Evening Star Newspaper, July 18, 1896, Page 20

"90 THE EVENING STAR, SATURDAY, JULY 18, 1896-TWENTY-FOUR PAGES. * FAVOR WITH VOTERS) Some of the Devices Adopted by Shrewd Politicians. SIMPLICIY IS A STRONG CARD Stage Effects Intended Solely for the Country Constituents. A BY Eris sad J B NG UDGING BY THE present outlook the campaign of 1896 1s going to be one of the livellest in histo- ry. There is going to be more speech- making and band- playing and torch- light burning, and more “hurrah” than has been seen since the famous “log- cabin" campaign of the first Harrison. Every device known to the trained politi- cian is going to be used to catch votes. Ard not the least effective of these will be the theatrical display of “simplicity” and poverty which will be worked up by the campaign speakers for both parties to in- the granger vote and the vote of y years ago, when D. R. Francis, r of the gold forces in Missouri, was @ candidate for governor of his state, the republicans put forward Ford, a long, lank backwoodsman. I was on the floor of the Merchants’ Exchange in St. Louis when Candidate Ford made a speech from the rostrum. His lank figire, his ca- @averous face and his generally bucolic rance aroused the brokers and mer- 3 to much quiet m: iment. They nudged each other and chuckled under their breath and winked and In many other Ways showed their contempt for Candidate Perhaps the fact that Candidate is had been a trader on the exchange for many years influcaced the judgment of the members. But the bucolic Ford came within a comparatively small vote of car- rying Missouri, and the republican man- agers of that campaign have said ever since that {f the national committee had @iven them a little money and a few speak- €rs they could have carried the state for @ republican candidate for che first time since reconstruction days. Senator Cockrell. one of the leading fig- ures of the democratic convention, retains his popularity in Missouri largely through his simplicity and his genial manner to all Who come to Washington from his state. The Senator is just as plain and simple to- day as he was when he first came to Wash- ington from Warrensburg. But campaign simplicity is not all nat- ural. Much of it is assumed for the pur- Pose of making votes among the farmers and laborers. That the plain people have no sympathy with wealth and display was indicated plainly enough by the feeling @roused twelve years ago by the “Belshaz- Zar feast” given to James G. Blaine, which Many people still think cost him the elec- tion. At least it cost Mr. Blaine &@ great many votes all over the country, and par- ticularly in New York state. Effect of an Old Overcoat. Many are the devices adopted by candi- dates and their friends to cajole the farmer or laborer voters. The friends of Gov. Bradley of Kentucky belleve his success in the last election was due in a great meas- ure to an ancient overcoat which he wore when he was stumping the state. This overcoat, which was hopelessly dilapidated, Mr. Bradley displayed as an evidence that he wi sot an aristocrat. The ingenuous mountaineers saw in the grease-stained garment proof positive that Bradley was one of “the people;” and they voted for him in such number that he was elected—the first republican governor ever chosen in Kentucky. It hardly necessary to say that this overcoat fs not the one which Mr. Bradley wears when he is not campaign- ing. It is simply one of his political “prop- erties.” He keeps it at the executive man- sion, however, for use in emergencies. Mr. Bradley's campaign device was by no means new. It Is practiced in some form in almost all the western states and in scme of the southern ones. Few newspaper readers have forgotten the socklessness of Simpson—Jerry Simpson of Kansas. It waa exagserated In some of the newspaper stories about Fim; but there is no doubt he made his best play when he made a poin: with the farmer pcpulists of his district of the fact that he wore no socks. I wonder how his constituents would have felt if they could have been with me not long after the meeting of Congress and seen their sockless representative returning from the launching of one of the vessels of the new navy at Philadelphia. The simple Kansan was sitting in one of the cars of a special train of the Pennsylvania rallroad drinking champagne and ‘eating sweet breads—all at the expense of the Cramp shipbul firm. It was not long after his i into Washington ways be- fore Mr. Simpson was riding a bicycle. I ver aspired to belong to the but he certainly learned to and a great many things less Mos a of Congress are converts to the hat of the western and southern mem- silk habit, and some ludicrous results are seen about the streets of Washington 2 hotel corridors of New York. or Tom Carter of Montana, lately rman of the republican national ec, Wears a silk hat In the east; but he returns to the black slouch when he {fg among his own people. Montana would not like to believe that “Tom Carter had ome a dude;" and, to the frontier mind, is indexed by the silk hat. Some ago & Pewspaper man met Marcus Smith, delegate to Congress from Zz wearing a silk hat and puffing y ata cigarette. “Smith,” sald the cor- tent, “I'm going to write a letter for stern paper describing your appear- @nce on msylvania avenue wearing a silk het and smoking a cigarette. Do you think your constituents will take these vidence of mental or moral San aid Delegate Smith, “you may ou please about the cigarette. ns down my way smoke them me, and no one thinks anything of Bui, as you love me, ignore the high If the people of Arizona thought I like this in the east they rivate life at the next hat. wore a thing would retire me to @lection—or soone: He was not In jest, either. pretty serlous thing for some men to- be