Evening Star Newspaper, May 21, 1896, Page 13

THE EVENING STAR has a Larger Circulation in the Homes of Washington than all the Other Papers of the City Added Together, because it Stands Up Always for the Interests of ALL THE PEOPLE of WASHINGTON; does not Strive to Divide the Community into Classes, and Array one class Against the others; Contains the Latest and Fullest Local and General News; and Surpasses all the Other Papers in the City in the Variety and Excellence of its Literary Features. It Literally Goes Everywhere, and is Read by Everybody. It is, therefore, p as an Advertising ‘Medium without a Peer, Whether Cost or Measure of Publicity be Considered. setuption of Mauna Loa 1s apt to be attend- THE EVENING STAR, THURSDAY, MAY 21, 1896-SIXTEEN PAGES. MAUNA LOA’S FURY} Violent Eruption of Hawaii's Big Volcano. SPECTATORS RIDING UP THE SUMMIT It Occurs After an Interval of Over Fifteen Years. THE SCENE SKETCHED ee Speclal Correspondence of The Evening Star. HONOLULU, April 27, 1896. For some days we have been waiting with ccrsiderable interest, and even anxiety, to leern in what direction our greater volcano of Mauna Loa, now in very active eruption, may vomit forth its desolating lava stream. Kilauea, our special lion for tourists’ in- spection, is a large and lively, but on the whole a quite tame and harmless volcano, which most of the time keeps itself on tap for friendly inspection, always accessible and generally playing its fire fountains in the most sociable manner. But its near neighbor, the vast Mauna Loa dome, be- haves altogether differently. The mighty mountain, 13,675 feet high, and snow crowned, lies broad and flat on its sixty miles of base, smoothly rounding from sea to summit plateau, brown in the tropic sun, inert and torpid for years together. But midway of its flat summit yawns a hideous caldera pit, four miles by two in area, and 600 feet deep, In which every once in an average of ten years a very hell of leaping fire burns its hottest, raging up from the plutonic depths. Mokuaweawea crater, as it 1s called, was last in full action in 1880, whe., after 2 few days of convylsive spouting of fire and smoke, an outlet opened on the northeast side, and relieved the commotion in the caldera. The outlet was a thousand feet or more below the summit. From it issued a copious deluge of the white hot fluid rock, which immediately covered some twenty sqvare miles of country on the upland, back of the Bilo forests. The first accumula- tion of fluid in the great caldera having thus been let off, the supply continued to fiow from the earth's interior for many months, and gradually worked its way in a stream half a mile wide through the mas- sive forest back of Hilo. It did not cease until within a quarter of a mile of the beautiful harbor, which it might have filled up, and the town, which it might have obliterated. For anything we know, such a fate may at this moment again be im- pending over Hilo, from a similar torrent of fire. The black river of hideous lava billows Les there, making an open road to invite another such deluge to descend more quickly to the sea. A Disngreeable Neighbor. It was only nine years ago, in January, 1887, that the last outbreak from Mauna Loa occurred, when a sudden flood of lava spouted forth from a long fissure, which opened at an elevation of 5,000 feet, some twenty-five miles from the summit, and ran ten miles to the sea in a furious flood, cov- ering in less than a week several square miles twenty feet deep with rugged masses of clinkers, and making half a square mile of new land out into the ocean—a hideous desert of black, ragged scoria. A similar flood had poured out in the same vicinity in 1868, but from an opening several miles nearer the sea, utterly destroying several thousand acres of excellent pasturage, with tne house of the owner, who, with his fami- ly, barely escaped with their lives at mid- night from the horrible deluge, which fell upon them unannounced. At the time of both of those two eruptions there was little if any action in the summit crater, but terrible earthquakes on the southwest side of the mountain. Indeed, it may be plausibly maintained that the Ka- huku eruptions were not from Mauna Loa proper, but from a branch or subsidiary volcano, which is fully as distant from the Mokuaweawea caldera to the southwest, as are either Kilauea to the southeast, or Hualalai to the northwest. Both of those are admitted to. be independent volcanoes. And above Kahuku the eruptions of ages have been piling up a mountain mass which Stands out as a huge spur of Mauna Loa, and nearly an independent mountain, from whose outer flank flowed the eruptions of "68 and ‘87. Why may not this also be reckoned as a separate volcano, although no depression exists, as at Kilauea, between it_and the main mountain? There is, indeed, a sympathy between the volcanoes of Kilauea and Mauna Loa. An ed either by an increased activity in Kilauea, or by a total disappearance of its fires. It has often been thought mysterious that the same interior reservoir of fluid rock should supply outflows at such differ- ent levels, Kilauea