Evening Star Newspaper, January 25, 1896, Page 16

16 THE EVENING STAR, SATURDAY, JANUARY 265, 1896-TWENTY-FOUR PAGES. ~—h GHOST TRAIN Se BY W. L. ALDEN. ——— es (Copyright, 1896, by W. L. Alden.) “Do you mean to tell me,” I asked the sta- tion master, “that you really believe that a train has a ghost, and that ghosily trains run over actuai railways at night?” “If you were a railroad man,” replied n-y friend, “you'd see the foolishness of asking such a question! Do I believe in ghost trains? You might as well ask me if I be- lieve in Pullman cars. Why, man! every railroad man knows that ghost trains are Gable to be met with almost any night. I don’t say that they are common, but I do say that there are lots of men who have seen "em, and have just as much reason be- Meving in "em as they have for believing in any regular train.” “Have you yourself ever seen a ghost train?” I asked. The station master chewed his cigar for a moment in mee, and then said: “Seeing as it’s you that asks me, I'll teil you some- thing that I haven’t told any man for mgre than ten years, unless he happened to be an experienced railroad man. You see, I got tired of having people doubt my word, and fnsinuate that I was a lunatic, or had been drinking too much whisky. You'll perksps think the same, but what I'm going to tell you is a cold fact, and there ain't a bit of lying, or poetry, or political argufying. or any of those sort of imaginative thirgs about it. You know the road from here to Tiberius Center? It’s pretty near a straight line, but when I first came into these parts, the trains used to run from here to ‘Tiberius Center by a mighiy roundabout way. The line, as it was originally laid out, ran in a sort of semi-circle, taking in half a dozen small tow ying northwest of this place. After a the company surveyed the tall running and over some mighty rouga ground, but I never before or since knew a car to jump and roll and shake herself generally as that car did. I began to think that the engineer was either drubk or crazy and that the passengers had got so scared that they had all left the train. To tell the truth, I would have been glad to have left the train myself, but I never was fond of jumping, and if there is any man who says that he likes to jump from a train that is doing forty or fifty miles an hour, why just don’t believe him. “All of a sudden I thought of the bell cord, and I decided that I would pull it and stop the train. Thea if any conductor appeared I would tell him who I was and inform him that if he didn’t make his en- gineer run the train in a decent way 1 would take good care that the division superin- tendent should know all about the thing. So I got hold of the bell cord and gave it a fairish sort of pull—not the very hardest sort of a pull, you understand, but just a moderate pull. The cord broke in my hand as easy as if it had been a piece of thread, and all chance of stopping the train that way disappeared. I looked at the bell cord and saw that it was as rotten as a poli- tician’s consgience, so I just broke off a Piece of it, about two or three yards long, and put it in my pocket, intending to show it to the division superintendent as a speci- men of the way in which Pullman car con- ductors attended to their business. “All the time the train was rushing ahead at a speed that would have been counted worth noticing even on the New York Cen- tral. When she struck a curve—and there were lots of them—she just left the track en- tirely, and swung round that curve with her wheels in the air. And when she did strike the track again you can bet that things shook. Of course I don’t mean that the train actually did leave the track, but that was the way it would have seemed to you if you had been aboard that car. I went to the forward door to see if there was any chance of getting into or over the baggage car and so reaching the engineer, but it new th Eagle mountain. The old line wasn't entirely abandoned unul about two years ago, but after the tunnel was finished, only one passenger train each daily on the old line, and a freight train three times a week. “I had a brother who lived up at Man- lius, a town on the old line, about seventy miles from here. That is to say, Manlius was his post office address, but he lived in a house that was three miles from the sta- tion, and there wasn’t any town of Man- S, except the station house and a little shanty that was used as a post office. I vas a kind of a general assistant at this ation where we are now, and there ing very much work on hand, I got jays’ leave and took the train up to » my brothe! It was just about a year fter the new line had been opened, and as the company meant to abandon the old line. they hadn't put- any repairs on it worth speaking of, and it was about the roughest road you ever traveled over. “I was a little scared myself, though, as a ruk, I never troubled myself about rail- read ac ts, knowing that they're bound ae, and you can’t help yourself. There d been“a-terfible bad accident on that road just before the expresses quit unning over it. A train with a Pullman car full of pasSengers went off the track just as she had struck a bridge over the Muskzhoot river, and as the bridge was over eighty f high, and