Evening Star Newspaper, July 18, 1896, Page 14

THE EVENING STAR, SATURDAY, JULY. 18, 1896-TWENTY-FOUR PAGES. coal for the winter,” said a coal dealer. “The prices will be the same as last year, and it 1s to the Interest of the dealer, as well as the purchaser, to buy coal now. The dealer is glad to store away coal now | for the reason that he only has to handle | the coal once, for he can have it carted | direct from the cars to the cellars of the} consumers. The latter, too, get the bene- | fit, for they get clean coal ins-ead of the | dirt that collects In the yard by frequent | hendiing and exposurs ‘to the weather. | In nearly all the states a ton of coal has | to weigh 2,240 pounds, as it does in this | District. Strange as it may ap) Penn- | sylvania, the coal state, was the iast to} adopt the 2,240-pound ton. Until this year 2,000 pounds made a ton in Pennsylvania. E eke “Parents should keep an eye on nurses In charge of thetr children :n the parks these warm days,” observed an experienced | matron. “Recently I have seen a number of children wheeled in carriages about the Parks by nurses. A great deal of the time I noticed that the nurses kept the children in the broiling sun instead of unde: the trees in the shade. I cannot understand wky go many nurses will persist in pushing infants about in the sun, while there is plenty of shade. I think it would be a good idea if the park watchmen were instructed | to give more’ attention to nurs:s and chil- dren than they do. At present the avcrage park watchman seldom notices the babies. a * eX “Street corner fakira did not catch on wery well during the Christian Endeavor convention days," said one of the street peddiers, “for semehow the visitors got the idea that they were all swindlers in a mild sert of a way. There were several novel- ties offered outside of the various badges, buttons and other things that were con- nected directly and indirectly with the con- vention, but they did not sell, for the aver- age visitor was rot a buyer to any satis- factory extent. I handied a little whistle which imitated the noise of birds. It is rot a sinful thing in any way. I laid in a large stock of them, and I have many of them still on hand. It is evident the Chris- tian Endeavorers do not like whistles. The fellows who worked other toys or novalties ccmplain of the light business they did.” ee KEK “Las: year there were more glass fruit | Jars sold in this city than daring the three previous years combined,” said a -lealer in that line, “and the result is that there is Rardly any sale for them this season. The berry season !s almost past, and while I suppose all those who usually put up pre- Serves did so this year, they have not bought any jars, at least, to any great ex- tent. Of course, the ordinary fruit jar by careful packing away lasts a long time, but we calculated on breakage und contingen- | cir. of that kind. It is surprising how | much fruit is preserved in this section. No | ene but a dealer in jars can have any idea of its extent. In this conenction, some of | ry custom have had good success in | packing their berries away in jars and fill- ing them with water. “They use no sugar or other thing to pre- serve them, but simply fill the jar with the j berries, and then after letting them stand for a couple of hours, pour in water till the jar runs over, and then hermetically Seal It, taking pagijcular pains to see that the metal top well and that the rub- ber band ts 7 The jars, as an extra precaution, should be put away upside own. In blackberries, whortleberries and other fruits which are to be used for pies or puddings this is said to be an excellent easy method of keeping them. It saves much laber and is more satisfactory to | Many than to use sugar in preserving | them.” “People are already putting away nel | xk KR KE “Washington {fs a handsome and remark- ably Interesting city in every way, and probably the best in this country as a place for holding conventions,” volunteered Rey. Bryan Eldridge of Buffalo, N. Y., to a par- of friends who gathered about the en- trance to Tent Williston while the C. E. convention was In session here, “but I do | not think it is suited for Christian Endeav- | mventions, for the reason that it of- fers so many attractions that it is difficult for the average delegate to attend as many sions or meetings of the convention as they would had the convention been held in the ordinary commercial city. But they managed to do it.” ee KKH “Though the Atlanta exposition did not pay as an exposition,” said Rev. Mr. | Strother of that city, “we are beginning to! find out that it paid otherwise. It left with | us from five to ten thousand desirable citl- | zens. Of these one-third are church mem- bers; nfhe-tenths of them are people of | push and intelligence. Possibly the other tenth came for climatic reasons, and they je the business of physicians. Only a | w days ago loans amounting to one mill- mn dollars were placed in northern cities for funds which are to be used In erecting | four twelve-story office buildings. There | be about four hundred rooms in each. pu can easily see, therefore, that a city which needs an increase of sixteen! hundred office rooms has been doing some- | thing. and that the something promises to | pay handsomeiy. There were no natural! reasors why Atlanta should lead the cities | of the south, but the citizens of Atlanta got it in their heads that they should do 30, and th id It. Of course, they had to en- list t id of northern capital. One of our sky-serapers is to be planned on the lines ef the Cairo flats here. The interior con- struc the steel skeleton, Is also to be followed. xe ee & “York is famevs no more for its pies,”” explained Major Winfield