Evening Star Newspaper, April 4, 1896, Page 14

14 “Spring has come at last, and I know it officially,” a 15th street banker remarked. “I am never certaini about the coming of Fpring until I see the wooden weather steps removed from the department portfcos and steps. The Treasury Department is always conservative in-this matter, but this weele the weather.steps were taken down. Now let the flowers bldom and all willbe right, for the spring has officially been declared to be here” eek eK “We have more public holidays in Colo- rado,” said Mr. Geo. W. Marsh of George- town, Colo., than the people here have, for, besides the days you have, we have ‘Watermelon day’ at Rocky Ford, in the southern part of the state, where the town gives free all the watermelon any one can eat, besides a big one to take home. Then we have ‘Peach day’ at Grand Junc- tion, where the finest peaches ever seen are freely distributed; and ‘Potato day’ at Greeley. The Colorado melon equals the Georgia fruit in size and flayor, and is des- tined to be a great success financially as well. Our peaches already are rated up to the California product, and both surpass the Delawares in size, taste and beauty.’ ex & * * “There are some things that the patent office does, and there are some things that we are too highly educated to touch,” ob- served an official of the patent office. “A few days ago the oflice received a letter from a leading clergyman in Cincinnati, in which Fe said: ‘I am anxious to buy a bicy- cle for my daughter, but cannot decide which of the many machines now on the tnarket is the best. machine the patent office thinks is the best?” ‘To answer the letter would have caused‘a Digger sensation than a proclamation by the President declaring war with Cuba, and 80 we simply said in reply that he could} ascertain for himself by reading the adver- tisements of the various machines in the} rewspapers. Yesterday came a further let- ter from the writer, in which he said: I Fave read so much on the bicycle question that I am nearly driver to drink, but up to; ting I have not beer able to de- ***e ee * “There are but few people who know that fm taking the walk leading from the western portico of the Capitol to the Peace monu- ment they pass over the ground where the first public execution occurred in this city,” said an old citizen. “The particular spot is about twenty-five feet from the corners at | the entrance. The man was named Mc- Guirk, and he was hanged in 1802, for the murder of his wife. The execution was very sensational fer the reason that, after the rope was tied about the neck of the con- demned me2n, he jum tempting to hang himself." He was lifted back to the scaffold by the attending priest with the remark, ‘Be a man, MeGuirk, and | difference be- do not commit suicide.” “Th tween sui mintte,” E would save them the trouble." The public jail in those days, and a portion of it is still standing, was located in the ailey in the ear of the Baltimore and Ohio express bles, on C between 41 and 6th stree! There was a path leading from the jail di- rect to the Capitol grounds, and there were but few buildings im that neighborhood. + * * “The Hancock statue will s in . who had just d ine in that if will s or other places in which Personally, I enjoy their spring nests . but it is not re- the birds will be this statue.” * * ar ig popnlarly sup- posed to be strewn with ro: and however this may apply to the bride's Mowery way I know of one groom-clect who complains of the prosaic rubbish that is provided for him to tread on. “With the first whisper of my ‘approach- ing marriage,” asserts this pestered indi- vidual, “my letter box began to yield an increasing stack-of mail gaeh day culars of all sorts poured in upon me, some getting forth the advantages of parti epets as bridal retre: some adver transportation facilities, others abounding with good advice to young housekeepers as to the mest desirable place for pur- chasing cooking vtensil!s, china, furniture, carpets, everything under heaven, w photcgraphic outfit agents kept the post- in our equestrian st a3 artistic, men Lusy carrying recommendations of their dal kodal ‘outing cameras,’ ete. Tailors galore woke up to the fact of my existence and clamored for the honor | of each and x me out; haberdashers fell over in their eagerness to serve me, ravers and printers of every de- scription besought my patronage in the matier of cards. ‘There is just one of three things I have got to make up my mind about; either I ama man of much greater importance than I had ever dreamed, my friends are try- ing to make a guy of me with their con- founded mail jokes or a groom-presump- tive is the most persecuted of mortals, and itt it to do over again I'd take the girl I love and marry her before any ing cre: except elves, could get wind of it,” and a gleam of agony punctu- ated the rk as he saw the office boy enter with another armful of circulars. ee ee x There is one result of bicycle riding which m itself evident, In addition to the greater freedom it allows the two sexes in their Intercourse with each other, and that is the carelessness with which the wheel habitues regard their costuming. Dainty maidens, who formerly picked their way carefully over damp spots on the sidewalk and whe flecked with disdainful gesture from their gowns the smallest speck of dust, now, with joyous insouciance, “get off *" whenever they are so minded, of the fact that their skirt bands may have slipped from their moorings, a gaiter button, be two, have been lost in that last race for the brow of the hill, and if their hats are on one side ani their veils askew It only elements to the joy of bi: “I recently saw a statement," said a gentleman to a Star reporter, “that Presi- dent Cleveland ts tired of official life, and @hat the lonesomeness of h’s office is some- times almost unbearable. I have been told that the President has few friends intimate enough with him to sit and tell stories and have a gcod time. I know of two men, both of them commercial travelers, who find the latch string to the President's home open to them at all times. They are Jolly good fellows, great hunters and fish- ermen, and when they go to sce the Pres- ident there is a long and Interesting chat ebout the rod and line and sport with gun and deg. There Is nothing which the Pres- ident enjoys better than stories of this gen- uine sport, for which he has an unquench- able love. “I aiso know that men who go to see the President for the pleasure of the visit and who are not in search of office are kindly Fecelvel and warmly treated. The Presi- dent's two terms in office has given him a perfect disgust of office