the river was t_ deep, nobody ever saw ; of that train, or of anybody peted With it, from that day to this. I got up to my brother's along 8, or mebbe half-past S o'clock in the ng, and found him gone away and the locked up. I hammered on the doors and tried the windows till I had settled that there wasn’t any one at home, and that I couldn't break in, and then I mean- dered back to the station, calculating to pass the night in the wood shed, and take the train back to Jericho the next day. It had been snowing hard, and there was near a foot of snow on a level, let alone the big drifts that were here and there. I was pretty well fagged out when I got to the station, which, of course, was shut up for the night, and if it hadn’t been that I had a quart of whisky in my pocket, I uuld have come near freezing to death. went into the wood shed and got round behind the wood, where the wind couldn’t reach me, and after cussin’ my brother for ‘@ spell, on account of his having gone off and shut up his house, I made my prepara- tions for taking a nap. Just then I heard the rumble of a train. This naturally as- tonished me, knowing as I did exactly what trains were running on that road, and that there wasn't any sort of train due at that station for the next fifteen hours. How- ever, the train kept coming nearer and rearer, and pretty soon I heard the grind- ing of the brakes, and understood that the train was coming to a stop. I didn’t lose any time in getting out of that wood shed, and going for that train. I could see it standing clo@® to the water butt, about fifty yards down the road, and knew, of course, that the engineer was taking in water. When I reached her, I saw that the train consisted only of a haggage car and a Pullman sleeper. I swung myself up on the rear platform of the sleeper, and push- ed the door open with a good deal of trou- ble, for the woodwork seemed to have swelled, and there wasn’t anybody to help me from the inside of the car. “When I got inside I looked around for the passengers, but there wasn’t a single one. Neither was there any sign of the porter, who ought to have been there to ask me for my ticket, and to pretend that I was making him a lot of trouble by ask- ing for a bed. You know the ways of por- ters, and how they always make you feel that if you don’t give them a pretty big tip, you are a good deal worse than a slave iriver. The car was lit up after a fashion by a single oil lamp, and all the berths looked as if the passengers had just jump- ed out of them, and the porter hadn't been round to make up the beds. I couldn't think what had become of the passengers, seeing as they couldn’t have gone into the baggage car, and it didn’t seem probable that a whole carful eculd have distributed themselves at way stations. However, that wasn’t any affair of mine. I opened both doors of the car to let a little air biow through, for it was very musty, and then I picked out a good berth, and calculated to turn in for the night. I soon found that those berths weren't fit for any Christian to sleep in, for the bed clothes were as damp as if they had been left out in a rain storm. Where the water had come from that hed soaked them I couldn't imagine, for it hadn’t rained any for a week, and it stood to reason that the snow couldn't have drifted into the car, shut up as tight as it was. Then it puzzled me to imagine why the porter hadn’t taken the wet clothes away,.and what had become of him any- how. "The whole business was enough to throw a man off his balance, and I gave up thinking about it, and, going into the wash room, I sat down ia the wash basin, which was the only dry seat in the car, and, lean- ing up against the corner, tried to get a re “ISy this time the train had left the st tion several miles behind, and was run. ne, and bored the big tunnel through | would have taken a monkey in first-rate training to have climbed over that baggage car without breaking his neck at the rate at which we were running. I went back in- to the sleeper again, and, holding on to a berth, tried to light up a cigar, but some- how the match didn’t seem to take much interest in the thing. I felt confident that in a few minutes more the car would leave the track and go to everlesting smash, and I remember feeling thankful that I had gone cver my accounts just before leaving Jeri- cho, and that nobody could fail to under- stand them. Just then I thought of the brake. If I should go out on the platform and put the brake on, the engineer would feel the drag on the car and would stop the train, unless he was stark mad. At any rate, the thing was worth trying. “I got out on the platform, hanging on for all I was worth to the hand rail, until I got hold of the brake wheel. It was as rusty as if it had been soaking in water for a week, but I didn’t mind that. I jammed that brake down good and hard, but the brake chain snapped almost as easy as the bell cord, and there was an end of that plan for stopping the train. Of course, I knew that a brake chain sometimes snaps, and you can’t prevent it, but it was curious that both the bell cord and the brake chain on that car should have been good for nothing. “Well, I got back into the car again, and I took a middling good drink of the