Evening Star Newspaper, June 13, 1896, Page 22

22 THE EVENING STAR, SATURDAY, JUNE 18, 1896-TWENTY-FOUR PAGES. “OLD NASTY PARTICULAR,” BY GEORGE B. BURGIN, Author of “The Judge of the Four Corners.** ———_+—_—_. (Copyright, 1896, by the Bacheller Syndicate.) “Attention! Rear-rank man, dress up! said old Ceptain Deubleday, rapping se- verely on the gravel with his stick. “Be you a meaning me, master, or t’other man?” inquired Gubbins, as he permitted his spade to drop on the ground and de- scended from the majestic stiffness of military bearing to an agricultural atti- tude more expressive of everyday life. “How often am I to tell you?” snapped the captain. “It is a soldier's duty to obey, not to ask questions.” “Well, I bain’t a bleomin’ soldier,” grim- ly snorted Gubbins. “My name’s Gubbins. A plain, blunt, self-made man I am. “And very badly put together, too,” cried the captain, with a chuckle. “Your re- marks, Gubbins, are totally subversive of discipline. When you entered my service ardenes, surely I had a right to pre- sume you would obey my commands with- out argument.” Gubbins reclined on his spade. “What's the good of being a_man if I batn’t to argey?” he inquired. ‘When you says, ‘Rear-rank man dress up,’ 1 bain't agving to dress up. My working clothes is good enough for me any weekday. Overceme by such crass ignorance, Cap- tain Doubleday became purple with apoplectic rage, but the sight of Miss Priscilla’s curls at the door of the semi- @etached cottage calmed him at once. He bowed gallantly in her direction and turn- ed toward Gubbins and the boy. “Attention! Stand at ease! Break up, and mow the lawn,” he shouted. Gubbins interpreted the command Hteral- ly, and began to break up the lawn until somewhat roughly restrained by the cap- tain, when he grumblingly went away to his tool shed breathing threats of san- guinary vengeance on “Old Nasty Par- SThus left triumphantly on the battlefield the captain, lightly carrying his cane, pro- ceeded to demolish a dandelion which had had the impertinence to poke itself up through the lawn. Then he watched his prim rows of plants with an air of de- light, which vanished as soon as he per- ceived a weed in the path. He removed she weed, ground down the gravel with his boot, brought a small roller, and care- fully rolled the path. $ Any one gazing into “Old Nasty Particu- lar's” garden would have imagired that he was playing a game of chess. with the plants, or else conducting a series of mili- tary maneuvers, with sunflowers for sen- tries and hoilyhocks for forces. All the snapdragons were scientifically reduced to an exact height. and every stately lily and sunflower supported by a long stick paint- ed green, which was driven in at the same level, and at exactly the same distance from a precisely similar one. The borders of this litte garden were regulated with prim precision. It had no pleasant lux- uriance of blossom, but each plant was permitted to put forth flowers of a certain number, and any criminal prodigality on its part sternly cut short by the ever-vigilant captain. His foes in the village said that “Old Nasty Particular” would have fixed siting hours for the bees and but- reauean put up a notice board forbid- ding them to enter the garden at unauthor- ized times, hal such a proceeding heen feas- ible. Tie detested cats and dogs in the garden. His only familiar was a fat, bloatel old toad. which h out from a hole in the bank and wait aly-opened mouth until heediess bluebottles hur- riediy blundered Gaohins grav ed that the cap- “How often am I to tell yo fain was accustomed t> time the toad’s morning meal. a rive 4 back into his hole he provisioned himself for the Nd Nasty Particulars” move- Were safext iin the same style. med to be unler the impression that < parties of rary foes were oiteri 1g 1 sed a perpe +nd that unless he lance he would be 1 rushel off to unde! there to pine n for ransom. ad been but a month in the village before he managed to ne quarrel: owing to rive everything and pally on is. The fame uproarious with de- Sh moment. the vicar per- to drill them. ‘The cap- ona to the boys was brief. “Now, & great tain her- foree; if you don't learn to fight you'll find your country will go to the dogs. tm ou the rudimen:s, and then you look after yourseives. Whoever fights his country’s foes 1s a credit to that coun- try.” Detigh with this address, divided {tself into two camps—one Chinese, the other Japanese; in sheir first pitched battle, however, the faemer were defeated with great slaughter, and driven to seek the shelter of Poulter’s piantatioa until forced to capitulate. When the vicar learat the news he feared that he had let loose a tirebrand ameng his Peaceful villagers, but there was nothing More to be done except entreat the captain to tone down hi zeal. “The Citadel.” as the captain had named his cottage, was a semi-detached dweling divided by a long tron rail from Miss Pris. cilla Greene's. Miss Priscilla, a sweet-tem- bered. middle-aged sp:nster, with a beauti- ful and benevolert face, had been a litile overwhelmed at the thought of having such @ noisy neighbor as the captain, but he. on the very firat day of t-king possession, had accosted her with such extreme courtesy that she soon began to feel a new interest in existence “You must the school permit me. my dear m:dam, he said. “to constitute myseit the naminal Master of the garrison. As your earthworks Gt afterward dawned upon the wonderin Miss Priscilla that “Old Nasty Particul: allude: to the moss-covered bank at the bettom of both gardens) make One line with my own. it will be to our mutual advantage to organize some simple system of defense. ‘Thus, if I see any of the marauding village boys stealing your fruit I will force them back to their main line; and if you should see them in my garden and warn me 1 should esteem it a great favor.” Miss Priscilla had replied that nothing would give her greater pleasure, and the friendship so auspiciously commenced was stfll further cemented by an invitation t the captain to partake of a “ ish of tea’ with her and the vicar's wife. The captain, who had received the mie- sive from the hands of pretty Sittle Thyrza, Miss Pr'scilla’s maid, regarded that damsel with marked approval. There was a sug- gestion of lavender about Thyrza's white cap a apron which strongly appealed to the captain's sense of the poetic. He con- cluded that so neat a maid could only be the resuit of patient training on the part of her mistress, thus making a most egregious mista for Thyrza’s neatness was mainly due to an innate