Evening Star Newspaper, June 20, 1896, Page 14

sash tis rather early yet to speak positive- ly,” said an attache of the weather bureau, “put there are many reasons for express- ing an opinion that it will rain on the Fourth of July. There is a legend among those who study the weather that ‘a camp meeting, a circus and the Fourth of July will always draw rain,’ even if everything else fails. The records show that of the past thirty-three Fourths of July twenty- three have been rainy, that is, ten clear of July in thirty-three years. The therefore, are that the glorious ourth will bring falling weather, if not deed a howling storm. I expressed this same opinion in The Star at this date last year, and was laughed at; but it rained just the same. «ee KE “My experience has been,” observed an old clerk in one of the executive ‘epart- ments, “that it is a mistake to restore clerks to their places who have been drop- ped because they were a scold, a mischief- maker or a shirker of work. These cf- fenses are very generally recognized by departmental ‘employes. One mischief- maker does more harm tn a department than dozens of persons who are known to be unable at all times to do the work as- signed to them.”” eee eK “That man is a mail catcher,” remarked a clerk at the city post office, “and ene of @ class who are in such a hurry for their letters that they cannot wait for them to be delivered in the regular way. They tand in line as every mail is being opened and want their letters immediately.- As a rule they are a second rate kind of ageats, who have no office, and they are anxious about their letters for the reason that they expect fees or remittances in them. They come as regularly and as frequently as do the mails: never say a word, and depart a3 soon as the mails are opened and they find that there is or is not something for them, only to come again at the ext mail arrival.” ee EK is not dangerous if handled refully and intelligently,” observed a ler, t I would not advise the users w careless or ignorant servants touch it in any way. There is one thing I would like to impress oa users of gaso- and that Is it should be kept in a or a cool pla The can should upon the s the expiosive gas that trouble, while the same would practically safe if it was cool. Another thing should always in mind by the users of gasoline, is they should never be In too a hurry in starting their stoves. . and never try to warm up the start the fire with the same asoline de of to a elar laced so * ee KK ssengers give us much more an men,” said a conductor on nue line, “and they seem to take a #1 delight in violating one of the rules of the road by getting off from the wrong side of the car. It is well knwn that it is at times actually dangerous to alight from the left side of the car, and never perfectly “Lady trouble t safe at any time, for there is no telling when a car is approaching. We cam con- trol tnis to 2 great extent when we are running box outside gate when ears, where we.only keep the open, -but are entirely helpless using the summer cars. Say what ase, they persist in getting off from eft side of the car. This thing gives conduetor more worry than anything, i all things eise, during the trip. ee eK “My first impression was that the Dill nould be vetoed,” said President Cleve- "i last week to a delegation of gentle- who called on him in regard to sign- the bill allowing the Baltimore and Washington Transit Company to enter the and connect with the Brightwood ompany, thus for nearly a third running in the District, “though for a persorai reason, 1 admit. “I had an idea that this proposed road would run : m Sandy Spring to Fakoma Park, and that in doing so {t would run into the urr farm, near Colesville, where I have nt many hours squirrel hunting, but I am assured that the proposed line ts so far away that it will not scare off the squir- rels. Tis may not be constitutional grounds,” laughingly added the President, “and I will assure you that as soon as the bill whes me it will be signed.” The bill approved that afternoon. xe eK “I am not a believer in signs, as a rule, but there is one that, in my experience, has always come true,” observed the wife of a leading merchant. “Some days ago my eye began to twitch, and my old colored mam- ma, the children’s nurse, noticed it. Though I knew it myself, she reminded me that it meant that [ would have visitors that day, and, enough, though we were in no condition to receive visitors, being engaged in packing things away preparatory to go- ing into the ountry for the summer, three Visitors soon called. One of them was a lady, who had not called on me for a long time he had not been in my house long her eye began to twitch, and I told r what it meant. She hurried away, and her arrival home she had the pleasure of calls from several friends who to be ing through the city took the opportunity to make the call » waiting for a southern train connec- I have mentioned these occurrences ‘al friends, and I found that they me, believers in the sign. Among olk it has always been regarded as sign.” re xk eR “I was much interested in noticing the Oxford hats, or cardboards, worn by a party of graduating young ladies a few days sine remarked a prominent New England educator and literary man, “as they called back to my memory the very tter tight which followed their introduc- tion in this coun It wi in 1855, I think, th t the Oxford hat first made its appear- a at Cambridge, being worn by some Harvard students. Being ‘English, you know." the hat did not strike the Cambridge reople very and immediaely an opposition sprang up. The truck men of Eoston, as also the butchers, are remarka- bly well organized, and they led the oppo- sition, by wearing a band tied around their hats with the inscription, ‘Liberal Educa: tion,” the idea being to make the card- board headgear as ludicrous as possible. ‘They suceceded in the end, though the fight continued for over a year, and then the Harvard boys discarded the Oxford. Kos- — = = = ground. suth was then prominent, and the Kossuth | hat, with its black feather, was considera- | bly’ worn as an offset to the Oxford. The Kossuth hat, by the way, was the ploneer Gn REG Ge Ghee eee meetings were held in man: of New England, at which protests were made rgainst the Oxford. The Oxford hat dis- appeared entirely for nearly ten years, but finally was reintroduced. It was always more strongly favored by ladies than men, for the reason, I suppose, that it looks bet- ter on a young lady than it does on a man.” geo nes SENTENCE OF DEATH. A Dramatic Scene im a Western Court Room. 2 “One of the most tragic scenes I ever witnessed,” remarked a western judge at an up-town hotel to a Star reporter, “oc- curred in a court room in a small town in one of the new western states. That is to say, it was new then, but that has been forty years ago, and I was out there grow- ing up with the country and showing peo- ple how much law a youngster of twenty- one or two has at his fingers’ ends. The judge was a man of sixty or more, and in addition to a most venerable and dignified appearance and manner, he was the sad- dest-faced man I ever saw. He had come to our town ten or a dozen years before from the east, and we knew little of him, except that he was an able lawyer and jurist, and that his wife, who was the only other member of his family, and him- self had some great sorrow from which they had sought some escape from by going into a far country. * “Ours was a quiet town, and the judge and his wife seemed to live serenely enough, but they were evidently growing eld and feeble ahead of their time. One night our town was.all torn up by a rob- bery and murder and the capture of the killer and thief almost in the act. For a wonder he wasn’t lynched then and there, but he wasn't, and as-soon-as daylight came proceedings were instituted against the prisoner, and I -was appointed with another youngster to defend him. “Really there wasn’t any defense, and 1 was frank enough to tell him that he might be thankful if we could save him from a lynching. He was a stranger in the town, evidently led there by some stories he had heard of en old miser we nad among us, and was a man of perhaps thirty-three or four, with a most unpre- possessing appearance, greatly accentuated by a week's growth of rough whiskers, years of dissipation and hard living. In those days, and in such cases the law's de- lay was not much in force, and by 6 o'clock of the second day. the prisoner was stani- ing before the judge to receive sentence. As he stood there that day, a harder-look- ing customer I think I never saw. “‘Have you anything to say why sen- tence of death should not be pronounced upon you” said the judge, after all the pre- liminaries were over. “I have, your honor, if you are to pro- nounce that sentence,” reptied the prisoner with an air of almost impertinence. ‘At least,” he added, half apologetically, ‘pos- sibly under the circumstances you’ might not care to pronounce it.’ ‘This was entirely out of the ordinary, d I touched my client on the arm, and Was about to remind him of the customs ot the court, whea the judge requested to leave the prisoner to him. ‘Will you be kind enough to explain?’ he sald in a strangely excited tone. “ “Well, your honor,’ responded the pris- oner, without a quaver of voice, ‘as I'm | your only son— But the judge heard no more. It was evident that fhe knew the prisoner was telling the truth, for with a groan he threw up his hands and fell forward across the desk in front of him, dead, and a little stream of blood trickling from his lips. The excitement was terrific, and in the midst of it, the prisoner dashed through a window and would have escaped, but a timely shot from a rifle in the hands of a man on the outside settled him forever. And, best of all, his mother never knew. She lingered a few months after her hus- tand’s death, and the entire population of the town considered it to be a sacred obli- gation to He to her about the whole affair.” ——.__ Couldn’t Tell a Boy From a Girl. From the Chicago Times Record. An officer of the Woodlawn police station picked up a little child wandering down 63d street near Woodlawn avenue yesterday, and took it to the police station. “Here-is a little lost girl 1 found,” he sald to Sergeant Veil. The sergeant looked up, and, after taking a description of the youngster, sent out the following message: We have at this station a lost girl, about Bunco—“Stranger in New York, I see."* Farmer—“You've jist about struck it, b’gosh!”" Bunco—“That's what I thought. Now, let me give you a ‘steer.’ Farmer—‘Much obleeged, but I’m rayther two years old, with light, curly hair, blue eyes and fair complexion. She has on a blue checkered gingham dress, and a red silk handkerchief around her neck.” The message was sent out about 4 o'clock in the afternoon, and about 5 o'clock an anxious mother came into the Hyde Park Police station to report that her little son Alfred had strayed away from home. She said that he had on a blue checkered gingham dress and a red handkerchief around his neck. Sergeant Walsh looked over the message book and found the de- scription of a lost girl, and it corresponded tly with the description the mother had given of her boy. It was finally discovered that the tot at the Woodlawn police station was not a girl, but a boy, and the very one that was wanted. The little fellow proved to be Alfred Clisbee of No. 5463 Cottage Grove avenue. He had been missing since 11 o'clock in the morning. Sergeant Vell was made the butt of many jokes over his mistake, as he is a man of having six boys and girls of his Bobby’s Bad Break. From the Montreal Herald. Bobby (at the breakfast table)—“Maud, did Mr. Jones take any of the umbrellas or hats from the hall last night?” - Maud—“Why, of course not! Why should er" Bobby—“That’s just what I'd like to krow. I thought he did, because I heard tim say, when he was going out, ‘I'm go- ing to steal just one, and’'—Why, what's the matter, Maud?” ——— A Trifle Particular. From the Somerville Journal. long on steers. Ef you kin make it a couple o' young milch kyows, I'll take ‘em, b’gosh!” oo___ Returns Not In. From the Chicago Record. “I congratulate