whisky, and it sort of warmed up my courage. I never was a drinking man even in my young days, for I despise a drunkard, es- pecially if he is a railroad man. But I hadn't bad above six or seven drinks that and I knew that another moderate wouldn't do me any harm. I was be- ning to feel @ little better, when I re- membered that I had never heard the whistle of the locomotive since we had started from Manlius station. That show- ed me that the engineer wasn’t either drunk or mad, for in either case he would have blown his whistle about two-thirds of the time; there being nothing that a crazy man or a drunken engineer finds as sooth- irg as a steam whistle. I couldn't explain our flying around curves and other level crossings without sounding the whistle, except on the theory that the engineer had dropped dead in his cab. But then there would have been the fireman. Both of the men couldn’t very well have died at the same minute, and if there was any- thing the matter with the engineer, the fireman would naturally either have stopped the train and tried to get help, or he would have run it very cautiously, that not being his usual business, and would have been very particular about whistling at the proper places. Not hearing the whistle was, on the whole, more astonishing to me than finding a Pullman car without a passenger, or without a nigger porter; and with the bed clothes soaked with water, and the bell cord almost too rotten to bear its own weight. “There wasn’t a thing to be seen through the car windows, for they were thick with dirt. So, wanting to get some idea of the locality that we had got to, I went out on the rear platform again, and getting down gn the lower step I leaned out to have a look all around. Just then we started around another curve, and what with my firgers being a little numb, and what with the swaying of the car, I lost my hold, and was shot off that train like a mail bag that is chucked on to our platform when the Pacific express goes booming by. “Luckily I fell into a snowbank and wasn’t seriously hurt. However, the shock unned me for @ while, and when I came to, and found that my skull I had no bones bi and that all a ae & it was noon the next y before I woke up. . “There wasn’t any train to Jericho until Sor 8 o’clock, so not having anything to night train, he sort of smiled, see he didn’t believe me. ‘I don’t say that the train sto; here,’ I said, ‘for the last I saw of it was a mile or so up the road, where I fell off the rear platform into @ snowbank. But all the same, I did come most of the way from Manlius last night in a Pullman sleeper.’ “Then, you must have comg on what the boys call the ghost train,’ says Hank. ‘What train’s that,’ says I. ‘Why, it’s the ghost of the train thi went off the bridge on the Muskahoot river. The boys do say that every once in a while there is a train made up of a locomotive, @ baggage car and a Pullman sleeper, that comes down the road hustlin’, and goes off the Muskahoot bridge into the river. BS never saw no such train myself, but there's lots of folks Hving along this road that have seen it, and you'd have hard work to convince ‘em that it isn’t the ghost of the wrecked train. Come to think of it that there train was wrecked just a year ago last night, and it’s probable that her ghost was out for gn airing, as you might say.’ “Well, when I came to think the thing over, Tica to the conclusion that Hank was right, and that the Pullman with the wet bedclothes, and the rotten bellcord, was nothing more or less than the ghost of a car. fowever, I didn’t say much more to Hank about it at the time, for the less a man talks about seeing ghosts the better it is for him, if he wants to be considered a re- Mable man. But as soon as I got back to Jericho I went to see the division superin- tendent and told him the whole story. “ ‘See here,’ he said, when I had got through, ‘I suppose I ought to report you, but, considering that you were not on duty last night, and that You're not a drinking man as a general thing, I sha’n’t say any- thing about it. But if you'll take my ad- vice, you'll not tell that ridiculous story to anybody else.’ “Then you think I was drunk and dreamed the whole thing, do you?’ I asked. “TJ don’t think so,’ says he. ‘I’m sure of it. I’ve just been over the division reports, and no such train as you describe has been seen at any station. Besides, I know where every Pullmar car in the company’s service is just at this identical time, and it’s im- possible that a Pullman should have been on the Manlius branch last night. No train of any kind went over that branch between 8 o'clock last night and 7 o'clock this morn- ing.” “Then I wish you'd explain how I trav- eied from Manlius station to East Fabius- ville last night between 9 and 12. I can prove by the conductor of the up-train that he let me off at Manlius after 8 o’clock last night, and I can prove by the landlord of the Fablusville Tavern that I put up at his house just before 12 o'clock. A man, whether he is drunk or sober, can’t travel seventy miles in three hours, unless he does it on a railroad train.’ “The superintendent was a mighty smart ma@® but this conundrum of mine was more than he could answer. So he only smiled in an aggravating sort of way, and said: ‘You’d better take my advice and keep quiet. You know how down the direc- tors are on any man that drinks too much whisky. If you go about talking of this adventure of yours, the chances are you'll lose your place.’ “Just then I happened to think of the piece of bell-cord that I had taken from the.car. I put my hand in my pocket, and there it was, sure enough. I held it up, and said to the superintendent: ‘There's a piece of the rotten bell-cord that I told you akout. Perhaps you'll say I dreamed six feet of cord into my pocket.’ “The superinterdent took it, and I could e that he was considerable staggered. yu say you got this out of the Pullman sleeper that you dreamed about?’ he asked. “That's just exactly and precisely the identical place where I got that cord afore- said,’ says I, as solemn as if I was on my oath. “Well” says he, ‘I take back what I said about your having been drunk. That there cord hasn't been in use in any car on this road for more than a year. The last car that had a cord like that was the one that went into the Muskahoot river. That's a cotton cord, and we’don’t use anything but hemp nowadays.” “Then you think that I was on a ghost train, after all,” says I. “‘] think,’ says he, ‘that the less you say about it the better—that is, if you care to follow my advice. If you keep on talking about it, you'll have half the trainmen on the division watching for ghosts and ne- glecting their regular duties.” “Of course, I promised to do as the su- perintendent said, and I never mentioned the ghost train until this particular super- intendent had skipped to Canada with over $100,000. He was a most amazing smart man, and if I had gone against his wishes, I wouldn't have stayed in the company’s service very long. However, when I did begin to tell the story, nobody believed me, except now, and then an old train hand who had seen ghost trains himself, and knew all about ’em. I’ve told you the story as straight as a die, and you can take it or leave it, just as you choose. As Horace says, ‘There’s more things in heaven and the other place than a philosopher ever dared to dream about. ——_— HOME WITHOUT SLIPPERS. Mr. Caudle Has His Innings and Re- Heves His Mind. | From the Boston Traveller. He had taken off his boots and was down on his hands and knees in the room search- ing for something, when his wife noticed him. ‘ “What are you looking for, William?” she asked. “My slippers,” he replied. “Oh, I gave those old things away today,” she sald. . “You gave them away!” he repeated, and then he added solemnly: ‘Mrs. Miffler, are you trying to drive me away from home?” “Of course not. I—’ “What is home without slippers?” he in- terrupted. “What is an evening at home with heavy boots on your feet? Mrs. Mif- fler, what do you think constitutes home?” “Why, you can get another pair,” she protested. “Of course I can,” he exclaimed. “I can get a new pair of stiff-soled slippers and spend thirty days breaking them in.” “The others were torn, and—” “That’s why I liked them! They were comfortable. When I got them on things seemed homelike. I was settled for the eveniag, and a four-horse team could not get me out again. But now—now I am ready for the club or theater, or any old place. Slippers, Mrs. Miffler, help me to make the difference between the home and the office, and old slippers make the differ- ence the greatest.” “I can’t see why—" “Of course you can’t. No woman ever can; but I tell you, if I were running things I'd make every woman take a course in slippers. That's what is needed more than suffrage or anything else in that line. Just slippers—nothing but slippers.’ He got up, stamped around the room in Bis stocking feet for a minute or two, and then put on his boots again. ‘This isn’t home,” he sald bitterly. “It isn’t a bit like it. I’m going to the club.” Sane An Outland Voyage. From the Youth's Companion. The tall shi ea oa the tall ships go But there’s never a ship so fair and fine, Never a ship so brave as mine, ‘As mine that sailed away. Bright in the light, and in th phd mite when the waves glow aun” ie gulls go by with their great 5 But the sails of my ship were gold and eine? xy shone like the setting sun. ‘They make good cheer in the ti pine sallors home trom ee nt ut the crew of my ship they feast with kings, In emerald crowna, and rings, ‘And coats of the ¢ le. Fine is the freight their ships bring But mine bears finer "tar: = Pearls and roses, and links of gold, Myrrb, and amber, and rich bales rolled, ‘As bright as the morning star. "Twas May-day morn that my shi pail the dew on er furans ler re wrea' with the hawthorn bloom, As the stole through the dusk of the dawning gloom Like a ghcst, or a bride new-wed. ee ‘The Mry-day nd the May-da} lifes ene nn ‘when my sbip come for me me back to mine own countrie, the sun by the ontmost sea, of the Long Ago. ) set sail, i ‘WAS SURE ‘TO COME BACK, ‘The Dog Brought His Owner a Small but Certain Income. Brom the Philadelphia Times. E Henry B. Grog,[the manufacturer, had some time ago s very peculiar experience with a dog—a red red setter dog. His business took him to Elkton, Md. There in front of a drug store he saw what he thought was ® wery handsome and fine dog, although het not