Evening Star Newspaper, April 18, 1896, Page 20

HANGING THE PICTURES. THE EVENING STAR, SATURDAY, APRIL 18, 1896-TWENTY-FOUR PAGES. “/of taste or judgment. AT THE PARIS SALON Glimpses Behind tie Scenes of the Great Artistic Competition. SX THOUSAND PICTURES OFFERED ——_+ About the Jury of Award and the Hanging Committee. PRIZES AND MEDALS Special Correspondence of The Evening Star. PARIS, April S, 18¢ HEN YOU SPEAK of “the Paris Salon,” it is alway e old and classical annual exposition of paint- ing and work held in the Palais de I'Industrie of the Champs El- ysees. For this is the enly salon that offers medais and honors and world-wide dis- tinction to its ex- hibitors. Several at Paris artists new and freer and so a number of g . to found a e old salon in which every young ‘ks his first honors. Something 2,000 pictures can be hung each Something more than 6,000 are al- fered. : on opens on May 1, but this great multitude of pictures must all be delivered and ready for the judgment of the jury by | the 20th of March. From that date until | the opening of the exposition to the general public there are many curlous proceedings which go on behind the scenes in prepara- tion for the Salon. It the beginning of March. The pic- tu are finished. The frame maker has taken the ures and only the frame is| a proverb that the frame ialty is to deliver his mer-| the last possible minute. At and the intimate friends of each artist are ited to see his picture before it goes off to the Salon. They are invited to “admire’ not to criticise. Then for a few days you have only to take the air along the avenue of the other art | Champs Elysees to see what is go- ing on. There pass by at every step hand carts, porters a-foot, and great moving wagons, all carrying or @ragging behind them canvases in thelr frames. Some are big enough to cover a wall, others can be car- Tied in the hand. Everything enters at door No. 9, in the end of the great palace, which was built for the first world’s fair which was held in Parts. Each artist, as he deliv- ers his work, gives a written ac- count of himself, of his family and Chris- tian names, his nationality, and the place and date of his birth, the name of the masters under whom he has studied, all the prizes or honorable mentions he has had in previous exhibitions, the size of his Picture, not forgetting its name—for the subject is not always plain from the exe= eution. These details are for the various catalogue: Crowd the pic with each other. You must Selly!” of artists are standing round as aires enter, bandying witticisms ‘Look at this portrait. have painted it with currant Ordeal of the Jury. On the first floor each picture is register- a and then placed safely aside in the al- Phabetical order of the artist's name—so that it can be found when wanted. The 6,000 or 7,000 pictures have next to be ar- fanged for examination by the jury of fsbo which decides whether they are to accepted or refused. The big canvases— and of late years these abound—are set up long the walls, and the members of the jury have to pass before them. For the smaller pictures, the jury can sit at ease in @ tow of chairs, while the employes bring jp Canvas after canvas and place them on easel in front of them. For these and e other many manipulations required be- re the Salon is ready for the public @ighty trained employes serve every year * under the same experienced directors. The Salon is carried on by a society of ch artists, and as such is recogn'zed the government. The jury is made u of forty members of the society, men or women, who are voted for. They choose their own president. This year it is Ge- rome. They are obliged to devote several days to their work. As they go about the different halls, two employes stretch a cord at a proper distance before the picture to be examined. Between the cord and the picture are the three important men who direct its examination—the president and the secretary of the jury and the head of the hanging committee. The picture ig looked at, the members of the jury raise their hands or canes if they think it should be accepted. The president counts the votes aloud. The secretary stamps the picture which is received, and an employe who follows marks on his little catalouge the decision— “admis.” or “refuse.” The little red “R” stenciled on the back of his canvas is the bad dream of many an artist during these done the work before and can understand the slightest direction given. Each wall is considered as one great pan- el, on which the pictures are to be hung harmoniously for the colors, and yet bring- ing ou! properly the No. 1’s marked by the jury. i @ arrangement is made up on the floor. First the principal picture—the my No. 1” of all—is placed in the middl Then the other picturss are placed at the sides and beyond it. When the committee is satisfied, the workmen are left to hang the pictures on the wall as they have been arranged on the floor. When ail has been done for the first time, a final survey of the pictures as they actually hang on the walls is sufficient to remedy any mistake But in general, in this