you, Wigginton, on hav- ing your three daughters married off.” “Just wait awhile, Hopkins; I can’t tell yet whether I have three daughters mar- ried off or three sons-in-law married on.” IN HOTEL CORRIDORS “Among the most peculiar models to be found at the patent office,” said A. L. Hart- man of Havana, Ill., at the Shoreham, “is one belonging to a friend of mine named ‘Taylor. No patent was ever issued, al- though Taylor’s name occurs in the patent office reports as the inventor of several other contrivances. For many years he tried to secure perpetual motion, and, in fact, did make some rather startling dis- coveries as to motive power, which have, however, never proved to be of practical value. Finally his mind became unbal- anced, and he bestowed his time upon the Production of a stove that would burn per- petually without smoke. His theory was that nothing in nature is lost, and all that was necessary was to reunite the sub- stances forming fuel, and thus keep them constantly burning. He prepared a model with numerous air chambers, but the pat- ent officials declined to issue a patent.” “I was somewhat surprised not to find a room in Washington where dominoes were played,” said C. R. Savage of Fort Worth, Texas, at the Riggs. “In Texas there is a law prohibiting card playing in saloons, which is rigidly enforced. The enactment ‘of the statute caused the saloon keepers to put in domino tables, and there are very few hotels or saloons where from one to a hundred games are not constantly in pro- gress during the day and late into the night. The game has become so popular that there would be almost universal mourning among the habitues of saloons should the law allow cards and- prohibit dominoes. The position of champion domi- no player in a Texas town is one of great honor and is fought for most assiduously. I have not seen a game of dominoes since I left Texas, and have tried in vain to find any one who plays. “The most peculiar swindle I ever knew of,” said A. R. Willingham of New York at the Ebbitt, “and one where detec- tion is very improbable, is being worked in New York. It is the returning of lost pocket books. The swindler works upon the theory that all men are rascals, and he finds enough who are not honest to make a good living. He gets an assort- ment of cheap pocket books, executes a bogus draft or two in the nama of his in- tended victim, puts in two or three cuun- terfeit bills of large denomination, inserts a card with the name of his victim upon it, then assuming an honest expression visits the man he has selected as a vic- tim, tells him he has found the pocket book, displaying its contents, and as the man’s name was in the book he had hunted him up. Then he tells a little story of being very poor, and the victim almost invari- ably gives him $3 or $10, and takes the book and its contents. Of course, he can say nothing when he finds that he has been swindled. The man who thus returns lost money succeeds in catching several during a day and realizes a good living.” “The most practical belief in ghosts I ever krew,” said A. P. Drennan of Chicago at the National, “is that of a customer of mine at Pekin, Ill. The firm is the leading one in the town handling agricultural im- plements and wagons. The business is transacted under the name of T. & H. Smith. I sold them several bills, and on one of my trips Mr. H. Smith, with whom I always dealt, said that he would confer with his brother that night as to a matter of business. I returned to the hotel and happened to mention that I was detained in order that the brothers could confer. To my astonishment, I learned that Thets Smith, to whom the matter was referred, had been dead for twenty years, but was supposed to return every night and conduct the business. In case of any doubt in the mind of the living brother, he goes to the office and confers with the spirit of his de- parted brother. The profits of the business are divided as they were before the death of the senior brother.” “I believs that the number 13 brings me good luck,” said P. T. Thornton of Louls- ville at the Metropolitan. “I don’t know whether or not it was because I was born on the 13th of the month, but I have watched it for years, and whenever there is a combination in which 13 appears it is a lucky one for me. I am as much of a crank in favor of the number as any one can possibly be against it. it I am having a dull bvsiress on the boss I ask the hotel clerks to give me room humber 13. It is remarkable how many hotels there are that have no room with that number, ard I om told that I am the only man who ever asks for a room with that number. Mcst men object to being given guch @ room.” “Pipe smoking 1s on the increase,” said B. D. Axley of Durham at the Howard. “When the present period of financial de- pression started, three years ago, a great many quit smoking cigars and began smok- ing pipes, as a measure of economy. The increase in the sale of pipes was soon very noticeable, and it was not long before it became a common thing to see young men smoking pipes on the street and in public places, which had not been done for years before. The habit has grown until now pipe smoking has become a fad, and the sale of pipes has quadrupled. ‘This has brought 2 demand for a better class of goods in smoking tobaccos, and for very much more expensive pipes than could have been sold five years ago.” “I have been over thirty states within the past three months,” said A. C. Durbin of St. Louis at the Riggs, “and I have never seen a presidential year when there was so little interest taken in the cam- paign. I notice that the newspapers re- Port that there is but little enthusiasm at the republican national convention and there will not be any more at the demo- cratic convention, if as much. The busi- ness men are not taking any interest in politics, a fact which looks well. It is evi- dent that they have confidence in the out- look and are willing to let politics alone. This being the case, it can be confidently expected that there will be little or no loss of business this season on account of its being presidential