profess to be & Judge of the canine race. The thought came to his mina that his wife was very anxious to Doseest an animal of that char- acter, and so he’ fiquired of the man of drugs if he would part with his four-footed belonging. The 'eduntry Galen sald: “I dunno. Purty good dog, that. Wouldn't mind selling him: if- t enough for him. Let ye have him for a tenner.” Mr. Gross closed the'bargain with avidity. The druggist generously threw in the chain, and, holding one end of it, the Philadelphian tugged his prize to the railroad station, jeal- ously guarded him in the baggage car dur- ing the journey to the Quaker city, brought him to his home and triumphantly presented him to his spouse. ‘There was joy in the Gross household. In order to accustom him to his surroundings, the dog was chained at night in the basement, and from midnight to sunrise the neighborhood was aroused with his howls. It was thought this vocal condi- tion would pass by in twenty-four hours, but the next night was worse than the last, and in order to subjugate the animal the irate Gross arose from his couch and bela- bored him full sore, hoping thereby to bring him to a realization of proper conduct, just as recalcitrant children are sometimes sub- dued. The dog remained quiet during the day, but when the dog star again flamed in high heaven he lifted his voice and wailed in a way that made the teeth of the neighbor- hood grit and women turn pale with fear that death was In the house. Then the man- ufacturer, arising once more, went down and, after another flagellation, unchained him and let the canige pest loose in the yard, hoping that a comparatively free condition might bring him to a realization of his iniquity. The little free space in the rear of the house was surrounded with a fence about six feet high, which was sup- posed to give ample obstruction to the es- cape of the Elkton animal. Next morning when the Gress household arose from slum- ber that once again had come to disturbed pillows the dog was gone, and had left no sign of his going. Several months later business again took Mr. Gross to Elkton, and, as he passed by the apothecary’s shop, there, blinking and basking in the sun, was the self same dog that he had carried with him to Philadel- phia. He said to the smiling son of Gale: “Why, that’s my dog you have there.” “Certainly it 1s,” said the apothecary, smilingly. “I didn’t take him away from you. He belongs to you. Take him home with you. He et back here somehow, but he.is your property.” ‘The Philadelphian said that he had some business at the other end of the town, and would return for the dog later. A’ by- stander who had heard the conversation followed him, and, accosting him, inquired: “Say, mister, did you buy that dog?” He was assured that such was the case, and then he chuckled. “Why,” he said, with a laugh, “that drug store man makes @ pretty good living selling that dog. He has sold him about twenty times during the last year, but he comes back every time. You can’t keep him away. May I ask how much you paid?” When informed that $10 was the price paid, he laughed immoderately, and when he recovered himself he said: ‘Well, you are a greeny. That is the highest figure paid yet. Two dollars used to. be the recu- lar price, and he finally got it up to $5, but $10 beats the record.” Full of ire, the Philadelphian went back to the lair of the soda water fountain, and said to its proprietor: “You have robbed me. You make a business of selling this dog.” The man placidly said: “What complaint have you to make? ‘There is your dog. Take him home with you.’t ‘There was some further argument, and finally, when it was suggested to the apoth- ecary that $10 was beyond the usual price, he said, pleasantly: “Well, perhaps it is. But, of course, you must remember that the dog had to walk back, and we are entitled to some compensation, but I am willing to return you $5,” and upon that basis the ca- nine deal was settled. Mr. Gross is now hunting for a good dog. PHILATELISTS HAVE POWER. They Bring “About a Reform of Abuses in Widely Separated Lands. From the Edinburgh Scotsma, Philatelists have just reéeived two items of intelligence which will greatly rejoice the hearts of the Society for the Suppres- sion of Superfluous Stamps and those en- thusiastic collectors who were crying out that their favorite pursuit was being brought into ridicule by the action of cer- tain governments—mostly among the smali- er states of the world. ‘There was, however, one offender against philatélic moralitP found where it was least expected. This was New South Wales, where the postmaster general had coun- tenanced the practice of selling a whole series of officially surcharged stamps to col- lectors after they had been withdrawn from postal use. I mentioned that a protest against this practice had been sent to Mr. Chamberlain as colonial secretary, and it is now reported that Mr. Chamberlain, who, of course, had no jurisdiction in the mat- ter, forwarded the protest to Sydney for the information of the New South Wales government. The local philatelists were equally strong in their denunciation of the new departure, and Mr. Cook, the post- master general, has now anaounced that the sale of the reprinted stamps is