Scott, who led the delegation from York to the Endeavorers’ ecnvention. “In former days York pies were well known as a Pennsylvania pro- duetion. Every train was met at the depot at York by scores of old women, who had baskets full of ples. Departing trains were also henored, and thousands of York ples were dally corsumed or carried away on the car: “Now there is nothing about York that would make pies made there any better NO SUNDAY From Life. ‘than the pies made in any of the other tewns of Pennsylvania. It was simply a railroad statfen, where nearly all trains stopped. Some enterprising old ladies took advantage of that brief delay, and supplied the hungry passengers with nice ples. The average traveler is nearly always ready to eat while traveling, especially those who do not travel much, and as the pies were nice they were eagerly bought. After a while it got to be known that nice ples could be had at York, and passengers restrained their appetites until they reached there. “The travelers were hungry, and the pics reached the right spot, and they never for- got to sing praises of York and its pies. This increased the business to such an ex- tent that hundreds of old ladies managed to eke out a livelihood making and selling pies. After a time they became so expert ir the matter of pie making that the York pte was really something very nice. It had a ‘moreish’ taste about it—that is, the more you ate the more you wanted to eat. As time rolled along there were so many pie sellers that there was Buolcocms aoe depot for passengers. en came ene pate the pie seller is not allowed to enter there at all. The York pie of good old days is a thing of the past. x eK eX “Amateur bicyclers should learn to use the wheel in moderation,” observed a pro- fessional rider. “‘They should take but short rides at the start. In a week or so they will toughen up in the parts that need to be toughened up, and efter that they will be all right. Only a few days ago a friend of mine bought a new wheel. He had not ricden before that, all told, five miles. As soon as he got the wheel he started out on @ ten-mile spin on a very hot day, and over @ rough road. The resuit is that he ts to- day in a hospital, and will be for a week or so. He thinks it was the wheel that laid him up, when the fact is it was his own in- discretion. My advice, therefore, to all new riders is to go slow, and for the first week never ride for over a half hour at a time. After that there will be no trouble, pro- viding, of course, there is no constitutional ailment.” xe ek & “The photograph galleries of this city have had a great draft on them of late,” remarked a dealer, “and especially for the photos of pubifc men and national char- acters. The newspaper of the present day wants photos, and their managers know that they can be supplied better from this city than anywhere else. Bulls like that committed by the New York Journal, in printing the photograph of Senator Mc- Millan for Representative McMillin occur now and then, but, considering the number of chances to make mistakes, they are very rare. In the west and south such errors do not count much, for one photograph ordi- narily suits them as well as another. In short, any photograph goes. Such an error, however, would not have occured if the pic- ture had been ordered from this city. ee EXTENT OF WASHINGTON. Experience of a Citizen ©Who Ha: Lived Here Twenty-Seven Years. Owing to its transverse avenues and its oft-recurring parks and circles, Washing- ton city ts not the essiest city in the world for the stranger within her gates to locate himself when once he has lost his bearings, but it would hardly seem to be large enough or intricate enough to confuse one of Its residents. Yet a Star reporter has proof that it is large enough or intricate enough to ball up one of its own citizens. He (the reporter) was standing at the cor- ner of New York avenue and 14th street one night during the Endeavor show last week, when Endeavorers were rushing to and fro trying to get home from the va- rious meetings, and as he watched the fly- ing people a well-dressed man came up to him. I beg your pardon,” remarked the man, but will you be kind enough to tell me which car I must take here to get to 6th street nor’east?” He said “nor’east," and the reporter thought he might have grown rich bringing argosies home laden with treasure. He also thought the man was a C. E., and had asked how to get to 16th street. “Take this yellow car,” he said, “and walk over to the west two blocks, or take the green car going up to H street, and after while get out and walk over to the east two blocks. At the same time, which- ever car you take, tell the conductor where you want to go, and ask him how to get there.” The man laughed just a little at these very clear directions. “I want to go to 6th street nor’east,” he repeated, very slowly; “and I think I ought to take a New York avenue car, but I don’t exactly know which is New York avenue.” Thia cleared matters up for the reporter, and he told the man to step across the street and take a blue car. “But I don’t know which direction to go." he said, appealingly. “You mightn’t believe it,” he went on, “but I've lived in Washington for twenty-seven years, and tenight I came up town, which is a rare thing for me, and now I am so turned around that I don’t know New York ave- nue when I see it, and don’t know which direction to take to go back to my home in the nor'east.” The man was perfectly sober, perfectly rational, well dressed and perfectly respect- able, yet it was evident that in all those twenty-seven years of his life over in the northeast part of the city he had not been in the midst of things enough to know how | to get home when he got