Evening Star Newspaper, February 22, 1896, Page 10

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THE EVENING STAR, SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 22, 1896--TWENTY-FOUR PAGES. FORTY YEARS OLD Celebration of the Birthday of the Republican Party. ——___+——_ f0 BE HELD IN CENTER MARKET HALL The Causes That Resulted National Organ zation in 1856 ina eee THE PITTSBURG CONVENTION ary of the birth of ty wll be celebrated to- will make ad- $ rr Cul- they have watched crow to suc Lewis P. Clephane. dq, having famous conv Years ago tod. been members th ion held at Pittsburg forty ir. A. M. Clapp was for many the editer of the Nattonal fn this city, and has been the progress of the je it his place of pp !s a_ venerable row in his eighty-fifth year, tions are as intense and hi Dus dle age, and hi way, “I am like an old ca: for the service, but ready fit at his ning and that in on of the his opinion led up to the forn republican party. The Power of Slavery. es that led up to the organiza- n party?” repeated Mr. re but the mo: nt end efficient agency in bring! disintegration to both the existing parte er of slavery In a ent. was the controlling po Professedly free govern: cratic party had held the the government, with brief intermissions, for a long period through the aid of slavery. Cotton was king. Its scepter held tho 80 in contact and led the north as tamely as the lamb {fs brought to slaughter. Men were stricken down on the tioor of ‘The demo- 3 of power In Thos. J. Laster. Congress because they dared to protest g@gainst the great national sin of holding men and women in bondage under a that had led the heroes of the revolution to do battle in behalf of gaining freedoin from the yoke of monarchy. The thought that, a3 & nation of freemen, we should hold 4,- 000,000 men, women an4 children in the of slavery was a blot upon our es- cutcheon that brought shame to the cheek of every American who was not engaged in that traffic or belonged to the party which thrived by it. “There was a percentage of the demo- cratic party who were born with con- sciences,” continued Mr. Clapp, “and when B. F. Crawshaw. d that the with th to spread not ings, but the institution into the el to frecdom, they r . and the demo- teelf Invincible ry, began to ling grew, and the dis- in IS18 forrned ; Martin Time taught not win on that lin whig party had ry whigs had sought k lantern of what was thing kept sloof from and kept out cf the as est they could mer of hope for the lave power.’ Mr. Clapp’s as if he felt again the in- b led him and so muny like in the common cause a es see the Promised Land. “When the call for the Pittsburg con- nuon, to be held on February 22, 1856, ap- J he continued, “it ar of hope, and the fragments that n frem the two great parties, in- free soil demo- oth- 1. » Ohio, New I think Ver- ent. However, if at fault the call for the shed by Lawrence Brain- ate, who, I think, The nurat s zzd of February, 1556, rly as large ay that which cor n the republic was € legate f Db. Morgan, ke, Phil n editor of We were waiting for to lead us on to the ior of the nation was to s were our srip- proposed con- 1d had sta our own mined te es to any ation that had the courage ve power, and, if p from the odium of I was th sperity and happiness of le was to redeem it from ican Club will celebrate on Saturday. No Discord or Dissension. “In the convention,” continued Mr. Clapp, soon found we had come together from ulated by @ common pur- . There were no serious views regarding the details of organizatio: and no dscord. A ¢l'ght difference over the resolutions was settled In the committee on # ously adopted. A convention was cailed to meet in Philadelphia, and John C. Fre- mont That and Isaze Dayton were nominated. was the starting point of the national Mean party. Fremont made a gallant but w.th the official and other In- ence of the democratic administration inst bim, he was defeated. He carried 2 free sufl states, however, but lost the ves. Under Bu hanan’s administrathin @ republican party grew stronger, and in eotered the field so equipped that it success.” : A Mechantfeal Horror. From the Johannesburg Machinery. A most remarkable clock belongs to a Hindu prince. It !s the strangest plece of machinery in India. Near the dial of -an ordinary-looking clock is a large gong hung on .poles, while underneath, scattered on the ground, fs a pile of artificlal human skulls, ribs, legs and arms, the whole num- her of bones In the pile being equal to the number of bones In twelve human skele- tons. When the hands of the clock indicate the hour of 1 the number of bones needed to form a complete human skeleton come together with a snap; by some mechanical contrivance the skeleton springs up, seizes a mallet, and, waiking up to the gong, strikes one blow. This finished, It returns to the pile and again fails to pieces. When 2 o'clock, two skeletons get up and strike, vhile at the hours of noon and midnight e entire heap spring up in the shape of ive skeletons and strike, each one after the other, and then fall to pieces, as be- fore. so Gave His Brenkfast to the Plaster Dogs. From the Philadelphia Record. In front of a neat house on the Bristol turnpike, above Frankford, there stand two very