Evening Star Newspaper, August 8, 1896, Page 20

THE EVENING STAR, SATURDAY, AUGUST 8, 1896E—-TWENTY-FOUR PAGES. THE LUCKY NINE. SUMMER GAMBLING How Enrope Satisfies Its Longing for Making Wagers. THE “LITTLE HORSES” AND BACCARAT + Mathematics of Roulette and Other Games of Chance. eee THE BANKER ———— ROBBING PARIS, July 21, 1896. UMMER TOURISTS find no lack of gam- bling facilities thrust upon them in thelr European wan- derings. It ts not a question of Monte Carlo; those cele- brated tables of the south are practica deserted in the hi months. In these days the pitfalls of the banking game are laid by the bub- and gushing springs of the e pure, white beaches of the jing sea, and in the castle-covered je resorts of France and Belgium. ‘There seems to be a struggle between the two countries. The Paris boulevard fs lit- tered up with advertisements of Belgian health resorts where “everything goes.” “The Casino of Spa. Open all the year. Trente-et-Quarante and Roulette. Private Club of Foreigners. To be admitted to the Salons one must submit to the Formalities of Posting and Voting, which occupy Five Days. Travelers are, therefore, advised to Write, demanding Adm ion of the Secre- tary-General at least Five Days in Ad- vance of arriving at Spa.” It is very sim- need despair. ‘“Dinant-on-the- Hours from Paris. Private Roulette minimum, ») francs. Music free to Mem- Formalities of Admission ‘to ub of the Kursaal demand ney may be fulfilled by Cor- tle Horses Popular. ce both roulette and trente-et- are forbidden by law. What are h watering places to do to meet petition of th neighbors? The nt simply compromises with the and permits ' ipalitie It . Hike tho is not only of At The vil- little game as well. Trouville that they ave money. ES A Satchel Full of Gold. tle horses. . Six mile ro roulette” Insignificant resorts from Paris, have to tempt the Sun- romes or lite horses give the of the height of the gam- b f he they were tol ed on as a 5 k more which no ew francs. 7 advantage, itle less than 3 nees of ved and ken when the age is antage is Lard in- enormous quarante, Basted! Poe the winner ts paid on’ even times his et. The bank has an advantage of 1-9, or More than 11 per cent. There are even casinos where they only pay six times the bet. The good people come up just the same, accepting bad Italian, Spanish and South American silyer in the bargain. At Trouville you can bet a four-dollar gold Piece at a time on the little horses, while in the Belgian casinos they will accept as small a bet as forty cents“in ailver. It is, therefore, hard to see exactly where the morality or good sense of the present French regime comes in. The Casino at Enghien. A week ago, having a day at my dis- Bosal, I went to Enghien, that little lake town just outside of Paris, selecting the trip expressly because of its cheepness. The Casino and its grounds are every- thirg at Enghien, and, indeed, it was pleasant to sit teneath the trees and listen to the excellent orchestra. All arcund were decent ddle-class French families, little boys and girls, young men and maidens, and their kind, indulgent Parents. There was no beer guzzling, as in a German garden. Nearly every one was taking orangeade or ginger pop or coffee. The young ladies were sweet and mod the young men mild and worthy, the married couples arch and tender, the old folks _somnolent—benevolent. The afternoon was passing gently by. Then ell at once a smart young man came out on the Casino porch and rang an ordinary dinner bell. Immediately we all jumped up, the young and old, the great, and smail. Into the gaming hall the caravan of imbeciles rushed blindly to their fate. Was it to play or only te see? I was well Posted on the bank’s @errific 11 per cent a vantage, yet in an incredibly short space of time I had“lost seventeen francs. A nice middle-aged iady at my side lost twenty frarcs, burst into tears and left the hall. A little girl of fifteen sulked because her father would not give her some more two-franc pi2ces. A young married couple quarreled in full public. And two old gentlemen had words as to which had spoken for the last remaining ticket of a certain race. Where the little horses steal their money from unthinking trippers, the baccarat, enthroned at every beach and bath and spring. relieves the more leisurely and Wealthier guests of the hotels and villas. Beccarat is the most honest looking of ell banking games in this, that the “bank' changes frequently from hand to hand, and any one may take it who bids high enough. hall and utensils and a “rak2-off” or “kitty amount to 1 per cent. Any one may bid for the bank, 1,000 francs, 5,000 francs, the highest justifying his bid by producing the capital and playing {t against the two sides of the table of which he forms the head or center. Playing Baccarat. The banker deals two cards to each side of the table and two to himself, each side winning or losing independently against him. The best combination of cards is to have the number 9, which may be formed by 2-7, 3-6, 8ace or 9, and any picture card. Only the unit counts in the addi- tion, so that a 9 and 5, for example, which add up 14, count only 4. At 8 or 9 you throw down your cards, The Casino simply furnishes the cr tents itself with which does not Inventing a “System.” winning, 9 winning, of course, in prefer- ence to 8 When either side ties with the bank it is a draw. The side which .has | only 7, 6 or 5 loses, but if the banker ‘has drawn neither an 8 nor a 9, he has a right, which is supposed to be greatly to his ad- vantage, to offer a third card to elther side, which they may refuse or accept, and to take a third