coquetry, Miss Priscilla having a mest bewildering habit of never remembering where she had put anything. But the manner in which the captain gainel Miss Prisctlla's perpetual gratitude Se payee be told. in an ill-advised mon ent, some four vear @g0, Miss Priscilla had commenc<d tokens fowls. Being too gentle to kill ‘hem, every year she had given away the chickens to friends. and now the original old roosier, the head and front of the family, Lad be. come so fierce and pugnactous that she was afraid to approach the henhouse at all. “Gen. Crook,” for so this ungainly Cochin China bird was called in the pedizree which be had brought with him from the poultry show, had a knack of vaca jug his own | premises whenever he felt particularly vin- dictive, in order to sail over into the gar- den, catch Miss Priscilla’s gown in his beak, and be dragged across the lawn until either her gown gave way or the general lost his breath. Miss Priscilla patiently endured this indignity, and never went into the garden without providing herself with an already open umbrella, with which to baffle the general's charge. As his invaria- ble method was to spread his wings out, put his head low down and rush. at the. open umbrella with the speed of an arrow from the bow, the general's first charge frequently carried his head and neck through the alpaca into the framework. Miss Priscilla would then abandon the um- brella and seek refuge in flight, leaving the general to extricate himself as vest he could, and crow derisively from the middle of her favorite flower bed, as if challeng- ing the whole world to mortal combat. Now, the captain was a carefil observer of men and things, and, as time hung somewhat heavily on his hands, the one de- sire of his life grew inte an overwhelming passion for the subjugation of the general, in addition to his many other mis- had lately developed a habit of crowing at 1 in the morning, and malicious- ly keeping on until 8. As the general's voice, though raucous and rough, possessed a peculiar carrying power, the captain had an add‘tional mouve for avenging his sleep- less nights. On the occasion of the tea party he gathered that Miss Priscilla and the vicar's wife were ready to adopt any plan which might involve the moral con- quest of the general without inflicting ser- ious bodily damage or depreciating his mar- ket value. With the wisdom of an exper- ienced campaigner, the captain conductad a reconnaissance in force or the henho' ard found that the general always reost in one particular corner, in which there — a ~ Miss Priscilla Fle the H Screaming Into use. was just room enough for him to flap his wings whilst crowing. During the gener- al’s customary hunt on the lawn one after- noon, the captain hurriedly fixed up a long bamboo from side to side over his perch, in such a way that he would be unaole to flap his wings before crowing; and then sat up all night waiting to see how the plan work- ed. Not a crow was heard from the gen- eral during the whole of the nignt, and the next morning he was observed to weakly strut about without betraying any interest whatever in his numerous retinue, as if vainly seeking some solution of the prob- lem. On the next night, however, he must have changed over to the only other perch in the henhouse, for again his clirion voice Tang out and disturbed the discorafited cap- tain. But this was the general's last at- tempt, for the captain put up another huge bamboo, which neariy broke the bird’s great heart. He even became so painfully de- jected as to let Miss Priscilla promenade alone for a couple of days, but on the third day sufficiently regained his spirits to make a gallant charge over the garden wall. Miss Priscilla fled screaming into the house, as the captain, with a sharp pair of “Ss in his hand, jumped the tron rail- ing and cut off the feathers from one of the general's wings close to the joint. The result of this was that when the general Lext entered the garden and made his cus- tomary charge, he could orly spread out one wing, and the wind caught and spun him round until ne experienced an attack of vertigo which nearly proved fatal. Even Miss Priscilla faced his advance with equanimity, and s-shed”* and drove him back in disgrace to his own dcmain. Having overcome Gen. Crook, the cap- tain’s next foe was the taithless serpent he had cherished in his own heart, to w Gubbins. PART I. Three days a week Gubbins “did for’ the captain, and three days a week for Miss Greene. Or the days when he toiled under the captain's eye, Gubbins was respectful, almost reverent, and even adopted his master’s views with approval, or professed to do so; but with the appearance of Thursday morning Gubbins was a totally different man. He regarded the captain from Miss Greene's garden with an air which was extremely exasperating to that choleric individual. It seemed to say: “You can erder me about on your own side of the railings; here I can do as I like, and I mean to.” Then Gubbins would toss things about in reckless confusion, and leave them so until it was with difficulty that the captain could restrain himseif frem jumping over the low iron rail. How- ever, the captain's opportunity came when it occurred to Miss Priscilla that if he was not afraid of Gen. Crook he certainly could rot fear Gubbins. There was something in the orderly array of the captain's gar- den which appealed to her very strongly. She was not methodical herself, but ex- plained to the captain that although she had not had the advantages of military training she could properly appreciate them in oth- ers. In t, the peor lady dwelt upon her own deficiencies until she aroused a feeling of ardent chivalry in the captain’s symp.