Evening Star Newspaper, March 14, 1896, Page 19

GENERAL DELIVER Scenes and Incidents at the City “Post Office. WHERE SOME PECPLE GE? THEIR MAIL They Live Independent of the Car- rier System. MANY QUEER EXPERIENCES SS HE SCENES AND incidents at the city post office during the day and night, for the doers of the post office have not been locked one moment for many years, are of varied interest. ‘Those that take place in the vicinity of the general delivery windows are particu- larly interesting, for it is estimated that is at Jeast one caller for every min- ute in the twenty-four hours. It runs this way for every m!aute of the year, rain or shine, warm or cold. The callers of a day would make in num- bers a respectable army—composed of all classes and characters, persons in all sta- tions of life, from the millionaire all the Way up or down the line to the poorest beg- gar. Of course, man predominates in the precession of callers, but there are enough women and children to break the monotony. It is a pesuliar procession in every respect. The average person, who has given but lit- tle or no consideration to the subject, would raturalty suppose that the small army of letter carriers would deliver every letter which comes to the city. But such is by no means the fact, for there are thousands of persons who only receive their letters at the general delivery windows, and who will not have them delivered in any other way. They offer all kinds of reasons—some good and many not so good—for their prefer- ence. To illustrate: When a Star reporter cal!2d at the gen- eral delivery window the other evening he met a well-known pelitician, who explained his personal call for letters as follows: “I have resided in Washington for twenty-five years, and though I receive rhore than the ordinary number of letters, not one has gone astray during that time. Did I have my letters come to my hotel, boarding house or where I have roomed, the chances of their going astray would be increased. ‘Then, again, I do not want my letters seen, handled cr pawed over by others. This I can prevent by having them come to the general delivery. In this I suppose I am ke a great many others, for during the years of my residence in this city I have become acquainted with many others who call here in preference to having their mail delivered by carriers.” Don’t Use the Carrier System. Others ar. actuated by different reasons, and many, no doubt, cali for letters because they do not desire all letters to be left at their residences, offices or business places. “The man who spoke to yor said the delivery clerk, “gave you the reason that is generally given. We hav raply nothing to do with reasons, tent ourselves with deli comes along to thes ed to it, and who call for it. em, it suits us, and that Is all there is of it. Handling letters by the thovsands, often automatically, there is no such thing as curiosity on our part. 1 s off in time.” ‘The Star reporter spent a considerable part of an evening at the post office. As the night advanced the demand for letters fell off, ad after 19 o'clock the callers , at times, far between, but at any time for The rush gen- erally takes place between 4 and 8 o'clock in the evening, and from § to about 11:30 in the morning. As the theaters and places of public amusement closed there was a ease in the number of callers, ‘nto midnig! ing off in. After regular night owls app People are creatures of habit in many respects, and geome people seem to have acquired the habit of only calling for letters between mifnight and daybreak. Others call dur- ing those hours only because circumstances force them to do so. “This window,” said the clerk, “is of con- venlence to many persons in many ways. Frequently the police use it to locate those they are looking after. Parents use it to locate their children, and children use it to locate their parents. It was only a few weeks since a man called here and asked if kis brother—he gave me his name—got his mail here. I told him he did, and that it was his custom to call about 10 o'clock at night for his letters. “If you will allow me,’ ke said, ‘I will wait fer him.’ He then told me that he had not scen his brother for eighteen years, and that he was not sure he would recognize him, as he was but a boy when he had last seen him. He added that he had just ar- rived ia the city, and had not the slightest idea where his brother resided, as he had always had his letters addressed to the general delivery. At the regular hour the brother cailed, and would you believe it, I had the pleasure of introducing that man to hia brother, for neither recognized the other. A similar case happened the same week. A Family Reunited. “A lady and her son resided in Philadel- ‘¥hla. Her husband and another son lived here. It appears the husband and wife could not agree, and lived separately for many years. For reasons of their own they had never interchanged letters. Finally a correspondence began between them, and the lady and her son came on. It did not strike either of them that they did not have the city address of the husband and father until they arrived here. They then saw the fix they were in and applied to the police. Officer Lamb, at the B. and P. depot, who knows everything, helped them out of their difficulty by sending them re. “The man is a commercial traveler, and he seldom gets kis name in the city direc- tory. I happened to know him, however, and in less than an hour the family were Pleasantly- reunited. Had there been no general delivery window it might have taken days for them to find each other.” “Strange expericrces? Oh, plenty of them. Many people of cranky and queer notions are among