Evening Star Newspaper, July 18, 1896, Page 11

: THE EVENING ST. fa = ee ee rere re ‘AR, SATURDAY, JULY 18, 1896-TWENTY-FOUR PAGES. 11 GEORGETOWN AFFAIRS Jolly Groups Going Down the Potomac to Camp Out. ‘The Clerks’ Assembly Attends to Pleasure—Per- Notes of Interest. The camping out season has commenced in earnest, and the usual crowds from Georgetown will turn out as heretofore. Colonial Beach will be the objective camp- ing-out ground, and today a number of peo- ple left for an outing of several weeks or more. The Salmagundi Club has disbanded, and will not go down. Camp Georgetown will be represented, however, by practicai- ly the same crowd, and the members leave tomorrow morning for their outing. All of the camp outfit has been shipped down, ready to be put in place when the camp- ers reach their site. The party this year will consist of Messrs. Charles R. Murray, B. Perley Craig, Edward R. Miller, Frank J. Wissner, George W. Cook and Charles Nixon. Camp Altai: went down today for a two weeks’ stay. Most of the party took a morning boat, while the balance leave this evening. The camp roster is Messrs. Jo- seph Braitmayer, Harry Houghton, Samuel Darby. J. E. Hanger, Grafton Duvall and Clarence Shoemaker. Cemp H. P. and H. R. will also show up this year, the members going down this evening. The party consists of Ernest Sel- by, George Roberts and Rosia Welch, and they have secured the entire camp outfit of the Salmagundt Club. Clerks’ Assembly alls Officers. The installation of officers of the Clerks’ Assembly, No. 1259, Knights of Labor, was held Thursday evening at the hall of the organization, on M street. Past Master Workman L. Sinshelmer officiated as instal- ling officer, and the following new cfficers were started upon their duties for the en- suing term: Master workman, I. B. Nord- linger; worthy foreman, Max Goodman; financial secretary and treasurer, William Sahm; corresponding and recording secre- ‘tary, Mose Blumenthal; worthy guide, L. Frankfurt. After the ceremony the party adjourned to the West Washington Hotel, where a banquet was enjoyed. Mr. William Born- heim, past master workman, was master of ceremonies, and one of the toasis drank Was to the “Confusion of our enemies who will not close early.” Speeches were made by all of the newly installed officers and M. H. Newmeyer, Ben Boo, Maurice Haer, Samuel Einstein and William Schwartz. An Enjoyable Dance. The Korai Social Club gave its first dance of the season last evening at the boat house of the Potomac Boat Club, at the foot of it street, which proved to be an ex- tremely enjoyable affair. The attendance was limited and made a merry party. Dancing was inaugurated shortly after 8 o'clock and continued until midnight. Among those present were Misses Loulse Gibbons, Katie Van Sant, Fannie Sullivan, Mzmie Keliher, Fannie Jones, Irene Dyer, Katie Doyle, Margaret Knight, Maggie Fitzgerald, Nellie O'Brien, Maggie Collins, Cora Van Sant, Mamie Ellis, Messrs. Chas. Lanman, Clarence Oliver, Eugene Dyer, angel, William Britt, Harmon Louis Jones, Newyear, Claude ord, Bernard Edmonston and Wiiliam O'Brien. Narrew Escape. William Nagle, a lineman in the employ Potomac Electric Lighting Company, while at work yesterday afternoon, shortly after 4 o'clock, met with a bad accident at the junction of Wisconsin and Massachu- avenues. He was repairing the light le at this junction, when he caught live wire and was thrown to the ground. The distance was about twenty feet, and the man was injured about the back. He was taken to the Emergency Hospital in the patrol wagon, where he re- ceiv medical attendance. Later he was > his home at 3216 M street. Nagle ‘© man who succeeds the unfortunate who only a few weeks ago died from the effects of a fall near the same piace, the result of catching hold of a live Wire. ona hold of General and Personal Notes. Mr. Archie F. Hassan has resigned his Position at the Riggs National Bank, and on Thursday left for Indian territory, hav- ing accepted a position on the engineering Staff employed on topographical field work for the geological survey. Miss Annie Robey and Miss Annie Albaugh of Herndon, Va, who have been visiting Miss Gracie Hays, have returned home. Miss Sadie Reese Thomas of Baltimore is the guest of her cousin, Miss Gracie Hays, at 3244 Prespect avenue. Miss Mollie Smith of 3007 P street has left for Louisville, Ky., where she expects to spend the summer. Mrs. Mary Lomax of 2816 Q street, Widow of Aaron Lomax, formerly -of Fredericksburg, Va. and for thirty years a resident of this place, died Thursday morning. The deceased was highly respect- ed by all who knew her. The funeral will take place tomorrow afternoon from Shiloh Baptist Church, on L street, the interment being at the Baptist cemetery. Edward Minor, colored, aged thirty-eight, was arrested this morning by Detective Burrows, on suspicion of stealing a quan- tity of harness from a piace near Hyatts- ville, which he was trying to dispose of in Georgetown when arrested. ae A Bicycle Pay Train. From the Army and Navy Journal. The ith United States Infantry, sta- tioned at Fort Niagara, N. ¥., have made an innovation in their method of trans- pcrtirg the monthly remittance to pay the ccmmand from Lewiston to the post. For years has been customary for the off- ¢.2l3 in Washingtoa to forward the neces- sery amount to pay the troops to Lewiston, @ small village on the New York Central railroad, about seven miles from Niagara Falls and @ similar distance from Fort agara. At this point it was met by a detail from the post and transported to headquarters im a large covered wagon hav x seats, and in which the escort rode. But the advent of the bicycle and its growing popularity have wrought a change, which, in army circies, {s most notable. A few deys ago when the remittance arrived at Lewiston it was met at the staiion by Lieut. M. McFarland and an escort of six Tren, consisting of Sergt. George Cool of ‘y H; Privates Ranch, Moon, Rose, of Company G. and Suiter of Com- pany H. They traveled by bicycle and Were armed with Colt's 38-caliber revolv- ers, securing the money package, which was placed on Lieut. McFarland’s wheel, end they started on the return to the fort. The trip was made in about thirty-five minutes, and all were delighted with the new serv! The rcad from Lewiston to Fort Niagara runs along one of the most beautiful portions of the Niagara river. It is wooded at points, and the possibility of esceping to Canada by crossing the stream might tempt some bold highwayman to attempt a hold-up of the bicycie party, but they would tind that the revolvers of the regulars are carried for business and = they know how to use them effective- y. es Two Wise Geese u: From the Youth's Companion. A genileman Uving in eastern Georgia owned a pair of geese and some half-grown pigs, both of which resorted to a small plum thicket on the hillside to pick up the fetlen frutt. A smail braneh of one of the trees was broken ard bent down to the ground, and the ge2s> had somehow discovered that by catching the-end of the branch in their