handsome but fierce-looking plas- ter representations of mastiffs, one on each side of the pathway leading from the gate to the front porch. Nailed to a tree nearer the gates than the harmless plaster brutes is a large signboard, which reads: “Re- ware of the dogs." The sign might have some effect in keeping out tramps if put up alone, but the old “union liners” who have traversed that same road for many a year know that there are no dogs inside to be aware of. A few days ago a tramp, who was perhaps offended at what had been given him to eat farther down the road, divided the breakfast with the two dogs in the yard by placing part of it before each one. Then patting them on the head he went on his way. — Outran the Bullets. From the Early County (Ga.) News Col. Taylor Jenkins, who lives a few miles vorth of Blakely, {s known throughout that section as one of the most truthful men in it. Recently, while Mr. Jenkins was out hunting, his dogs began barking at some- thing tn a large hollow log. It was a wild hog. He took the hog home and dropped it in his cornfield. It is there now. A few weeks @o Mr. Jenkins went out to kill it, thinking he could easily do so with his un- erring rifle. He searched about till he “jumped” it. Down a corn row it went like lightning. He leveled his rifle and “cut down” cn it, but never touched a hair. He “jumped” it again and shot again, but no hog. Again and again he “jumped” it and shot at it, with the same results. He began to wonder what could be the matter. The cern rows were as straight as moonshine whisky, and his gun true as the third party to Tom Watson, yet hit it he couldn’t. To shoot at the hog as it ran off down the corn rows was just like shooting at it standing, so far as getting a ‘‘bead on it’? was concerned. To make sure that he didn’t “‘wobbie” off the hog, he put up a small target and “cracked down” at It five times, then took his ax and chopped in and found five balls all in one hole in the mid- die of the spot. That settled it—that the fdult was not in him or the gun, but that the hog had outrun the bullets. eee A Good Time in Prospect. From Puck. = “I want you to come around Tuesday night and meet some of the boys.” “What are you going to do?” “We're going to break some New Year's resolutions.” TOLD BY A CABBY Fifty Years as a Hack Driver in the Capital City. REMINISCENCES OF MR, BRENNAN War-Time Incidents and Stories About Public Men. CHANGES IN THE BUSINESS IFTY YEARS IN the hacking business. Yes, sir, fifty long years in the busi- ness In Washington, but I havo only driven a hack for forty-two years. The previous years I spent in learning how to do it.” This was the re- mark toa Star re- porter of Mr. Patrick Brennan, the well- Known heckmas, as he sat in the cozy parlor of his residence on L street, between Sth and 19th, a few evenings since, sur- rounded by his wife and their eight chil- dren, among whom were his already fa- mous triplets, Frances Cleveland, Kate and Anne, three tnt2resting and pretty girls, now entering their sixth year of life. “You ask me,” he said, “to give you my experiences as a hackman during the many years I have sat upon the box—well, it is easier to usk for them than to tell them— to boil down fifty years into a talk of fifty mintles, may be possible for those who have had experience in boiling, but I have had none such, and I only know how to drive, not to talk. I admit, however, that to be a successful hackman one must know something about takking. It helps the Lusiness mightily, and it brings in busi- uess that could not have been secured without it Of course, 1 had to start, and while 1t does not tome to me e. tly now, i distinctly remembér hacking Gen. N. P. Banks, back and forth to the pitol, dur- ing his campaign for the speakership of the Thirty-second Congress, which, I think, was in 1835. I remember to have driven him up to the caucus which elected him, and of bringing him and some of his po- ieee friends back to the Metropolitan Ho- el. “In those days I always stcod In front of the Metropolitan and National hotels, though I always met all incoming trains at the Baltimore and Ohio depot, which was the only dept then in the city. Like other hackmen I hal my regular custom- seme of whom I waited on for twenty and thirty years. I now wait upon their children, grandehildren and even great andchildren. Like father, like son, they eferred me to other hackmen. “My custcmers,"’ he continued, rich and poor, disiingu: political, congressional, pro- nal and theatrical. Sormick, the inventor, had me four heurs a day for several months when he and a nd had his matiers before Congres terribly fine man he w: appreciated good service. I remember son's first visit here with his phonograph. It was a crude-looking affair, built by him- self of zinc. He always ‘carried it in his ari He told me it was his baby, and that he was afraid to let any one else handie ft. Edison was a nice man those days. He jerky and troublesome. but he pald the bil). Ho was so deaf that it was hard to make him understand anything you sald to him.” “I have driven many prominent men to their weddings, and I remember now that when Stephen A. Douglass was married to Miss Cutts he had me constantly engaged for three days and nights continuously