card himself. The side that is weak, having 2, 8 or 4,naturally accepts, seeking to augment {ts point. In every case of drawing, however, the side which has thrown down § without accept- ing cards wins against the banker even though he has obtained a 9 through draw- ing. At the point 5 some players ask for a card, while others “stand,” thinking the danger of overleaping 9 by accepting a third card too great. While baccarat is the simplest of all games, it being only necessary to ghrow down your cards for comparison with the banker's when you have 8 or 9, refuse a third card at 5, 6 and 7, and accept a third card at zero, 2, 3 and 4, there 1s a gen- eral impression that individual players sel- dom win against the banker. In other words, it is the ambition of every one to bank and get the bank’s supposed advan- tage of 1% per cent. The bank, playing a heavier game, falls also under the -funda- mental law of all gambling, which is that “Money goes where money is.” The banker rises to the dignity of an imper- sonal machine, his money doing the work for him, while he eits catm, disturbed by neither greediness ror fear. The popular Tecentment againsé this superior position, which js at the same time a dumb admis. sion of their own weakness and inconsist- ency, is summed up in the individual play- ¢r’s constant question, always heard around the tables, “Why do I so often lose my big bets Losing His Big Bets. An individual comes to the table with 1,000 francs. By betting relatively small sums of five, ten or twenty francs, he man- ages to win 300 francs. At this moment, feeling himself In luck, he puts down 200 francs—a big bet. Suppcse that he gains it; follow the player in his evolutions. Since he has made an effort, which has beea crowned by success, he hastens to salt the big winning down, and begins to bet his little bets ugain, ten francs, twenty francs, thirty francs. But anon, just as a mouse that has hid itself in a crack sticks out its nose again when all is still, this greedy person begins to feel around, until at last he gets the courage to put down another big bet, say 500 francs. Allow him to win this also. He is not saying now “Why do I so often win my big bets?” No, he finds the thing quite natural. He has lost so many big bets in the past that it is not astonishing he should win one now and then. He takes the credit to himself, to his science in playing, perhaps even to his knowledge of the laws of probability! Around him every one is saying “He's a good one! He knows how to press his bets at the right moment!” ‘The gay gambler has now almost 2,000 francs before him. He has doubied the cape. He 1s on the home stretch. Do you think he will stop? Not at all. An individual who, beginning with five-franc bets, has been lucky enough to work up to 500-franc bets has ro idea of quitting the tablo in the flush of success. It is the moment to win the Casino and grounds. Therefore he puts down another big bet, 600 francs. This time we must suppose he loses—otherwise he would gain always—and would not be complaining of losing his big bets. He has lost his 600 francs! It is terrible. He had won 1,000 francs; now he has only won 400! He sees clearly that if he had won he would have had before him 1,200 francs profit. He has lost his big bet!” In ten minutes more he will try another big bet, and probably lose it—because it is still the banker's turn—and after this he will Pot dare to try another, but he will flicke} out like a dying candle, gold piece by gold piece, In a slow agony, forever mourning that “he lost his big bets,” Robbing the Banker. Baccarat, according to the general im- pression, would be a good game for the banker, were he not continually robbed. It is understood that there are often forty or fifty persons betting against the bank, so that the paying becomes long and tedious. In order that the game should not ore the Casino proprietors have invented a cl for the banker, called a croupier, whos mission is to pay and rake in money. Ai the same time, always in the interest of ex- pedition and dispatch, they have adopted the American system of “chips” instead of allowing the money to be played in gold and notes, as at roulette and trente-et- Snail ost ler is ui ber a @. croupler merally a robber, an the chips ake the thetramanis of he thiev- ing. A sum like 1, frances, for example, represents in gold an certain bulk, notes a and, in spite of his sleight-of-hand, he would have less chance to presto-change them into his hidden handy pockets. The adoption of chips makes necessary a cash- fer, which permits another fraud on the busy banker, in making change. Lending money to likely players at usurious rates 1s also one of the industries of the club and Casino proprietor. He would naturally rather lend in chips, because they cannot get away. And finally Europeans, at least, will bet higher with chips than with bank notes. As $e the croupier, his unique mis- sion is to rob the banker. ‘Does the banker consult his point? He “passes” a 1,000- franc chip. It is almost impossible to catch a croupier in the act. The robber, his eye fixed on the unfortunate banker, @hooses the moment when the latter, anxious and attentive, is deciding whether to draw his third card and mentally balances the amount of money on each side of the table. May Manipulnte the Cards. It 1s always the banker who is thus rob- bed; but as the banker changes continu- ally, yet it is always one of the great outside Public, who is robbed as though by pick- Pockets. Did I say the banker is always one of the great innocent-minded public? Not always. The Casino and club proprie- tor can also hire