- thetic bosom. think, Capt. Doubleday,” she remark- ed, “it would do Gubbins good if you were kind exouch to gently reason with him as to his obstinacy. For instance, I preferred to have a rose bush in that center bed: Gubbins replaced it with dahlias. When I requested him to renew the parsley, he grunted ard planted onions.” “Now, Capt. Doubleday,” continued poor Miss Priscilla, “I don't think that onions are either a becoming or ladylike vegetable and I should be so much obliged to you if you could convince Gubbins that they are far more appropriate ig his parish allot- ment than in my garden.” The captain kissed Miss Priscilla’s hand. “Sav tne word, my dear madam,” he replied, “and I'll run Gubbins through the body and fling him to dogs, although ‘ow, you dashed donkey, take out those dahlias.” I don't believe a self-respecting dog would have anything to do with him.” ‘Womanlike, Miss Priscilla was fright- ened by the tempest she had awakened. “I think I had rather go out,” she said, “while you argue with Gubbins.”” “It would be better,” said the captain with a smile which meant mischief, al- though Miss Priscilla did not guess it. As soon as Miss Priscilla was well out of sight the captain bounded over the rail- ings with the agility of a grayhound. His method of argument with Gubbins consist- ed in grasping him by the neckcloth until the gardener became purple. “Now you dashed donkey, take out thos2 dahlias.” Frantie with fear, Gubbins took out the dahlias. “Now.” said the captain, “plant the rose bush in the same bed.” With a celerity not to be expected from his years, Gubbins dug up the rose bush and placed it in the middle bed, although it was not the right season to move it. “Now,” said the captain, “to the “onion bed, you muddle-headed, dahlia-digging, public - house --haunting, shilling - seeking scoundrel Gubbins’ mode of progression to the pro- faned parsley bed could hardly be called a triumphal one inasmuch as it consisied of a startled shuflle thither. He did not even wait for an order to destroy the onions, but dug them up with a willingness ne had not displayed for years. The captain stoad ever him until the parsley blossomed in the wilderness, as it were. “Be I to take my orders from you?” — asked Gubbins, ashe concluded his task. “You be,” ungrammatically growled the captain; “and when I give an order and it isn’t obeyed, somebody suffers. If you pre- sume to annoy Miss Priscilla again, I'l make a rack myself and stretch you or. it.” He vaulted back again into his own grounds, leaving Gubbins palsied with ter- ror. Thus it came to pass that in a short time Miss Priscilla’s part of the garden exactly resembled the captain's. The “dragon’s mouths” and dahlias, chrysanthemums and cornflowers. were ali ranged in precisely the same order, tied with similar little green-painted sticks, and any wanton originality on their part in the way of blossom sternly repressed. In fact, it was a remark of the vicar’s about this similarity between the gardens which set the captain thinking very seriously, in- deed. “I don't see why,” the vicar declared, “you should not knock down that absurd partition, and turn it into one homo- Zeneous whole.” The word “homogeneous” frightened the captain. He also understood that the vicar thought people were beginning to talk about his attentions to Miss Priscilla. With customary impetuosity, the captain went blue with anger, and abruptly turned away with a muttered anathema on people who would not mind their own business. Miss Priscilla (she Jooked very placid and peaceful) was taking tea on the lawn under a weeping willow, which defied even the captain's training to convert it into the exact semblance of an open umbrella. During the last month it had uncon- sciously been agreed between them that the taking tea in the open air together did not involve any impropriety on their part, and that @ chaperone was unnecessary. The captain, indeed, with the courtesy of an old campaigner, had pressed Miss Pris- cilla to take tea with him in his garden, but for several reasons Miss Priscilla felt this to be inexpedient. In the first place, she did not approve of the captain's method of making tea; there was a military ab- ruptness about the flavor which failed to recommend it to her taste: and in the sec- ond, it scarcely seemed right to be seen in the captain's garden without the presence of the vicar’s wife to lend an air of staid Propriety to the proceedings. But the vicar's wife was not available every after- noon, and so, as a matter of course, ut 4 o'clock the captain would vault over the iron rail and drink six or seven cups of tea in the fiercely aggressive manner which always betokened how profoundly he was enjoying himself. On this particular occasion, the captair. alarmed Miss Priscilla by taking four cups of tea only, and then coughing violently, as if about to break a blood vessel. He was on the eve of a decitration of mar- tiage, but, old campaigner though he was, trvously refrained from making it. He but down his tea cup, dusted a crumb from off his coat, pulled up his collar and cough- ed _inpressively. “T assure you, mdam,” hurrying about fro: life, this village seem: (As a matter of he said, “after ce to place all my a haven of peace.” fact, ever since putting his foot inte ft, the captain had set every- thing and everybody by the ears.) Miss Priscilla felt flattered. hepe we have done our Lest to make it pleasant for you." Beneuth the gaze of her limp!1 blue eyes the capcain grew still more confused. “Madam,” he sald, “I thought I had settle] down here to end my days, fear it Is a mistake : Then he strove to look pathetic, but, as he was strong as a bull, only partially succeeded. Miss Priscilla’s heart sank within her at the thought of the captain's departure. She had slept more peacefully ever since the knowledge that his strong arm would be raised in her defense at a moment's no- tice. Now if he went away jain she would be left to endure all the terrors of loneliness. The mere sight of his aggres- sive presence in the garden, the sound of his loud laughter, thrilled her with delight. No one had ever taken such an intere: tin her doings this fereciou captain; no one had ever fought so fiercely in her de- | “Will you give me another to wear on my heart forevert” fense; no one had ever bullied Gubbirs be- fore; and, worst of all, If the captain went away, Gubbins would again revolt snd be rougher than ever. Her plue eyes briinmed with tears; had the captain been an ob- servant man, he would have noticed the nervous tinkling of her spoon aga‘nst the saucer. But he was not an observant man, and was mainly occupied in thinking how to storm and carry the citadel. He was anxious, too, that the viear's remarks should not reach Priseilla, lest she should be overwhelmed with shame, and also leave the village. “I'm a man of few words,” tain, telling one of th: he had ever uttere I'm a man of few words, Miss Priscilla, and dislike thinking that divisions should exist between us. He glanced at the rail. Miss Priscilla hastened to assure the captain that she esteemed and respected him highly. You see, my dear madam.” continued the captain, “it's a man’s nature to be en- vious and greedy. Not content with my own half of this garden and little home (he was accustomed to call it his ‘country box’ when writing to friends), I want your half, too. It would be perfect if the rail were taken away. You