Evening Star Newspaper, January 11, 1896, Page 18

18 THE EVENING STAR, SATURDAY, JANUARY 11, 1896-TWENTY-FOUR PAGES. : FACTS ABOUT GRANT Interesting Chat With the Widow of the Great Soldier. HE WROTE THE STATE PAPERS HIMSELF Amusing Account of His Interview With a College President. HIS RECEPTION ABROAD (Copyright, 1895, by Frank G. Carpenter.) ° RS. GEN. GRANT = is leacing a retired — life here at Wash- ington. Her home is the mansion of Sena- tor Edmunds, for which she paid $50,000 some months ago. It is a com- fortable brick house of perhaps fifteen rooms, located in one of the most fashion-~ able parts of the city. It was built by Senator Edmunds for his own home, and it 4s a very comfortable dwelling. I called upon Mrs. Grant last week. She does not care for newspaper notoricty, and is anx- fous to be kept in the background. My chat with her, however, was so interesting and so fyll of matter which the American people should know that I have asked her to allow me to publish it. It was merely a rambling cenversation, and I give it very much as it occurred. But first let me tell you how Mrs. Grant Jcoks now in her seventieth year. She is one of the youngest old ladies in Wash- ington.. You would not take her to be more than sixty. Her face is full and al- most free from wrinkles. Her hair is fron gray, ard she has quite a lot of it. Her eyesight has never been very good, and it has failed now so that she cannot read a great deal. She does not wear glasses, however, and to outward appearance her eyes are not weak. She walks easily and firmly, and she tells me she is in good health. Sne is a good talker. Her voice is low and pleasant, and she grows viva- cious cs she reviews some of the wonderful events of her career. She is thoroughly wrapped up in her family, her children and . her grardehildren and in her love for Gen. Grant. In _speakirg of him she refers to him as “The General.” She has a good memory, and she tells many interesting stories concerning him. No married couple ever lived closer to each other than did the Gen. and Mrs. Grant. She was, per- haps, his only real confidant. The two were one in almost everything, and their life was a most beautiful one. For severai years Mrs. Grant has been engaged in writing a book of her reminiscences, This will cover more than fifty years, and it will be full of unwritten history. Mrs. Grant and Li Hung Chang. During my stay in North China about & year ago I bought at Tientsin a negative which was taken of Gen. Grant and Li Hung hang during Gen. Grant’s stay in Tientsin. Copies from this negative are very rare and I took three photographs with me to Mrs. Grant. As she looked them over she said: “I remember very well when this picture was taken. Li Hung Chang and Gen. Grant became great friends during our stay in China, and the two corresponded together up to the time of the general’s death. At this time Li Hu Chang wrote me a long letter of condolence, and at the time of Lady Li's death I wrote him. Some letters pe be us during the late war be- en China and Japan. I Fad expected the Chinese would be victorious, and even after the first suecesses of the Japanese I thonght the Chinese, on account of their encrmous numbers, would finally over- whelm them. At the time we were in China the relations of the two countries were strained 3nd Gen. Grant advised Li that War should be prevented if possible. I wrote to Li Hung Chang to express my re- gret and sympathy when he was wounded by the Jepanese fanatic. He replied to this and sent me the terms of peace which he bad propo: to the Japanese, and after ing the history of the peace Grant's Reception in England. I here asked Mrs. Grant as to some of her experiences in Europe, and in reply she chatted interestingly concerning some of the great courts which she had visited. She described the hcnor with which the general was received everywhere, and grew enthu- siastic as she told how well -he had ac- quitted himself whenever called upon to re- spond to some great speech on the spur of the moment. An imstance of this kind oc- curred at Liverpool. Said Mrs. Grant: “When we landed the wharves were cov- ered with people. There must have been fifty thousand faces upturned to look at us as we came from the ship. We were re- ceived by the mayer, who welcomed the general in a grandiloquent speech as he Presented him with the freedom of the city. I trembled while the mayor was taik- ing, for I knew the general had prepared no response. I was anxious that he should do well in making this his first utterance in England, and I wondered what he would say. He both surprised and delighted me. He made a splendid speech in reply, saying just the right things “in just the right words. It was received with great ap- plause, and was favorably commented upon in all the papers.’ “I suppose, Mrs. Grant,” said I, “that you were often surprised in that way. Gen. Grant had, I imagine, a nature which was full of surprises, had he not?” “I don't know,” replied Mrs. Grant, “that I was often surprised at what the general did. You know I always considered that Gen. Grant was a very great man.” Gen. Grant ‘and the Prince of Wales. “By the way, Mrs. Grant, there has been quite a let published concerning your re- ception in England and your treatment by the nobility.” “Yes,” replied Mrs. Grant, “there has, and the most of that published has been entirely untrue. I have written up the ex- act story in my book, and it will be pub- lished some day. The truth Is that our re- ception was most friendly in every respect, and that by all ciasses. The Prince of Wales was especially cordial, and at the dinner at the Marlborough House, which has been so much written about, he went Much out of his way to pay the highest honors to Gen. Grant. I remember, upon arriving, we had to pass through a wide corridor to get to the reception room, in which the guests were standing, prepar- atery to going cut to dinner. Half way down this corridor there was a door with @ green screen at the side of it. As the general and I walked down together, the Prince of Wales came out and shook hands with Gen. Grant and myself. He greeted the generally very cordially in- deed, and told him that he was anxious that his sons should see him and know him. He then called the little fellows by name. “They were in the room out of which he had just come. They walked in, and the prince introduced them to the general. The boys were, I judge, ten or twelve years old. ‘The little fellows shook hands with General Grant, and then stepped off and looked him over from head to toe, as though they would like see just what kind ef a looking man he was. We chatted a moment longer, and then I asked the prince as to whether we were to move on to the drawing room. He replied ‘Yes," and we walked on into this room, where many of the other guests were assembled. Among those who were at the dinner were the Emperor and Empress of Brazil. They arrived a few moments after we did, and the Prince of Wales presented them to the guests. I remember that the Empress of Brazil saw me when she was half way down the line, and, skipping a number of the guests for the time, she came across the room and shook my hand, saying she was glad to see me again, and referring to the plea | he had had in America while the general was President. I suppose | she was glad to see any one whom she had met before, and for that reason came at ence to me.” A Word With Queen Victoria. “Wii you tell me something of your meet- ing with Queen Victoria, Mrs. Grant said I “I met her at Windsor castle, where the | general and I were invited to dine with her,” replied Mrs. Grant. “When we arrived at the castle a suite of rooms was plated at our disposal, consisting of bed rooms, dressing rooms and a parlor. When we were pre- sented to the queen, her majesty first spoke for a short time to General Grant, and then addressed her conversation to me. We had only a few words tcgether. She said she kad had the pleasure of meeting my little daughter Nellie during her stay in Europe some years before, and I replied, saying that my daughter had been so much pleased with her kind reception that she had be- come one of her loyal subjects by marriage. The queen said she was glad of this, and, with a few other platitudes, the conversa- tion terminated.” Jesse Grant and the Queen’s Dinner. “By the way, Mrs. Grant, what is the true story as to the presence of Jesse at that dinner? You have seen the stori2s which were published some time ago, which Stated that he refused to remain at the din- ner unless he could sit down at her majes- ty’s tabie?” “Yes, I have heard the stories,’ replied Mrs. Grant. “They were not true stories, and I was very sorry to see them published. The truth is that Jesse’s conduct there, as it has always been elsewhere, was that of a gentleman. He was treated iike a gen- tleman everywhere in England, and there was no intent‘on whatever by the Enzlish to slight hin there or anywhere. The mat- ter aroze through a misunderstanding, to put it mildly, on the part of Mr. Badeau. Jesse did not want to go to the dinner at all. He had an invitation that evening to attend a big ball in London, where there were a lot of young people, and when the invitation came he told his father and my- self that he did not want to go. We were very anxious, however, that he should have all the advantages of our tour, and we thought it would be a pleasant thing for him to remember in after life that he had had such an experience. My children were all very obedient, and when I told Jesse that I would like to have him so he at once said he would give up the ball and at- tend the dinner. Shortly after we had ar- rived at Windsor castle and while we were resting in our rooms there, Mr. Bad2au came in very much excited. He said to the general that he had been told that himself wonld interrupt him by telling him gossip -and stories, and, perhaps, asking him ques- tions. He would stand it for a while, but at the third or fourth interruption he would sometimes say, ‘Julia, you must really not talk to me now. I have a very important paper which I am writing, and I can’t do it if you interrupt me.’ Then he would go to work again, and in about half an hour I would forget about what he had said, and would burst out with ‘Ulys, don’t you know that,’ and would go on with another story. He would listen until I got through and then go back to his writing. He made few corrections in what he wrote, and he was thoroughly well posted on al- most everything.” z How Mrs. Grant Overcame the Gen- eral’s Reticence. “Was he much of a talker?” I asked. “Yes,” replied Mrs. Grant, “he could talk very well if he wished to, though it was often hard to get him to talk. He seldom spoke about the war, and there were some subjects which he would never take up of his own accord. He would never allow me, however, to make a misstatement if he could help it, and I often got him to talk- ing about certain things by intentionally stating them in a way which I knew was not correct, whereupon the general would look at me in a despairing way and say: ‘Now, Julia, I think you are mistaken about that, you have it all wrong. It was this way.’ He would then go on to tell the true story of the matter in all its de- tails. He grew interested as he talked. His face lighted up at such times, and he expressed himself in good language. He was a very well read man, and during most of his life he was a hard student.” The True Story of the Harvard Dinner “That is different from the.idea generally held,” said I. “Yes, I know it is,” was the reply, “but many ideas are held concerning Gen. Grant which are not the true ones. I re- member one instance in particular which shows how such stories sometimes arise. It is in connection with the statements made some time ago by the president of Harvard College to his pupils in a-lecture, in which he referred to Gen. Grant, and said that, great as he was in natural abil- GEN. GRANT AND LI HUNG CHANG. and Jesse were not to dine with the queen’s Party, but with the hcusehold. “ ‘But,’ said the general, ‘that’s your good fortune; the household is composed of young ladies and gentlemen of the nobility of Ergland, and would not this be pleasanter for both you young men than to beat the other table?” “Mr. Badeau, however, contended that he and Jesse, were not being treated properly, and complained that it was an insult. A moment later Jesse came in and‘said that Mr. Badeau had informed him that he was to dine.with the household and not with the queen, and if this was so he wanted to go back to London and go to his ball. He said that he had come out there to dine with the queen and if it was a mistake, he thought he ought to be permitted to go back to London. He wanted to know of Gen. Grart as to whether he had iot given the queen’s son a dinner at the White House when he was at Washington, and was so earnest in his desire to return to London that the general finally said he would ascertain as to the truth of the re- port. He then sent out and asked the per- son in authority if it was true that Mr. Grant had not been invited to dine at the queen’s table. The answer came back at once. It was to the effect that the queen mcst certainly expected Mr. Grant to be one of the party at her table, and the re- sult was that Jesse stayed. I think, my- self, that Mr. Badeau was much provoked at the thought tnat he was not to be one of the party at the queen's table and that this was the cause of the trouble.” Prince Bismarck and Mrs. Grant. ‘Hew were you treated at Berlin, Mrs. Grant. Did you meet the old emperor, Kaiser Wilhelm, when you were there?” “No,” replied Mrs. Grant. “It was just after the emperor had been shot by a would- be assassin, and though his wound was not mortal, he couldfnot receive visitors. His palace was shut off by iron chains and the streets and pavements about it were cush- icned with hemlock bark. We were enter- tained, however, by the crown prince and crown princess and again by the Prince and Princess Otto von Bismarck. Prince Bis- marck took the general 4nd myself to the war chamber, where the commission was then sitting to settle the terms of the Russo- Turkish war. The chamber was empty at tke time and he pointed out the chairs in which the different commissioners sat, show- ing me his chair, that of Beacorstield and others. As he did so I asked him what it was all for, and he looked at me evidently very much surprised at my apparent ignor- ance. I hastened to answer that I knew that it was to settle the terms of the war between the Russians and the Turks, but I could not see what the Germans had to do with it. Prince Bismarck straightened him- self up. His face at first was quite sober, but his mouth socn softened into a smile, and he replied: ‘To tell you the truth, madam, Russia has taken too much Turkey and we are helping hér to digest it.’ Bismarck, the Courtier. “Prince Bismarck was very courteous in his manner,” Mrs. Grant went on. “TI re- member upon our departure he walked with me out to the carriage, and when I bade him good-bye and offered him my hand, he took it in his, and then bending low over it, kissed it. As he did so I said: ‘Now, prince, if I go back to America and the people there learn that you have kissed my hand, every German in America will want to kiss it.’ Well,” replied Prince Bismarck, as he looked rather admiringly down at my hand, which looked very small in contrast with his great palm, ‘well, I should not wonder at that.’ He then handed me into the carriage and said good-bye. “Speaking of the meeting of Prince Bis- marck and Gen. Grant,’’ Mrs. Grant went on, “I have seen the statement that when the two met together that the chancellor and the general talked dogs and duck hunt- ing like two boys. This is not true. The general has been represented by some as being effusive in his manner at times. He was always retired and reserved. Even in his own family he was not demonstrative, and he never was what is called a ‘hail fellow, well met’ man with strangers.” How Gen. Grant Wrote His State Papers. I here referred to Gen. Grant's book, and Mrs. Grant told me that it had already netted almost $500,000 to the family, and that it was still selling. She said that Col. Fred had gone over the book and revised it, adding a great many marginal notes as to dates and other matters, and that the new