most difficult work, it must be acknowledged that each picture gets about its due. It must also be acknowledged, however, that as each pic- ture has its own individual color scheme, which Is different from that of every other, the massing of pictures in this way natur- ally detracts a ttle from the merits of each, and the colors of one will be found “swearing” at all the others. This Is inev- itable in all picture galleries, and the work of hanging a great mass of new material is to reduce the swearing to as near a mur- mur as possible. To show the great con- scientiousness of all that goes on in prepar- ing the salon, it should be added that this work of the hanging committee is not final. For every ten nalls that they finish, the jury is called together again, passes through, and gives its final approval. If a remonstrance is made, if it is thought that their judgment of the importance of works has not been properly followed, or if one of their number discovers that some pet of his has been “skied,” remonstrance is made and a vote is taken which gives the final sentence. This can never prevent all dissatisfaction. Painters have been known to violently cut their canvases from their frames after the public had been admit- ted the first day. Varnishing Day. Until the opening of the salon the paint- ers come and so, adding the necessary touches of varnish and paint to thetr works. The last day of all gave its name to what has since become the famons “varnishing day. as the French say, is no longer the varnishing of pic- tures, but the exhibition of varnisaing x many years the s y” of the salon, for some 18 000 people, by favor, and for some 2,000 who have no friends, at a high price. As such it has become known as a_ unique event in Europe, as the arena of spring THE JURY. last days. He sees the callous porter with the child of his fancy strapped to his back, grinning maliciously through the streets of a phantom Paris, with all the world to see the horrid “R,’ and know that nis | great masterpiece has been R—efused. Is the Jury Impartial? Each picture as it is admitted is marked according to the importance assigned it, as 1, 2 or 3. This is a kind of direction given by the jury to the hanging committee for the place to be assigned the picture in the final exhibition. Following the jury are two separate brigades of employes. One is for the pictures which are admitted, the other for the refused. Each picture, as the decision is given, 1s at once seized by the brigade to which it falls, and carried off to be placed in alphabetical order again, where it can be found easily for the next proceed- ing. For the refused, this is that the artist should come and cart away his failure. But even this is not done until the jury, after completing its first choice, jooks over the rejected paintings again. This is called the repechage, or “fishing out,” of what, after all, may be worth exhibiting. In this way some two hundred pictures are saved, though as by fire. It may be asked how far private in- fluence may go to make an indifferent painting acceptable. Undoubtedly, some very ‘“dotty” work gets in each year. In the first place, there are always a certain number of lady artists who manage to squeeze in, while other more meritorious sis- ter painters find themselves among the unavailable 4,000. Some of these lucky daubers are ladies of fashion, who want distinction, and there fs no harm in letting them in. They will not injure the pi ture trade. Apart from this, each member of the jury and each important artist who has relations with the jury, can by courtesy give an ap- proving nod in favor of one or two of his pets. It would be rather hard that a meritorious student of Ge- rome, Benj. Constant, Bou- guereau or the others should be kept out. This is quite un- derstood among young paint- ers, who are careful to have “Skied.” their masters visit their studios before their vork goes off. In a way this is “influ- but, except in the case of very in- fluential ladies, the picture must have mer- its of its own. Sometimes even senators and deputies do not hestitate to make in- tereession with members of the jury for the work of some protege. Sometimes the discussion of the admissibility of a paint- ing relates to the “school of art’ to which it belongs. But of late years, under the influence of competition from the rival Salon of the Champ de Mars, the old salon has opened fts doors wider and wider even to the most violent impressionism. But in any case, the accevtance or refusal of a painting by the jury of the salon should not taken as a final judgment o; ‘tts merits. A great many pictures which have been “in the salon” are not of astounding merit. Pleasing Artists and the Public. Now that the work of the jury is done, the much more elaborate operation of hang- ing the pictures properly has to be accom- plished. For many years this delicate work really depended on a single man, the fa- mous Pretet, who more than any one be- who, if not artists, ‘y rooms by itself. The; fore or since succeeded jn pleasing bo’ tists and public. The fae Sonali, are en! of art, are