do- ing work for him. Though I had three sets of horses as changes, I kept at work con- stantly for him myself. Royal Passengers. “There !s hardly any it to the number and rank of the perSonages I have hacked,” sa‘d Mr, Brennan, “and I am even surprised myself when I look back on my hacking ex- perience. Though I have no admiration for kings and queens, or for royalty in any form, as my very Irish name would indi- cate, I have been honored, if you call it an henor, as the driver of the Prince of Wales, Prince Arthur, the Grand Duke Alexis, Vom Pedro, the Emperor of Brazil, and the empress. I don’t remember whether I hacked King Kalakaua of the Sandwich Islands, but I think I did a couple of light jobs for him, and maybe a like service for Queen Emma, probably a depot job, for her or some of her escort. “Before I forget I want to say here that Tom Murphy, the collector of New York; Roscoe Conkling, Chester A. Arthur, be- fore he was President, and others of the reigning politicians of New York of the day, were wonderfully appreciative to me in the way of business, and many ts the hundred of dollars of their money that has reached my pockets. God bless their memory! “Big jobs? Oh, yes; there were big jobs those days, for during a great part of my time there were no ra!lroads in comparison to what there are now. ‘The stage lines had regular days, and those who had to visit the surrounding country, and who could not wait for regular trips, had to use car- riages—wonder what would the modern hackman th.nk if he was asked to drive a party to Leonardtown, sixty miles? This I had to do {n my day, and it was not thought anything wonderful. My customer was Lieut. Mix of the fifth United States cavalry. He had an official errand there during the early days of the war. I can never forget it, for I was never so scared before or afterward. As we got along in Maryland, we had innumerable gates to open, and for a time he closed them -:are- fully after we passed. But after awhile he got tired, and not only unhinged each gate, but threw it down. It was all nice enough for him, as he did not have to return by the same road—a steamer met him at Leonardtown—put for me it was different, and I knew it. On my road back that way the farmers made it rather lively for me, but I escaped much injury to myself or car- riage. * Driving a Corpse. “I have hacked a number of people to Marlboro’ and surrounding places in Mary- land, for a twenty to thirty-mile trip was not an unusual job those days. I had a drive to Bryantown once, a thirty-mile drive, my sole companion being a dead man. I don’t think I got over it for twenty years. To the usual question, ‘Carriage, sir,’ a gentleman who had just arrived at the depot one night, responded, ‘No, but I want a hearse.’ I asked him the nature of his work, and he showed me a box, con- taining the corpse of a young man who had been killed in Baltimore the morning of the same day. I borrowed a hearse, hitched my horses to it and started for Bryantown. It was all right for the first ten miles, but oh, how awful are the recollections of the last twenty. As midnight approached, I got nervous, and the horses, feeling that I was nervous, became nervous themselves. I could feel ghosts and saw them. So did the horses. But nothing could be done except to go ahead. I did not pass one person in twenty-five miles. I have never taken a similar job since, and would decline any bay 1 rather than do one again. “Another trip once was to Charlo’ Hall, the school which was burned last week. Though always an ardent democrat, that trip settled my convictions on the slavery question. I had a party of four with me, and I camped my horses and car- riage in the college green for the night. At early daybreak I was aroused by a noise, and, on investigating, I found that it was caused by the yells of a negro man who was being whipped by his employer. The negro was a slave and was hired by the man who was whipping him. His offense was that he was late in getting to work, though it was not much past 4 o'clock in the morning. I saw the inhuman employer wash the bleeding cuts on the negro’s back with a salt brine, to intensify the pain as well as to hurry up their healing. From that moment I was against slavery, and I have never lost opportunity to say so. “Just as the war broke out I drove a gen- tleman to Annapolis. The railroad was not running that day, some of the rails having been torn up. He had come up from Louisi- ana and wanted to take his son, who was a cadet at apes back to the south. I charged him for the round which he paid. While at I met a naval too, paid well cfMcer, a captain, who when he died was an admiral. He had gome valuable papers and @ sword set with diamonds, which he want- ed to have brought to this city. I promised him I would delfver the sword and papers to his family here. He impressed upon me the danger of the rerend. the value of the sword, which had been presented to him, and the uncertainty of sending the same by rail owing to the troubled condition of things. His wa scared me so that I packed the swor d papers up on the box, and I did not let my customers in the car- riage know of the-errand intrusted to me. I delivered them as directed, and received from the capteig boon afterward his pro- fuse thanks and 70 cents in money. I asked him if he could not make it 75 cents, but he declined to furtiet, open his heart. Bob Toombs’ Prophecy. “I remember also very well,” Mr. Brennan went on, “when the southern Congressmen and cabinet officers began to leave here for the south. Most of them went to Norfolk ky steamer and from there by rail to their different states. We knew why they were leaving, for every one talked war those days. I took Alexander Stephens down to the boat, as also Bob Toombs of Georgia. ‘Good-bye, Brennan,’ he said as he left my carriage; ‘how much do I owe you?’ I told him that the fee was one dollar. ‘Here, take this,’ he satd, handing me a $5 gold piece; “we are going to have a terrible war and it will last one year for each of the dollars represented by that coin.’ His parting prophecy proved to be correct. I also drove Yancey of South Carolina to the wharf. Ha lived in the McLean house, 15th and I streets. He had a five-year notion of the war also. Many of these southerners be- Ueved that Capt. Dahlgren, afterward ad- miral, then {n command of the navy yard, would go south with them; but in that they were disappointed. Yancey said, ‘The pala- tial residences of 5th avenue will soon be the haunts of bats and owls, and the great resi- dences of the future will be in Savannah and New Orleans, one of which will be the capital of the country.’ He missed it there very much, though. “Did I drive to the battlefields? Yes, indeed, to every one within a day's drive of the city. I only raw one battle, how- ever, and that was at Fort Stevens, on the ith street road. A New York party had me, and we drove up to the knoll over- looking the fort. President Lincoln was there. I saw a young man killed by a rifle ball whe stood within twenty feet of where the President was standing. I made a number of trips to Bull Run, and visited that part of Virginia a number of times, generally with parties looking up wounded or sick men. I had a party there on the evening before the second Bull Run battle. I found that every one was excited over the approaching battle, so much so that it was difficult that the party hiring mo or myself could remember tho countersi Corunia—which was given us by the Department here before we started. “About fifteen years ago or less Gen. Phil. Cook of Georgia hired me to drive him and three ladies out to Fort Stevens. As we arrived there he explained the rela- tive positions of the opposing forces. Gen. Cook had always been a good customer of mine. He sald he had taken part in the trouble at Fort Stevens. I made a bad break by saying, ‘Yes, and I saw you and your men running away like old Harry.’ He never forgave me, and never hired me again, though all I said was the truth. I have driven Gov. English of Connecticut all over Virginia. He took a fatherly in- terest in all Connecticut soldiers, and vis- ited frequently all the camps. In my ex- perience I never saw his equal in this re- gara. He was a democrat, too. But so as Gen, Logan just before the war. I re driven him to a number of dezmo- ar cratic meetings at which he spoke. He was _a red-hot democrat. “Hacking,” he concluded, “is by no means what it was years ago. The cabs, herdics, bicycles and the other traps here reduced {t so that it fs almost confined to funeral work. The number of carriages kept on hand fs steadily decreasing, and it locks as If it will not be long before the old-fashioned cafriage driver will become a thing of the past. HOME OF AUDUD Picturesque Spot Where the Great Naturalist Spent Many, Years. From the Philadelphia Record. No region in Pennsylvania 1s more plc- turesque or richer in local traditions than the Perkiomen vatiey, in Montgomery coun- ty. The valley 1s small in extent and ex- tremely narrow m places, where the abut- ting hills rise almost from the banks of the creek; yet small as It 1s, It has been the theates of some very stirring scenes and the homo of some of America’s great men. Across the Schuylkill river lives famous Valley Forge. No one associated with the Listoric valley will live longer in the mem- cry of his countrymen than John James Audubon, America’s most celebrated ornt- thologist and naturalist. The home of Au- dubon stands on the south bank of the Perkiomen, about three miles east of Phoe- rixville. The house once occupied by the naturalist was built just ears ago, and is now owned by Harry Wetherill of Phil- adelphia, who spends his summers there. The old house fs of stone, and the walls are remarkably thick and substantial, and Icok es if they would stand another 136 years, When Audubon occupied the house St was a veritable museum, filled from cellar to garret with stuffed birds and animals and all sorts of birds' eggs, from the egg of the ecndor to those of the tiny humming bird. The walls were decorated with drawings of birds and animals. The house contained the noblest collection of birds and animals to be found at that time on the American ccntinent, and the best work in the field of ernithology was performed in the old house by the most eminent of America’s natural- ists, for it was here that Audubon passed his best working days. The great naturalist was born in Louis!