edition, which had recently been brought out, was much better than the first, which had been hurriedly prepared. I spoke to her of Grant's wonderful lit- erary ability, and asked her if it was not a surprise even to her. She replied that it was not. Said she: “Gen. Grant always had a wonderful power of expressing him- self quickly and clearly. It used to make me very angry to see the papers question whether he had written his own reports from the war, or whether they had not been the work of some of his literary clerks. He wrote all of his own reports and that with a pen. His last report of the war was penned in Georgetown in a house near the reservoir there, in which we were living at the time. Every one of his mes- Sages as President was written with his own hand, and no one ever saw them until they were sent to be copied, or to the printers. He wrote many of them in my coming there to be free from callers. would be writing at my desk, and I ity, it was surprising how meager was the general's knowledge of books and how igrorant he was as to matters of literature. He then referred to a dinner which he had attended at which he had sat next to the general and had asked him simple ques- tions about books as to which he did not seem to understand how to answer. I re- member that dinner very well and Gen. Grant’s remarks to me upon his return from it. He sald complainingly: ‘Why is it that I can never have any fun at a din- ner? At this dinner from which I have just come they wanted to do me great honor, as they always do, and they seated me next the greatest man at the table. This was the president of Harvard Col- lege. I saw that if I engaged in conversa- tion with him I would probably spend the whole evening discussing subjects as dry as dust, and I concluded that I would not stand it and that I would have a good time like the rest of the fellows. Shortly after we sat down the president turned to me and asked me some questions regard- ing Napier’s, Peninsular War. I looked as though I knew nothing about any peninsula war. I answered something, but my an- swer was evidently not satisfactory, for the president did rot bother me again for fifteen minutes. When he next turned to me it was with a question about one of Dickens’ novels. I looked very blank at this, and answered in such a way as to make him believe I had never heard of Dickens. The result was that he left me alone for the rest of the evening, and I really had a good time. I suppose, however, that I have ruined my reputation with him.’ “But you ought not ts do such things, Ulys,’ said I. ‘It gives people a bad im- pression of you, and they think you don’t know anything.’ “I don't care,’ replied the general. ‘That man was only a book worm, anyhow, and I did not want to talk books.’ “As to Napier’s Peninsular War,” contin- ued Mrs. Grant, “I doubt whether the learned President was nearly so well post- ed upon it as the general. I remember that he read this during the earlier days of our marriage, and not only read it, but Mrs. U. S. Grant. made copious notes from it. He was well pested on all military works and upon all kinds of literature. Why, he has read thcusands of pages aloud to me. My eyes have never been very strong, and during the greater part of our life he read for hours to me every evening. While we were at Galena he read all the speeches in Con- gress from both sides, and I was, perhaps, as well posted on public questions at that time as any woman in the country. His reading covered a wide range. It embraced all the great histories. He has read most of the novels of Dickens and Thackeray aloud to me, and I doubt whether there was a better read public man in the United States than he was.” ; Gen. Grant’s Tomb. The conversation here turned to the gen- eral’s death, and I asked Mrs. Grant whether, having now moved to Washing- ton, she would not .prefer to have him buried at Arlington rather than at New York. She replied that she did not wish any change made. She said she could go to New York to visit his grave, and that she hoped his resting place would never be changed. She then told me how she hap- Fered to come to Washington, saying that she had not intended selling her New York heuse, but that being told tnat a purchaser wanted it, in order to save discussion she had fixed a price upon it so high that she did not think any one would take it. She had asked $130,000 for it. To her surprise this offer was accepted, and she had to let the house go. In the meantime Mrs. Sar- teris came over to this country, and she wished to live at Washington. Mrs. Grant had found that the climate of New York was such that she could not live there but a few months in the year, and she had hence bought the house in which she is now living. She told me that she liked Washington very much, that some of the Fleasantest days of her life had been spent here, and that she had regretted much when Gen. Grant’s presidential term had come to an end and she had to leave. Col. Fred Grant and the Reforms at New York. In closing my interview I asked Mrs. Grant something about her sons. She told me that Jesse and Ulysses, jr., are doing well in San Diego, where they are largely in- terested in real estate, and are aiding in building up that city, which they believe will be one of the greatest on the Pacific slope. She is much interested in Col. Fred Grant and in his work in New York city, which she, in connection with many others who know what Col. Grant