caught by their constituents wearing slik It would be a - hats. Mr. Reagan of Texas, once postmas- ter general of the confederacy, then a Unit- ed States Senator, and now railroad com- missioner of the state of Texas, used to tell on himself how he wore a silk hat, un- thinkingly, into a Texas town. He always carried his slouch hat with him, and when he reached the borders of the state of Texas, he put on the soft hat and con- signed the silk hat to a box. On one oc- casion he forgot all about the soft hat, and Went sailing into his home town with tke silk hat on his head. Mrs. Reagan saw the hat just as the Senator climbed into his earriage. She snatched it from his head and thrust {t under the carriage seat. So the Senator drove home without a hi But he always thought Mrs. Reagan saved his political life by her presence of mind. Barometer of Public Feeling. The late Secretary Rusk was a man to get out among the people. He had been one of them, and he could cooper a barrel as well as drive a stage coach. He told me once that he could foretell the result of an election with almost absolute accuracy, be- ceuse he made ft a habit, when he was in Wisconsin, to sit around country stores, whittling end swapping stories with the farmers. There was no better barometer ot public feeling just before election, he Said, than the farmer. He told me after Herrison’s Gefeat that he had expected the result because he found the farmers wera @gainst the republican party in that elev- ticn. Mr. Rusk always made a personal ganvass when he was a candidate for office ia Wisconsin. Baby kissing was the specialty of the late Representative O'Neill of Pennsyl- Vania, and that has been, from time im- Memorial, a strong factor in election con- tests. Mr. O'Neill kept up a@ constant cor- respondence with his constituents. He knew every one in his district by name, and could address him on sight. Col. Morrison of Illinois, who was considered at one time a likely candidate for the democratic nomi- nation this year, told me, some time after he had been retired from Congress in favor of Jehu Baker, that he would not go back to Congress again unless he could have as- surancs of a longer term. He said it wore him out to be campaigning constantly, and that if he wanted to be elected, he had to be doing campaign work all the time te was not attending to congressional duties at Washington. What makes for popularity more than baby kissing or sockiessness is a good memory for faces. Mr. Blaine had a re- markable memory. So has Mr. Harrison. Maj. McKinley seldom forgets a face. One of his young fellow-townsmen told me at Canton not long ago that one cause of the Major's great popularity in that communi- ty was his unaffected cordiality toward ali and the fact that, however long his ab- sence from his old home, he always seem- ed to remember even the most casual of his acquaintances there. —_ HOW BLIND BOYS PLAY BASE BALL. Game Differs in Many Details From the Regular One. From the Boston Transcript. Prof. R. B. Huntoon of the Kentucky school, describing base ball among the blind, says: The base ball game differs, of course, in many of its details from the regular gemes. The diamond is“not of regulation size, but is of regulation form. The distance between bases is but forty feet. The fielders are stationed the same as in a National League game, with the exception that there is a right short stop, thus making ten men to a side. In the outfield in public games there is an unlimited number of players, each taking @ turn at the bat, first moving up one posi- tion whenever a batsman is put out. The catcher sits on the ground, well tack from the home plate, and, to guard against injury, he wears a mask and a chest protector. His position is such that when a pitcher delivers a ball it strikes the ground just between the knees and is taken on the short bound. - ‘fhe batsman takes his position at the plate with a heavy bat, somewhat like these used in cricket. The umpire, who must be a man of unimpaired vision, calls upon the pitcher to get ready, and then clearly sings out “One, two, three!” At the word three the pitcher must loyally deliver the ball. He pitches in the slow, underhand way peculiar to the game twenty-five or thirty years ago, the idea being to deliver a ball that can be hit by the batsman, who, standing there in the darkness, with a sharpened sense of hearing and a wonderful conception of the time that must elapse before the ball reaches him, is prepared to strike. if tke batsman should miss the ball it bounces Into the catcher’s lap, and Is re- turned to the pitcher by a single toss with @ precision that {s wonderful. When the ball is batted the umpire calls out quickly to the fielder in whose direction it is traveling, and ke, guided by a sense of hearing, either catches the ball or fol- lows it in {its course through the grass. Six strikes are an out. In fielding any number of bounds are permitted. If the batted ball is @ “hot liner” and traveling Straight for an inflelder’s head the umpire shouts a warning and in such cases the pleyer ducks or falls to the turf. It is possible, in fact, the ball is fre- quently fielded to first in time to put out the runner. When throwing to first the ssisting player, who is guided by the e of the baseman, calculates the dis- tance with nicety and throws the ball so that it strikes the ground a few yards in front of the baseman. The latter hears it coming and usually gets it without further assistance. Running bases was formerly a difficult thing. There were then three trees on the diamond, toward which tke runner ran with outstretched hands. Bags have since been substituted for bases, and the runner {fs guided by the voice of the baseman, who 1s required to shout “First, first, first! In like manner the