Evening Star Newspaper, April 11, 1896, Page 14

“All of the line fishermen, as well as the seine haulers of the upper Potomac,” ob- served Capt. James Barrett, “cordially In- dorse every word that Fish Commissioner Brice says in regard to the damage done by the carp that the government, by the fish commission, forced into the Potomac. ‘The carp may be of some value in the ponds throughout Cee jee riginally raised, but ere is place for them in this country. Of course, they can be raised, and raised to any size, but, as they are mud eaters, they are no good after they are raised, for it is only by filling them with pepper they can be eaten at all. These carp have nearly destroyed our ba: as well as all other kinds cf game fish. The people out west saw years ago that the carp were a dangerous inva- sion, and killed them for manure. They are fit for nothing else.” xe eK OK me years ago,” said a well-known army officer, “I rode*over the city with Gen. Hancock, and when we got to the Scott statue he remarked that he thought it was a mistake to place that statue ween Scott's face toward the White House. Gen. Hancock said it was pretty well known that Scott had tried for years to be elected to the presidency, and he thought it out of place to have his face directed that way, as if he was trying to get there even after his death. Little did Hancock know then that he would be a candidate for the prest dency, but he was, and, as we all know, he failed to be elected. I see now that the Hancock statue is to face towards the White House.” ** * * Standing in the old hall of the House of Representatives a few days since, Mr. P. D. Connor, who has for years been the princi- pal constructor of the Western Union Tele- graph Company in this city, said: “In 1846 I worked in this room and put in the first electric wire ever used for telegraphing purposes—Morse, the inventor of the elec- tric telegraph, employed me. The original wire was run Into a room in the basement used by Major French, then superintendent of public buildings and grounds. Fifty years have passed and millions and millions -of people have come and gone, but in gen- eral appearance this room is the same as was then. ‘ aeri memory I can see Morse walking yout the room, as he did in those days, giving his directions about the wires. We ran in a copper wire, but it did not work well, and the iron wire took its place. We | knew nothing about galvanizing wires in} and as soon as they got wet rusted. Our insulators then were strips ef linen dipped in pitch, which soon evaporated. Everything was crude, even to the p but we succeeded in accomplish- great deal. Since then I have con ed hundreds of thousands of miles of but none of my experience has been | so valuable as the instruction I received direct from Prof. Morse himself, and in this same room. Senators and Representatives watched our work with the greatest curi- osity and interest and kept Mr. Morse and every one of us busy answering questions. ‘The doubters were greatly in the majority, and the test trouble we had was an- swering those who thought we were irre- ligious, and that we were setting up a scheme by which we desired to defy Provi- dence. The contrary was the fact, as ex- perience has shown abundantly, but many people did not believe so then.’” ee KKK “Wilt thee give me a little food?” said a Gilapidated-looking tramp to a good old lady who was standing in the door of a residence on Capitol Hill last Tuesday even- ing. The old lady was of a Pennsylvania Quaker family, and her heart warmed to- 1 the needy stranger at once. ertainly, my poor man. Go to the base- oor, and I'll help thee; and she cd down stairs to have the servant together some luncheon for him. She Ket took the things to the door; and after get- ting away with two Jarge sandwich ce of pie and cup of tea, the man began in a pleading voice again: “Wilt thee be kind enowgh to give me little money to help me on my way home— Philadelphia?” i would, willingly, my poor man,” re- sponded the lad: put I have no money with me. But w: as a thought seemed t, to strike her; “Fl give thee a note to my fon, at his office, down town.” The tramp failed to get the note, however, for his next question brought the inter- view to an abrupt end: “Where will I find thou’s son?” xe KK x A little feilow in the southwest section hit upon a great scheme last Monday, and started out to “peck eggs” with the boys of the neighborhood, with an egg prepared for the occasion by being first blown and then filled with plaster of paris. When the urchin got back to his home he had twenty-seven eggs, a scratched face and a torn collar. His last opponent had discovered the cheat, and his appearance showed plainly he had been ruled off the track by the referee. eK KK “I wonder how many of these bright lit- tle boys can tell me what a-p-p-Le p--e spells?" said an elderly, gcod-natured vis- {tor at a second grade schcol the other The little boys all looked interested and but none had got along far enough ir spelling books to correctly answer ‘Then the visitor smilingly ple pie. echoed the little fat boy on the end seat. “Now, m-i-n-c-e p-fe spells what?” he continued, looking over the little sea of upturned faces, but dense silence had set- tied upon the littie scholars, and not even ® guess was hazarded. Again the visitor smiled, and told them—“mince pie.” “Mince pie,” came in an echo from the little fat bo: “C-u-s-t-a-r-dp-i-e?" spelled out the good-humored visitor in his pleasant man- ner, with an inquiring look. But the little’ ones were still at sea, until he helped them out by saying “custard pi And again the liitle fat echo followed him with “custard pi ‘Now, look out—I'm going to catch you,” said the smiling gentleman. “What does P-p-l-e p-i-e spell?” Pumpkin pie!’ came in a triumphant shriek from the little dumpling on the end seat. ee KK “Tt will save us some annoyance and the seekers some trouble,” observed a Senator, “if you will announce that though the Agri- cultural Department may get their new seed distributing scheme into working order sooner, we will have no gurden or flower seed for local distribution at hand before May. It seems to me that the local de- mand for thes2 seed is greater this season than any other fn my experience. In this section, however, May will be time enough to plant gardens, though those who want very early peas should get them in the ground now as early as possible. They cannot afford to wait for government seed peas.” ee eK * ““The prevalence of measles at the White House is not because the house is un- healthy or that diseased persons frequent there,” observed a leading physician, “for I had occasion to Investigate that matter when