election year. Business is slowly, but surely, assuming a better tone, and I look for a good summer and fall trade.” ———__ HE DIED IN LATIN. A Classical History of the Frisians Too Much for the Bookworm. From the Bookman. An ancient, parchment-bound volume on the shelves of the dean of Columbia Col- lege is the sarcophagus of a withered spec- imen of that rare and interesting burrower, the bookworm. The discovery was made last week, while a student was turning over the pages of a history of the Fris. jans, entitled “Rerum Friscarum Historia.” The book is an Elzevir, and was published in Holland in 1646. From the appearance of the volume, it has been many a day since the bookworm, in its predatory pursuit of knowledge, be- gan to devour its contents. The little fel- low opened operations on the inside of the back cover. Thence he plowed a path through several of the adjacent pages. He died in the harness, and his mortal shell, a mere thumb-nail sketch, Mes along the groove in which he prosecuted his Investi- gations. Perhaps Ubbnis Emmeas, the author of the book, never had another so devoted a reader. MILLIONS IN BICYCLES. Enormous Investments of Capital in, mM Shops. of Philadelphis, or ing’ men, women and children, stride @bicycle, and probably the proportion of\ \syclers to inhabitants elsewhere does not greatly vary. The chief evolution of the has come since the invention of whe matic tire. In 1889 a Belfast doctor- terinary surgeon, in fact, named having a regard for ‘the spinal colu his eldest boy, con- ceived the idea 0} ing @ piece of garden hose, wrapping itsafound the wheel of his son’s bicycle, wi the two ends to- gether’ with me bber,-and thus form- ing the first pn tire. This gave a cushion to the pery of the bicycle and made its mourting of obstacles easy and cushion-like.. Dunlop had a. friend, who abandoned the business he was engaged in and risked his wealth in the formation of @ company that had. for its object the ex- plottation of a pneuniatic tire for a bicycle. It was capitalized gt $100,000, and fifteen months later—that was in the early part of 1891—it declared a dividend_of ten per cent, or $10,000 in all, and added $1,000 to its sur- plus fund. ‘Two yeare fater that same company declared a dividend of $2,500,000. One year ago the rights of that organiza- tion were sold to a British syndicate for $15,000,000, and the purchasing party cap- {tallzed the company at $20,000,000 and openly asked for subscriptions to that amount. The proffers were nearly three times the amount of the capital stock. In Belfast, at one bank alone, where books were opened, $1,000,000 was subscribed m less than three hours. At first no one seemed to think of America, and the new tire attracted little attention here. Mean- while two years elapsed, ard under the patent laws it was too late to get an ex- clvsive franchise in this country. The re- sult is that today the pneumatic tire in America has no hindering patent right stamped upon it. Any maker of a_ wheel can use it, but the owners of the British irvention ‘have deprived themselves of many millions of good money. ‘That this is true ts demonstruted by the fact that in the last year there has been spent in this country for bicycles alone the enormous sum of $66,000,000. ——— + 0+ DRAFT POWER OF THE KATYDID. 100,000 persons, One Bird Pulled a Phenomenal Load of Pencils and Paper. From the Springfield Republican. I recently performed an experiment in a rather crude way to test the drawing pow- ers—not lifting, but pulling—of the com- mon katydid. Seelng the katydid and not- ing {its well-developed muscular system siggested the idea of testing its strength. From the want of something better, I took a sheet of ordinary note paper (size 8x10 inches) and folded it once. The cor- ners of one end were folded together and a Piece of ordinary thread fifteen inches long was attached to it. The other end was tied around the mesothorax, passlag beneath the katydid. The first trial proyed that it was no task at all to pull this p&per on a smooth-topped table with no covering. Next twelve inches of heavy paper, 3 by 4% inches in size, were added one after another, a large screw, two steel pens and a small stone welghing about gw6 ounces were placed on the paper. These were drawn without any great effort on the part of the katydid. After giving It a short rest, I added a new lead pencil havisg a tin tip with a rub- ber on it. This’ Was drawn easily; a second lead penci] was added. It required some effort to staért’the load, but after it was in motion if ‘was drawn slowly; a third lead pencil was added. The katydid was unable to start this at first, but re- sorted to a soméwHat curious expedient, as it crawled to the edge of the table and pulled, while its eff feet were on the top of the table and fts‘right feet were on the edge, with its bo@y‘directly over the cor- | ner. In this positio® it was able to move its load slowly for'a short distance. I then laid half‘a’lead pencil on the pa- per. It was unablesto move the load at first with this additfona] weight, but after moistening each ofits feet in turn by placing them at ‘it's mouth and exuding some sticky substafice it was barely able to move the burden. The entire joad- pulled in the last trial was the original tof naper, on which the other things Wwrre I4id, twelve sheets of heivy paper, 3 by 4% fpches; one large Screw, two steel ‘pens,’ the’ small stone, three and one-half lea peticils”’ Of course, each successive trial diminished the katy- did’s strength. This experiment, although very crude, indicated that the katydid pos- sesses a degree of power that would be surprising {f- studied under favorable condi- tions. r oe Roads in France. From the Pitteburg Dispatch. A traveler is especially struck with the fine roads in France, of which the people are justly proud. The government keeps up @ perfect system of care and inspection, and wherever one goes he may be sure of finding the principal roads in excellent con- dition. They are often bordered with trees for miles, and are in a perfect state tor bicycle riders. All the underbrush, small twigs