other bags are won. Once on a base the runner 1s pretty sure to get home, unless kis side dies at the home plate. Six outs put a side out. Vv ————_+e-—____ HIGH PRICES PAID FOR A PENNY. From the Caicago Tribune. To sell for $1,250 what cost two cents Is @ pretty fair profit—big enough to satisfy the keenest trader. That was what an article brought recently in London which at one time no one would have given more than two cents for. In fact, the great mass of mankind would not give more for it at the present time unless with a view of finding some one who would be willing to give more than its intrinsic value for It. It was an English penry which brought the unheard-of price named. It is one of the rarest coins in the world. It is a gold penny, coined in the reign of Henry III. it 1s supposed to be the only one in exis- tence, and is closely watched. When the numismatist who owns !t dies, or goes broke buying such curios, and has to sell his collection or starve to death, the other numismatists will Me in wait at the auc- tion tc outbid each other, says an ex- change. The history of this particular golden penny is unknown further back than the time of the late Dr. Murchison of England, who had a fine collection of rare coins. Probably it lay In the cabinet of some old family for generations, until an irreverent spendthrift scion turned it loose for what it would bring. Capt. Murchison recognized the value of the coin from the collector's standpoint, and when it was put up at auction he got it for £130—about $650. This fixed its value, as Capt. Muchison was recognized as an authority. Every time it has been seld since it has brought more. At Capt. Murchison’s death his col- lection was soid at auction, and the Rev. E. J. Shephard bid in the penny for £140— about $700. Its next owner was Mr. Montague, vice President of the London Numismatic So- ciety. He gave £205, or something over $1,000, for it. Last month Mr. Montague’s collection went under the hammer, and when he held up the rare coin and said: “How much am I offered for this penny?” the bidding started at more than the jast owner gave for it. It was bid up rapidly until it reached £250, at which figure it was knocked down. ——__—_-e-_. Odd Scheme of “Marking Down.” From the Chicago Record. A Monroe street dealer in bicycles has adopted a curious cut-price sale. He puts one of the bicycles listed at $100 into his window and begins cutting the price $1 a day. That ts, the price the first ay is $100, the next day $99, the third day $98, and so on until some one takes it at the quoted price, when a new $100 wheel is put into the window, and the cut of $1 a day again begins. If the great public could be induced to hold off there might be a chance for some one to get a very cheap wheel after the price had been reduced every day for a mcnth, but the dealer is shrewd enough to know that some one will jump in and take the wheel before the price becomes very low. In fact, there {s not much chance of the wheel remaining unsold after the price arops below $0. The latter figure is sup- posed to be the common cut price on the wheels listed at $100, but there are still a few manufacturers who can afford to stand on their reputations and refuse to allow any discounts. —~eee_—___ To Drive Away Flies. From the Med.cal Record. Dr. H. 8. Baketel of Derry, N. H., writes: Many practitioners of medicine among the Poorer classes are greatly annoyed by flies in the sick room. The annoyance to the patient is doubly great. Such, at least, was my experience not long since on New York's great east side. An excellent safe- guard against these pests is the sweeet pea flower. The lathyrus maritimus, the purple variety, grows near the seacoast from New Jersey around to Oregon, and beside the coasts of the great lakes. The lathyrus ochroleucus is found on the hillsides from New England to Minnesota, and even further west. It is distinguished by its small, -yellowish-white flower. Hither of these varieties can be grown in the sick room, and the sweet odor emanated seems very offensive to the ordinary house fly.” Barely Recognised. From the Detroit Tribune. “Darling,” he cried, throwing aside all reserve, “do you know me?” The girl flung herself upon his bosom. , “Your face is familiar,” she sobbed, “al- though I can’t quite recall your name.” GLIMPSES OF MEXICO By an American Who Has Lived There Sixteen Years. WHAT HE TOLD A STAR REPORTER Political Development Under the Guidance of President Diaz. THE SILVER QUESTION Mr. Santiago Carter, for the past sixteen years a resident of Mexico, thoroughly in sympathy with Mexican life, and a close student of, its social growth, is visiting relatives in this city. A reporter of The Star ran across Mr. Carter last night and interviewed him on Mexico. He said: “The general Mexican phenomenon is in- tersely interesting to the impartial student. It takes years for a Saxon to get the Mex- ican point of view, and get into sympathy with their modes of feeling. When he dces, he is abundantly repaid. “To form a compact idea of the actual state of the Mexican mass, one must sum- marize Mexican history. She broke away from Spanish tyranny as a wild horse does from a brutal master. Spain left her all the factors of discord, that corresponded to the phase of growth of each—vast fanati- cism, a tyrannical code of customs, and a flerce warrior egotism. Add to this Indian conservatism divided into several hundred communities with as many languages and Iccal discords, with an infinitely varied and inaccessible topography, and revolution was inevitable. “The superstition of the masses sustained priestly domination in temporal councils until the time of Juarez. It then became unbearable, and the priests were thrown out of power by the Juarez reaction. The American and