our callers. Here comes one now. Listen to him.” A queer-looking old man approached the window. “Nothing tonight,” said the clerk, as the old man peeped into the win- dow. “I am sorry for that,” the old man replied, but as he turned to depart he re- marked:“Kind of dravghty tonight. And, by the way, I wish you would tell Mr. Willett that I have a little contrivance that I can put on the steam radiators in this build- ing that will increase the heat double what it is now without eny increase whatever in coal. It ts perfectly practical, based on scientific principles. I haven't given the contrivance as much attenzion as I should, for I am terribly busy just now on my new projectile by which I can pierce any armor; it matters not how thick it is, or of what it is compcsed. Just now I have two big wars on hand, the Cuban and Ital- jan, and one or two promised. I am pray- ing for a war with England on the Venez- uelan dispute. Provide me with wars, the more the merrier, and I'll crack every ar- mored ship that floats on the high seas.” “Now, that man,” said the clerk, “is an inventor only in his mind. He calis every night: has a now invention almost every time he comes, and though he says he ex- pecfs a ietter, he has not got one for many months. He is a sample—though an exag- gerated sample—of some of our most regular callers.” Keenness of Disappointment. “We can generally tell by the looks of persons when they realiy expect a letter. Their faces and manner indicate it. Lots of people call who have no idea of receiving anything. They call just because they like to take a little walk and want to be socia- ble. They expect nothing, and our ‘noth- ing’ is no disappointment to them. “But to a man or woman who really ex- pect a letter nothing means a great deal. THE EVENING 8TAR, SATURDAY, MAROH 14, 1896--TWENTY-FOUR’ PAGES. Their eyes drop and they walk away as if @ load had been put on their shoulders. “I had a little fun here the other night. A: young lady called and I gave her a letter. She opened it and read it. Then she said to me, ‘I must let you in on this. It is too good for me to enjoy alone. I dropped in on a fortune teller tonight and she told me I would get a letter here and that I would have a money order in it. Here is the money order.’ “Fortune tellers, however, do not strike it right every time, for time and time again people are sent here by them and they get our ‘nothing’ only in return for their trou- ble. “Another lady, I remember, ‘let me in’ on @ letter. After standing over there and reading it she came to the window, and handing me the envelope, she asked: ‘Look at the handwriting and tell me what you think of it. Does it indicate honesty of purpose? I ask,’ she said, ‘because he has made me a proposal of marriage.’ I ex- plained to her that while I was somewhat acquainted with handwriting, I was not an expert on chirography, and that if she per- sisted in having an answer she would have to see the postmaster, who decided all questions relating to letters, and who was Specially good on marriage matters. How People Act. “When people reply, “What, nothing? Why, that fs strange,’ we instinctively Know that they did not expect to get a letter. When they use bad words, as some oceasionally do, by the same reasoning we know that they did. Lots of our callers ; 2re foreigaers who cannot speak a word of English, but somehow we are able to serve them {f we have anything for them. To help them out we call in the services of other callers and our own translators and interpreters. “We know the faces of the regulars, and after they have called two or three times we rarely have to ask for the names. Now and then we slip up, but not often. “Drummers and traveling men generally have of necessity to call here for letters. Now and then they are two or three days ahead of their mail, but they generally cal- culate and arrange that their mail is due about the day they arrive. When they don’t connect, they raise a rumpus. George Washington, Andrew Jackson, Daniel Web- ster, Abraham Lincoln, Geo. B. McClellan, Benj. Franklin, R. B. Hayes, Phil. Shert- dan, Jno. A. Logan and hosts of other men who are supposed to have departed long s:nce continue to come here regularly. Daughter Looking fer Her Mother. “I had a peculiar case here recently. A young woman, a Norwegian, who had Just arrived from Chicago, came here lock- ing for her mothec’s city address. ‘There wes no such name in our directory an never had been. Yet the woman insisted that she had written to her mother regu- larly for three years from € bicago and had always premptiy received answers.’ I asked ker to write the exact address she put on her letters to her mother. She did so. Afte the name ceme Yesler, “T suspected th trcuble was, and, looking into the Postal Gude, ssw that Yesler was in the state of Waskington. As the letter arrived here our people struck off the D. C. and remailed them to the state of Washington. The young woman was almo: heartbroken when I toid ker that she was 3,000 miles out of the way, and to reach her mother she would have to return to Chicago and then cross the continent to the state of Washington. She had spent all her savings in coming to this city from Chicago, and Row is at work in one of the hotels here, trying to get money encugh to pay her transportation across the continent. “The other night I had a caller who !s one of a numerons class who inquire for letters in the advertised list. The lady gave me her name and I kanded her a let- ter addressed to that name. She opened it and handed it back to m saying that it Was not Intended for her. ‘Then turning on te ske denounced me severely. ‘I think it is a shame, a downright shame,’ she sai 1, ‘for you to bring me all the way here from the Navy Yard this cold night, when you might have known the letter was not for me.’ It was no use for me to explain, and she went off hoppirg mad. “There is a class of people who are just as particular to mail every important letter they write as others are to receive it at first hands instead of through the carriers. They are not satisfied to drop it in the cor- ner boxes, but come here regularly and mail their letters in the receiving window. They then go away with a fe ig of satis. faction that the letter will go more care- fully. It is useless to argue with them, and we do not try to do so. Lik2wise others think the stamps bought here are better than those boughi elsewhere, and they come long dist: nces for th: 4 ——.—__ NEW CHINESE NEWSPAPER. To Be Published in Pekin and Edited by a Graduate of Hamlin College. From the Chicago Record. A newspaper haS at last been established at Pekin by Chinamen and printed in the Chinese language, under the patronage of some of the most powerful princes of the court. This is the most favorable sign of progress that kas yet appeared, and it would seem as if a little light was finally breaking in upon the most antiquated and obtuse des- potism in the world. It is called the Wan- 4Kuo-Kung-Pao, or Universal Intelligencer, and was suggested and will be edited by a young graduate of the Hamlin College, of which Dr. Martin, an American missionary, hae for years been president. ‘The name of this audacious and progress- ive persen is Kan Chang Su, a native of Can- ton, who, only a few years ago, was in deep disfavor because of some rather heretical commentaries that he published upon the 1 classics of Confucius. But though he was under the official ban for questioning the wisdom of the great sage, he now appears to have recovered confidence, for associated with him in the enterprise are many men of rote—Yuan Shihkai, ex-minister of Corea; a@ secretary of the grand council, a grand- nephew of the imperial tutor, Weng, son of the late Marquis Tseng and nephew of Paince Li, the eldest son of the Viceroy of Nanking, ard some fifteen others of high lit- erary rark, or belonging to great official femilies. These gentlemen have formed a club known as “The Universal Intelligencer As- sociation,” which assumes the expense of Public? tion and will contribute to the period- ical, which will be issued twice a month. Chang Chih-Tung, the viceroy of Nanking, has subscribed $5,000 toward the capital, an uncle of the emperor has given a building rent free, and the president of the board of revenue has pledged a subsidy from the government. A modern printing establish- ment has been ordered and in addition to the periodical it is intended to publish a series of books for the purpose of diffusing knowledge of western civilization and in- ventions among the Chinese. There are now only six papers printed in the Chinese language, two at Canton, one at Shanghal, one at Hankow, one at Tientsin— all owned and published by foreigners—and the venerable Pekin Gazette, which ts the oldest journal in the world, and for 800 years has been issved regularly at the cap- ital to make known the imperial edicts and other official information. It is still printed from engraved blocks of wood, just as it has always been, and is a little pamphlet only about three inches wide and eight inches leng. It fs one of the quaintest examples of the typographical art in existence. The proposed newspaper, which is evident- ly issued with the consent of the govern- ment, is the most radical innovation that has been made in China for many years. ———_+e4+____ “Jamp, Fritzy, Jump!” From Life. = thewspace widens)—“I’m glad when I first thought of it.” « I didn’t jump BLOOMERS IN PARIS Popular Style of Dress for Lady Bi- cycle Riders. INFLUENCE OF THE USE OF THE W Changes in’Customs Which May Be the Result. POPULAR WITH WOMEN >-- Special Correspondence of The Evening Star. PARIS, March 3, 1896. ! HE ORIGIN OF THE Dicyele bloomer 1s not altogether lost in the midst of anti- quity. It is certain that one day a young, lady rider, observing, as many had done before her, that the ordinary skirt is ob- Jectionable because it impedes the free movement of the legs and 1s in danger of being caught in the Machinery, hit upon the simplest and most obvious of devices. She reached down in front, caught the back edge of her skirt between her feet, and puiled it up between her knees. The result was a modest and practical pair of bloomers while on the wheel which instantly fell into the ordinary skirt on her descent. S This discovery may have been made in Berlin, London or New York; but in all Probability it was made in Paris. This improvised bloomer is still to be met with numerously in Paris, particularly in the unfashionable northern, southern and eastern suburbs, where holiday afternoons are enjoyed with more zest than prepara- tion. he natural feminine tendency to worldliness, luxury and expense, however, has effected its substitution by reguiarly made bloomers in the more posing West End. As a matter of fact in the spring of 1893 bloomers come to stay, though they are not called bloomers, but panta- loons. S who get up early enough in the morning to take a turn in the Bois at the fashionaable hour of 10 a.m. will be repaid by the sight ef numberless young married ladies of the highest fashion apedaling in zouaves, with onl. ‘ashioned clubmen to mutter at this innovation as at all other Signs of the times. “I care no more for the park, it’s disgusting. Even in the morning nowadays it’s full of bicyclists and for- elgners! Look at those costumes! They’re "Yet these tight or eched dames are of the Parisian . They wear pantaloons and ride on men’s machines, Every Kind of Wheel. Paris is so complicated in its social or- ders—like a universe of stars that keep their tracks, and yet a ly be deceived on the bicycle bloomer ques- tion. The afterncon hurley-burley of the Sis, say, near the Avenue of the Grand Armee, sho kind of costume, as it shows every kind of wheel; and it takes an corn and the chaff ture. American tour girls are often hor- rifled at the costumes they see. They are more frequentiy moved to laughter. The truth is that as yet Parts evolved no settled styles in bloomers. 