being 4,000, and Mokua- weawea 15,600 feet above the sea. It 1s contrary to the laws of hydrostatic pres- sure. The solution of the difficulty is doubt- jess to be found in the fact that hydrostatic laws are not applicable to so viscid a fluld as lava, and especially to one so saturated with panding gases, which effervesce it in a viscid foam. The Present Eruption. But I have not yet told any of the facts about the present eruption—and, indeed, we as yet know little, except that there seems to be one of first-class magnitude. By to- morrow afternoon we expect full particu- lars, and may hope to learn in what direc- tion the expected lava deluge {s running. The steamer Kinau from Hilo brought the first news, having seen the first outburst when off the north end of Hawaii at 1 a.m. of the 2lst. Calling at Kawaihae that morning, the telephone from Hila reported an immense column of white fire 4,000 feet high as seen in the night. From Ka- waihae by day, as seen forty-five miles away, the outpour of smoke was enormous, and projected with immense force. At the same hour after midnight, the steamer Waialeale, going toward Hawaii, observed a bright vertical line of fire near the horizon, the eruption being 130 miles away. At Lahaiua, twenty miles nearer, the eruption seemed bright, as it did to the Kinau at the same point the following evening. Such a conspicuous appearance at that distance indicates the extraordinary magnitude of the eruption. The glow of the fire has also been seen from heights near Honolulu, which {s 180 miles away as the bird flies. The report from Kau, thirty miles southwest,is also of a most bril- liant activity at the summit. No severe or continuous earthquakes being reported from that district, seems to inake it cer- tain that the lava is at least not working its way out at the Kahuku center. Where, then, is it going? For the past sixty years the outflows attending great summit action have been confined to the northerly sides of the mountain. In 1859 an immenese stream ran northwest, reach- ing the sea thirty-seven miles away, to the south of Kawaihae. It seems, therefore, most probable that the present eruption will pour its lava out either toward the same point or toward Hilo, or-in some in- termediate direction against Mauna Kea. One may say that the ckances are consid- erable that it will run toward Hilo. The fissures during the past centucy have been much open in that direction. At a comparatively recent period, but somewhat earlier, there seem to have been very copious floods of lava poured from Mauna Loa to the westward across the fer- tile and now wooded uplands of Kona. This, of course, may at any time happen again, although the voleano has of late been doing its work in the other direction. The whole of that beautiful Kona ‘listrict, with its rich coffee plantations, thus lies exposed to the invasions of the enemy, which may at any moment convert many square miles of fertility into a desolate bed of black clinker ruins, such as those which many centuries have been clothing anew with verdure. There is no richer soil than an old bed of clinker lava, after the raing of a few hundred years have disintegrated It. Exposed to the Holocaust. Also lying expcsed to take its turn in being devastated is the wealthy district of Kau, on the southern flank of the mountain, It appears to have been many centuries since the central part of this district was thus invaded. There are now there planta- tions which produce annually from 12,000 to 15,000 tons of sugar. They lle upon a deep and fertile stratum of bright yellow voleanic ashes, which were ejected in that section not less than 400 years ago to a historical certainty, and probably at a much earlier date. Beyond these planta- tions the south point of the island projects broadly but sharply into the southern ocean. It has been conjectured to have given the name to the whole district, which is Ka-u (Kah-oo), “the teat.” There is nothing to protect any part of Kau from an outpour of lava from the southern flanks of Mauna Loa. It is a satisfaction, however, to know from observation of former lava flows that no single locality is thus invaded oftener than probably once on an average in three or four hundred years. It may thus be calculated that fire insurance against lava ought to be effected anywhere around the lower base of the mountain at a very small percentage. As a matter of fact, very little productive land has been devastated since the discovery of Hawaii in 1779. Some val- uable fish ponds were filled up at Kihola, in Kona, by an outflow on the west flank of Mt. Hualalal. At Wainanalii in 1859, fif- teen miles north, other fish ponds were ob- literated by the stream from Mauna Loa. In 1868, as above related, a valuable cattle ranch in Kahuku was ruined. And in 1881, at the end of a nine months’ flow, the edge of a sugar plantation was invaded in the outskirts of Hilo village. This covers all such damage done within the historical period of 118 years. Still, somebody may be catching it hot this time. While I wait for tomorrow to report later and, it is hoped, more definite intelligence from the seat