hunters, and it is @ great relief to the chief executive when gome cne visits him for purely personal Feasons. xk eR “The gtay-haired man is almost a thirig of the past in the present House of Repre- wentatives,” scid an old official at the Cap- ftol, “thons) t'me was when over two- thirds of tie members of Congress were Please advise me what | d off the scaffold, at- | * have one advan- | sure where | MORE RAMPANT THAN EVER. Gossip About Capes und Some of the New Styles. A cape made of linen recently seen was **| composed of a series of flounces—five—each gray-haired. The prevailing color now is brown, though there are twenty-three coal black, nineteen pure blondes, six thorough, gld-fashicned ard plain reds. There are over twenty auburns, one or wort then being specially “weli-~marked ~examnles: There are four cr five yellows, of the com- monest shade of yeftowr~too. .T a. forty heads of hair that can be described as mixture of gray &ffd“Drown, and. slay that can be put down_as plain gray. There are twenty-cight fine specimens~ot. pure white. There are but forty-one curly heads.” ars. ae - * “There is more Grand Ary bustneswone every day at the street -carner_meeting at 15th and F streets,” remarked an enthust- astic member of that’ dtganization;tthan in ail cf the posts combiged. It is a con- venient place to gather for the department folks and others at tunel hour-and itsayes long walks and rides at night or after office hours. Department Commander ‘McEI¥og~is neatly always to he.found. there, and so ere the commanders of the Various pdsts. A splendid opportunity $s afforded the old comrades to swap gcssip and army stottes. Some of the stories told and experiences re- counted beat the finished products in the war histories end the various memoirs.” —— NEW YORK AND NEW~JPRSEY. A Story Mlustrating 2 Certaitt Yrnit of the Average New Yorker. _° “The way New Yorkers like to guy New Jersey is one of ithe Indications efthe overweening confidence Manhattaneers have in their superiority to everything else in the western hemisphere," remarked a life Insurance man just returned from that village to a Star reporter. ‘I've understood,”’ responded the reporter, “that Col. Ingersoll was very much dis- gusted on one occasion when he stated his very radical views on the existence of a certain place to an assemblage of New Yorkers, and some one in the audience sung out: ‘What difference does that make? We've got New Jersey!” “That's just aout the way they. look at it, too. Now, lez me tell you what I saw | over there. I was” in’ the office. of-an at- torney in the Mills . building when the most dilapidated -loeoking specimen of phy- sical wreck came in that anybody ever saw. He was on one crutch, with his foot in a slipper and his arm in a sling, one eye in a blinder and his face Icoked like a map of Cuba. Limping up to the attorney he bowed and said: “"Excuse me; I have been directed to this office, and I wish to inquire if you will take an accident insurance case for me? ““Ceriainly,’ responded the attorney, ‘if we can consistently do so. Sit down and me what it is and what you want done. I want to force the company to pay me what it agreed to when I took out a Pélicy,’ said the visitor, as he painfully got himself down into‘ the chair. “ ‘Does it refuse to pay you?’ inquired the attorney as he gazéd in surprise at the wreck before him. | "It does.’ “How were yon injured?" “Tn a runaway.’ ‘By any negligence of your own? ‘None whatever, It was a, hired team ) driven by the owner himself.’ | “*On what ground does the compeny re- to pay?’ were RASTA CS ‘On one of its by-laws Or ‘something | which says: “This insurance covers*ijuries received only in the civilized mits of the globe.” “‘Ah, where did you receive this in- jury? “Why, confound It,’ exclaimed the vie- tim protestingly, ‘that’s what I don't un- derstand. It happened in New Jersey.’ “The attorney's entire manner changed on_ the instant. “Oh, ah—um—er,’ he hesitated, ..I) beg eur pardon, but really I'm afraid we can’t | do anything for vou in the New York courts,’ and two hours later” ¢oticlided the insurance man, “I met that wreck on the + lower floor, andhé told me he hadn't been | able up to that time to find anybody to | take his case.” , ——__ THE SILVER QUESTION. A New View as Exspounded in a Texas Congressional Convention. “Down In Texas the other day the finan- cial question was settled In ‘a few min- utes,” said a Texas..Representative to a Star reporter. _ “It was.at a..meeting of the republican congressional convention of My district, and the délegates were large- ly of a dusky hue. The colored delegates knew that there had been some talk about the coinage of silver and gold at the ratio | of 16 to 1, but they didn’t knaw.what it was all about. The majority of them seemed to think..that it meant sixteen more dollars for every man in the future than there is one now, and they were heartily in for the passage of resolutions favoring the free coinage of silver and gold. It happened, however, that there Was present a well-posted white man, who wanted the resolutions of the conventions to correspond with the republican doc- trine as expounded by other conventions on the subject, but he didn’t know ex- actly how to do it. His time came in a few minutes. “'Gemmen ob de conyenshun,’ said one of the colored delegates, ‘I'm’ somewhut disposed ter faver de free coinage ques- tion. If. it will gib us more money den I'm fur it, tooth, hand, toenail, horse and hide. It’s jest whut we need. De colud race hab never had deir portion ob de spondulix dat’s manufactured in Washing- ton. But befo’ we pass dese resolutions let us heer frem our friend ober dere.’ “That was the opportunity tha white leader wanted. “‘Vl tell you, fellow republicans,’ he sald, ‘what all this means. This free coin- age matter is a scheme of the democrats to take everything away from the negro and give it all to the white man. Six- teen to one, my friends, means nothing more nor less than sixteen dollars for the white man and one for the negro, six- teen for the democrat and one for the re- publican.’ “There was a commotion following this Speech, and the convention unanimously voted down the free coinage resolutions and adjourned, vowing vengeance on the democrats.” ——__.