President Harrison's grandchildren were similarly afflicted. I found then that it was brought Into the house by the ser- yants, who are not careful enough what houses they visit during their off hours. Another and very frequent cause of :he dis- ease is the carelessness of nurses, who while they have children out airing: visit thelr friends in the alleys and elsewhere where alisease prevails. Parents should in- sist that their children should not under without their knowledge. * ok OK KK “Detective stories are of a pecullar in- terest to many persons,” said a well-known operative of the secret service division 0: the Treasury Department, “but I have had some experiences in the past few years that have been out of the regular order. It has happened that I have had three persons during that time to keep my eye on. One of them was a woman and the other two were men. The first case was that of a man who lived in New Jersey. I was in- structed to keep a ‘pipe’ on him, that Js, to see who connected with him, and to report daily. For three weeks I kept up a constant watch. One morning he failed to come out of his house at the usual time. Three hours afterward an undertaker arrived at the house. The man had died during the night. So, to be sure I was not thrown down, I attended the funeral and got a look et the remains. That ended that case. In less than a year I had the two other cases. The woman and man died while I was watching their houses. The woman lived in Indiana, and died there, and the man died in New York city. The cases were not very im- portant, one of them being supposed to be an engraver who was working for a counter- feiter, and the others being implicated in a series of smuggling transactions.”” ALONE WITH A LUNATIC. A Case of Lunacy Mistaken for Drunkenness and a Narrow Escape. ‘As a Star reporter was walking along Pennsylvania avenue with a well-known Washington correspondent, the jaunting car from St. Elizabeth’s, with a load of patients out for an airing, drove by. “I can’t say that I am greatly enamored of that kind of folk,’ commented the cor- respondent. “Nor I,” responded the reporter, “but I have great charity for their misfortune.” “Surely, and so does everybody, but I had an experience once that has always affected my charity and made me suspi- cious.” “Tell it,” said the reporter. “All right,” and the correspondent pro- ceeded. “About a dozen years ago I worked in a western city, and among my friends was an aitorney who had as his stenographer a strapping big fellow who had a reputation as an athlete and some- what of a crank. In any event, he had an vgly disposition, and when he was drinking, as he was at times, he was not a pleasant party to have around. It was through me he had secured his position in my friend’s office and while he and I were on the best of terms, he did not like his employer a little bit, but he kept at his work faith- fully and held his place because he was a most skillful man. One day as I dronped into the lawyer's office I heard the two men quareling, and as I appeared on the scene the big fellow made a rush for his employer with blood in his eye. “{ jumped and caught him around the middle, calling to the lawyer to get out of the office as the man was drunk and not accountable, and the lawyer got out in a hurry. { thought it would be an easy thing to quiét him, but in a minute I disco ered that I had made a serious mista for he turned on me, ani as I caught his eye, I saw he was not drunk, but craz; nd the wildest kind of crazy. Then in stead of trying to soothe him, I tried to follow my friend, the lawyer, but the luna- tic, with a blood curdling kind of a laugh, caught me in his big arms and began to slowly squeeze the life out of me. “I was as helpless as a baby, and though I tried to make a fight, I could only kick, and he laughed at me, with his face so close to mine that he almost smothered me. I yelled once, but only once, for with a sudden turn he threw me around, tripped me and fell upon me with his hands cluteaed on my throat so tightly that my breathing stopped. After that I didn't know any more, my last conscious being of that horrid, grating, crazy laugh, until I epenal my eyes and found myself on a sofa in the private room of the office. ‘The crazy man was gone, but the law- yer, a physician, a policeman and three or four other people were standing around, and though I did not sk ‘Where am I after the prescribed fashion of people un. der such cireumstances, I must have look- ed if, for my friend said: ‘You're all right, old man,” and I found pretty soon that I was, but it took me a long time to get over the shock of it. My friend, the lawyer, ex- ined that when he got out, he waited at the door until I should have quieted the man, but when he heard the struggle and yell for help, he hustled after a policeman and got back just in time to save me. The crazy man never recovered and within a year had butted his brains out against the wall of an ordinary cell, where he had been placed for an hour or two while some repairs were making in his own padded cell” —_—_—~. __. Written for The Evening Star. A Problem. If the keen X Ray bas come to stay It will flash into the light A thing or two, quite ont of view, And hid from human sight. We will turn it flat on the Theater Hat, ‘That seems to be the rage, And then, maybe, we shall something see Of the doings on the stage! —C. ATHODE. ——— The Ruling Passion. From the Toronto Catholic Kegister. A miser, some years ago, finding himself very unwell, at length grudgingly sent for a doctor, whom he bade unhesitatingly to truly tell him what was his actual condl- tion will be perfectly frank with you,” said the medical mai you cannot live more than six weeks.” Directly the miser heard this he sent for one of the governors of a public charity, and that gentleman duly arrived, full of expectation. “I have always admired your institution,” said the miser, “and I intend to bequeath £1,500 to it. My doctor has just informed me that I shall not live long, so I sent for zee t> acquaint you with my intention. ut “In the name of the patrons of our insti- tution,” said the delighted governor, thank you.” “But in order to save trouble and expenso in the making of my will,” continued the miser, “I have thought that if you will al- low me the usual discount for prompt cash I will give you the money immediately.” —_ see Stockbrokers’ Wives. From The Sketch. “I don’t think your ‘husband is looking very well, dear; and do you know, the other day I heard Jack say he'd been living en- tirely on slumps and booms lately?” “Why don't you try a change of diet?” The little gang of promfnent citizens in- formally assembled in Col, Handy