of action, I am moved to descant a little on the question so much discussed, ‘‘What is the cause of volcanic activity? What is the precise force which ejects these tremendous explosions of fiery matter from the interior of our globe?” Having personally observed our remark- able volcanic phenomena for many years, having read many learned and ingenious discussions of the above question, with much personal conference with eminent geologists who have visited our craters, I have at length been enabled to form my own theory on the subject. I will venture to propound it very briefly, as follows: The globe under our feet is composed of a body of molten rock which is at an in- tense heat of several thousand degrees Fahrenheit. This is incased in a crust of twenty-five miles or more in thickness, which subjects the molten interior to an erormous pressure by its superincumbent Weight. At various points in this crust are lines of fissure, through which any violent interior pressure outward may be able to ferce an exit. What Causes Eruptions. Now, the interior molten fluid is not mere stone. It is powerfully charged with gases, It is in the condition of the water ina soda bottle, which is quiet until the stop- ple Is removed, and then bursts out ex- plosively. Whenever an opening is made by any cause in the crust of the globe, the molten magma below begins to effervesce, and push upward, finally escaping in the terrific explosions of yolcances. That the magma is thus charged with gases, mi- nutely diffused throughout its molecule: is proved by the ejections from volcanoes, which are minutely vesicular. Take tho ejections from Krakatoa, which mainly consisted of pumice, that is, glass, entirely permeated by minute bubbles of gas. Ne such intimate admixture of gas or steam with the magma could have been pro- duced by the contact with the waters of, the ocean, The gases were originally com- bined with the heavier material and oc- cluded in its molecules when the original condensation took place. In the inscrutable acons of the past, when this globe slowly gathered itself t gether out of the chaotic nebula, the gas- eous and the heavier metallic ' elements were intimately commingied. As the con- densation took place into the liquid form, the lighter materials were so held in by the enormous superincumbent pressure as to be unable to escape, and were reduced to lquid form in combination with the rocky materials. Thus every molecule of rock in the earth’s molten interior is as- sociated with a molecule of some gas, as completely as the water molecules in a soda bottle are combined with molecules of carbonic acid in liquid form, but ready to explode into gas. Accordingly we are to concelve ourselves as all living over not enly an ocean of molten fire, twenty-five miles below our feet, but also over such an ocean tremen- dously charged with explosive gases. Were the enormcus confining pressure of the crust removed, the entire surface of this interior molten ocean would at once ef- fervesce explosively into miles aloft of fiery form. As it is, only here and there is the pressure removed in a narrow fissure, and there results, as today, the colossal explosion of Mauna Loa, driving Its scoria and gases_tens of thousands of feet aloft. I have not room here to discuss the two chief competing theorles, one, that of steam pressure developed by contact of ocean waters with the interior magma; the other, that of the pressure of the heavier crust forcing out the fluid inter- for by its weight. Both of these have been carefully considered and discarded. My own theory of originally occluded gases in the magma as the source of ejec- tive force seems to accord with the views of Prof. Judd, who is the chief specialist on the subject of volcanoes. Latest Account. April 30—Writing later, I have little that is new to report. The steamer Hall came in from Kau on the 28th with reports of no outflow of lava up to the morning of the 27th. The eruption continued in much activ- ity, presenting a brilliant spectacle. A large party were preparing to ascend the moun- tain from the Kapapala cattle ranch, which is 2,000 feet up Its south flank and is the usual point of departure. The manager of the ranch, Julian Mousarrat, will conduct the party and supply the animals. Of the party will be Peter Lee of Volcano House, Dr. Dille Dan Logan, editor of the Hono- lulu Bulletin, and Frank Dodge of the gov- ernment survey. It is a stiff climb of thirty miles and 12,000 feet ascent, taking from three to four days up and return. The usual charge for parties, including animals and guldes, is $50 apiece. ‘The ascent Is not often made. This party will probably be rewarded by a close view of a sublime and terrific spectacle. There may or may not be serious danger encountered. Probably there will be no danger what- ever in going to the brink of the great pit and observing the fountain of lava pouring up. The accounts r ived indicate that the first explosive violence has abated. The ac- cumulation of gases has largely blown off, but the glow on the clouds above indicates a copious discharge of lava pouring up Into the great caldera pit. At the outset specta- tors would have been impossible, perhaps great peril from falling stones and other objects driven aloft by the flery column of gas and cinders. Now the visitors will suf- fer only from cold and mountain sickness. Should the lava have found an outlet down the mountain side they may be able to visit the point of emission, which will itself be a fearful place of plutonic violence. KAMEHAMEHA. —_—.