— ON THE INSTALLMENT PLAN. A Worthy Son of Erin Who Manages to Do a Very Remunerative Business. As a Star reporter was ambling merrily along Massachusetts avenue the other morning, in pursuance of his reportorial duties, he was held up by a dilapidated- looking peripatetic, who proved, upon in- spection, to be an Irishman. He. was not exactly a thing of beeuty, but there was a Hibernian twinkle to his eye that seemed as if It might be a joy forever, and. the reporter was pleased by its influence. “And what do you want. with a nickel, Pat?" *he asked, after the Irish gent had stated the object of his call. “Oi sthrained me back worrkin’ ahn the railroad, sor,” said he, “‘and the doch- thor towld me to get a stringthinin’ plash- ter for it, sor.” “A nickel won't buy a strengthening Plaster, will it?” “Niyer a bit, sor, but Ol have twinty cints already, ‘sor.”* “Well, here's a dime, and as you ha twenty cents, you can give me the chang Pat had the coin in his fingers just as soon as he possibly could get a chitch on it. “Plaze God, sor, Oi would,” he said = estly, “but Oi have paid the twinty ‘ints on the plashter.” The reporter smiled at the idea of a drug- on selling a plaster on the installment ippose, then, you will owe me a nickel?” he ventured. ‘Indade, Oi will, sor; a long toime, sor,’* end Pat slipped away, leaving only a mem- ory of that peculiar little twinkle of the eye. —— SS Trolley Speed. From Puck. a7 he “What's the death rate in Brooklyn?” “Between seven and ten miles an hour.” edged with Valenciennes lace. Another lace-edged flounce stood up to form the neck ruche and was supported by a band of white velvet ribbon ornamented with two fancy buttons in front. Speaking of capes, they have come at last. They are more rampant than ever, as if to compensate for the small-sized sleeve, which is not yet a reality, however, except on the stage, and stage people are bound to exaggerate such things, else they might be considered too realistic, and that is what people most dislike in spite of their declarations to the contrary. Sleeves on the new costumes are not small by any means—merely modifications of the ridicu- lously large one that-was too extreme to have a long life. But to return to capes. They are made of ™mawy different materials, chief among which are velvet, velutina, silk, moire pop- lin, with any amount of lace and net and chiffon to form a cloud of mist sil round the lower half of the cape. Velutina is the newest material and will doubtless be worn @ great deal, because it is of light weight and therefore preferable to velvet for a summer cape. It comes in figured patterns, which suggest the Dresden and Persian mi terlals. The material is accordion pleated, and Is edged with a trimming of lace or chif- fon, or both, which is nearly half the width of the whole cape. Applique trimming of lace is very fash- ionable, especially when the lace has a sug- gestion of antiquity about It. A brown silk cape that is accordion pleated and pinked at the edge has a broad collar of lace covering the upper half, with a high ruche of brown tulle standing up eround the face. A plain black velvet cape with a very de- cided flare is trimmed with steel beads and applique lace in small embroidered patterns. This cape is lined with China silk, and its price is $14.50—decifledly cheap as those things go. A black cape that is easily made has a yoke of black velvet, with folds of green laid about two inches apart. The edge is trimmed with flounce upon flounce of wide-meshed net, almost like veiling. Many of the capes have straps of ribbon or passementerie or any banc trimming run- ning from each side of the neck to the bot- tom of the cape, back and front. Some wraps are made to fit and belt in at the mid- dle of the back like the once fashionable dol- man. Others are provided with long tabs. in front, which alwyys have a clerical look about them to me. All have very high neck ruffs, to compensate for tht amount of un- protected femininity below. But summer capes are only for ornament, anyway, and when worn in the spring there is a chamois jacket concealed somewhere beneath the fluffiness. These are for very dressy occasions. For knockabout wear, we stiH cling to the jacket. The jacket comes In two or three or more varieties. Theze is the box coat, which is just like the one we have beep wearing, only more so; the Louis XV and XVI jackets, which are not outside wraps, but part of one’s dress, and the English sack coat, which fits in the back like a Louis jacket, but has round loose edges in front. ‘A suit with a jacket of the latter variety has a skirt of green and fawn-zolored checks. The jacket, which is of plain green cloth, has very small lapels, four pockets, one above the other on each side, and four but- tons on one side with corresponding button holes on the other. The lower corners are rounded off like a man’s sack coat, and the whole is quite short. The skirt is a 00d example of the sep- arate skirts that are beins sold now. Black skirts, unless they are silk er satin, will not be worn much. The correct thing is a check or fine plaid in the Hisnt fawn and gray Unts shot with some bright color. All the spring goods run to the mottled effects. Cheviots and tweeds are the regulation street ma- terial, according to the [nglien idea. Paris- jans tell us to wear mohair, and there are certainly many things to be sald in its favor. It is cooler, for one thing, and that will be an advantage when we want the gown for a traveling dress next summer. Persian patterns in silk and wool are lighter than either of the others and are very fascinating. —.___ HEN EGGS AND POETRY. A Poet Has Woes and He Comes to the Newspaper to Find Relief. A dark-eyed, long-coupled, frowzly haired young fellow of twenty or thereabouts call- ed on the crank editor of ‘The Star last Thursday morning. te “I've come in,” he sald, “to see about a poem I wrote.” i “When did you send it to the office?” in- terrupted the crank editor. “I didn’t send it to the office. I wrote it for a huckster over here in Central Market. I wanted some eggs for Easter, and he said he'd trade me a dozen eggs for a dozen verses of poetry, so I wrote the poetry and he let ine have the eggs, and when I got them home, I found three of them were bad, and went back after him to give me 00d ones. s The woful poet stopped, as if thinking about something or other. “Well?” ventured the editor, with a go- ahead suggestion in the tone. “Oh, yes,” he resumed, “I took the huck-+} ster the poetry and told him I wanted good eggs, and he said he'dgave to see his wifé'' and hear what she sald, because he wasn't ‘ much of a judge of poetry, anyway, and’ for me to come back next day, whica was this morning. So I went, and when 1 as! ed him whai he was going to do about he just laughed. That made me real angry, and I said: ‘What are you laughing about?’ ‘Only what my wife said,’ he replied. ‘And what did she say? I inquired, and he laughed some more. ‘Oh,’ he haw-hawed, ‘she said all of the eggs ought to have been bad to match the poetry.’ ” The poet could not proceed for a minute, and the crank editor wiped a tear from his soft blue eyes. “Now,” the poet resumed, “what I want to know is, have I any recourse in law?” “Nothing as far as I can see,” said the crank editor, consolingly, ‘unless it would be to sue the huckster’s wife for damages.” And the poet, with some degree of hope- fulness in his eyes, thanked the crank ed- itor and started for a lawyer's office. ——__. A Plan for Steel Wagon Roads. From the Chicago Tribune. Steel wagon roads, as advocated by Mar- tin Dodge, state road commissioner of Ohio, are likely to have a thorough trial in sev- eral states this year. These roads consist of two railg made of steel the thickness of boiler plate, each formed in the shape of a gutter five inches wide, with a square per- pendicular shoulder half an inch high, then an angle of one inch outward slightly raised. The gutter forms a conduit for the water, and makes it easy for the wheels to enter or leave the track. Such a double-track steel railroad, sixteen feet wide, filled in between with broken stone, macadam size, would cost about $6,000, as against $7,000 per mile for a macadam roadbed of the same width, but the cost of a rural one-track steel road would ba only. about $2,000 a mile. It is claimed that such a road would last much longer than stone, and that one horse will draw on a steel track twenty times as much as on a dirt road, and five times as much as on macadam. Spitefal. From St. Paul's. She—“Never a new dress! think you are a millionaire!” And people He—“Why should they think that?” She—“It's the only reason they can think of for my marrying you.” THE EVENING STAR, SATURDAY, APRIL 4, 1896-TWENTY-SIX PAGES. ART AND ARTISTS Mr..Harojd. 1. Matdonald's picture, “The Early Christian,; hag been returned from New York,andithe: ig making:come exten-, sive changes in it, enlarging it consider- ably and repainting a number of parts with which -he*4s qi6t satisfied. The pic- ture is of the time-of the harsh Roman persecution, and ~sfows the‘ interior ‘of the catacombs, in which fhe early follow-. ers of Christ weré often forced to take refuge when pu¥sdet and" honted by ‘their enemies. In oné of the tombs, roughly hewn out of the ‘rick, the body of an old womtan’'he# jet been laid away to rest, and a beautifukgirl leens against the wall, her upturned: face transfigured by an fection of “thewapigt faith in the resur- e rection of u from the sleep of ceath. A straits descent ight hovers about her head, ati@ the contrast ‘between the maiden, -withher youth and fresh- ness, and the lifeless, shrouded figure lying behind ‘her,- cowared with long, tapering palm leaves, is emphasized by the warm, bright hues with which the girl is painted and the dull, cold colors’ of the dead wo- man.° There are @ number of such con- trasts throughout the picture, and it is particularly strong in point of color. The Painting will be exhibited next week at Heitmuller’s. 9 **" * oe ae Spencer B. Nichols is busy with some- thing in black and" white fHustration, In which he does perhaps his best work. Hig Jendacape work is also familiar, and sev- eral out-door studies, in various stages of completion, true pictures of nature as she is at this season, are the ‘result of numerous excursions into the country dur- ing the winter. A small sketch of the ‘anal, one: ef. his-most recent studies, is full of light and celor. * ** Miss Juliet Thompson ‘has just complet- ed a large portrait in pastel of Miss Poor, which is very much admired by all who have seen it, and is especially pleasing to the family of the young lady portrayed. She has also finished arothér portratt of Benator Daniel, W. Voorhees, a) & at work on a likeness of Mra. Senator Quay. sé Thompson plens to take a trip to New York next week for a little rest and recre- ‘ation, and Intendé to spend considerable time at the exhibition of the National Academy. : c * * An organization has just been formed which will undoubtedly have a very im- portant influence on the, art of the national cepital, and is in itself an indication of the advance of art in the city. Quite a num- ber of. artists, who_have made a specialty of water color, have felt for some time the growing wéed for a society..whisk shoul have the interests of the water colorists at heart and give them greater opportunities for development. These artists have now bended themselves together for their mu- tual benefit, and the number of people who have already joined is a good augury for the future. At a meeting held last Saturday the fol- lowing officers were elected: Parker Mann, president: Marietta M. Andrews, vice pres- ident; Lilian Cook, secretary; Carl Weller, treasurer, and an executive committee com- bosed of George Gibbs, chairman; Lucien Pcwell and Margaret Tomes. The other members now on the rolls of the Water Color Club are Miss Grace Atwater, De- Lancey W. Gill, Howard Helmick, Miss In- gle, Spencer Nichols, Hobart Nichols, Miss Jcsepha Newcomb and Mrs. J. W. Smith. The constitution is modeled somewhat after that of the Society. of Washingtoh Artists, and the meetings of the club are to be held at the studios of the different members. The society has in view the holding of an exhibition of water colors in the fall, the desirability of which Js clearly apparent, as no one can have failed to notice how water colors suffer when placed with ofl paintings. The movement is in no sense hostile to the existing society; in fact, many of the members of the new organization are also members of the eld. Neither is the sepa- rate water color exhibit intended to weak- en the regular annual exhibition of ‘he So- ciety of Washington Artists, but it is ex- pected that through a friendly emulation the artists: in both nes of work will be stimulated in a wholesome wey, and the “result-ofothe-year,will be @ larger showing of good work. Most elttes of {basalze end {n_portance of Washington have separate organizations, and there is no reason why this city should not have a strong water ccior club. * ** A short time ago Cardinal Gibbons made a visit to Misa S. W. Kelly's studio to see the full-length: portrait she has painted of him, and expressed himself as very much pleased with the lUkeness, Miss Kelly {s now at work on a three-quarter- length figure of Cardinal Satolli for the Catholic University. A number .of her pictures been on exhibition in Bal- Umore for a,time. - * Mr. Elihu Vedder's share in the decora- fion,of the: new Congressional ?.tbrary has been attracting numerous visitors. to. the buitiing ever since the designs were placed there. The paintings, five in number, are semi-circular panels for the decoration of the elevator hall on the main