to be discontinued. The other news as to which philatelists are congratulating themselves is that one of the South American republics, Ecuador, has promptly given ear to the petition pre- sented some months ago by American col- lectors begging for a reform of the system of issuing new stamps every year, if not more frequently. The system ‘s one of re- cent growth, its main feature being an ar- rangement by which the government con- sents to a fresh issue of stamps each year, and the contractors undertake to supply all the stamps free of charge, on condition that they are allowed, when each issue be- comes obsolete, to sell the remainder to collectors and dealers. This system ob- viously lends itself to the multiplication of wholly unnecessary issues ind to many abuses. The promptness of the response may per- haps in part be attributed to the fact that “the supreme head of the state” at this moment is a dictator, and not a president. Gen. Eloy Alfaro is presumably ur.hamper- ed by constitutional fetters, and he has accordingly decreed that the cxisting con- tract for the supply of postage stamps, being “unworthy of the dignity of the government,” is denounced, that in future all “remainders” are to be destroyed, and that the executive is to take measures to re-establish the credit of the Ecuadorian postage stamp with the philate2lic world. —_—__—+e+_____ EUGENIE’S 3,600 GODCHILDREN. How She Came to Have Such a Large Lis From the Outlook. = It is said that the ex-Empress Hugenie has more godchildren than any other per- son in the world; they number, or rather aid number, 3,680. Of course some are now in middle life, but the ex-empress has an exact list of Her cHarges, and is said to have set asidesome souvenir or gift in money for each one ndw living. There may be surprise that the empress was god- mother to so m&ny pérsons. It came about in this way: Ifi 189% Paris was awaiting the roaring of ‘éannén, which was to an- nounce the birth of! an heir to the im- perial couple, who were then at the height of their popufirity:’ When the cannon shots began they Were counted by the listening throng, and when they reached 100 the Parisiafis knéw that the baby was a boy. Of courée there was great joy at the event, and*croWds about the palace found a placard posted at the gates with the following announcement: The emperor has decided that he will be godfather and the empress that she will be godmother to ali legitimate children born on March 16. In accordance with these instructions, on the following day the births of 3,600 chil- dren were registered in the office of the prefect of the department of the Seine as godchildren of Napoleon and Bugenie. After her husband's death the empress as- -|} sumed the obligations of the emperor to- ward the children for whom he had been godfather, FOR NERVOUS DEBILITY ise Horsford’s Acid Phosphate. M. < ¥ Dr. J, Hang. ‘, gays: “Have ration, with the Academy, French. Accidents and Emergencies, Agricultural Statistics. Alaska, Statistics of. Altitude, Greatest in Each State, Ambassadors of the U. 8. American Cup Record of. American Indians. Anniversaries f Important Events. Antidotes for Poisons. Appropriations by Congress. Areas of Countries. Army and Navy. Astronomical Phenomena, Atlantic Steamship Lines. Attorneys General, Australian Ballot. Congress, Banks. Bar Associations. Base Ball Records. Battles of the Civil Wats Bible Statistics. Bicycle Records. Billiard Records. Bishops of Relig. Denominations, Boat Races. Bridges, Largest in the World. British Government. British Customs ‘Tariff. Building and Loan Associations, Cabinet Officers. Calendar. Capitals of Principal Countries, Germans, Christianity, Statistics of. Churches and Sunday Schools. Cities, Population and Statistics, Civil Service Procedure, Rules, Coins, Value o* Foreign. LO OOOO CELLAR L POLE LEER LEEEEE IEEE PEEP DPIIEE PVD TY St a a Consuls General and Consuls. Cycles of Time. District Government. Earth, Interesting Facts About. Eclipses for 1895 and 1896. Faster Sundays. Educational Statistics, Election Returns. Electoral Vote. Epochs and Eras. Executive Department. 3 Expenditures of the Government. Exports and Imports, Farm Mortgages. Fastest Atlan‘ic Steamships, Federal Courts. Federal Government. Federation of Labor. Fire Insurance Statistics. French Republic. Governors of States. Grand Army of the Republic. Great Britain; Her Dependencies. Historical Societies. Homes for Soidiers. Interest Laws snd Tables, Interior Department. Internal Revenue. » Interstate Commerce. Iron and Steel, Production of. Zoe, a Copy. To be had at The Star Office, Cor. 1th & Pa. Ave., yy mail upon receipt of pri Judictury. Labor Statistics. Languages. Members of. Legal Holidays. Memorable Dates. Mexico, Republic of. Military Academy. Monetary Statistics. Nations of the World. Naturalization Laws, Navy Department. Negro Population. Newspaper Statistics. Offcial Directory. Gace: Parks of Washington. | Pauperism ard Crime. Pension Department. Places of Interest. Population ‘Tables. Postal Information. Catholic Hierarchy. Sipe ete Post Office Department. Caveats and ‘Trademarks. == Publi. Debt of the United States. Chinese Empire. Immigration. Pogilistic Pecords. Racing Records. A BOY’S COMPOSITION. He