three in number. one of the thirty an ore | a Cahty workmen, divided lato Seven detach: meats, each headed by a brigadier who has styles and the most notable gathering of all sorts and conditions of fashionable peo- ple. It wouid be ridiculous for an artist to attcmpt to varnish his picture in such a crowd; but the” name remains. Of late years, however there has been danger that even this day should lose its brilhaney; for there is a tendency for more people to ecme to see fine toilets than to be seen in them. The New York dressmakers and mill are always strongly represented on the occasion, but they are cften cheated. The greater part of the free tickets to the Salon ard for varnishing day are given out by the artists who exhibit their work. Each has a small number at his disposal. The remainder are drawn from the groan- ing secretary; wao liscovers eath year that there are many more journalists than there are newspapers. ‘The amiable M. Vigneron said to me last year that there were two hundred and fifty American ladie in Paris engaged in supplying the Americun newspapers with Salon articles. With the opening of the Salon, the work of the jury is not yet o In fact, that for which the public looks with the great- est Interest has but just begun. i the awarding of madals a: honors, which will accredit the successful artist through- out the world for tho remainder of his career. The lowest of these awards is the “honorable mention,” made of a paint- ing or oth art work. Then there ts a number of “third-class medals” to he tributed, amounting to about thirty the paintings. There are ten “second-class medals,” and the artist who wins one of these has henceforth the proud distinction of being “hors corcour: that is, he can no longer compete fcr any other than the highest honors, and he has a right to hang his pictures each succeeding year without the jury’s decision being required fer ad- mission, The Crowning Honor. There are three ‘medals of the first clas: to be awarded. The jury votes separately on all these awards, by secret ballot, an absolute majority being required. After all this comes the crowning honor which the French Salon can give. This 1s the ‘medal of honor.” It is not voted every year, and is never given to any one but a French artist who has received other honors and distinguished himself for many years. It is rot conferred by the jury, but by a major- ity vote of all the French artists who have ever received any prize, or even an honor- able mention at the annual Salon. The friends of Benj. Constant are wonder- ing whether he will at last receive this crowning reward, He has been voted for thirteen different times, and has often be within a hair’s breadth of carrying it off but it has always somehow escaped him. Last year it was given to an old painter of fifty years’ standing, rather because of the | peg excelience of his past work than ‘or the actual painting exhibited. This was Hebert. But the previous year it went to Roybet, simply on the force of merit shown by his picture. He was neither in the good greces of the Salon, nor had he been exhib- iting in it for more than twenty years. Even 0, it is said that an immense amount of log-rolling goes on in connection with these coveted rewards. When the Salon is over, with the ist of July, carts and porters draw up to door No. 9 ‘ain, and the proudest avenue of the earth is filled with a clattering caravan of pictures returning home to their makers or on their way to their purchasers. Some- times a poor painter's picture is attached by law; and then it remains safely disposed in a hall for the purpose until the law or- dains its sale for the benefit of creditors. Pictures purchased during the Salon must remain until the close. Altogether, this most beautiful and frequented part of Paris has been occupied with exhibition of paintings for more in_ three months of he brightest season of the year. For art is all-important in Paris. STERLING HEILIG, Increase of Poverty. From the New York Weekly. ‘Mistress—That young man who called to see you last night, Jane, stayed very late.” ine—‘It was me brother, mum. jut, Jane, I have noticed thir! different men in your company within the last tWo years, and each one, you said, was your brother.’ Poor folks allers have large “seven “Yes, mum. families, mum. ‘The nightmare must go; it’s the night wheel now.