Evening Star Newspaper, May 9, 1896, Page 20

20 FROM DEATH'S JAWS. An Insurance Man Snatch- ed Therefrom. Made to Feel Like a Man of Thirty- Five—Vigorous Now, in Mind and Body. “Such Wonderful Results Should Be Heralded to the World”—So Says the Restored Gentleman. Massachusetts Mutual Life Insurance Co., 519 Guaranty building, Minneapolis, Minn., Dec. 13, 1895.—Gentlemen: Wil! you accept my thanks for the great benefits received from the use of Dr. Charcot’s Kola Nervine Tublets? At the time of commencing its use last July I could not read Without my glasses the signs on our business Streets; could not retain on my mind a matter of bnsinces suiticlently long to get to the street from my office, and could not call the names of my intiwate friends, and woukl frequently get lost in pérts of the city where I had been a daily visitor for the past seven years. I attributed my cond!- tion to advanced age. Thanks to Kola Nervine Tablets, however, although fifty-six years of age, I am satisfied that I am today in as good condition, in every respect, as I was at thirty-flve. Any- thing that will accomplish such wonderful results as this should be heralded to the world. I might add for the benefit of the public, that this test!- menial is given without any solicitation on your part whacever. Yours truly, “W. 5. SW Mr. Swett ts one of the best known insurance men in the northwest—in fact, throughout the country. His case is not singular. Thousands similarly afflicted been similarly cured by the wonderful Dr. Charcot’s Kola Nervine Tablets. Fifty cents and $1.00 at druggists or it direct. Bee Dr. on label. WRITE FOR AND TESTIMONIALS. mical & Mfg. Co., La Crosse, Wis., end Boston, Mass. —— THE CHI cSE EMPEROR. The First Formal Reception of the Diplomatic Corps. From the Chicago Record. After the present emperor ascended the throne of China his government yielded the point and agreed to receive the diplo- matic corps in the same manner that they are received by the sovereigns of Europe. The first ceremony of this kind, which took Place on March 5, 1891, was an event in Chinese history. The members of the sev- eral legations arrived at Fu Hua, or East Flower gate of the forbidden city, at 10 o'clock on that morning in sedan chairs, each escorted by two mounted officers of the imperial guards. They were there met by the members of the Tsung li Yamen, who conducted them to the Shih Yung Kung, the temple of the great river god, when they were offered tea and sweat- meats. An hour later they were escorted to the Tsu Kuang Ko, or reception hall, a handsome building ‘profusely decorated with gilded coverings and ornamented with ¥ colo The hall is approached by eight marble steps, which lead to a broad terrace. Around terrace is a balustrade, supported rs of marble, pure white and bea engraved. The emperor yout the same time in his chair, which was covered o yellow silk, the official on top being gold instead of silver, nds of the bearing poles being ed with gilded nlomatic corps, foreign office, the sides of steps them- g crowded with ce, and civil rs whose rank did not er the presence of the h member of the diplomatic corps was given a separate audience by emperor, who w ated upon a mar- throne. As they crossed the threshold bowed, advanced three or four paces and bowed again, then advanced to a point between the two dragon pillars, where a third stop and bow were made. There a foreign carpet covered the floor of the platform, which was about three feet high. Three flights of steps led to the plat- form, one in the middle and one at each end. The amba: adors and ministers stopped about twelve feet from the emperor, where they made their speeches, which were translated by an interpreter into Chinese. They then advanced and handed letters of ¢redence to Prince Ching, who had been standing on the left of the emperor. Tak- ing the papers, he ascended the steps, proached the table in front of the emperor and laid them upon it, not kneeling until he had deposited them. The emperor re- plied to the speeches in the Manchu dia- lect after the diplomatists had returned to their places by the dragon pillars, his remarks being t i into Chinese by Prince Ch e by sentence. The exit from t made by walk- ing backward, w at three places. MEXICAN CIGAR WRAPPERS. Use in This Country Not Yet Increased y the Cuban Revolution. New York Sun. e is a growing idea among smokers owing to the troubles in Cuba, there a scarcity of Cuban leaf tobacco, h will soon affect both the quality and of domestic clear Havana cigars, alent that already many Havanas are covered co, and that it cannot Xperts. The best informed ons in the trade deny this rumor, and state that most of the large American firms ugh Cuban tobacco to last them year or more, and that there is little tobacco in Mexico suitable for the s smoker. They say also that can tobacco is detected easily at sight, i while it may be po: in future years to produce a tobacco for wrappers which will compete with the Cuban article, it will be a long time coming, as up to date no quan anda ru of the wita be de per: effort been made by the Mexican grow- ers t er to this market. The Mexican lea thicker and duller in appearance, he rich gloss of the Cuban variety So attractive to American smokers. What 4s still more to the point, it rapidly deterio- rates in appearance after being worked up into cigars. Still another reason is that all the available Mexican wrappers worth any- thing