1 fore, while some err from daring, others err f more by reasons of economy. The American girls complain that the great majority of the Parisian bicycle y bloomers are dowdy. It is true, and could hardiy be otherw It must be remem- bered that the middle- @ Parisienne de- pends on the ready-m: gown department of the great shops almos' American middle-cla: ready-made suit ind guishes our country; the “adaptability” and “elegan tionally ascribed to the Parisienne has heretofore always had to do with very fe: inine and frou-frou types of dress. The or- dinary Parisienne has not yet achieved the real tafior-made gown; and until a recent date she would not have desired it. Now she runs to the Louvre or the Bon Marche for a bicycle costume—and.the whole mat- ter being new to her, takes docilely what {s given her. When the fas! new-fangled ladies bloomer: and wais aggerated Scotch t as much as the ’ man depends on the ty, which so distin- And, furthermore, = i: jonable dressmakers or tailors are called in the are apt to be of an ex- English 1 in which -date worldings of the uncomfortab! vi this there is no mistaking F and American girls in the Bols today, bloomers or no bloomers. Perhaps it is partly be- cause French young women are plumper— to be poliie—than our own. For example, with them, on the bicycle as off it, the cen- ter of gravity yields to no dissimilation. One is constantly reminded of full moons or sofa cushions. What the dressmakers achieve in the waist they seem to lose be- low it. The French woman being differ- ently built from the Anglo-Saxon, both go- ing and coming, she appears to sprawl more in bloomers. * She looks queer enough seated on the machine, but once she descends she locks queerer. Restricted to Married Women. Two other factors enter into the queer- ness of all the feminine bicycling of Paris. The great majority of lady riders are not unmarried girls of gocd society. These lat- ter may attempt the wheel in the privacy of the country, but they do not show in any number in the park. In all the classes—the aristocracy, the bourgeoisie and the “little” bourgeoisie—it is the young married woman who pedals. This fact presents an ensem- ble of maturity to the newly arrived Amer- ican. Now, what would be luxurious when safe guarded by all the artifices of femi- nine attire, which have stood the test of ages, becomes mere ostentation under the simplicity of the bloomer. The change for the great mass of French lady cyclists has been too great. Many have seen this and tried to remedy it, both the lighter-minded of the “half- world” and their more estimable sisters. Some—in both categories—have frankly taken up men’s cosiumes, loose knicker- bockers, and longish sack coats. Others wear tight knee-breeches and fancy jerseys. Others,add to this a short skirt, reaching to the knives, wit or without leggings or heavy ib eee stéckings. For these it is any- thing to get away from the organ-grinder- monkey effect “threatened by zouaves or bloomers. P In this way they accomplish a great deal in gracefulness of outline at the expense of a very little modesty. Speaking simply from the standpoint of architecture, bloomers dis- figure lovely woman by hanging below the — knees. It is almost pitiful to gee them reveling in their new-found liberty of costume. They would overrun the Parisian promenade did not an ordinance of the prefect of police forbid the appearance of bicycle costume without a bicycle. Recently there was an attempt to enforce this mandate strictly, and it failed. The only law on which the prefect of police had to go was that for- bidding one sex to attire itself In the garb of another. A test case provoked a dictum from a judge to the effect that bloomers or zouaves could not by any possibility be looked on as a male costume. Nowadays, therefore, so long as the damsels confine their promenades en pantalon to the festive quarters like Montmartre and the Latin Quarter, they are not molested, being char- itably supposed to have thelr wheels some- where nearby. May Result in Emancipation. Parisiennes willingly accept what they know to be only doubtfully becoming! It is a revolution and will have far-reaching re- sults. Indeed, many see in It the emanci- pation of the French young girl. The pre- 4 tentious upper bourgeoisie {s chary of al- lowing its daughters to ride in public, but when the “jeune personne” takes to the machine at all it must be in bloomers, like her married sister. Apart from these, how- ever, a new class has been tapped by the machine, the lower-middle class, which heretofore has had no real chance at sport. Living always, however comfortably, in cramped apartment. houses, the bicycle makes a strong 8D) to mothers and daughters, as well a8 to sons and fathers. The cheapness of: the bicycle and the temptations it offers.40 these Parisians, who adore the country all; the more because they do not often see if incline the fearts of these honest people strongly to the wheel. All the world of lfttle employes has wel- comed the bicycle.ciiWith it they get in actugl touch with ¢quntry