Evening Star Newspaper, February 15, 1896, Page 14

EVENING STAR, SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 15, 189¢-TWENTY-FOUR PAGES. copy and using a typewriter, but it is quite he reverse. In fact, he is an expert type- writer and as a handier of press matter has | no superior in the office. The officials of the telegraph company consider him a good | erator and those who have witnessed his manipulation of a typewriter consider it wonderful work. ee OK “What has become of the, Southern Busi- ness Men’s Association?” asked R. L. Flan- ders of Athens, Tenn., at the Metropolitan. “ZT have been looking for it in vain. Two or three years ago a meeting was held in ard a committee consisting of very prominent men was appointed. Ther a short time later a big convention was thoush 1 | Béla in Washington, and a committee ap- ick a5 that | F¢inted hece. The desien, 2s I understood s | it, was to haye a sort of exchange, where ats beoung | Scuthern men could meet and mingle with nt being different | Rerthern, ind there was to be a permanent a few a: ago, “and that only city where the colored man is Out 2 Linco rather poorly d there is another m colored eferrirg to th exresition of southern resources. It was heralded throughout the country, and the . Fest men nerth and south favored it and “ ) expected muc! rood to result. ee aid Mr. Frank | “Rice T have been here I have tried to Hume, “who has for years taken an active| find the headquarters and the exhibit, but Congress the im-| so far without success.” ee oe OE ed the bill in the of the most beautiful and unique T don't think | Si#hts I ever witnessed was in Buenos the volume of good arguments that we| “o's” said A. P! Wheatley of New Or wade in its behalf or of the splendid in-| 89%, @ traveling man, at the Metropoll- dorsements of the project by Secretary La-| @™ “I wes selling goads throuch Sautn maou Teak dak enaets (0S OL. America, and was invited to a reception at of the bill as a’d the quagmire of mt the home cf a customer of mine, a man of rington, “what pa e on Wednesday youd just after. the brides is, passed great wealth. His house was elegantly fur- the funeral of Gen. Gibbon on ‘Tuesday last | nished, but what impressed me most great- the road was in such a terrible condition | ly was a large candelabra, which, instead prieskes of the military escort had to} of candies, had a great many tiny glass be dismissed, and the yther half had the ye a greatest aifficulty im reaching Arlington, | 8lobes, each with a soft, mellow light unlike anything I had ever seen. Combined, these ‘The artillery could not g#t through it at < = | globes gave out about as much light as an all. : there were a number of distin-| ordinary lamp, but the effect was very dif. gv jemen and they saw | ferent. It w aiute. Upon inquiry with their own eyes th sity of some- | I learned that each of thi thing better than at pi t exists. They | tained a y worm, an i wade up the sentiment which event: larger in South Ameri in this coun- fa the passage of tie memorial bed and which has a stronger light. and we are thankful for the re tary Lamont says the bill will lik the House for the simple rea @ necessity.” They . I do not know hor but I should judge ai ed, and while the phosphore: produced did not _ the room ntly.”” 2 “ees = Nearly two years ago a force ‘of state constables of South Carolina and a body g y brilliantly, it did so suff of citizens of Darlington, S. C., came to-| The town of Valentine, Nebraska, ts sit- gether in = bloody conflict at Darlington | yatea in the northern part of the state, over the enforcement of the dispensary | near the South Dakota line,” said T. B. law. Three constables and four zens | Sweet at the Normandie. “It was started were killed, and the prospects of more trou-| pefore any railroad was built, and Fremont ble Indu the newspapers all over the | was the nearest town of any size, taking country to send corr Jents to the | two days to cumplete the irip there from Scene. Valentine. Scon after the town was start- The situation tecame so critical that | ed the wife of a man named Norcross died, Gov. T n ordered out the state troops | and the bereaved husband went to Fremont and t three hundred of them to the | for a coffin. Even that town was smail, pectek id emia etres on noun y wa, | 2Bd but one coffin for a full-grown person Sec wectiel tee and icon c ‘ was lefi in stock. This he purchased and yallroads and telegraph 1 took it home. When he reached Valentine jhe learned that a grown son had been ¢ | eidentally Killed while hunting. There was a small lumber yard in Valentine, and a carpenter, but the lumber was only very rough pin Enough was purchased to make another coffin, and the carpenter con- structed a very rude-looking box out of it. ir. Norcross, after studying the matter over, concladed to lower the hox into his wife's grave, take her remains to the ceme- tery in the coffin and change them to the compietely subdue the in ‘The same procedure w: ‘ning county of Flo ich had talked of ance of ih king ¢ song to the assist- raph oitices, telezrams from | his officers being sent, seemed respondent looked were equal to | box, taking the coffin home in which to hem hired spe- | bUFY the son. This arrangement was car- ‘went to pe. | Pied out, and before the second funeral rt matter, but | Tea¢hed the cemetery word came that a her of them decided on a unique | Beighber had died. Another pine box was is of the degeased neighbor wed the coffin, and it was returned. During the next two years the coffin was getting through t tore nor less t nd tiger’ or news. It was | an the estab speak easy” of- = ee easy" Of) Kept for the purpose of being loaned at fees the regular telegraph office was in | funerals. Finally, a railroad was built, the could b ot what was | Present perous, progressive town was ee Ie ihe cananting bie | Started, an undertaking establishment was y opened, and upon the desth of Mr. Norcross The correspondents hired a number of | ‘PE twas) buried with) kis tematne! > TOO HIGH SPIRITED. operator nd as many 1. The wire n and an office ¢ 4 stable linemen as could tapped by ed in an old art of town. night The Only Gentleman in the County Was Hang by Neighbors. cms went through all right. put | Back of Duvall’s Bluff, in Arkansas, is a “onts had gotten ahead of the | Country where schools are scarce and civil- He was in € when he ization of the most primitive type. A prominent attorney of this city had oc- casion to go down there a short time ago to look after some land titles, and stopped over night at a log cabin, which coftained one room and a loft. The only occupant mbia, and wa card of the “bl Sen. Richbourg, in . to suppress all The next night. to | was a white-haired old man, too feeble to but wo ta act | walk without the ald of a heavy cane. r messages through the | “Are you not lonely here?” asked the law- fifteen riiles spaper men had to rescr One of them, a fo ePerator, tapped the orly sont, but “re- aph mstlf, and no: “I reckon my darter 'd keer fer me, in Memphis, but bein’ sariin Providence air my way, I'm stayin’, hopin’ ter git about by spring.” “How long have you lived alone?" “Bout a y’ar. Yo’ see, my son Bill war with me. He went to Texas, an’ cum home one of the mos’ puffec’ gentlemen yo" ever } seed. An’ that high-spereted, yo’ could see he war diffrunt from the low-down trash *roun’ hy So a passel of "em got together an’ hung ‘im right down thar by the spring.” Hung him! What for?” asked the as- tonished disciple of Blackstone. ‘Jess’ ‘cau: hey war jealous of his livin’ ike a gentleman an’ bein’ high-spereted. One of ’em come an’ stole Bill's bes’ houn’ pup, an’ in cose, Bill, bein’ a gentleman, * * The proposed ob: nce of the semi-cen- tennial of the Smithsonian Institution dur- ing the present year will recall, no doubt, to the older citizens of Washington, especially those who resided in what is now South w ington, the time when the entire mall! was a common, and the Smithsonian was | the first building erected upon ft. The old | war in honor boun’ ter shoot the thief, Washington canal formed the northern | Which he did. As purty a shot ag.yo' ever y of t shebiace ne’ an eye. ‘Then his boundary of the mall west of 7th street, a. Feller never batted) an eve h and it was spe low-down fr’ens’ come an’ hung Bill. I'm nned at that poirt and at) jess stayin’ here till rheumatiz gits so T kin 12th and 14th streets by very ordinar stomp ‘roun’ a leetle, and git a few of "en wooden bridges. These street and then I'll go to my darter’s. ive heen ed across the mail, ha that po'ly, I ain't had no shot at non: of vem yit, but I'll sit ‘em in the spring.” ways being Mother Two Strong Men of Maine. From the Lewiston (Me.) Journal. Simeon Roderick of Biddeford can Iay claim. to being one of the strong men of that city. Thursday; in the presence of eight men, at the Saco freight depot, he lifted a barrel of pork weighing 350 pounds and put it on his shoulder. A little while later he was asked to do the act, and he repeated it easil: Roderick is considered one of the strongest men at work in the York corporation, and he can lift two ordi- nary men. Kid Bowlanger of Biddeford, who is twen- ty years old, has made a record for heavy lifting that has not been equaled in York county for his weight. He has a barrel half S was selected for the Smithson- fencing for the most part had emoved, and open to ¢ good pasture. The grou m time to iime for enca »y the local military and vi companies, and the corner near 23 a show ground for me e the boys fou play ground. wa »posed in Congress to authorize e of the city hail from the cor- of Washington for the use of titution ar authorize the erection hall in front of the Center e bill failed. nS = SS Superstitious people can be found in all watks of life. There is a southern Senator who has overcome all his superstitious be- liefs but ore. He will never make his exit from @ ‘om through any other door than the one that he entered by. The other day his committee held a very important meet- th st eri it a pieasant filled with water, which he lifts with his teeth, bell He has also a hundred-pound dumb- that he plays with as if it weighed Winding Up His Adairs. Fromm Harper's Wazar. ing ch the Senator was preseny, Inm outside of the door of the committee room several newspaper men kay in wait for the committeemen to come out to obtain information as to the action of the committee. The room has two doors, only one of which is used, however. as a thoroughfare, the other being used only on extraordinary oecasions. Two of the committeemen in order to give the slip to the newspaper men went out the unused door. Eut the superstitious Senator, al- though advised of this way of escape, could not overcome that superstitious feeling, and out the main door he went. Of course he was immediately surrounded by his news- paper friends, with whom he is very popu- lar, and was subjected to severe cross-ques- tioning. The Senator said afterwards: “It wes a mighty hard job to turn those boys down, but I would have felt worse had I gone out that other door.” ** £ * * There is an operator in one of the Wash- ington telegraph offices who has but one arm, the left, and only a part of a hand, two fingers and a thumb. Notwithstanding his crippled condition he does the work of a two-handed man, and that, too, consider- ably better than the majority of his fellow employes. One would suppose that this man would be of no value whatever in a tele- graph office in the matter of handling press IN HOTEL CORRIDORS “In looking over the Congressional Direc- tory I