- ana, of French parentage, in 1780, When a mere Iad he was sent to Paris, where he studied art under David, the great painter. When ke returned to America his father gave him the Perkiomen farm. In a short time after his return from France he mar- rled Lucy Bakewell. Their eldest son was torn on the Perkiomen farm. In 1823 a fire destroyed most of his draw- ings, which represented years of toil and study. He mourned two days over his loss, and then went to work more bravely than ever to repair the loss wrought by fire. In two years his masterpiece, “The Birds of America,” was ready for the press. “Birds of Atherica” is a colossal work, and contain- ed nearly 500 colored plates of birds life size, and four large octavo volumes of carefully prepared letter press. The origi- ral subscription price was $1,000 per set. ————+e+-____ A Trick on the Fleas, From Insect Life. All persons who have lived in a house which has become infested with fleas in summer will know how theze creatures in- Rabit the floor by preference, and how they will jump upon,the tegs and ankles of every one who passes near them. Taking advant- age of this fact, some years ago, when the lower floor of McGraw Hall of Cornell Uni- versity was badly infested by fleas, which had come from animals temporarily kept there in confinement, Prof. S. H. Gage in- vented tho following Ingenious plan. He had the janitor put on a pair of rubber boots, and then tled sheets of fly paper, with the sticky side outward, around the legs of the boots, The janitor was then to patrol the lower floor for several hours @ day. The result was gratifying and rather surprising. The sheets of fly paper soon became black with fleas and had to be changed at intervals, but by this means the building was almost completely rid of the pest, with & minimum of trouble to every one except the janitor. +o+—______ Brothers Strangely Met. From the Cleveland Plain Dealer, Jesse M. Brown of Franklin, Pa, and Manson Brown of Titusville, Pa., were called to Akron; Ohio, Saturday by a tele- gram ennouncing the dangerous illness of their father. The two brothers had not met in twenty years. They traveled in the same train and sat opposite each other. Neither knew who the other was. Leaving the train they walked to the business por- tion of the city tegether. They met again on South Main street and in a joking ma- ner one of them stated that they were fol- lowing each other. This led to a conversa- tion in which it developed that they were brothers. ———— ‘Trying to Please. From Puck. “You had better scare up a few rebels and pull off some sort of a battle tomor- row,” said the Spanish general. “I will do the best 1 can,” replied the ad- jutant; “but what's the necessity?” “Two new War ‘correspondents arrived this morning, end I want to give them some sort of a run for their money.” A ROOM WITH A_ HISTORY The Maryland Senate Chamber and Its Memories. The Spot Famous as the Place Where ‘Washington Resigned His Commission, Special Correspondence of The Evening Star. ANNAPOLIS, Md., February 21, 1896. The most conspicuous cbject in the senate chamber of the state house of Annapolis, and the one,which invariably first attracts the eye of the visitor, 1s a great picturé of Washington resigning his commission as commander-in-chief of the continental army. The picture, a counterpart of which is in the rotunda of the national Capitol, hangs upon the wall opposite the section of the room usually reserved for the desks of the democratic senators, and the incident depicted, which occurred on Tuesday, the 283d day of December, 1783, has forever en- deared the room to the minds of ail pa- triotic Americans. The pleture repres: reeeis to suggest such hallowed associa- fons. Those who compare the scene represent- ed in the great picture with the room as it now sppears, find but one connacting Unk, the door shown in the corner still remains es it did in Washington's day, and is used as a means of communication with the lobby intervening between the senate chamber and the president's room, The ornamental arch shown in the picture, also exists, but 1s now concealed by a screen. It is on the wall immediately behind the president's desk. The most important change that has oc- curred since Washington’s day was made in 1876, when the old gallery, which faced that section of the chamber now occu- pied by the president's desk, was torn down and removed to the cellar of the building. This “improvement” was made in eccordance with an order of the board ef public worl but those who cherish a sentimental regard for whatever has been honored by such association will be glad to iearn that a movement is on foot to re- store, as far as may be possible, the orig- inal appearance of the chamber. To Restore the Gallery. To this end a joint resolution has been Introduced by Senator Randall of Anne Arundel county providing tor the restora- tion of the gallery to its original position. The gallery 1s, fortunately, in an excellent state of preservation, and when the change is made a very fair idea of the appearance of the room a3 it was in Washington's tine may be obtained. In adcition to typ large CHAMBER AT ANNAPOLIS. his address of resignation. In the assembly before him are three future Presidents of the republic—Jefferson, Madison and