are called for by the Mexican trade, one firm of which is said to be under con- tract with Englishmen for 500,000 cigars every two weeks. Tne government statistics also give an important hint tn this matter. The total rt of filler tobacco from Mexico for was only 48,451 pounds, of a value of B; in 1804, 44,101 pounds, valued at and in 1895, 57,310 pounds, valued at ; While the total amount of wrapper for 1895 was but 13 pounds, valued This country imported from Cuba in 694,891 pounds, valued at $8,940,058; ome 14, valued at e 20,147,000 pounds, . The tetal amount of r tobacco from Inited States tr pounds, value, imported wrapp ing duty into t during 1895 was 2: - 40. These are the facts in the matter, and as soon as Mexican tobacco begins to come in for use on dothestic-made clear Havana cigars its arrival will be shown in the weekly tables of imports published in trade and shipping organs. What is very likeiy is that t umer of Havana cigars will soon have to face a darker tobacco on his cigars than he has been wishing for lately. If You Value Your Hair USE ONLY THE IMPERIAL HAIR REGENERATOR to make Gray Hair its F or Bleached ¥ shade or color de- B do not affect it, does curling or crimp Black. ‘Dark Brown. —Medium Brown. No. 4—Chestnut. ‘0. 5—Light Chest- nut. °. 6—Gold Blonde. ‘oO. 7—Drab or Blonde Gendree. Price $1.50 and $3. ‘Trade Mark, _Samole of your hair colored ree. Imperial Chemical Mfg. Co., Zo2' Firth Ave. Moye Sold in Washington by ED. P. MERTZ, F and 21th sts. my9,16,23430 QUEER SEA FISH Interesting Specimens in the Fish Commission’s Aquaria. THEY CAN DO STRANGE THINGS The Different Methods of Self- Protection. A VALUABLE COLLECTION oe Written for The Evening Star. E ARE ONLY OC- W ‘asionally able to penetrate the reserve which that old salt Neptune throws round the creatures in his domain, and under the most fa- vorable_ circum- stances we can get but a vague notion of the manner in which the affairs of his realm are admin- istered. For several winters, however, the United States fish commission has endeavored to afford an opportunity to see how some of his sub- jects live at home. Although the exhibit is small, owing to the meagerness of the means available for this purpo: yet the visitor or the citizen of the capital who fails to see what there is to see behind the glass of the aquaria down at the cen- tral station is missing one of the most in- teresting sights of the cy. About sixty spectes have been brought from their native sea, lak or river, and live in their confined quarters in as much contentemnt as though they were not prisoners of state. To some of them, how- ever, freedom is something unknown. The trout, salmon, carp and a few others have been prisoners for g2nerations, and the gold fish and paradise fish were brought from the orient, where they have long been bred in captivity. The last mentioned is Swell Fish. a great favorite on unt of its beautiful coloration, its hardiness in the aquarium and its curious habits. During the breed- ing season, as soon the eggs are !aid, the male constructs a nest to protect them as they float upon the surface of the water. He seems to have the instincts of an American builcing coitractor, for his material is of the Nimsiest. He merely goes to the top, gulps in a mouthful of air, then swims below the egs3 and lets It go up in a suc on of tiny bubbles, which spread over the surface and effectually ecnceal the transparent mass of ova, or the wriggling fry when they are hatched. It requires diligence to keep it in repair,but building material is cheap, and his time fs divided between blowing bubbles, capturing in his mouth the wayward members of his family who stray from che precincts of the nest, and driving off the mother fish, who cnly wants the opportunity to become a cannibal. He makes also an occasional raid upon a neighboring nest for the sake of excitement and to increase his family, and then there is apt to be a ‘ight, in which the contestants display a ferocity which is all cut of proportion tv the small amount of damage they are able to inflict. This pug- nacity is a prominent family charateristic, and the paradise fish has a relative which is cultivated in Siam solely on account of the propensity of the males to fight. Matches between these fishes are arranged by the natives, and upon the result are often staked the money, the goods and chattels and even the families of the bel- tors. Peacefully Disposed. In another aquarium are a score or more of fishes, which are more disposed toward peace. though it is a peace based upon a perpetual preparation for defense. ‘They are the swell-fish and the burr-fish, near relatives, and possessing very similar char- acteristics. The sweil-fish has a unique shape and peculiar ways. He Is flat-bot- tomed, as a sailor man would say, with a nearly quadrangular midship section and ides which “tumble home” rapidly as they rise, so that he Is very broad on the bot- tom and very narrow on top, like a fif- teenth-century man-of-war. But his spe- alty is his ability to distend the loose skin on his abdomen with air or water when frightened or Irritated, until he is two or three times his normal bulk and looks lke a base ball with a small fish at- tached for a sort of handle. To permit a sketch to be made of this peculiarity, the gentleman in charge of the aquaria, Capt. Herron, caught one of them with a dipnet— a liberty which is usually suilicient to cause very prompt and excessive