and even the lower branches of the trees have been cut for firewood, and not a twig is wasted. All are gathered and tied up in bundles, ready for use. Every foot of ground is cultivated, or so it seems to strangera. There are mountains and barren places where ncthing will grow, but every bit of ground that can produce anything Is made to do so. The winter is so mild south of the Loire that vegetables are flourishing in the gardens at all times. There are, of course, certain seasons for the different ones, ‘except the harlcote verts (string beans) and the dwarf radishes. These ara aiways in season, and the quantities eaten in France must be enormous. The fields are not generally separated by fences or hedges. The dividing line 1g howaver, clearly shown by the sort of grain growing in them. As most of the farmers keep sheep, the absence of fences necessitates the shepherd or shepherdess. Wherever one sees a small number of sheep there is also to be seen a guardian with them. Alas! it is not the beautiful shepherdess of poets and painters! I sus- pect she rever existed, except in the fer- tile brain of these artists. In reality, the shepherdess 1s often an old woman, who leads her flock from one spot to another, tranquilly knitting a stocking while her sheep nibble the grass. ——____+e+____ Polygamy in Oklahoma. From the Church Standard. The Oklahoma courts have struck a puz- zler in the Indian custom relating to plural marriages. The law of Oklahome is very severe on polygamy, and Indians on reser- vations are not exempt from its operation. The Kickapoos have an average of five squaws each. The Cheyennes and Arap- ahoes are nearly all polygamists, as are the Kiowas and Apaches, Comanches and Wi- chitas. It is stated that the courts have decided to take action in the matter at once unless polygamous practices cease. Capt. Woodson of Anadarko agency has issued orders commanding Indians on his agency having several wives to at once d cide on the wife wanted and give up the others, and no little :uneasiness has result- ed in all the polygamous tribes, as it is claimed by the Indians that one squaw can- not raise enough °¢érm to support an ex- warrior in becoming dignity. ——_+e+—____ How Would She Look in Onet From the Chicago Record, “George!” it “Yes, dear?” i “Why don’t you buy me one of those Havana wrappers that you were talking to Mr. Smyth abowt lést night?” ART AND ARTISTS Between his studio work and his outdoor sketching Max Weyl finds it possible to accomplish almost‘as much in the city as he would in the country, and so still lin- gers here, after the time when many of his brother artists have sought new fields. He is now at work on arotheg of his deserved- ly popular wood intericrs. The scheme of |.cerffiposition is one not uncommon with him, a sunlight vista near the center of the canvas being brought into strong con- trast with the darker forest through which the opening is seen. That the coloring is rich and harmonious is a foregone conclu- sion, and the serial perspective of the land- soape beyond the wood is admirably ren- dered. In the treatment of foliage Mr. Weyl is always successful in giving to the leaves a loose, vibratory quality, which gives depth to the masses and fills the scene with Hight and air. His wood inte- riors would be by far his best canvases were it not for the fact that such subjects, from the very nature of things, prectude the introduction of any extensive eky ef- fects, and in them much of his strength lies. . * * * Mr. Richard _B. Gruelle, who has been spending the spring months in this city, is now in his native city, Indianapolis, where he is holding an exhibition. The work shown consists in studies from nature rather than ambitious landscapes, but there is a true outdoor feeling in all, and the scenes taken on the Potomac and else- where in the neighborhood of the national capital-are attracting much attention and favorable comment. : x * Miss Sara Bartle has recently returned from a sojourn ir New York, where she has been quite successful with her minta- ture painting. She is also very fond of outdoor work in water color, and though the trip north which she is planning to take in a few weeks has the filling of sev- eral orders for portraits in view, she ex- pects to spend a large part of her time at Gloucester in sketching from nature. * = xk Another recruit to sweli the ranks al- ready at Gloucester is Miss Annie W. In- gle, who will join the other workers there before long. She has been there every sea- son for several years, and finds the supply of picturesque scenes still far from being exhausted. She is particularly fortunate in her interpretation ‘of marine effects and harbor views, and the old town ts a very good place for pursuing that line of study. * * * An extremely good study of a head by Mr. Edward Siebert is now on exhibition at Veerhoff’s. It is quite a characteristic like- ness of an elderly man dressed in uncon- ventional attire, and 1s very firmly drawn. There 1s something very keen and energetic in the expression of the eyes and the set of the meuth. He will probably devote himself mostly to landscape during the summer, and plans to hold an exhibition of his work in the fall, at which, no doubt, some very interesting things will be shown. * * * Quite a large number of the original drawings by old masters have been hung in the new gallery in the basement at Fischer's. They include specimens by some of the greatest men in the Italian school, and many others. Several of the drawings are blocked out in squares In a curious in order that they might be enlarged in sections. Such a collection of cartoons appears to as good advantage under the electric lighting of the new gallery as it would under good skylights, and as the gallery is much more commodious than the one upstairs, it forms a valuable addition to the few good places in the city where pictures and drawings can be shown. * * ok Mr. Robert L. Keeling, whose miniature painting is quite well known here, is now in Paris following up the same line of work, and has been very successful. Suc- cess means something there, as