floor. The central one, over the door leading into the rotunda, represents Government, and the designs cn either side represent Good and Bad Government and the result. In the allegory of Government a female figure is seated on a throne, supported by couchant stone lions, and holds in her hands a tablet bearing the words. “A gov- ernment of the people, by the people, for the people.” On each side of her stands a winged attendant, one holding the sword of Justice ard the other the bridle of the Law. ‘To the right of this panel the artist has depicted Good Administration by a fe- trale figure holding an evenly balanced pair of scales in one hand and grasping with the other a shield symbolizing the two parties. On one side a youth with books under his arm is dropping a ballot into an urn, symbolizing the Educated Voter, and on the other side the Survival of the Fittest is indicated by a woman who is crushing between her palms some grain, the chaff of which is blown away by the wind, while the kernel falls into an urn. In the design farthest to the right, which presents Peace and Prosperity, Agriculture is represented to tho right of the Goddess of Peace by a figure planting a tree, and Art is depicted in the form of a youth decorating a vase, . A lyre beside him and a Greek temple rising in the distance show that all the arts prosper under a wise rule. To the left of the doorway the first of the two paintings symbolic of the down- ward course of a nation, is one entitled Corrupt Legislation. A crafty old man is placing a bribe in the false scales which the goddess holds, and in his possession are wealth, the ballot box and the law, while the smoke from his factory chim- neys shows them to be in full blast. On the other side desolate smokeless chim- neys are seen, and a young girl holding a useless staff pleads for work. The leaves of a tree im the background are turning color.and béginning to fall. The result of-corruption is shown in the next picture, tke most vigorous and power- ful of the series. A nude female figure, typifying Anarehy, stands, crowned with snakes and holdinga flaming torch in one hand, upon the ruins of a broken arch, trampling on the’ symbgjs of law, religion and the fine atts. Wiolénce is prying out the foundation;stones of a structure, repre- senting society, and on the other side Ig- uorance, kneeling of a mill stone, which symbolizes the paralyzed industries, is using a surveyor’s staff tomaid in the destruction. The tree in the background is now leafless and bare, and throughout all of the mag- nificent series of designs there are many Pidden touches of mean: which make a mest careful study of paintings the only road to a thorough appreciation. * “ * 2 Perhaps the most important exhibition of the season, barring, of course, that of the Society of Washington Artists, will open next week at Heitmuller’s gallery. It is not-a “one man show,” as it 1s termed, but includes in the list of exhibitors a large number of the best-known artists of the city, and the pietures are‘as a result of a varied character. Richard N. Brooke ex- hibits “Landing the Catch” and “A Fish- ing Smack.” 8S. Jerome Ubi shows four pictures,““A Jury,” “Rest,” “Summertime” and a view of Florida avenge, and Parker Mann fs represented by “Winter” and “Low Tide.” Miss Juliet Thompson ex- hibits “‘A Madonna,” Mr. E. C. Messer three landscapes, Lucien Powell a marine ._J. Dunbaf several pieces of Prof.-B.~ Fy “Andre and U. sculpture. Andrews; Harold L. Macdonald, Howard Helmick, Carl Weller, Hobart Nichols, Spencer Nichols and DeLancey W. Gill are also represented by pictures. The season for exhibitions is now practically over, and it is most fitting that it should close with euch a representative collection. * * * On Friday, the 27th ultimo, was held the last evening exhibition of the Corcoran Gal- lery of Art for this season, the attendance being 1,100. This exhibition was not only the last night exhibition of the season, but also the last regular night exhibition to be beld in the old gallery building. Naturally, to one who has had the privilege of being present most of the evenings when the pub- lic was admitted to enjoy the beautiful works of art provided for its pleasure by the bounty of one who has now away, the mind reverts to the night of jan- uary 19, 1874, when the gallery was lighted for the first time, and visited by 800 invited guests. - It was a happy day for Mr. W. W. Cor- coran, and a happy occasion, when, occupy- ing a position in the picture gallery sur- rounded by his many friends, among whom Were most of the then trustees—Mr. James M. Carlisle, Dr. J. C. Hall, Mr. W. T. Wal- ters, Mr. Geo. W. Riggs, Mr. Anthony Hyde, Mr. J. C. Mi Mr. C. M. Matthews, Mr. H. D. Cook@ and Prof. Joseph Henry, he was the recipient of the congratulations of his friends upon the completion of the ini- tial step in his plans for the establishment of a gallery of art, which would in time be an ornament and a pride, not to the national capital alone, but to the whole country. Twenty-two years have elapsed since that day. Mr. Corcoran, as well as the then trus- tees, has passed away, and others have taken their places. The art objects have so Increased, and the plans for future useful- ness have so matured, that the old building is inadequate for the requirements demand- ed of it, and so it must be abandoned with all its associations; but a new and beautiful structure now stands in all its beauty to daily greet the rising sun, and the whole community must congratulate itself that its beautiful city has still another building of which it truly can be proud. On the 15th of July the present gallery will as usual be closed for the summer, which closing will doubtless be final, for then will commence the preparations for the re- moval of its contents to its new home, and some months will be required for the care- ful moving and arranging of all the works of art before it will be ready to receive its friends, who no doubt will be ready with their congratulations, and perhaps with something more substantial, in the form of loans or donations, to ald in advancing the great work of educating the public taste in @ love of the beautiful. * * * Mr. Max Weyl opens his exhibition Mon- day at the Fischer gallery. His work this year, it is-said, will surprise even his most ardent admirers, as there are some rare works of out-door life treated with a vigor and poetic feeling which few of his friends eyen have attributed to him. : ———__ THE DETECTIVE BUSINESS. Learned His First Lesson in His Art While a Reporter. “I was a reporter before I became a de- tective,” said a fly cop to The Star reporter. indeed, that’s the way