Evening Star Newspaper, September 5, 1896, Page 12

THE EVENING STAR, SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 5, 189¢--TWENTY PAGES. “Mushrooms will be plentiful as soon as the rainy season begins,” sald a well- known gardener, “and the indications are that they will be very good. The long dry season has prepared conditions which are favorable, and now all that can be done ts to wait for them to spring up. They come in very rapidly, and pastures which have no sign of 7 the day before are filled the next morning. There is no general Tule about mushrooms, except that it is not safe to eat any of them that are at all pewdery about their gills. There are in this sectien of the country about twenty dis- tinct classes of mushrooms, though practi- that are offered for sale 3 are of one class. Iushrooms should never be eaten unless they are fr fur they will not keep. As soca as they show any signs of decay, vbich is markel by the darkening of the color of the gills, or under portion, they should be r They should be eaten the day they are picked. In all my ex- perience I have never known any of the es to be offered for sale in nose who get med by mistake of g them hady and damp pl Those who turnish the markets, know the good from bad, and never offer toadstools or any of the non-edible for sale.” eee “People who buy bicycles," observed a dealer, “should not ride them over a week without having them adjusted. Once prop- erly adjusted, they are all right until they wear out. miers of good bicycles are Worn out in a few weeks, when, if they ‘re properly adjusted, they would iast a very long time. The factories which turn «m out put them together rapidly, and claily the mechines 3old at auction. also get out of adjus:ment in ship- ping them, and wear lop-sided unless lcok- ed Any experienced repairer can st @ wheel, and it is a yreat saving in long run to have it done. “Of course, the wheels wnich have agents here are attended to, for all of them are careful to tell purchasers to bring them beck after a week's run for permanent ad- jJustment. The purcnasers of outside wheels have no such advice, and it is for chem that her thing is in ofling them. where they turn them out arings and working jeints This excludes the oil that riders put into them, and the is that they wear out rapidly, be- ot otled. x «OK season is just cpening,” a physician, “and lots of people plaining of malarial troubles, and h me on the climate of Wash- the fact is they have no ma- at all. The malaria of which they n gives more trouble on the highest and most salubcious climates m tide water. The cause of vegetation, as most per- or the marshes on the East- ause of the it is not « It is too warm during the day for per- sons are actively employed to wear and it is too cool these m to wear the clothes that ring the The cool evenings congest the syste: bring on blilows troubies, and in ignorance of their Teal trouble the sufferer attrilute their trouble to malaria, and pring the climate into discredit. Small doses of calomel or Podaphylin if homeopaths should be taken foliowed up by regular but light coses of quinine if allopaths, or china if of the other school of medici . x ok Ok x stories that frequently ap- wspapers about the vitality of Seeds are without foundation in fact,” ox- plai ne of the seed experts of the Agri- ltural Department, “and I have serious doubts that any seed ever grew after it ras twenty years old. Time and time the statement has been made, and appeared in print, about seed growing that had been exhumed with mummies. All of these are erroneous. Some writers have claimed that the seed of heliotrope found in an ancient tomb produ flowers, but there is no standard writer of the present day who will make such a claim, and but few would believe it if it was mad xe ORE entists have calculated and even demonstrated that they know the weight of the earth, as well as the size of it,” re- marked a scientifle man who ts an author- ity on such matters. “It was ascertained that each cubic foot of earth weighs 5.67 tin as much as a cubic foot of water, the weight of the latter being about six:y- two pounds. A cubic foot of earth, there- fore weighs about 354 pounds. Taking the dimensions of the earth, as determined by the best experiments, there are 259,800 mil- Mons of cuble miles In the earth. A simple tiplication shows, therefore, that the weight of the whole earth is 6,049,336 bil- lion of tons. The density of the earth ts, as stated, over five and a half times the density of water. If you have any doubts In regard to the calculation you can weigh the earth yourself and see if the grand total I have given is not correct.” x ke KK “I had a strange experience a few nights since,” said a resident of McPherson Scare, “and for a time I was very much alarmed. It was a couple of hours aftor midnight, and I heard a noise in the alley in the rear of my bed room. It sounded as if a person had fallen out of a window and struck the concrete paved alley with great force. After awhile I heard a crawling about, if the ipjured person Was regaining consciousneas. Thinking that I might be able to lend a hand tn seme way I called out, ‘Who Is there? The answer came with a Hibernic accent, p still, everything is all right; I am 3 policeman,’ and he was a policeman, tco. It appears that a push cart man packs his cart in the alley, and the polic man took a quiet nap in it, and as he was dreaming of riches he reached out his hands to grasp the wealth in sight, when the push cart dumped and dropped the guardian of the night into the alley.” xR RR OK “I saw a very pretty souvenir recently,” said a lady, who is somewhat prominent in art circles. “It was intended to he sent to a friend who ts in Europe. The pricts of the public buildings in Washing- ton were torn out from one of the less ex- pensive gulde books. Around the edges of each picture was pressed some of the flowers which grew about the buildings. The White House had a circle of leaves of the flowers that grow in the plants in front and the rear of it. The Treasury Derartment and pension office were sim- ilarly decorated, as was also the