-Sthuth, < ARMY OFFICERS’ PAY Helped Out ‘hy the Commissary and Comthitation System. NAVY OFFICERS No? EQUALLY FAVORED Many of ig Necessaries of Life . Sypplied ‘at Cost. A STORE IN THIS CITY FFICERS OF THE army enjoy many perquisites that are not provided by the government for naval officers or the em- ployes of the civil es- tablishment. Chief of their advantages over the civilian em- ploye are commuta- tion of quarters, free medicines and medi- cal attendance, and reduced rates for other necessary living expenses, such as fuel, food and clothing. Naval officers claim that in comparison with their own lot thelr brethren of the army are unduly favored in many respects. They say gener- ally that while their salaries are relatively less, their expenses are greater and their allowances are nil. The salary of a naval officer is at its maximum when he is at sea. When on shore duty at reduced pay e is allowed something for living expenses, provided he is attached to a navy yard or a naval station. In hat case he is given quarters to live in which are furnished with carpets, a bed and a few chairs and nothing more. He thus saves the item of rent, but nothing else, inasmuch as he is compelled to defray all other living ex- penses, such as food, fuel and lights, out of his own pocket. Unlike his brother officer of the army, he has to pay the full market rates for’ all these necessaries. There is no comm! ry system in the navy. It sometimes happens, however, that when a aum:ber cf naval offi cers are on duty at the same station they are able to economize in their hou hold expenses by forming a poo! for th purchase of staple articles in jarge quanti- Ues at wholesale rates. But this is the ¢ ception, for as a rule their style of life and moderate incomes will not justify the lump purchase of coxl sufficient for the winter months. Consequently they sre not or narily able to take prompt advantage of a favorable state of the market in that most necessary and expensive artich The same is true of flour and all other articles that enter largely Into household use. Naval officers say that they are fortunate when thelr living quarters are provided with electric tights. Otherwise they have gas bills to méet just the same as the or- dinary Civilian householder. Very few of the officers on duty in this city are sta- tioned at the-uavy yard, so that very few of them enjdy the blessings of a home at government -expense. Unlike his brother of the army, the naval officer on shore has no commutation of quarters, he hasmo allowance of forage for horses, and he has to pay the full market rate for everything he buys, with the pos- sible exception df the cloth for his uniform, which is possibly the only thing he gets at cost price. ye Compared With the Army. An admira} in the navy has the relative rank of a major general in the army. The former gets. sglary, of $6,000 a year while at sea and a,salary of $5,000 while on shore duty, whereas his military colleague gets an unvary ing salary,gf $7,500 a year. While at sea the admiral ‘has a ration allowance of 20 cents a ddy,’but when on shore duty, no matter what tts character, he has no al- lowance for:rations or-anything else, except it be in the:matter of,quarters in case he is cn duty at a naval station, In that event he has no rent to pay, but otherwise he ts tly the same footing as every other izen of this “great and glorious repub- "in that he has to pay for everything he gets. On the other hand, a major general, in addition to his salary, is allowed $125 a month commutation of quarters, provided he does not live at a military post; he also provided with forage for two hors: in case he has them, and he also has the privilege of purchasing all the fuel and provisions he needs for his family from the government at cost prices. It 1s also asserted that the naval officer at sea is put to greater expense in the mat- ter of entertaining than is his colleague in the military branch of the service. The same condition of things as to salary and ullowances prevails through all the various grades of the army and navy, and the members of the latter branch of the mili- tary service feel that they have been badly discriminated against by the law-making department of the government. In the matter of allowances army offi- cers stationed in Washington have no ad- vantage over their associates in any other portion of the United States, no matter how remote or unattractive their station may be. They are all governed me system and have equal advantag far as allowances and privileges are con- cerned. Under the existing system of fur- nishing quartermaster stores and commis- sary supplies, the officers stationed at Fort Duchesne, for instance, are on an equalit so far as expense is concerned, with the officers stationed in Washington, New York, Chicago, or any other populous cen- ter. The government buys its supplies for the army by contract, and sells them to the officers at the cost price. They cost an officer at Washington just as much as they” cst an officer at one of the frontier posts, for the reason that the government bears all the expense of delivery. The system employed is unquestionably of great financial benefit to the officer, for the revson that he gets all the necessaries of life at a price much less than he uld oth- erwise have topay. For instance, this year he can get all the ccal he needs for his personal comfort at the rate of $% a ton, whereas his civilian neighbors have to pay nearly twice as much. The same ratio pre- vails with*flour and all the staple com- modities of life. Supply Depots. The War Department has supply depots in all parts of the country wherever the military is stationed. The principal depots are in New York, Boston, Chicago, St. Louis, Omaha, Galveston, Detroit, Denver, Los Angeles, Portland and San Francisco. They are maintained for the