uills and shaking the tree by means of it the Pigs. they could bring down the plums. The pigs seeing what was going on, soon found it to their irterest to follow the to the plum thicket. ecse would shake the tree, and the scund of a grateful shower of fruit would be heard, but befcre they could eat the plums the pigs would have greedily gath- ered up most 6f them. Greatly exasperat- ed, and with good reason, one of the geese would selze a pig by the ear, while the other marched on the cther side of him screaming and scolding. In this way, beat- ing poor piggy with thetr wings at every step, they would escort him to the top of the hill and there let Fim go. Then they would return to shake the tree again, with « similar result. FATE OF A WHITH-FACED FOX. 4 Maine Forest Had te Be Barned to Pretect the Hen Yards. From the New York Sun. The first wild strawberries were turning pink cheeks up to the sun when Fred Law- sen, going to a back field to repair a hay barn, dug five young foxes from a pile of chaff that had fallen through the seams In the barn floor. Two of these youngsters were of a common, dirty red color, and looked the way all baby foxes do, but the other three had shining silver-gray coats that marked them as the aristocracy of the vulpine race. That day he built a large box of boards and stout wire netting,and putting nis five captives inside, placed it out on the lawn near the orchard) When he carried fresh milk to his pets the next morning he found that some animal had eaten a hole in the wire netting and carried away the three silver-grays, leaving the two com- mon foxes still in the cage. While he was mending the hole with new wire a silver- gray fox came sneaking toward the pen, proving to his mind that it was the mother returning for her less favored offspring. As goon as these facts were related to fox- pestered farmers they knew it was the white-faced fox that had caused the trouble, and that she and her three valuable chil- dren were in hiding close by. Powder was bought by the keg and shot came in on the stage by the bagful, while every boy for five miles around went hurrying across lots carrying new steel traps, which they set and cunningly concealed in every hole and runway where foxes would be likely to go. Day after day gunners went through the woods looking for one fox, but shooting at everything they saw moving. A flock of gray guinea fowls, which Anderson had turned loose on Beech Knoll to keep the hawks away, were all shot in a week by gunners, who thought they were foxes, and @ gray and fawn-colored Jersey calf, which Tom Gilbert had brought all the way from New York, lost a hind leg owing to the same delusive zeal. During the two weeks be- tween the middle of June and July 1 it was unsafe for a man in a gray coat to travel on any of the roads, and persons who pos- sessed gray heads either had their hair closely cropped or dyed in order to avoid ferlous accidents. Work of all kinds was neglected, and the great shooting match Was on every day. Some time late in June a gunner who used paper wadding in his muzzle-loader shot a hedge hog up in the woods near the Bradley line, and the fire on the paper, catching in the underbrush, set the forest ablaze, 30 that a great deal of valuable pine timber was ruined. The fire spread to Eddington and Clifton, doing more damage than all the foxes that have been on earth since the days of Samson. On the morning of July 4, when the clouds began to pour in over the whale's back and churn together above the meadows, house owners were happy in the hope that rain would soon come, and when noon arrived, bringing a sharp downpour. the white-faced fox was forgotten in the general thanksgiving which followed the extinguished conflagration. Sunday afternoon two gunners who had so far recovered from the effects of the hard cider as to get out were walking through the lately burned district. They had passed out of the pine swamps and were climbing @ steep knoll that had lately been covered with a thicket of black spruces. Looking among the rusty and blackened trunks,they Saw what they thought was a dead dog lying at the base of a tall ledge. Turning it over, they found the under side was covered with long and silky hairs of a silver-gray color. Then they knew the white-faced fox had perished in the flames which her enemies had started, and that she would vex their hen yards no more. A Tree That Grows From Tree Tops. From Tid-Bits. Tho cupey, or, as it is sarcastically called in the English possessions, “the attorney,” is one of the most curious as It is certainly the most picturesque denizen of the virgin forests of the West Indian islands. It be- longs to the parasitical family of trees or plants, but, terrible to relate, it invariably with the basest ingratitude destroys all life in the unfortunate tree that cherishes it in its early growth. The seeds are borne on the wings of the wind, and deposited on the branches of other trees, when they burst into roots, which are dropped toward the ground all round the “nurse” tree. In time these roots reach the ground and strike into the soil. From this moment the roots grow strong- er and stronger, until they resemble a lot of rope ladders thrown over the tree. Next the parasite sends down a great cord,which twines round the trunk of the supporting tree, at first as though in loving embrace, but it grows tighter and tighter, eventually strangling its benefactor out of existence. The “nurse” tree, thus killed, rots to decay, and from the immenee fibrous roots of the destroyer now springs a great trunk, which rises high into the air. When the cupey is full grown it presents a mugnificent spec- tacle, for the cord-like roots rise often to fifty or sixty feet, and support in midair the vast tree Itself. ——_+e+___ Three Silent Sisters. From the New Orleans Times-Democrat. “There is in Tennessee a family of three sisters which presents some of the most startling peculiarities imaginable,” said a gentleman from the state in question, who is stopping at one of the New Orleans hotels. “The three sisters, all of whom are old maids, lve together on a farm, their sole means of subsistence, and work early and late to earn a livelihood. Two of them work in the field, while the third does all the cooking and other housework. There is but one period of the year when any mem- ber of the trio has anything to say to any other member. All during the winter, spring and summer they go about their business with the seal of silence on their lips. When fall comes and the crop is harvested they break the silence, and then only to quarrel like demons over a division of the proceeds. When each has succeeded in getting all that she thinks possible, silence reigns again un- til the next harvest time. The sisters ha made a name for themselves. They are known far and near as the ‘deaf and dumb triplets,’ although this title is scarcely ap- propriate.” ——— Wordsworth—And a Comment. From the Lady's Pictorial. ‘The other day it was my good fortune to lunch in the company of several poets of fame and repute. There