Capitol and other public buildings. The leaves are pressed on to the edges of the prints, and to be sure that they will stick a drop of muctlage is applied. After the deco- ration of the print was finished it was laced in a copy press for a day or so. the lady who had made the collection in- terded it for a Christmas present.” eK KKK “There is very little danger of the Mc- Coy-Hatfleld feud ever being revived,” sald E. K. White of Matewan, W. Va., at the Normandie. “The Tug river ts tacitly agreed upon as the boundary line, and elther party violates the unwritten agree- ent. One of the McCoys ts jailer of Pike county, Ky.; one of the Hatflelds is jailer ef Logan county, W. Va. Frank Phillips, the leader of the McCoy crowd, does his trading in Matewan, and the Hatflelds @ome there for supplies. They never go at the same time, but no attempt is made by @Qither side upon the other. Phililps da said to have been shot nine tin “Many of the pear in n not live long, the bullets, that have never been remove, having resulted in consump- ticn, but he is as plucky as he ever was. At the last election he was confined to bed | with wounds received in his last battle, but insisted upon being carried thirty miles to the voting place. An enemy insulted him as he lay on the litter, and with a spring he caught the man by the throat and fell to the Hitter with him. His wounds started to bleed afresh, and ‘t seemed that he would die, but ‘his fingers could not be loosened frem his enemy's throat until the man was unconscious. He comes to Mate- Wan occasionally, and always heavily armed, but the officers never attempt to molest him.” —_+___ SOME COYOTE STORIES, Amasing Peculiarities of the Gray Denizen of the Prairies, One day last week I took a walk near the National Zoological Park. Lobengula, the young lion, lifted his voice in a mighty roar and tried to imagine himself back in Africa, whence he was brought when a few months old. The Esquimaux dogs in an out-of-door ir.closure heard him, and they, too, began to sing of home—a noisy, mourn- ful song, full of suggestions of snow banks and icebergs and of cold chills running down your back. The other dogs of vari- ous kinds joined In, and last, but not least, the wolves and coyotes. It was the song of the coyotes that ap- pealed most to me. It carried me in fancy to the place where both they and I once lived, and recalled to mind some of the ex- periences I had there. Our homes were in western Kansas, just beyond the hundredth meridian, in what is sometime; called the subarid region. My habitation was a store or rather a chalic house, while theirs were crevices in the bluffs of chalk or in holes which they dug in the ground Coyotes ar> flesh eaters in the main, and the winters that are favorable for cattle and other steck are very hard for them. They depend on jack rabbits and the car- cases of cattle, shcep and horses for their winter sunply of meat, especially if the chicken houses are kept fastened. A yacca, the same which is grown in the east for ornamental purposes, 1s indigenous there, and !s found in great numbers where the soll is stony end poor. When the coyotes are hungry in winter and can get nothing more to their taste, they tear the leaves from the central stalk and eat the tender, pulpy mass which fs then exposed. In sum- mer their bill of fare is more varied, as we had reason to know. Ore time we had an unusually fine patch of watermelons. We had watched their growth with interest, for in that country, where there are no apples, peaches or ber- ries of any sort—in fact, no fruit at all ex- cept wild grapes and’ very rarely wild plums—melois are great dainties. The first one to show signs of ripening was a fine specimen. We looked at it nearly every day, and at last decided that in twenty- four hours more {t would be in condition to carry to the spring house to get cool. Im- agine our disappointment when we went out to get it, for instead of finding a lus- cious, juicy melon, we saw an empty rind! Many times that summer we had the same experience, but at last we saw the mischief maker at work. A coyote sneak- ed up to the patch, going here and there, until he came to a melon we were exvect- ing to pick the next day. He looked all around to see if he was likely to be mo- lested, and thinking, I suppose, that we were too far away to trouble him, he went to work. He scratched at the melon as a dog does when fe digs a hole in the ground. He gnawed at it and clawed at it until he had an opening through the rind. We could see him scratching out and eating pieces of the luscious Interior and ‘drinking the juice. It was more than the herder, a lad of six- teen years, could stand. He took the shot- gun and crept cautiously toward the patch. The coyote was so interested he did not see hira coming, and John had time for a good aim The coyote fell dead without a struggie. As there was a bounty of each pair of coyote ears, John felt repaid for the loss of that melon, but he never got through wondering how that wolf knew the best melon. I saw two coyotes trying to get a calf one day. It was young, and its legs wob- bled so it coutd not run. Its mother bel- lowed and five other cows ran to her as- stance. They arranged themselves in a je around the calf, and when a wolf would come near one of the cows she would charge at it. The cows could have pro- tected the calf perfectly, but I rode over in their direction, knowing that when they saw me the coyotes would run away. They did not get the calf that day, at any rate. One evening all of our people about the ranch were sitting In the door yard, ad- miring the beautiful cloud effects. A mem- ber of the party called our attention to two coyotes walking among the chalk bluffs an elghth of a mile away. They strolled lel- surely around, finally sitting down side by stde on the highest point. We had a good opportunity to watch them. One was full grown, the other not more than half. We decided that they were mother and son. After sitting still a few minutes, the moth- er thrust her nose up into the air and rals- ea her voice in a shrill howl. She followed that by a succession of snapping, plaintive