Polk’s real estate office were discussing in a desul- tory fashion the recent stealing .and drag- ging away of the court house from a neighboring county seat by sundry enter- prising partisans of a rival settlement, when old man Cusack, a worthy yeoman whose abode is about four miles from Hawville, clumped into their midst. “TI reckon,” de declared, aggressively, ad- dressing the group collectively, “that I’ve got the meanest, orneriest, low-downest, dog-gawnedest set of—by gosh—neighbors that a poor but honest. man was ever cursed with!” “H'm!” returned Alkali Ike, pensively. “Why don’t you tell what you've been doin’ to "em, Cusack’ “Been doin’ to ’em!” snorted the claim- scornfully. “Better ask what they’ve been doin’ to me!” “Aw-hum!"” drawled Ike. “I’ve noticed that most generally when a gent is makin’ oration against his neighbors he’s been be- havin’ so toward ’em that they’ve been obliged to do suthin’ to him to sorter break even. Not meanin’ you, ‘speshully, Cu- sack.” “Naw!” retorted the honest agricultu- ralist, sourly. “The feller didn’t mean the one-eyed man ’speshully when he sald he wasn't mentionin’ no names or hintin’ at anybody in particular, but if the cuss that he'd already been tryin’ to hold an ace out on had tried it again he’d shoot his other eye out.” “Aw, wal,” volunteered the alkaline cit- izen, indifferently, ‘“‘when you fling a rock into a pack of dogs the varmint that howls is most generally the one that got ite? “All right! all right!’ growled the yeo- man. “But I'll tell you right now, I never done a thing to them neighbors of mine. I’ve alwers been fair an’ white with ’em, and treated ‘em like a gang of saints, in return for which they used me like a gosh- darned stepson.” S02" “That's what they done! They whirled in an’ had me the late Mr. Cusack. Had ™my eppytaph an’ obituary all wri everything” ready. for. plantin’ ‘but _ the corpse—an’ me as lively an’ Kickin’ as I am this minute!” “Heard suthin’ about it,” replied Ike, calmly. “You tried to put up a job on ‘em an’ they got the best of you. “No such darned thing!” snarled Cusack. “I never thought of puttin’ up a job on "em, ‘They fooled themselves—I didn’t have nuth- in’ to do with it. Tell you how it was: You know that thar well I've been diggin’? “Heard you say you'd been diggin’ a well— never seen it, myself.” ; “All the same, thar was sech a well! I worked on it, off an’ on, for about a month, an’ got it down suthin’ like thirty feet. Wal, day before yesterday noon, while I was in the house eatin’ my lonely dinner—wife an’ eldest daughter an’ the children havin’ gone over into the next county to visit our kin- folks—the well took a fool notion an’ caved in clear up to the top. When I beheld the ruin an’ seen that my month’s work was wasted, I throwed up my hands an’ groan- ed plenty loud an’ heartsick. Directiy, I pulled down my hands an’ n eddertated that tan is of few days an’ full of trouble plumb to the muzzle. Upon that I goes into the house an’ dons my Sunday clothes, an’ then hops on my old mule an’ sets cut for Rante- dediar, with my mouth hangin’ down a plenty “You ort to have felt middlin’ cheerful,con- siderin’ that you had left your little trap all set to fool your neighbors into diggin’ that thar well out while you was gone," remark- ed ie. Never set no trap ror 'em!” asserted the yeoman. ever thought of it—how was I to know that they’d think I was down in the well when it caved in?” “Didn't you leave your coat lyin’ by the mouth of the well?” “What if I did? I forgot it, anyhow—man can’t remember everything when he’s wor- ried an’ excited.” “Bh-yah!” ejaculated Ike, derisively. “Thar you go!” siarled Cusack. “I tell you i never even thought of puttin’ up a job on ‘em—an’, besides, who would have thought they hadn't sense enough to take a jok=? Wal, to purseed; I drags off to Rantedodlar, an’ thar I'm meetin’ up with an old side pardner of mine, Tonkawa Judson, jest come whirlin’ in from a six months’ stay down in the Panhandle.” “A@’ then you two old codgers purseeded to git drunk?” prompted Isaac. “No, we didn’t!” denied Cusack. ‘Nuthin’ of the Kind—I hain’t that kind of a man. Anyhow, not what you'd call drunk. Of course, you know, the Panhandle 1s the dry- est country on earth, an’ I'm feeling mighty lcw spirited myself, an’ so, after we'd shook hands an’ damned each other loud an’ joy- ful, we adjourned an’ took a few drops of soothin’ syrup, ora little suthin’ that-away, for our stummicks’ sake. Nacheral enough, it makes us feel like new men, an’ we sorter took a few drinks with the new men. An’ then I betieve the new men took a few horns with us, after which mebby we all drank together. Nuthin’ mere than anybody else would have done. “It hain’t strange that by this time me an’ Judson is considerin’ that the world is mighty small an’ restricted, an’ gits to knockin’ our horns against’ the sides of the corral. We are feelin’ jovial, nothin’ more—I never was one of the kind of cusses that thinks it fs cute to try to tear up somebody else’s town. All I does is to plumb forgit all about that thar well that is patiently waitin’ at home for me to come an” dig it out. I was almtin’ to round up at home some time durin’ the night—I was, honest!_ But you know how sech things go. I Gon’t remember that we done ything after that worth men- tionin’.’ “How'd you come to lose your memory?” insinuated Ike. “Aw, our smoke was sorter thick an’ our trail got obscure en’ vague. At sech times mere trifles is prone to git lost in the shuffle. Believe, though, I do recall a little suthin’ about me an’ Jud, an’ mebby some other fellers, sorter invadin’ the circus, which was showin’ thar that day, an’ shootin’ up a hyener or yak, cr some sech varmint, an’ chasin’ a red-streaked clown out through the blank side of the tent without waitin’ to cut a hole, or some foolishness like that. “At least, that is about what Judge Mc- Cord told us when he had us extracted from the calaboose, whur I'm learnin’, it took the big end of the community to put us, an’ drug up before him the next day. Said he wouldn’t refer to nuthin’ else— fine old feller, Judge McCord is! Wal, me an’ Judson spent some time in countin’ up our wounds, an’ it is along toward night before I’m rickylectin’ about that thar well that hain’ been dug out yet. So, di- rectly, I mounts old Mr. Mule an’ snails out for home, feelin’ plenty grim an’ headachy. Nuthin’ of interest happens till I'm about a mile from kome an’ it is pretty middlin’ dark. A couple of little boys comes scoot- in’ into the road from _a path an’ starts to skip along ahead. It is so dark they don’t "pear to reccgnize me. “Whur are you boys bound for in sech a rush? says I. “‘Goin’ to the funeral,’ says one of ’em. ‘That so? says I, carelessly. ‘Whose funeral, if it is a fair question? “ ‘Old man Cusacks.’ “Old man-ug-gu: hich’s?’ says I, plen- horrified. ‘Cusack’s? aw, I reckon not!’ ‘Yes, we are!” says the boy. ‘Wal, you needn't be in sech a hurry,’ says I, aimin’ to be witty. ‘They won’t do anything till I get thar.’ “That's whar I fooled myself. The boys scudded.on. I thinks to myself that thar is a hidjus mistake somewhurs, an’ it strikes me that whoever is engineerin’ the obsequies is a mighty enterprisin’ an’ prior wolf, to say the least. “Me an’ the old mule jogged on. When we came in front of the place it shore loo! ed like they were enjoyin’ a feet shampeter, everything had sech an air of gaity. The house was lit up from porch to lean-to, an’ lanterns was bobbin’ around through’ the yard scandalous. Out by the well thar was a big bonfire an’ men who ‘peared to be watchin’ other men rollin’ dirt up out of the well with the windlass. “ ‘Sufferin’ Cornelius!’ thinks I to myself. ‘These yere people ‘pear to have plumb taken the place like a gang of preachers come to conference. I must say 1 admire their nerve in proclaimin’ me dead in this high handed way, an’ pourin’ in yere like @ passel of buzzards to settle my estate. ’il_ jest fool 'em.” “First, I think I'll pull my gun an’ scat- ter ‘em, but then I concludes that bein’ as they are diggin’ away at that thar well I won't hurt their feelin’s by stoppin’ ’em too sudden. Plenty mystified, I rides on by, ties the old mule to the fence some distance beyond, creeps through an’ Injuns my way toward the house. I’m passin’ by the hen- pen, whur two or three prominent young men is wringin’ the necks of my chickens, an’ mighty near falls over a couple of neigh- bors: who are plottin’ in a dark corner to run oft my three cows to pay a triflin’ debt which they ‘peared to think I owed ’em. ‘I took a peep in at the kitchen winder an’ had the pleasure of beholdin’ a gang of good old brothers an’ sisters camped around the table eatin’ as if their hearts would break. They, discussin’ me as well as my grub, a’ they mentioned how sad it was that a- ned old sinner should be “One after another hemeaned me lke a dog while théy tontinnered to gobble down the grub I’d:pafd for. It looked like, from what little I had the pleasure of hearin’ that I'm a regular cuss an’ ripperbate, an’ a gambler ah’ given to indulgin’ in riotous livin’, an’ hav@ embezzled a hoss or two, an’ am scaly, afl over an’ no better than I should be, gh’--er-h’m—a roo an’ a libby- teen, an’ haye'made a regular martyr of poor Sister Cusack, an’ ort to have been lynched long, ago, an’ then some. “It ‘peared, that they had been runnin’ the table all day,Jong, similar to a barbycue, for as fast as one s¢t of eaters got through more came in an’ topic their places, an’ all went as merry as a marriage bell, as What’s-his- name used to git off. An’ they all talked the same way about me an’ harpooned my saint- ed memory shameful. Directly, a couple of fellers who had been workin’ in the well came in an’ announced that they hadn’t found the old cuss yet. Somebody took an’ reckoned now that the old man was out of the way his oldest daughter would marry the worthy young man that he had comn- manded her not to speak to; an’ a small boy chirped out that he'd seen the worthy young man a-huggin’ of her in the dark a spell before. “About that time an intellectual dub, who {s troubled with poetry, came in an’ asked their opinion on some obituary verses he'd written about me. The son-of-a-gun had rhymed ‘hell’ with ‘well,’ an’ everybody but me clapped their hands an’ said they’d never heard anything more fittin’ an’ appropriate. Somebody asked whur Sister Cusack was, an’ somebody else answered that she was in the front room, an’ Deacon Hogckersmith was consolin’ her—I’ll console Deacon Hock- ersmith the first time I meet him! “Wal, I stood it about as long as I could, scroochin’ out thar under the winder an’ grittin’ my teeth till it sounded like rats gnawin’. An’, finally, I riz up with the in- tention of sailin’ in’ an’ beginnin’ to shoot with my eyes shut. An’ then I thought bet- ter of it an’ decided to wither 'em with my sourcasm. commented Alkali Ike. oH mt wither?” “Not so’s you could notice it,” replied the honest yeoman, sourly. ‘They took an’ flung me down an’ tied me fast. An’ then them soulless ‘barbarians whirled right in an’ filled that thar well up agin clear to the top—an’ they’d got it dug out to within about two feet of the bottom. They talked of flingin’ me in first an’ pilin’ the dirt in on top of me, but I am pleased to say wiser counsel prevailed. _ “They reviled me scandalous an’ world without end, an’ even my own wife swore IL didn’t know what I was talkin’ about when I referred to Deacon Hockersmith’s hellish cuttin’ up—said I was still drunk. Every- body sided agcinst me, an’ I got the little end of it all the way around. “An’ that is the—by gosh!—reason I say in tones of thunder.that I’m cursed with the most unscrupulous gang of neighbors a man ever had.” snatched awgy. I had been, but after all Poor Sister atch ‘was better off. “Did they —— A LITERARY SOCIETY CHAT Time—Now. Place—Nowhere. Dramatis perscnae—Young man, who reads Sunday papers and has the nerve to take chances on talking books to a young woman, Young woman, who doesn't read any- thirg and has the wit to fancy the young man doesn’t know anymore than she does. He—“Have you read Mr. Howells’ last book? She—“Youmean ‘Bonnie Brier Bush’?” He arming story, isn’t it?” She—“Exdtisite. He—"I think Howells is one of our best writers of ficuon. I mean good, whole- some fiction.”” She—"Yes, ‘and he makes his characters s0 true to life, Take, for instance, the leadirg man in the ‘Brier Bush’—um—er— um—how silly of me to forget the name. Isn't it—' He—"Sherlock Holmes, I think, you refer to.” She—“That's it. I have such a poor mem- or: for name: Quite unfortunate, isn't He (eughing)—‘Yes, but we are all that Way, more or less. It's a wonder I was able to recall the name.’ She—“As I was going on to say, I think that character ig in some particulars one of the finest in American fiction.” ‘And, still,.it did not sirike me -as favorably as that of his gentle and for- giving wife.” She—“Natcrally, the woman would be more interesting to you than the man.” He—‘“Possibly that has something to do with my opinion, but still you must admit her character is a fine one, and that Mr. Howels understands the feminine heart.” She—“Of course he must. How could he write novels if he didn’t? He-—“He couldn't, I suppose. She—“Do you think novels are instruc- tive?” H “Of course they are, a great many things.” She—"Mamma says they teach us a great shouldn't know.” "That's the old fogy idea, Modern ideas are quite different.” a She—“I do wish I had time to réad more. early love the companiorship of books.” *l think you are quite well read, 't you know.” She (modestly)—“'Not as well as I should be. I fancy you have read nearly all the new books.”” He—“‘Really; you flatter me. I try to keep abreast of the times in literary mat- ters. At least sufficiently so to talk intel- ligibly on the subject.” She—"That's what I try to do, and I presume if we do that much, ft ought to be all that should be expected of us.” He—“Indeed, I think so, too. Miss Car- ter was only saying yesterday—” She—“Excuse me for interrupting you, They teach us but did you know she was engaged?” He—“To Juck Strong She—“Yes. He—“Wonder what she is thinking about!” She—‘“Marrying, I presume.” He (laughing)—“That’s good. I'll make a note of it. Really, don’t you know, that’s bright erough to have come from one of Mr. Howell's stories. Is it your own?” And the conversation continues indefi- nitely. we Little “Jack's” Biblical Lore. From the New York Herald, “Jack,” who is only five years old, cannot yet read for hinrself, although he anticl- pates’ his acquirement of that accomplish- ment at an early day with such eagerness that he frequently declares he is going to kill himself if he cannot read when he is six. He is always willing to be read to, however, and fairy tales, children’s books and stories of all kinds, together with Bi- ble stories, all find in him a happy listener. ‘That he ponders on what is read to him, making his own childish applications, may be inferred from the following incident: He alluded to his younger brother one day as “a kid,” for which, although it rather amused mamma, she gently chided him. “But the Bible calls a little boy ‘a kid,’ anyway,” said “Jack,” anxious to prove himself in the right. “In the story of Samson you read me last Sunday’it says, ‘Samson visited his wife with a kid.” A reference to Judges xv: 1, proved that “Jack” was literally right, if not correct in the application. —1.—_-e+ Advice to a Tramp. From the Boston ‘Transcript. Wayside Wanderer—“I don't know how it Is, marm, but I have a convictioa that you are going to give me something to eat.” « Lady of the. House—“Well, perhaps you had better swallow your convictions, They ougit to make # nice meal for you.” Erie wo ean es . Feeble. . From St. Paul's. Patron—“Glad to see you back from the hospital, Juggins.”” Juggins—“Yes, sir; as you see, I’m once more on the mend.” IN HOTEL CORRIDORS|GHOS THE EVENING STAR, SATURDAY; APRIL 11, 1896-TWENTY-FOUR PAGES. < ALKALI IKE AND HIS TOWN AT. THE CAPITOL 2 2 “In the Choctaw Indian nation there ig} D0’ YOU'belleve int'ghosts? Do you wish to no jail in which convicted murderers are confined,” said Hd. L. Craighead of Ard- more at the Metropolitan. When I first went to the Indian territory I settled in the Choctaw nation, and hearing that a certain Indian was an excellent hand on the ranch, I hunted him up and asked him if he would work for me. ‘I will work until the 20th of next month,’ he said. ‘Why not longer? I inquired. -‘I am to be hanged the 2ist,’ was his reply in an unconcerned way. I hired him, and upon inquiry learned that what he said was true. But one man has ever failed to re- turn for hanging after he has been sen- tenced, and my Indian did not prove an exception to the rule. On the day before the execution was to take place, he left as calmly as though going on a visit, and the hanging took place at the time appointed. Notwithstanding his approaching doom the Indian made one of the best ranchers I ever saw, and I regretted to lose him.’* “I have gone out of the real estate busi- ness, never to enter it again,” said BE. L. Winthrop of Louisville at the St. James. “I was greatly interested in a descriptive pamphlet sent me, concerning a new town that a friend of mine had started. The booklet was elegantly printed and placed in a box. I had a lady friend to whom I spoke of the place and also the booklet. She was much interested, and having a lit- tle money she wanted to invest, asked me to show her the advertising matter. The following evening I took the box from my valise and called upon the lady. She greet- ed me cordially, and expressed gratification that I was so prompt in bringing the pamphlet. I gave her the box, and as she pulled out the contents I was horrified. I had brought the wrong box, and had pre- sented her with a liver pad. I did not sell her any of the property.” “Some men are gifted with remarkable memories,” said S. B. Bostwick, a New Yerk traveling man, at the National. “I have a customer named Lyons at Marble Falls, Texas, who has naturally the most wonderful retentive faculties in the world, I believe. Lyons is wholly uneducated and has never learned to even read or write. Originally, of course, this was because he lacked opportunities, but since he has been grown he has rather prided himself upon not needing book knowledge. He can count, so far as addition is concerned, always be- ing able to tell just how much certain fig- ures in a business transaction aggregate. In, fact, I am told that he was never known to make a mistake. He owns a large gen- eral store, a stone quarry and a farm, in all, employing about one hundred men, each of whom runs an accoant at Lis store. Ajl of his transactions he retains in his memory, and can tell at any time the exact amount he owes or that is owing to him. In buying he remembers just what he bought and at what price. Several at- tempts have been made to cheat him on account of his inability to keep books and his refusal to employ a hookkeey as he says such an employe would rob him, but they have always failed. There is not a figure or a detail in the whole range of his extensive business transactions that he does not remember. He is very proud of the faculty, and having become rich, is not in favor of education, saying that he would have been poor if he had used up his early years studying. No one can con- vince him to the contrary.” “There is a novel rainmaker In Arizona,” said B. T. Bartlett of Nogales at the Arl- ington. He owns a piece of lowlaad about a mile from the Gila river. It seldom rains in that country, and ncetwithstanding the proximity of the land to water, it must be irrigated in order to raise any crops. To irrigate costs a good deal of money, more than the owner of this particular tract of land possessed, so he hit upon a scheme. He constructed half a dozen large sheet-lron contrivances exactly like the spout of a sprinkling pot, except a good many times as large. These he placed at angles of about forty-five degrees+in dif- ferent parts of his Tand. All of these were connected with drain pipes to another larg- er pipe that went to the river. A shut-off in the main pipe completed the irrigating outfit. He can turn on the w:tter and have just as much or as little rain on his ground as he pleases. The water, falling in a spray like a shower of natural rain, is very much better for his ground and growing plants than any other system of Irrigation could possibly be, and he has the benefit of the river at a trifling cost.’ “There is a rich man in Chicago, who Is a crank on microscopical science,” said E. S. Langford of that city at the Normandie. “His name is Barker, and he resides on Warren avenue, on the west side, in rather an unpretentious house. Some years ago he was in the grocery business, at which he made a fértune, then retired to expend ft in scientific researches. He has never been successful in discovering anything new, so far as I ever heard, but his posses- s'ons are sufliciently curious to make him famous. The most remarkable of these is an aquarium. As a visitor enters his labo- ratory he is attracted by what appears to be a brass pot. Upon approaching and leaning over it he is horrified by seeing that it is a large aquarium with thousands of forms of animal life, some of them hideous- ly repulsive. The contrivance is simply one of the largest and most powerful micro- Scopes ever manufactured, and the old man keeps a little water in it, just enough to form an aquarium. It is exceedingly real- istic, and a visitor to the old scientist's laboratory will recoil from water for weeks after looking at the aquarium.” “The strangest thing I have ever known in legislation,” said T. C. Walker of San Jose, Cal., at the Riggs, “is the defeat of Santa Monica and San Pedro harbors, or rather the defeat of the first and cutting down the appropriation for the last named from $300,000 to $50,000. These harbors are within a few miles of each other, and Santa Monica is nearer Los Angeles than San Pedro is. Both were provided for in the bill abcut to be reported by the rivers and har- bors committee, Santa Monica with $2,800,- 000 and San Pedro for $300,000. The advo- cates of San Pedro made a fight against Santa Monica, saying that they would rather neither got a dollar than to have Santa Monica made the deep harbor, al- though both were free. The trouble was that C. P. Huntington’s railroad owned the only line to Santa Monica, and the fight shows how unpopular Huntington is with the people of southern California. Hence rather than have him succeed, the represen- tative citizens of Los Angeles preferred not to have over $3,000,000 expended in their vicinity. The case is without a parallel in Congress.” “I was very much interested in a case that shows fish can reason,” said A. P. Buchannon of Nashville at the Cochran. “I have a fish pond, stocked with trout. No one has ever caught any of the fish, as I have been trying to increase their number, the pond being but three years old. My daughter, who is something of a natural surgeon, has always fed the finny denizens of the pond, and whenever she goes along the banks, the fish follow her and will eat out of her hand. One day a fish appeared, evidently, about to die, wita some kind of swelling on his head. She caught him and concluded to try to cure him, lancing the gathering. The next day he came for his food, evidently feeling as well as ever. A few mornings after that her friends in the pond made considerable stir as they swam after food. They were pushing a com- panion ahead of them that had, in some way, got caught and torn a fin nearly off, crippling him so badly that he could not swim. His friends were taking him to my daughter to cure him as she had the oth- ers, After looking at the injured fish, she went to the house and procuring a needle and thread, returned to the pond and took three or four stitches in the fish as a sur- geon would with a man, and then put it back into the pond. He recovered, since which time none of them have been sick, but if they become so, I expect them to call on the doctor again. 2 ——_-.—__ She Understood. From the Texas Sifter. “Didn’t you meet father in the hall as ‘you went out last night?” asked Birdie Mc- Ginnis of Dudely Canesucker. “No,” he replied, sadly; “I didn’t meet him. We were going the same way, and I was only-a short distance in frent of him.” Oh!” she said, with a cruel, significant smile. collect 4 rich and rare stock of flesh-creep- ing spook stories? If so, hie yourself to that great white building on the hill known as the Capitol, give one of the blue-coated guides an extra tip and he will take you through the mazes of that wonderful build- ing and regale you with enough dark tales to last you a lifetime. Or, if they do not satisty you, pick acquaintance with one of the seedy, hungry-looking individuals you will find at the foot of the grand staircase, who ten to one is a professsional guide also, and ask him to point out to you all the haunted houses in the city and tell you their weird histories. And either of these gentlemen will tell you what they believe to be the plain, unvarnished truth. The Capitol police have strange things to tell about the uncanny doings in the vault- ed corridors after nightfall. The ghosts they tell about are not simple, every-day visitors from the land of the unseen, but the shedes of distinguished men in the nation’s history. ‘The majestic spiritual ego of John Quincy Adams, once President of the United States; of Vice President Henry Wilson, a Massachusetts statesman, and of Gen. John A. Logan, famous in field and forum, are said to haunt by night the echo- ing halls where legislators tread by day. When the redoubtable Andrew Jackson was inaugurated, March 4, 1829, Adams re- tired for a short while to private life. It Was not until February 21, 1848, that he died. He was at that time a Representa- tive, and his passing away was tragic. During a sion of the House he suddenly slipped from his seat to the floor. Apo- plexy, the doctors said. He was borne to @ room near by, where not many hours later he died, with but a few murmured words. It was not long after the unhappy event that there was whispering among the officials who took care of the Capitol bulid- ing after dark that some one like unto the dead Adams was scen nightly to pass out of the Speaker's room, in which the ex- President had died, into the House cham- ber, which is now ftatuary hall, and wan- der about among the seats. It would pause beside the chair occupied by Adams, then gradually fade away into nothingness. After the seats were removed and statues placed in the hall the change apparently disconcerted: the distinguished ghost, for, according to the best authorities, those