may remember that you permitted me to restore one rose to your garden; will you give me one to wear on my heart forever?” Miss Priscilla’s answer may be guessed from the fact that when Gubbins arrived next day he discovered the captain busily engaged in pulling down the division be- tween the two gardens. “Well, I'm gormed!” ejaculated Gubbins. “Possibly,” said the captain, “although I'm rot in @ position to know whether you are gormed or not, as you call it. D’you think you can realize on2 fact?” bain’t sure. . Bain't you? Well, in future, remem- ber that you will obey my orders for six days in the week instead of three. You may also convey this information to Gen- eral. Crook: If he doesn’t turn over a new leaf he'll be stewed.”” Hours after, Gubbins was found in the fowl yard by his deputy, feebly regard- ing the general. “Old Nasty Particular wants you,” said the deputy. The general looked at Gubbins; Gubbins looked at the general. The general crawl- ed dejectedly into the fowl house, and Gub- bins went back to his work. The general held out until the wedding, and then died. Gubbins’ private opinion is that it broke his heart. aid the cap- greatest untruths (The end.) ——___ Men’s White Shirts. From the New York Sun. A shirt that opens in the front is less likely te break across the bosom than one that opens in the back only; and one that opens in the front only (many shirts are now made to open front and back, too) fits best; the buttonhkoles in the collar band and the eyelets, or other openings in the bosom for studs, afford sufficient play, while the yoke of the shirt remains firm and smooth, The shirt that opens front and back has the advantage that the studs can be put in place before the shirt is put on; in putting on and taking off the shirt, it is opened at the back; the studs‘ need not be removed untli the shirt is sent to the wash; with this freedom from handling, the shirt fs likely to remain longer in suit- eble condition for wear. The proportion of shirts made to open in front, either front and back both, or front only, is all the time increasing. More and more shirts are row being worn with cuffs attached. From the Woonsocket Patriot. She—“Did you tell Fibs of our engage- ment?” He—“Yes.” She (agerieved)—“You promised that you would say nothing about it.” He—“It’s perfectly safe with Fibs; no one eyer believes him.” HELP TO FARMERS Unique Map Which Will Show the Animal and Vegetable Belts. WHAT SECRETARY MORTON PROPOSES Results Expected From the Pro- posed Survey of the Country. SOIL AND CLIMATE HE BIOLOGICAL survey will be the name of a brand new government _Institu- tion, to go into ex- istence the Ist of next month. Mr. Morton, the Secre- tary of Agriculture, is to be its creator, and it will be con- ducted ander the ju- risdiction of his de- partment. Just as the geological survey determines the mineral belts of the coun- try, the new biological survey will deter- mine its animal and vegetable belts. The result is expected to be a tremendous eco- nomic advantage to our producers. Our agriculturists, horticulturists, stock rais- ers and those engaged in any of the va- rious animal or vegetable industries are, after a few years, to be given charts show- ing the exact portions of cach state and territory where certain animals and vege- tables can be advantageously raised. These will be supplemented by a great catalogue containing every land animal and vegetable of the world, and indicating- the areas in which they may be raised or cultivated by Americans. Millions of dollars are throwa away each year by farmers and other producers, who plant seed in the wrong sofl or climate, or who undertake to breed animals where the atmosphere and food resourze ig uncon- genial. An efficient corps of naturalists will make a detailed survey of the whole country, counting and classifying the liv- ing species found in each county of each state and territory. They will also note the conditions of ciimate, altitude and soil, and will note how far each condition in- fluences the distribution of the species. No other country in the world has ever in- stituted a survey of this kind. How the Work in to Re Donec. The chief of the new survey will be Dr. C. Hart Merriam, now chief of the division of ornithology and mammalogy in the De- partment of Agriculture. The field work will-be performed by six naturalists, to be distributed about the country and shifted from north to south, according to change of season. In a few weeks Dr. Merriam will start out upon a surveying tour in the far west. His equipment will consist of a light buckboard, with outriggers. to be drawn by mules. Upon the back of this will rest a large chest for containing speci- mens. The outriggers will hold the camp equipment and subsistence, which wil! in- clude dry rations, to be eaien with such game #s may be met on the way. The doctor will be accompanied by his first as- sistant, Mr. Vernon Bailey. Both will ride saddle horses, while a third man will drive the team and act as packer. This modest army of naturalists will wage bloody war against all animal life—not domesticated—met on the march. Before resting In camp each night they will set several hundred traps for catching noc- turnal animals. As they proceed on the | march by daylight they will rain showers of hot lead upon birds and beasts. For killing birds and small animals will be used shot- uns with auxiliary barrels of from .2% to #2caliber. These wil! fit Inside the ordinary berrels, and will dispatch shot almost as fine as powder, so selected because it does not injure the specimens. Animal Belts, As each animal is trapped or shot it will be skinned and stuffed. Its skull will be saved and sealed in a glass bottle. Tags at- tached to each specimen will contain its name and the exact locality where it was found. Specimens of characteristic species collected in this manner throughout the covntry will be studied with reference to plotting the animal belts or zones. This work, which is of preliminary nature, is al- mest completd, characteristic species of almest every state having been collected by the division of ornithology and mammalogy. Charts will be completed showing the belts occupied by each species, studied one at a time. The naturalists will have before them as many large topographical charts as the total number of species found. The zone of the mink. for Instance, will be de- termined by taking each specimen of that species found in the field and making on a map a dot, showing the locality where each was killed. These dots will cluster and the areas