find that St. Paul, Indianapolis, Al- bany and Providence are the only cities of over 100,000 inhabitants represented by citl- zens in the United States Senate: Kansas City is credited with Senator Vest, but he lived in Sedalia so long that he is counted as belonging there,” remarked Gen. Beck- with of St. Louis at the Cochran. “Spring- field, Il, ts the only city that can boast being the home ofboth Senators from the state. It is a singular fact that politics is a profession in which brains can be suc- cessful only in the rural districts, as a rule, and the result is the best men of the United States generally die unknown. It is an ad- mitted fact that the best lawyers, physi- clans, educators, scientists and business men go to cities on account of the greater advantages offered, and yet they rarely arise to political distinction. That such centers of population as New York, Chi- cago, St. Louis, Philadelphia and Hoston do net furnish Senators for the states in which they are located is significant. Sen- ator-elect Foraker lives in Cincinnatl, and when he takes his seat he will represent the largest city of which a resident is in the Senate.” “Tf the law is passed by Congress opening up the Colville Indian® reservation in my state,” said R. C. Kems of Spokane, at the Howard, “it will cause an influx such as has not been known since the days of the first discovery of gold in California. I do not know how rich that section is in au- riferous’ metal, and neither does any one , which fact adds an element of ad- venture and romance that will make the even greater. For many ars the ers of the northwest have wanted to enter that field. Indians have remarkable gends concerning the mines there, enough gold been taken out in a crud way to show that the section is wont fully rich. If one-half the -stories to about It are realized there will be many in a very short time. Jerable excitement con- y consi are already bill, and thousand cerning the preparing for the openi Thos. W. Lewis of Chicago ts at the Ar- lington. Mr. Lewls some yenrs ago was en- ged in the Hudson Bay country, and caking of the recently proposed voyas for the north pole, said: “I believe it wil! fail, as all others have; but, at the same time, I think it is ver ible to 50 baround the world by traveling north, J as it is by traveling east or west. No ¢ aition, however, Will ever he successiul UP. the plans heretofore adopted. Tt would cost a great deal of money to make the | trip, but there need rot be a great deal ot it. halt Had hardship connected w the money heen exp y that has been lost by. going in t way would long ago have become familiar with that country. ‘The only suc- cessful plan is for the explorer to stop the fur stations as far ni H aying long enough to he ss forward, establis m1 and building tents. Si progress would be made for wecks, Hy he would ch tho pole. quimaux should be employed, taking the explorer to the nex 5 Ample supplies of provisions should be pr vided, i ht to expect the first trip to take five years.” y Minor fet ns Jeft in! Flor- h of Jacksonvil ‘There sre a fe said R. C. Galbr Shoreham. “Th inally from the Is ere taken te Flo! 9 had a & w! evergiades. d ruins of the stone w it rempin yet. A few them sur- jand reclama- the stiz- ma that slavi m, and te call a nan a r. in Florida fs re- garded as an insult. In this way it h: been pos: for chem to a much of th toms cf the! can be recog his ancestors h; past hundred years. | R. A. Kirven of Charlotte, Tenn., Is at the Howard House. Mr. Kirven raises peanuts, and in discussing that line of farming said: “¥ live in the center of the best peanut dis- trict in the Un States, and the entire communjty relies largely upon the fu derivefrom this industry. Fer many years the peanut business remained about the same, fairly good prices prevailed and the supply was very little, if any, in excess of the demand. Americans eat than people of any other natiot more peanuts nd ality do, a the exportations are not larze, compara- tively. For the past five years, howev there have not been so many consumed proportionately. Probat the pecan farms, by making the pri ir products much lower, have h and the: South American nuts are less than one- the price th rs ago, which has caused a great many people to change from peannis to other kinds. The supply will show a de se this year, and it is probable that this will keep the market price about the sam: “I was greatly interested during a recent trip through Arizona to cbserve the way In ich watermelons are kept fresh,” said C. E. Batchelder of Denver at the Cochran. “The love of the colored race for water- melons is proverbial, but I doubt if it can equal that of the Yuma Indians in Arizona. When the luscious melons are cheap, they being so plentiful that they are almost given away in the height of the season, the In- dians get as many as they can and bury them in the sand. They construct pits in the sand almost fdentical with those made in the ground by white men for the preser- vation of potatoes and apples. From time to time melons are taken from the pit, and it is only a question of how many are eaten bas to how long they kecp. When the most aristocratic cannot get melons at any price, the Arizona Indian is eating them freely. Why the plan is not adopted in a comme cial wa: tis a mystery to me, and I suppose it is only be no one has ever had an idea that the melons would keep good. It seems strange’ to eat at an Indian's tent and have boiled dog and watermelon served in January; but that is an expe ence I have enjoyed.” Alabama republicans have heen visiting Washington during the past two weeks, several small delegations having register- ed from time to time at the leading hotel: The members of these parties look inno- cent, ard deciare there is nothing political