—__ Compulsory Vaccination, To the Editor of The Evening Star: In the act “To prevent the spread of con- tagious diseases,” now before Congress, section 23 provides “That the person in charge of any Institution supported or aid- ed by the District shall cause each in- mate thereof to be successfully vaccinated immediately upon his admission thereto.” Under such a law, every patient at the hospitals, no matter at what expense, or under what physical conditions, must be vaccinated, in advance of any desired treatment. Also, any lady who visited the city, and took board at the Young Women’s Chris- tian Home, would be compulsorily vacci- nated before she begun her sight-seeing, and the chances are that sne would never begin it. A mashed-up patient carried to the Emergency Hospital must be “immediate- ly” vaccinated. Under section 25, the Commissioners are authorized to have every person in the District compvlsorily vaccinated, whenever they consider it necessary. It seems to me, especially when there is question as to the usefulness of vacci- nation, to be desirable to avoid a law so obnoxious. ANTI-ROT, ——__ Paulding Medal Found. From the New York Sun. The medal which was presented by Con- gress to Jchn Paulding, one of the captors of Maj. Andre at Tarrytown, in recognition of his patriotic services, and which had been lost for over a quarter of a century, has been discovered by Dr. R. B. Coutant of Tarrytewn, while looking over some old articles which had lain in Vanderbilt's storehouse so long that they were going to be sold fcr storage. It was only a few years ago that an offer of $1,500 had been made and refused for one of these medals, as one was presented by Ccngress to each of the three captors of Andre—Paulding, Williams and Van Wart. This medal is now the property of Mrs. Dodge, a de- scendant of the Paulding heirs, and she probably had forgotten all about the ex- istence of it. Dr. Coutant has written a letter to Mrs. Dodge, telling her of his dis- covery, and is awaiting her reply as to what shall be done with the medal. = = “YoU” AND “THOU.” SPAS A Correspondent Givgs' His Views ona Recent Freng& Decree. To the Editor of The Evening Star: An article from the Néw York Tribune, printed in The Star, discusses the recent decree issued by the new French minister of war forbidding officers to address sol- diers under their orders¥by the familiar pronoun “thou,” and directing them to henceforth employ the tore formal “you.” While the writer of thé article is correct in many of his statements, his manifest ignorance of the finer shades of the Ger- man and French languf&ges has led him Into a deplorable errcr, and the good ad- vice he gives the French war department is impudent nonsense... Thou 1s an endearing form of address, used among relatives in’ France and Ger- many. It is also, by special agreement, used among chosen friends @hd members of the same society. The common people almost universally use the same form of the pronoun among themselves, but never in addressing strangers. In poetry and in prayer the solemn “thou” is uséd as in English, but—and here is where the critic fails—it’ 1s also commonly used in Ger- many, and was also universally in France, by superiors in speaking to inferiors. For this reason the Prussian king ennobled his soldiers, after a fashion, whom the officers before that time treated and addressed as servants, by requiring officers of all grades to address common soldiers by the formal pronoun lie. In English thou was formerly used by masters to servants in the same manner, and superiors addressed inferiors as thou. In an old play called “The Miller of Mans- field” its use {s plainly shown. The king who met the miller in the forest, where he lost his way during a hunt, inquired of the sturdy fellow how he might regain the road, and, naturally, addressed him as “thou.” To this the miller answered: ‘Come, don’t ‘thee’ and ‘thou’ me in such fashion; I suppose I am as good a man as thou art, at uny rate.” His use of thou was in the nature of a retort. It is not safe to play the critic in such matters unless one is thoroughly informed; and a person may be able to speak and even read a language quite fluently with- out having a knowledge of these finer shades of expression. For instance, many who speak no lan- guage but the English, and who think they aro fairly well educated, do not compre: hend the delicate shades of meaning con- veyed by woman and lady, when used by well-bred men and women. The order of the French war department is perfectly proper, now that men of all grades may be found in the ranks. In the old days, when private soldiers were serfs, or but little better, it was natural for offi- cers to use the