included jn the clusters will be tinted in a representative color. The same process will be employed for plot- ting zones for each species of vegetable. Besides indicating the sections of the country in which valuable animal and plant life can be raised with success, Dr. Mer- riam tells the writer that his survey will determine the zones in which injurious in- sects, animals and weeds abound, or are Ikely to migrate when certain species are introduced. This will further save our country, it ig, thought, many thousands of dollars. For instance, a farmer may want to plant potatoes on the side of a moun- tain. He will look at the biological map and first learn between what altitudes po- tatoes will flourish. He will next locate the potato bug zone. He will plant an where in the potato zone except that part intersected by the potato bug zone. Adapted to the Climate. The same theory applied to other forms of life would hold good for level lands, all of which are included in one of the various zenes. Minks, weazels, rats, mice, moles and other denizens of the field which prey upon produce will be located just as in- sects. In determining their zones as well as those of weeds, it must be predicted whether they wil! prosper in new localities after the introduction of plants and ani- mals upon which they depend for subsist- erce. Not only will persons living in af- fected zones be warned against raising cer- tain things, but those adjaceit will he ad- vised to get rich by raising those things affected in the nearby injurious zone. What foreign products are adapted to our zones? This, Dr. Merriam tells the writer, is the greatest of all economic problems to be solved by his survey. As soon as we know definitely where to put them, we can | take any animal or plant species and find it a suitable climate. We have a sample here of practically every life-zone in the world. Foreign species introduced here in appropriate climates have, so far, seemed to prosper better than in their rative climes. This, Dr. Merriam says, is for the reason that they get away from their natural enemies. The best example of this is the English sparrow. By artificial selection domestic animals can be adapted more widely to the different zones than wild ones, but there is a limit which frequently causes breeders of foreign species to lose many dollars. For !nstance, much money has been lost by American breeders who have striven to raise Jersey cattle in high gones where Holsteins will Prosper, but where the former will perish. JOHN ELFRETH WATKINS, Jr. THAT MILE-A-MINUTE BIKE. The Wheel That It T ur Men to Hold After It Had Killed [ts Inventor. From the Boston Evening Transeript. At about 11 o'clock tnis morning S. H. Roper, the inventor of a steam bicycle, died of heart disease while making a trial of his machine on the track of the new Charles River Park, in Cambridge. He had made an independent trial of his machine, accomplishing a mile in 2.01 1-5, and at the time of his death was making another trial against, Nat Butler, the noted professional. He had completed three-quarters of the mile, giving Butler, who is one of the speediest men in the country, all that he wanted to do, and was com’gz down to the turn on the last lap, when dmddenly it was seen that he was wavering in his seat, and an instant later he plunged forward onto his face. The tremendous speed at which he was going carried man and machine over each other, the bicycle coming down on top of Roper, who did not move after he struck the ground. The men at the training quarters who had witnessed the accident rushed down the track toward him. He had died so suddenly that he had not had time to shut off the power, and the wheels of the ma- chine were flying round at a fearful rate, tearing up the track, while the coals had fallen out of the door of the firebox, which had come on the under side in the fall, so that it looked as if both man and machine were on fire. The machine was lifted from lum, but the men who did it were unac- quainted with its workings, and were un- able to shut off the power.’ As soon as it Was set up with the wheels on the track it was all that they could do to hold it, and it was some minutes before they could fit.d the throttle, shut off the steam and open the safety valve to prevent the danger of an explosion. As soon as the machine was quiet Roper was picked up, and it was seen that the man was dead. A physician was summoned, and pronounced that he had died from heart disease. There is 10 ques- tion that he was dead before he struck the sround, as there was no injury upon him that would have been sufficient to have caused his death. It is probable that the tremendous speed at which he was going and the excitement of his success were the cauge of the attack. He was a mechanical engineer, seventy-three years old, living at 2 Eustis street, Roxbury. The affair is a particularly sad one, as the trial in which ke met his death was the consummation of an idea which has cost hima years of study and hard labor. The machine on which he was riding had been tried and altered as defects were found, over and over again, and he had just succeeded in getting it to suit himself. As far as can be learned, It was a success in every way, as it was worked up to a great speed this morning without showing any of the straining or twisting which has always been the trouble with bicycles op- erated in any other manner than by foot power. The niile which he did in 2.10 1 represents only a fraction of the speed which could be attained by machine, as the track is so small that he was un- able to let it out anywhere near its full power, and on the turns shut off the power entirely, and coasted around until he came into the straight again. It is the opinion of many good judges of pace who watched the trial this morning that in the straight, where he was able to speed up pretty well, he was going at a speed of nearly a mile a minute, and that he could have attained quite that on a straightaway course. There was no one at the track this morn- ing who was familiar enough with the m chine to give a detailed description of it, but it is apparently of about three or four horse power. The firebox, Loiler and water tank are all contained in an oak box about th¥ee feet high, two feet long and ten or eleven inches wide, placed inside of the frame of an old-style Columbia bicycle, with the bottom about eight inches from the ground and the top a little above the top of the frame, the whole machine weighing in the neighborhood of 200 to 250 pounds. The application of the