I got my start.” “You are not the only one, I guess,” ven- tured the reporter. “Oh, no, it's a fine school, and we're proud of the men who rose from the repor- terial ranks,” smiled the detective. ‘Rose from the ranks’ is good,” con- ceded the reporter; “but tell me how you happened to rise.” “Well, I was doing hotel work in a west- ern city of a hundred thousand people or so, and had a pretty extensive acquaintance with all kinds of people, but 1 made a spe- clelty of detectives. They had a fascina- tion for me, and I often yearned to be one of them, but I knew there wasn’t any chance urtil I did something in their line that would commend me to them. It hap- ened at one of the hotels where I used to stop once or twice a week, not a very prom- inent hotel, I sometimes saw quite a swell- lcoking young man, whose name, the clerk told me, was Marston, and that he was a real society man, and had money. I only saw him once or twice, and I'm sure he rever :aw me to remember me, but the de- tective faculty in me, whatever it is, warn- ed me to keep an eye on this young fel- low, and I did. “About this time there was a serles of small robberies, forgeries, false pretenses and cther schemes by which somebody was making considerable money in job lots of from ‘ten to fifty dollars at a whack. And the police cculdn’t do a thing to stop it. Several mysterious disappearances of jewel- ry were reported, and somehow my mind turned to Marston, but there wasn't any reagcn why it should, as far as I knew, and certainly there was ro tangible clue in that direction. One day about noon I stopped in the hotel, and saw Marston going into lunch, and a great idea ceme to me. I Yurried out, and in ten minutes I was back again sitting in the office reading a paper. Im the course of half an hour Marston came out, and ecurelessly lolled up against tHe counter to talk to the clerk. My time had come, and I went over to the clerk. “ ‘Here's a package,’ said I, ‘which I wish you would hold for me. It’s a diamond worth about $50, and I don‘t want to carry itaround. I'll send up for it at 4 o'clock.’ “*How'll I know?’ asked the clerk, put- ting the package I gave him into the safe, ‘if the man that calls for it is all right? I've got to be careful of valuable pack- ages.’ “I wrote my name in the register in a bold back hand, easy to counterfeit. “That's the signature,’ I said, ‘compare it with the signature to the order I send.’ “Then I went out, leaving Marston stand- ing almost over the register, and having heard every word that I had said. As for the clerk, he didn’t know a thing about the affair, and I didn’t want him to until I Was ready. “At half-past 3 o'clock I came back, ac- companied by a detective, and we posted the clerk, then posted ourselves behind a door opening into a dark room behind the office, and waited. Promptly at 4 o'clock a very well-dressed young man, quite a dude, in fact, appeared. “My friend Blank,’ he said to the clerk, calling me by name, and presenting his note, ‘left a package here+today to be called for, and esked if I wouldn't hand you the note and get it for him. He said would understand.’ “The clerk compared the signature with the ene on the register, handed over the package, and the young man went away with it. The detective and I followed at a safe distance, and after a chase of a dozen blocks the young man went into one of a row of bearding houses. We gave him ten minutes’ leeway, and followed, asking for the landlady. She told us she had a board- er named Marston rooming on the second floor back, and cn our representing that we were his friends,, she showed us to the door of his room, Where she left us. “In response to our knock came an in- vitation to enter, which we did, and there we found Marston, but not the young man we had followed, who had reddish hair and a mustache to match. This one had short dark hair, and not much of it, and was smooth-faced. At first I was fearful that I had made a mistake, and was about to apologize and get out, or fix up some ex- cuse, but the detective had more experi- ence, and at once took the case out of my rands, and stated his business. Both of them bluffed, but with a sudden jerk the Getective filpped a reddish wig out of the smooth-faced man’s coat pocket, and then the rest of it was easy. It was the sharp eye of the detective that saved the day, and sent a shrewd chap to‘the penitentiary, for we not only had him on the forgery, but we found a lot of Jewelry that Marston had garnered among his society friends.” slustrated ALKALI IKE AND HIS TOWN Col. Handy Polk, the well-known real estate agent and skin.specialist, is iufat- uated with the sound of his own mouth, and occasionally indulges in lingual de- bauches, during which his volubility is like unto the way in which the water used to come down at Lodore, in MeGuffy’s Third Reader, and may still be coming down, so far as deponent wots to the contrary. The: colonel’s prefiiiection for blowing where he listeth was.never more happily il- than on last WednesJay night, at which time the beauty and chivalry of Hawville were assembied In the Spread Eagle"Theater to listen to the utterances of @ bulging browed gentleman from the effete east, who came to expound certain novel financial theories. This solon was sent out hy the Society of the Intellectual Elect of New England as a missionary to convurtthe heatheA of the untutored oc- cident, and point out to them the way in which’ they should go. He had requested Handy Polk to introduce him to the meet- ing, and the colonel had cheerily consented to do so. “Ladies an’ gentlemen,” began Col. Polk, advancing to the front of the stage and pulling down his vest with a deft gesture, “I have the honor of interducin’ to you to- night ‘a gentleman whose name is almost as familiar to.you as my own; whose fame extends plumb across this broad land of ovr’n, from Cape—cr-er—What’s its name, to thé’Sarah Nevada mountains, from Kal- amazoo to Lake Yiddrcorker; an ora:or Whose logic is as profound as the rock of G‘bbyralter, an’ whose—er-er—before I for- git it, ladies and gentlemen, permit me to state that cur capable friends, Alkali Ike an’ Cactus Jack, have been delegated to keep order yere tonight, an’ no rough horse plays wiil be tolerated, “If you don't admire what the speaker gits off, go en’ kick for your money back at the door, pass outside, write your cb- jections down on paper, wad ‘em into a shotgun an’ shoot "em into the side cf the lumber yard, an’ we'll pick ‘em out an’ ccns:der "em tomorrow. I have spoken. “Now,'to sit back to my mutton; it is as useless Yor’me to waste words in deszribin’ to this yere intelligent an’ refined audience & gentleman whose name is a household word in the land as it would be to cast pearls before swine, an’ so I will now have the pleasure, ladies and gentlemen, of in- terducin’ to you the distinguished—er-er— what did you say your name was?” “Waldo Standish Winthrop,” was the re- Py of the gentleman with the bulging Tow. “That's so; much obliged!” returned the colonel, genially. “Ay i said before, 1 now have the pleasure of interducin’ to you Per- fesser Standy Waldish—er-ah!