is doing, thinks is hardly appreciated b; iditepublic. The truth, as I learned from well-posted outside parties, and not from Mrs.,Grant, is that Col..Grant is ohe of the hardest workers on the police force, Many of.the lines of policy and some of the best movements that have been made in connectiog with the improve- ments of the New York ab government were suggested by him, and a great part of the active work of the board is done by him. Mrs. Grant tells me that Col. Fred grows more like his fe every year in both looks and actior¥, and he has, she evidently believes, inherit much of his father’s ability. Gl : FRANK G. CARPENTER. >. —_—_ BALLOONS IN WAR TIMES. During the Siege of Potis Sixty-Six Ascended From the City. From the Chicago Record, The list big European war taught the French more about ballooning than they would otherwise have learned in a genera- tion. At the beginning of the war the gov- ernment rejected many proposals from bal- licen makers to construct a number of war balloons, but when they were shut up in -Paris they gladly turned to the balloon to help them. They turned all their disused stations into balloon factories, and sought the services of the few experienced aero- nauts then available for the teaching of the use and manageinent of the balloon to the people. During four months sixty-six bal- loons left Paris, of which number only three lave never been accounted for. This is re- markable when it is remembered that no lights were allowed in night ascensions, and the balloons could only be sent up under cover of darkness. One hundred and sixty persons, including Gambetta, were carried safely over the Prus- sian Hnes, and 2,500,000 letters were sent. The balloons also took with them pigeons, which were sent back to Paris with letters and dispatches. The messages were writ- ten and photographed down very small on exceedingly thin paper. This was rolled up, inserted in a quill, and attached to the tail feathers of the pigeon. When it was received in Paris the photograph was put under a microscope and the message read. One of the balloons, the Ville d’Orleans, left Paris at 11 o’clock at night, and arrived near Christiana, Norway, fifteen hours later, hav- ing crossed the North sea in its remarkable voyage. Most of the aeronauts were sail- ors, who were chosen because of their familiarity with the management and steer- ing of boats at sea, and they proved very capable. During the entire siege balloons formed the only means of communication with the outside world for the imprisoned inhabitants, and nothing could have taken their place. Since then ballooning has been made an important branch of military study, and the course through which the ballooning corps has to pass is becoming daily more scientific and severe. The war balloon must be com- pact, always ready for action, and very strong. It is not large enough for two. It is always captive—that is, it is secured to the earth by a cable. It is seldom emptied of its gas, and is, therefore, always ready for action at a moment's notice. The equip- ment of a balloon corps, besides the balloon itself, consists essentially of two wagons, one large and heavy, somewhat resembling a lumber truck, and the other considerably smaller. The former ts used to fasten the balloon to, and is provided with large reels centaining about 2,000 yards of twisted wire rope. The smaller wagon fs filled with iron Pipes containing gas, and is technically called the “‘tube wago. At the word of command the balloon, al- ready inflated, is released, and bounds up- ward to the height of sevetai hundred feet. uncoiling the rope after ft. The officer in the car takes up with him’maps of the sur- rounding country and a field glass. The po- sition and arrangement af the enemy are marked down on the maps with different colored pencils, indicating cavalry, infantry, etc. These marked maps are then placed in a leather bag, which is attached to a ring, which slides down the cable to the ground, where a mounted officer awaits it, and car- ries the message to the general in commaa¢ Other means of communicating the info: mation have been tried, such as by tele- phone and photography, but -nany officers still cling to the colored pencil method, which, they say, is very sure and effective. ————_+e+____ EXASPERATED MR. JAMISON. If J Was H in Spanish, All Ri He Objected to Ridic: From the Albaquerque News. Five Chicagoans arrived at Albuquerque, N. M,, one day late in August. They were taken in charge by Frank Blake, a Chi- cago boy, who has lived in the west for some years, and were soon shown all the sights of the quaint old town. As they walked along the principal street Mr. Jami- son looked up at a building and remarked: “Bl Jornado Hotel; nice building.” “Yes,” said Blake, “but you must pro- nounce it right. It is El Hornado in the Spanish tongue. J is always H out here.” cht, but “That so?’ answered Jamison. “Funny custom. What's this ureh here—the Cathedral of San Juan?” “San Huan,” cor- rected Blake. Mr. Jamison looked pained, but accepted the correction. A moment later he broke out again. “What's this; La Jolla?” “La Holla,” spoke the ready mentor by his side, and Jamison’s eyes be- gan to roll. So it went through the whole town. Blake corrected Jamison at every turn. When they all got back to the hotel Jamison had a strange, drawn expression on his face, but nobody paid much atten- tion to him. He went into the dining room and called a walter. “Bring me,” said Mr. Jamison, in slow, measured accents, “some fricasseed hack rabbit, with apple helly, and let me have a mint hulep before the meat, please.” The waiter stared at him, and somebody at the next table snickered. That was the last straw. The Chicago man sprang to Lis feet, ablaze with ‘indignation. “By hingo!’”’ he thundered, ‘‘what hackass dares criticise my Spanish hargon? By the great humping Hudas! I'm Him Hamison of Hackson boulevard, and I'll give some of you fellows a swift holt in the haw in four seconds! Oh, yes, I suppose you think this is a higantic hoke, but I don’t. You're hay- ing lots of hoy with me, but I'll come over there and hoin in this hovial hamboree in in about half a hiffy if you don’t quit your hoshin! I’m no hay, and I don’t come from New Hersey. If my friend Horge Henny of the Marquette Club was here, we’d do some huggling with you hackals, and don’t you forget it—” Here the waiters and the rest of the Chi- cago delegation dragged Mr. Jamison away. He fecovered under careful nursing, but made all haste to get out of New Mexico as soon as he could catch a train. —_—__+e+—____ Tempering Saws. From the Chicago Record. Tempering saws is an elaborate process, and none but the best workmen are em- ployed. Instead of being hardened by dip- ping the red-hot saw in water, a composi- tion of whale or some other animal oil and tallow is used. Sometimes rosin, pitch or turpentine is mixed with the tallow and oil. The oil and tailow give the)steel strength and toughness, and the rosin, pitch or tur- pentine break up the scale made by the heat, or, as it is called, ntake& “the scale strike.” ‘The saw is carefully heated in a furnace, which gives every part:of thé thin metal an even heat. Then the binde 48 dipped in the hardening mixture, and kept there until it is as cool as the composition When taken from the oil and tallow mixture the oll is removed by scraping, and the blade is fur- ther cleaned with sawdust. When the steel is bright;<the temper is drawn. This is done if several ways: By laying it in a muffle until the proper color ccmes, by reheating the blade in a frame which stretches it so that the blade will not warp, and by heating it'‘between dies which hold the blade flat. Gent—“It would be a good thing if some barbers were Barber—‘“‘Hovy, Gent—‘Under razors.”* St. Paul's. 2 © @ © deepest ocean. the bottle. in? Every SSOSSSSSSOS SOHOSOSDOSOHHGOHHHNHHHHSOGOH OOS DSOSSESO8 ® A er awards due its merits. to prick such bubbles. BULIGTLeS o= [HEDIS “Best sarsaparillas.’” When you think of it, how contradictory that term is. ONE best in anything---one best sarsaparilla, as there is one highest mountain, one longest river, one And that best sarsaparilla is -——? There’s the rub. You can measure mountain height and ocean depth, but how test sarsaparilla? You could if yéu were chemists. But then do YOU need to test it? The World’s Fair Committee tested it,-and thoroughly. They went behind the label on What did this sarsaparilla test result make of sarsaparilla shut out of the Fair EXCEPT AYER’S. So it was that Ayer’s was the only sarsaparilla admitted to the World’s Fair. The committee found it the best. They had no room for anything that was not the best. best, Ayer’s Sarsaparilla received the medal and Remember the word “best” is a bubble any breath can blow; but there are pins Those others are blowing more “best sarsaparilla” bubbles since the World’s Fair pricked the old ones. parilla has the medal. Still have doubts? Send for the “Curebook.” It kills doubts and cures doubters. J. C. Ayer Co., Lowell, Mass. For there can be only True, but Ayer’s Sarsa- The pin that scratches the medal proves it gold. The pin that pricks the bubble proves it wind. We point to medals, not bubbles, when we say: The best sarsaparilla is Ayer’s. @OSCHDGOFSISSOz® OHH90S29 And as the GOOH9HOHSSO9HSSO 9OS9HHOGHO HOSS 9NDHODOSOO POCSDPSGSHGHHVDSODSNO OOOO 2 ® fost Y OS THE MEXICAN BOUNDARY. Work of the International Commis- sion Nearly Finished. Los Angeles Corr. New York Times. Since July, 1802, the international bound- ary commission has been engaged in re- surveying the boundary line between the United States and Mexico. The commis- sioners fer the United States are army oificers connected with the geodetic survey. Senor Blanco and Dolores Sanchez are ecmmissioners for Mexico. The commis- sion began work at El Paso, Tex., and worked slowly westward across the moun- tains, canons, deserts and through the Co- copah and Seri Indian countries to San Diego. The party consisted of eighty en- gineers, soldiers and laborers. They finish- ed the practical work of surveying and es- tablishirg monuments along the boundary line weeks ago, and have gone on to El Paso to resurvey and establish the bound- ary line between the Union and Mexico along the Rio Grande to the Gulf of Mex- ico. Meanwhile a corps of draughtsmen has been busy in Los Angeles in completing maps, profiles and details of the labors of the boundary survey from El Paso to the Pacific ocean. A survey of the boundary was made by a commission, headed by Col. E. T. Emery (4849-53), after the Mexican war. Fifty- two stune mcnuments were then establish- ed. Many of them were poorly built and have since fallen down, and examinations of the original surveys have shown that others were not accurately placed. Seven years ago an ag-eement for a new survey was entered into between the two re- publics. It was stipulated that no correc- tions