was present at this delectable and memorable banquet one of the most charming and witty American women that the world has known. The poets were recording various good stories, and one of them related a tale he had heard of the poet Wordsworth@y one who had known him intimately. It seems that this bard was in the habit of writing at night and in the early morning, and that he used to rouse his wife and exclaim, about 4 o'clock, “Maria, get vp! 1 have thougit of @ good word!” Whereupon his obedient helpmeet arose, and recorded it upon paper. About an hour after a new inspiration would seize upon the poet, and he would call out, “Maria, get up! I've thought of a better word!” We listened to this story with ad- miration, but the bright-eyed American re- marked, with a wave of the red rose in her hand, “Weil, if he'd been my husband, I should have said: ‘Wordsworth, get up! I've thought of a bad word: es Good People te Know. From the Chicago News. Miss Kingsley, the African traveler, gives an amusing account of the beginning of her leve of adventure. She was at the Canary Islands, and hearing “very dreadful ac- counts of the dangers and horrors of travel- ing in West Africa,” she felt she must gO out of mere feminine curiosity. She con- tinues: “I asked a man who knew the coun- try what I should find most useful to take out with me, and he replied: ‘An introduc- tion to the Wesleyan mission, because they have a fine hearse and plumes at the st: tion, and would be able to give you a grand funeral. A Chemically Treated Sew: From the Philadelphia Record. An interesting disposition of sewage is being made at the Wayne county poor farm buildings, near Detroit, Mich, the project being carried out under the Detroit oard of health. The sewage first passes through a thirty-foot mixing channel, where it receives lime and alum. It then goes through three precipitating tanks placed side by side, each 4% by 75 feet, giving a total flow of 225 feet. The effluent falls four feet over a series of steps for aeration and finally discharges through an iron pips into a small brook leading to the river Rouge. The plant cost about $10,000. Heretofore crude sewage has been discharged into the river, but complaints were made before the court, it is said, and the practice was ordered stopped. e Plant. THE FESTIVE CENTIPEDE ‘A Western Mining Engineer Relates a Grew- Blown to Dust, Yet Clinched Seven Claws fm a Sleeping Man’s Chest. “Rattlesnakes, scorpions, tarantulas, gila tmonsters—they are all good things to keep away from,” said a mining engineer, re- cently returned from the west, “but for all-around hatefulness they simply aren't in it with a centipede. No, they are not necessarily fatal. No poisonous insects are, notwithstanding the stories one hears to the contrary. But they are bad enough. Did you ever see one? They are not pretty, and they don’t look in the least like these thousand-legged worms which we call cen- tipedes here. The genuine thing may be anywhere from one to six inches in long. I killed two, each eight inches in length, but that is not common. Their bodies con- sist of a lot of joints, something like a string of flattened beads. Each joint has two legs connected with it, and in the ends of these lies the poison. There are nine- teen joints, so that, although he hasn't a hundred feet, as his name implies, he 1s still very well provided with them. Thirty- eight legs, and every leg a sting! He can't attack you from the ground, of course. He doesn’t have to, for it is at night when there is the greatest danger from these pests. “He is of an investigating turn of mind, and is fond of exploring one’s body as it lies asleep. Scorpions or any of the other creatures sting only when they wish to, and only wish to in self-defense; but with @ centipede it fs different. “He may simply walk over one, with each step making something over three dozen footprints, and each of these will leave a running sore, around which the flesh will finally slough off—a horrible scar being the result. If the creature is angered or star- tled—and {t takes very little to annoy him —every claw is instantly driven deep into the flesh, and the result is ten times worse. “So far as speed Sf traveling goes, the centipede would be lost in the turn by many smaller insects; but in this clinching specialty of his I think he must be the quickest creature that lives. “There was a remarkable case in point which took place during the last trip of mine,” continued the engineer. “We were camped somewhere near the southern end of the line dividing New Mexico from Arizona. It was just dawn when something woke me. My instrument man and a rodman lay on the opposite side of the little open tent. The rodman was also awake, and was gazing silently, with expression of horror on his face, at the bare chest of his companion. Then, from ender the arm of the sleeping man, ap- peared the linked body of a big centipede, fully six inches long. “It went forward a little way and stop- ped; then crawled leisurely on again. There was nothing to do that I could think of. A sudden movement, a sound, or even a shadow, would at once cause the brute to fasten himself. “The warmth of the body seemed to please him, and he stopped again. Luckily the transitman never stirred. The inaction was ghastly, and I saw the rodman’s hand gradually — very gradually — move toward the saddle which served him as a pillow disappearing under it. Then it slow emerged, grasping a heavy pistol, cocked. Always with the same deliberation, the muzzis was brought to within a few inches cf the centipede; the barrel carefully point- ed so that it would just miss the man’s breast, and the trigger pulled. The sleeper awoke with a scream, starting up and try- ing to clutch at the place, but before he could do sc we had pinioned his hands and forced him back. The centipede, naturally, was blown to dust, but between the time that bullet left the pistol, two inches away, and reached the end of his six-inch body the creature had found time to bury seven of his thirty-eight legs. “We never thought the injured man would survive, but after weeks of delirium, he began slowly to recover. When the ob- stinate wound had healed the scar was as though a red-hot ladle had been laid across the man’s body; the path of the centipede forming the handle, and the bowl, a place as large as one’s hand, made by the dying clinch. I'll take my scorpions straight, if I have cholce. No centipedes in mine.” —_—-. AMERICAN CARS 1 ENGLAND. jar Ideas in Construction and Con- venfence Are Adopted. Mr. W. M. Acworth, in a letter to the Railroad Gazette, dated London, says: “Steadily, and of late by no means slowly, our passenger rolling stock is being Ameri- cantzed. A week or two back the Great Western, which has the longest mileage of any line in this country, introduced its first dining car, this time on the route be- tween London and South Wales. Dining cars to the west of England are to follow in a few weeks. The Great Northern has Just completed a pair of first and third- class dining saloons for the London-Leeds