life, the roads, the Villages, the fields. It is pleasanter than the regulation Sunday railway trip to some small town, with itg,aimless walk around provincial streets oyf to a weary wood, to sit there blankly, feeling out of place and cramped by city shogs and garments, wish- ing vainly for a cartiage. To all this world of commercial empigyes and government clerks independence .gomes easy. And there are those who think: that twenty years of radicalism in the public schools is begin- ning to show its effect with the riddle and upper-middle bourgecisie, If this movement continues, bicycle rid- ing may become as.respectable for young girls as for their. married sisters. The mothers of the present day may still be very | Much of the old school—lacking its religion. And the daughters can scarcely be other- wise then what they are, trained up as they have been. Still, rumors of the different life of English and American girls, and even German girls, come to them, and they won- der, with derision or regret, as may be. The wheel is new. It fs fashionable as well as popular. It may bring with it the emanci- pation of the French young girl. And when it does, she will appear in bloomers. STERLING HEILIG. — THE LITTLE MAN WANTED FIGHT. But His Big Companion Would Not Permit Him to Indulge in Luxuries. From the Chicago Record. From the labored manner in which they boarded the train at 39th street it was evi- dent that they had been partaking too freely of intoxicants. One was big and brawny. He was suf- fering from the delusion that. he was per- fectly gpber. The other was a little man, whose huge shoe-brush mustache seemed fairly to bristle with aggressiveness. He was inebriated, and he didn’t want any one to doubt it. On the opposite side of the double seat where they had planted themselves sat a light-complexioned man, thoughtfully puf- fing a cigar. The little one of the pair was looking for trouble—his own troubles could not begin to sausfy him. He looked fiercely about the car, and seemed to conclude that the quiet man with the cigar was his ivgical victim. The little man stared and scowled. The light man coolly continued to smoke. At last the little one could stand it no longer; so he sai “f always did hate the smell of a rope.” No answer. “T never scen a Swede yet that. wasn’t afraid to fight.” The light nan still smoked. “I can lick any Swede I ever see.” The light man yawned and looked out the window. “Say! I kin lick you. Do you hear?” Here the big man thought it time to dem- onstrate his sobriety. He turned aroun¢ grasped his small friend by the should and slammed him violently against the seat. “We won't save any scrappin’ on_this train,” said he. ‘An’ you set quiet. See? “Now, Bill, nobody said nothin’ to you, and you jes’ min’ wn business. You ain‘t in this, you ain’ * The little man th: glance upon the the least attention to him. Suddenly the fizhting mood passed away. With a smile wrjnking his face up into litde furrows, the tle man held out a hand, apd s4 S'pose you're a rafter all. Shake hands, eh?” ighi man g¢pntinued to look out of the window «nd to smoke. “Don't want shake hands? S'pose say I "man, eh?” turned a scorching ssh man, who paid not no_gem’man’ ain't n says I ain’t no gem’- man T can lick, an’ I'm goin’ to do it,” and he made a lurch toward the silent man. Here Bill inte:ferel again, and picked him up by the cojlar with one hand and slammed him back, The lithe one squirmed and declared hh wand “hammer him, s one de clared over and over Again that “we ain’t goin’ to have no scrappin’ on this train,” until 12th street was reached. Then the big one dragged the little one, squirming and kicking, from the car, much to the enjoyment of other passengers, who had been under a nervous strain, expecting battle. The light-complexioned man didn’t so much as turn around to see them leave the car. soe. WHO WORK. YOUNG WOME Is Business Employment Demoraliz- ing to the Fair Sex? From tke Tadles’ Home Journal. The fact cannot be disputed that no sin- gle factor in modern life is doing so mi to degenerate our young womanhood as this mad race on the part of girls, impelled by necessity or not, to go into the business world, These may sound like strong words to the ears of some, but to those who are really cognizant of the immensity of the evil results that are being wrought, they+ will simply fit the case and not xo beyond it. In altogether too many of our commer- cial and industrial establishments, stores and factories, the men into whose hands is given the power to.employ and control girls are not fit, from a moral standpvint, to herd swine. And yet thousands of cur young women are allowed io go from their homes to work under the influence of these men and in the atmosphere vitiated by them. And why? Simply be-ause it is con- sidered more “respectable” to be employed in an office, store or factory than to be ¢n- gaged in domestic service. The very word “servant” has a taint about it that the ma- jority of young crag BIe » and from which they flee. But w&at else are they in business establishments than servants pure and simple? There can be no 4ifference but an imaginary one. That is all. Far less lenfency is shown in our business heuses to women employes than is shown, as a rule, in our homes to domestic help—infinitely less. It is the pot-and-kettle idea that seems so painfully unrespectable to thousands of young women, and perhaps they are not so much to blame when one considers the depth to which the idea of domestic service has been allowed to sink in America. Jvst so long as the well-to-do parents of our country discourage the idea of household knowledge in their daught2-s, as so many do, just so increasingly difficult will these same parents find it to secure gcod do- mestic servants for thelr homes. Make a thing undesirable to one class, and you quickly make it unrespectanle to another class. We all like to ape the ideas and manners of those whom we fancy to be @ little above.us in birth or station. Here is where the great evil to domestic service has been done and is being constantly wrought. It has been made purely and low- ly menial, and the result is that young ‘women, compelledtd earn their living, have sought other aventies' which, with their in- experience, they faney are more desirable or elevating. 