Mon- roe—as well as many other famous patriots, among whom may be mentioned Alexan- der Hamilton, Eldridge Gerry of Mas. chusetts, and’ Mer s the Declaration—Thomas William Paca and Charlés Carroll rollton. The scene is a most {m- ive one, the figure of Washington be. ing thrown in strong relief, and the p affords those who ar i of comme on the degeneracy of latter-day proc! S in that chamber an opportunity to potnt out the contrast between the dignity and ity therein depicted and the less in- 1e3 more recently enacted. little In the present app of the room to t the possibilit ving been the scene of suc one, Samuel Chase, one of the t the room itis to be doubted whether he would hig surroundings, so many ngea have been wrought in the 12 rs that have elapsed since the impres- ive ceremony occurred. The Chamber Today. The chamber as it appears today shows the usual features of a room devoted to matters of iegisiation. Opposite entrance the President's desk rears Its front over the clerk's desk on eithe side of the aisle leading thereunto are the desks of the twenty-six senators who con- stitute the upper body of the Maryland general gssembly. The room is well licht- ed and richly ished, and there is noth- ing in lls genzral aspect or its structural n important | the main | the chamber fs ornamented with ngth portreits of the Mar Carroll, Stone, Chase and Paca, pictures of 4 Washington, n 24 0 mil» of the ting relics ure upon t student of American his repaid on visiting It. An Historical Accident. It is due to accident rathe ad thi y will be amp, re and Po- d, to hold and ‘The latter to six months of th r be er a veritable triump on Decem announced non,” and from et for hy Y possibl the town on and his Se at toon on ing announce: of the & ston to that body, the well-known ident |, and the ceremony w copies of the adiire = response ha: den Washi rnoon for entered i, a mess ‘ival to the the In that af THE COASTER FLEET. Character of the Vessels and Decline 5 of the Sailing Industry. From the New York Post. One of the most pieturesque sights to be scen on the water is a large fleet of “‘coast- ers” drifting seaward on the outeding tide immediately after a storm. Such a scene may be seen in almost any large harbor at certain seasons of the year, but more par- ticularly in Portland harbor, off the Maine coast, during the summer and autumn months, en the coasters are lumber-laden for Boston or New York. Frequently fifty to sixty of these coasting schooners will leave the harbor at the same time, and so alike seem they at a short distance that the whole fleet appears to be but a reduplication of one bi They are nearly all schooners with two masts, and of about 100 tons burden. Most of them are from fifteen to thirty years old, with patched and seamed sail: wales, A storm of small proportions would force the loose planking of these ancient craft asunder, and cause leaks that would call all hands to the pumps to save them from a watery grave. In sea parlance, they are only “held together by coal tai It is this peculiar construction of the coasters that makes them fiock together like a herd of sheep in some protected harbor ugtil the conditions of wind and weather are exactly suitable for easy sailing. No mariner upon the high seas studies the signs of the weather and reads the signals of the weather bureau with more diligence than the skipper of one of the numerous coasters that flit up and down the Atlantic coast in the summer season, dodging into perts at the first indication of a gale or storm, and gliding out with a favorable tide and wind to make another harbor be- fore heing overtaken by a second “spell of weather.” To all outward appearances the coaster is capable of riding the rough seas with swan-like grace, and her lines are not by any means ugly, but are often very fine and graceful, showing the skill of the boat builders of a generation ago, when wooden vessels were prefitable investments. The Yankee genius that made our privateers and tea clippers the wonders of the world and the fleetest greyhounds of the ocean is displayed in some of the fine lines of the present coasters. Coasters do not pay in this age of steam and electricity, and they are no longer built in this or other countries. When the present fleet have gone to pieces on the rocks or sandbars, or have fallen apart by their own weight, a most interest- ing type of vessel will disappear from the paths of the ocean and a great American in- dustry come to an end. The only men who can afford to own coast- ers today are those who sail them and live on them, and these skippers are a distinct type of seamen, spending half the year in guiding their uncertain craft along the treacherous Atlantic shore, and the other half on a comfortable seacoast farm some- where between Maine and New York. Ac- cepting the inevitable conclusion that their old occupation will soon be wrested from them by the swift changes of time, these farmer-skippers have invested their small earnings in a home that is more secure and lasting than their schooners. So long as their vessels hang together they will follow the sea, but gradually one after another drops out of service, to spend the remainder of life in some quiet fishing hamlet, or goes down to a watery