form of address in which they spoke to servants and inferiors gener- ally. The order is in imitation of the old kaiser’s, which, I think, was issued over fifty years ago, and the only strange fea- ture in the case 1s that republican France should be so far behind despotic Prussia. W. J. HERBERT. ee Modern Fire-Fighting Appliances and Methods, To the Editor of The Evening Star: There seems to be no doubt that so far as efficiency is concerned the local fire depart- ment is about as perfect as it can be under the circumstances. No doubt the Washing- ton firemen, taken man for man, including their chief, are as brave and daring as any firemen anywhere, but they are sadly handi- capped for want of modern appliances, and of those who would know how to use them or to teach others their use. If a tall build- ing, like the Cairo, were to catch fire there would be little, if any, means for rescuing inmates in the upper stor! A late exhibi- tion drill of New York firemen, and they have similar drills in all European fire de- partments, showed the firemen climbing up to the top of eighteen and twenty-story buildings by means of one light ladder or even a hook, which the fireman held in one hand and hooked on to the window sills. They were provided with strong chutes, for safely conveying inmates’ from the top of these buildings to the ground; netting was provided and safely used for persons who persisted in jumping frofh great heights. Our firemen are sent Into burning buildings without even the simple dafeguards against inhaling smoke and flame that have been in use elsewhere for years. The older fire- men now in service learned what they know by “running wid der machine” and what they picked up in actual service. During thirty years’ residence here I have never seen the flremen taken out for a drill, un- less it was trying to set up one of thelr heavy, cumbersome ladders. There should be an increase of men or engines, when found necessary, but just now there seems to be more need for placing the force on a modern footing. C.F. K, Es Change of Standard in the Gas bin. To the Editor of The Evening Star: In the report of Senator Kyle's remarks on the gas bill in The Star he is rep- resented as giving me as authority for the statement that the adoption of the new standard, as proposed by the Senata committee's amendments, will not improve or change the quality of the gas. That ts practically true, but he does not need to rely on my statement, as ihe same ig shown by the statements of the president of the gas company and its hired ex- perts, Love and White, both in 1886 and now. On page 26 of the testimony in the Spooner investigation President Mcllhenny stated that he had Prof. Love of New York test the gas here with the flat-flame burner, the same that the Senate amend- ment substitutes for the present Argand burner, and that by this flat-flame burner it rated as twenty-five candle power. He repeats the stztement more at length on pages 72 and On page 73 he says: “Our gas when tested with this ‘flat- flame burner showed a difference of eight candles.” And again he says: “It we had the privilege of testing by some burners we could make it twenty-four candles.” This statement was repeated over and over again at the hearing of the gas com- pany before the Senate committee this session by Messrs. Mcllhenny, Love and White, whercupon Senator Gallinger re- marked, “Then if we change the burner for testing it, as the company asks, the pres- ent gas will rate as twenty-four candle- power gas;” so there was no misapprehen- sion or misunderstanding of the fact that the quality of the gas would not be chang- ed materially. The House bill requires twenty-four- candle-power gas tested by the present standard—an Argand burner having fifteen holes and a seven-inch chimney burning five feet per hour, which standard was adopted from the English by Senator Mor- rill and embodied in the act of 1872, and has been the standard ever since. The Senate amendment ostensibly raises the candle power to twenty-31 two more than the House bill, but as {t also changes the burner by which ft is to be tested from the Argand to the flat-flame burncr, which, as Mr. McIihenny and the two ex- perts say, will make the-present gas rate as twenty-four or twenty-five candle power, it will be seen not only that there will be no material change in the gas, but that if the Senate amendment be fin:lly adopted we will have gas six or seven candle power less than we would have if the House biil were adopted. It 1s a very nice scheme in the interest of the gas company, but, as shown by the gas company and its experts, the public, while paying for so-called twenty-six-can- dle-power gas, will get practically the same gas as now, at most not more than one or two candle power higher. I notice in the debate the reason assigned for changing the standard was that it was an antiquated affair. It is the same that has been in use in England ever since a standard was required by law; the only change that has been made is to use a burner having more holes—twenty instead of fourteen—and it was by this twenty-hole Argand burner that