3% OF ———++0+—____ What Our Tenor Has to Put Up With. Fair Accompanist (cheerfully)—“Now, you Bo on, and never mind me! I'll catch you up by and by!” RAISING THE FUNDS What the Great Christian Endeavor Convention Will Cost. THE FINANCE COMMITTEE'S PLANS Canvass Among the Citizens and the Series of Contributions. THE O. E. SUBSCRIPTIONS ° es N ALL-IMPORTANT consideration in cr- ranging for holding in this city in July next the fifteenth in- ternational Christian Endeavor convention is that of the finances. While it is of ccurse necessary that meeting places should be prepared for the expected thousands, and hotel acd other accommo- hem, and while it is very desirable that suitable arrangements should be made for the proper reception of the visitors on their arrival in the city and their entertainment during their stay, yet none of these things is possible unless there is money on hand to defray the ex- penses of the mammoth undertaking. A realization of this self-evident truth led the committee of ’96, in charge of the arrangements for the convention, early to pay especial attention to the matter of raising funds. In fact, before the com- mittee of ‘06 was formed, when the proposi- tion of inviting the convention to Wasa- ington was being discussed, the question of a guarartee fund was pretty thorough- ly talked over, with the result that when the committee on invitation went before the trustees of the United Society of Chris- tian Endeavor ard asked them to select Washington as their meeting place in 1896, one of the main arguments used in urging the claims of the nation’s capital was the substantial support offered by the business and professional men of the city. The committee went fortified with a list of 1,000 names of citizens, representing the substantial interests of the city, who in the spring of '94 signed an agreement to co-operate with the local union in the mat- ter of raising a fund toward defraying the expenses of the convention. Under the plan of organization tose who are charged with the duty of dealing with this important branch of convention work are banded together in a main body of twenty-five, supplemented by an auxiliary committee, consisting of one representative fiom each Christian Erdeayor Society in the local union. The central committee is composed of the following members: W. B. Robison, chairman; W. W. Everett, secre- A. Birch, C. O. Bohrer, Rufus larke, Edward McC. Hall, W. C. Henry, A. R. Hoiden, E. Hilton Jackson, Jerome F. Johnson, J. H. Lichliter, J. A. MacKiwee, Jotn Mitchell, jr., Chas. S. Muir, Geo. F. Muth, W. H. Ronsa J. A. Runyon, H. K. Simpson, R. L. Smith, A. D. Spangler, Anson S. Taylor, Andrew Wilson, Samuel G. Wise, Geo. FP. Wiiliams, Dr. F. J. Woodman; ex-officiis, W. H. H. Smith, Perey S. Foster. Citizens’ Advisory Committee. There has also bezn appointed a citizens’ advisory nce committee, whose counsel and business judgment and experience are of valuable assistance. This committee is composed of the following well-known citi- zens: Wm. Ballantyne, Chas. Banm, Chas. J. Bell, Justice D. J. Brewer, Chas. Conn, Geo. T. Dunlop, Jehn Joy Ed: Gen. John W. Foster, Albert F. Fox, Guriey, T. A. Harding, Justice J Jan, John B. Larner, Theo. W. N ron M. Parker, E. S. Parker, Commi John W. Ross, Isador Saks, Secretary Hoke Smith, Commissioner George Truesdeli, B. H. Warner, H. A. Willard, Beriah Wilkins, Marshal A. A. Wilson 9nd S. W. Woodward. Willizm B. Robison, chairman of the finance committee, is a native of Ohio. He has been a Washingtonian, however, since he was nine years of age. His education was received in the public schools of this city, graduating from the High Sehool in the class of 78. Afterward he studied law, and eived his diploma from Columbian University in 185%, and the same yaar was admitted to the bac of the Supreme Court of the District. He served about seven years in the ofiice of t marshal of the District, a position he resigned in December, ’S9, to accept the secretaryship of the Washington Loan and Trust Company, then newly organized. He remained in that position more than five years, when he again entered the ma shal's office, and is now chief deputy United States marshal for the District. Mr. Robison is an elcer in the New York A ue Presbyterian Church, and besides his Christian Endeavor duties takes an active interest in mission work, being su- perintendent of the Bethany Mission, at the corner of 13th and C streets. His business experience, coupled with his wide acquaintance among the usiness men of the city, peculiarly fits him for the re- sponsible po: he holds. His commit- io tee is an energetic body of capable wor ers, most of whom are men of practiza! perience in business affairs. What It Will Cost. It is estimated that the cost of the con- vention will be in the neighborhood of $2 000. This sum is made up from actual items of costs already ascertained and from expenses incurred at Boston and ether prior conventions. The items of the expense account are as follows: Rent two tents, $1,200; one new ten nd fix- tures, $2,375; freight on tents, $125; putting vp, care of and taking down tents, $1,000; seats and platforms in tents and public comfort arrangements, $6,000; rent of halls, literature tables, booths, etc. 5 speal ers’ and trustees’ expenses, $4,000; badges, $2,000; lighting tents and grounds, $1,000; decorating tents and meeting places, $1,500: printing and_ committee expenses, $3,000; registration, $600; programs, $2,000; stamps and sundries, $1,000; in all, $20,300. To meet these expenses it was decided, af- ter long and earnest discussion, to raise two-fifths of the sum from the Endeavorers of Washington, and to ask the merchants and others who would be immensely bene- fited in a business way by the presence in the city of so many visitors to contrib- ute the remaining thrée-fifths.’