of the boundary should affect the title to property adjacent to it. Several errors have been found. One gives an area of forty square miles to Uncle Sam in New Mexico. Another error at the lower part of the Colorado desert gives President Diaz’s government about sixty square miles of sand, cacti and rattlesnakes. The boundary commission has rebuilt the 52 early boundary monuments and set up 206 more, at an expense of about $8,000. The new monuments consist of an iron shaft, bearing the letters “U. S.” on the north side and the word “Mexicana” on the south side. The shaft is set in a heavy block of granite, and this in turn is laid on a fcundation of cement and concreie. Several interesting facts concerning the evaporation of water from the human body were ascertained. The extraordinary dry- ness of the air of the Colorado and Arizona deserts causes very rapid evaporation from the body. Observation proved that nine quarts of water daily was needed for each man to prevent the blood from thickening and becoming feverish. Each mule requir- ed twenty gallons daily. One surveyor was without water for several hours. He be- came feverish and light-headed. Lack of water for a few hours longer would have killed him. This was in a shade tempera- ture of 120 degrees, where the air was ab- solutely dry—so dry that fresh meat, in- stead of putrefying, simply dried up. At one place the surveyors found the bodies of three prospectors within 100 feet of a nat- ural water tank formed in the rocks. To get to this water the poor fellows had to climb upward twenty feet or so. Their strength was exhausted, and, with water just a few feet beyond them, they died. Thirst in the desert is horrible. The victim first feels pain between the shoulders. The tongue thickens, and feels as if filled with needle points. The eyes are painful, and finally any movement of the body causes excruciating pain. As the blood thickens the victim becomes delirious. A principal cause of death in the deserts of southern Arizona is the terrific sand- storms, similar to those of the Sahara. The surveyors in the international commission were once nearly killed by suffocation dur- ing such a storm. For half an hour they watched a black cloud approach. The camp was made ready. The oncoming wave of wind and dust broke over it with violence. The air was filled with fine dust. The men began to suffocate. An officer ordered them to breathe through their handkerchiefs. In this way they were able to get barely enough air to sustain life. Without the handkerchiefs the nose and mouth of the men became caked with dust, and they gasped for breath. The fury of the storm passed in fifteen minutes, but at 3 p.m. the camp was enveloped in the pitchy dark- ness of midnight. Even veteran officers thought that the whole party was doomed. They marvel now that they cscaped alive. ——____-+ e+ ___— Force of Habit. From the Southbridge (Mass.) Journal. Bicycle Manufacturer—““Where am I?” Nearest Angel—‘Why, this is heaven. Isn't it delightful?” Bicycle Manufacturer—“Yes, indeed. It’s very pleasant. But, I say (looking about critically), you ought to have better roads,” WHY CALLED TUMBLERS. Curious Origin of the Name of an Article of Daily Use. From the Jeweller’s Circular. Every day we drink out of a. tumbler. Why is the large glass that holds our milk and water so called? Years ago Prof. Max Muller was giving a luncheon at All Souls’ Ccllexe, Oxford, to the Princess Alice, the wife of the grand duke of Hesse-Darm- stadt and the second daighier of Queen Victoria. There were not a dozen guests besides the princess and her husband, and a very agreeable luncheon we had, with talk on all kinds cf interesting subjects. But what excited the curiosity of all strangers present was a set of little round bowls of silver, about the size ofa large orange. They were breveht round filled to the brim with the famous ale brewed in the coilege. These, we are told, were tum- biers, and we were speedily shown how they came by their names—a fitting lesson for the guests of a philologist. When one of these little bowls was empty it was placed upon the table mouth downward. Instantly, so perfect was its balance, it flew back to its proper position as if ask- ing to be filled again. No matter how it | Was treate¢—trundled aleng the floors, bal- anced carcfully on its side, dropped sud- denly upon the soft, thick carpet, up it rolied again and settled itself with a few gentle shakings and swayings into its place, like one of those India rubber tum- bling dolls babies delight in. This, then, was “the crisin of our word tumbler, at first mede of silver, as are all these All Souls’ tumblers. Then, when glass became common, the round glasses that stood on a flat base superseded the exquisitely balanced silver spheres and stole their names so successfully that you have to go to All Souls’ to see the real thing. ee eee NO SEEDS, NO LOYALTY. A Man Who Had a Longing for Melo- dramatic Farming. From the Nebraska State Journal. We recently sent to Secretary Morton a politely worded letter asking him to send us all the seeds the government can spare, as we contemplate engaging in melodra- matic farming in the suburbs of Beatrice next year. Mr. Morton replied promptly, saying that the darned old government has gone out of the bustness of distributing seeds gratuitously, the Atterney General having explained the law on the subject. We have always been a loyal citizen, paying taxes cheerfully