two miles away from it. The last the reporter saw of him he was taking his place in a New York avenue car headed for the northeast, and it is fair to suppose when he got east of 7th street | he began to come in sight of familiar land- marks. —— A Base Hit. From the Detroit Free Press. “I found a good bargain in men’s shoes today,” said Jorkins, after he had picked everything on the supper table to pleces. “You had beiter luck than I ever had,” retorted his wife. —+e+—_____ Sometimes, ‘rom the Chicago Tribune. “Isn't that sort of work very confining?” asked the visitor who had been permitted ; to go into the room where the banknote engravers were at work. “Sometimes it is, ma’am,” answered the pale-faced artist wkom she had addressed. “I am personally acquainted with a man whe did job of this kind once without crders, and he was confined seven years for it, ma’am.” FLOWERS. it afore Saturday at midnight, cause yer “See here, if any o’ you youngsters or yer families die after this, yous has got friends can’t buy no flowers for yer cof- fans after that hour. Them’s the orders from headquarters.” IN HOTEL CORRIDORS “It is remarkable what ingenuity moun- taineers show . in evading the revenue laws,” said A. C. Rursell of Raleigh, form- erly a deputy United States marshal, at the Riggs. “The most unique scheme I ever ran across was in Mitchell county, N. C., near the town of Boone. I received in- formation that a good deal of illicit Mquor was being made in that community, and krowing that it would be useless to take @ posce there withcut definite proofs, I went ir guise of a timber buyer. I could find no trace of any stills. In fact, it seem- ed to be one of the most religious com- muuities in the country. There was a church, which I was informed always had the same kind of a revival it was having then. People would go in ard out, and every night there wes a baptizing. After meeting every one got drunk, but I could see no Hquor. I made up my mind: that the still wes in the church, and sent word for @ posse to come. This they did, and we captured the meeting. Under the pulpit was found the whisky. The stove was not @ stove at all, but a still, the smoke of which passed through what looked like a Stove and came out of a chimney. There has. not been a revival in that church since.” : “I think the name of my town is one of the most euphonious I ever heard,” satd A. L. Harding of Vandalia, Ill., at the Regent. “It was formerly the state capital, and Abraham Lincoln was, at one time, a fre- quent visitor. It has many of the best fam- ilies in Illinois as residents, but it is a railroad center, and there have been cases of trouble among the raliroad men that have given it rather a hard name, which reminds one of how it came to get a name at all. The owner of the land before the place was Inid out did not possess much Jearning, but wanted to appear classicai. Hence, when he concluded to start a town he went to a friend and asked him to sug- gest a name of some famous people or city of ancient times. The friend was a weg. and replied, ‘Well, the vandals who helped conquer Rome were a noted people. Name it Vandalia,’ which means ‘the home of the Vandals.” Hence, Vandalia it be- crme.” “I believe I have the smailest watch in the world, and one of the most perfect timekeepers," said R. P. Holden of Chi- cago, at the Arlington. He held out his hand as he spoke, and on ithe third finger was whet looked at first like a seal ring, but it was a watch, the tiny hands corres- ponding with those of the clock in the office. “That watch was msde for me in Switzerland,” Mr. Holden continued. “It was my privilege to assist a traveling com- Panion in ascending the Matterhorn, and he credited me with saving his life. He was a watchmaker in Zurich, and seemed much troubled, when in reply to his ques- tion as to whether or not I had a watch, I told him I had one I would not part with. As I left he insisted upon my giving him my address, and in a few months this ring came. The little watch keeps pefect time, and I never look at my other one, this be- ing constantly in front of my eyes.” “It seems to me that there is less esprit de corps among farmers than there used to be,” said L. C. Northrop of Lancaster, Ps., at the Cochran. “I saw the adver- tisement of a county fair in Ohio to be held in September, and it forctbly remind- ed me of the fact that I have not seen such a fair for several years. Twenty years ago scarcely @ county could be found that did not have a fair once a year, and every farmer took pride in raising mammoth fruits and vegetables and fire stock fur exhibition, while to take a premium was an honor well worth working for. Tge farm- ers’ wives made bread or cake or did fancy work for exhibition, and fair week was one to be looked forward to during the other fifty-one weeks of the year. Now, there are very few such fairs heid, and those that are have lost much of their uld-time glory.” “Electricity and bicycles have seriously crippled my business,” said A. H. Jackson of Lexington, Ky., at the Ebbitt. “I have dealt in horses for a good many years. Twenty years ago the markets of New York, Philadelphia and New Orleans could scarcely be overstocked with work horses and mules, the street car companies buy- ing a large proportion of them. Now com- paratively few horses are used by these companies. Then there was a heavy dc- mand for small, fine-looking horses and fast roadsters, young men ig the pur- chasers. These do not sell for much more than half of what they used to. The young men have bought bicycles instead. The only grade of horses that are as salable as they were ten years ago are fine, strong, well-shaped carriage horses and mediura sized but stout horses for hauling pur- poses. The last named have taken the Place of the big Normans and Clydesdale: as they live longer ard are not so clumsy. “Out our way we are apt to think that an eastern man cannot shoot a pistol, said H. T. Jenkinson of Cheyenne, at the Metropolitan, “but I had one experience at Laramie that convinced me this idea is in- correct. A finely dressed young man step- ped into a saloon to get a drink, where a lot of cowboys were having a good time. The sight of the ‘tenderfoot’ was the signal for some fun, and half-a-dozen pistols were drawn just to scare the man from the states. The stranger wore a silk hat, and the cry went up ‘shoot the tile.’ The man turned with his glass at his lips and with- out a tremor drew a pistol from his coat pocket. By the time the drink was swal- lowed, six pistols lay on the floor, he had shot every one of them out of their own- er’s hands. They crowded around him, and the tenderfoot was not allowed to pay for anything that night.” “The brsiness of finding fresh water pearls Is not altogether what it has been represented in the newspapers,” said J. C. Adams of Knoxville, Tenn., the Shore- ham. “The existence of pcaris along the Clinch and Holsten rivers has always been known, but it has only been within the Pest two or three years that it was sup- pesed they were of any value. The first intimation that they were marketable come tn an article describing similar pearis found in the Miami river in Ohio. Then Pearl fishing took a sudden boom, and everybody seemed to think they would get rich. For a time pearls were brought into Kr oxville in large quantities, but the prices were not so large wes expected. Still the business was profitable enough to in- dvce these without steady emplcyment to devote their time to it. Now, those easily obtained are almost all gone. ‘It would not pay to go to much expense getting, so the pearl boom ts rapidly dying out “The promised increase in the gold out- put of the United States is not likely to be realized,” said R. P. Jaquith of Boise City, Idaho, an old gold miner, at the Howard. “I sold @ mine in which I was interested a few months ago, since which I have been examining into the various fields. Cripple Creek I consider to be more overworked than any field I ever saw, and the boom there cannot last much longer. In Sacra- mento valley and southern Californa there are some low-grade sulphide ores, that will pay to handle, but there are no large for- tunes to be made. I have been all over the southern fields, and, while there are some excellent prospects, the ore is exceedingly refractory, and no process of extraction has yet proved entirely successful. The only territory that I have found where there are real prospects for an increase is the Trail Creek country, in Washington, and British Columbia, and I am of the opinion that te: ritory is more limited in extent than some people believe.” “I notice that the newspapers are figuring cn the rural vote in the west as an import- ant factor in the present campaign,” said C, A. Leonard of Topeka at the National. “I am a Kansas farmer myself, and the way the politicians and farmers count the farmer vote amuses me. The fact is that farmers never did and never will vote as a body to any greater extent than is the case with city men. I remember the granger mcvement. The news; rs ant Lith admitted that the party. would earryatie granger states, but it never did. The green- back party claimed the solid vote, but each election in the rural districts was a sur- prise. Then the wheel and subsequently the farmers’ alliance were established, but could never get the solid farmer vote, and those who are counting upon it now will be very greatly Aldappointed.”” “The southém ‘part of the state of H1- Mnois, where- Wm. Jennings Bryan was raised, in ‘Egypt’ said A L. Arthur of Springfield, Ti, at the Norman- aie. “The inhabitants of that section are called ‘Egyptians,’ and it is almost a term of reproach. ‘ft used to be thought by the people of cenjral and northern Mlinols that no good cquid come out of Egypt, but General John A. Logan, Judge Schofield, Wm. R. Morrison and Judge Joshua Allen have changett ‘that verdict. When the state was finst, settled the poorer classes frcm southern Indiana and Ohio went to southern ki , taking their few pos- sessions. The ‘wagons were rickety and the horses Mk A Sood many, genuine Sypsies fri the section to trade horses ‘with ¢ ee occghes This started the name of Egypt, but another fact served to fasten it. The Mississippi river overflows its banks in this section, and makes great sloughs or ‘sines,’ as they call them there. Other marshes abound and these are in- fested with insects. Mosquitoes are about as thick as in New Jersey. Ague is com- mon and was formerly almost universal. The water used to be full of water mocca- sins and the grass of prairie rattlesnakes. To add to all this the first year of settle- ment was locust year, and the insects de- vastated almost everything. These were the plagues, and emigrants went further north, saying they did so to ‘escape the plagues of Egypt.’ Now it is a progres- sive, wide-awake section, but the name sticks to it.” NEW VIEW OF THE WHEEL. The Owner of a Horse and a Buggy is Much Disgrantled. He ts @ handsome man with a graceful mustache and lordly imperial, just turning gray, and many’s the fair woman who has noted him on the avenue or along F street at the hours when women do most con- gregate in those localities. On one occasion he was looking listlessly into a window of a bicycle store when a Star reporter ran across him. “Great Caesar,” exclaimed the reporter, starting back in horror, “you don’t mean to tell me that you, you the Adonis, the Apollo and the rest of them, are contem- pleting acquiring the bicycle h “I don't see why I shouldn't,” he said. “My horse is out on pasture, and I don’t have any heart to bring him in and drive him.” “Why not?” and the reporter was sur- prised at this state of affairs, for he hap- pened to know that the horse in question was not only speedy but handsome, and the wagon that went with him was a beauty in every particular. “What's the good of the turn-out?” he replied, lugubriously. “If I want to take @ man along he can’t go owing to a prey- fous engagement to go wheeling, and I hate to drive around atone. Besides, there are so many bicycles flying around on the streets and the roads that driving is be- coming an annoyance rather than a pleas- ure.”* “What's the matter with taking a girl along for company?" suggested the re- porter. “Worse and more of {t,” continued the lugubrious horse owner. “If I am lucky enough to get a girl to go with me, either because she hasn't an engagement to go wheeling or begause she has just been wheeling till she is so tired she wants to rest, I have no peace of mind or pleasure in the drive. In’ the old times, you know, there wasn’t anything quite so near heaven as to take ‘w:prétty girl out Rock creek way on @ soft and sweet moonlight night and drive through those shaded dells, where the rippling waters made melody to the music of her Voice, and then when the moon hid behind a cloud for an instant, when we two were alone with the stars, to kiss her rosy lips and float out upon a moonshine sea of jrapture.”* “Gee, whizz,” exclaimed the reporter, apologetically, “L beg your pardon, but continue.” “And after:that,” he continued, “‘to drive along those beautiful roads through Wood- ley, over the bridges, down into the hol- lows, along the ridges sweet with the per- fume of the woods, with your arm around her taper waist, was something tha? could only be fitly expressed in poesy and music.” “Well?” said the reporter, inquiringly, when he seemed’ unable to proceed. ‘8 all busted® wide open,” he ‘sald, in tones of the utmost disgust. “Now ‘the roads are full of bicyclers, men and women, chasing along everywhere, as silent in their approach as death or taxes, and as certain, and when @ men in a buggy undertakes anything like that I was speaking about, he doesn’t more than begin to bend over toward her, or to slip his arm along the back of the buggy seat, until out of the darkness and stillness behind him comes a rasping voice saying: ‘Break away there: break away.’ That's the condition now. my dear fellow, and I am afraid the man with a horse and buggy has lost his occu- pation.” —— Not the Same Man. From the Cleveland Leader. |, Bloundell—“Burdick seems to be a chang- ‘ed man since he got his bicycle.” Renson—“Yes, his nose points around the corner instead of straight ahead, as it used to, and they say he has one glass eye.” Another From the Chicago Record. “Mrs. Dobbs, don’t you find that club study rather interferes with housekeep- ing?" “Oh, not at all; it helps. many clubs View. I belong to so that I scarcely ever eat a luncheon at home.” “You threw stones at me yesterday, didn’t you— And now that I’ve got you, I think— a, Your blooming— —Life. ART AND ARTISTS A very interesting collectloy of original drawings by well-known American artists was exhibited at the Hotel Regent during the convention. The drawings were do- nated by the artists for the illustration of & book called “Field Flowers,” which con- tains some of the cholcest poems by the late Eugene Field. This book 1s published in the interest of the fund for erecting a monument to the memory of the beloved poet of childhood, and Is issued as a sort of certificate showing that the holder has contributed to the monument fund. In such high esteem was the poet held among the members of the artistic fraternity that the artists represented in the illustrations do- naied are many. The attractive title page is the work of Stanford White. “Some Time,” one of Eugene Field’s most beau- tiful little poems, is illustrated by a wash drawing by Alice Barber Stephens, and “Little Mistress Sans-Merci” by a@ full page drawing and marginal panel by Or- son Lowell. Mary Hallock Foote, the ar- tist-author, has a pencil draw:ng, entitled “Barbara,” and F. Hopkinson Smith, two water colors, illustrating _“‘Proritable Tales.” A number of illustrations by W. A. Rogers and A. B. Frost make the hu- morous poem “Seein’ Things at Night” still more interesting. Irving R. Wiles, A. B. Wenzell and Charles Howard Johnson are ail represented in the illustration of the verses “To a Soubrette.” Among other well-known illustrators who have contrib- uted toward. the pictorial beauty of the yolume are W. Granville Smith, Henry Sandham, Eric Pape, W. L. Taylor, Frei- erie Remington, E. W. Kemble, George Wharton Edwards and C. J. Taytor. * ~* Mr. J. H. Moser, who has been spending the summer in Europe, is at present in Germany. After staying three or four days in Berlin to see the pictures at the International Exhibition, which was in Progress, he traveled to the little town of Frieburg, where he is now at work. He has been painting several heads, but oc- cupies himself principally with landscapes, and his exhibition in the winter will un doubtedly bring before the public here = deal of new and interesting mater- ial. * *“* Though he is usually represented at the exhibitions, Washingtonians have seen It- tle of Johannes A. Oertel for some years. He has been at work for nearly a year, in his home, in Bel Air, Md., on an extensive composition, which he calls “A Synoptical Commentary of the Old Testament.” An Idea of the immense amount of work re- quired to bring it to completion is given by the fact that there are one hundred and forty figures in the picture, and