French invasions were only episodes. The tremendous personality of Juarez dominated the society until his death. “His successor, Lerdo, was practically ap- pointed by Juarez, and fell a victim to two fatal mistakes. First, he tried to build a Chinese wall between Mexico and the United States, and open a correspondence between Mexico and Europe. This was un- American, anti-republican and unnatural. His second mistake was to over-estimate the progress of social growth, and argue with revolutionists instead of shooting them. President Diaz. “He was succeeded by President Porfirio Diaz, the most tremendous persénality on this continent since Abraham Lincoln. We are all familiar with the gross, warrior, dominant type in these Indo-Latin com- mvnities. For the past fifty years he has been common. He pronounces against cor- ruption, stirs up a crude people, shoots a few, governs a while, steals a million and is in turn chased out or shot. But General Diaz 1s unique. He ts a soldier, a scientist, a philosopher and pure patriot. He has governed Mexico since 1876. President Gon- zales was an incident of his policy. “Tt is impossible to think of Mexico to- day without including Diaz in the thought. One cannot think of Bismarck without thinking of Von Moltke and William, but no one intrudes on the thought of Porifirio Diaz. Summing up the German and Mexi- can problems for thirty years, and bearing in mind all the factors, Diaz has accom- plished more for his people than any one else. “The corner stone of his fame rests on two general facts. First, he began by shooting turbulent people, and ended by arguing with them as they developed ap- preciation. Secondly, he foresaw that com- mercial and social union with the north- man was natural and inevitable, and, in- stead of Lerdo’s Chinese wall, ‘damming back superfluous energy until swept away by pressure,’ he let the Yankee in, and he is getting their goods for Mexico in an easy way. In other words, he preferred irriga- tion to a Johnstown incident. Americans in Mexico. “The beauty of this process is that it is done under Mexican control. There is care- ful selection of what they deem the fittest, and both Mexican and Yankee happiness is increasing. War, that scourge of fools, is becoming impossible between Mexico and the United States. There are a hundred thousand Americans down there now, do- ing honest work with Mexicans and profit- able to both in sympathy and dollars. The evolution of the society under the supervis- ion of General Diaz is very interesting. “The great question of today is what would happen in case of his death or retire- ment. This question is often asked me in an anxfous way by persons who have inter- ests in Mexico, and I always answer it opti- mistically. It is a sociological fact that after @ good despot chaos is natural, owing to the paralysis of the national governing func- tion. But the unique feature of the Diaz pol- icy is that he began as a good despot, and has been and is democratizing his people. This process of letting go gradually has no parallel in history. When any state shows itself capable (as Yucatan has) of electing peaceably a good governor,he ceases to interfere with the pro- cess. Ag the soldier becomes unnecessary and the judge possible he retires the first and gives power to the second, ever acting along lines of scientific development for Mexico. Surrounded by all the temptations of a ruler and a man, he has lived morally from his youth up. The Mexicans, like our own folk, are artistic mud-throwers at prominent objects, but no mud ever stuck to President Diaz. Revolution a Thing of the Past “This process of letting go is developing Mexican character, and foreign contact with new industries is drawing social forces into the struggle, and I am convinced that physical revolution is a thing of the past in Mexico. Tho natural 1847 prejudice against us is rapidly disappearing. The Mexican governing class are beginning to like us. I served the government of Mex- ico five years as division telegraph superin- tendent in a district of four states. It was uniformly fair in all things, and we sep- arated friends. Decent foreigners are weil treated all over Mexico, and as a conse- quence foreign industry and capital are daily augmenting Mexican happiness. Belief in the Fature. “The political tension is growing less. Reason is taking. the place of the strong arm, and mutual interest in the united struggle with matter is absorbing the force formerly spent in war. To sum up, the present Mexican social phase and President Diaz are hard to separate in thought. We have no point of comparison to judge the man. The good despot is common in his- tory. The political genius that begins as a necessary czar and seeks to gradually virtualize a paper constitution, develop a congress and give them their places ‘n a budding democracy fs unique. The peaceful amalgamation of the Mexican and Ameri- can element has no historic parallel. Yet both are substantial facts, and as new facts must be allowed in all science, these two give us a right to believe in Mexico's future. “The present phase of Mexican politics 1s very interesting. For the first time Gen. Diaz asked the Mexicans to re-elect him. All former elections were influenced ty physical force. He decided that the so+iety has grown up to the point where it can be trusted to act reasonably. The wisdom of his course has been justified, and his re- election was unanimous. “Try to imagine a noble glant who sub- dues a lot of people crazy with fever, and beginning with rude police discipline, grows milder, as need grows less, until the -pa- triots love him. Can you find anything like that in history? No wonder he dazzles his people. He is beginning to dazzle thiakers and rank with the highest as a ilborator