with the revival of interest on the part of the pub- lic in miniatures many artists have taken it up, and Paris, always foremost in any such movement, contains many competi- tors. * * * Miss Grace Patten paints considerably out in the country, and has done some very ccnscientious landscape work, but she is equally good, if not more so, in portrait- ure. Two canvases, different views of a young lady friend, which she has recently painted, show her skill in that direction. One is a partially profile view, differi. from the conventional portrait in that only part of the face is seen, and the other a full-front view of the same girl. * xk Miss Juliet Thompson returned a short time ago from e stay of two weeks in Mid- dietown, Conn., where she was occupied with a portrait of Miss Hubbard. Her likeness of Miss Glover is progressing rap- idly, as is also another portrait, which she has under way, a half-length view of a young lady. Miss Thompson finished re- cently a portrait of Gen. Royall, and she has now commenced one in oil of Mrs. Baldwin. Most of her work, however, is done in pastel, and the peculiar softness and fresh coloring that one can obtain through the use of this medium make it admirable for rendering the morbidezza of the flesh. One of the best things Miss Thompson has yet done is a study, for which Mr. George Gibbs posed, dressed in the costume of a cavalier. The coloring throughout is deep and rich, and the pas- tel is handled in a very bold, free way. * * * Miss Anna M. Sands will sail for Europe on the 24th, and will remain there during the summer. She will go directly to Ant- werp and visit all the galleries in Holland, and later those in Germany, France, and possibly Italy, believing that In the limited time which she has at her disposal more good can be gained from the general study of the old masters in this way than through study in any of the schools. Miss Sands’ work during the winter has been mostly heads and portrait studies in oil and pastel, which she handles with equal facility. There has been a marked advance in her work of late, and those who know her prophesy a still greater gain as a result of this trip abroad. * * ok In a couple of weeks Mr. R. Le Grand Johnston will join his family in New Hampshire, and spend the entire summer in gathering data for his exhibition here and the one which he intends to hold in New York next February. His outdoor work is always so good that one may rca- sonably count on a very strong showing in both cities. ——— Girl Thirteen Years of Age Divorced. From the Chicago Tribune. In the circuit court at Galesburg today was tried the divorce case of Flora J. Stewart vs. A. H. Stewart. The evidence showed that plaintiff is but thirteen years old, and the defendant is forty-two, and that they were married in Peoria in the summer of 1894. The charges on both sides werer extremely sensational, but in behalf of the girl was urged her extreme youth. Her bill was disrrissed for want of equity, and the defendant was granted a divorce on his cross bill. A PAIR OF HANDCUFFS. One Real Experience Was Enough S for the Deputy Sheriff. A Star reporter recently on a trip along the Chesapeake and Ohio railroad in Vir- ginia noticed a sheriff get off the train with a prisoner, to whom he was hand- cuffed. The incident drew him into con- versation with the brakeman, an jnterest- ing sort of chap, who. was a good talker. “That sort of thing,” sald the brake- man, nodding toward the station where the sheriff had got off and referring, of course, to the circumstance of the hand- cuffs, “looks safe and may be is, but I don’t want to get myself mixed up im no kind of a combination like that.” suggested “An officer gets used to it, the writer. “I didn’t,” responded the brakeman with extreme succinctness. “Do brakemen have to arrest prisoners and carry them into captivity?” inqutred the writer, with some degree of surprise. “It was this a-way,” said the brakeman, falling into that peculiar southern pro- virclalism, “this a-way.” ‘I didn’t al- Ways us? to be a brakeman. My daddy didn’t exactly know what profession to put me out to when I was a boy, so he thought he’s look about a little till he found something that would fit. I had done all kinds of odd jobs up to the time I was eighteen, and, being a great strap- ping big fellow, my daddy at last got me a Job as a kind of a subdeputy to the sheriff of the county, who was a friend of my daddy’s. I took to it easy and being big und strong I come handy when there was any ‘prisoners to be toted around to Richmond or from one court house to an- otker. “I suppose I had made six or eight trips of that kind, and, of course, following the customs of the country, I always went with the prisoner handcuffed to me, so I could have him ready when called for. One day we got a nolice at our place to look out for a man that had done mur- der down about Richmond some place, and I set out doing my first <letective work. I don’t brag, but in about three days we had our man, and we got orders to bring him In. It was only three hours’ run, and the sheriff and me started out about 6 o'clock in the evening with me handcuffed to the prisoner. “We was feeling good, that 1s, the sheriff and me, for there was a reward in it, and we didn’t make it any harder on the pris- oner than we could help, for he was dreadful blue and seemed dead sorry that he had done wrong. After we had been riding along for an hour, I reckon, the sheriff said what was the matter with going out into the smoking car and trying a smoke, and the prisoner fairly jumped at the chance. The sheriff went in front, with the prisoner next and me swinging to the back... The sheriff cautioned us to be careful in crossing the platforms, for the train was going thirty miles or more, and the coaches were ordinary light ones that rocked @ good deal. -We crossed the first platform all right, and then, just as the prisoner was about to step into the car after the sheriff he made a quick turn and jumped from the platform, dragging me after him, of course. “What happened during the next half hour I only know by hearsay, for