.The mem- bers of the societies have responded well, and already more than $9,000 out of the total of $10,000 expected from this source has been subscribed. he responses from the business interesis,ga canvass of which is now in progress, are encouraging, and give promise of satisfactory results. In order to encouragé contributions from the seven thousand Endeavorers (including juniors) in the District, the finance com- mittee decided upon a plan of installment contributions of varying amounts, extend- ing over a period of twelve months, so that even the small sum of $1.2) could be sub- scribed and paid at the rate of ten cents per month. Two rewards were held out as inducements to subsctibers, the first being, using the language of the commit- tee in its circular, “the dividends of bless- ings to be derived from the convention” and the second @ handsomely engraved bond, signed by every member of the com- mittee of ’96, suitable for framing as a souvenir of the occasion and of the interest and support of the contributor. In accordance with this plan the mem- bers of the arxillary finance committee “enlisted” contributors in the various so- cieties, who agreed to subscribe for the bonds, which were arranged in series from A to L, with amounts varying from $90, payable five dollars monthly, to $1.20, or ten cents fer month. As a result, more than $9,000 has been subscribed, and of nie sm about $5,900 in cash is already in hand. Canvass Among the Citizens. Now that the plans for raising a large proportion of the total expense fund from the Endeavorers themselves are fairly under way and have brought such excellent results, a canvass is in progress among the merchants, hotels, corporations, street and steam railroads and other business inter- ests for contributions. In asking the co- operation of the Endeavorers the commit- tee led to them as directly interested, Jealous for their reputation for hospitality as hostg, and the ones principally to be benefited by the spiritual blessings ex- pected to result from the week's concourse of consecrated Christians. In approaching the business man, however, another argu- ment is used, and naturally so. His atten- tion is called to the matter from its busi- ness point of view. He is told that 60,000 or 80,000, or even, it may be, 100,000 visit- ors to the city during July, the majority of whom will remain at least one week, all paying their own expenses, will doubtless leave, at the lowest estimate, about $1,000,- 000. This sum, he is told, will be directly paid for board, souvenir purchases, car fare, soda water—and if the sum which will be spent in that July week for this one article of refreshment alone could be ac- curately stated, it would doubtless be of amazing proportions—and for other pur- Poses, thus returning a tremendous per- centage of profit for every dollar con- tributed. The actual experience of Boston mer- chants is that great financial benefits have resulted from holding the convention there last year. In 1892 it was a difficult thing to convince the New York business men what an immense gathering the convention would be, but after it was all over and they began to count up their profits, they offered to subscribe $20,000 to hold the con- vention there again. The Cleveland people and newspapers told a similar story and in Montreal subscriptions of $300 apiece were received from ten business men. The Series of Contributions. Washington’s merchants, it is stated, are not slow in seeing the force of the argu- ments presented to them by solicitors of the committee, and the recently published list of contributions shows that favorable re- sponses ure being made, and that the out- look is encouraging. The committee is ask- ing from mercantile and financial interests a series of contributions, as follows: 4 of $500 . Gof 20. 20 of 40 of 80 of 100 of 100 of 100 of 200 of ,000 from the Endeavorers and 000 from the business interests which will be financially benefited, toge: with a small sum expected to be de a from the sale of certain privileges, are ex- pected to make up aa amount which will fully cover the expenses necessarily incur- red. Contributions .received from any source are paid directly by the member of the auxiliary committee to Percy 8. Foster, treasurer of the committee of ‘9 who makes out a duplicate receipt, one of which is held by the member reporting the sub- scription and the other forwarded to Mr. Robison, chairman of the finance commit- tee. This system of a double check is con- tinued throughout all the financial dealings of the committee. No money is paid out except for such bills as are authorized by the committee of '96, and approved in writ- ing by Chairman Robison. To conform with general usage, the treasurer is bonded in the sum of $5,000, Like all branches of the work of the com- mittee of "96, that of the finance committee is well advanced, and it may be confidently asserted that so much of the success of the fast approaching convention as is depend- ent upon the securing of the funds for carry- ing on the plans of the other committees will be accomplished by this energetic body of workers, The following is a complete list of sub- scriptions recetved from citizen: Woodward & Lothrop. Capital Traction Company Metropolitan Railroad Compan. Saks & C Johnson & Wimsatt. Independent Ice Comp: W. A. H. Church. . H. 00 50 00 . 