who claimed to have seen the whole Proceeding, the shade of the statesman wandercd sround and around the chamber, and final- ly passed out without apparently having found his former place of daily occupation. But later a small bronze tablet was in- serted in the ficor, through the good offices of somebedy who felt sorry for the ghost, upon the spot where John Quincy Adams’ chair used to stand, and then it is sald the ghost walked as betore, with every evi- dence of being once again at peace. This particular shade was seen on February 21 ue and is not expected agrin until that aate. What purported to be the ghost of the beloved Vice President is said to move and have its ethereal being in the Vice Presi- dent's room, the marble room, where the Senators receive their callers, and in the corridors thereabouts. It was while in the first named apartment that Mr. Wilson was also suddenly visited by the angel ef death, November 10, 1875, who remained with him until November 22, when he died, after three severe shocks of apoplexy. The apparition supposed to represent this poor man is occasionally declared to mani- fest itself suddenly, as if evoluted out of the thin air, and as quickly vanish upon the approach of a mortal. The spirit of Black Joe Logan is said to make its apeparance at exactly twenty minutes after 12 o'clock midnight. The general was at one time chairman of the committee on military affairs, and out of this committee rocm he emerges, taking care to close the door after him, and glides swiftly down the corridor, to disappear without trace or sound. This is perhaps the most substantial of all the Capitol ghosts, for there are numbers of persons ready to attest haying witnessed his mys- terlous passage through the gloomy hall. But it does not take the actual appear- ance of these shades to make the Capitol a place of grewsomeness and awe at night. in the stillness that pervades a door shut- ting at one end of the long building may be faintly heard. at the other, and a step in the rotunda will come back from all sides with startling echoing: It is one of the stories that-every night there is a sound in the portico of the Senate wing as of some one scrubbing the marble floor and the noise of water being thrown down on it is plainly audible. Capitol officials tell of an aged negro who used to be one of the Sweeps, and who died a number of years ago, and who, they say, performs his early morning duties of washing up just a few hours befare daybreak. each day. This ghostly indiwdual is the unseen terror of all the-negro laborers who clean up around the Capitol, and they will not work with- out plenty of "ght-on the subject. It would give a timid person the fright of his life to walk across statuary hall at midnight and in the dark. In no place in the vast building are the echoes so strange or so ghostly. There are a number of what are called echo stones, by stepping upon which and speaking one is astounded to hear his voice coming up apparently be- neath his feet. It is a trick the guides have of startling their customers by stepping be- hind some pilar and, just at the moment when the unwary tourist stands on a cer- tain stone, giving voice to a harsh and sepulchral whisper that will reverberate in ghostly accent close in hir ear. But the crypt Is the place aost suggestive of the powers of darkness. Its influence is such upon nervous temperaments that it would be a serious matter with many to venture to spend a night there alone. The story is told, as an instance, that once a newly married Congressman’s wife made, during her first visit to Washington, a trip through the crypt with a number of friends. She became ceparated from her friends in the gloom and lost her way. When the party missed her a search was made and then given up upon the general belief that the young woman must have wandered out and gone home before them. Next morning the party searched again, and finaily the Congressman’s bride was found In a most seciuded and dark cor- ridor, insensible. They never learned what she experienced, because she was a raving maniac. She afterward recovered, but she was never asked to tell the story of that fateful night in the crypt. No ray of natural light, no-fresh air, has ever en- tered into this crypt. It was once suggest- ed as the place for the last tomb of the father of his country, but the idea was given up as ridicuicus. a Poster Land. From the Chteago Record. “Oh, tell me; where is poster land?” T asked a twisted poster girl. She simpered, blushed, and down the sand She sidled with a slanting whirl, The self-same query then I asked A weird and wobbly poster boy He silent glared, and, queerly masked, Retreated like’ a whizzing to But soon I met a poster chil Just tottering on its ziz-z2¢ legs. Its answer was both wise and wild: “ "Tis where the hens lay colored eggs."* ee What His Wife S: From the Detroit Fre Press, “Out late last night, eh? What time did the clock say when you got in?” “I don’t remember what the clock said, but I will never forget what my wife said!” oo X Boarding House Rays. From the Yonkers Statesman, “Do you know, Mrs. Boardman,” said the young man who was two months behind in his board, “by means of the cathode rays I could tell everything that is in that plate of hash?” “Well, it's my opinion,” replied Mrs. Boardman, “that people nowadays want to know too much for nothing.’ ——_~e. Bathed in tears.—Life. ART AND ARTISTS Max Weyl’s exhibition of oil paintings has been the attraction at Fischer's this week, and will remain there through the coming week. His “Beech Wood,” which received an honorable mention at Atlanta, is of course deservedly an object of keen interest. In his other wood interiors he is yery successful, as in “The Oid erry Trees at Buck * and the “Joy “of an Autumn Day,” which give him an oppor- tunity to exercise all his power in color. His “‘Eestern Shore” has been repainted in a higher key, and gains greatly by the change, the cloud effect being very good. “The Foot of Seventeenth Street” shows the marshes down by the river and is full of atmosphere, end his “Approaching Night". seems to be a favorite with the ar- lusts. It is a v simple little theme, showing a broad Delt of ruddy color along the horizon, the landscape itself being dark and indistinct, save where the blue smoke curling up from several fires suggests a gipsy encampment. {t is difficult to make a selection of particular canvases, as the standard of merit of the entire exhibition is very high, and shows a marked advance over former years. *_* Mr. Robert Hinckley has been at work on 8 full-length portrait of Miss Gwynn,which, when completed, will be very striking. The pose is an interesting, natural