Evening Star Newspaper, December 5, 1896, Page 14

“There is a general impression, in this country at least, that the Institution known as ‘tar and feathers’ is distinctively Amer- ican. Nothing could be further from the mark,” observed Judge Riley of the Vir- ginia bar. “The fact is, what we under- stand to be a coating of tar and feathers i of ancient orgiin. There is also an idea afloat that tar and feathers is a sort of southern celebration, that it was invented there, and that it is of commor. occurrence in that section of our loved country. I as- sure you that both these ideas are wrong all the way through. In tie first place, while there is plenty of tar in the south the stock of feathers is not so large. And again, they are too valuable to use in such a way “Where a person deserves such a treat- ment it is much easier and better to give him a thorough cowhiding. A cowhiding sticks as well as a coating of tar, if It 1s | properly applied. Tar and “eathers crig- inated in the days of Richard Coeur-de- Lion, over eight hundred years ago, as is evidenced by one of his ordinances for seamen, as follows: “That if any inan is taken with theft or pickery, and thereof convicted he shall have bis head polled, and hot pitch poured upon his pate, and upon that the feathers of some pillow or cushion shaken aloft that,he may thereby be known for a thie ee “It has always amused me,” remarked a botannical expert, “to hear people talking of their preference for black pepper over white, and the various explanations they give for the same. Little do they know that both black and white pepper grow mn the same shrub. Over the pepper seed grows a black covering. The seed itself is white, or nearly To make black pepper the seed and its external covering | while white pepper is the are ground up, seed alone gronind up. White pepper is mild- er than black, the greater pi of the pun- gency being in the covering. A pepper ma of the coverings alone would be such —to use a slang terni—hot stuff that it would burn the mouth. The black covering of the pepper seed contains most of the oil.” oe ee “It may be some years yet, but I would not be surprised if the time came when the color of the uniforms of all armies, that is, the uniforms of the fighting armies, would be changed to gray, or, what will be better, a dried grass color,” said an army officer who has given much attention to the sub- ject in an official way. “Statistics show the pronounced colors in uniforms operate against their wearers in that it makes them conspicuous. Of course, I have to admit that for the past twenty years the tendency has been toward arbitration. Still, on the principle that to be forewarned ix forearmed, nations will continue to Prepare themselves for war. I hap- pen to know that mary of the long- est-headed officers of our army favor a change of color for the uniform—that Is, the uniform for fighting service. For dress para of course there is no need of changing the blue. Our sentiment Is strongly in favor of it, and will continue that way, though our experience has been that blue, and especially dark blue, has caused the death of thousands of men who might have escaped death were they not so easily distinguished. With our present | prejudice against gray—though gray has always been the color worn at West Point } —it woul em strange that it should be adopted. <a) ee “The gatherers of postage stamps—that is, those of whom a record has been made —now number 10,000 persons in this coun- try alene.” said a Post Office Department official. “and the army, enormous as it is, constantly on the increase. There is scarcely a city or even large-sized town in this country where postage stamps are not dealt in. Of course, in many cities the stamp business is carried on as a side line in connection with other business, but there are a very large number of stores where stamps are dealt in exclusively. On Lith street. New York, there are now, and have been for several years, a half dozen whole- sale dealers in postage stamps and at least a dozen retail dealers. “Sorae of the wholesale dealers have | several men on the road, traveling from place to place looking up ard disposing of rare stamps. In Europe the stamp craze is simply enormous and several foreign houses have drummers on the road in this country constantly. Only a few days ago in this city I knew of a %#-cent internal rev- enue stamp of the war series being sold for 3600. In one day afterward the same stamp was sold for $700, and it is now held by its ewner at $800. Another strange thing in connection with the stamp craze is that it seldom effests women. When women do catch it, however, they have it bad. I know of a stamp belonging to a gentleman who resides here, though at present he is traveling about showing it to stamp en- thusi which was issued by a short- lived republic and which is valued at 000. Its value comes from the fact that there are but few of them in existence.” ee. € << “Though I have heard a great deal about kleptomania and read a great deal about it,” said an experienced police officer, “it is very rare. Now don’t quote me as say- ing that kleptomania does not exist as a disease, for I am positive it does, though im nearly thirty years’ experience I hav2 not actually ran against but two or three In the next three weeks there will lot of stealing done in the crowded by persons whq should not steal, be a stores, and kleptomania will be urged in defense of many of them. Kleptomania does not work with me during the Christmas holi- days even. The trouble 's weakness, not dise: All the pretty things are exposed in the stores, and some persons are natu- rally hogs and want to get everything, even if they have to steal. Others think they are smarter than the store people and pride themselves on what they can pick up without being noticed. They suc- ceed very often, not hecause they are smert, but because the circumstances, crowded stores and tired-out clerks, oper- ate in their favor.” “The only genuine kleptomaniac that I have had to handle in my own personal experier ce was a fellow who was a kleptu- | maniac and burglar combined. I noticed him about daybreak one morning as he was coming cut of a house on 