—I should Sg Argan ‘Window—er-er—I mean- “Bet you five you hain’t able to say it the fest ‘tine remarked Appetite Bit, who h id himself in high-esteem as a wag. “Go ‘Pau ejaculated the colonel, prompt- ly. “Waldo Standish Winthrop—thar! You owe me five, Appetite, an’, come to think about it, you can just pay it to me along with the other $15 you've been owin’ me for quite a spell.” This wes as nuts and candy to the audi- ice and Appetite Bill was heard no more. “As I was a-sayin’, ladies and gentle- men.” pursued the colonel, when the ap- piause had subsided, “I have the pleasure of interducin’ to you Perfessor Winthrop, who will pow endeavor to entertain and in- struct you by expoundin’ his financial theories. The perfessor explained 'em to me this afternoon an’ edified me a great plenty. We had a mighty interestin’ dis- pute over ‘em, for the perfessor is one of the most refined end urbane disputers that I ever had the pleasure of runnin’ up against; it does me good to mect up with a man that's got enough civility concealed about his person not to want to fight when 1 skin him like a cat. “We got along together as peaceful an’ smilin’ as a couple of babies in the wood: He tells me that sech and sech a thing thus an’ go, as polite as you please. An’ I seys, ‘Bercussed if it is!” equally polite. I says L: m plenty sanguine,’ says I, ‘that if this yere or any other community was to seriously embrace them theories of your'n, perfessor. in six months’ time the whole leyout would be pickin’ at the bedclothes an’ turnin’ right blue around the mouth.” “Tell you what's a fact, ladies and gentle- men. I once knowed a gent who had a theory, suthin’ like the perfessor’s, raitlia’ #round in his head, an’ in less than forty dsys after it first began hurtin’ him that thar fool man had grafted-on.a tali an’ was runnin’ wild with the cattle. “Nearly all-of the theories that I have ever met up with sounded mighty enticin’, but, as the poet so aptly got off, you can’t make a silk purse out of a—er-h’m—lady hog’s ear. I feel suthin’ like the feller did when another man stopped him an’ invited him to sorter step into the hall whur a discussion was goirg on about the way for the workin’ man to git his liberty—he said he hadr’t got time to pestle with Mberiy, antloy wife had run him out to buy a cod- eh. ““Sufferin’. Cornelius!’ ejacylated the oth- er gent, throwin’ up his hands. ‘Do you Prefer codfish to iberty? = ““Dunno's I do,’ says the ccdfish gent, ‘but I've noticed that it sticks to the chil. Gren’s ribs a heap better.’ “That's what knocks, ladies and gentle- men! . Theories is good stuffin’ for toy Fellecns, but it takes the good old streak 0” lean an’-streak o’-fat of solid facts to cover the ribs of the orphans. Neariy all tkeories ie plausible—they are a heap like steel traps in that respect—but 1 don't ricky'ect when I've encountered one that wasn’t suthin’ like the feller’s theory that he was gradually growin’ fat. “Tell you how it was; he honestly be- lieved an’ advocated that he was gettin" fatter right along, an’ thar didn’t "pear to be any capable reason why it wasn't true, till it was accidentally discovered that the Ch.nyman who was doin’ his laundry work w shrinkin’ up his flannen underwear with borax or some such ingredient.” The bars were now down, and the colonel Mas off and away. Mr. Winthrop resigned himself to the ‘nevitable, and, being blessed with a certain sense of humor, enjoyed the subsequent proceedings in a way, and made no attempt to interrupt. The audience was not critical. They were like many coarse ber:ens are about eating—they are com- fortably indifferent to what they eat, so long as there is plenty of it. “It sounds smcoth an’ plausible, ladies an’ gentlemen,” proceeded Handy, “to ad- vocate that, when a gentleman who has been drinkin’ is screechin’ ound with what a nice old lady used to call a gropin’ pain in the abandon, all you'd have to do to stop his yawp would be to shoot hiin in the leg an’ thus cure his pain on the homy- pathic principle, by givin’ him suthin’ else to.howl about. But it won't work—it won't sorter commence to. I've seen it tried. You might just as well feed a dude plasty Paris for sofienin’ of the brain. You'd mighty soon have on your hands a plasty cat of the interior economy of a dead ude. “I've ofteg noticed this—an’ I haven't lived forever, either—the more theories, the less bread an’ meat in the wigwam. I once knowed a man who was as full of brilliant theories as a picnic pie is of red ants, an’ the most of the time he didn’t have even the photograph of a bean to put on the din- ner table. An’, by gosh, them eleven little children of his’n were so thin they could skursely make a rattlin’ in dry leaves, an’ in sech a hellish state of destitution as to pantyloons an’ skirtycoats that they had to retire from publicity under the house when- ever strangers put in appearance. You could point the finger of scorn at them children an’ they’d tear out like rabbits. - “I once had the pleasure of bein’ ac- quainted with a gent who was cursed with the theory that he had discovered the for- mula for makin’ the elixir of life. Accord- in’, he concocted a big mess of dark, dia- bollycal colored dope an’ invited each of his friends to take a bottle of it home with "em an’ live forever. In less time than it takes to read the Declaration of Independ- ence, he had no more friends than a hawk. Some died, others moved away an’ the rest quit him cold. “Then he began treatin’ dogs. At first, he kidnaped all the stray dogs he could find, an’ when they were exhausted, he borrowed the neighbors’ dogs. Directly, he got so blamed. importunate that he'd hard- ly git through bein’ introduced to a man before he was touchin’ him for his’ dog. When these sources of supply gave out he began buyin’ dogs, an’ when he couldn't buy any more he whirled in an’ took to stealin’ ‘em. Whenever he got his claw on a dog the said dog throwed up his hands an’ made his will on the spot. “This yere man got so bad at last that he became a regular fiend for dogs, similar to a siggyret fiend. He would sally out at the dead of night, break into a happy home an’ steal the dog right out from under the bed. Ear long, as the poet says, he got so bold that thar wasn’t a dog gawned dog left nlive in the community that wasn't suf- ferin’ from the rickets or pecky-ecky or softenin’ of the brain. None of us felt nafe. “Wal, about the time that this yere gen- tleman was preparin’ to jump from the TWENTY-FOUR POUNDS This is What L. S. Hewitt Gained by Using a Great Remedy. He Suffered From. Asthma for Twenty Years—Read . What He Says and Do as He Did. ‘The proprietors of Dr. Charcot’s Kola Nervine ‘Tablets are constantly in receipt of unculicited testimonials of which the {cliowiag is a sample, I: 1 publiebed only after inquiry which show» that the writer is a man of prominence and influence tm bis community. Kenyon, Goodhue Co., Minn., Feb. 7th, 1890, Eureka Chemical and Mfg. Co.