in their trips, but each asserts that the democratic party will be eated in the next electon in that state. Following the democrats came Reuben Kolb, the leader of the populists, and in whose behalf the incipient insurrection started in Birming- ham. Capt. Kolb, contrary to his usual course, did not talk very freely about po- litical affairs in Louisiana, and was so miid in his utterances that his best friends would doubt their coming from him were they printed. Among the republicans was Joe Hughes of Montgomery, who was seen at Willard’s, who did not belong to the del- egation. He explained their presence. “You see," he remarked, “the populists who are led by Capt. Kolb want the democrats beaten. They intend to do it, if possible, and if there is any doubt about doing it alcne, they will join with the republicans. It has not been ten years since the re- publicans did not have a white man, ex- cept the chairman, in a state convention, and five years ago they nominated Noble Smithson for governor and James M. Ver- non for secretary of state. The former kad just removed from Tennessee and opened up a law office, the lat€er was still living in Tennessee, but ran a boom news- paper In Alabama, Smithson returned to ‘Tennessee, and before the end of the cam- paign Vernon moved himself and his news- paper to the state of Washington. There was a plain constitutional provision by | which neither was eligible, but that did not | make any difference with the ignorant del- egates. Now. all that is changed, and es= cially in the cities. where industrial en- erprises exist, there are as many white republicans democrats. They do not af- filiate with the colored voters, but act in- dependently. A little aid from the national committee will enable them to carry the state, and the cempaign will be one of the hottest that ever took place in any state.” |. bead—per capita is the techni HEARD AT’'THE CA ——$_—. ‘They were in thd gallery, and they were palpably new to tHé situation. One sat on jer on the other side of the Speaker's seat; but number one, recog- one side and the of: nizing number two; her. s “Dear Mrs. Blan! walked over to cooed she. ¢ “Oh, yes,” responded the other, the nonchalance '4ne could muster. ‘spoke yesterday afternoen; he was just too she chirped, warming lovely for anythin, to her subject. “The Record had plauded four times, gniy, but I'm sure that they applauded as many as five times, Has your husband spoken yet?" “No, the hateful, horrid thing!" the other, in pretended arger. “I might. I have fussed and fussed at him to speak before 1 gu home, so I can tell the folks about It. I can only stay tw and I do so want to hear lim. He has such «i | 4 splendid speech on the silver question, all demonetiz- gniorage in the treasury to fill ali our tecth if they about how the white metal wa: ed, and that there is enough would only let us have it at so feve. Oh, you have no idez what iam just dying to have him pa Mouse with it. It would went back to edge from the “gentlem Senator Call must ‘have been an expert qnoit piteher in his early youth, for he can shy a letter at a pase half way across Senate chamber and jand it in his fond of that 8 to the post. the . He seems to be rath way of starting bis letto Cannon has’no use for the so glad to see you. Has your husband’ made a speech yet?” term, I be- made with that speech on the stump, and be such Ughtful chang> from the most of them, don't you know. T asked him why he didn’t imbibe some more know!l- n from Missouri.”" PITOL A DEADLY VALENTINE The colonel had received a valentine, and as he looked it over and read its pretty verses he handed it to the writer. “From a lady?” smiled the writer. “Yes, from my wife, She never forgets,” and the colonel’s face wore the look of a sweetheart's. “Surely,” said the writer, “no better val- entine could be than that.” The colonel took it again and held it in his hand tenderly. “When she and I were married,” he be- gan, in a reminiscent way, “we went to a post in the far west, where as a lieutenant, that was thirty years ago, I was stationed. Not far away was a town of the class not uncommon at that time, and chief among its well-known characters and prominent citizens was a man known as ‘Bug’ Thorn- ton. He was a bad man and the bar- keeper in the leading hotel of the town. e landlord of the hotel had a daughter of twenty-five or thereabouts, who was by odds the best looking woman in town and very nice girl, barring the fact that she in love w'th ‘Thornton. “AC first he was flattesed by the favor in which he stood with the young woman, tut a few months wearled made her wildly jealous by de- self to the cashier of the Golden restaurant, a young woman who da half interest in the business and speak to with all “He him ap- * replied think he 0 weeks, much a a hit he her attentions in him and voting hi Lion lyze this a de- talk, and he satd he couldn't get the considered a good catch. This oc- Speaker to recognize him. f told him 1] curred ut valentine season, and when thought it was a shame, and that he oueht | the day one around the landlord's dauga- 0 get somebod ‘duce him again, | ter received a comic valentine, i 1 know he has thet Mv! eed ence: I wish | forth, as those things do, the delightful at- I could get a chance, V'd ask Mr, | tractivencss of a jealous woman. The ac- Reed to call on him to speak. I'm sure he | companying verse was more galling than could settle the disturbances ever the vote | the picture, and the girl was frenzied by it. at ogce if he only had a chance, she] “It was no unusual matter for Thornton to have a serap once or twice 2 day with the rough characters who fre- que’ his saloon, and every now and then he added a feature to the bill by shooting somebody or getting a shot him- f, though, up to that time, escaping