service, each mounted cn six-wheel bogie trucks and connected by Gould vestibules and automatic couplers. The first-class car 1s about sixty-two feet and the third-class nearly sixty-six feet in length, with a width of nine feet and a height of thirteen feet four and a quarter inches—dimensions which would have been thought quite im- posetble here only a very few years back. ‘The Northeastern has just brought out a new train fcr Its local service, which 1s mounted on bogie trucks throughout, and it 1s understood that this company will in future build bogie stock only for its ordt- nary work. Jointly with the Great North- ern and the North British the same com- pany {s responsible for two new trains for the east coast service to Scotland, which will apparently be more like the great Americar trains than anything we have hitherto seen in England. Eight coaches, each on twelve wheels, with a total length of 530 feet, with Gould vestibules and au- tomatic couplers throughout, will have a total weight of about 270 tons and seating accommodation for 300 passengers. The Lulk of the train will be on the compart- nent system, with corridors at the side, but one third-class carriage will be some- what of the nature of an American day car, for it will be divided only into three fons, seating respectively twenty-three, sixteen and fifteen passengers, and the passage will be right down the center. At- tendarts on the train will supply tea, cof- fee and other light refreshments. It should be added that this train, as also the North- eastern train last mentioned, is to be fitted with the ‘quick-acting’ | Westinghouse brake, here adopted for the first time in actual working in England.” ——-——se. THE SUPPLY OF CAMPHOR. Scientists Wonder Where the Drug Will Come From in Fature. From the Drugglat. Scientists are already wondering where the world will get its future supply of camphor. Large quantities of the drug are consumed in the manufacture of celluloid, which is now largely used as a substitute for tortoise shell, ivory and horn. This has increased the demand and raised the price. Camphor is produced by several trees, which differ materially in their habits, while other trees, closely related to them, do not produce the drug. Nearly all that is uscd in Europe or America is exported from China and Japan. A species of tree in Borneo produces camphor of a very high order, which sells for eighty times the price ef the common article. It-is nearly all used in China, where it is esteemed as an incense. One species of smokeless powder requires camphor 1 its formation, but it has never been used in sufficiently great quantities to affect the market price. The trees from which camphor is produced grow slowly. Man Js their greatest enemy, and unless efforts are made to protect the trees now living and others are planted, future gen- eratiors will have little camphor. sea eae Did as Told. From the Chicago News. A French soldier, stationed at a picture gallery, had etrict orders to allow no one to pass without first depositing his walking stick. A gentleman came in with his hands in his pockets. The soldier, taking him by the arm, sald: “Citizen, where is your stick?” “I_ have no stick.” “Then you will have to go back and get one before I can allow you to pass.” MISTOOK THE dWAD” FOR A GUN. How a Tenderfogt Banker Held Up His Hands for His First Depositor. From the Billings (Monti) Gazette. One of the “old séitler” lawyers of Bill- ings, Mont., has beep spinning early times stories to The Gasette, among them be- ing the following: « ° “In the year 18827H. M. Mund came in here from Deadwood, to start a bank. Al- though he wasn’t;exactly verdant, he hadn't been out westlong, and had a very cersiderable respect" for six-shooters and otber implements of, @ like nature which were worn as ornaments by almost every one in those days.1“He had some experi- ence, too, in dancing in Deadwood, at which times he would become very playful, and his antics affofded much amusement to those who gathered to look on. For this and other reasons he had become very ccnservative, and avoided mingling in any questionable society. “The building in which the bank was to be located was a frame, and was not fin- ished when Mund and the safe arrived: so the safe was put temporarily in a tent, which was occupied by Tulley, Hart & Frieze as a hardware store. Mund had been in these quarters but a few days when a rough, wild-looking man, dressed in Montana broadcloth, with a Winchester over one arm and a brace of six-shooters in his belt, stepped into the tent, and, in a gruff voice, inquired for the new banker. Mund was pointed to as the man wanted, end the westerner approsched. “Ugh! Are you the new banker? in- quired the stranger. “Yes, sir. Anything I can do for you? “The stranger retched down in his pock- ets, and, in an instant, up went Mund's hands and his face became as pale as death, while his knees knocked together and became so weak that he could not take refuge In filght. “A broad smile spread over the face of Tom McGirl, the cattle baron, as—instead of a six-shooter, as Mund had expected— he drew out $25,000 in bills for deposit, and asked in a gruff business-like way: “ ‘Are you ready to do a little business?” “The agony was over and Mund’s pulse soon began to beat regularly again.’ cS The Decry of St. Helena. From the African Critic. Napoleon effectually prevented St. Helena from ever sinking into obscurity. Never- theless, for some years past the Island has been getting deeper and deeper into finan- cial straits, while the population has been steadily diminishing. St. Helena is only some 1,600 miles distant from Capetown, and yet the island is comparatively un- known to South African coionists, as the outward and homeward steamers to and from Capetown only call there once in three weeks and make a very brief stoppage. And yet this historic island is well worthy of a visit, net only from its association with the great Corsican, but also because it possesses, probably, the finest climate in the world. A constant southeasterly trade wind, straight from the pole, blows over the island, and sweeps away those germs of disease which lie latent in less favored spots. As a consequence, the lon- gevity of the inhabitants is provably much greater than in any other portion of the globe. In spite of all this, and the prox- imity of the island to the cape,hardly a sol- itary Africander finds his way there from one year’s end to the oth So much in reference to St. Helena as a health resort. Now let me briefly refer to a matter that 1s of more vital importance. The strategical advantages of the island have been fully recognized by both naval and military experts, and the royal com- mission which was presided over by the late Lord Carnarvon recommended that it should be strongly fortitied and constituted an important naval and coaling station for the vessels of the squadron withia the cape command. These recommendations nave, er, not been carried into effect. Cer- tainly something was done to improve the fortifications ten or