Tries to Tell What He Knows About Sharks. From the London Church Times. An examiner of lads under sixteen for the civil service commission gave for a question, “Describe the habits of fish.” Here is a literal transcript of one out of a batch of some hundreds of answers: “On the Habits of Fish. “The shark is about twenty feet long, and has five rows of teath when the shark is going to catch its pray it turns on its side. The sharks are found ind India, where they are verry numerious in Africa, etc. The way they catch sharks is low- ering a piece of meat on a sharp hook (and sailors will do it for amusement), and the shark is very hungry always, that he will grab at the meat and find himself caught. “On of his foes are the sord fish it will go and run its sword through its stum- mick, “When the shark has been floating about on the water for some time it gets a lot of small fish in its mouth and they will go and lay on the beach and let small birds come in their mouth and pick them off and will not heart them. The shark can live in water and on land. Going from England to Indiad, you will see sharks in the nile, they will follow ships for many miles on purpose to get some meat, and then per- haps not get any. They are different kinds of sharks, the Black shark, Etc. “The shark is a very curious animal, it can lay its teeth down when not catching any food. “Once upon a time there was a ship going to america, and on board some slaves the slaves were packed s0 close to- gether that they could not live, and the captin of the ship you'st to let some come upon deck, and many of the slaves you'st to jump overboard, and be eat with sharks, so the captin determened to stop it if he could. So one day a black slave woman was just in the acted to jump overboard when the captain caught her, and had as many slaves as he could upon deck. And then he had a roap fastened around her wast, and lowered her overboard, when a shark came and bitt a half off her off, and then the captain had the other half pulled up and sown to the slaves on deck, and then sald to them that he would do any one of them the same if the jumped over- board.” The Three “Wakes.” From Truth. Mike O’Flannigan—‘‘Well, how be's ye thia marnin’. Pat?” Pat McCarthy—‘Sure, I'm that wake that ye’ll be comen to me wake before the end of the wake.” Latitude and Longitude Tables, Life Insurance Statistics. Mails, Domestic and Foreign. Manufactures, Statistics of. ~ Marriage and Divorce Laws, Minerals, Production of. Mortalit.” in the United States, Patent Office Procedure, Popular Yote for President, Qualifications for Voting. Railroads, Statistics of. ice. EVENING STAR . NEWSPAPER COMPANY. Stee Gp tenet meine ete eaten THE EVENING STAR’S Almanac ~ AND HAND-BOOK FOR 1896 Is Now Ready! Larger and more complete than ever before. 416 pages of solidly printed national and local statistics, records and other general information, and treats fully of the relationship of the District of Columbia and the National Government, the duties of the Dis- trict Commissioners, the District’s sources of reve- nue. Information and statistics regarding its finan- . cial, commercial, charitable and religious institu- tions, points of interest, &c. A Mine of Useful Information. A Partial List of Contents. Colleges, Statistics of. Commerce, Foreign, Domestic, Rainfall and Temperature, Religious Statistics, Revolutionary War. Rivers, Longest in the World. Rowing Events. Rulers of the Chief Nations, Running Records. Salvation Army. Savings Banks. Scientific Associations, Single Tax Statement. Societies, Secret and Fraternal. Solar System, Elements of. Sporting Events. State and Territorial Statistics, Statvtes of Limitation. Storm and Cautionary Siguals. State Department. Tariffs, Hist.ry of. Trade of the District, Treasury Department, Turf Records. United States Senate. Universities and Colleges. Vice Presidents. Vital Statistics, Walking Records. War Department. shington, History of. Weather Bureau. Weights and Measures. Whist and Duplicate Whist, World's Fairs. — . Yachting Events. Yale and H-rvard Boat Racing. Young Men's Christian Association. at News Stands, or sent QOL LLL LOR OR EEDODOLEREE LLL EL ILD LLL LLL EDL LLL LLL LLL LLL LLL LLL LLL LLL LLL LLL LLL LALLAL LL DLL POD III NEW AFRICAN LAKE. French Occupation of Timbuctoo Adds to Geographical Knowledge. From the Edinburgh Scotsman. Although the occupaticn ‘of ‘Pimbuctoo by the French has not yet added ma- terially to the volume of France's colonial trade, it has unquestionably added very greatly to our knowledge of the geography of that part of Africa, and in particular has resulted in a discovery of singular in- terest and importance. Timbuctco, as all the world kno on the bourdary line between the Sahara and the western Soudan—a little to the north of the great Niger bend—but what was not known was the existence in the immediate neighborhood of the city, and lying somewhat to the west, of a series of lakes and marshes covering a large area of country. These great sheets of water were first seen by the Joffre column, and have since been explored by French of- ficers stationed in the neighborhood, ‘who have laid down their general outlines with some approach to accuracy. The most important of