—Geutlemen: I wish to say for the Deneilt of those who are suffering as T have deve that Ihave derived great relief from using Dr. Charcot'’s Kola Nervine Tablets that you manufueture. Last summer, before I be gon taking these TrLicts, my weight got down to 417 pounds. Now I weigh 141 pounds. My trouble is asthma, which I have had for 20 years. I have taken, I think, all the asthma cares t ever beard of ani often wondered when reading the tes Umonials if I woull ever be able to write we 1 give Us after giving your Tablets a fair trial, Tam very much benatited. While I do not expect to be cured, your remedy lins vailt me up wo 1 am better able to stand (Le attacks when they come, and the attucks are very much Hghter and shorter tain ever before. Uf anybody. doults my sinte- fart they cam sereriain the Sects te" con apy one in cur town. er, post hant, betelkcep-r, doctor or drigtist, fame Well kuown by all. Yours truly, “. 8. MeEWITT. Me. Hewitt strikes the nail eyunre when he fells how the Tablets Vailt up is rirength. That do. They are sure as on im tor for nerves, brain, heart ud muscles. ty ecuts und $1.00 per’ box (one tacnth's treat Qr See Dr. Uharcot's rame on box. Kola Looklet free. AN dru; Chemical and Mfg. ton, Mass, iseisis or vent direct. Co., LaCrosse, Aiis., and —= dogs an’ make a raid on the children, me aun’ several other prominent citizens swarm- ed down upon him, gaye him a small dose about a gallon or so—of his jestly cele- brated elixir of life, headed him east an? turned kim loose. We didn't have to urge him to run—the elixir attended to that. He clapped his paws over his achin’ pout, which was right smartly distended by the elixir, and lt out in the general direction of Cape Henlopin, jumpin’ like a kangyroo an’ yellin’ in an unknown tongue at every jump. I hain’t x had the pleasure of hearin’ since whether he is dead in come remote gully, or is still runnin’. “Speakin’ of theories, the Siwash Injuns is possessed of one that is about as inter- estin’ as any I ever met. They snort at the scriptural idea that woman came from the rib of man. Men, accordin’ to the Si- wash jheory, were created with long, hand- som ils. They were dead stuck on these yere tails an’ decorated ’em with beads an’ tassels an’ what not. Rimebye, they grew Purseproud an’ hawty over their beautiful tails an’ wrangled an’ hoorawed ar fought perpetual over whose tail was the prettiest. This riled their Great Sperrit, an’ he sent @ plague among “em which caused thelr tails to drop off an’ turn to women. “These yere Siwashes go on to say that women are to this day a heap like the tails {rom which they were created—they are frivvylous an’ vassylatin’ an’ alwers fol- lowin’ after the men.” And thus the irrepressible Handy talked on and on. Drawing near to the end of his string at last, after concluding an edifying reminiscence of a gentleman by the name of ersmith, who, while possessed of the theory that he was a shanghai rooster strapped on a tin bill and picked corn with the chickens, Col. Polk wound up his little ball of yarn in this wise: “An, with these few words, ladies an’ gen- tlemer, I take pleasure in interducin’ Pere fessor Waldo Standish Winthrop, who will now favor us with his address.” Thereupon, the pale professor of the bulge rs Pda arose, and, bowing deferentiaily, said: address, ladies and gentlemen, ts Herringbone street, Boston, Mass, And, as it is now nearly haif-past ten o'clock, I will bid you all a respectful good TO ONE, And Not Altogether a Matter of Fi. cial Polities, Kither. Maj. Culpeper is pot his name, but that wll suffice for the little romance involved. He is a courtly old beau of Virginia breeding, «nd he ts also a courtly old bach- elor, quite old encugh to know better, an@ he does know better; but with him knowl- edge is not power, and he is absolutely lacking in strength to keep out of the clutches of Cup:d. The last fair charmer was an unusually pretty Waskifeton ‘girl of the sweet-six- teen type. and thé major felt for a time that he was’a svre winnef, but he was bad- ly left at the wire. - Some time after the sad event, and when the mejor, jose Tecuperative powers are famous, wast convalescent, he was talking with a frierd—a Star reporter—on the sub- ject of ladies and society and that sort of thing. “By the way,” sald the friend, “you don’t go out as much es you aid?” “Well, Tesporded the major, at- tempting to dodge the irsue, “you see I've retired, s to speak.” “Given up soci ertirely?” z that way.” “But there was one place that caught you quite frequently. What has become that?” The major smiled reminiscently and be gan to recover his spirits. “Oh,” he laughed. “She was a pretty girl, wasn’t she? You know, I liked that oT heard. Why aid you give her up?” “We differed on the 16 to 1 question.” “Great Scott, major,” ex mei the tend, ‘vou don’t mean to sa ou let a _— affair?” not exsctly major. “You see, she was was one who was old cnough known I Ledn’t a ghost of a show.” “And now?” queried the friend. The major drew himself up proudly, alk most youthfully. “Thank heaven,” too old to lecrn. he smiled, “I wasn’¢ — Both Have a Change. From the Cincinnati Enquirer. e—“‘It Is all so nice for you to go down to the club to break the monotony and all {hat sort of thing, but where do I come ae He—“You get your share in getting rid of me for a while.” eee There Are Others. From the Youkers (N. Y.) Home Journal and News, “Can I write my name under the received payment on this bill?” asked the collector, who likes to put things as delicately as pessible. ‘0, thank you,” replied Mr. Brokely, I'm no autograph fiend.” ——— About Charity. From Life. The charity which gives away that which it doesn’t want Is more inclined to vaunt itself than any other kind. Doctor (meeting village dame, after calle red ae her husband)—“Your husband's very low! Wife—“Oh, Mr. Blandford, sir! Oh, he’s allera been most respectable’ Pune,