purpose of furnishing supplies to the officers and en- listed men in the different military depart- ments. There is a grocery store at every post, and subsistence supplies are issued to the enlisted men, free, and to the offi- cers at cost prfce. The articles furnished are like those $f any grocery or commis- luding flour, tea, coffee, S$ SO beans, mol: , Sugar, lard, matches, canned gogis, ¢igars, tobacco, etc. Fresh meats are ¢imifarly supplied at wholesale rates. The suppiy depot for the officers in this vicinity is nowgocated at the Washington barracks, ferm@ly known as the arsenal. It is in chgrgqfof Lieut. Ira A. Haynes, fourth arti! ;,regimental quartermaster, acting under orders of the post com. mander, who inyturn is directly responsible to the depart: it commander, Maj. Gen. Ruger, at New#fork. This depot has only been in opgratifn about a year. Prior to its establishmy gounting from the close of the war, alf the commissary supplies for this region of country were issued from @ large depot in the Monument Grounds, just back of the bureau of engraving and printing. The historic structures forming this depot, so well known to the older resi- dents of the city, gave way to the march of improvements over a year ago, and are now almost forgotten. The present depot at the Washington barracks 1s arranged to meet the demands of all the officers in this vicinity, including those at the bar- racks and at Fort Myer, as well as all re- tired officers who have chosen the District as their place of residence. Deliveries are made only on Saturdays, and all orders for the current week must be in by Friday. Notwithstaniirg the advantages of the system it is said that rot more than one- half the officers here make any use of it, erparently preferring to Buy their sup- by the | plies in the open market, when and where It best suits their convenience. Commutation of quarters at the rate of $12 per room is allowed officers of the army under existing laws at the following rate: Lieutenant, two rooms; captain, three Tocms; major, four rooms; Heutenant cole- nel, four rocms; colonel, five rooms; brig- adier general, five rooms. All field officers are allovred forage for two horses, provided they have them, and all cavalry officers are allowed $20 a mcnth for care of their horse, whether they have one or not. A field Officer iz any officer of the army above the grade of captain, regardless of whether he belongs to the line or staff. Cavalry officers have to buy their horses, but the enlisted men in that branch of the service get theirs from the government. Officers of the marine corps have the fame kind of allowances as officers of the army, but, like the navy, they have none of the advantages of the commissary sys- tem of supplies. In the “good old days” all the men in the navy, officers and men alike, were allowed @ spirit ration at the rate of five cents a day, in eddition to a food ration of 25 cents a day. Soon after the civil war the spirit ration, or daily “grog,” was abolished tn the navy, and a per diem food ration of 30 cents a day was substituted. Enlisted men are allowed this ration whether afloat or ashore, but officers get it only when they are engaged in active sea service. It forr ro part of the emo! ent of officers shore, regardless of whether they are on duty or not. RESTAURANT $§ RETS. Parisians Use Artificial Hambones and Stagnped Cockscombs. From te London Globe. We often hear people who have paid twenty-five minute visits to Paris talk of the beauties of Parisian cuisine. Here are a few of them. Just as the Parislans, like the cockney coffee house keepers,have found out how to make coffee without coff so have also the Parisian restaurateu found out how to make bouillon, or beef tea, without beef. At the gargotes, the lcwest class of Paris restaurants, a tes of very ingenious fraud has now been eom- n.on for over half a century and may! nore, It consists in passing off warm w ter, colored and flavored with burned onions and caremel, and into which some little grease bubbles haye been injected, as soup. It 4s true that bones which have been twice stewed, first by the larger restaurants and secondiy by the inferior class of trait- eurs, and cast away as done with, are stewed in this water for the third time, in order that it may be impregnated, if sible, with some particle of animal sub- stance; but as this operation fails to im- Fart to it those littie greasy bubk whieh the French term 5 shrewd freguenters of these estabii invariably look, in order to satisfy them- selves that the broth they drink has been actually made frcm meat, a clever cook got over the difficulty by of } or soup ture:n, f epicures of a certain type. fourd to ans rfectiy ploye aux bouillon, and for which the 2ments em- livid- that an are inordinate in fact, almom as many a in Paris as could be fui nished by all the pigs killed throughout the whole of France, even allowing for both shoulder and leg being cured in ac- ecrdance with French practic mand used—and may be no plied In this wise. The dealers hams bought up the old hembones at a couple of sous apiece, and ingeniously