and introduce a “Greek,” or filosophe, and pay him as high a salary as an opera tenor; or the cunning-handed expert may slip in himself with his mark- ed cards, with the connivance of a croupier or even more humble assistant. Baccarat is peculiarly open to trickery in this re- gard, beca se no “box” has been invented for it, as in faro, and the back of each card is seen by the banker before being dealt. To those who know what “second dealing” is—they call it filage, whence the filosophe in French—no further explana- tion will be necessary. The French govern- ment ‘has its inspectors in all these casl- nos, but how can a two-dollar-a-day in- spector detect fraud quicker than the keen- eyed, if believing, public? The public wishes to belleve that all is fair, and hopes on always. Yet it is only natural that it should yearn for roulette Watching the Little Horses. and trente-et-quarante, the “loyal games,”” where the casino proprietor is personally responsible and has his reputation at stake. A croupier is caught stealing at baccarat. The answer fs pat: “He was stealing on his own account, the rascal. We discharge him.” But it Is hard to cheat at trente-et- quarante, which is simply a dealing of cards without a chance to profit by con- sulting their backs; and the public confi- dence in roulette is very great. Hence the Belgian resorts draw thousands of French players weekly. In roulette, where the even chance Is de- termined by an ivory ball careering round a disk and faJling into a compartment, red or black, as in trente-et-quarante, where the even chance is determined by the sim- ple falling of cards, exactly as {f one were tossing heads ‘or tails, no scope for judg- ment {s left to the Individual player. It is pure chance. Hence the ingenuity of the individual {s left free to clutch at the hope of “system” inventing. Red, black, black, red, red, black, red, red, red, black, red, black, black, red, black, black, black, black. Red is forever treading on the heels of black; black 1s forever following after red. All things tend to equalize themselves, equilibrium is the first law of nature, and why, then, with my facility for increasing and decreasing my bets at will, may I not profit by the swinging of the pendulum? The Mathematics of Chance. For example, if on marking attentively the march of red and black for half a day one should discover that red had come out much oftener than black, would it not be philosophical to bet on black thereafter? Profound error! No one can tell the mo- ment when the equilibrium will begin to re-establish itself again. No one can even know if the equilibrium {s really troubled. For a century and a half roulette has been running in Europe, at the Palais Royal in Paris, at Homburg, Baden-Baden, Nau- heim and Monte Carlo. I present myself at one of the tables at Spa tomorrow. The croupier rolls the ball ten times, and every time !t falls into a red compartment. Is She Likes Roulette. there anything to be concluded from it? Nothing. If during the last hundred years black is really in retard a thousand turns, it may very well continue in retard ten turns more. There is then no reason to bet on the black. But I have still less reason to bet on the red—if I believe in equilip- rium—because the red already seems to be ahead. There are somo who seek to let thelr money le and win four times, doubling it- self each time. They lose, generally; fif- teen times in sixteen. There are those who bet against a color coming out four times in succession, doubling each time until they win. They usually lose only once in sixteen times—though it is true in that one time they lose what they had gained be- fore. All the turns are new. ‘Nhe last turn gives no light upon the present; the pres- ent gives no light upon the next. The players of parlois often lose littie sums with the faint hope of gaining great ones; the p'ayers of martingales gain little sums frequently, to lose their total back in & bad run. In the fullness of time every- thing finishes by equalizing itself, except expenses, salaries and the profits of the refait and the zero. STERLING HEILIG. ————— The Lotus-Eaters—L’Envol. From the Bookman. (To follow the “Choric Song"’ in Tennyson's Poem.) Bo sang those ocean: weary heroes Drowsed with the drench of lotus in thelr brain That drowned their for adventure bold 4nd made them count all high endeavor vain, And eve ret mre asenacnee pein. love oi year , but wished them not ‘again; love!—wii hout desire, whence only spri ‘spirit that in tan is as the a of wings. y wove themselves a climate out of dream; 4 here! a qaley: Wholl~ fair, ul us every lapsing “Beer bung and hushed each catamact i alr: {Pgnts, all sounds, ‘they ‘charmed to softness ere. 4 There should be found no trouble, no anney, hing bot » a8 surely not Jor. ease, ease unporti With Joy, ig, tne trance of ease, deep ease without it not the lotus, leaf and bloom, senses sate chose " ‘boul, THE WOES OF WRITERS They Think They ‘Are Underpaid for Their Wares. WHAT RICHARD WATSON GILDER SAYS A Large Percentage of Manuscripts Rejected. THE: FUTURE MAGAZINE NEW YORK, August 6, 1896. HE GREAT NUM- ber of magazines now being published ought to afford en- couragement to writ- erg all over the coun- try. The more mag- azines published the more manuscript wsed. With the broadening of the market for literary wares it would seem natural that there should be an im- Provement in the prices for the literary product. But there has been no improvement in price. The standard publications pay the same rates that they paid four or five years ago, and they can use very little more than they used at that time. A