yelps which came thick and fast; times high, sometimes low, but making such a volume of sound that it seemed im- possible 1t could all come from one small throat. It would have taken five dogs at least, and all working hard, to have made so much notse. When she had finished the young coyote tried his best to sing the same song, but his voice quavered and he stopped, discour- aged, before he was half through. His mother went through it again, laying spe- clal emphasis on the prelude. He certainly succeeded better with that the next time, and after five or six trials sang It all fairly well. They sang it tegether the last time and the effect was very fine. We had a shepherd dog—a very intelll- gent animal—that kept watch over the cat- tle In the daytime and the house at night. One night I was alone on the ranch. The various members of the family had gone away on business. and Captain, the dog, and Tommy Traddles, the cat, were the only companions I had. Tommy Traddles slept in the house and Captain Just inside the storm door, which I left open. The in- side door was fastened. In the night I was awakened by a pecu- Nar snarl under my window. Looking out, I saw a coyote gnawing a bone Captain had left there the evening before. Captain heard him a few moments afterward and came tearing around the corner of the house as though he would devour him. He suddenly changed his mind, however, for instead of running, the coyote kept his ground, as well as the bore, showing his teeth and snarling frightfully. I threw open the window and urged Captain to go at him. He did so, and the coyote, more frightened at the round of a human voice than at the dog, fled into the darkne: Captain after him. In a few min heard them coming back. This time the coyote was after the dog. Captain was in- furlated because he had to run home, and was barking ferociously, snarling’ and growling. As they came near the house his courage strengthoned, while that of the coyote weakened; so when I again called to Captain things were once more reversed, and it was the coyote who was being chas- ed. They had it back and forth for nearly an hour, when the coyote became tired and went away. —_—— THE BARBER’S OPINION Of the Difference Between the and the Silver Platform. “The difference between the two political parties is so slight,” said a 9th-street bar- ber, the other night, while spreading the lather over an old gentleman's face; “that it isn’t worth the trouble they are kicking up all over the country.” e “Huh!” grunted the old man; “there's all the difference in the world. You talk as though you didn’t understand the situa- tion. “Guess I do,” remarked the barber, pick- Gola ing out a razor and taking hold of the | strop. posted. “Well, what is the difference hetween the gold plattorm and the free silver plat- form?” “Just forty-seven cents!” ‘I read the papers, and try to keep A BICYCLE PICNIC| Talking about bicycle clubs, and who talks of anything else these days, you should know my friends the “Artful Dodg- ers.” “See Naples and die,” says a familiar quotation, but I say go on a bicycle picnic, come home and die, that is if you don’t finish up the job while on the road. It was last Saturday night that my friend Green Sweater came around and asked me to go out on his club's weekly spin. e “We start at § o'clock tomorrow from in front of my house,” he said, in his most beguiling manner, “and the ladies bring the lunch, so ail you have to do is to get yourself and wheel there in time—does it go?” And I, in my gentle innocence, an- swered that it went, and it did. The party, numbering about ten in all, was assembled at the rendezvous next morning, and [ had the pleasure of greet- ing some of my old friends. , Miss Rhode Rider was there In a suit that had evidently seen service, while Miss Walker-Hill was spotlessly neat and trim. The gentlemen of the party soon had the luncn boxes carefully tled to the wheels and at the word from Green Sweater we all mounted—with more or less grace and ease—and started off. I found myself beside Miss Fancy Rider, younger sister of the lady mentioned above, and she proceeded at once to para- lyze me by the careless suggestion that we take hold of each otner's and coast, an idea appalling to one of my mod- est and retiring nature. However, she was soon joined by Mr. Handle Barr and I fell behind with Patent Leathers, a young fellow whom I had no- tlced as having a wild, unholy look in his eyes. He confided to me as lith street, that it was these miserable tooth-p ought to be arrested for selling th. They were really pretty shoe bim a decidedly dressy look said to me in viteous confidence, “Can there be a more serious combination than tight shoes, a bicy nd a rough road?" “Isn't it a fine day,” cried one of the young men of the party joining us at this point. He was clad in’ a suit that sug- ve gaily spun up and gave but as he gested a patch-work quilt, and wore golf stockings that—well, we won’t mention thera. “The sky's overcast so we get no sun, and yet {t isn't cloudy enough for rain.” y, and knowa his friends, as other publ have been in days gone by “What have yeu got your lamy I asked him, noticing as I spoke that all the wheels were so equipped. “Oh, we won't get back until long after dark,” he replied joviaily, “we'll make a day of it, I tell you!” “Yes,” I said feebly, “that will be ni Due to Good Luck. On we went, until having gone quite a distance on the main road, we turned down into a side path. It was here that the first accident occurred. Miss Fancy Rider and the “Idiot” were in the lead, mounting easily—for it w: something of a hill—with their hands on each other's shoulders, when orcher, who, of course, was one of the party, role up by bene to Miss Grace Fultumbl 1 offered to take hold of the handle bars and pull her up, she agreed and then—well, there w. a barbed wire fence on road, or I guess siopped yet. Scorcher lost his balance, and hey lost control of their wheels, but the was fortunately not serious. At the Pienic G It was some little time after this when we reached the plenie grounds, and a more picturesque spot could not have been de- sired. By the side of a rocky stream, right in the heart of the woods, with the narrow path by which we had come winding away in the distance. It was an idyllic spot, and having stacked our wheels we made our- selves comfortable (2) on the great, flat rocks. Green Sweater and Scorcher left us, say- ing they were going for the ginger ale. “Where on earth will they find it?” I asked of the “Idiot.” “Don’t you know?" he said with a friend- ly grin, seating himself upon my rock. “I'll tell you the whole story. We came down this path one day when we were out for a run, and thinking it would make a fine picnic spot, sat down to rest. Just as we were longing for something to drink, along came a man, ‘Why don’t you come on up to the club house” called he. Mistaking our modest hesitation for something more practical, he called again, ‘You won't have the side of they would not the have to pay a cent.’ That settled it and went. It is only a mile or so up the road, and we sat cut on the porch and made our- selves generally at home. The man told me that the house had heen built by Senator for a country residence, and he left a colored man in charge of it. One night the man was killed, and upon examination it was discovered that one of his hands w missing. Of course people soon de that the house was haunted, and the Sena- tor never came there to live, and he—the proprietor—managed to get the place for a ridiculously all rent. Became Club Members. Being very thirsty after this dry tale, we confided as much to our host, who deeply regretted that he could not furnish us with anything to drink. “If you were only club members now,” he said, suggestively. “Couldn't we become so?” “Why, yes,” he said, “for 25 cents apiece I will furnish you with the club button, and you will sign your names in my book here, and tien I will take great pleasure in selling you thing you may desire.” He was no farmer, that urbane gentleman, though he did hve in an agricultural district. W the names we signed in his book did credit to our imaginations, and we came away ladened with club buttons; he was a gen- erous man. ‘So, Green Sweater has gone up there now?" I said. “Yes.” replied the “Idiot,” “and he'll come back loaded down with bottles and buttons, and then we'll have lunch.” It happened even as he had said. Green Sweater was soon back again, and we en- joyed a most delightful and rural repast. After that we had singing—we called it so—and various excitements. The “Idiot” did some acrobatic and balancing feats on an old log stretched across the stream, while the rest of us threw stones at him and made bets as to how long It would be before he fell in. Patent Leathers won, the time being four minutes thirty seconds. It was not 5 o'clock when the young la- dies began to be afraid that mamma would be worried about them, and the men to rec- ollect divers important engagements. So we tidied ourselves up as best we could, mounted our trusty steeds and were off, 2 As a Brake. We were going down hill, all in the best spirits, which, strange to say, seemed to increase as wé neared the city, when the “Idiot” began to show Scorcher how clever- ly he could use his foot as a brake. Scorch- er contended that the trick never would work for him, but, being urged by the “Idiot” to try it, stuck his foot in. Of course, it caught fast, the wheels refused to turn, and at this hair-curling moment we suddenly perceived Miss Grace Ful- ja alee) at full speed bearing down upon im! The “Idiot” refused to take any blame for the horrible scene which followed. He contended that he had said Scorcher’s foot would act as a brake; a brake was used to stop a wheel—well, Scorcher’s wheel stop- ped, didn’t it? What the deuce did you want it to do? Coast up-hill? It never pays to dispute a point with the “Idiot.” It was not dark when we came int Washington, and Green Sweater shout to me as we prepared to separate: “Of course, you want to go again, old man, people always do after one of our picnics.” And I answered with as much spirit as was left in me, “Oh, of course.” And he said: “Well, I'll let you know about it in time, and where we start from.” So now you will understand why I am going around with a weary look on my face trying to dodge my friends, the “Art. ful Dodgers.” ——— Style in Bottle Alley, From the Cleveland Plain Dealer, Pette—“Say, Chimmle, do you t'ink Swtp- sey McDougall is in love?” Chimmie—‘‘What's eatin’ you?” Petie—“Why, it’s: de style he’s trowtn’ on. If he ain’t in love, say, why woul he go onct a month an’ take a collar an’ @ pair ©’ ouffs to de Chinyman?” DAN, THE BARKEEPER Ho Animadverts Upon the Nation's Recep- tion to Di Hung Chung. He Thinks If Entirely Wrong—He Manufactures’ a Chinese Cocktail for a Stute Department Clerk. 1}. A long, slender stream of seltzer, directed with deft aim, sped over the counter of the “Ott and Early” yesterday afternoon and struck a low-browed, round-shouldered youth squarely between the eyes, drenching his face with the first water it had proba- bly known in a week and dousing his flan- nel shirt front and the wares contained in the wooden tray he held in front of him suspended by a strap around his should- ers. There was a yell-of surprise and in- dignation and a storm of threats as the figure hastily backed through the swing- ing doors and out into the street. “Wov's de madder, Dan? asked Sim Foley, as near amazement as he ever gets. “De sucker never say er wu'd. Ole man McCann an ’is bisikle mus’ be on- settiin’ yer tinker, I never See er man give er dub sech er suddint deal. Wot'd he do?” “He didn’ do nuth- in’ fat time,” re sporided Dan savag. ly, at the same time ‘| ing an attentive ear to the din in in front of a ebut hy atternoon sell me er pictur dat chink, Lye a uy Hun Chin. I s » las’ time, so he knowed wuz goin’ ter git ef he made de beer reflectively. de chink?" he in- ‘Nuthin’ ergin him pussonal,” responded Dan, “but jist ergin de hull chink outfit in gin’ral. Dat's w'y I don't want no hare- lip fakir comin’ in yere an‘ tryin’ ter hole me up fur er p nner'm. yer, Sim, an’ 1 it makes’ me tin mucky-ruck doin De law say none uv Noonited States, an’ y: Ly Hun