power is on the right side of the machine, and is much the same as that in use on marine engine: except that the piston works in a horizo: tal direction instead of vertically, as is the case with most marine engines, and that the end of the crank, instead of running in a bearing, is free, with the eccentric rod applying to the free end, the other end, of course, being fixed to the rear wheel. It might be thought that this would give a good deal of a twist if the power were applied very hard, but this apparenuy is not so, for in spite of the rough handling which the machine had this morning all this part of it was in perfect condition, al- though on the other side, where {t had fal- jen, !t was a good deal smashed up. “Both the piston rod and the eccentric rod run through several guides, which were at- tached to the lower side of the frame of the bicycle, so that the whole is firm and com- pact. The throttle is on the outside of the machine, just above the cylinder, so that if the cord connecting with the handle bar, by which it is usually operated, fails to work, it can be shut off by a dircet appli- cation. The machine ts a coal burner, and has a funnel, projecting backward almost on a straight line, so that the smoke is thrown out behind the rider. The running of the machine works an automatic pump which is provided with a cut-off, which op- erates when the boiler is full. It has also a draught re; tor, by which the fii n he blown up to almost any height. The machine usually carrie 140 pounds of steam, but the pressure could be run up to 16 — oe Twenty Cents Out of Five. From the New York Tribune, Stories about the invivility of conductors and the failure of gripmen and drivers to see wailing passengers are so plentiful that they fail to attract much atiention; but a conductor on a sur road with a grievance against the pubi is a novelt worthy of mention. He a3 Seen on a Madison avenue car a few a: ago, and this was his story: “A man on this line has no call to kk. If he behav s himself he’s sure to keep his place, and his pas sengers are the best in the city. No use watching for fares like a man has to on seme lines, because most of the people who you their ride with when the But som| in the corner, upper end of the car, where a middie-ag. well-dressed man sat behind his paper. lost 20 cents on that man," continucd the conductor, “ard I don't think he wanted to do me, either. He gave me a nickel, and after the car had gone ten blocks called me and said he wanted his 20 cents cha I always put my nickels in this pecke: pointing to the outside pocket on the rigat side of his coat, “und that’s where I put his coin, and then I showed him every piece I had in the lot, but he insisted and looked sharp at my badge, and waat was I to do? It was his word against mine, aud I scttled it by blowing in 2) cents. The worst of it is,” he added, “the man really thinks he gave me a quarter, and that I wanted to do him. But what's a man going to do about it?” and then he shouted: “Change for the West Side and Astoria ferry—this ear for Harlem. ‘There was no sign of anger on the fac of the conductor, but when the st-vter cai ed: “Right—Harlem!” be scemed to give th: bell strap a couple of extra vigorous pull: ——— TESTS OF ENDURANCE FOR LOVERS us would hand and ke nodded toward the Methods in Vogue in Africa of Try- ing Man's Fitness for Marringe. From the Picayune. No other country offers such opportuni- ties to those desiring to marry as America. In that respect it is truly the home of the free and the land of the brave, the foolhardy. In some countries matrimonially inelined Lave to get the pa- rents’ consent, in others the prospective bridegroom has te show that he can sup- pert a wife. Uncle Sam throws no such obstacles in the path of true love. He rec- egnizes every man's right to starve a wo- man if she is willing, and provided one can raise the slight fee necessary for the li- cense, there is nothing to hinder him from getting married if he can find a woman of the same mind. In South Africa the sav- age tribes nave a peculiar ceremony wh they put the matrimonial candidate through yrevious to his entering the hol estate. His hands are tied up in a bag containing fire ants for two hours. If he betrs unmeved the terture of their stings he is considered qualified to cope with the nagging ard daily jar and fret of married life. Such a man would mzke an admir- able hushind. He would not be upset b: the thoughts of a spring bonnet or grow irritable evcry time the steak was over- done. The idea of having a patience trial for those about to marry Is a good idea that civilized people might adopt. -—-see. Building Terms, From Life. Floored with a hardwood finish. Highest of all in Leavening Power.— Latest U.S. Gov't Report Ro al Baking Powder ABSOLUTELY PURE SAID TO RAISE THE DEAD. Supernatural Powers King’s Inland Medicine Me From the San Francisco Call. “The strangest island in the world,” said Capt. M. J. Healy of the United States steamer Bear last night at the Occidental Hotel, “is King’s Island, 2,500 miles north- west of here and 120 miles off the coast of Siberia. “It lies almost in the middle of Bering straits, almost equidistant from the Asiatic | and American shores. It is inhabited by 186 of the queerest people I ever set eyes upon. The inhabitants comprise men, women and children of all ages, and be- sides these there are numerous dogs of all degrees except high. “The island is little more than a rock rising out of the storm tossed waters of the ever-turbulent straits, It is about a mile long and half a mile wide, and its sides are so precipitous tha: they are like cliffs. Almost in the middle of the island and at the south side is an indentation made by the rushing waters. This is exp: into a funnel-like hole, reaching into the island and out at the top at an angle ap- proximating fifty degrees. The hole is 10 feet deep, and during stormy weather the natives let down a rope and drag up the seals, walruses and other sea animais which they have taken. 