and refraining from personal violence when the assessor came around, but we withdraw our allegiance and will boom anarchy in its worst form if the wopperjawed administraticn can’t af- ford to send us a few measly old eowcum- ber seeds in the hour of ou: greatest need. If the Agricultural Department isn’t going to supply honest husbandmen with seeds, what is it there for? To issue a dry-as-dust report once a year, and give the President an ornamental member of his cabinet? To pay meat inspettors who wouldn't know a dead horse from a wheelbarrow? To issue charts predicting rain where dry weather is a sure thing and explaining why the guess of the day before was so wide of the mark? We sincerely hope that this country will come to war with England, if for no other reason than to see the Agricultural Depart- ment building blown off the map. 2 He Had Been. From the Indianapolis Journal. Miss Gush—“Oh, captain, were you ever boarded by a pirate?” Captain Storms—“Yes. He charged me $11 a day for a hall room on the fourth floor.” “Now, Sissy Thompson, show these great big boys that you can read writing just as well as they, even if you are so small!” Sissy (slowly)—“This—is—a—warm—dough- nut;—tread—on—it!""—Life. A LIVELY SEANCE IN PARIS. , Spirits the Faithful Thought, but th: Authorities Differed. From the Philadelphia Evening Telegraph. A few days ago a lady, who was absorbed in fhe mysteries of occultism, invited a se- lect circle of friends to come to her fiat, on the Rue Breda, and form a mystic circle to invoke the spirits of the departed. The mys- tic circle assembled, and the seance seemed to promise great things. The floors creaked and groaned, extraordinary noises were heard on every side, and suddenly a sound like the report of a cannon was heard, and before the assembly had time to comment on the extraordinary animation of their spirit friends, the flooring on one side of the room sapk in with a crack, carrying the piano and some of the furniture two floors down into the cellar. It was early in the evening, happily, so no one was crushed in the bed room immediate- ly underneath, and, as the rest of the floor- ing held good, the spiritualistic investigators got out safely with undignified haste, and the tottery house is being guarded by the Police to prevent people from risking their precious lives by entering it. Some ardent believers declare that the spirits showed their strength by demolishing the premises, but the municipal authorities, more pro- saically, are going to sue the architect and landlord for not keeping the house in proper repair. The person most to be pitied in the matter is the lady whose drawing room fur- niture got so entangled with the contents of her wine cellar as to render both quite use ivss henceforward. —————-e+—_____ > Weight a Quality Unimpaired. From the Courier-Journal. A man at one of the hotels the other night told an interesting story of how the freighters in the far west used to supply themselves with whisky. He said that some years ago when all freight on the frontiers was hauled in wagons, he happened to make a trip of several hundred miles with a train of wagons carrying merchandise to remote stations. Nearly every wagon con- tained one or more barrels of whisky. “The first night out I noticed,” said he, “great activity around the whisky barrels. The wagons each had a hatchet and a gimlét. They would knock up a hoop, bore a hole, draw all the whisky they wanted, then put about as much fine gravel in te barrel as they had drawn out whisky, drive a plug in the hole and put the hoop back in place. “I learned afterward that the barrels were weighed and the whisky tested be- fore it was turned over to the freighters, and that when it arrived at its destination it was again weighed and tested. The gravel supplied the weight and bulk and the quality remained the same and this was why it was used instead of water to supply the place of what had been taken out.” ————+ee______ The Noiseless Rubber Tire. From the New York Sun, “The number of rubber tires in use on car- riages,” said an observer, “appears to be all the time increasing. Oftener and oftener now up town, especially at night, when car- riages largely predominate and the sound of them is not blended as it may be by day with the sound of many other vehicles, you hear the clatter of horses’ hoofs, but not the old-time accompanying rattle of wheels. The cab or carriage has rubber tires. I am not so sure that I like this. I always did like the sound of a well-built carriage, with everything about it keyed up snugly; no rattling or play anywhere, but with every- thing fitting nicely, and the carriage run- ning easily and smoothly. The wheels of such a vehicle make music on the street pavement. I think I like that sound better than I do the noiselessness of the rubber tires.” ——__+e+_. Not a Great Deal. From the Detroit News-Tribune. “I'm engaged to three just at present,” she said. “Yes. A good deal on hand? Oh, no. Not nearly as much as I have had. ‘There is but one diamond in this Jot.” Upon a rough estimate she would put the aggregate value at $15 ———-e-—______ It Wears Of. From the Chicago Post. “So you've been admitted to the bar, have you?” said the old cynic, pleasantly, “I have,” replied the young man, proudly. “Feel a little backward and diffident at first, I suppose?” “A litte.” “Of course; but it'll wear off. You'll be calling yourself judge inside of thirty days, They all do that now.”