500 William B. Gurley, *, C. Duncanson. E. Barker. R. Lansburgh & Bro. harles Baum... onal Bank of the ber & Ress. Meredith, Winship & € B. H. Stinemetz & International Buildi elation . . J. Bell. Thomas W. Smith. A. A. Wilson... 2000, 2009 150) 1000 1009 10 00 - 1000 10.00 . 1000 10 00 10 09 10.00 10 00 10 ov 10.00 10 00 1000 16.00 ¥ Mayfield & Brown Parker, Bridget & C Frank Hume... James 8. Topham. Cc. A. Muddiman. + D. Quinter. Remsburg & Ellio! H. P. Blair. c. 8. Burdy. Menogue & Jones. a SESSESS=ESESE a 8 Po a a BOS 9 OH ET ON OO ON Hn EN ENE On CT OH | sssessesees Total. Feels Safe. From the Ohicago Record. Agent—“Car’t I put a burglar alarm in your house?” Lady—‘“No, we don’t need it.” ‘No. I mean it; the family across the street watches the place so closely that Pro burglar could get in without being seen.” 19 A WAR REMINISCENCE Scenes at Hatcher’s Creek and Petersburg Recalled. John B. Seance Speaks to a Reporter of Stirring Sccnes—Escaped With 7 Slight Wound, but, Like Other Veterans, Has Suffered Since— A Story That Rea ikea Page From History. From the Albany, N. ¥., Journal. When «ne encounters in print the Ife story «1 ting in every-day life, there is something Pe culizrly attractive about. these old war records, Serving, as they do, as a sacted passport to th: heurt of every true Americen. Thousinds found their rest on the field of carnage or in the Lospita. but their comrades, when the struggle was. ove: and the victory won, returned to their homes and began anew the battle of lif John B. Seace, the widely known contractor and ballding move- of Albany, N.Y., has bad an un urcally interesting life, and when seen by a re better recently at his home, No. 15 Bradford street told of bis many experiences and adventures whtl: serving wrder the old flag im the lute war. Al though having emtared ali the hardships and pri vatious of life in the ranks, Mr. Scace bears bin tury of years with an clasti ind, taking an active interest it private and public affairs, Mr. Scuce ts a member of Berkshire Lodge, No. 52, 1 0. O. F. He enlisted in the army in 1862, in company A, forty-ninth Massachusetis volunteer infautr Col. W. F. Burtlett, tire: first division, nineteenth corps, with whic: he participated in some of the hottest battles ihe war, including Port Hudson, Donaldsonville and Plain Store, where he was wounded. His time be Ing out, he was discharged, but soon re-cnlisted > sergernt in compa ehesetis volunte ve Hatcher's t about W of Sailor's Creek. Is honocable 1865, Mr . June 4, “ down’ one: uew, Of all tines ‘Lis po huve been uninterrupted cuse, for four yeurs ago, whil tendirg the raising of the Albany electric por lasened wind the r Was not to be th engaged in supesip ene smnokestack © e, the lever Of ma Leavy blow aeros of the blow was not at Bret being able to leaw apparent, be Lis bed in a few da or withou" res the rheun "t krow how I lived daring th Lecame litile more than. ski Seemed like life didn’t have a in ft. Cures? I tried every rheamats cure that was ever invented. I gave all of ther before 1 stopped taking them, My ended remedy ‘afte my rheumation Wed, after I had almos d out of me, 1 came across 2. int of Dr. Williains” Pink Pills, ané J thought T might as well add another name to th. Ust as not, co T ordered some of my draggist. “I tell you, I was glad in those jo hear of ewspaper ae anyihing that could any hope at all. 1 them, @nd BEFORE 1 HAD BOXES that pain Tegan to it. in't under I went back to my vim of a young man. I think evc we Will tell you what it did for the gr: his ow enjoying the frnits of an un . ely by himself, kK or exc ever natare seld in boxes (never in loose talk box or six boxes ints, or direct e Company, Sch World's Fair! HIGHEST AWARD. ] The STANDARD ana BEST prepared FF OOD Prescribed by physicians. Relied on in hospitals. Depended on by nurses. Indorsed by the press. Always wins hosts of friends wherever its supe- rior merits become known. It is the safest food for convalescents! Is pure and unsweetened and can be retained by the weakest stomach. Sold by DRUGGISTS EVERYWHERE! myi8s John Carle & Sons, New York Grateful—Comforting. Epps’s Cocoa. BREAKFAST SUPTER. “By a thorough knowledge of the natural laws waseh wevern tte cperstions of eerie eee nutrt tion, apd by a careful application of the fine prop. qriies of well-welected Cocoa Mr. Epps tos provided for .ur breakfast aud supper a delicately ‘Mavorec ‘which may save us many heavy doctors is by the jodicicus use of such articles o: ‘@ constitution may be gradually built u; urtil streng encugh to resist every t is use. Bei ‘of sustle maladies are’ foat! sivund us ready to attack wherever there escape well Tortiged with puze blood ished frame.""—Civll Service Ga- ith boiling water or milk -pound tins, by grocers, labeled bills. Jt diet that 2 or ives ‘ping «arse ocr pourt: people would soon be @ lot of acrobats, walking on their bands, holding their crippled, tortured feet high im the air to give them little rest. CoMFORT IS OUR HOBBY. Strange after talk- = pi nest ing s0 much against cheap shoes that we would turn around and offer you a good, reliable Shee for $3.50. Not strange, elther, for it's a $5 Shee $3.50 Is our price. Wilson, 929 F St.