3 “It is on these animals that the natives subsist. They are very expert in taking them, as well as great whales, which they do not fear to attack, and, in fact, secure as trophies of their prowess. They hunt all these animals in their kyaks—boats so stout and skillfully made that, though they are often tossed over and over by the surt, they are never wrecked and are speedily righted, The boatmen sit with their feet in holes in the boats, clad in water-tight walrus skins. These boats will put off suc- cessfully where the ordinary boat would not live a minute. “But about the catch of these walruses and other animals and the strange island. The natives have scooped out queer recep- tacles on both sides of the entrance on the j ledge. These ure so cool that they are natural refrigerators, and in these they store the bodies of the animals for future use. There are about twenty of these re- ceptacies cr natural refrigerators, and there is nearly always a supply of meat in them, so that the chances of starving at any time are comparatively scarce. “On the right side of the island above Is the village of the Indians. It is a queer town, whose miniature houses are made of | valrus skins stretched on light frames. | The ground is so rough that the little skin | abodes are ranged one above the other, like | houses in a mining camp on a mountain | side. In the distance they look small and fregile, but they are full of people and active as beehives. “From the tossing waves where the Bear lay the catacom!-like refrigerators and the village presented a novel appearance. “The island, although a sort of republic in its government, is ruled by a few medi- cine men, each of different degrees of im- pertance. The medicine men hola their po- sitions by their remarkable feats of leger- gemain. Many people -have gone to see Herrmann, and Blitz also in his lifetime, and have wondered at the feats they have seen them perform. But I undertake to say that none of these professors of the Mlack art have performed more marvelous things than I have seen these barbarian medicine men do there. “For instance, I have seen one of these medicine men take a man and lay him on a table and take a big knife and stick it right into him to the handle. The man would writhe, tarn pale, gasp and die. Then the medicine man would withdraw the knife go thrcugh a few incantations, fumble over the victim, and In a moment he would get up and go about, sound as ever. “I have also seen them pluck out rabbits, birds and other forms of animal life from impossible places. They would do things | before your eves that were marvelous to | us and to all the natives, for, of course, the natives implicitly in the super- natural powers of their medicine men, “Bui the strangest thing I saw happened on board my ship one day. There were about 10 of tnese natives aboard. One of the natives, a girl, fell down with a hemor- The he rhage and vomited blood all around. licod came from her lungs in streams. was lying there on the deck as pale and I thought to myself that she wo: there, so 1 rushed a man off to get Dr. mans, the Bear's surgeon. Before the doctor could get there the chief medicine man rushed out, and, going to the girl, he blew first into one ear and then into the other, and then tapped her on the chin, and she got up and was all right again, and she began dancing around on the ship as healthy and active as though there never had been the least th the matter with her. And, mark you, Wasn't two minutes from the time she the hemorthages. I never saw anythin marvelous in my life. There was all bicod before me on the ship, too. ‘alk about queer things, where is Herr- 1 and civilization alongside of that?” the ma: he tribe of Indians have lived there from time immemorial. They have been horn there, and on the tsland they bury their dead. The Indians are nomads, and leave the island every summer, with th: exception of a few heusekeepers, and don’t come hack till September. They go to the mainland on both sides, wandering about like our American Indians used to do on the prairies, only that these live largely in the'r kyaks. while they hunt for seals, walruses and whales, “The strange rock in the sea which is the abode of these natives is about thirty miles from Port Clarence. I relieved them twice when they had, through infortuitous cir- cumstances, been reduced to a point border- ing on starvation. “I cannot see but that these natives on that rude rock in bleak and distant Bering straits are as happy as any people I have ever known, Their children are as forful, apparently, as ours, and in all respects the people seem to enjoy life as well as we do here. Did you ever hear of another people like them? If I had not seen them I would find it hard to believe that they actually existed.” —SESE Unconsciousness of Sclf. From Harper's Bazzr, The most graceful attribute in the world, and naturaliy the most difficult to acquire, is unconsciousness. Robed in that gar- ment, which is like a cloak of invisibility to the wearer, one may do what one will, be what one likes, and none can be critical, because unconsciousness utterly disarms criticism. Hundreds of people, born shy and con- scious of self, from no fault of theirs—for poor souls, they are often humbleminded enough—are criticised or written down as | Froud er cold, when they can no more | ferce the muscles of their will to the sweet | cordiality of unconsciousness than can the near-sighted man strain his eyes to see across the strect the bows and smiles of his acquaintances. "The shy friend who meets you as if you had committed a mortal offense in holding out your hand, and who returns the pres- sure of your fingers with a stiff grasp, may be riotously happy in his soul at this meet- ing, and yet have less power to express his feelings than the dumb animals that can at least fawa upon those they love. ‘There seems to be a kind of paralysis at- tacking some victims of shyness that can never be wholly curable, and yet, like all other diseases, 4t is open to alleviations if the patient uses his will. Shyness is conquerable in measure, and | ene of the best rules for curing this mental | stammer is for the affected ones to firmly make up their minds that in all emerg- | encies, social or bodily, they will act as if they alone -were present, and all salvation hanging on © single-handed effort. It is undoubtedly true that even life has been lost while a crowd stood gaping, each sure that the other would be the one to act, and each shy of interfering until too late. —-—_+«+____ — She May Get There Yet. From the Yonkers Statesman, Edwina—“How is Mr. Blushman getting aleng? Has he proposed yet?"