disten- sion—but they have been subjected to such a variety of indignities since they were Toad Fish. rudely hauled out of the Chesapeake bay in a seine that they have grown impertur- bable. This one manifested very little con- cern at being removed from the water, and it required a vigorous prodding ’ and serate Z to rouse his resentinent. He squirmed and wriggled in his captor’s hands, but was obstinate in the matter of displaying his powers, and when at last his patience failed and he did commence to in- flate himseif, drawing in the air with short inspirations and clicking like a pair of castunets, he suddenly thought better of it and collapsed like a punctured toy balloon. Two or three were thus disappointing, but finally one old fellow was caught who ‘vas less disposed to be ‘amiable about it, and he swelled at once with indignation. And his outraged feelings were not readily soothed, for he held his breath long after he was back in the water, and floated around, wrong side up, looking very mad and droll, until at last he forgave and let go, righted himself and joined his companions. ‘This odd faculty is a means of defense. When a large fish captures a swell-fish and his mouthful suddenly enlarges to several times his capacity for swallowing and in- cidentally discloses the possession of some hundreds of tiny spines which were not observable until the swelling began, he is persuaded that he has bitten off more than he can chew and lets his victm go. A Winking Fi The burr-fish has the same peculiar gift of inflation, though developed to a less extent, for the size and prominence of the spires with which he is armed are a good defense by themselves; but the swell- fish has another power, which, for a fish, is almost as fantastic. He can wink. In nearly all fishes the eye is fixedly open, but the swell-fish can pucker the loose skin around his until it is completely shut, and when he settles upon the bottom, bur- rowing into the sand until it is up to his ears, so to speak, he makes a nearer ap- roach to an expression of solid comfort Then you expect of a fish, and you are as astonisiied as though you heard him whis- tle. But he can whistle; and when he ex- hhausts the air through his teeth after a Hermit Crab and Sea Horse. fit of exasperation like tha one in the sketch, he does so. But what !s still more wonderful is his power of rapidly changing is color to the tone of his surroundings. This faculty is possessed by nearly all fishes, and is exercised for the purpose of facilitating concealment from enemies or prey; but, in the case of the swell-fish, it is particularly striking because you can see the change momentarily. When swim- ming abcut his color on the back is a dark olive green, which is rapidly faded out by the suppression of the pigment cells of his skin when he sinks to the bottom, until there is no color about him distinct from that of the sand excepting the brilliant blue and orange of his eyes, which glow like a pair of gems. Flat Fish. But the swell-fish is excelled in the gift of mimicry by his neighbors, the flounders, of which there are a dozen in one tank, ranging from six to eighteen inches in length, so nearly invisible as they lie with a little sand scattered over their backs that nine out of every ten persons who lcok in pass on with the observation that there is nothing there to see. I say “their backs,” as the populace who are not on terms of familiarity with flounders would designate the uppermost surfaces, which are, in reality, their sides. In the outset of its career the flat-fish acknowledges the facts of its anatomy by frankly swimming in an upright position and wearing an eye on each side of its head as other fishes do, but as it grows it gradually assumes an oblique and ultimately a horizontal posi- tion, while the eye on the under side, which would be useless if it remained there, comes round to a position beside its fellow, and the structure of the adjacent parts of the skull is modified in accordance. The mouth, meantime, remains in its original situation, and the effect, from an aesthetic point of view, is disastrous. But the object is util- it The flat-fish is not a combatant, neither is it agile; but when you see it set- tle upon the bottom, deepening or lightening its color to a perfect concordance there- with, and dexterously flirt a little sand over its.form, you will agree that in the art of becoming inconspicuous it is an adept. The Toad Fish. Near by is a specimen which might well crave the faculty of the flounder and put it into effect with good taste. I refer to the toadfish. When engaged upon the task of getting up the designs for her creatures nature must have lald aside all suggestions and sketches for ugliness until she came to the toadfish and lavished them all upon him. He is a flabby, slimy, loose-skinned monster, with a head occupying a full third of his entire length, split by an unsightly gash of a mouth, which takes up all the space possible without endangering the in- tegrity of his skull, which is surmounted by a pair of dull, ‘protruding, closely-set eyes, each trimmed with a fleshy crest which aggravates the stupid malevolence Horse Shoe Crab or King Crab. ef his expression. You look upon the ill- favored visage of the toadfish, and pray that he may have a redeeming quality un- suspected—a gentle disposition, perhaps; but he has it not. He is as bad as he looks. He bites viciously and senselessly, and hangs