an’ whut do we do we fist x 2 on our knees, dat's "im, dav’s op ‘fishin’, de shuns, an’ de Whole di i ’ off ter see cr ole dub whvt useter spile shirts fur Major Blake out yander in Calyforny forty r ergo. I tell yi m, an’ yer kin n’ Injuns is in de no ‘count ter write "bout on de top side er de F hump. ight, widout er ole Jay havin’ Ar!n'ion, an’ Tee rats So'se ter} ink er dat tn ¢ ‘Torter make y! ferican countrys ad bile.” uy But de} “pre uy imawite. It's de rule er nash- Wei ede rule te time hutter de rales er nashuns orter be em potter an’ be broke wen de cums," retorted Dan. “Say, Yer Uink?s Er dub cum in yere dis mawnin’ ar’ ast fur er Chinee cockta Ys dat sawedofl dub whut ware de stripe on ‘is russit. shoes an’ wuks in de ate Deparimen’.. Did he git it? Well, at's whut he sid. Whut did I give ‘Im? Nuthin’ in i2 worl’ but whut he ast fur. De cle man’s: gotter linerment whut er funny sucker tm sose he'd be stocked wien git ‘is bisekl, Say, I made dat Chines eocktall outen de police bettie w an’ dat Mnerment, an’ T dash im CUryso tet sorter -birtl it tergedder. know, whut dat dub did? He dreen glass ast’ fur ernudder. I got er bottle. ere hair OW “fur ‘im ef he cum in ergin.” | “Yer might ha’ kilt ‘Im, said Rafferty, A *the tailor, who had eal ‘Jal been an interested rs “Yere rite th’ chinks. lerican = cit- ins ain't got no rite win’ down ter these might ha’ ‘im w' tawt he wuz dr; er Chinee _ cockt Hun Chin culated Dan, man, er drunk furn'toor varnish an’ sed’ it wuz good cf I'd giv it ter ‘im fur er Chinee cocktail Yer don’t know dem te Departmen’ dubs, an’ dat’s straight.” BUYING AND. It Requires Tact to Ray Timber Land in the Mountains. It requires time and tact to buy moun- tain land. The following is a typical ex- perience, as related to a Star reporter by a timber land buyer: “[ was riding along Tug river, in Ken- tucky, when I saw a tract of land upon which I concluded 1t would pay to erect a small saw mill. I hunted up the owner, finding him seated on a log fishing. “Do you own this land? h’ stranger—fust bite I've hed,’ he an- swered in a stage whisper. In about a minute he caught a fish, and I repeated my question. “‘Got any baccer?’ he asked. I gave him a chew, and in a few minutes he said: IN HOTEL CORRIDORS “The wooden nutmeg makers of Connecti- cut have to yield the palm to the English egg collectors,” sald B. F. Martin of San Francisco, at the Shoreham. “The islands along the Pacific coast are infested with thousands of gulls that build their nests and rear thelr young there. English egg men have begun to puchase these eggs in Such quantities that gilleries are being es- tablished along the coist, und the expor- tation of gull eggs bids fair to almost equal the exportation of California fruit in val There are millions of the eggs on e islands. The remarkable thing about it is that the gull eggs, as such, are not salable in England except to the dealers. ‘They are the size and shape of some eggs that are rare and valuable, and the Englishmen palm them off on collectors as very ru specimens, coloring them, to carry out the deception.’ re vhen necessary, “I do not wonder that warts are regarded with great awe and superstition by certai: Indian tribes,” said C. L. Jones of Wichita, Kan., at the National. “There is some- thing uncanny about them <hat I don't un- derstand. I had a very large one on my nose. It was quite painful and ex. unsightly. Physicians applied various edies, none of which did any good. It was lanced twice, but grew out again as large as before. While visiting among the Kiowa Indians, a friend told me L could have the wart removed by an old Indian. I had no faith in the ‘medicine man," but went to see him out of curiosity. He boil- ed a concoction of heros, inen went through a ten-minute invocation, touched the wart with a sort of wand, threw the wand in the five, and told me the t Sp:rit had premised 1 should be cured. In three days there was not a sign of the visible, and it has never troubled me since.” “The coffce-eating bit is on the in- crease, and it is probab'y the worst that can be found,” said Dr. A. C. Hindman of Louisville at the Riggs. “Coffee, when boiled and taken as a beverage, is not only uninjurious, but beneficial, unless taken In very great quantity, but when eaten as roasted is productive of a train of ills that finally result in complete physical and men- tal prostration. I have had a number of cases of the kind, and they are as difficuit to cure as those arising from the opium habit. The trouble is more prevalent amon, young girls than any one else. They eat parched coffee without object, just as they eat sé slate pencils with much more maciated, and sallow, appetite poor, indigestion ruined and 1 all unstrung. Coffee will give a few min- s of exhila followed with great weakness, victims nearly die when de- brived of the accustomed stimulan “Linden, Va., can boast of one of thi most desirable freaks in the United States said J. P. fall of that p at the How- ard. “I refer to a deaf and dumb barber. I have never heard of any other, and {t seems a pity that the only one should be in a small town, where his serv: Ss are but poorly repaid. If he should go to a larsé clty, especially during the present time, and let it be known that customers could be absolu immunity from views on i , he would have more work than he could do, but as it is, he 1s in a small town, where he has to com- bine the trade of shoemaker with that of barber in order to make a living. He geod barber, and the silence that reign while he shaves a customer is only broken by the nd of the razor. I don't know whether cr not he would consider offers from museum managers or city barber shops.” “Everything comes to him who wait: was probally written with reference to de- tectives,” said A. R. Rittenhouse, for many ul sleuth, at the itt. “As a rule, and with very few exceptions, criminals will return to the scene of their crimes if ihe law officers maintain silence and wait. If active efforts are made to apprehend the man he will, of course, re- main away until these c but if nothing is allowed to become publicly known that shows the police are