the pure coal gas sold in the principal cities of England for an average of 60 cents per 1,000 feet, as pub- ished in The ‘Star of May 5, is tested. There is no legal standard elsewhere in the United States, the only staadard being such as may be agreed upon in the con- tracts between the various gas companies and the cities. In New York they vary from twenty-four to thirty-one candle pow- er by the flat-flame burner. I desire to state also that while numer- ous hearings were given by the Senate committee to both the gas company and the advocates of the proposed new com- pany, no hearing was given to the citizens’ committee. I asked for five minutes’ time to explain about the standard and was not given it or permitted to say a word on the subject of the bill. W. C. DODGR. AME INDICATES, HALL'S VEGETABLE, Hair Renewer is a renewer of the hair, including its growth, health, youthful color and beauty. “It will please you. THE TAWNEY BILL. One Not in Government Favors Its Provisions. To the Editcr of The Evening Star: I would like to express my opinion in re- gard to the much-talked-of Tawney bill. I am not a government employe, and there- fore have no fear in expressing my opin- ion. It has been asked why Congress can withhold any portion of the salary of gov- ernment employes for the purpose of creat- ing a fund such as is prescribed by the Tawney bill. The legislative body has the same right to create a fund for the clerk as to appro- priate a pension for the soldier. The army and navy officers are educated at government expense, drawing at the same time a good salary, and after a few years are given the best life positions the country has to offer. The naval officers are sent around the world on long sea trips, with very little work and big pay, and at a certain age are retired with a very good pension. The private soldier, an automaton in time of peace, with a very small salary, yet has just so much that he can contrib- ute toward the support of the aged soldier. The fireman and policeman, like the sol- dier, are pensioned. Furthermore, the school teachers have accumulated a fund for the benefit of their superannuated sis- ters and brothers. Now, if these provide for their future, why can’t the government clerks do the same for themselves, espe- clally those who have spent the best ycars of their life in office? If Congress makes provision for the soldier, let it also do something for the government clerk, who 4s just as faithful, patriotle and American as the soldier. But if our government is too poor to pension the clerk, the least it can do is to legalize the Tawney Dill. Ex- perience will show where imperfectlons lie and where amendments are necd«. If I held a government position I would consider it a privilege to be allowed to place 3 per cent of my salary at 4 per cent interest with the government. There could be no safer investment for the young clerks who are making such a fuss about their salaries, and who claim that their po- sitions are ‘merely stepp stones by means of which they intend to reack scmething better. Taese people forget that they will have in a few years at their di Employ posal a sum that would otherwise have been wasted. Let me furt y that the clerk who thinks he § ng for a gov- ernment that will withhold what lawfully belongs 1 hould re at once. I see nothing in the Tawney that would compel those who are oppose to it to hold their positions after it become a law. There are capable hundreds cn the civil service list waiting for y an they would be glad to contribute 4 cent of their pay without interest if they could only obtain positions like those occu- pied by these objecting youngste: have ne r be taught to respect old age. Heads of departments admit that the old men do the important work, and these much-despised old fossils dare’ not express their opinion for fear of losing their posi- tions. I sincerely hope Congress will pass this bill so amended that the old clerk will be benefited immediately. JUSTICE. SS WANTS AN ORDINANCE. An Objection to Bicyclers Riding Where There Are Constant Crowds. To the Editor of The Evening Star: I wish to suggest an ordinance in regard to bicycles to the following effect, namely, that in such localities as 9th and F streets and New York avenue and 15th street riders get off and walk their wheels. One is made indignant at the reckless, arrogant way in which bicycles dart through crowds in the places mentioned. No one is afraid of being killed by a bicycle, but one does object to having his clothes soiled. One cannot step from behind a street car now without the risk of stepping in front of the noiseless, rapidly moving, Invisible and un- centrollable vehicle. One cannot step di- agenally from the sidewalk without first looking behind to see that the same vehicle 1s not at his heels. One cannot cross a wide street and be sure of gaining the op- posite sidewalk before a wheel will sudden- ly come around the ‘corner as hard as it can go and perhaps just miss knocking one cown., Who shall say what wiil be the ef- fect upon the nerves of women and dell- cate persons of these incessant narrow es- capes? We do