with ight wounds. Late in the afternoon of St. Valentine's day he tried to put a gang of miners out of his place, and the whole crowd surged out into the street in front of the hotel. There the shooting begun, se elec ft Re 2 é and it lasted long enough for those not in- ay pene ae pe wants Pa Be. he wenls 4 to get into what shelter first pre- aim q 2, and he doesn't want to wait itself. for anything as slow as that, so elaps his hands in the good old-fashioned way, and the pages come a-runni ae Ts it Just the proper caper for jady to accompany a geutleman to Ne a place as the Capitol res order wine? x kK Senxtor German has been called of names, some pre to give him a new title. She had card in from the’ marble room: and w busy telling hi friend what man me in, and g ed to her fri u. T want you my friend, and it time smiled s he nin Hous ard ended in t young ladies were sitting toze gallery, and one said to the ¢ comes that n. He me. Ife wants me to lunch and I'm going to teach h There, he is giving the { knew it is for me, uN I come bim up." Now you ck, and I'll tell you Sente hehe svt any wonder that I should for- Ta caatd Met Thad put in my pocket, and a no telling when I would have re- a it had not dropped on the ing tn | floor that night when I took off my coat to an an- ‘and would wait fe and to mect mi aid ‘the youn toward her frtenc gain. “A more m meek pis poor, went. The next scene was man little wife," and fn the had pliced the y: ® window alcoves The to She order ran thr te, and orc t Nation: x don’t cel—no I don’t want cele: mon. I'll take ¥ is, and—I gue inquiringly, a assent. It took two spread the lunch on, and it cost M nearly §S, but it cost him a h than that to shut the mout! who saw the little comedy him an occasional dig about it. k OF A sight to make gojs weep and men |". laugh was Cannon of Illinois and Tennessee during the hottest of in close embrace, and their two loving juxtaposition as they tal secrets, The House “caught on" shape and began to grin audit Speaker Reed brought that down with a bang that mai jiggle and the two men separated with a jump. * x Men are clannish creatures at best. is exemplifie mbers of on their own side of the halls. cans loaf in their own lounge on the sofas on their own the democrats do the same. by the manner in w Of cm meet and mingle, but it is usually about the door of the main corridor, and in an hour will you find a democrat on the republican side or reptblican democratic side. ————.___ The Painted Cow, 2 the Filegende Blatter, aurants and i y, and some exactly the other thing, but it was left for a lady Blank, from my home,” he page came scurt restr all the sol y, Standing in the main ais is around each other's ne the House and Senate herd cloak rooms side, he : into the hotel, and as I did so, 1 Moiiie, the landlord's daughter, 9 window with the shutters . looking at the fight. When it three men were ded on the ground had disappear.d. Ore of the ton, and, as J knew him, an to bim first and iifted him up to see how badly he was hurt. As I raised up with my arm under his back a bullet fell from his coat into my han I thrust it into my pocket withoat thinking, aad help- ed carry him into the house. Of course, the considerably excited over three and as all sorts of ru- out I hurried to the post to let m all r:ght. Young hasbands, you know, think first of their When I found her and told her t y she becsme very nervous and as mut Mollie. I told her T had seen the girl ndow during the fight, and that je her worse. n I becavae provoked and said Mollie t anythirg to do with it. Then my told me that she had scen Mollie at 1 told her she was goilr ornton a valentine he wonld not forget, and that very nignt I went back to the hotel that Thornton had re one in the thigh, ne for him had gi t. I also f With all ng. youn pub- all kinds sent her ner of learned and found ed a bullet In the ut the one whieh ne square through d Mollie in a raving this going on around il up and asked me what 1 remembered, and quietly er k it from her without saying. She in- and as she showed signs of hysteria t I told her it was the bullet that Bug Thornton. She grabbed it me, held it close to the light and then d in a dead faint. She became us in half an hour or so, but I had 1 night with her, and the post so in attendance until nearly y daylight things were quieter, 1 T took a look at the bullet. It was a -41 long and was not much roughened ly the deadly work it had done. As J turned it over in my hand, thinking what a fatal effect so small a bit of lead could’ have, I noticed a mark on ft, and taking It out off where I could see better I found on it, scratched deep with a large needle, evi- vill tempt 1 -pereh, | dently, one word and part of another: ‘My NMpano, have you That told a dreadful story and any plank i eetly ined my wife's hysteria. t to do now I scarcely knew. Mo! a shot Bug Thornton, that was cireum- antially proved by my wife's testimony were and the words on the bullet, but n Butt did not end | knew it e myself and wife. list for the youny lady with the | knew so much as that I had the bi y appetite. cept my wife. We had both known Mollie and respected her, and it seemed to be something awful to give her over to the law when it was so easy to let it all go to the red-head | ¢ of the miners in the fight. After an en sitlad, | hour's thinking 1 was so near hySteria my- self that i went to the doctor for some- to quiet my nerves. “At 9 o'clock I started into the town, will wind up some Malage my wife asleep under the influence since ple, Camambert cheese and choc: and half way there I met a Oh, ye ; on brown ger coming for my wite to come to the hoiel, as Mollie had shot herself ani was dying. I turned the messenger back and hurried on to the hotel. When I reached her room she was dead, and near p her on a table lay a .44-caliber revolver. nen |Tt was the same one that had sent Bug nd still give | ‘Thornton his fatal valentine, but 1 didn’t go around looking fer any more bullets. 