taking an interest in the case, the perpetrator of a crime will, sooner or later, return. It fs another al- most invariable rule that before he return he will communicate with the friends wher Many of t ive work crime was committed. rful instances of y been the e: and have been brought about not b: ‘dness in following up a clue, but by good waiting and watching.” “One of the most pathetic instances of fortune’s mutations is that of the Marshall family of Virsinia, C. Gibbons of Manassas at the Ral Chief Justice Marshali was admittedly one of the great- est men America ever had within its bor- ders. He was possessed of a princely do- main, co! & of several counties in northern Virginia. ‘This magnificent prop- erty was left to his son, who still lives in Warren county at a very advanced age. Owing to bis generous nature, the son was ruined by security debts and unfort investments, and tract by tract his was sold The slaves were all freed and the fortune was gene. The old man lives with a son, and all are poor.” “T notice in the newspapers an Associated Press dispatch concerning the new oil field in northern Tennessee and southern Ken- tucky,” said J. K. Hadiey of Nashville at the Arlington, “The extensive operations now commenced by the Standard O11 Com- pany there will do away with one of the most picturesque features of the south. This field that is called new was operated before the war and has been worked ever since, in a very limited way. It was known ‘Which land? “That along the road for a mile back.’ “"Yaas." “How much have you?’ “Whar yo’ frum?’ ‘Chicago. How mucu land havé@jou?’ “Five thousand acres.’ ‘What do you ask for ig? “Waal, it’s worth $20 a acre, but fer cash I'll swap fer $10 a acre. Kain't talk ‘bout it now. Hey. ter ketch fish fer sup- per.’ sat on the log beside him for three hours, nelther of us saying a word, until he arose and started home, while I mounted my horse and followed. “That night I got as far as to see his deed for the land and get a description. “It may be a leetle short,’ he said, ‘an’ I reckon I'd take $10,000 fer it without sur- veyin’ “No inducement would move him from that figure, so I went on to the next tract, which I did not want, the timber being too thin, “How much does Phillips want for his land?’ I asked. & housan” Ges a ‘How much Is there of it? Thousan’ acreage “Can you buy f& “I reckon.’ 4 jal I received a deed, pald ap ored the tract meas- for me? A cross-country rider.—Life. for many years as the Scott and Allen field. A number of shallow wells were sunk, all of which produced oil of a good quality. The mountaincers would fill one or two barrels with petroleum, place them on a raft and fioat down the Cumberland river to Nashville with them, where the oil and raft were sold, and the men would walk home over the mountains. Now that the field is to be worked in a modern way it will probably produce as much oil as the Pennsylvania field, and fully equal as to quality.” “Speaking of kleptomania,” sald L. A. Robinson, formerly a well-known officer of the Chicago police force, at the Regent, “I know one cese where a term in the pen- itentiary operated as a complete cure. I will not name the man, because he is ‘n business and highly respected, but it was a genuine case of kleptomania. He was a foundling, adopted at an early age by a widow lady who was childless and pos- sessed of considerable wealth. As a boy he stole everything portable he could find and was always punished for it. When he attained his majority he courted a model young lady successfully. Stole a horse and sold it to get money for a bridal tour. He did not have quite enough, so he took his wife's trunks and sold them, together with all her wedding dresses; was arrested for stealing the horse and sent to the peniten- tlary. His wife obtained a divorce. When his time was served he returned to his former home, where he lIlved in an ex- emplary way for several years, married, and went into business in partnership with his father-in-law., That was ten years ago, and no man in the state is now more high- ly respected by those who know him. It is a radical cure for kleptomantia, but in this case, at least, a complete one.” “In tho Gulf of Callfornia,” sald T. B. Arnott of San Diego at the National, “are fourd a great many conger eels. These eels are as large as the python snake and are very fierce, sometimes attacking small boats. There are several kinds of fish charged with electricity, and the ordinary eel is well supplied with the mysterious fluid, but if there was any way to utilize the electricity of the conger eels in the Gulf of California thero would probably be enough to supply all of the railroads in the United States with motive power. One about eight feet in length was caught and laced on exhibition in San Diego. I went fo gee it and a friend who was with me told me to touch it. I did so, with no thought of the consequences, and the force f the electric shock was so great that i jocked me down. Since then I have ha‘ no desire to handle @ conger eel.” THEY TRADED. And Two Loving Hearts Were There- by Joined Together. “I witnessed a novel marriage in Virginia a few days ago,” said a traveling salesman to a Star reporter. “A couple on a gaunt, bony horse rode up to the hotel where I was stopping. The swain dismounted and took half a dozen chickens into the house to sell them to the landlord. He was not in need of chickens, d the man said: *Tain’t no use, Sal. agin "termorrer.” “The next morning they rode into town again ard made the round of the stores. I watched them, and finally the man went to the county clerk’s office. I followed and heard the colloquy. “Mister, me an’ my gal wants ter git married. We bringed in chickens ter git meney fer a license, but no one won't giv ts no money fer ‘em. Kin sell “em in trade over hyar, an’ ef you'ns ‘li take th’ trade, I'll buy a license? “The deal was made, and the couple rode home, Icoking as happy as though the <ouree of true jove had always run smooth- We'll hev ter cum a A DOCTOR’S EXPERIENCE. Ne Tellin Why He Was Induced to Abandon His Profession. A well-known business man from Texas was in town