the lar er of these are about two-thirds life size. The; painting fs one of a series, which the arvist has been pianning for a long time, covering the entire plan of man’s redemption. Rev, Mr. Oertel devotes himself exclusively to religious subjects, and hes several stnalier pictures under way, ‘The Wa'k to Geth- semane,” “The Good Shepherd Giveth His Life for the Sheep” and “The Temptation.” * * x Mr. Robert Coleman Child has been divid- ing his time between resting and sketching the interesting places around Ashland, V. where he fs now living. A little later on Mr. Child plans to commence some large car- toons in pastel for stained glass windows. * * * Heinrich Hoffmann’s great painting, “Christ in Gethsemane,”” will probably be on exhibition at Veerhoft's gallery until next Tuesday, and those who have been too busy while the Endeavorers were here will still have a chance to see it. Mr. Veer- hoff is going to send a large canvas by R. Le Grand Johnston to the exhibition of western Pennsylvania, which is to be held at Pittsburg befcre long. Washington will probably be represented by several other artists. Mr. Macdonald, among others, ex- pects to send a picture to this exhibit. * ** Miss H. Sophie Loury has been taking a much-needed rest in Virginia, and may not return to the city in the fall, but go straight to New York, where, as her work is mostly in the line of ustrations, she will have a more extended field of labor. * x * At the new Corcoran Gallery the work- men are row applying themselves to the finishing work, end the interior grows in beauty every day. The main part of the plastering has been done for some time, and the walls and ceilings arz resplendent with their snowy white coating. In that part of the building which Is to be used by the school there {s still some plastering to be done in the room which is to serve as an auditorium for lectures. This is to be regretted, as it had been hoped that the work would be advanced In this part of the building even further than in the main gal- lery, in order tnat the pupils might begin | work in their new quarters when the school opened in the fall. Even if this 1s not pos- sible they will certainly not have long to wait before they can occupy their new, well-lighted rooms. The pillars, which on the second floor surround the closed court in the center of the building, have been divested of their uncightly wooden casings | and stand forth in their pristine beauty. The wooden protections are also being re- moved from the stone work on the grand stairway and the joining places between the stones smoothed off, and it ts begin- ning to assume very much the {ook it will have when entirely completed. The wood- work of the building is also in evidence. the massive railings have been placed around the central court and the base- boards around the galleries. In the latter rooms the walls have not been hung with the fabric which is to serve as a back- ground for the pictures, and consequently present an unfinished aspect. The simplic- ity of architecture and the lack of color in the deccration of the interior impre: one immediately, and these are very desir- able things, since the test of whether a gallery is well arranged and decorated in- side is not so much is it highly ornamental in itself, but does it show off the pictures and statuary to the best advantage? * * Oe Miss Alice Archer Sewall, a niece of the recently nominated democratic candidate for Vice President, is spending the sum- mer in York village, Maine, where she is following up her particular artistic bent. —>—__. A CAREFUL YOUNG MAN. He Took His Best Girl Out on the Wheel Before Breakfast. “One of the most popular wheel courses about Washington,” remarked a wheel en- tkusiast to a Star reporter, ‘is the Conduit —which, by the way, is a word of frequent mispronunciation, usually being pronoune- ed con-du-it instead of condit—road, and there is scarcely an hour in the day, if the weather is at all respectable, when one or more wheels are not in sight along it. In the mornings and evenings it is especially well patronized, and in the early mornings it is a revelation of delight to get out of the city and go spinning along up the Po- tomac. I make it nearly every morning, and not infrequently I take a bite at Cabin John and prolong my trip. Others do this, still others (noticeably couples of young men nnd young women) come to the bridge for breakfast, and still others come up to go back without stopping. “A funny case of this kind came under my notice the other morning. I had taken my bite and was sitting out in the shade enjoying the freshness of the morning air when @ young man and a young woman whirled up on their wheels and dismount- ed, the girl with considerable of a breath of relief, as if that much of a ride was a lit- tle more than she was accustomed to at any hour in the day, and particularly so without any breakfast. They consulted to- gether a moment, and J heard the young man tell her that he thought they could get something, which seemed to be pleas- ant information. Then he called a waiter out and asked if he could get a glass of ice ‘er. “The waiter told him he thought such a thing might be procured, and it was brought, the girl, in the meantime, declin- ing a glass. However, when he had fin- ished his, she reconsidered and asked for glass. This was brought, and when she firished it, she half-way started toward the place where breakfast was served. But the ™man wasn’t thinking about that. “There, he said, smacking his lips, ‘we can get back to town now in plenty of time for breakfast,’ and he mounted and started off after the girl, who had jumped her wheel and hurried away in one of — ‘furious’ moods girls have, some- mes. “As they departed, a couple of kids who had been watching the performance put in: “ ‘Say,’ sung out one, ‘here's a quarter.’ “‘rll go a dime on breakfast,’ shouted the other, but the couple didn’t come back.” — LENGTH OF LIFE. Comparative Longevity of Men in Dif- ferent Linen of B ens. Some interesting facts and figures in re- gard to the comparative length of life of men in diiferent lines of business, have been prepared by Dr. George W. Wells, A. M., M.D., one of the best known medical directors for one of the largest life in- surance companies in the world. Dr. Wells, who is about to publish in book form the results of his many years’ experience as a medical director, has ar- ranged the following table, showing the comparative mortality of men between the ages of twenty-five and sixty-five years. The table represents many thousands of deaths which have been tabulated, and the bercentages are based upon every hundred deaths among clergymen, the longest lived individuals, as a class, of which there is any record. There is twice as good a chance that a minister will reach the age of sixty-five as that a doctor will. Comparative Occuvation. Mortality. Clergymen, priests, ministers 100 Lawyers Medical men. Farmers .. Agricultural laborers. Gardeners Fishermen Commercial clerki Commercial travelers Inn keepers, liquor deale Inn, hotel servize Brewers Butchers Bakers Corn millers. Grocers Drapers . Shopkeepera generally Tailors .. Shoemakers Hatters Printers Bookbinders ——_ > SLANG AND ITS VALUE. An Expression Used That No One in the Party Understood. A party of half a dozen or so naval of- ficers, private citizens and a Star reporter were sitting around a hotel the other even- ing telling stories of adventure by land and sea, the evening passing without any serious disturbance until one of the naval officers told a story. What the story was in detail has no particular bearing on the case, but a bit of slang the officer used quite upset the even tenor of things and made men look suspiciously at each other. It happened that when the officer finished his story he concluded it by remarking of his hero: “And they thought he ought to put the giglets on.” He smiled when he said it, and nobody seemed to be certain just what he meant, so the listeners did not smile in return, but rather maintained a discreet quiet for a@ minute cr two. Then ore of the pri- vate citzers uneasily twisted his chair around and sa:d questioningly: “Ought to put the giglets on?” The reporter was glad the private citizen had asked the question, because he felt that the officer would answer it, of course, but he did not. On the contrary another of the officers gave the private citizen the laugh and inquired: “Aren't you on, Pop?” Two or three others laughed at this, the private citizen seemed to wish he hadn't sald anything, and not a great while after- ward the meeting adjourned. The next day the reporter met the naval officer who had guyed the private citizen's question the night before. “Say, old chap,” he said, “what aid Bilge mean by that bit of slang he used and Pop asked him about? You seemed to be the only man who was onto it except Bilge.” ‘ive it up,” was the frank response. e asked all the others and there isn’t a man in the party who knows what the application fs.”" “How will we find out? It won't do to show up too green.” “Confound it, nobody looked green when he said it. I thought I was the only man in the party who wasn’t on. I even thought Pop knew and that if I guyed him he would give me enough of a show for me to work my way through it. That's why I made a crack at him.” “And I changed the subject as soon as I could,” confessed the reporter, “for fear I might be called on to exhibit my ignor- ance.”* At this point the man who had used the slang appeared and the two men greeted him effusively. “I hope you won't think I'm entirely an ignoramus,” said the reporter after three or four minutes, “but I'd like to know what the gag was in that slang you used last night about ‘putting the gigiets on.” Do you remember?” The officer laughed. “I'd like to know that myself,” he said “I heard an old fellow use it last summer at Seal Harbor, and I never had a chance to ask him what it mean. I've been using it since, hoping to have some one tell me what it means.’ endice aa Quite a Difference. From the Chicago Post. “As a new woman,” he said, “I suppose you will object to the wedding ring as a symbol of man’s tyranny?” “Of course I shall,” she replied. “Under no circumstances would I consent to wear such a thing. It is not essential to a mar- ricge, and it stands for all that objec- tionable In the marriage relation. “And on the same theory,” he continued, “I suppose you will refuse to wear an en- gexement ring also.” “Well—no,” she answered, slowly and thoughtfully. “That's a very different matter.” “But theoretically it “There is no use arguing,” she interrupt- ed, “I don’t care what it Is theoretically. Practically it is very often a diamond, while the wedding ring is only plain gold, and that makes all the difference in the world.” EFFECT ON FARO. A Gambling House Dealer Tells Why He Closed U A wel]-known gambler, who has for years been a “dealer” in a Baltimore faro bank, was lounging along the avenue yesterday, when The Star man met him. “Hello, Dan,” remarked the writer, “what are you doing over here?” “Just loafing,” was the reply. game's closed.” “Somebody win out your roll?” “Oh, no,” responded the gambler, smil- ingly. “The roll’s all right, but we closed down all the same. “The fact is,” he continued, seriously, “there's no money in Baltimore, or any- where else, as far as I can learn. Three or four years ago our game was a rich one. Our expenses ran a hundred a day, year in and year out. There