twelve years ago, but the guns are now of an obsolete type, and the diminutive garrison maintained in the {s utterly inaJequate to defend it. though St. Helena is supposed al coaling station, the admiralty maintained no coal supply there, the coal for the ships on the cape and west coast of Africa stations being kept at Ascension, which does not possess even a solitary gun. but is a cinder hedp upon which srany thousands are annually wasted. The defenseless condition of St. Helena is a matier that intimately conzerns the south African colonies, and should engage their attention. The island ts utterly un- able to help itself. The opening of the Suez canal ruined its prosperity, and ever since it has been drifting nearer and nearer to bankruptcy. The sreater portion of its adult male population nas migrated to the cape, and the whole revenue of the island is now only some £6.00). ‘There are only half a dozen officials, and the governor fills innumerable other offices, including that of chief (and only) justice. It is deplorable that Great Britain should allow one of its Possessions to sink into such a condition of decrepitude, and especially an island which, lying in the direct route to the cape, must ever be of considerable importance. NING A LOCOMOTIVE. RU: What it Means to Speed a Train Sixty Miles an Hour. From the Ladies’ Home Jourral. At sixty miles an hour the resistance of a train {s four times as great as It {s at thir- ty miles—that 1s, the fuel must be four times as great in the one case as it Is in the other. But at sixty miles an hour this fuel must be exerted for a given distance in half the time that it is at thirty miles, so that the amount of power exerted and steam generated in a given period of time must be eight times as great at the faster speed. This means that the capacity of the boiler, cylinders and the other parts must be greater with a corresponding addi- tion to the weight of the machine. Obvi- ously, therefore, if the welght per wheel, on account of the limit of weight that the rails will carry, is limited, we soon reach a point when the driving wheels and other parts cannot be further enlarged, and then we reach the maximum of speed. The nice adjustment necessary of the various parts of these immense engines may be Indicated by some figures as to the work performed by these parts when the locomotive is working at high speed. Take a passenger engine on any of the big railroads. At six- ty miles an hour a driving wheel five and one-half feet in diameter revolves five times every second; now the reciprocating parts of each cylinder, including one pis- ton, piston rod, cross head and connecting rod, weighing about 630 pounds, must move back and forth a distance equal to the stroke, usually two feet, every time the wheel revolves, or in a fifth of a second. It starts from a state of rest at the end of each stroke of the piston, and must ac- quire a velocity of thirty-two feet per sec- ond in one-twentieth of a second, and must be brought to a state of rest in the same period of time. A piston eighteen inches in diameter hes an area of 254% square inches. Steam of 150 pounds. pressure per square inch would, therefore, exert a force on the piston equal to 38,1% pounds. This force is applied alternately,on each side of the piston ten times in a gecond. CRIMINALS AMONG INSECTS. = Almost Every Form of Wrongdoing Prevalent Among Them. From the Pittsburg Dispatch. Almost every form and variety of human crime is common with insects. Cases of theft are noticed among bees. Buchner, in his “Phystc Life of Animals,” speaks of the thievish bees which, ig. order to save them- selves the trouble of ayorking, attack well- stocked hives in masses, kill the sentinels and the inhabitants, rob the hives and carry off the provisions. After repeated enterprises of this description they acquire a taste for robbery and violence; they re- cruit whole companies, which get riore and more numerous, and finally they form regular colonies of brigand bees. But it is a still more curious fact that these brigand bees can be produced arti- ficially by giving working bees a mixture of honey and brandy to drink. The bees soon take a delight in this beverage, which has the same disastrous effsct upon them s upon men—they become ill disposed and irritable, and lose all desire to work, and finally, when they begin to feel hungry, ed attack and plunder the well-supplied ives. ‘There is one variety in bees—the Sphe- codes—which lives exclusively upon piun- der. They may thus be said to be en ex- ample of innate and organic criminality among insects, and they represent what Prof. Lombroso calls the born criminals— that is, individuals who are led to crime by their own organic constitution. ABANDONED BABIES Shocking State of Affairs Developed in Judge ae Miller’s Oourt. Timely Remarks of the Judge Find Responsive Echoes From the Prosecuting Attorney. Judge Miller says there will soon be a deficit in the United States treasury if the number of abandoned babies to be cared for by the board of children’s guardians does not soon show a material decrease. There were three colored infants in court this morning upon applications to have them turned over to the board. One of thenf, who had been named Christopher Columbus Banes, is an illegitimate child. The mother of this child died in the Hom- eopatchic Hospital soon after the birth of the infant, and the father, who is sald to be a doctor, has never offered to contribute to the child's support. Theme was nothing for the court to do but turn the child over to the board, which was done. When this case had been disposed of two colored children, aged respectively two months and two years, children of Eugene Scott, were brought in on a similar appli- cation. It was stated that Scott, who works for Col. Bird of the army, had de- serted his wife and child and gone to Nor- folk. The mother, who was in court, Is soon to undergo an operation, and for this reason she cannot take care of her chil- ren. “She’s an honest woman,” said Agent Parkman, and he also sald he thought she would take care of the children when she recovers. The court granted the request and turned them over to the board until September. In doing so the judge eald he thought it was about time that some of the men who abandon their wives and children were be- ing punished, and the prosecuting attorney, Mr. Jeffords, said he would do what he could in the matter of punishing some of these offenders. ———— LINCOLN STORIES. How He Made Briefs of His - Speeches, The last installment of Lincoln's life in McClure’s Magazine presents the great American as a practicing lawyer. It is full of gcod Stories, some of which are here reproduced. It would seem that even as early as 1852 Lincoln had acquired a reputation for story telling. When not busy during the session of the court he was “habitually whispering stories to his neighbors, frequently to the annoyance of Judge Davis, who presided over the eighth circuit.” If Lincoln per- sisted too long the judge would rap on the chair and exclaim: “Come, come, Mr. Lin- coln, { can’t stand this! There is no use trying to carry on two courts. I must ad- jcurn mine or yours, and 1 think you will have to be the one.” As soon as the group bad scattered the judge would call one of the men to him and ask: “What was that Lincoln was telling?" In his law practice Lincoln seems to have been singularly conscientious, his first ef- fort being to try to arrange matters so as to avoid litigation. Nor would he assume a case that he felt was not founded upon right and justice. “We will not take your case,” he said to a man who had shown that by a legal technicality he could win property valued at $0. “You must remember that some things legally right are not morally right. We will not take your case, but will give you a little advice for which we will charg: yeu nothing. You seem to be a sprightly, energetic man; we would advise you to try ycur hand at making 36 in some other Way.” One of the most interesting anecdotes is the one quoted from Joe Jefferson's auto- biography. Jefferson and his father were playing at Springfield during the session of the legislature, and, as there was no thea- ter in the town, had gone to the expense of building one. Hardly had this been done when a religious revival broke out. The church people condemned the theater, and prevailed upon the authorities to Impose a license, which was practically proliibition. “In the midst of cur trouble,”” says Jeffer- son, “a young lawyer called on the man- agers. He had heard of the injustice, and offered, if they would place the matter in his hands, to have the license taken off, declaring that he only desired to see fair play, and he would accept no fee whether he failed or succeeded. The young lawyer began his harangue. He handled the subject with tact, skill and humor, tracing the history of the drama from the time when Thespis acted in a cart to the stage of today. He illustrated his speech with a number of anecdotes, and kept the council in a roar of laughter. His good humor prevailed, and the exor- bitant tax was taken off. The young law- yer was Lincoln.” The notes of one of hi case agtinst a fraudulent pension agent have been preserved. They are amusingly brief, as were all Lincoln's notes: 'No contract—not professional services. Unreasonable charge—money retained by deft not given to pl'ff—Revolutionary war —Soldiers’ bleecing feet—PI'ft's husban Soldier leaving home for army—Skin def Close." Another one of the anecdotes is related in connection with a case involving a bodily attack. Mr. Lincoln defended, and told the jury that his client was in the fix of a man who, in going along the highway with a pitchfork over his shoulder, was attacked by a flerce dog that ran out at him from a farmer's door-yard. In parrying off the brute with the fork its prongs stuck into him and killed him. “What made you farmer, “What made him bite me “But why did you not go at him with the other end of the pitchfork?” “Why did he not come at me with his other end?" At this Mr. Lincoln whirled about in his long arms an imaginary dog and pushed his tail end toward the jury. This was the defensive piea of “Son as- sault demesne’’—loosely, that ‘The other fellow brought on the fight’—quickly told and in a way the dullest mind would grasp and retain. speeches in a ill my dog?” said the coe. ED HOARDS. SECRE’ They Are Often Found in Breakin: Up Old Ships. From Cassell’s Journal. The utilization of apparent waste 1s well exemplified in the breaking ur of ships of various kinds, for every nail and every chip are put aside for sale, but in the case of vessels of considerable tonnage, and es- pecially of very old craft,finds both curious and valuable are by no means rare. To give a@ recent instance, an old wooden vessel that was broken up near Greenwich only a few months back revealed a very curious sight when some old planking in the fore- castle had been torn down. Here, nailed up, were the two mummified hands of a negro, and in the palm of each hand, and transfixed by the same naiis that held the hands, were two counterfeit silver dollars. The hands had been hacked off roughly. A year or two ago the breaking up of an old schooner near Sheerness brought to light beneath the inner “skin” of the hull quite an elaborate armament of a very old-fash- iecned kind, and a friend of the writer's se- cured, from among the many weapons {n- cluded, a splendidiy made _bell-mouthed flint-lock musket, the stock being marked with a representation of arm and leg fet- ters, and the name “Philip Steyne, Boston, Lincolnshire.” The most curious part of this find was a set of books—a privateer's books, evidently—showing the capture of various French vessels. Tied up in a canvas bag, 190 guineas in gold were found a year or two back, during the breaking up of an old vessel piying between Birkenhead and New Brighton. With the money were found, too, a most curious and unique set of foreign playing cards, some loaded dice and three magnificent pieces of amber. All these were found in the false bottom of a wooden bunk. 0 As to Walking. A fashionable woman, who wore Louis Quinze heels, once asked a famous artist how she might acquire a graceful carriage. He looked at her gravely and answered: “Take off your high-heeled shoes, place them on the top of your head; when you cen walk with those shoes perfectly bal- anced you will have the gait of a goddess, and for the first time since French-heeled shoes were invented they will really have served to help, and not to disfigure, a wo- man.” TELEGRAPHY OF THE CHINESE. Numerals Flushed Over a Wire and ‘Translated by a Code. From the San Francisco Chronicle. According to the Statesman’s Year Book, all the principal cities of China are now connected with one another and with Peking, the capital, by telegraph. Recent visitors to China say, however, that tele- graphing there is a laborious and an ex- pensive process, and that the lines are a charge upon the state treasury instead of a source of revenue. The dispatches are, of course, sent in Chinese, for not one in many thousands of the natives knows any language except his own. But the Chinese have no alphabet. Their literary characters, partly ideo- graphic, partly phonetic, number many thousands. It is simply impossible to in- vent telegraphic signals that would cover the written language. Here was an ob- stacle in the way of using the telegraph at all. The difficulty was obviated by inventing a telegraphic signal for each of the cardinal rembers, and so aumbers or figures might be telegraphed to any extent. Then a code dictionary was prepared, in which each number from 1 up to several thousands stood for a particular Chinese letter or ideograph. It is, in fact, a cipher system. The sender of the message need not bother himself about its meaning. He may tele- Graph all day without the slightest idea of the information he is sending, for he trans- mits only numerals. It is very different with his friend, the receiver. He has the code dictionary at his elbow, and after each message is received he must translate it, writing each literary