not permit fast driving. Why? Because it endangers lives of pedes- trians. But for one person injured or frightened by fast driving, it Is safe to say fifty are startled or actually hurt by bi- cycles. Ordinary vehicles make a noise, are in plain sight, and can be stopped sud- denly; a bicycle has none of these qualities. If they say they can control their wheel, the answer 1s, why don’t they? What good ordinarily does a bell do but add to the bewilderment of the person on foot? Few people have the nerve to stand perfectly still (as they should do) and let the bicycle do the dodging, and the idiot riding it dash his brains out against some more ap- propriate obstacle. I do not know where bicycle ride the idea that they have an exclusive right to the streets. Pedestrians wi outnumber vehicles, and their safety comfort, ought to control in the common highway. Will not some influential person suggest the ordinance above mentioned to the Commissioners of the District? x. ¥. Z. always if not ey Another Tale of Woe. To the Editor of The Evening Star: And in that town a dog was found, As many dogs there be— Both mongrel, puppy, whelp and hound, And curs of low degree.—Goldsmith. If Minerva who has suffered so much from Elvira and her ‘“‘five-finger exercises” will sojourn for a week in Le Droit Park and listen to— The canine’s tuneful lay, Both night and day, she will thank her lucky stars that her lot is no worse than it is; for in her case, after 11 p.m., she may ‘Wrap the drapery of her couch about her and lie down to pleasant dreams.” Not so in this cur-accursed section. Here ‘Throughout the night their vigils keep, Sleepless themselves, they rob all else of sleep. For variety, numbers and lung power, Le Droit Park certainly takes the dog cake. There are— “Mastif’s, greyhounds, mongrels grim, Hounds and spaniels, brack and lym, ‘And bobtail tike and trundle tail,” to make night hideous and sleep impos- sible. Some families contribute as many as five of these fiends in canine flesh to swell the ranks of dogdom. The dogs of Le Droit Park could give the police force of Washington ‘cards and spades” on vigilance and organization. They consist of rela; the pet dogs doing day duty and ihe big dogs going on at night. In Minerva’s case there {s a hope—forlorn though it be—that Elvira's playing may d velop into something bearing the semblance to music. We have no such fond dreams. The canine howl of today is just as dismal, just as deadly to sleep as that of the cur Noah took with him into the ark. Noah doubtless had a great head for weather forecasts, but he made an unpardonable blunder when he gathered in the dog. No Le Droit Park dog ever disappears. On the contrary a new howl is detected every few nights. I believe there is a police regulation in regard to dogs, but, of course, “the finest” haven't time to bother with these pests when the small boy, who occasionally for- gets and blows a few sweet strains on the mouth organ after 10 p.m., engrosses all of their time and attention. Q. for a lodge in some vast wilderness, Some boundless contiguity of sleep, Where ki-yi sound of canine throat, Of daily yelps and nightly howls, Might never reach us more. DIANA. To Settle as Colonists. Three hundred “time-expired” men of the German West African colony have declared their intention to settle in the colony as farmers, The country is similar in climate to our arld regions, and perfectly healthy. Since Witbool, the Hottentot chief, has been subdued it is also quiet. The English South African press has published letters supposed to be written by Witbool, in which | he claims to be badly treated by the Ger- mans. The Dutch press prints these let- ters, too, but adds the denial from Witbooi, who declares that the German governor keeps faith with him and his people, and that he (Witbooi) does not intend to re- nounce his allegiance to Germany. ‘The English papers fail to publish his denial of having written complaining letters, MEMBERS IN TOWN Senators. BLAD BRIC i BROW. Artbur, U: BURROWS, J. G., Mich. BUTLER, Marion,’ N. C. CAFFERY, Dorelson, La 1334 191h st. CALL, Wilkinson, Fia. -1903 'N st. now. CAMERON, Don, ‘Pa. -21 Lafayette square CANNON, Frank J., Utah. The Auburn ‘Thos. H.," Mont +1482 Stoughton st. BW EN. 1421 T rt. H., Texas. The Elsmere 1338 T st. n.w. -.-1518 R st. 12.1413 “Mass. ove. ‘oodmout ‘Mass. ave. ..1230 13th st. GIBSON,’ G. Hf GORDON, J.B 1001 16th st. Page's Hotel ‘Thowas 1701 K st. nw. 1325 G xt. ON,” Kn ute, m.. Metropolitan . dxford “Riggs House “1730 Quest. now. in. es rlington ITCHARD, 3, C..N.°O. Q st. nw. PROCTOR, B., Vgrinont. 535 L st. nw. rus, at i -1333 Rs: 5 SHERMAN, John, Ohio. SHOUP, ¥daho. SMITH, Jan N. STEWART, W. M. SQUIRE, W. ‘C.,” Weshingt: 'T, Colorado. Representatives. ABROTT, Jo., Tex. 10 5th st. we. :812 Ind. ave. n.w. 105 Md. BINGHAM, BISHO! st. ‘thle Fistere Fredonia 20S “ist st. ne. ++22-1101 K st. ‘the Hamilton be. Hotel Everett BROW BRUM) 213 N. Cap. st. Ebbitt cobB, 3 COBB, 8. W. COCKRE CODDINE OOLSO! SR COWEN, J. K., 3 COX, NIN. Tenn 2 = D. Joba, VP L., Ohio. OND, "D. AL Walter M., B., Obi0. , Maine. H. A., Ark. 8 nm 8 . 