in- serted them Into pieces of pickled pork, which they trimmed ito shape, and ¢ ed with grated bread crusts. In this many bones did duty hundreds of over, lasting, in fact, for years. They would leave the dealers in the morning and frequently return to them the same night, to quit them again the following day. Nev- ertheless, the supply could hardly keep pace with the den: Only fancy the in- convenience of having to walt for your ham until your neighbor's servant took back the hambone which the charcutier relied upon receiving yesterday! It was to obviate such a state of things that an in- genious individual corceived the idea of manufacturing hambones wholesale, and ere long he drove a thriving trade a sous a dozen; since which time th of hams has augmented, and the a has become less difficult of attain Much in the same way, another ingenious individual, knowing the immense consump- Yon of cockscombs in Paris for razouts, coquilles of cockscombs and vol-al 5 and seeing the high prices the said cocks: combs commanded, owing to the limited supply, set to work to minister to the de- mand, and duly estabiished himsalf as a manufacturer of cockscombs. So extensi was the trade done by him that he f. it ary to set up a smail steam He was a t enthusiast, and v accustomed to pride himself upon the a cockseombs which emanated from his atelier being greatly superior to the natural article. This fs the way our artist went to work. As the samo method is largely worked at this day in London as well as in F aye, and in New York and New Oricans we purposely use the present tense for time, He takes the palate of a builo: calf, sheep or goat—either will d though he pref After having blanched it in boiling water, he macerate it, and detaches the flesh ‘of the palat aters of han ms are eat nd en- vault without in the sligitesr degree de- ranging it, and then places it under a stamping machine, which punches ov cockscombs more pecfect in shape t those produced by nature, yet sufficient! sempling them to deceive the connoi: seurs. Still, there is a way of detecting the artificial production—the cockscombs of clumsy nature have pxpil!ae on both sides, whereas those of art have them onl: ene. Counterfeit cockscombs low as four sous the dozen poulter> keepers of r Paris to aurants, a ig cooks, etc., and at six sous to cooks in pri- vate families. Apropos of our subject, this man in his intercourse with poulterers, got to Jearn that when th. did not sell their turkeys off at once, they were obliged to lower the price about one-fifth every subsequent day a bird remained on hand, qnd so frequent had to submit to a le aithough the tur- key might present the same appearance of freshness that it did when first killed. And yet no cook could be deceived, and th solely because the bird's legs, which wei black and shiny on the day of its death, a sumed a more and more gray tone as time went on. This was quite sufficient for our man of genius. The shrewd manufac- turer of cockscombs hastened home, and set to work to compound a varnish which should defy the atiacks of time, and ren- der turkey's legs ever fresh and youthful. In a couple of days he returned triumphant to the market, and furnished the best proof of his success by deceiving the dealers themselves. Trials were next made upon the public, and turkeys with varnished legs were pffered to the cunningest cooks, who, ceceived by appearances, made their purchases without demanding the custom- ary abatement, and the conservation of the brilliant luster of turkey’s legs became from that time forward a regular trade; which certainly says little for the honesty of the poulterers, less for the judgment of the cooks, and least of all for the as- sumed delicacy of taste of the Parisian gourmets. ———_+-e- ___ > Za = x — fe { dealing ali LIVING RAT TRAPS SSS Big Snakes Make War on the Army of Rodents. THEY STRIKE WITH UNERRING SKILL How They Manage to Swallow Their Prey. OVERCOME BY BAR N GRASS-COV- ered plains and hill- sides in South Africa you frequently come across spots appar- ently thickly inhab- ited by some small | running animal. Lit- tle hs wind about | and cross each other In eve direction, and may well be compared to the streets of a city on account of their Proximity to each cther and their numer- ous crossings. Each path is clearly marked by being almost destitute of herbage. If | you trace them up, you will find that they | all end in holes just large enough to ad- mit a half-grown rat; and if you beat the thicker bunches of gra: will probably see a small rat-like anima! running at a quick litle trot along a pathway to the | burrow. He is a vole, very like a rat or mouse in appearance, but much less nim- ble and much more delicate than eithe: he is larger than a mouse, and considerably smaller than a rat. His fur, too, is much longer and thicker in proportion, being more lie that of the rabbit in its texture Boys, both white and colored, In South Af- rica, consider t njoy them roasted ¥ can catch them. - in each colony, and the colonie humerous that you can’ any direction without the vole has a worse If you