few of the more recent publications have advanced the rate paid for manuscript as they have prosper- ed. But, as a rule, the new magazines do not pay enough to make any difference in the market for literature to the ordinary producer. The reason for this les in the fact that the number of would-be contrib- utors seems limitless. Recently the editor of Lippincott’s Maga- zine has been publishing a series of “expe- rience” articles, quoting from letters re- celved with manuscripts and giving ad- vioe to the writers which is meant to reach the whole army of volunteer contributors. These articles are not only interesting, but instructive. They ought to divert a great many ambitious people from the attempt to write for the magazines. But trying to abridge the number of volunteer contrib- utors to magazines is lke trying to drain the ocean. For Money and for Fame. Some of these contributors write for money and some for fame. Tho humorist of @ newspaper recently wrote a paragraph quoting some fictitious person as saying that he was going to start a magazine which would accept every manuscript sub- mitted, ‘to be paid for on publication,” and keep alive on the circulation it would have among the writers, who would buy it to see if their stories were published. The idea is fanciful, but I have no doubt the circulation of some of these “pay-on-publi- cation” magazines is increased largely by the purchases of ainbilious writers. The old hand at writing usually waits for his check to come. The ‘man who wants to “see himself in print” eagerly buys the ccpies of the magaziné as they come out. There is one magazine in New York which obtains its contributions from this class of writers. In accepting a manuscript, the editor writes to thé contributor, praising his work and offeting“to give ‘him “six copies of the number {n which it appears” in full payment for {t.' Another magazine, which has changed hands several times, used to offer to contributors such pay as “four subscriptions:to.any addresses you will name.” ‘Ihe contributor was expected to go out and solictt subscriptions for the magazine, and front thém to get the pay for his article. “trading” for manu- scripté 1s not common../No reputablespub: Neatidn would @egrad Mterature by mak- ing a writer a-solicitor of business. But few of the magazines pay “living rates” for contributions. Many of them pay less for carefully written Nterary work than the average newspaper pays for hurriedly prepared news-or “special” matter. In fact, one reason why the’ best-kygwn writers of fiction are represented In the columns of the newspapers today is that the newspaper rate is better than the rates of most of the magazines, and that where several newspapers are banded together in a “syndicate,” the rate is higher than even the best magazines can afford to pay. Active Amateur Writers. Most of the writing for the cheap maga- zines is done by men and wemen who do not depend on literature for a living. Women who make “pocket money” with their pens are the most urgent contributors to the pages of the cheap periodicals. Sometimes these develop into finished writers. Some of the best-known maga- zine contributers of today were not trained to literary work. Conan Doyle is one of those who pursued Iterature as a pas- time until his success as a writer deter- mined him to adopt it as a profession. To these casual writers and to many who are trying to gain a foothold in the profession of letters there appears as a constant bar to advancement the epparent preference shown to foreign writers and to writers whose names ure well known. ey account for the appearance of cer- ain names at frequent intervals cn the ground that the authors are favored by ublishers. Any magazine editor will tell fou that this is not true. I asked Mr. ichard Watson Gilder, tho edftor of the Century, a few days ago to tell me what proportion of story literature was bought unseen or ordered from well-known writ- ere. He very kindly had an examina- tion of the twelve numbers of the maga. zine ending with the issue of April 1 made for me. In those twelve numbers there were 304 separate signed articles. These were written by 826 lifferent au- thors and 94 of these, Mr. Gilder said, were new contributors. Interesting Statintics. “How many manuscripts are submitted to the Century in a year and how many of these are purchased?” I asked. “When we last counted,” said Mr. Gilder, “about 9,000 were sent in and about 400 were purchased. Of course, many of these were asked for.” I asked Mr. Gilder if the Century dis- criminated in favor of American authors with a view to encouraging the develop- ment of American genius. “I should think the twenty-five and more years of the magazine itself ought to answer that question,” he said. “Cer- tainly we have occasionally published a serial by a foreign author, but that has been the exception, .We by no means rule out the foreign author, but all things being equal we think itis our duty, as it certainly 1s our pleasuré, to give the Amer- ican writer the fullest’chance, and so it has been in the Century that many of the writings have appeared of Dr. J. G. Holland, Mrs. Frances .Hodgson Burnett, Edward Eggleston, Geotge W. Cable, John Burroughs, Mrs. Mary Hallock Foote, Joel Chandler Harris, James Lane Allen, Edith Thomas, Mary E. wWilking, Mrs. Phelps- Ward, “Saxe Holm,” Hy C. Bunner, John ‘ox, "Brender Matthews, Charles itgbert raddock, Kate pone Wiggin, Maurice Thompson, Hjalmar-Hjorth Boyeson, Walt Whitman, Hopkinsth Smith, ‘Thomas entworth Higginson, (F. Marion Craw- ford, George Kenngy Dk. 8. Weir Mitchell, feadio Hearn, Hill Nye, James Whit: comb Riley, Fr: Dempster Sherman, floss with some Hewells’ and James’ est short and lorig pores, stories and joes .of Aldrich, emp an criticisms ‘of well, Stoddard, Stedman and Woodber- By. whole books of criticism by Lowell and tedman, and so on. On the other hand, the Century published the first serial by pipvenso AYE ER ee 18 verado Squatters,’ ai is now printin; what is said to be Mrs. Humphry Ward's best novel. The Mlustrators, “It is the sage with the illustrative ar- tist. Most of them are American by elther birth or residence. The relation of the Cen- tury to the American school of wood en- gravers, with Cole at its head, is well known.” I asked Mr. Gilder if he did not think the ‘ megasine of today was more “newsy” than the magazines of some years A “I suppose by ‘news’ you mean some: new as to fact, whether of current or his- texical events,” he said. “As to that I can- net say with definiteness without a careful search and comparison. This quality, I will not say of nows, but of newness, marked the Century from the beginning under Dr. Holland as editor-in-chief, and Mr. Roswell Smith as publisher. Dr. Holland, as you know, was not only a popular poet and novelist, but a lyceum lecturer, and one of as editors of the Springfield Republican. fe brought into American magazine editing the fashion of discussing burning current questions; of taking hold of problems of the immediate present,and the Century has kept this up probably more than any of its illustrious contemporaries. While it strives to stand for literature and art, it alms at influencing public opinion in the right di- rection along other lines as well.” Coming Writers. “Who are the coming writers?” I asked. “Well, I think that some of those who have come are still ‘coming.’ Do you know any of the younger men who are sending out more accomplished work, for instance, than Mr. Howells? I suppose Aldrich, too, is a veteran. But which of the ‘boys’ can make fresher or more ex- guiaite verses than he? Stedman, too, is ‘ull of intellectual energy. Among the younger men in the line of echolaey. criti- cism and verse of a higher order, I think Prof. Woodberry of Columbia will be heard from more and more. His collaboration with Stedman in the new edition of Poe has brought him into new notice, but every one acquainted withthe finest recent literature knows that Woodberry, as the editor of Shelley, as the author of the best life of Poe, as the writer of a book of subtle and scholarly essays, and as the poet of ‘The North Shore Watch,’ has done some of the most valuable work in recent American let- ters. And he is as full of promise as he is of performance. “About new writers? They are turning up all the time. The only question is which of them will prove to have sufficient stay- ing power. I think at the moment of two new writers who are beginning to ‘take hold:’ One is young Fernald, who shows that he can write as buoyantly about the ‘Boston girl’ as he can about the Chinese kaby. There, too, is Miss Furman, who shows a remarkable sense of humor. So far I have only seen stories by her d ing with a little community of perfectionists in the middle west. It will be curious to see pbk she can do outside of this narrow jeld.”” The Fin: cial Prospect. I asked Mr. Gilder if there was any pros- pect that the higher-priced magazines would come down to the selling level of the “ten-centers,” as a result of the competi- tion they have set on foot. “That is a matter for the publishe! he said. “I know that some of the physical ingredients of a magazine are cheaper than they used to be} but pictures when made expressly for it, and literary matter when published exclusively in it, have not merely doubled in price, they have in some cases quadrupled; in fact, some of the necessary expenses of a high-class maga- zine are ten times what they were twenty- five years ago. The publiskers hold that there is no form of publication so cheap as the high-class American magazines. But, as I said, this is not a question for editors. It Is their business, “each and all of them, to make ‘the best magazine in the world’— if they can.” —— A MARRYING PARTNERSHIP. Which United Couples in Very Firm Bonds. While in town the other day Allen Weir of Olympia drifted into a reminiscent mood and told the following to the Seattle Post- Intelligencer man: “A lank, raw-boned Georgian named Shaw, who lived at Dungeness, ‘in Clallam county, in early days was justice of the peace. In the course of his duties as ‘squire’ many ludicrous incidents happened. He was @ very illiterate man, and talked habitually in southern negro dialect. Upon one occa- sion Shaw was called upon to officiate in performing a marriage ceremony, uniting his partner, Thornton; in wedlock with a fair widow. The affair was public and ex- cited much interest. It occurred on a Sun- day afternoon, when everybody for miles around had come to town. “Shaw had greased his boots in honor of the occasion, and wore his brand-new buckskin ‘galluses’ conspicuously. Before commencing the ceremony he impressively removed an enormous quid of tobacco as a useless obstruction to free articulation, hitched up his pants and sailed in. Trans- fixing the culprits with his eagle eye, he sternly ordered them to stand up, which they proceeded to do in fear and trembling. The large audience was on tiptoe of expec- tation, and the breathless silence was broken by Shaw’s pompous inquiry of the groom as to whether or not he intended to take ‘this hyer womern as his lawful wedded wife,’ etc. “Thornton, who was a little slow, and had the appearance of bashfulness, shifted un- easily from one foot to the other, and finally said that he ‘guessed that was the calcula- tion.’ Upon receiving satisfactory answers to similar questions from the bride, Shaw stretched himself to his full 6 feet 2 inches of height, and, after surveying the crowd impressively, proceeded to declare in awful solemnity: ‘Now, therefore, what me and God hev joined together let no man put asunder.’ As nobody offered to put them asunder after that they at once began to ‘live happily ever afte: —__+-e-____ The White House of Mexico. From the Ladies’ Home Companton. General Porfirio Diaz and his family have two places of residence. The Castle of Chapultepec is the “White House” of the nation, and lies two miles from the City of Mexico. It is occupied by the family dur- ing the rainy summer season only, the dry | winter season being passed, for greater convenience, at the private residence own- ed by the president on la Calle de la Ca- den: in the capital, and which counts as part of the $5,000,000 of wealth held by the head of the Mexican nation. Chapultepec is probably the finest official residence on the continent, and it was for this property that it is com- mcnly reported the late Mr. Jay Gould of- fered the Mexican government close to $10,000,000 in Mexican silver as-a southern resort for himself and family, but which was promptly declined. The approach to Chapultepec Mes along the famous Paseo de la Reforma, the magnificent boulevard laid out by the ill-fated Emperor Maximil- jan and his now mentally deranged queen, the Empress Carlotta. The Paseo, with the succeeding streets of San Francisco and Avenida Juarez, connect Chapultepeo with the national palace on the Plaza Mayor, three miles distant in the city. The walls of the rooms of state in Cha- Ppultepec are hung in woven silk, bearing the coat of arms of the republic of Mexico, heavily hand inworked with the same ma- terial, and all the other tapestries are of the finest quality, the same costly rule arplying to the general furnishings of both residences of the president. At Chapulte- pee many of the pieces of furniture in use ave come down from more than three centuries ago, while each succeeding ad- ministration during that time has added some touch or other to the palace home of the Mexican ruler. There are priceless paintings from the royal galleries of Spain and Europe; furniture with its pearl mo- saics and gold and copper inlaying, costing fabulous sums; rugs from the orient, brought over in the early days of regai splendor, and many tons of the finest of Italian and native sculpture in statuary and massive urns of finely grained marble mares ae ‘ur- and alabaster. Yet the ment of it all is most skillful and the nishings exceedingly well distributed. —_———_+«+_____ & Discreet Judgment. From Harper’s Weekly. DEFENDING THE LIGHTHOUSE BY Cc. B. LEWIS. ee (Copsright, 1896, by the Bacheller Syndicate.) Up to the outbreak of the civil war there was a small island off the Florida peninsu la known as Shark Island, and on this @ lighthouse to warn vessels off the Florida reefs. In the spring of 1861 a terrible gale blew for three days and nights, and when it had ended Shark Island had been wash- ed away and the water was ten feet deep on its site. From 1848 to 1858 the lightkeeper on Shark Island was a man named Coomb: He was a widower, and his only child was a daughter named Kate. She was four years old when he took the light, and in 1858, when he died, she was fourteen, and had not been off the island half a dozen times in her life. Coombs had been a sailor, and was rough and uneducated, but he had brought a woman to the lighthouse to be a companion to his child and educate her up to a certain point. In July, 1858, this wo- man died while on a visit to the mainland. Two weeks later a ship was wreckad off the isiand in a gale, and among the wreck- age driven ashore was a big trunk, contain- ing about a thousand dollars in gold. Those were the palmy days of the Florida wreck- er, who was little better than a Malay pirate. In following up the wreck they somehow learned of the gold and they at first proposed to share it with Coombs and keep the matter a secret. When he refus- ed to hand over any part of it they plan- ned to take all by force, but at the muzzle of a rifle he drove the gang off the island. Two days later the lighthouse tender Mora- ing Star ma the island on her regular monthly trip to leave supplies, and I was one of her crew. The gold and a lot of other stuff picked up from the beach was taken aboard, and I was left behind to se- cure whatever else might be thrown up, and also to aid in protecting government property should the wreckers call again and proceed to violent measures. They Were a class of men feared on shore and sea alike, and in a dozen instances on that lonely coast had driven out the lightkeep- ers, extinguished the lights and made off with the supplies. I was given two mus- kets and plenty of ammunition, and as Coombs had a rifle and his daughter a shotgun, we considered ourselves pretty well armed against an attack. For three days all went well. Coombs was inclined to be silent and taciturn, and his daughter shy and suspicious but we —= attacked he should do his best to beat ; off. Hobbins laughed a wicked laugh ina | returned to the schooner, which, you will understand, was within pistol shot of us.