was steady play all the time, and we got most of the money. and the players had considerable. Our cus tomers when we closed a couple of weeks ago were virtually the same men we hed When former conditions prevailed. You know, we never allowed any chip charm- ers or sleeper watchers around our house. Our players were mostly men in business and professional life who were stuck on playing faro, and they devoted a certain part of their incomes to it. I never knew but two or three of our regular players who went in deep enough to neglect their families. Well, those same men have been playing with us all the time, as I say, but where they used to play reds at twenty- five dollars a stack, they got to playing “Our whites at two dollars a stack. So we closed down. I tell you times are mightily de- pressed when a faro bank that’s winning right along can’t make the business pa ee A GOOD PROVIDER. A Stranger Who Thought Furnished the Departme: Lunches. Interior Department clerks are laughing yet over an episode that occurred during the Christian Endeavor convention. As in the other public buildings, where a number of clerks are employed, there is a lunching place in the Interior Department, wherr the tables are provided with edibles suitable for @ midday repast. One day last week, about noon time, a young woman wearing a C. E. badge of a distant state came along, and seeing the clerks taking their seats at the lunch tables proceeded to do Mkewise. She had @ keen appetite, and ordered with Prodigality. Oat meal and cream was fol- lowed by a chicken patty, and cold tongue, @ deviled crab, two pieces of apple pie and @ cup of coffee made up the rest of her tneal. When she had finished she wiped her +a on her napkin, and arising said oracu- larly: “Well, I've heard a good deal about the hardships of government clerks, but 1 must say I think they are pretty fortunate peo- ple. The government certainly feeds them well, if nothing else.” Wen this she started off with a superior sort of air, when an attendant presented her with a check calling for 65 cents. She demanded to know what it meant, end was informed that she was expected to pay the amount of 65 cents for what she had eaten. “Pay!” ejaculated the stranger. “Why, I thought that lunch was furnished free by the government! She was convinced to the contrary, and searched through her pocketbook until she fcund the necessary amount, and when she left her countenance bore unmi-takab! signs of approaching indigestion. > A PECULIAR CUSTOM, The Important P. jayed by Cheese in Swiss Festi om. I. C. Heer of Zurich, in one of his recent interesting articles about Zermatt and the pebple who live under the shadow of the Matterhorn, thus speaks of a curious cus- tom prevailing there, in which “cheese” is an important factor: The standing of a family is judged ac- cording to the age of the cheese it can show, and the honor in which a guest is held Is distinctly evidenced by the age of the cheese served to him. There are fami- les of whom it is said that they yet have cheese of the last century in store, which however, ts only served on great occasions, such as festivals at the birth of a first child, wedding and death feasts. When- ever a child is born a cheese named after it is expressly prepared and stored away. No portions of this, unless the child pre- viously dies, 1s served until marriage of its namesake, when each guest must partake of a small piece of each of the cheeses named and stored away for the groom and for the bride by their respective parents; this in the nature of a benediction. The remainder of these two cheeses is then carefully stored away, not to be touched again until either the groom or bride dies, when it is served to those attending the funeral, and reverently partaken of in re- membrance of the deceased. An important function of cheese in Zer- matt is its service in courtships. It there serves as a substitute for flowers. The man “pops the question” by presenting his sweetheart with a piece of cheese, neatly put up in a package. The girl, when pro- posed to, does not respond by either word or flower; if the suitor is accepted, it is a bit of cheese, slyly given, that serves as the symbol of acceptance. An engagement Is effected as foliows: The suitor begs of the girl’s father permission to dine with the family on a Sunday. A refusal is equiva- lent to an insult, and frequently entails enmity for life. Hence, even if the swain is not acceptable, he may be allowed to par- take of a Sunday dinner with the family. But that does not settle the matter. Will the head of the family serve cheese to the suitor? That is the all-important question which agitates the two young people desi- rous of betrothal. The dinner is protracted beyond the usual time. The pater familias talks about all manner of things, but never a mention of cheese. The young couple are getting anxious and restless. Unless cheese is served it plainly signifies that the suitor is welcome as a friend of the family, but not wanted as a son-in-law. The suspense continues until the mother casts a longing eye upon the father, who then slowly rises; but, O joy! beckons the others to keep seated. He quietly goes to the quaint old cupboard in the corner and brings forth a chunk of his oldest cheese, and serves a Piece to each of the two happy young peo- ple. This seals, as it were, the betrothal; whereupon he serves the others, brings forth a bottle of his choicest wine, and all drink to the health of the newly betrothed. Verily, the uses cheese is put to in this world are manifold! d, my wheel.’ “That w: lu = He—“I came within an ace of running cver a lady this morning when I was on “Wasn't it? It was only the other day that I 441 it freshly enameled.”—Life.