on with the tenacity of a bull-dog. He comes honestly by his bad qualities. His entire family are notorious for voracity and ugliness, and to it belongs the only truly venomous fish. In this species the spiny rays of the dorsal fins and the spines on the head have sacs of poison at their bases and are channeled to permit its egress. Sting Rays. There are a pair of graceless representa- tives of another grotesque family in the two sting rays, which are bad, too,although about as innocent looking as a couple of buckwheat pancakes, if it were not for the long, slender tails with their vicious, barbed spines, with which they are capable of inflicting most painful lacerations, and are thoroughly hated therefor by the fisher- men. A cousin of these is the electric ray or torpedo, an animated battery capable of administering shocks powerful enough to disable a vigorous man. The spine of the full-grown sting-ray is often used by sav- ages for tipping their arrows, an adaptation which reminds one of the similar use made of the tail of another creature represented in Uncle Sam’s tanks, the horse-shoe crab. This animal is so completely protected by the bony cuirass which covers all except the two soulless gray eyes set away up on top like the fad windows you often seen on the roofs of modern houses, that no por- tion of his “movement” is visible unless he is turned bottom side up, a situation so of- fensive to his innate sense of modesty that he immediately extricates himself from it by using his sharp spike of a tail as a lever. But the tail which flops him so readily out of one difficulty often gets him into an- other, for it is coveted by the natives of the East India Islands for pointing their ar- rows and spears, a purpose to which it is well adapted by {ts sharpness and strength, Stranger Than Fishes, But the curious things in the fish com- mission building are too numerous to name. There are creatures of low organization, which are of stranger interest than even the fishes, especially to visitors reared be- yond the smell of salt water, to whom these aquaria are often a revelation. There are beautiful, blossom-like sea anemones and crustacea of half a dozen varieties; lob- sters, lady crabs, spider crabs, belligerent blue crabs and quaint little hermit crabs, carrying about their unwieldy shells, once the homes of forgotten mollusks, but now pre-empted by these combative little un- fortunates whom nature has not provided with a protection of their own. Then there are the star fish—calied fish with less pro- priety than a duck would be, for they are in a different subkingdom from that in which the fishes belong—but strange, grace- ful creatures, harmless and innocent-look- ing, though voracious and terrible enemies of the oyster. You wonder, in looking at the frail-appearing animal, by what pos- sibility it can overcome the exclusive dis- Position of a creature so well secured EVENING STAR, 8A’ against intrusion es the oyster. With the star fich it is a matter of siege. It attacks the bivalve by closing;tightly over it with its five “fingers,” and patiently waits until the victim must open tg shell, when it in- stantly injects a red, pojgonous fluid, which kills. By there means the star fishes wreak greater havoc on thejoyster beds of our coasts than all other jdestructive agencies combined, and the question of protection acatnat thelr ravages is one of national importance. This exhibit is but: the nucleus of one which the fish commission hopes to pre- sent to the public in form commensurate with its interest and popularity. Both have been demonstrated, aswell as its value to science, and its possibilities have been shown by the success) of the splendid aquarial display at the world’s fair and later at Atlanta. £ c. B. H. —__-_— A MODERN JONAH. A French Scientist’) Comment on the Story of an English Sailor. The Journal des Debats of Paris has be- ccme convinced that the experience of the prophet Jonah in the belly of a whale has been duplicated by an adventure that re- cently befell Jas. Bartley, an English sea- | man, one of the crew of the whaler Star of the East. M. Henri de Parville, the scientific editor of the Journal des Debats, is a man who is accustomed to weighing evidence with painstaking care and of reaching conclusions only when they have been approached with the utmost conserv- atism. Says M. de Parville: “I have already had cause to remark in these columns that gigantic stomachs over two meters in di- ameter have been found in whales of thir- teen meters in length, The whale belong- ing to the Prince of Monaco, which died the other day, was found to have in its intes- tines many hundred kilogrammes of fishes in various stages of decomposition. Even Goliath in his time could not have weighed more than that, to say nothing of Jonah.” The scientific editor of the Journal des Debats, having carefully considered the de- tails of the following story, remarks that the accounts given “by the captain and the crew of the English whaler are worthy of belief. There are many cases reported where whales in the fury of their dying agony have swallowed human beings, but this is the first modern case where the tim has come forth safe and sound.” * * * “After this modern illustration, I end by believing that Jonah really did come out from the belly of the whale alive.”” The story, which has received the sup- port of one of the most careful and pains- taking scientists in Europe, is as