all I remember was a whiz and a thud against something soft, and that was the end of me until I come to half an hour later. The prisoner, however, was dead, as he in- tended, but he hadn't got me, as in falling I had dropped square on top of him and hadn’t a bone broke except the bone in the wrist that was through that confounded handcuff. The jar was enough to lay me up for a week, and when I got over it I told my daddy that I reckoned I had got all I wanted of that profession, and he let me resign. I've been in the railroad pro- feesion about a dozen years now, and one of these days if I ain't riding in’a private car it will be because the man that owns it hasn't invited me get aboard. See?” and the brakeman grinned as he carefully rubbed a knot in his wrist as if he thought he might massage it straight once more. — McGONIGAL’S DILEMMA. He Was Much Confused by the St ing of the Town Clock. “Phwat’s the manin’ of that,” said Po- liceman McGonigal to himself as he lazily pushed aside several bundles of shingles beneath which he had hidden to escape from the rain, and possibly to take a nap. Phwat is the manin’ that the new town clock do be afther strotking wan three times running?” It was late at night and Mr. McGonigal had been hired by the local temperance union to watch Casey’s saloon for stray deacons and other outlaws. As he crouch- ed among the bundles of shingles in the back yard waiting for the hour of 2 a.m., when his relief was due, his last waking remembrance was that the town clock struck “wan.” In a few moments, as he believed, he heard the bell again toll “wan,” but when the third time “wan” came booming through the air, the Mc- Gonical blood was up, and the remark quoted at the beginning of this tale was uttered. “Some blaggard is sthriving to sport wid me, or mebbe its draming Oi am.” To assure himself of his lucidity of mind, he rapidly and accurately ran over some detective formulas, In humble imita- tion of the late Sherlock Holmes. “It's cabbage they've had for supper; Oi know it by the schmell. It’s beer they've been drinking beyand; Ol can tell it by the dhry feeling in me troat.” Reassured by these practical tests, he became positive that his mind was as clear as usual, but he was unequal to the solution of the problem of the three wans on the clock. To solve the puzzle he crept up to the back door of the saloon, where his presence excited no comment. Calling softly to Mrs. Casey, she approached with a mug of beer where- with to propitiate the majesty of the law. “Did ye hear the dom clock stroike wan the minit ago Mrs. Casey “Oi did not, but Ot keerd it stroike half past wan, Mr. McGonigal.” “Then Ol was dramin',” said McGonigal, D1 tought Oi heerd it’ stroike wan.” “Did ye hear it stroike wan awhile afore that, Mrs. Casey?” “Ol did at one..’ “Thot’s roight, so did Oi.” “Ye didn’t hear it stroike wan afore wan, did ye Mrs. Casey “Ol did not, Ot heerd it stroike half-past twelve.” “Then its sick Ol am Mrs. Casey, and me head is not roight wid me haard woork. Oi tought O1 heerd the clock stroike wan three times runnin’, Would ye give me en- other sup of beer afore Oi go home?’ —.__. Pathos of National Conventions. Joseph B. Bisbop in the Century. No one can examine the records of pres- idential conventions, with their personal successes and failures, and easily escape the conviction that there is far more of tragedy than comedy in our national poli- tics, There are touches of humor here and there, but the dceminant note is that of pathos. Behind every great success there is to be seen the somber shadow of bitter disappointment, of wrecked ambition, of lifelong hopes in ruins. As one pursues through biography, autobiography and me- moir, the personal history of the chief figures in the conventions that have been held during the sixty years which have passed since that method of nominating presidential candidates came into use, he finds it almost invariably ending in sadness and gloom. Not one of those seeking the presidency with most persistence has suc- ceeded in getting possession of that great office, and few of them, when final failure has come, have shown themselves able to bear the blow with fortitude. —-e0—_ Waiting for a Smash-Up. From the Yonkers Statesman. Bacon—“It's funny you don’t ride?” Egbert—“I'm waiting until they have bi- cycles built for two.” “You can get tandems now.” “I know; I mean a bicycle built for $2.” k- “Well, you poor old biped, natare’s been kind of skimpy in fixin’ your top knot, hasn't she?” The biped—“What's that you say?’ Bald-headed sucker!”"—Life, THE BOWSER TROUBLES Written for The Evening Star by M. Quad. “Mrs. Bowser,” began Mr. Bowser the other evening, as he laid aside his paper, “will you take this pencil and do a little writing for me?” “Of course, dear,” she replied. do you want me to write?” “I wish you to write down about a dozen words as I give them to you. The first word is ‘illegality. “Yes. “Then “What ‘advisability’ and ‘consanguin- it “What use are you going to make of them?” “I'm just trying a little experiment. Now you may put down ‘desideratum’ and ‘mul- titudinous.” ” “What is the experiment?” asked Mrs. Bowser “Why, I was just reading in the paper that not one woman out of fifty, no mat- ter how well educated, was thoroughly up on orthography. Ar eUitor says that out of 260 communicaticns sent in by fe- males an average of one word out of every ten was misspelled.” “But men spell every word correctly, I suppose?” sarcastically queried Mrs. Bowser. “They do. It seems to come perfectly natural to them. It isn’t a woman's fault, perhaps. It may be that nature meant it that way. Now you can put down the word ‘destructibility.” “I'm not putting dowr any more words she sald as she laid down the pencil. “Oh! Got mad, eh? That's the way with a woman! If some one said she couldn't play on a jewsharp as well as a man she'd &et her nose up about it!” “I can spell as well as you can, Mr. Bowser, ard even better! Whoever wrote about that Nttle experiment told a false- hood!” “There you go! That's egotism and mul- ishness combined. Didn’t I explain that nature never