles with unerring aim. A light-weight Maxim gun, weighing only twenty-five pounds, can fire 600 to 700 shots per minute, with an effective range of two miles. For the latest improved Gatling gun, with elec- tric motor, 1,800 shots per minute are claimed. Heavier field pieces of longer range can deliver twenty-five to thirty 6-pound shots per minute. It is evident enough from these figures that to maneuver masses of troops upon a battle field within sight of an enemy will be to invite their annihilation. As soon as troops come in sight of each other active firing will begin, for were either side to wait till it reached closer quarters it would be pretty certain to suffer heavy losses. Battles in any open country must be fought at long ranges, but even then the facilities will probably be far greater than in the worst conflicts of the civil war. ‘The enormous velocity of the modern pro- jectiles will have a marked influence upon the fatalities of any future war. A bullet which will penetrate sixty one-inch pine boards will require heavy earthworks to protect troops, and field intrenchments can- not be made to afford protection with such rapidity and facility as in past wars. More important still, in firing against troops formed in mass, a single bullet may fre- quently kill several men. With the old ammunition, in countless cases, the soldier in the front rank fell, while the man be- hind him escaped unhurt. Some difference of opinion has existed as to whether the small caliber projectiles of the modern small arm are as fatal as the old-fashioned bullets. Recent investigation appears to show, however, that the enor- mous velocity and rapidity of rotations of the new bullet, with the tendency of the lead to squirt from its metallic envelope on striking an obstacle, make the new bullet much more fatal than the old. There wou!d appear to be little doubt from the above facts that future great battles be- tween opposing armies will be scenes of carnage far worse than the bloodiest fields of the civil war or of the Franco-Prussian campaign. ——EE An Editor. From Truth. 2 ‘There is an cditor I know ‘Who views my ¢rrors blindly, * I send my verses there, and ob, ‘They're spoken of so kindly? I know that what I write shall be By one, at least, respected, And needs no two-cent stamp from me In case it is rejected. I get no checks, it must be told, For an ‘that I've submitted: But he who works for sovdid Ts greatly to be pitied. If_on the pages of he: heart She shall but print my story, Tl deem it well rewarded art, And ask uo greater glory. LONG HAIR FOR MUSICIANS. Its Value Practically Miastrated ‘hrough M. Ysaye. London Truth has recently been discuss- ing the question of the hirsute eccentrici- ties to which the majority of musicians are given. It wonders why things are as they are. “Is long hair an unfailing mark of genius?” it asks. The answer is: No, not necessarily, but it is certainly a mark of policy. it does not require any profound wisdom on the part of a public performer to know that it is better to be talked about for his ugliness or his eccentricify than not to have his personality discussed at all, and if a man be so unfortunate as to possess a normal face and figure, with the average number of features and limbs, in what quarter must he look for individuality save in bis hair? M. Aime Lachaume, the young French pianist who is this year touring with Ri- varde, and who did the same last year with Ysaye, tells how he happened this season to bloom out as one of the long-haired brethren. When he first came to this coun- try M. Lachaume wore his hair in every- day fashion, and also cultivated a rather tentative beard. People heard him play, exclaimed “How unassuming!” went away, and forgot him. Since his conversion, how- ever, the same persons cry, “How hideous! but the man is evidently a genius. Bravo!” and they depart, and this time do not for- &e It was Ysaye who brought this change about. Last year, in the course of their travels, the two artists found themselves in a town somewhere in the west. They were sitting In a room together, when Ysaye exclaimed: “It's no use, Lachaume, I can’t stand that beard of yours any lcnger; it is too ugly, and it must come ut, my dear man,” answered the alarm- ed pianist, “I have taken such pains to grow that beard; it has cost me years of labor and anxiety; besides, you know, one must have something distinctive about one.” “Yes, of course, I know that, but all you've got to do is to let your back hair grow like mine. And there's no time like “ the present, either, so you just sit down in that chair there and we'll make short work of the business.” ° No sooner said than done. In a few sec- onds Lachaume was sitting trembling in the chair, while the great Ysaye wielded the razor about his devoted chin. “In future, my dear boy, use a razor, but never scissors, and you are sure to become tamous.”” Seal cen A Gamblers’ Dinner in Red. From the New York Sun. “While I was in London recently,” said a buyer for an importing house, “a dinner was given at a hotel by two gamblers that was as unique in its way as was the dinner given in Paris a year ago by a young American with more money than brains. These two gamblers had Won 400,000 francs at one sitting from the bank at Monte Car- lo by playing on the red. They promptly returned to London and celebrated the event by giving a red dinner. The room where the dinner was served was draped in red. Red shades were placed over the eiectric lights, geraniums decorated the ta- ble, and the waiters wore red ties, red gloves, red shirts and red buttons on their coats and vests. The menu cards were printed in red, with a roulette on one side and a figure 9 on the other, that being the number of successive runs on the red by which the money was won. Nothing but ted wine was drunk, and the guests were all men whose incomes were derived from games of chance. Gamblers are proverbial- ly superstitious, you know, and the red was played heavily on the following evening.” o'clock the orchestra was rapidly '—Life. |