character in place of the numeral that stands for it. Only about an eighth of the words in the written language appear in the code, but there are enough of them for all practical purposes. But the Chinese system has its great dis- advantages. Men of ordinary education have not sufficient acquaintance with the written language to be competent telegraph receivers, and the literati are not seeking employment in telegraph offices any more than our college professors are. 80 the government recruits its employes with much difficulty. Besides, the patrons of the telegraph are comparat.vely few in number. There are almost no Chinese who have business relations all over the coun- try, as is the case with many thousands of our business men. The public is not in- vited to buy stock in the Chinese telegraph lines, and if it was, nobody at present would buy with a view to dividends. The receipts do not equal the expenses, and the guvernment makes up the deficit. There is another great disadvantage of the Chinese telegraph system. All over the world the movement of railroad trains is regulated by telegraph. “The orders re- ceived by the station agent are filed in plain view of the employes, ard if need be, the switchman may take temporary charge and carry out the instructions from the central office. Railrcads have been intro- duced into China to a very small extent, ard there is talk of greatly extending the service. But how about running the trains? A writer in Le Mouvement Colonial cf Paris says that if railroads are introduced to any extent in China, the personnel must be exclusively European and American, or recruited from the literary class. He says the Chinese government will not take for- eigners into its service, and that the edu- cated men of China, who alone among the people have sufficient knowledge of tne written language to be intrusted with the actuel running of trains, would refuse most emphatically to be either train hands or station agents. ‘This is one of the many small stumbling biocks in the way of China’s progress, but it is quite effective in its way The Circular Saw. From the Invex tor. The circular saw has come into such general use that St 1s accepted as one of the indispensable mechanical instruments and few ever give a thought to the in- ventor. In tracing the history of saws back to the origin, Mr. C. A. Dunham finds that the circular saw was invented in America about the year 1770 by a comb- maker of the name of Hartshorn. He found the old-fashioned method of using a common handsaw to saw out the horn between the teeth of the comb rather slow. He therefore took a common copper penny, known locally a “Bungtown copper,” filed 1t down somewhat thinner, Grilled a hole through its center, squared the hole and cut the teeth in its outer edge. He then placed 1t upon a mandrel and put it in his lathe. On that he sawed out his combs. The new saw worked so well that he cut up his handsaw and converted that also into circular saws for making combs. He lived and died in Mansfield, Conn., “where the wooden nutmegs come from.” He was also the inventor of the screw and lip auger. He never took out any patents, claiming that if he had done ything that was of benefit to his fellow men they were Wuagene to it. eee es New Words. From the New Orleans Times-Democrat. It is a matter of surprise that the uni- versatility of the bicycle has not produced an extensive vernacular. As a matter of fact, the slang expressions in general use are but few. “Bike” ts simply an abomig- able abbreviation of bicycle. Cyclist is a iegtimate word, that is shorter than wheel- man or wheelwoman. In France the latter is called a “bicyclienne.” In faraway New Zeaiand the awful word “cyclodonna” has been coined as a substitute for wheelwo- | man. In many western towns the fair rider is called a “bloomer,” without regard to her costume. The word “scorcher,” as indicating a speedy cyclist, is fairly in- grafted upon the language. In Chicago, however, the “‘scorcher” is called a “scoot.” The technicalities of the machine have led to attempts on the part of young men coin expressions. “Your tire is punctured” indicates that the story you are telling lacks the probable element of truth. Keck- less statements are called ‘coasting. very ancient yarn is not a “chestnut,” but a “century.” A young couple sharing a mutual fondness are “riding tandem.” A man leading a fast life is “geared too high.” An old fogy is referred to as a igh wheel.” A chaperon is known as a “pace- mak. A cheap bicycle is called a “gas- pipe” machine. A professional race is a “pro.” Slips of the Tongue. From Tid-Bits. Some curious slips of speech, according to a non-conformist contemporary, were made at the annual meeting of the London Wesleyan Mission in Exeter Hall. Thus, Rev. R. W. Perks, M. P., the chairman, referred to the work of the “female sis- ters,” while Mr. Hughes invited “young men and women of all ages” to attend his meetings in St. James’ Hall. ‘There is on record a memorable exordium of a rervous curate: “Young ladies, or per- haps { should say young women, for I wish to embrace you all.” A Roman Catholic preacher was speaking of the transitoriness of earthly things. “Look at the great cities of antiquity!” he exclaimed. “Where are they now? Why, some of them have perished so utterly that it 1s doubtful if they ever existed. Sa Patriotic Order of Indinn Fighters. From the New York Advertiser. The west has caught the craze for found- ing patriotic societies. Not being content with the large assortment of organizations already founded to select from, a company of westerners have “gone off on their own hook,” and founded a new society for war veterans and their descendants. Quite nai- urally, this new society is based on the In- dian fights. The name will be “The Pa- triotic Order of the Indian Wars of the United States.” The new organization has just been formed at Lake Forest, Ill, and any one tracing descent from a pioneer who ever shot a redskin or who was scalped by one of the natives ts eligible for membership. I read in a Philadelphia paper that a chapter of the new society will shortly be formed in that city. The Pa- triotic Order of the Indian Wars of the United States may apply to the west, but the Indian wars in the eastern states were of ancient date, and, I believe, are included in the scope of the Society of Cofonial Wars. When will the movement stop? It is evidently the ambition of every Amer- ican, of ancient or modern lineage, to be a member of a atriotic’” society, and if their descent does not entitle them to mem- bership in an existing society, organiza- tions must necessarily be founded to ac- | land. ALL WASHINGTON DRUGGISTS SELL MUNYON’S REMEDIES. Because They Are Popular With the People and Sell on Their Merits. Munyon’s Rheumatism Care seldom fatls to re- eve in one to three bours, and cures in a few days. Price 25e. Munyon’s Dyspepsia Cure positively cures all forms of indigestion and stomach trouble. Price 23 com ‘Munyon’ Dreaks up Care stops coughs, night sweats, soreness and xpeedily heals th ervive