1 already nd one too many. { wes a positi wife when I told her as ca y as | could that Mol- lie was dead, and we talked it all over, to the conclusion that the girl had herself at the window, half con- cealed, with the okject of killing Thorn- ton when he came out to go to his supper, and had marked the bullet in the strange freak of a woman. That her shot had been so true was a piece of chance or luck, or retribution, hatever you may call it, although she wes not unskilled in the use of firearms. None the less was it ce that the fight in the t should © taken place ut the time it did. That did you do with the bullet?” in- er. “Dropped it into Mollie's coffin when my wife and I went te see her for the last time. And,” concluded the colonel, “neither of us ever teid our story of the tra y until five years ago, when the last member of Moliie’s family died and was buried in 2 d where the bodies of Thornton lie moldering in W. J. LAMPTON. —— STEPPED IT OFF. Peculiar Shnpe of the Land Caused by the Mensuring Process. It is a commonly accepted theory that a man steps three feet, and many a tract of land has been “stepped off? Instead of measured with a chain. In the west they obviate the difficulties of surveys by the land being divided into sections, but in Pennsylvania much of the property, espe- cially in the mountains, must sUll be de- scribed by metes and bounds. In one of the counties in western Penn- sylvania are two brothers, one of whom s tall and lank, the other short and fat. Ma years ago they purchased a tract of mountain land calling for a mile scuare. They divided the labor of measur: it, one stepping off one side, the other the other side. Then they fenced it in and re perfectly satisfied until recently when was brought to recover a considerable tract of the land. Bach brother swore that they knew the measurement to be tight, and.told how it had been done. Then, as the spectators saw the short legs of the one, scarcely long enough to reach the floor when he sat in a chair, and the elongated extremities of the other, there was a general laugh, in which the judge and attorney joined. Upon surveying, It was found that one line was a mile and a half iong, and the other only a little over haif a mile. Cox of the de- This hich the and nd arse they not once on the oS The Best They Could Do. From Life. “Don’t you sometimes make a mistake and lynch the wrong man?” asked the visitor from the éast, “We did once,” replied the native, “but we offered to do the square thing by the wid- ° crow was that?” “We told her she could take the pick of the crowd for her second husband.” IN LOCAL STUDIOS Mr. 8S, Jerome Uhl is thinking of sending to the Cosmos exhibition the cecently fin- ished portrait of Policeman L. B. Hath- away, whose face ts familiar to those who often pass his post of duty on the corner of llth and F streets. The officer Is clad in his regular uniform, which adds con- siderably to the interest of the likeness. Mr. Uhl has also been working on a por- trait of Major Shaw’s father, and on one of the major’s deceased wife. * x * An exhibition of work by Paul de Long- pre, the well-known flower painter, opened at Veerhoff’s gallery on Thursday. The pietures were sent here from Philadelphia, where o very successful exhibitioa had Nichols has returned from a fly- ip to New York, a has resumed work on a couple of landscapes destined Yor the Cosmos exhibition, and on some illustrations, which he has under way. * * * The exhibition of paintings by LeGrand Ichnston, which closed last week, was the most successful financially that Mr. John ston has yet held. 7 x x On account of Mr. Messer’s illness, his exhibition, which was to have followed Mr. Johnston's, was postponed, and in its place was shown a collection of sketches fer the most part Egyptian, by Hamiiton Emmons. Any proper departure from the common- place is refreshing, and this artist's way of working is a welcome change from the academic methods. Mr. Emmons’ work on paper of different shades, sometimes using only one or two colors of pastel, and leay- ing large masses of color to be supplied by the paper, as in ‘The Fisherman's Sirine” ‘Venetian Freight Boats,” where s iant sunset effect is given by the use of a single color on a dark ground. “The Vecul Memnon” is a fine concepiion, in which the artist has seized the moment when, touched with the first rays of the rising sun, the ancients believed the statue sang. * * * A lifelike portrait of Senator Morrill, by Carl Gutherz, who has in charge a large part of the decoration of the new Congres- sional Library, is being exhibited for a short time at Veerhoff's. Mr. Gutherz has commenced a portrait of ex-Gov. Hubbard of Minnesota, and plans te be represented at the Cosmos by something in portraiture. * * * The fine work by Sir Joshua Reynolds, which Mr. Thomas Waggaman has recently acquired, is a great addition to his alrea’. choice coilection. The painting is a pan design, made for a stained glass window in an Oxford church,-and is very simple and lirect in treatment. It is called “Faith, and shows against a stormy sea dimly felt in the background, a woman and her two children, the younger kneeling, © face wearing an expression of fear, which even the motaer's reassuring arm cannot dispel —a fear caused partly by the storm and partly by alarm for the safety of her her out on the water. In contrast with in the faces of the mother and the oliler child, who carries a torch, one sees an e€: pression of perfect confidence in the safe return of the-loved one, The heads of the children are executed with that delic: touch which has made the portraits children by Sir Joshua Reynolds the mo prized of ali his work, After it was in the galiery Mr. Waggaman di that the former owner, with a ruthless dis- regard of the great painter's plan of com- position, had turned under about eight inches of the canvas at the top, in order that the picture might fili a certain wail space. It was for a time removed to be restored to its original proportions, and is now again in the gallery, greatly improved in general effect. of * + * At the meeting of the Society of Wash- ington Artists last Tuesday Messrs. L. S. Grumidi and L. Amateis were admitted to membership. It was voted that an annual banquet be held on the evening of varnish- ing day, and the long contested point ether or not to receive women as mem- bers was decided in favor of their admis- sion. Resolutions were drawn up severely condemning the action of the army com- mittee with regard to the competition for the Sherman statue. After the regular meeting the mecting of the Sketch Club w. held, the sul for which was the first ct for et stanza of Gray's Elezy. The sub the next meeting on February 20 is “Aban- done * Mr. U.S. J. Dunbar was home sick ali Jast week, suffering from. a very severe attack otf tonsilitis, brought om by constant handling of the wet clay. Although he was able to be at his studio, it was not until the latter pert of the week that he could resume work, the doctors fearing a relapse if he commenced sooner. He ’s now bust ef Governor Shepherd. He finish this in two or three more sictin! it will be ready for the Cosmos exbil He will also exhibit a bust of the Turkish min- ister, Mavroyeni Bey, besides egorical figure representing War and one of De Maurier’s Svengali, for which Wilton Lack- aye posed while here in December, a FISHING FOR ‘GATORS. A Wooden Leg That Brings Its Owner A Good Income. Alligators are becoming rather scarce in Florida, but a few men still make a good living hunting them, their hides meeting with ready saie. One of the largest concerns in Jackson- ville, engaged in dealing in allig&tor hides, has a customer upon their bocks named ‘Tom Tucker, who brings in more hides than any three other men in the state. It was knowa that the saurians came from Dunn's creek, a tributary of the St. John's river, but beyond this fact nothing vould be learned concerning his methods of cap- turing the reptiles until a few days ao, when a buyer for the firm visited Dunn's creek, and espied Tucker lying full length on a log, one end of which was in the creck. Tucker had a leg thrown into the water, and just as the buyer approached, he saw the alligator hunter begin to sc ble up the bank, while a huge saurian beat the muddy water into a foam. As the man reached the bank, the alligator came too, naving swallowed a portion of the leg that had hung over the log into the water. ‘Tucker drew a long, sharp knife, and soon killed the creature, then he unscrewed the leg and took it off to remove the ‘gator Then his scheme became apparent. He has a wooden leg, and through it are d: n sharp steel spikes. He leaves the leg in the water, and it is swallowed by an alli- gator. As the reptile closes his jaws the steel impales him, and it is impossible fcr him to escape. ee The Milky Way. From St. Paul's. SIGHTLESS CAPITOL GUIDE. Some Stories About the Achievements of Prof. Donaldson. The first “authorized” guide who ever served as such about the Capitol was “Prof.” T. B. Donaldson. There is noth- ing remarkable about this statement, but when the additional statement is made that Prof. Donaldson was a blind man, there seems to be a contradiction in terms, Prof. Donaldson appeared here about the time the wer clcsed. He was a traveling phrenol- ogist, and a very good one—that fs, a good phrenologist. As a man he was not a very gecd man. He drank ail the liquor he could conveniently get, played cards con- siderably and was about everything that is understood wher a man is classed as a rounder, ‘There were a nurhber of card rooms run publicly those days in various portions of Pennsylvania avenue, and especially in the neighborhood of the hotels. To these Dor- aldson was a regular visitor. Of course, to play many games he had to know the cards, though in some that was not abso- lutely necessary, thorgh very convenient. To place him with all his rights, he was allowed to have a @oy with him. ‘The boy Knew the cards very well. Card players, as a rule, did not care to play with Don- aldson, though the houses could not refuse plays from him when staked against bank games. He was borae wilh on account of his in- firmity, for thoroufhbred card players are generally a trifle superstitious. The pro- fessor never forgot that he was a phrenol- gist, and he picked up fees constantly in his calling. As years ran along the profes- sor ran out of friends, and he eked out his living with considerable difficulty. His eyes were completely gone, and his disfig- urement was covered up by large green giseses. During the famous debate on the French arms question in the Senate, when Senators Sumner, Simon Cameron, Logan, Thurman, Tipton, Schurz, Conkling, Mor- ton and others played such prominent parts for and against the Grant administration, Pref. Donaldson was a regular visitor to the Senate gallery. He never missed a session. He was a New Yorker, a friend and an admirer of nator Conkling, who was one of his rez- ular patrons, for things had come to such a pass with the professor financially that he was forced to solicit alms. As he sat in the galle strangers, tot knowing he was blind, would often ask him to po! out and name the beading senatorial gla: ators of that era. This the professor ac- commodatingly did. It was all right if the Senators’ were seated in their own chairs, but all very wrong if they