not long agg on his way to New York, when a Star reporter met him and had a long talk with him. Instead of being either Judge or major, he was a doc- tor, and the reporter asked him how he happened on that title. “I used to be a physician,” was the re- ply. What did you quit for, if it's a fair question?” ‘The gentleman from Texas hesitated, and the hotel clerk jolned the reporter in coax- ing him to tell the story of his life. “I suppose I might as well,” conceded the gentleman, “and here goes. When I was twenty-two years old I left Kentucky for a town in Arkansas, and there I hung out my shingle and continued the practice of I had such good luck that I be- rame quite confident of my ability, and felt quite able to tackle any sort of a case that came my way. I had been prac- ticing about three years, and had saved up nearly fifteen hundred dollars, when one day a young fellow led his father into my ofiice, and the old gentleman wanted me lo remove his eye, as it pained him so he idn’t stand it. I had never had much experience with eyes, and, of course, I shouldn't have un- dertaken ‘his case, but I thought I was equal to anything, and at once began mak- ing my preparations for the operation. understood from what the ain trom the bad « other, and as it had been years, the family thought the best thing to do was to remove it. In a very short time T had my patient under the influence of ether, and, without calling in any as- the blind for ten sistance further than the son, I went to work and soon had the eye out. Then as I began to put it in shape, I noticed, to my horror, that I had taken out the wrong eye. The ‘thought of what I had done siartied and frightened me so that I at through my work and ser 1 man home in a carris Then I drew out what mo the bank, packed up my after settling all my bil a night train and left the town for Mex- ico. Being extremely iv the thought of the terrible injury fiicted upon this man so wrought upon my feelings that I could not stay in one place, and T wandered about ‘0 for thr months. At the same time I was afraid that I might be identified by some person and be arrested and carried back for the punishment [so ric After four months I came o' in a remote town, I 0; and cha 3 managed to make a and stayed there for five years, worrying so over the man that I had made blind, and perhaps had left to die, that I became gray and wrinkled. “I presume I would have died there, but one day I happened into San Antonio, and met a man I had known in the Arkansas town. At first I thought of trying to get away, but I concluded that the time had come for me to take my punishment, for I couldn't stand it any longer, and I went up to him and asked him if he didn’t come from Blankville, and did he know Mr. X and the doctor who had got out of town disgracefully. I was relieved to find that in’t know me at all, and he at on Jed to tell me that the disappearan of the doctor was still an unsettled mys- tery, and that Mr. X was in good health. I told him I had heard that the doctor had taken out the wrong eye, and that the old man had become stone blind in cons . He assured me that the old man not suffered any inconvenience at because he was blind, anyway, in both and had been for ars, and another physician had finished the job quite sat- isfactorily, and the patient’s general health had greatly improved, “You have no {dea,” concluded the gen- tleman from Texas, “how this news reliev- ed me, and in my enthusiasm I gave up que had all, » practice of me forever, and put y into a ufacturing establish- ment that has almost made me rich in the Pasi twenty years. I never went back to the remote Texas town again, neither did I ever go to the Arkansas town, nor tell my informant who I was. As it happened, I was all right, but the suffering I had en- dured was enough to cause me to put that part of my past clear behind me and keep it thers a “BOYS ALL OVER.” How Two Youngsters Experimented With Poison Ivy; Superinteadent Kimball of the life-saving service told a story of a couple of boys, and it is so “boys all over,” as most mothers would say, that it ought to be printed. The rew accomplished officer says that when he was a boy he had a chum, and both were poisoned year after year while run- ing about the woods by poison ivy. One y they heard or read something to the effect that if persons would swallow two or three ieaves of the ivy, they would never again be affected by it. To relieve them- selves of the regular summer and often-re- curring annoyance, they deci to take a few leaves of it as medicine. Mr. Kim- ball was of an investigating turn of mind and found that on the under side of the leaf there was a very fine dust. He told his companion that as they were experiment- ing it would be weil to see if it made an: difference whether one side or the ot coniained the poison. He rolled up his three leaves so as to cover the dust, and his friend rolled his so as to leave the cust side exposed. With a glass of water and as little chewing as possible they swal- lowed their doses. The result was some- thing herribie, especially for the boy who took the dusty side of the argument. For weeks after he could not shut his mouth on account of the terrible condition of his mouth end throat. He had to be fed with liquids by a quill, and it was only a miracle that he did not die. Mr. Kimball fared somewhat better,especially as to his mouth and throat, but there was trouble enough on the inside to make up for it. And there Was n> cure worked. The next season the suffered as before... “Now, wasn’t that like a boy?” i everybody sald, and what all new. what will say —— The Step Ladder. “What the dickens have you been up to, Simpson?” “Been up to the top of one of the ent-folding-reversible-combination step <td to hang a picture for my wife—that CARL DUNDER Written for The Evening Star by M. Quad. The fat police sergeant stood in the door of the station house watching a goat which was hungrily devouring an old Harrison hat which some one had kicked into the street, when Mr. Dunder came around the corner and cheerily called out: “Hello, sergeant! I shust happened to come aroundt