of the people from themselves. The Industrial Situation. “In Mexico the industrial situation is, on the whole, good, and growing better. There is temporary trouble caused by drought in the northern portion of the Central Table state 123,000. We have arc and incandes- cent electric lights, two street car lines and eighteen steamboats, and have spent more than a million dollar#'in building town houses in six years. here is good local gevernment, Our climate is tropical, tem- perate and cold, and he#|thy. I live in the tropics, but fiad a W: ington July very sultry.” f Silver in Mexico. “How about the silver, question in Mex- ico?” asked the reporteri) “I have been surprised to see that some travelers have been talking about the sil- ver standard in Mexico, and coupling in an incoherent way social ‘phenomena in that country with the present currency question here. Some prices might be interesting, and could be used as‘proof either way. The unit in Mexico is! the Mexican silver dollar. First-class workmen's shoes made to order cost $6 in Mexido City, and good ready-made shves $3. “An excellent dinner at the Bazaar or other first-class restau- Tant costs 87 cents. A good clean carriage ccsts 85 cents per hour.’ These prices have not changed for ten years. Female ser- vants get $4 per month, with board, and do about half the work that an American ser- vent does. Rough labor has gone up in value on the Central Table since 1881, from 30 to 50 cents daily, and in the tropics a good man gets 75 cents daily. A good room and ‘board can be had in Mexico City sub- urbs for $8 a week. Off the railroads in middle and southern Mexico good nutritive focd costs about 20 per cent less than in the suburban towns around Washington. Mexico is a grand country an4 holds out inducements that no other country offers.” es A RENOVATOR OF SOILED HATS. New and Interesting Industry Which Promises to Be Popula: From the St. Louis Republic, The man with an inventive genius need never lie awake nights to find something on which to try his wits. There are too many things that suggest themselves in the daytime, as the young feilow who “cleans hats while you wait’ exemplifies. This young man and his street corner In- dustry are newcomers to St. Louis, and he has certainly solved the problem of drawing a crowd and making a good living. The machine which this hat renovator carries around with him is a very simple affair. It consists of the table of a sewing machine without the instrument on top. In the place of this fs fitted a hat frame of nickel. This frame looks like a metal skull divided in two sections by a spring attachment that permits any sized hat to be adjusted over it. The hat frame is con- nected with the foot power of the sewing machine table to give it a circular motion, which is about as fast as the needle passes in and out of the slot. Over a square open- ing at the top of the table, directly over the upper drawer, an oblong japanned baking pan is fitted upside down. This pan has airholes, and underneath, securely stand- ing in the drawer frame, !s a little alcohol lamp. On the top of the pan rest a small sadiron and a canton flannel mitten, with which the operator brushes the hat after he has thoronghly cleaned it. ‘che operation of “cleaning your hat while you wait’ comprises four stages. The hat Is fitted over the frame,the treadle set to motion, and the renovator first brushes it with a whisk broom, inside and out. Then he cleans it with benzine, which he pours from a bottle on to a flannel rag. Next he passes a curved brush over every part of the hat as it spins by him on the frame. And lastly he slips the canton flan- nel mitten over his right hand with the nap of the flannel next to the hat, and wipes and rewipes the chapeau gently, but firmly, for about five minutes. When he hands it back to its owrier it certainly looks better than when he took it off his head. The price of the “hat-clean” is a nickel. But everything whole looks larger than something that 1s cut In half, and to in- duce custom the newcomer on the streets of St. Louis hes adopted the catch-cry “Get your hat cleaned for half a dime!” ss COUNTRY AIR LENGTHENS LIFE. Breathing an Atmosphere of Purity Wards Off Deadly Disease. From the Contemporary Review. The loss of pure air, sunghine and other “free” goods and its effect on the physique of city dwellers is not! adéquately compen- sated by hygienic reforms of town life it- self, while the increased number and com- plexity. of sensationg.,impose 9 greatey 4, strain Upon the nervcus system. The ner- vous degeneration which thus ‘accrues may perhaps be checked in time by further hy- gienic improvement of the town and by a gradual readjustment between the nervous system and its changed environment. But meantime grave physical injuries arise di- rectly from those very economic changes which have raised the economic condition ot the great mass of the workers and have probably reduced the quantity of purely economic poverty. When we reflect that the physical injuries of town life, attested by tables of mortality and impaired mus- cular activity, fall most heavily upon the poor we shall see grave reasons why in+ dustrial and social life are generally un- favorable to the physical vitality of the 1c w-paid worker or the residuum; that is to say, whether he gets any net’ vital ad- vantage out of the higher rate of real wages which he obtaliis when he is work- ing. When we also bear in mind that each year a higher propcrticn of the workers are living in large towns, where the du- ration of life is about 15 per cent less than in the country, and that .the age of en- forced retirement from regular wage earn- ing is, by reason of the strain of compe- tition and the regulations of trade organi- zations, considerably earlier