‘ Above her rail we could see the men mak-' ing preparatiors, and all of a sudden nine er ten of them, led by Hobbins in person,' made a-dash for us. They had arms th} their hands and murder tn their hearts,! and we did not hesitate to fire. The girl Kate killed @ man from one of the win- dows. Coombs kilied another, and the man I aimed at went down with a bullet in the! hip. Our voiley stopped the charge, and as the gang halted the keeper seized an extra musket and wounded another man. Those who could use their legs hastened aboard cf the schooner, and two or three minutes. later a sharp fire was opened on us all along her port rail. We retired into the’ lighthouse and let them waste their lead, | though we could easily have picked oft some of them as their heads showed above the rail The fusillade against us was kept up for a quarter of an hour, and then Hote! bins waved a handkerchief and cles i ed to know if we had surrendered. Coom' replied that we had not, and did not pr pore to, and gave them liberty to remove their wounded to the schooner. ‘This offer they took advantage of, and also gathered! up the weapons of the dead, and for an hour} after they returned aboard everything was, quiet. During this interval the daughter} came down stairs to ask what the next move would be. She had killed a man,| firing only one shot, and she had heard, the awful threats uttered by Hobbins, but whe was not even nervous over thi situation. TI had been biting my lips and feeling weak in the knees, and her cool- ress put me to the blush. Coombs said) the wreckers would come again, and that} having entered upon the fight they would! hang by us for duys if necessary. The! Nght was one which had long interferes with their piratical operations, and no’ they would seek to destroy it and secure! revenge at the same time. The second attac wa: made without warning and was participated in by all the men aboard! the schooner. It was well for us that we! were on our guard. About twenty men) came dashing at us, cheering and yelling, I had two muskets and a pistol, Coombe g' rifle and a pistol, and the girl a dc barreled shotgun. Some of the men r ed and sought to tear away the barric but they could not stand cur fire. Three were killed in their tracks and two badly wovnded, and again they sought shelter aboard the schooner. While they were retiring Ccombs leaped the barracks and secured a shotgun, two rifles and a lot of ammeniticn, and though fired at before’ he got back he was untouched. ‘Ten min- utes later Hobbins asked for permission to remove his wounded, and this hein granted he no sooner had them aboard! than he sailed away. When out of gun- shot we went out to examine the a «4. They were a tough looking lot, and cone BEGAN DROPPING THEM AT ONCE. were on friendly terms and got along first rate, No more wreckers came ashore, but Just before sundown of the third day a wrecker named Hobbins, who was a sort of a leader, was landed from a schooner and came up to the lighthouse alone. We thought it best not to let him know that I was about, and I was, therefore, stowed away out of sight. He was a man in the Prim: of life and a wicked-looking fellow, but he had come to try moral suasion be- fore proceeding to violence, and therefore had a smile on his face. He was offered something to eat and drink, and for half an hour he coaxed and argued with Coombs to give up a share of the money. When told that it had gone away on the tender he would not believe it, judging the lighthouse keeper by his own moral standard. When at last he found that fair words were of no avail, he turned on Coombs and said: “ here, man, you know me and you know our crowd. Either divide with us or we'll take all. If you do not agree we'll come here tomorrow and have you out of this dead or alive!” Coombs refused him and he went away in a boiling heat. He thought he had only an old man to deal with, and why he did not call a half a dozen men from the schooner and make the attack then and there was something I could not understand. As he stepped into his boat he called back that a visit might be expected from him on the morrow, and I judged from the tones of his voice that he was desperately in earnest. Shark Island was about two acres in extent, with the lighthouse in the center of it and a rude wharf on the east side. Had Coombs and his daughter been there alone they would have prepared just the same for de- fense, but with an extra hand to help beat off the wreckers the old man was really pleased at the idea of a skirmish with the men he had lived in fear of for several years. The base of the lighthouse was di- vided into a living room and a store room, and above it were three bedrooms in which hammocks were swung. From these a spiral stairway wound up to the lantern rcom, fifty feet above. The height of the structure from ground to top was about sixty-five feet, and at that time the light was considered one of the most important and the best on the coast. The doorway at the base was just wide enough to roll in a barrel of oil, and the door itself was made of heavy planks, and studded with bolt beads. There were three windows in the upper and lower portions, but these were narrow, and those on the ground floor were defended by iron bars. The lighthouse had been erected during the Indian troubles in Florida, and doubtless with a view to re- sisting an attack from the redskins. Coombs felt sure that the wrecker would return next day with a score of men at his back,. and we therefore spent the evening in arranging for defense. The door face! the wharf on the east. We dragged up a lot of planks and timbers and made a bar- picade just in front of it, d then we brought up scores of pails of water and thoroughly saturated the barricade and the door. The fresh water for the keeper and his daughter was all brought over from Pine Island, a mile away. During the night we brought over three barrels in the boat, and also made rude shutters