1, B. B., W. 1M : <Willurd’s Most. naw. +1601 K ‘st! Normanille ormandie Willand’s Portland chesaw ave. Dw, nw, iard’s viiamifiton House -1421 K st. st. nw ~Coctiran -810 12th now, -238 Md. ave. ne. -The Varoum +-1629 16th st. Riggs tilard's Varnum st. nw, Ist. nw. -Metropolitan 4% st. now, -Arlingtor -Willard’s, 831 18th st. now, Cairo Fi 921 G st. nw. Se if LORIMER, Wn. +1412 Park st., ee LEWIS, J. W., Ky. Ebbitt LOUD, EB. F., Cal. Albany 13 1201 K st. nw, N. Cap. st. 2022 Nase ave, -Metroplitas J. ave. nw. Metropolitan ‘S5i6 T4tn et .W, 08 2d st. n.c. th st. -1914 16th ‘st. McCLUR " (1921_16th ®t. McCREARY, -Shorehara McCLEL 2.1700 Q st. now, Hotel Page Del. ave. ne. 1340 8th st. 806 Fast Cap. st: - Willa: * Metropolitan “940 P st. nw. 1922 15th st. now. Congressional Cochran island ave. OVERSTREET, PARKER, K W.. "S.J. PATTERSON, Josiah, ‘tenn: B ¥. -Hamflton iii6 Vt ave. uw. 120 Mase. ave. ne. : Normandie 26 lowa circle luges. ave. ne. Cairo Flats st. nw, horeham 2. Be. t. nw. e Shoreham -Varnum mn. ave. 03 6th st. nw <Arno Hotel 1708 R. 1. ave. n.w. Metropoliian . Kbbitt Vernon Albany SKINNER,” A Ebbite SMITH, ¥ 2 35 nw. SMITH, GW. Tl G18 14th st. now. SNOVER, 1. G., Mich. G03 N.C. ave. Be. SOUTHARD, J." H., Ohio. Va 3, P. J., Ohio... “Test. ave. Motrupotitan 24 14th st $10 12th st. nw. STRONG, STROWD, TERRY, "W. THOMAS, H. FL, Mis ‘apitol st. TOWNE, 'C. “A.,” Minn Hamilton E , Mo. xt. Ind. -Rizes +... Metropolitan East Capitol et. «..1126 Coun. a 201 East Capitol et. -.-Hamllton 808 Md. ave. ne. 31 B st. a0 J. ave. we. Cairo Flats 2013 Hillyer pl. -.-.-Harnilton, a J, A. Va. WALSH, 3.5. N.Y WANGER, A.P., Pa. , . v., TM. A BIG STRAP. Largest Belt Ever Made Turned Out in Chiengo. From the Chicago Post. “Talking about there being nothing like leather,” sald Vice President Malony of the Chicago Belting Company, “how is this for being something like?” This was a huge roll of leather several rds in circumference standing on ¢ high enough to test an ordinary man’s reach to touch the top. The sides of the big leather cylinder were built up in square sections resembling brown steel plates the hulk of an ironclad. One end of roll stood out from the circle big as a ba in he door, its extremity shaved down from the three-ply thickness nearly an inch through to the thinness of an ordinary leather strap. “The largest belt ever constructed,” is how the maker of this monster coil de- scribes it, and in view of its formidable proportions its description might well pass unchallenged. The dimensions of the enormous strap are: Length, 15 feet; width, 7 fe weight, 3,300 pounds, and thickness, seven- eighths of an in In its construction <he selected portions of 450 oak-tanned hides, picked from over 5,000 skins, used. From end to end there is not a st rivet, and the figures ate the ingredient 2 made into glue to hold the roughen jes of the three tlers of hides together, and their quantities, would run away into milli ot the least interesting detail connect the building of this mammoth strap the method by which layers of skins have been arranged 80 that at every point from end to end there fs not a spot where at least two solld thick s of r have i ch or umer r to third not cover the spliced sections of thc estination of this monster belt fs the engine room of the Louisiana Electric Licht Company at New Orleans. When attached to the twenty t-foot driving whe ft the great Allis-Corliss engine the belt will transmit up to 3,000 horse p 3 5 wheel alone weighs eighty-five tons, whii the big engine itself will scale up to 500,000 peunds, see Elvira Re: To the Editer of The Evening §} I have read the letter, signed Minerva, protesting against my playing the piano and singing. My name ts not Elvira, but 1 well know whom this nasty Minerva is alluding to. I well know, too, who this Minerva is, and she need not think to es- cape under a fictitious name. If she dares again to interfere with my amusements and pleasures I shall expose her, The mean thing is too poor to buy a plano and too stupid to play it if she aad one. She, too, has no more voice than a crow, and is simply jealous of her neighbors. I will not be hindered in accomplishing myself by any cross, jealous or even tred neighbors. If Minerva does not fancy music she can move elsewhere, and I give the same advice to the other growlers in the block. Women now have some rights, and are not to be kept down by Minervas or Apollos, eithe: 1 shall ang the “wretched instrument” an hour longer each day, and put in two more hours on my vocal culture, and the windows shall all be open, too. ELVIRA. >— The Oldest House. It is said that Dr. Carver of St. Augus- tine, Fla., is living in the oldest housé tp the United States. It was built in 1562, apa was occupied by Spanish monks before Bh Augustine was founded. In tHe house Dr. | Carver has surrounded himself with 4 col- lection of antiquities connected with the history of Florida and the Spanish, whe once ruled it, that is of itself a yeritablg museum. His collection of ourjosities cons | tains relics connected with the first Spanis! seitlers thet date back into Moorish history, | @ thousand years ag }