than {t was formerly, and that an increased frregular- ity of employment is discernible in many or most trades, we may hold it doubtful whether the average worker of the lower order makes a total life wage which {s any higher than he made formerly. The conclusion applied by Charles Booth to the whole body of workers, that “in one way or another effective working life 1s ten years longer in the country than in town,” has an important significance when we remember that each decennial census shows a growing proportion of workers subject to the conditions of town life. eo. OLD-FASHIONED BONNY CLABBER. Curds and Whey Has a Flavor That Will Excite Appetite of Epicures. From Cooking. In spite of the prejudice that little Miss Muffet’s misfortunes may have excited in the younger members of the community a dish of “curds and whey” {s not to be de- spised. Eaten as it should be, with the freshest and ripest of berries and the dain- tiest of rusks, it has a pastoral flavor that will entice the appetite of the ennuied bon vivant. Under the name of “bonny clabber’” this is a favorite southern dish. It is not mere- ly ‘‘clabbered” milk, but milk left to stand just long enough to become jellied before the whey has separated from the curd. The process may be hastened by rennet, when it is known as “rennet custard,” or it may be kept just to the point when the heat of the atmosphere turns it to a fifm jelly. The re- sult is practically the Sarfie. At the south “bonny clabber” is seldom sweetened, but is served with plenty $f Sugar and grated nutmeg strewn over it,. Rennet custard, on thé ¢ontrary, is usual- ly sweetened and flavored ‘with wine. Put half a teaspoonful of rennet in a quart of milk, fresh from the milking or heated to 100 degrees. Add about five tablespoonfuls of sugar and two of Madeira. Stir the milk thoroughly and let it stand in a warm place for twelve hours or yntil' it hardens. It must be set in the dish it 1g to be served in. Some housekeepers prefer fo serve it in in- dividual cups. As soort as it is a firm jelly it should be set on the ‘ice. No dessert is more Wholesome. It is an admirable dish for the children’s supper table and for this purfose’the wine should be omitted. The snowy little mounds should be turned out of the small cups in whigh they were set and dredged With sugar. A candied cherry cut in fine bits and scattered over each one will make tis simple dish acceptable to almost any child. A rennet custard or any form of curds and whey should be seryed as soon as possible after It has formed and been chilled. Straw- berries are especially nice with “bonny clabber,” which is served with sweetened cream. —++0+—___ Rasor All Right. From the Pittsburg Satholic. TO STRENGTHEN ASPHALT PAVING. Big Sheets of Expanded Steel In- serted im the Concrete Base. From the Chicago Tribune: A novel experiment in street paving is about to be made in South Park avenue, be- tween 63d and 66th streets. Some time ago an inventive genius pro- duced what is called “expanded steel.” This is simply a thin sheet of metal with slits cut in it and expanded lengthwise by forcing these slits into diamond-shaped apertures. It was at first used only as a substitute for lathing in the construction of buildings, but now it is to become part of a new method of laying asphalt pave- ments, and will be given its first trial on South Park avenue. It is proposed to have steel sheets of one-half inch in thickness cut into large-sized strips and then expand- ed under powerful pressure. These sheets will be inserted flatways in the concrete base by first laying four or five inches of the stone and cement mixture and then covering the entire surface with steel, and over this steel in turn will be put the rest of the concrete. When partly dry the base will be compressed by ten-ton rollers and the concrete mixture forced into the inter- stices in the steel sheets, the whole, when solidly set, forming a foundation which will not only afford a much greater weight- resisting surface than the old system of asphalt paving, but furnish as well an ef- fectual barrier to the picks and axes of the vandals, Damage to the top coating of an-asphalt pavement causes but small expense or an- hoyance nowadays. Time was when repairs to the top could only be made by tearing up a good-sized section of the pavement and relaying it entirely, and even then the job was seldom satisfactorily done, as it was almost impossible to get an even surface on the patch. Now, when the top coat needs fixing a man comes along with an ingenious gaso- line contrivance something on the principle of.a plumber’s blow furnace, except that it 4s mounted on wheels. He shoves it along over the spot to be repaired and the fierce heat, directed downward, quickly softens the asphalt so it can be readily smoothed over by the rolling machines or hand weights, and an even surface secured. It is only when the base or foundation of the pavement is cut through or disturbed that trouble is now found in replacing an even surface, and this, it is expected, will be obviated by the use of the combined steel and concrete base. The difficulty of cutting through the mass will force the making of water, sewer and gas connec- tions before the pavement is laid, and where this is not done it will be cheaper and easier to tunnel under the street from the sidewalk than to tear up the pavement. ——_-e-+____ BICYCLE PRI YATE MARKS. Secret Signs by Which Owners May Identify Their Wheels. From the Chicago News. A simple device for concealing a private mark on one’s wheel is suggested by John D. Carroll, chief detective of a wheelmen’s insurance company. In the event of the loss of a wheel the identification of such a mark, krown only to the rider, is indisput- able proof of ownership, according to the New York