for the lower windows. In fact, we worked at one thing nd another all night, and when daylight came the place was in the best possible state for a siege. The day came without a breath of wind to ruffle the sea, and, know- ing that it would be some hours before the wreckers could reach us, the three of us turned in for a sleep, and it was 2 o'clock in the afternoon before we awoke. Then we found a fair breeze blowing and a wrecking schooner standing in for the wharf. It was arranged that Coombs and 3 should take the barricade and the daugh- er fire from the windows {n case of an at- tack, and I do not think three people ever showed more coolness under like circum- stances. I know I should have been far more nervous with two men from the ten- der as companions. Both father and daugh- ter were as cool as if a pleasure party was the wrec! it f them had better of us-after any killed they would show w that she had at least thirty men gheara,"ana y made a great show of as Hol climbed over the rail advanced upon our barricade. He was ted ten yards away and asked what he hegre He that he a 4 mone} was 10 have ‘Coom! to fire on the crowd, they would alive, and he made such threats as to what should be done with the cgcent apie. t sae shoot fe oe pigeee. him. Coombs letly but y answered that the had been ’ lute control of the Royal — a science did not trouble us any over che shooting. In the sand, under one of them, we found a loaded pistol, and on another @ long knife. We dug a trench in the} sand and gave them a rough burial, and | then we had only to wait to see what} would turn ur. Coombs was sure Hobbing had gone off to the Reefe to secure help | and would return by night, and he was right about it. Just at sunset two schooners came sailing in, and we judged the number of men aboard of them to be at least sixty. They. began firing on us before they were fast! to the wharf, and the girl was called down from above to help defend the barricade., Coombs was as cool as if going about his! every-day duties, and, except that her lips) were bloodless and ner eyes shining, the girl showed no signs of nervousness. After, a hot fire for a quarter of an hour the wreckers suddenly swarmed over the bul- warks and charged us. We began dropping, them at once, but the weight of numbers sent them forward, and presently a dozen. of them were pulling and tearing at the. barricade and firing at us through the crev-' ices. Coombs was wounded in the side, the girl in the shoulder and I got a buliet in‘ the mouth, which passed out through the! right cheek. None of us knew that we were| hurt, however, until the wreckers had been! driven back. They left five dead and seven} wounded men on the sands, but were per-' mitted to gather up the latter and take them aboard. This had only been accom-} plished when both craft set sail and made off, and that was the last we saw of them.| We wondered at their going until we climbs, ed over the barricade and found Hobbing: among the dead. He was the ruling spirit among the lawless fraternity, and when’ he went down they were panic-stricken ani could not get away fast enough. We had! Killed ten men and wour ded eleven that we knew of. As afterward afcertained, the, number of wounded amcunted to seventeen, } three of whom died later on. We were left{ in peace when the schooners sailed away, | snd when the government heard of our de-{ fense each of us received a medal and an} official letter of thanks. I was picked up| by the tender on her next trip and never! saw Coombs or his deughter again. They! were there on the island when the great| gale came on, and after the gale no island! was to be found. —>__ PERSONALITY OF THE POPES. * ‘ovo or Three Bad Men Responsible for the Evil Spoken of Them. F. Morion Crawford, in the Century. ‘Two or three bad men are responsible for. almost all the evil that has been said and written against the characters of the popes in the middle ages. Farnese of Naple Caraffa of Maddaloni, another Neapolita who reigned as Paul IV, and Rodrigo Bor- gia, a Spaniard, who was Alexander VI, are the chief instances. There were, in- deed, many popes who were no: perfect, who were more or less ambitious, avarl- clous, warlike, timid, headstrong, weak, ac cording to their several characters; but it can hardly be said that any of them were, | like those I have mentioned, really bad men threvgh and through, viclous, un- scrupulous and daringly criminal. Paul IV outlived most of his vices, and devoted his last years to ecclesiastical affairs, but Alexander died poisoned by an accident. According to Guicclardini, the pope knew, no.hing of Caesar Borgia’s intention of pot- soning their rich friend, the cardinal of, Conreto, with whom they were both to 5) in a villa on August 17, 1503. The pope af! rived at the place first, was thirsty, asked, for a drink, and by a mistake was giv wine from a flask prepared and sent by Caesar for the cardinal. Caesar himself, came in next and drank Hkewise. The pope died the next day, but Caesar recovered, though badly polsoned, to find himself a. ruined man and a fugitive. The cardinal) did not touch the wine. This event ended | an epoch and a reign of terror, and it pil- loried the name of Boi forever. Alex- ander expired in the third room of the rtments in the raving of a ter di versing with Satan, to whom he had sold his sou! for the papacy, and some were ready to swear that they actually saw, seven devils in the room when he was dys, ing. The fact that these witnesses were able to count the fiends speaks well for their coolness, at all events. : "hee AUT eR et mar a i tute (Mi! or > ~ Gttatatay Agriculture),