follows: On the 25th of August, 1895, the man in the “crow’s nest” at the masthead of the Star of the East sighted two enormous sperm whales. The steamer immediately gave chase and soon came within half a mile of one of them, a huge male. Two boats, fully equipped in the usual way, were lowered and rowed toward the ani- mal. James Bartley’s boat was the nearer, and from its bow was fired a bomb lance, which struck the whale in a vital part. ‘The sailors backed water with all their might, but were not quick enough, for the monster in the agony ot the “flurry,” seized the boat in his jaws, smashing it lke kindling wood. The sailors leaped into the water in all directions. James Bartley, who had been steering the boat, was thrown up with the stern, which for the moment was almost perpendicular. His comrades in the cther boat saw him leap, but, unfortunately, on the instant the whale threw himself for- ward, and the luckless seaman, in falling, struck within the ponderous jaws, which immediately closed over him. The men in the water were picked up by the other boat, and the whale was in due ume killed and brougnt alongside the steamer, and work was begun removing the blubber. A day and a night were con- sumed in the operation, Finally they open- ed the stomach. There, to their great as- tonishment, they found Bartley peacefully reclining, as in a bath tub. He was un- conscious, but still Hving. He had been in as whale’s stomach for nearly thirty-six nour: ‘They hauled him out, laid him upon the deck, and began to rub his limbs, which were purple and besmeared with the blood of his late host. They give him brandy to drink, and at length he recovered con- sciousness, but his reason was gone. For three weeks he remained in this condition, raving about the deck and calling upon heaven to save him from the horrible fur- nace in which he imagined himseif being consumed. After a while all hallucinations wore away and he had lucid intervals, and then his recovery became permanent. 'Nat- urally, the first question that his comrades asked him were what had been his emo- tions and impressions while in the stomach of the whale. = “I remember’ very well,” he said, “from the moment that I jumped from the boat and felt my feet strike some soft sub- stance. I looked up and saw a big rib- bed canopy of light pink and white de- scending over me, and the next moment I felt _ myself drawn downward, feet first, and realized that I was being swallowed by a whale. I was drawn lower and lower; a wall of soft flesh surrounded me and hem- med me in on every side, yet the pressure was not painful and the flesh easily gave way like soft India rubber before my slightest movement. “Suddenly I found myself in a sack much larger than my body, but completely dark. I felt about me, and my hand came in con- tact with several fishes, some of which seemed to still be alive, for they squirmed in my fingers and slipped back to my feet. Soon I felt a great pain in my head, and my breathing became more difficult; at the same time I felt a terible heat; it seemed to consuine me, growing hotter and hotter; my eyes became coals of fire in my head, and I believed every moment that I was going to be broiled alive. “The horrible thought that I was going to perish in the belly of a whale tormented me beyond endurance, while, at the same time the awful silence of the terrible prison weighed me down. I tried to rise, to move my arms and legs, to cry out. All action was now impossible, but my brain seemed abnormally clear, and with a full com- prehension of my awful fate, I finally lest consciousness."” The truth of this extraordinary adven- ture is vouched for by the sailors and the captain of the Star of the East. It appears that James Bartley is a man about thirty- five years of age, of strong physique and wonderful powers of endurance, as have been attested by many incidents in the voyage just ended. Since the steamer has been in Liverpool Bartley has, on two or three occasions, suffered from the old hal- lucination and has imagined he was being consumed by a fiery furnace. It became necessary to send him to a hospital in Lon- don. His general health seems gool, but his skin still retains a peculiar bluish tine, which seems indelible, and which was doubtless caused by the action of the gastric juice of the whale’s stomach. Not Bad for a Girl. From the Chicago Chronicle. They were girl friends and of course said the sweet’ things to each other that girls are noted for saying. The taller and also the older of the two was paying an after- noon visit at the house of the younger girl, and they had spent a couple of hours in delicious discussion of all the shortcomings and failings of the other members of their set. B When the time arrived: for the visitor to take her departure she went to the mirror te arrange her veil. She straightened her hat, smoothed her hair into Place and then sighed. Still looking at Herself in the glass she said to her dearest friend and hostess: “I have a frightful headache today, and am as nervous as a witch, It always makes me look so old to have th® headaches. You have them often, don't you?” The othér girl indignantly denied that whe ever had one in her life. = His Chotce. From Life, Landlady—“What part of the turkey will you have, Mr. Newboarder?” “A little of the outside, please.” —-—-—se0-— “Excuse me, sir, but your bridle has slip- ped.”