approach a c survey all 1 there be a bush there, ¥: the enemy alluded to—a living rat trap | the path; and the very sicht of | , flat head a : cat-like es will make your He is the terrible bodied, bros in in y's. on efully cal runways, particularly if | i will perha to the p: derings set paw upon the He ts beautifully colored, hav work of velvet black, with h: ellow and small specks of k from he ve found and there is no reat numbers of r will a puff-adder be sa As soon as he has s , he looks then lies in wait for another, which he catches just as he did the first. His method of securing them is this. He wanders about till he comes to the colony. His tongue tells him by the touch of its delicate points his prey is in the vicinity. For a he searches busily about. If he es sight of a vole he lies quiet In or by the path. He knows by instinct tht his remaining motionless for a time will arouse the little g ity. The vole, seeing the prebably frightened, and ru but finding that he ts not pursue emerges and looks around for He discovers the reptile ."" thinks the vole, “or asleep, m: and he cautiously ‘approach tigate. Inch by inch he venture , Should he ing into clorer proximity to danger even runs around the snake, who never moves in the slightest. At last the unfor- tunate little quadruped allows its curiosity to master its’ prudence; it ventur too close. The living spring of the snake's neck flies out, and the vole is held strug- ging in Yhe jaws of the reptile, whose venom-distilling fangs are buried in its tender body. He never relaxes his jaws for a single instant. Soon the deadly se- cretion does its work vole passes | stomachward out of sight. The puff-adder | then repeats his tact th like s ull he ts satisfied or becomes thirsty, when he goes off to seek water in the kloops, or | hides under a bush to avoid danger and his s arouse him to Ress, p rats the tactics of the omewhat different. S: ction at Grah Colony, gave me 1 stoon in opportunities of ckserving Un methods rats too large and powerful to be hi and held in the jaws while dying. | One instance will explain their m is | th such animals, | Leaving one of the puff-adders loose my room, I locked the door and prepa to give him a r t of unu nd a table leg, I cautiously > trap and let the rat run e if in a chair to the methods of the puff-adder. If the rat coming to the trap no sign of it whatever, but as if he were dead. The e the s until he app: ner, Which he did with th gait peculiar to rat sat perfectly still, th hurry, so that he aid not the snake. He got within enemy before he seen then, wi up on a snitting tremblingly ally a snake. size and gave vent to a lp at the same time i with the nose downwa y to strike. The hiss alarmed the ra which jumped past the snake, uttering a squeak of alarm. But the ‘reptile was quicker than the quadruped, and struck kim nicely while still on the jump. The action of the snake so quick that he must be said to have struck the nat rather than to have bitten it. He did not hold it at all, so that it continued its slightly in terrupted journey; but alas! it had the yenom injected into its lungs; and before it reached the place re I sat, it totter- ed over to the other side of the room and lay aown dying, resting on its side behind a pile of books on the floor close by the wall, in such a position that it was com- pletely out of the snake's line of vision. If the puff-adder at first view of the rat had coveted it for a dinner, he certainly was much alarmed in striking it, for his loud blowings filled the room for probably not less than a minute afterward. Finally he ceased these manifestations, and yawned widely, stretching his fangs and jaws to their utmost extent. The rat was by this time lying dead behind the books, so that nothing remained to exclte the snake fur- ther; and he soon set out on a little jour- ney of exploration. Over the rat's path he went for a while; then he left it, going back to his corner. Again and again he Went backward and forward, then extend- ed his search round by the wall until he | asked | phere of the MUNYON'S GENEROUS OFFER To Treat All Chronic Discanes, to Give to the Public the Advice of Speci ists of the Highest Professta 1 Standing, and Graduates of the Best Colleges, Absolutely Free of Charge, Only Charging a Small Fee for His Remedies. Is Being Accepted by Thousands of Washington Citizens—None Should Despair Until They Have Con» a These Special Prof. Munyon's c open dally, 9 to 5 Trursday evenings, 713 14th street northwest, San@ays, 10 to 12; Monday awd 6 to & o'clock, where these of charge on dis- Aplb-w,thics, specialists can be consulted free eases, DONT GET RATTLED. v Things May Happen in Queer art of Boxto: From the New Orleaus Times-Democrat Boston, like Paris, has its Latin quarter, where the mo: interesting things happen There is a semi-Bohemian region in which are located several studio buildings « other artistic or semi-literary headquar- ters, which is a part of the city that is very much alive. On the new land, the buildings all new, it is yet adjacent and adjoining the old part of the city. It is not