one, and a Pronounced note of color is struck by the yellow gown which the young lady wears. Mr. Hinckley is also at work on a portrait of Jonathan Mason, who was the first Sen- ator from Massachusetts. * ** The devotees of the poster art will have an opporiunity this month to see a collec- tion which has teen making a tour of the larger eastern cities. ‘The six hundred posters which were submitted by both amateurs and professional artists from all over the country for the prize competition held by the Columbia Bicycle Company a short time ago are to be exhibited at the Light Infantry armory during the week beginning April 20. The question of calling for contributions from the local collectors, in order to make a mammoth show, has not been definitely settled. * ** Each part of the great scheme of decora- tion at the new Congressional Library is opened to visitors as soon as completed, and on every successive visit to the build- ing one is impressed more and more by the growing splendor of the decoration, of which little was to be seen some months back. Visitors are now admitted to the lit- Ue rotunda, in the southwest corner of the building on the second floor, where George Willoughby Maynard's mural paintings are in evidence. There are five designs, a cir- cular painting in the ceiling of the dome and four panels, segments of a circle in form representing Discovery, Adventure, Conquest and Civilization, placed above the windows on each of the four walls. In Discovery, and the same plan of arrange- ment is carricd out in the others, there is a female figure enthroned in the center, and an attendant on either side. A globe rests on the knee of the central figure, and the woman to the left holds a map. Against the background are painted in a decorative Way the names of some of the most distin- gtished discoverers, Columbus, Cabot, Hud- sen, Behring, Magellan, Vespucius, etc. In Adventure the three figures are all armed, and a pile of gold shows one of the prin- cipal incentives to a roving life. The names of men well known in history are also inscribed here, and this feature is found in all the designs. The Amazons in the design, representing Conquest, are clad in armor and carry swords and several minor details,such as oak leave , Signifying strength, and palm branches, symbolical of victory, are introduced. The central figure of Civilization, no longer warlike, rests her hand upen a book, symbolizing knowledge, and one of the attendant women holds some garnered grain and a sickle, and the gther a distaff, typifying the industries. The circular design in the center of the ceiling contains four figures surrounded with graceful arabesques. A female figure, resting upon a shield and holding a spiked club, represents Courage, while Valor, a kss stolid, stubborn figure, grasps a sword, Fortitude is portrayed by'a fisure bearing @ small Grecian column, and Achievement, crowned with laurel, holds a staff, emblem- atic of power and authority. The design is essentially decorative, and the artist has wisely painted the background without per. Spective, consequently avoiding the absurd! ty, often found in ceiling frescoes, of a landscape background stretching away into the distance, its very position falsifying the illusion. Mr. Maynard has an excellent decorative sense and feeling for color, but 1s not above criticism as a draughtsman. * *“* On Monday all the portraits which are submitted for the portrait competition held under the auspices of the Society of the Friends of Art will be Sent in to the Cor- coran Art School rooms, where they are to be exhibited. A Portrait, to be accepted, must be an oil painting by an art student, of kimself or herself. A prize of $200 wh he given to the one whose portrait tne so- ciety, by a vote of its members on We le hesday next, decides to be the best. Mr. Hinckley, the secretary and treasurer of the society, has beer the most active p-o- moter of the competition, and has gener- ousiy contributed the larger part of the prize. It cannot be definitely ascertained how many students will compet, though a large number of blanks have been sent out. * *~* At a mecting of the raembers of the Art Students’ League on Tuesday, it was voted that a school of design be established in connection with the leazue work. They #re in communication with a competeat teacher, who has already made herself well known by her work in that. line. There is no school of that sort i the city, the size and business pursuits of which render it desirable that an opportuniiy should be given for that branch of cducs- The practical and bread-winning side of this work would lead many to make use of the advantages which the league ex- pects to give. . Reversing the usual order of work first, and pleasure afterward, the members of the league joined with the students, before the meeting, in disposing of the “spread,” which two of the youn ladies who have just entered the life class provided, in accordance with time-honored custom, * x * Miss De Mier, who most efficiently fills the double position of instructor in the an- tique class and superintendent of the league, spent several days in New York this week, partly in visiting the big exhi- tions, that of the National Academy and the one by the Society of Americ an Artists, and partly in much-needed recreation, * x & Mr. L. 8S. Brumidi is about to send away the designs which he has made for the dec- oration of a room in the new city hall in Philadelphia, which has been thrown open to competition. The decoration is in the Renaissance style, greenish gold being the Prevailing tone of color, and the designs are to cover the entire surface of the wall upon two sides of the room. For the cen- ter of one wall is a painting representing the birth of the republic and the downfall of monarchy. To the left of this is the sketch for a painting of Penn's treaty with the Indians, with a portrait of Wil- liam Penn in a medallion beneath. To the right is a painting representing the reading of the Declaration of Independence, with @ portrait of Robert Morris below. The central design for the other wall shows the colonist suing for his Lberiy, aud to the right is a painting showing John Fitch, who antedated Robert Fulton, with the model of a st left is a paint nklin at Versatile: and below that a portrait of W, "The subjects for the mural pain been selected with regard to th tion with Philadelphia eco- ration is rather light in color and airy in design, and seems to be exceedingly appro- priate. . ——__. A Bright Thing. From the Detroit Free Dress. “Smith got off a bright thing the other day ‘What was it?” ‘A lighted cigar some one had carelessly drcpped into the chair he sat on.”