—Life. IN A DUTCH WINDOW Looking Out Upon the Busy Life of Holland. PERPETUAL WINDOW WASHERS Interesting Customs of the People of Amsterdam. WHERE ALL BOYS SMOKE Written for The Evening Star. N LOOKING OUT upon the busy life of Holland, one does not look “through a glass darkly.” If so, it is not because the window glass are not clean. The fondness of the Dutch for win- dow-washing is in- nate and of ancient origin. Guicciardini, who . gave to the world, in 1567, his uM graphic description of the low countries and their people, said the pleasure ot walking along the streets of a Netherland city is marred by the danger one continually runs of being sprinkled by the pumps with which the servant girls wash the windows. But that was in the good old times of long ago. Now the servant girls do not wash windows, at least not in Amsterdam. Here the win- dows are attended to by a company, andi, in fact, there are so many window-washing companies that they now add to their signs and business cards the date of or- ganization. Perpetual Window Washing. When I first saw these carts loaded with ladders of various lengths and pushed by men dressed in white, I thought they were house painters who had forgotten their brushes. But in a few days I saw one cf these ladders deftly hoisted in front of my window and before the thought of fire and rescue formed itself In my mind, a white- ccated man was washing my window. He did it well and quickly. Quickly, of course, for the company received only two (Dutch) cents for that wash, and of that amount the workman has only a share. For th reason, and because of the lively comp: tion, the carts of the ‘“Glasenwaschery’ companies flit rapidly from place to plac A householder subscribes for the servites of these window washers, securing a visit once a month, or more frequently, if he desires, and pays two cents a window, large or small, first story or fifth. My window is not only clean, but it is provided with “spies,” as the outside mi. rors are called. My battery of spies en- ables me to see at a glance whit is trans- piring up the street and down the street, as well as who is at the door, by merely sit ing in front of the window. Front Window Views. The second house on the right side is a public school building, one part of which is the district police station, and now and then an image is caught in the mirror of some malefactor brought to judgment attended. by the usual crowd of curious idlers. It is a veritable judgment The inspector at once has a preliminary hear- ing, a sort of grarmi jury trial, and di misses the prisoner, imposes the fine or, if the charge be serious and well founded, re- mands him for trial. If dismissed the would-be offender marches proudly out, a hero in fact, one whose innocence is fully established by an inability to prove guilt. This established innocence has a practical value, for a man once when seeking em- ploymen’ gave as a proof of his honesty the be ed statement that he had been “thrice urrested for stealing and was ac- quitted every time.” However, should the culprit be found guilty of some minor misdemeanor, a slight imprisonment is imposed. While great rigor is observed in seeing that the full time is spent in prison the days of serving the sentence are optional, provided the offender is a man of property or can fur- nish security. He may spend his Sunda: in prison, holidays or rainy dseys, and re- ceives credit therefor on “his time.” A friend of mine declares that his father, who is a business man, keeps an open a count with the prison and carries a pass- bock in which entries are made. And still he is not a wicked man. His drivers, in delivering purchases, do not always observe the signs which are posted at the beginning of some of the streets: “It is forbidden to drive in here,” and hence if caught violating this order they are ar- rested and the tine placed to the debit of the employer. a In passing, it might be said that this forbidding notic2 does not signify, as some writers on Holland bave asserted, that the leaning houses threatening to fail make the street dangerous, it simply means that the traffic is so great that vehicles cannot easily pass, and hence to avoid blockades all teams must go in the same direction. Postal Idiosyncrasies, Opposite my window Is a letter box—a two-storied one—the lower being for par- cels, while the upper part is the receptacle for letters. It 1s just around the corner. All letter boxes seem to be in nooks and corners, affording a conventent blind, be- hind which the servant girls read in safety the postal cards they were given to mail. Postal cards are in great demand in Hol- lend. A mistake in addressing one is not expensive, for an uncanceled postal card 1s redeemed for thevalue of the paper, while a spoiled envelope is hopelessly lost. There is nothing which so strikes terror into a Hollander’s heart as loss—except lost time, and with the hope of gain he will verture much. He, sometimes a she, will secure the permit and peddle postage stamps, call at business houses at regular intervals and supply their demands for a commission of one-half of 1 per cent; he will stand at street corners and transfer stations and scll street-car tickets at the usual rates, receiving as his profits the difference between wholesale and retail prices. The car lines rather encourage this business. The hawker frequently suggests a ride and travel has been greatly in- creased through their efforts. Steady Dutch Smokers. It would be difficult to enumerate the things