intended a woman spell half her words right? If she didn’t, then what's the use of getting mad about it? Of the four words you wrote down you spelled half of one of them correctly, and you ought to be proud of {t.” “I spelled every one of them correctly she insisted, “Mrs. Bowser, dort set your jaw that way when you are add.essing me! I am speaking =o you mcre in sorrow than in enger. If you cen’t spell, why, then——" “When did you become such a great speller?” “Orthozraphy came natural to me, Mrs. Bowser—perfectly natural. I was spelling words a rod long before I was seven years ol “Oh! Indeed! It's funny how ma: mistakes you made aftermard—when were engaged, for instance!” Mistakes in spelling? Be careful, Mrs. Bowse-! Den’t let your anger lead you to prevaricate; I think I wrote you two or three little nctes while we were engaged, and I'll bet a million dollars to a cent that every word was correctly spelled.” “You wrote me about 4H) love letters, and I've got every one upstairs, and you made scores of mistakes? e “Woman!” said Mr. Bowser as he rose up and glowered at her, “I pity you! When a person is driven to prevarication and perjury in order to carry a point it is a sad and solemn thing. If I hed— She ran upstairs, and in the course of three or four minutes returned with a great package of letters in her hand and said “Here are about fifty of the bu of letters you wrote me. We will now see about the spelling. You acknowledge your andwriting. don’t you?” I acknowledge nothing, Mrs. Bowser- absolutely nothing! They may be letters of mine, or they may be base forger “They ar» your letters, of course. Here is one in which you speak of an azure sun- set and an affinity of souls. You spell it ‘ashure’ and ‘afinety.’ “Never! Never on the face of this earth!” But see—there are the words. Here ts another in which you lay your he feet, and you have spelled it “H-a-r-t. “I deny it!” shouted Mr. Bowser as his face got and Ms hair began to curl. “In the first place, I wasn’t donkey enough to write any such balderdash, and in the next any fool knows enough to spell heart. Lay my heart at your feet—humph!” “Wel’, the words are here, just as you wrote ‘em, and I have marked each one. In this third letter you say that life would be one never-ending midni; vithout me, and you have spelled i N-i-t-e.” What! What! I wrote such stuff as that? Mrs. Bowser, beware how you pre- sume on my gcod neture and your position as my wife! I pronource each and every letter in ‘hat package « base forgery! A never ending midnight without you—bo: “And this fourth letter,” she continued without heeding him, a sixteen-page letter you wrote me one rainy Sunday You speak of the sobbing rain-drops, and you spell sobbing with one b. You speak of my charming face and spell it with two ‘m’s.’ You refer to the future and spell the word ‘f-u-c-h-e-r.’. You speak— “Mrs. Bowser, do you know who I am?" he demanded as be pointed his fiager at her, “Certainly and you— “You talk that way to me, do you! Be- cause you can’t spell one word in a thou- sand correct! iF “I show that you are just as bad, Mr. Bowser! You see— “Yes, I see! I understand! actly where the forgery, the prevarication and the perjury come In! I was prepared to pass a pleasant evening at my own fire- side. In order to heighten the pleasantry I offer to help you imprcve your orthog- raphy, but you—you—" “I show you where yours can be tm- proved!” she finished. “Very well, madam—very well! business in ihe library which may keep me up all night. You can retire whenever you wish. The train which you will take to go to your mother’s leaves at 9:40 a.m. and I will endeavor to see you for a mo- ment before you go. If I don’t see you then the papers will be sent on for you to sign—for you to sign, Mrs. Bowser! 1 wish you good-night and good-bye! —ce+- Got Turned Around. From the Chieago Journal. He was a rather nice-looking old man, and when I observed him he was going north on Clark street. When he stepped on the bridge he didn’t notice that it began turning to let a big vessel through. He walked slowly, with head down, and ap- peared to be in a deep reverie. The bridge swung clear around, and the old man stepped on terra firma, and he continued his walk. He never noticed that the bridge had thrown him off his course, and that he was going south instead of north, as he intended. until he reached the city hall; then he glanced up at the big pile of stone, scratched his head and went over and talked to the po! on the corner. “I have lived here twenty years,” he hic coughed, “and this is the first time I knew the city hall had been moved to the North Side,” and the copper’s most persuasive words failed to straighten the gentleman out. You were wretched, you sald, I know ex- I have oo May Build a Jap Cruiser. From the Philadelphia Reccrd. The plans of warships for Japan to be built in this country will shortly be com- pleted, and it is fully expected that the Cramp Company will get the contract to build at least one of these vessels. A ma- jority of the ships for the mikado’s new navy will be built at the British yards on the Tyne and Clyde, and according to pres- ent arrangements two second-class cruisers are about all that are likely to be built in the United States. Of these contracts one is likely to go to the Union Iron Works of San Francisco, and the other to the Cramps. American builders had hoped to get a chance to construct at least two first-class cruisers of the New York type and also a battle ship or two, but this is not now thought probable, as the vessels to be built in this country will resembl* this govern- ment’s San Francisco and Charleston. SS Only Depew. From the New York Sun, “He was ragged and bewhiskered,” said Dr. Depew. “I met him out here on Broadway. He asked me for a dime and I gave him a quarter. He thanked me pro- fusely, and then he sald: “Will you not tell me your name, sir?” “ ‘Certainly,’ I said, taking him into my ccnfidence. ‘Iam Grover Cleveland, Pres- ident of the United States. Now tell me your name.’ He blushed and replied: “‘Me, sir? I'm nobody. i'm only Chaun- cey M. Depew.’”