grave on some rock-bound ecast. When the coast skippérs become a thing of the past, the last relic of an age of shipbuilding that made this country famous on the high seas will be lost. The triumph of the iron age of shipbuilding over the wooden age will then be complete. ———__+e+_____ Sto¥% the Governor's Watch. From the Chicago Inter-Ocean. - Burglars got into the house of Gov. Matthews, in Indianapolis, Monday night and stole $i in money and the governor's gold watch. The thieves prowled all over the house, but none of the members of the family heard them. They entered the pan- try and helped themselves to the pastry, and tho hearth around the grate in the liv- ing room indicated that they had warm- ed themselves by the family fire before they left the house, jis. this and loaded down nearly to the gun- | VIEWS IN THE LONDON CLiB. American Affairs Diseusscd and the Information Plicited. From the San Franc!seo Ar; “But don’t you see,” say, while he kn er hi one man ed his glas: ‘what I cawn't get I thougnt there had been a t War between North end South America, and here you see the nx up fo: one ef th ve got no generals. Grawnt and Lee are too oid, I expect.” ‘Grawnt fs dead, you idiot.” ‘They've got Stonewall Jackson,” suz- gested a new speaker, who had just come into the smoking room. “Who's they?” quickly demar colonel. outh America,” repliat the neweo! Why, Stonewall Jackson is a nort ung man with d the ex- er No fear,” from the ex-colonel, with a ert wiuk. Vil go a fiver on it,” said the young man with the eyeglass. “Done,” quietly remarked the colonel. “But who'll decide it?” asked several Voices, “I will myself,” said the colonel. “You id Stonewall Jackson is a northern gen- i say he is not, because he’s dead.” hat a joliy sell!’ “ i say!” and “I never!” filled in the gaps in v laughter. “Come, hand over the fiver,” demanded tho _ex-colonel. “Stop a bit,” spoke a voice not Meard be- fore. It came from an old gentleman who was quiedy sipping very weak grog near the fi ‘Stonewall Jacksoa was a South American general. If so, the bet must be off, You are beth wrong. 5 Ejected a Fish. Mrs. John Davis, a woman residing at Seranton, Pa., recently ejected from her stomach a living fish, It was perfectly formed and was seven inches long and one and one-half inches broad. There were several violent ejections of liquids, and then followed the live fish. The fish w perfectly formed and was complete to tail and firs. It was very weak, how rT, and moved feebly whe placed in water. How the fish came Into the system of Mrs, Davis {s unknown, and can be explained i no other way than that she drank it water. Didn't Need to Have It Printed. From the Lonisville Courfer-Journal. “I never will forget the queer incidents and experiences I had when I first bought a typewriter and sent out in print my cor- respondence and bills to my customers who lived in tho rustic regions about me,” sald a merchant from a backwoods town. “Sey- eral of my patrons dropped me, and 1 was at a loss to account for their manner, which changed toward me. At last the mystery was solved. A burly young farmer drove vp to the store, tied up his oxen and stalk- ed into my office. ‘Mr. Blank,” said he, ‘i'd have you to know that I knew how to read writin,’ and you don’t have to print your letters and bills when you send them to me. I don’t propose to be insulted in such a manner.” He then threw down the let- ter on my desk and stalked cut.” ——_—_-e-. Practical to the Las From the Dayton (Ohio) Religions Telescope. An old man and his wife were last sum- mer sailing on a steamer between Black- Pool and the Isie of Man. As the sea was rather rough “and the old woman un, customed to sailing, she said to her hu: band: “Oh, John; this ship is going down! “Well, never mind,” said her husband; “it isn’t ours.” ANATIONAL ART COMMISSION Some of the Main Obiec's of the Publie Art League, Duties That Congress Owes the Come munity—Services to the Peop! and the Cause of Art. To the Eiitor of The Evening Star: The recently organized Public Art League 1s only the normal result of the growth of the American people true civilization, For it !s an accepted principle that org: zation ts the first step in Une development of civil Mfe, and every advancement in true civil culture means Use organ-zation of some element or force that has nither been allowed to run to was’ Orge jon is not the mere bringi: g together of forces of a certain kind, but their intelligent dir tion, It is a worn-out sayug tst the American people have too much love for , the “mighty dollar” to devote any Ume or money to art. Hardiy could anything be more “untrue or coutrary Ww existing tacts! ‘The truth of the matter ts that probably no people have spent money so lavishly and so unwisely and so wastefully for as our gencrous-hearted and well- American men of wealth and public laiors, The art poverty of our peor especially of our goverment, hes not in disposition n mor but im c and in wise direction. These defick in themselves are no disgrace to # people and to le tors occupied a8 ours have Deen dui the past century with great Une rough-hewing of ments at hand. The been ready to vote ic buildings and to for the pur tue, but as for gi of artistic merit in ei tlempting to pass