which a Dutchman will do for money. All of the recognized vocations and trades, every_possible variety of trade and every imaginable differentiation thereof. It would be far easier to specify what he would not do. They are: Change his re- ligion, cheat and give up smoking. To stop smoking would be to cease being a Dutch- man. He smokes at all times and in all places—no, not quite all, never in church, although one writer at least has said so; not in the marriage hall of the municipal building. I have been trying to find out at what age boys begin to smoke. It {is one of the things which has attracted attention here since the genial Thackeray sketched the three small, plump Dutch boys smoking their big cigar on the little Dutch steamer. They all smoke cigars. The artists in the future, in depicting Dutch life, must omit the traditional pipe’ and substitute in its place the more prosaio cigar. But when do the boys begin? Nothing but death stops them. I have seen a father and his fam- ily of boys enjoy their smoke together, a youth in knickerbockers handling his cigar like a practical smoker, and boys on their way to the primary school doing full justice to a good-sized cigar. But when do the boys begin? Perhaps it is with them as the lifting-the-dress is with the misses—it comes natural—and it is as difficult to point to the exact time as It is to specify when spring begins. The streets of the cities of Holland are usually wet. When it fs not raining the street cleaners are earning their salaries, in part, by sprinkling them. Thus it is necessary for the ladies to lift their skirts in crossing, fa as it is hard to tell just when the girl becomes a lady the former gives herself the benefit of all doubt and begins in time. The girl just in her teens clutches at her ress as soon as she feels the first rain rops, or crosses a street, and the little tot whose dress barely comes to her knees tries to save her flounces. I have watched carefully, and so far I have not seen a girl—old enough to leave the perambu- TURDAY, MAY 9, 1896-TWENTY-FOUR PAGES. . a ; lator—too small not to imagine that her rts might be soiled wet. To pull tee sure asiit. conan fe cone Be comes instinctively. it is with the boy's smoking. OPERATIC REALISM. ws Application of Grand Opcra Methods to Tyler paid $7 for two opera tickets. Although he slept through one duet he felt fully repaid for going, because Mrs. Tyler raved over the opera and wasted her superlatives on it. ‘The music was “heavenly,” the prima douna “superb” and the tenor “magnifi- cent.” There is nothing so irritates a real en- thusiasm as the presence of calm scorn. “Don’t you like it?” asked Mrs. Tyler as she settled buck efter the eighth recall of the motherly weman who had been singing the part of a sixteen-year-old maiden. “Os, yes, it’s all right,”’ replied Mr. Tyler, as if he were conceding something. “All rignt! Oh, you iceberg! If don't believe you'd become enthusiastic over anything in the world.” “I like the music, my dear, but grand opera drags so. Then the situations are 80 preposterous they always appeal to my sense of humor. I can't help it. When I see Romeo and Juliet dic, both singing away as if they enjoyed it, I have to laugh.” “The idea!” “You take it in this last act. Those two fellows came out with the soldiers and announced that they were conspiring and didn't want to be heard by the people in the house, and then they shouted in chorus until they have been heard two - miles away.” “Oh, you are prejudiced.’” “Not at all. I'll tell you, a grand opera's the funniest kind of a show if you only take the right view of i Thus they argued, and even after they arrived home she taunted him and told him he could not appreciate the dignity of the situation. It was this nagging which induced Mr. Tyier to write an act ef grand opera. He chese for his subject an alarm of fire in a apartment house. He wanted some- thing modern and up to date, but in his inethod of treatment he resolved to follow 1everently all the traditions of grand opera. The one act, hitherto unpublished, and written solely for the benefit of Mrs. Tyler, is here appended ACT I. Scene—The apirtments of Mr. and Mrs. Tyler. Mr. Tyler is discovered reading a newspaper. nter Mrs. Tyler, who ad- vances to the center of the room. Mrs, ‘Tyler—I think I smell smoke. Ty ne thinks she smells smoke. 1 think T x . what +" She says she ks she smells smoke. s St mean? t does it mean? This smell of einoke may indicate ‘That we'll be burned. That we'll be burned. Ob-b-b-b-h, awful fate. ‘Tyler— Ub, awful fatet Mr. i The house is burning To perish in the Ob, horror! Oh, Mr. aid Mrs. ‘Ty Ob, sad is our lot, sad is our lot, dis our lot, sud is our lot! perish in the flames so ho! To curl and writ af Oh, what a dreadfal thi To’ thiak of such : yld the smell grows stronger yet. I'd regret and sizz, Mis. ‘Tyler—We Mr. Tyler—Ye Mis. ‘Tyle Mr. We fave no time to lose! Mr. and Mrs. Tyler (duet)— Ob, sad is ¢ Sad is our To perish in the r lot, sad is our lot, ad is out lot! nes So hot; k? What is that? uk! What ts that? fire. ; It fs the dread a alarm on the ear ils me with wfal fear. The house wlll burn; Ob, ean Ith That I must die In misery? That I must die In misery. That I must die In misery. The “ I . Tyler—Tis well, ‘tis well; we'll fiy at once. (Enter all the other residents of the fifth floor of the apartment building. | They range themselves in a semi-circle behind Mr. and Mrs. Tyler.) Mr. Tyler— fe: Kind friends, I have some news to tell, ‘This house is burning, it is well That we should ourselves away, And save cur lives without dela: Oh, let us not remain too long, Remain too long, too long, too long, Oh, let us not remain too long. Women of the chorus— What is this he tells ust It must be 80, The building ts on fire And we ust go. Men of the ehorus— What is this he tells us? It must be £0, The building is on fire And we must go. Grand chorus— Oh, hasten, ob, hasten, oh, hasten away, Our terror we would not concer And language fails to express the alarm That in our hearts we feel. Mr. and Mrs. ‘Tyler— Ab-b-h, language cxtnot express the fear That in their hearts they feel. (Enter the janitor.) Jantior—Hold, T am here! Mr. Tyler—Ah, it 1s the janitor. Mrs. Tyler—Can T 1 my senses, Or am T going mas It is the janitero, It fs, indeed, the janttoro, Janitor—Such news I have to tell. Mr. Tyler—Ab, I might have knowa, Te has such news to tell. Speak, and break the awful suspense. .‘Tyler—Yes, sp Tanitor— T come to inform yon That you must quickly fy; ‘The fearful blaze is spreading; To tarry is to die. ly d away; save the building— So now escape, I pray. The flames are roaring loudly— Oh, what a fearfal sound! You ‘can hear the people shrieking As they leap and strike the ground. Ob, horror overtakes me, Aud T 1 use to say That the building's doomed for certain— So haste, oh. haste aw Mrs. Tyler—Oh, Hol A few more ari: Before we start. Mr. Tyler—Yes, yes! A few more srias, And then away. Grand chorus— Ob, hasten, ob, hasten, oh, basten away! On= terror we' cannot conceal, Aud language feils to express the alarm That in our hearts we feel. Mrs, Tyle Now, h overtakes me f the fear convulses and shakes me. to think What may befall, horror, horror, horror. Mr. Tyler— The women speaks the trath, And there can be no doubt ‘That we will perish soon Unless we all clear out. Grand chorus— Oh, hasten, ob, hasten, ob Guz terror we cannot conc And lenguage fails. to eapre That in our hearts we feel. This was as far as Mr. Tyler could go. He didn’t want to make his principals ac- tually “hasten away,” as that would have been a violation of opera tradition. His theory is that they remained *and were burned. jbasten away! the alarm Miss Della Stevens of Boston, Mass., writes: I have always suffered from hereditary Scrofula, for which I tried various remedies, and many reliable phy- am very grateful from a life of un- seine and in recommending it to a! mailed siclans, but none relieved me. After taking’ 6 bottles of to , as I feel ee teat SSS told. and shall take pleasure in speaking — only ‘reatise on Blood and Skin Beet a any ad- i SWIFT SPECIFIC 00., Atlanta, Ge. Iam now well, 1 words of praise tor the wonderful med- IS IT A TRIFLE? THAT COMMON TROUBLE, ACID DYSPEPSIA OR SOUR STOMACH. Now Recognized as a Cause of Serious Disease. Acid dyspepsia, commonly called heartburn or sour stomech, is a form of indigestion resulting from fermentation of the food. The stomach being too weak to promptly digest it, the food remains votil fermentation begins, filling the stomach with gas, and a bitter, sour, burning taste in the mouth is often present. This condition soon becomes chronic, and being an everyday occurrence, is given but little attention. mediately fatal, trouble. Because dyspepsia is not im- many people do nothing for the emedy has been discov- dyspepeia and stomach dt is known as Stuart's Dyspepsia Tab- and it is now becoming rapidly used and pre- scribed as a radical cure for every form of dys- pepsin. Stuart fore the wher. the while placed be ints every- prepared by Wich. and res a vigor- is perfectly harm- ti est giving peri tomach, improves t orth living wy, will not injure on the contra THE LOUVRE. Walls That Are Believed to Hide the Bones of Murdered Men. From the London Chronicle Every one who has the Louvre will remember the low-pitched and some~ what gloomy halls in which are stored the treasures of Egypt. Bencath these lie yet more darkly mysterious vaults, inaccesst- ble to the public, though approached by a wide and handsome staircase, such would lead one to imagine that it municates with apartments of portance. Yet one find nothing but board passages disp the form of a cross, and withou’ whatever of door or wi A recent examination solid walls give believe that the ma than the rest of the oldest portion of th Vaugreux, a well-knows many of the bodies of \ revolution of 1% were that the government wa the fact when their com jected beneath the Colonne On the other hand, M. Blonde tect of the building, and M. N secretary of the Society Protecting I risian Monuments, hold opinion that these subterrapean led to the cubliettes, into which Medicis cast those who were to incur her hate or ploration would c settle, too, several the foundations of Li Unfortunately, the annu provide for any search, and it would } peal for funds to the chamber. done” as com- some im- bottom ed in sign w howey experts ortre critic, beli jctims killed in the m) d here, and afraid to rey were col- the ———_-+_____ The Best He Could Do. From the Chic “William,” 2 spell- buck’? write it William went to head, shifted h the other, wrini last_ produced Phat’s the said. way Gladness Comes ith a better understanding of the transient nature of the many phy ical ills, which vanish before proper ef- forts—gentle efforts—pleasante¢ fiorts— rightly directed. 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