these lakes is called Lake Faguibure, and runs in a di- rection, roughly, east and west, its total length being some sixty or seventy miles. A couple of smaller sheets of water connect with the Niger, and there are other lakes in the neighborhood. As might be sup- posed, these lakes are the center of a rich agricultural and pastoral district. Crops of various kinds are grown in abundance, and the natives have large flocks and herds. Perhaps the most curious feature of the discovery ‘s the fact that neither Barth ror Dr. Laz appears to have heard of this fertile region, and it is to be presumed that the guides deliberately led them away from the direction of the lakes. The news of this discovery will no doubt revive the interest in the occupation of Timyuctoo in France, where, after the first enthusiasm was over, there was a marked tendency to criticise Col. Bonnier’s act as rash and pre- mature—a tendency rather strengthened than weakened by the recent troubles with the Tauregs. The results of observations on the cli- mate of that part of Africa establish, it is said, the perfect feasibility of Europeans living there the whole year round, with cer- tain precautions. The months of April and May are said to be the most trying, not only for Europeans, but for natives, but December and January are so cool that a greatcoat is sometimes weicome, and the natives report that one year ice formed—at least this is the deduction drawn from the native statement that “the marsh became stone.” ————+e+ Two Views. From the Indianapolis Journal. “Mr. Bliss is such a nice young man,” taid the elderly aunt. “That's all you know about it,” said the young niece. “He is nothing of the sort. He is just the jolliest company imag- inable.”” From Trath. Willie—“I was kept in today for throw- ing @ plug of paper at another boy.” Mamma—“And wasn’t that perfectly just?” < Willie—“T don’t think so, mamma, when I missed the boy by a foot.” TALE OF A SPOON. Its Discovery in the Liaing of a Clonk Recalls Some Serious Scenes. From the Philadelphia Times, Mrs. Egbert Jones of Birmingham, Ala., spent last year in Berlin, and one cold day in January, while walking along Friedrich Street, she saw some pretty souvenir cof- fee spoons displayed in a shop window. Stepping in, she bought one, thinking that it would make a nice addition to her col- lection, as well as serve for a rem'nder of a pleasant sojourn in Berlin. She slipped her purchase into the pocket of the heavy cloak she was wearing, and, after a visit to the museum, returned to the hotel. Re- moving her cloak, she threw {t across the foot of the bed and went down to lunch. When she returned she found the cham- bermaid, a stolid-looking German girl of the peasant class, in the act of hanging the cloak in the armoire. As the door opened the girl gav2 a start, and it seemed to Mrs. Jones that her face became a trifle redder. “Are you nervous, Auguste?” she asked kindly, and, muttering something about not being well, the girl hastily left the 's. Jones, Lethinking her of the spocn she had bought, ren her hand down into the cloak pocket, but, to her dismay, no spoon was forthcoming. The purse in the other pocket was intact, but nowhere could she find the small parcel containing the spoon. Recalling Augusta’s guilty start and flush, Mrs. Jones conceived the idea that the girl had abstracted the spoon, and had been surprised before finding the purse. Hastily ringing the bell, which was answered in a few moments by Augusta. Mrs. Jones, without circumlocution, = cused her of the theft. The girl broke down at once, and with sobs protested her innocence. Mrs. Jones urged her to confess and re- store the stolen article, promising forgiv ness in case she did so, but at length, find- ing her obstinate in her denial, and being moved by her representations that she would lose her character and be turned into the street should this be known, Mrs. Jones consented to forego prosecution, but sternly ordered the girl not to serve her room again, and when she left Berlin the liberal d@nation she was in the habit of giving those who served her well jingled in the rough palm of another maid—not Augusta. Now comes the strange part of the story. One Friday, becoming sensible of the early autumn chill in the air, Mrs. Jones opened a large cedar chest in which she had packed away her winter clothes, and, among other things, came across the heavy cloak she had worn in Germany. Examining it closely to see whether the festive moth had gotten in his fine work on the fur bor- dering the garment, she felt something hard in one corner between the lining and the outside. With a premonition of whi she was going to find, she caught up a pair of scissors and snipped a few threads. Out fell a small paper parcel, and, opening it, she saw the round face of the “Great Elector” looking up at her from the bowl of the little gold coffee spoon, just as it had done that day in Berlin. What did she do? Why, first of all, she sat down in a rocking chair and had a good cry, and now she says she is going to undertake « pilgrimage to Berlin with peas in her shoes, and if poor, slandered Augus- ta isn’t there, she is going to look for her till she finds her, and then—she doesn’¢ know what she will do then,