free. ‘Throat or Lang Co e trial local tr ‘atarrh. red with free Sunday, 10 to 12, Monday If you have Catarrh or a plaint, peut.” We positively ‘etsonal Letters ans for euy disease. ‘Open 9 and ‘Thursday medical a nines, 713 Fourteen it FIRES IN GREAT FORESTS. — Preventive Work Accomplished by the Fire Warden of Minnesota. From the Indianapolis News, The report of the chief fire warden of Minnesota has been published, and con- tains many statements of interest. As part of the precautionary measures adopted, about 18,000 placards, warning against kindling fires in foresi or prairie, were dis- tributed. Twenty-seven fires in forest regions, including those in brush land and marshes, are reported. They burned over an aggregate area of 8,265 acres, and did damage to the amount of $3,125. The wet weather of last year greatly reduced the losses. In the prairie region of the western side of the state dry, windy conditions were conducive to the spreading of fire, during the period from August to Novem- ber, and 105 field prairie fires occurred, burning over about 73,000 acres and caus- ing a damage of $34. In the same terri- tory in 1884 about 400,000 acres were burned over. The local wardens controlled and ex- tunguished many fires. The state warden bad consulted manufacturers of locomo- tives in the Untted States and England with reference to the best spark arrester. It is learned that no such device is wholly effi- cient, as fine sparks are always likely to escape. ‘The warden says that the 7,00) Chippewa Indians who are scatt«red throughout Min- nesota forests are more careful about ex- tinguishing their forest fires than white people. The greater number of fires are caused by locomotive sparks, but the care- less farmer, burning over fields before ploughing, and the threshing machines also a great source of danger. It is t business of the wardens to prevent as well as to extinguish fires. In the forest region of Minnesota the government still holds 6,090,000 acres of public land. These ure visited by homeseekers, timber “cruisers” and hunters. The warden remarks that “when people become educated as to the true economic values of for comprehension of th from forest fires, every frequents the woods will be @ watchman to guard against such fires About 12,000 workmen are employ the logging industry of Minnesota. ts, and to a danger and damage man and boy who voluntary in is It estimated that the t nt of white pine standing is 14,4: feet, and of red or Norway pine, 3,41 mK) feet. Tn twenty-three counties there are 10,5),00 acres of natural forest, and in the whole State there are 11,800,000 acres of rn forest, not including mere brush and The annual cut of pine for « the past three years 1s estimated at 1,500,000 yeet. The consumption of mercantile hard wood lumber in Minnesota ts estimated at 100,000,000 feet annually. tural sor A NOVEL EXPERIMENT. From Invention. The most curious experiment ever made with a piece of ordnance was at Ports- mouth, England. A stage was erected in the harbor within the tide mark; on this an Armstrong gun of the 110-pound pat- tern was mounted. The gun was then loaded and carefully aimed at a target—all this, of course, during the time of low tide. A few hours later, when the gun and the target were both covered with water to a depth of six feet, the gun was fired by means of electricity. We said “aimed at a target but the facts are that there were two targets, but only one was ere 4 for this special experiment, the other being the hull of an old vessel, the Griper, which | directly behind the target and in range of the ball. The target itself was placed only twenty-five feet from the muzzle of the gun. It was composed of oak beams and planks, and was twenty-one inches thick In order to make the old Griper invulne! able, a sheet of boiler plates three inch: thick was riveted to the waterlogged huti in direct range with the course the tall was expected to take if not deflected by the water. On all of these—the oaken target, the boiler plates and the old vessel hull— the effect of the shot from the submerged gun was really startling. The wooden tar- get was plerced through and through, the boller-iron target was broken into pieces and driven into {ts “backing.” the hall passing right on through both sides of the vessel, making a huge hole, through which the water poured in torrents. Taken alto- getner, the experiment was an entire su cess, demonstrating, as it did, the feagibili- ty of placing submerged guns in harbors in time of war and doing great damage to the vessels which an enemy might dispatch to such points for the purpose of shelling cities. -——-—-se- Fire Engines Moved by Trolley. From the Chicago News. I have an idea for preventing fires get ting headway in the down town distric I would use the electric road. Build switches to the engine houses from the nearest line of electric road, and have one or two cars and have an engine and hose cart on the car at all times when in engine houses. When called, put on the horses and start. The whole south side ts so t ersed by crosstown lines that any engine may get to the court house in a remarkably short time. The team will be fresh, and I see no reason why there cannot be engines enough massed in time to put out any fire before it gains dangerous proportions. I would have a danger signal drop or slide out from every pole on the line, ringing a bell, so that teams would be out of th way, and the company’s cars could leave the track at the nearest crossing, which is every few squares, The city gave the companies the use of the stree! jet them give the city the use of the tracks. If I have a horse and wagon and meet an engine, and the firemen want my horse, they take it. Why not do the same with tracks? This is merely the pla in the rough; it can be arranged so as & be feasible and practical in a short time f{ the Acorn. The Formati From Science, The male flowers of the oak are gathered in distant clusters round a long, swaying stalk; they approach much nearer to the conventional idea of a flower individually. Instead of being a mere aggregation of anthers or pollen cells on simple scales, those of the oak are possessed of distin: star-like, hairy calyces, each marked ow into six or seven lobes, and containing ten slender stamens, with two-celied anthers. Then the female flowers, which are usually two or three, near each other, but not con- nected, consist each of an ovary, with three short-curved styles, and invested by a calyx that adheres closely to it and be- comes the husk or shell of the acorn. The whole, except the styles, is held in a cup formed of many small over-lapping scales, which afterward lose their individuality and shrink into mere roughness on the out- side of the cup that holds the acorn. For orly one of the six ovules contained in the ovary develops into an acorn (seed or corn of the ac, or oak). THE “APENTA” HUNGARIAN BITTER WATER, drawn from the UJ HUNYADI Springs, ts under the absolute control of the Royal Hungariaa Chemical Institute (uinistry of agriculture), Beda-Pet. ByiS-ist