Judgmen' his is Just what our pubiic men aselves unable to do. The « been the appropr: the cost; Kind of art thus pui the public eye for generations to come, whether tse and pure and elevating, or has not been because the Sm 4 did net know that ‘his Our ter of importance books were caret $ and buildin or sculptor was ntalos e the ce me of th out as of But th can family of weaith ng themscives a y home in one ur large cities, ust or west, 4 not thin 5 the house as e up and then em; of each, or they might, pleading, prevail on the ch r to give one or another som to do. ‘The cwner being a man of « is unable to attend to so many details better still, while knowing that an el @nd artist'c home and will shly for it, yet be knows equ: ability to wisely dire re this result, Ac ator and a fur 2, and instead of @ well his « work and is own cru s8 1 home truly b ‘i fe unity and com- Na- it everywhere veyona the t at pervi advance 2 of civil m and pr lence ctel and unsystematized art atronage by a gover ent is the most teful ¢ vasane possibh that he need of professional advice, and there- foge of a well-quall! rt commission or bure 1s one of great demands of public economy. The hnanc'al ev’ sot alr rance, caused by publi rs, as such, to pro- noune ch should on be mined"by expert jnizment, are what © att We xperience now {n mm of government bulld- rated beyond dis of the butldings for thas been voting mil- of the people's money ned and wa > the preva 4 profes that vast numbers which the governm lions upon millions have been badly owing r artistic an conduct of o: 1 to say that the reason wi buildings and monuments through- the country are not in their poliveal ov trol in th Tt ts aby things palmed oif upon able, when she fuse them and too 7 But the ns kind of pride. § the best the people and that this can ng the best judg- in determining the ] monuments to be. The idea that a Sen- nor head of a depart- *, a competent fore, qualified to de- the kind of art our in their public buildings, . ete, Is one worthy of the the past. > mone ance rorant to her igno: to a worth that in payir to have the of too mu ble to pass is to affect their it to those who know, that the ally q r duties. of the Public Art Le npointment by the nent fine art commission of ph rovided securing the ment of a perm duly qualified judges, with duties similar to those of the commission of fine arts of the French reput and of which we have precedents in this country in the fine arts ck commission of Massa@husetts, of Ne city and Philadelphia, is simply to Justice to all our people In having money which 15 employed in artistic direction nomically spent for good art, tn=te being wasted for the bogus article ognizes the fact that our public legi: and executive ch: re not ex-o' true expert judges in congressional enactments in art re sure to be Ww onal counsel. ‘he only feature of the movement now and which may seem open to objection an implication It carries that Congress Is nly to be prevailed upon by persistent and ong-continued effort to yield to this de- nd for a national commission of fine arts. here wonld not seem to be any wa’ the past behavior of Congress for th supposition. Tn ail matters of really grave importance connected with the moral and Intellectual advancement of the pearple Congress has come ally and manfally up to its duty when demand has been Intellizently t—witners the building of of Consress, the passing nal copyright law, and, greatest of ail, the reform in the method of civil service appo'ntments. Of similar na- ture and similar fmportance ts this matter of a nations! art commission as an avenue of pooular educat'on, patriotism and high moral Infvence. The people have a right to demand of the government that the available public spaces and sites for monu- ments at the cap'tal be not dealt reclt- Jessiy to the first comer, regardless of all the pressing demands “hat the future may hava when our blunders are too late to remedy; and they have a right to demand that thes places shall be occupied only by siatuary or other works of art which will stand on an artistic level with the highest art standards of the world, and not de something to be ashamed of when they get thelr eyes opened—as the people are doing— to what art really ts. We could never plead poverty of means for doing anything the people want and really need in Americ: and now we can no longer plead povert; of knowledge, for we have learned the greatest secret of wisdom—to give up th conceit that “we know {t all ourselves. We are beginning as a people to-respect organized effort and special qualifications for special duties, and to realize that so important an element as the art culture of a great nation like ours should not be trifled with by the misdirected,even though well-intentioned, acts of disqualified parties. That Congress will be slow to see this at the present stage of our public culture the and earnestly p the new Libri ef the inter there would seem to be no good reason for beileving, and there can be no doubt that the Congress that passes the bill now pro- posed will do an illustrious service to o1 nation’s highest meg rear and a te itself the people's lasting gratitude. . FRANK SEWALL

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