Journal. Mr. Carroll's plan is that every owner of @ bicycle should have a private mark upon his wheel, but so concealed that the closest scrutiny by one who does not know it will fall to discover it. Instead of a mark upon the saddle or saddle post, where a thief would naturally look for it, he suggests that a pertion of the enamel, about one inch square, be scraped from the frame of the machine. After all trace of the enamel has been removed, apply a coating of grease, and with a pointed piece of steel dipped in carbolic acid draw the inttials or private mark through the grease. The acid follows the marking of the steel ponit, while the grease keeps it from spreading. After allowing the acid to eat into the tubing the grease can be rubbed off and the mark or initial shows as plainly as !f cut Into the steel framework. One coat of enamel will completely hide all trace of the mark. Should any question as to the own- ership of the wheel arise, the owner could by stmply scratching off the enamel which covered his mark at once prove his claim. Mr. Carroll says he has known cases where yheels have been stolen from owners by their most intimate friends. ———— Helpfal Aunt Mary. From Harper's Monthly. There is a dear old lady who visits her nephews and nieces in New York occasion- ally, whom we may call Aunt Mary, and who, while expressing her appreciation of the delights of city life, finds much fault with certain phases of metropolitan exist- ence. “You never know your nearest neigh- bors,” she protests. “The folks next door may be robbers, and pickpockets, and everything, for all you know.” “But, if they are, we don’t want to know them, auntie,” returns a favorite nephew. “Fancy calling on a friend, and when you go to leave your card find that he has picked your pocket of your card case, not to mention your watch and purse.” “And as for recognizing that a stranger exists in public, why, it’s a crime,” Aunt Mary will continue, warming up to her sub- ject. “‘A body might break his neck here, and no one would speak to him.” ° “But, auntle,” goes on the incorrigible, “there are so many people here we can’t go round with splints and adhesive plaster and that sort of stuff in our pockets, and, if we see a stranger's head wobble, rush up and offer the things to him with the idea that he’s just snapped off his neck.” But. recently, in returning home on the train, Aunt Mary had a chance to demon- strate her theories. In the seat ahead of her was a young couple who enlisted her favorable attentian. She concelved them to be newly married, and her heart warmed toward them without delay. The train soon stopped at a small station, and they left the car, She observed them on the platform outside, and just before the train started she happened to spy a pasteboard box tied up with a bit of string in the seat they had deserted. “Goodness,” thought Aunt Mary, “‘they’re so intent on each other that they’ve forgotten their luggage.” She seized it and looked out of the open window. The girl stood by the baggage- room door, the man having apparently gone inside. Aunt Mary waved the box to her. She answered, but the clang of the engine bell drowned out what she said. Again she waved the box; the other shook her head. The train started; Aunt Mary cast the box out violently. It struck the platform at the feet of the girl, the string broke, and out rolled a half dozen pairs of new socks, several starched cuffs and col- lars, a pair of suspenders and a couple of white shirts. “They’ve got ’em, anyhow,” thought Aunt Mary, as she settled back in her seat. “Lucky I saw it. Curious how forgetful young folks can be. But—” She looked up, and met the reproachful gaze of the man standing by his empty seat. “Madam,” he said, “the—er—young lady stops at that station, but I go on to Buf- falor ut how was a body to have known it?” says Aunt Mary, when she relates the in- cident. ON PROBATION, ‘The Young Man Caught Without Change Took Lessons in Finance, Brom the Detroit Free Press. They were sitting together telling their experiences at times of financial depres- sion—times that come to almost every young man, even though he was born with the proverbial silver spoon in his mouth. One, while at college, had taken his girl out riding on a street car, and when two miles from their starting place discovered that he was without a cent to- ward meeting the just demands of the grasping corporation. He got the con- ductor on the back platform and made a strong special plea, but the autocrat of the situation was obdurate, and cnly a diamond pin 4s collateral would satisfy him. The girl discovered the absence of the sparkler, and when the youth be- moaned it as stolen she put in the rest of the trip in sympathizing with him. Others had good stories, but one gf them of re- cent date is on the scion of a wealthy house in Detroit. This young man ts a great dresser, and, as his wise father makes the youth live on an allowance, he is frequently in the short rows. The other evening, immacu- lately dressed, he called on his best girl. After they had sat for a time on the front steps they went for a walk, and when the merry fizz of a soda water fountain struck their ears he recalled that he had a dime, and, of course, they two could have a drink. Just as the foaming bev- erage was in front of them the girl’s little sister rushed in, and with juvenile im- petuosity announced that she wanted some, too. “Take mine,” he said, with ready diplo- macy. “I really Jon’t care for it.” “Neither do I,” responded the cause of his changing color and cold sweats. “I want vanill: And vanilla she had, while the natty young man went for a private interview with the proprietor. But that functionary bad been fooled too often. People shouldn’t buy soda water unless they had the money to pay. He