- Edith—“No: but he’s improving. The first n'ght he called he heid the album in bh hands all evening, the second night he my pug dog in his arms; last nizht he held Willie on his lap for an hour, I have hopes.” | jalt THE SUN AN ELECTR IGHT. A New Theory to Explain the Sun's Heat ix Maintained. From the Chicago Inter-Ocean. Dr. Adam Miller has prepared a paper on his new theory of the sun's light. He d¢ clares that the sun is in reality a om moth electric light. The very interesting peper in which this contention is put fortin is as follows: Some time ago I wrote an art cating the theory that the sun was fed and its light kept up by electricity. After # mcre careful study of the subject, I find it is in itself wn electric light. It is not to be viewed as a jiighthouse on the shores of a rock-bound coast, shedding its borrowed light to guide the mariner in his course, but as a central power house of untold energy, to hold and guide revolving worlds in their motion around this pImIMON ter. After examining the opinions of differ writers on soiar light and heat, end the d'fferent views on this subject, ‘in conn tion with well-known facts on the sub of electricity, Iam led to the conclusic that the sun is it f the great electri light of the solar system, and that this mst finally be recognized ax a fact in science. 1 am the more confident in this trom the fact that, up to this time, no theory has been offered on which astruno- mers could generally unite. le ad The theory now generally received by as- tronomers is that the solar orb is in a process of shrinking, and in this way it is supposed that the light and heat are pro- duced; but this is not regarded as a Tact in science. It is a hypothesis of a doubtful character, and is received only from a want of something more in harmony with scien- tific facts. Now, since electricity has come to the front as a great working force in nature, we may look at this as the most probable cause of solar energy and activity. This giant power is governed by certain laws, which we can study, and from which we can make certain calculations, and thus arrive at scientific conclusion: The parti- cles of matter constantly thrown out from the sun, as revealed by the telex the result of magnetic repulsion. Now, w appeal to facts revealed through the te scope, and here we learn that an immense amount of matter is constantly thrown out from the sun, and this is regularly returned by the sun's attraction. This cannot be ac counted for by the shrinking of the sun, but it can be accounted for most clearly by the different cicctrical conditions of the: Particles of matter. By the immense ma. uetism of the sun they become positive.ar consequently are repelled, as a positive re- pels a positive. When they are pushed out from 21,000 to 300,44 tniles their positis electric condition is changed to a negative condition, and then they are attracted by the sun, and return with an immense foree, and by this repeated contact with the sur- face of the sun, develop immense currents of electricity, Here there is no waste of energies, for the boundless store of electricity cannot be wasted. Here we will find the master key that have that will unlock the mysteri surrounded this subject in the A distinguished astronc 3 true explanation is reserved for the sci which shall reveal the nature of the nection which unites heat to elect magnetism, and to the cause of gravity is we have in the theory presented, and the truth that forces itself upon us is that the sun itself is an electric light on an enormous scale,and this is kept up through es by magnetic repulsion and at- traction of cosmical matter, according to electric conditions. This bo ardment constantly going on the surface of the sun is a scientit fact, demonstrated by observations through the telescope, and not a th guessed at to set aside by another guessing in another direction. ANS: ty, to on The bright, shining surface of the sun | which we see with the naked eye is th Photosphere which appears perfectly smooth and uniform: but the telescope re veais a constant state of disturbance on the surface of the sun, and these down- rushings of and upheavals of electric storms, exceeding by a thousand fold all the cyclones and tornadoes ever witnessed on this earth, can only be accounted for on the theory of electrical action. The spots seen on the surface of the sun through the teles can be nothing less than immens: through the photo- sphere, ¢ storms, Dr. Newcomb says: “The great question in the present state of science is how the supp of heat is maintained against such an immense loss by radiat Well, we may now prociaim that we hav found the ever-flowing fountain, streaming cut from every star and every world throughout the universal empire—enough to supply all demands for millions on mil- lions of years. All other theories point to a waste of en- ergies that foretell the final deom of na- ture; but electricity can never fail in it the elements of perpetual motion. luanifests a power that is sui generis power is bound! Sand yet under the tol of a higher law working out the ns of an infinite mind and will. se. INS ON CYCLONE It has It Its PROF. Wc The atmosphere, When not electrically Professor E. Stone Wiggins rféctly dry and cannot hold water in solution. The particles of air com- posing the atmosphere then repel each other and the air is light. This Misstssippi cur- rent was then under great electric tension and war loaded with vapor Suddenly the telegraph Wires converging in St. Louis which stretch in all directions over the vast areas of the west. began to draw off the electric force from the current. The air particles, being no longer held asunder, rushed together and an air column over the city in a moment became heavy and sank down, and the surrounding alr, rushing in to fill the void, created a cyclone, just ax a sinking ship causes a whirlpool. That's the &uswer in a nutshell. Ten years ago I warred the people of the United States and Canala that these cyclones would become more and more destructive by the extensio of the wire network of telegraph and te phone wires and wire fencing, and that steps should be taken immediately to force all companies to place their wires under- ground, where they would be harmless. No action was taken, and the wholesale miur- dcr of thousends of innooent people goes on. Teven weni so far as to say that these cyclones would soon appear in Canada, and the time was not far off when bu Idings in the capital would be pitched into the Otta- wa river. Instead of acting on my advice, the press, more friendiy to companies than philosophy, made light of my warning, and | You see the consequence. They are, how- ever, awakening to the fact that what T said was true, and within the next five y 80 great will be the pressure of public « ion that a wire will not be allowed above ground, either in the United States or Can- ada. Then not only will the nes dis- appear, but with them that more deadly for of human life—drouth.” The dear things.—Life.