distant, geographically, from the fash- Jonable residence portion; it is within half dozen blocks of Commonwealth avenu of Beacon street, but while these thorough- res are monotonously qu with the decorous rows of private res es, broken now and then by vies with the p up, this artietic rter abounc in students, who pour out of club rooms or restaurants in great numbers men and women, who perhap studios, make their matutin: nt hotel t yrious fitt a gas stove, and dine at the students’ res- taurant; In lecturers, in the followers and practitioners of occult science and mental healing—in spiritual mediums—what you will. You will, perhaps, be accosted on the sidewalk by a neatly dressed woman, with refined courtesy of n who offers you “Divine Science ‘ored with a you may be end a lect tion From the or be Ps »-Physics u understand e informed of th idt Mohamm to the he ge the mysti tal Circle,” wh: anner, le point course brie listen to and the i rata and of Mortal A daintily b parlor in believed in d “What Is Deat young woman in gion was asked if she ansference Or ar beyond that she aril, the spher ense vi- bration: house where fair m herself “Daughter of the gathers a cire and where at with m dinary diac; th at different tations of tb and other strang which I have not ing. All tt ton. It is ve! an atmosphe: Here congereg: views on imp stitute a legitimate casus bel they wrangh New Eng! foreordinat Why Girl Waite ~ Are Pre From the Caterer, During the course of a conversation the proprietor of a restaurant much frequented by working girls rn 1 employ girl wa ¥ 2 not J should lose half my presert trade. Many girls who now uld not do so if 1 employed men. fs the cause of this. When a young man comes up to take a girl's order she will, no matter how poor she may be, order as m the girls about her. She does not ir any man, even if he is on that she is not as well of But the next trench, and 4 ay she fs not show he: num- w big to m liows wh pre . ng to a larg ber of small « instead of a ones I endeavor to adapt myser patr peculiarities. Y fe pu upon by va please both classe ers. —— Craw fishing. Cincinnatt Enquirer, “What did you mean by sayi I had a face that would stop a clock need not deny saying it.” He—"I know I said it, but I didn’t get t finis! I meant that even a clock woud pause to hold its hands up in admiration When it saw y Tr lov, aoe countenance ure to Come. From the Ind is Journal. “Tot k that there was a fire last and I didn’t get i," m d the conf aid co} ngly, “you'll get the the old man hears about it.” the Gladness Comes Witha better understanding of the transient nature of the many ph: came to the rotionless body of his vic- tim, which he tried on every side with his tongue, to make sure that life was thor- oughly extinct. At last, satisfied on this pcint, he took its head in his mouth and swallowed it down with considerable diffi- culty—for he was occupied in the process for the full space of forty minutes—the rat’ being, as has been mentioned before, more than usually large. The rattlesnake, the copperhead and other deadly snakes of the viper class all catch rats and mice in this manner; and none of them will ever hold an animal which they fear on account of its strength or ical ills, which vanish before proper ef- for' entle efforts—pleasant efforts— rightly directed. There is comfort in the knowledge, that so many forms of sickness are not due to any actual dis- ease, but simply to a constipated condi- tion of the system, which the pleasant family laxative, Syrup of Figs, prompt- ly removes. That is why it is the only remedy with millions of families, and is everywhere esteemed so highly by all who value good health. Its beneficial effects are due to the fatt, that itis the flerceness. Nevertheless, they will all strike it to death, as the puff-adder, and after an interval set out to find its corpse and swallow it at their leisure, if it prove to be every way desirable. ———._—_ An Unsuccessful Plea. From the Amnsing Journal. Jvdge—“Prisoner at the bar, have you anything to say for yourself?” Prisoner—“Yes, m'lud; I admits I'm a vagabond and a thief, but yer oughter be werry thankful I’m here and let me off lightly.” Judége—“How do ycu make that out?” Prisoner—‘Well, suppose we blokes went on a strike and turred honest, what would yer Jludship and sich as you do for a livin’? Judge (scverely)—“Um—five years’ penal mervitude.”+ one remedy which promotes internal cleanliness without debilitating the organs on which it acts. It is therefore allimportant, in order to get its bene- ficial effects, to note when you pur- chase, that you have the genuine arti- ele, which is manufactured by the Cali- fornia Fig Syrup Co. only and sold by all reputable druggists. Ii in the enjoyment of good health, and the system is regular, laxatives or other remedies are then not needed. If afflicted with any actual disease, one may be commended to the most skillful pl cians, but if in need of a laxative, one should have the best, and with the well-informed everywhere, Syrup of Figs stands highest and is most largely used and gives most general satisfaction,