was tired of Quenching the thirst of deadbeats. Up went the youth’s watch, and when he re- turned to the fountain that best girl of his, who can see a hoie in a ladder, had settled. He simply surrendered at dis- cretion, got his watch again and walked back lstening to a very discreet tecture on finance. She is to watch results for @ year, and then determine whether they will marry. os TO MOVE A LARGE Town. Experiment to Be Tried Which Was Successtui From the New York World. European engineers are much interested in the proposed removal of an entire town in northern Russia to a point forty-three Miles distant, the houses to be transported over the frozen surface of the river on sledges, The city of Kola, on the peninsula of the same name, is now situated at the conflu- ence of two rivers, the Luttojoki and the Notosero, forming the Kola river, about fifty miles from the Arctic ocean. While the rivers and the bay below are nuvigable for even large vessels, Kola is situated so far inland that it is shat off from the sea by ice much longer than other Seaports situated even farther north, like Vardoe, in Norwegian Lapland. The governor of the province of Arch- angeisk, Baron Engelhurdt, to whose juris- diction the district of Kola belongs, has Proposed to transfer the city to a better port nearer the mouth of the Kola river. Im perial and ministerial ccnsent having been given, active preparations are now being made to transport Kola to the new location. The project is not, however, a new one. The thing has been done on an extensive scale right here in the United States. When the Mormons left Nauvoo, Ill., they left behind them nearly 700 ‘well-built frame houses, clustered around their unfin- ished temple. German grape growers came in and set- tled up the place. They wanted the hill- sides for their vines. The houses were sold to speculators, who moved them all in the course of three win- ters over the frozen basin of the river to a point twelve miles above on the Iowa shore and founded what is now one of the most Prosperous of western towns—Fort Madi- son. The houses were set on rude sledges and drawn by oxen. —+o+____ The Sculptor’s Ideal Arm. From the Boston Post. “I find a great difficulty in getting a model with good arms,” said a well-known sculptor recently. “It 1s astonishing how few women have arms that conform to the standard. A perfect arm, measured from the armpit to the wrist joint, should be twice the length of the head. The upper part of the arm should be large, full and well rounded. The forearm must not Me too flat, not nearly so flat as a man’s, for example. A dimple at the elbow adds beauty to a well-proportioned arm. “From a well-molded shoulder the whole arm should taper in long, graceful curves, to a symmetrical and rounded wrist. It is better to have an arm that harmonizes, even If the parts do not follow the gen- erally accepted lines. For instance, a full, round upper arm which is joined to a flat or thin forearm has a very bad effect. It is only a degree worse, however, than a graceful, well-moldec forearm tacked on to a thin, scrawny upper arm. “Correctness of form is not the only thing necessary for a good arm. The owner must possess the power of expres- sion in her arms. As a general thing American women are deficient in this, Those nationalities which show the most expression in their arms are the Spanish, French and Italians. The warmest ad- mirer of Sarah Bernhardt would not claim that she had beautiful arms, yet no one can say that the d ‘ah ever appears ungainly in consequence. Much more lies in the faculty of arm expres- sion than is generally supposed. seccecmieibinaees Ce im Russia Here. Appreciated. From the Atchison Globe. A distressed-looking little man has been calling at this office several days and in- quiring for the editor. The editor was out, until today, when the little man asked for a private conference. “I don’t care to have my name mentioned,” he said, “but I wish to say that I indorse your course in abus- ing so much visiting. My house has been full of visitors for several weeks, and I un- derstand that more are coming. My wife indorses you position, too, although she does not care to have her name mentioned, either. Keep it up, and you may send five marked copies to my house.” Moral Bobby. From a French Exchange. Mother—“Harry been beating the dog again? Shameful! I’m sure my boy would never do that.” Bobby ( moral)—“‘No, indeed.” Mother—"Why didn’t you stop him?” Bobby—“I was holding the dog.” From the Fliegende Blatter. and on the Rio Grande. Down in Tabasco, where I live,we are going ahead ina steady way. We have a fine country, healthy, fer- tile, but thinly populated. The people are kind and peaceable. We produce sugar, cocao, coffee, cattle, mahogany and cedar, and with emigration could develep produc- ticn a thousandfold. In my town we have @ population of about 12,000, and in the Hustand ehaving) — “ Confound razor!” Wife—What’s the matter: now? You're dreadfully cross-tempered.” Husband—“The razor {s so infernally dull.” Wife—“Dull? Why I ripped -up an old skirt with it only yesterday, and # cut p beautifully.” s the TOO MUCH OF 4 IEAVY-WEIGHT. THE EVENING STAR has a Larger Circulation in the Homes _ of Washington than all the Other Papers of the City Added Together, because it Stands Up Always for the Interests of ALL THE PEOPLE uf WASHINGTON; does not Strive to Divide the — Community into Classes, and Array one class Against the others; Contains the Latest and Fullest Local and General News; and Surpasses all the Other Papers in the City in the Variety and Excellence of its terary Features. It Literally Goes Everywhere, and is Everybody. It is, therefore, as an Advertising ‘Medium without a Peer, Whether Cost or Measure of Publicity be’ Considered.