hap- pened to be in other seats. “In the third seat on the right from the main aisle, second row,” The Star writer once heerd the profi say to a visitor to the gallery, u sce Charles Sumner, without doubt the finest-looking man, the most picturesque and the best-dressed man in the chamber, To his right, with a cover- ing of darker hair, though gray, sits Sen- ator Henry Wilson. Im the rear, on the left, sits the grandest one of them all, Ros- coe Conkling, his hair being, you will no- tice, about the same shade of red as that on the head of Carl Schurz, who sits to the front of him and to his right. Over there on the let you will see standing Oliver P. Morton. Though a republican, he sits on the democratic side of the chamber, for, being paralyzed, he cannot stand alone, and has to have the of the apparatus you see to hold him up when he desires to stand, which is very seldom, as he makes, and has made for years, ail of his great speeches from a sitting position. Behind him is the democratic Roman, Allen G. Thurman.” He would go on with his entertaining descriptions in this way and give his hear- a bevter + of the scene than could many who were possessed of sight. but it_was not alone in the Senate he succeed- ed so well. On the House side he was equally at home and en He ew the voice of every public man, and called out the name, before he had cone further than addressed the ch for recon- nition. His description nting the rotu Profe d head of in M y. ing of the ef the Hou very much in e his servic: h aluable Information hints tha even the best-infe ent corps of guides do not always impart to tho! employing them. He was particularly home df the e 5 been discovered about double echoes of iate years known the h some of the int sting pha: at were not al echo stones as E never made - # gallery” : fons up in the top of the dome were very fine, in the serse that they were novel in effect and showed that he had a more than usual appreciation. The rush tors to the Capiiol during the ¢ r was very lange, aud to accom- ame a corps of gu of the first i from persons told by Prof, some of his best stories, and, of them are told today, r them would be surprised \l that they were the sights Donaldson indeed, some Those who he if they were t of a biind Prof. Dor rs. idson has been dead for twelve ooo THE BRUMIDI FRESCO. Varioas Suggestions as to the Sub- ject of the Last Panel. Architect Clark of the .Capitol has re- ceived a photograph of the painting of “The Driving of the Last Spikc” on the Central Pacific railroad. He sent for it for the purpose of submitting it to the consid- eration of the Senate and House commit- tee on the library. This committee, which a joint committee, and of which Senator Hansbrovgh is chairman, has charge of all art matters in connection with the Capitol. By that power they have charge of the mpletion of the historical frieze in the belt of the rotunda of the Capitol, and it is Mr, Clark’s.desire to have that’ uncom- pleted work finished as promptly as possi- ble. It has been nearly ten years since uny work has been done on the frieze, though up to that time the work had been done with comparative promptness, Brumidi, the artist who designed the work and had completed nearly one-nalf of it when he died, had prepared several sketches for the closing panels, and had reason to believe that they had been ap- proved and adopted, but in this he was mis- taken, It is not yet certain what scenes in American hi will be depicted in the last two pa’ When Costiginni was « lected to complete the work, which w: ed to illustrate the first one hundr, years of American history, he found char- coal sketches for more panels than exist- ed, and he was at a loss to know how to proceed. He explained the condition of things to the committee of the library, and aske@ their judgment as to what he should do, The commiltee told him to go ahead with the sketches that Brumidi had prepared, and leave the last three for future consid- eration, Accordingly, he weat on unttl he reached “The Finding of Gold in Califor- nia,” which he completed. ‘This is the work which was done, and this was co pleted nearly ten years ago. Since th thousands and thousands have looked into the swinging scaffolds, supposi the time that work was going on, but not a | thing has been done, or will be done, until the library committee give the order. Mr. Clark thinks that the library committee will order that the next panel show “The Driving of the Last Spike,” depicting the scene when the AUant’ nd Pacitic were connected with the iron tie. There will remain one more panel. Various suggestions have been made Ly artists and others in coanection with it and many are yet to be made. It has be generally believed that it will contain, as — younding up of the country’s centui ed representation of the princi; buildings of the centennial exposition, or scmething else Intended to illustrate that important event and that the country ccle= brated in a public way its ccntennial. But the exact form by which this idea, if it is indeed finally adopted, will be repre- sented is as yet uncertain. A suggesifon bas recently been made to the library comm mittee that the carrying out of the idea of the centennial should be made the subject of a competition among artists, and that a prize »° offered sufficiently large to induce the best American artists to compete. This plan may be adopted, but it is as yet only conjecture. Another. suggestion has been made that the last panel should show, in some way, that the country has passed through a civil war, and was stronger after the war than before. —— Fate. From the Cincinuat! Enguirer. “It is tough, but true,” said the Cummins- ville sage, “that a man generally does not get any foresight until he is too old to have anything to Icok forward to.”