dis vhay, und I guess I shtop @ minute to s2e if you vhas all right.” “I thought you had gone back to Ger- sald the sergeant, as he continued to watch the goat. “Back to Shermany! I doan’ see vhy I should go k to Shermany. Nottings vhas two tines alike in dis country, but I used to dot. It vhas a nice day, si nt.” Have you had a guardian ap- Pn “Vhy should I haf scme guardians?” re- plied Mr. Dunder with considerable spirit. “If you belief I doan’ know how to take care of myself you vhas mistooken. A wood while ago, n I vhas greenhorns, scmebody can shwindle me, but I Ike to see "em try it on now! If you vhas my friendi you doan’ shpeak lke dot to me.” Then, nothing has happened?” queried the sergeant as the goat worrled down his third piece of hat. “Nottings has has tried some did he vhas a d Shust one man come ab “Oh, a man came along “I sald a man came along. Vhas dot sometings to make you shmile? Sergeant, TI doan’ like dot vhay you shpeak to me. Vhas Ia boy? Doan’ I know some beans?” Mr. Dunder,” said the sergeant, as the goat got away with the last remnant of hat and looked hopefully around for an old ot, “we will go inside. Now, then, what Dot ig-mobody es on me. If he n in two minutes. . did he?” » you have, What did he want? “He doan’ vhant nottings. He vhas a nfortinate man, but he doan’ beg A man came along. e. Yeu are a great friend of the pour, Mr. Dunder. He called on you and— what?” Vhell, he came in my vhas I Carl Dunder. place und sald I vhas. Dot vhas all right. He shust like to gaze on me because he reads of me in der papers. I can’t help it if he like to gaze on m n I? He look so pale und seek dot I pity him.” “Of course; go on.” ‘IT ask him if he doan’ half some seek- ness, and he cries like a shild. By and by he says dot his house in Buffalo gets on fire vhen he vhas away. und his wife und shildren burn oop. His wife vhas a blonde und his children vhas angels, und he feels so bad dot he doan’ care to lve no more” “Poor “How mu man!” th mone “I doan’ gif him too bad, but I ca knows dot, und so hi dot house burns sighed the sergeant. did you give him?” wo cents. Dot vhas cif no money. He doan’ ask me. Vhen op it burns all der shew- elry mit it. Dot s y melts altogether in one lump, you know, 4 he hunts undt und finds dot lump. Exactly, Mr. Dunder. He had the ith him? p wa d to raise money on it?” ‘ll, he likes to r a to buy tombstones, but he vhas no If I doan take dot lump of gold he take no mon: Vhell, know. H ash fiv diamonds ins pound. ip, neat st half a s he received » didn't want “Vhell, he likes to get $8. Dot makes a payment on five tombstones. He vhill come aroundt in two weeks und pay me back. If ne doan’ do it, den I shall sell her for five hoonered dollar. Here—vhas you do mit dot lump? “I was just ing It out into the al- replie as he gave it a ve through the q window. But vi Let me pick him oop, quic “Mr. Dunde aining the bra: en you do dot? said the serg. hand cn him, you want ant, as he “I can buy at a dollar for you!” ry for you? Do you be- dot man vhas a shwindler?” Of o I do! You have plenty of water at the n't you?” Vhas has r got to do mit him? How you know dot man vhas some shwindlers? “When you go home, Mr. a tub of ¥ meal into it, Dunder, draw . put ten pounds of corn- then soak your head for you can’t k ft somebody to knock It get vhas I tooken in Dunder as he got so es that he had to sit down. . you have been played again. That fellow knew you to b bi t sucker in th rather go to?” state. Which idiot a ylum had you so I vhas beat!” ‘rgeant lifted him to his feet and led him to the door and dropped him off the step. Then he poin’ wn the street and said: “If you think you can't find your way home send a small boy with yeu or w ona b ard. vas murmured Mr Dun: “Yes, she whas brass!” geant. “Go home, M sure and have plenty of bi And M nder crept away with his feet dragging and his back humped, and he turned the corner and vanished ‘from sight without once looking back. replied the ser- Dunder, and be ter hot and put in 0 OBJECT, When a Trade Was in Prospect, So They Sat It Out. Written for The Evening Star by M. Quad. I stopped at the crossroad store about ® o'clock in the morning to inquire my way, 1 in front of the store sat two men who were busy talking. One of them had an old silver watch, and the other owned the poor old mule hitched to a post. They had come together to make a trade and had been talking for an hour, and as I rode off one of them “I'll trade y ven up, Jim, and if that don’t hit yo" it's no use to talk furder. I can't do it, Tom,” replied the other. “That © mewl is wuth two sich watches, It was ‘k when I returned, and there sat the same two men, and there stood the ame oll mule. They were talging trade as iorously as ever, and man with the watch w: “It's even 0” befo’.” om, 1 can't do plied the other, Along toward night next it—can't possibly do to the same store cn an errand for Mrs. Williams, and there sat the ve two men. I coutdn't see that they moved by an inch. They weren't say word, however. On the ¢ th legs swinging over platform, their chins in. their were looking down on the ground. | the old mule 1 dead on the ground, and between the two men lay the watch! Tt had pped dead still and both hands were off the face, ‘Do you know that your mule is dead?” I asked of the owner of the animal. “Of co'se,” he replied. “And your old watch has gone to wreck?” 1 said to the other. “Yes, sah.” Did you sit here all night?” “We did,” they answered in chorus. ‘And if the mule is dead and the w ted you can’t trade ‘Oh, that trade was h ff at midnight ‘ast ht,” said the owner of the watch, “and what we are dickerin’ about now is that i in my dawg. Is it even up, Tom. That yere saddle is wath wes like yo'rs.” sot yere three days and nights later I met the man with the asked him how the affair came Four day: watch and out. “Oh, 1 got the saddle fur the dawg,” he cheerfully replied. “Then he gave in “Wall, he didn’t the third night he the saddle ard left za fell the tly give in, but on asleep and I took dawe post and made tracks fur hum hosphate. Dr ©., sore: “it is but ranks best of ucrve tonics for Bervous fe