15th street, between H and I northwest. He had a basket of silverware. It was so heavy ae cou'd hardly carry it. As I started for him he ran and got away, though, of course, he cropped the basket. In less than @ month I canght the same fellow coming out of the same house with the same basket and silverware. As J grabbed hold of him he seemed to wake Sut of # dream. On his trial his lawyers showed that the fellow was 2 confirmed morphine eater and that at times when he was under the in- fluence of morphine he would steal any- thing he could carry, though he was per- fectly honest at all other ‘times. While in jail awaiting trial for the burglary, he was cured of the morphine habit. He after- ward secureé a place as messenger in one of the departments, and for all I know may be there yet. though I have not seen or even heard from him for over ten years. My impression, however, is that he is dead, tor he had consumption.” xe KK * “In a good many parts of the south horses are scarce,” said L. A. Warner of Knoxville at the Howard, “and the work usually per- formed by those beasts is done by oxen. In fact, the latter are preferred, notwithstand- ing.the slow progress they make. I was in western North Carolina a short time ago, THE EVENING STAR, SATURDAY, DECEMBER 65, 1896-24 PAGES. when I met a’ man whom I knew to be amply able to afford horses if he wanted them, driving a yoke of oxen and carrying a rife on his shoulder as he walked by the side of his wagon. I stopped and talked to him, and in the course of conversation asked him why he used oxen instead of horses. ‘Why,’ said he, ‘It takes just a day to make the trip to town with the oxen, ana on the way I always kill enough game to cook for supper when I get back home. If I Grove herses I could never kill any game. It would take all my time to drive, and I would never see anything to shoot.”” xk KOK Knitting is the soclety girl's latest fad. No longer does she embroider dainty It- tle doylies, but devotes her time to mak- ing golf stockings, bags and umbrella cases instead. Newport set this fashion last summer. Every young woman when she Gesired to do fancy work of any kind de- voted herself to this old-fashioned em- ployment. Instead of making tobacco bags for her men friends she knitted him bicycle stockings. A year ago a man would not have car- ried a traveling bag made of knitted yarn on any accourt, but now all the dudes think they are lucky If some of their fair friends will make them one. The umbrella cases made of knitted silk are also very swell. They are especially. neat looking and make very desirable little gifts for Christmas. Practically everybody rides the bleycle now, so a pair of stockings made by the hands of a girl friend would please any young gentleman. x Kk KOK “There should be one or two ‘handy men’ empleyed in all of the department build- ings in this city,” suggested -an official. “What is reeded is a couple of men who are jacks of all trades, men who can drive nails, flx window shades, glue up furniture, make a key or oil the hinges of a door, put in a pane of glass now and then, patch up holes in the walls, mend clocks and hund-eds cf other cdds and ends. There is a good deal of time lost in hunting up persons skilled in these various things, and skilled in nothing else. In addition ‘it is more expensive than to have men employed as is the case at some the big hotels, who have a small collection of tools. A handy tan can perform an immense amount of satisfactéry and necessarily hurried work and they are needed in the departments if they are needed anywhere on this earth,” pDereE ess THE NEW CRop. Statesmen Booked for the Capitol and the Way They Like It. As The Star reporter tripped lightly up the steps of a hotel where statesmen con- gregate he almost butted a man through a nineteen-dollar pane of glass in the door, and was avout to offer the most elegant apologies at his command when one look satisfied him that the person butted was an old friend, who was so glad to see him that he forgot about the apology. As it happened the butted party was a member of the Hovse of the recently elect- ed kind, and the two sat down to enjoy it together. “Of course,” remarked the member, when they had talked it all over for half an hour or more, “of course, a newly elected member of Congress hasn't any business in Washington for a year yet, but, you know, this is the first ume I was’ ¢ver elected,and I just couldn't have stayed away another day if I had died for it, and 1 suppose all the other new ones are pretty much the same way. I’ve been here three gays now, not doing a blamed thing bui Standing on the street corners thinking of the future, walking up and down the streets wondering how I'll feel when I'm here as a member, and sitting up ! the gallery of the House gazing down on the seats on the floor wondering what I'll do when I rise to my feet on that door and hear the thunders of my voice echoing down the corridors of time, and a whole lot more of the same sort of ineffable rot, but, just the same, a delight to me thai nothing can compare with except the time when I was in love, and was doinz my. courting. “Sometimes I stand on a corner gad watch the people pass, noting that not one notices me, and I think that some day those same people may stop as they yass and point me out and tell to others that that is the member of Congress from Squeedunk, or something like that, and even while I stand there thinking of it. I can feel my throat stop up and a weight on my lungs that makes me throw my head back and stretch my neck for more air. When I come nere a year from now to take my seat I know that much of the Present charm will have vanished, just as all things do when the reality begins to touch the romance, and for that reason I am staying on here for no other purpose than to revel in the luxury of my dreans. “My wife would nave come with me to have enjoyed it just as I am enjoying It, for we have talked it all over a million of times, but her mother was sick, and she could not leave, but I heard from her yes- terday, and she is to let me know in a day or two if she can come, and if she can, by George, we'll stay around here playing with it till we get tired, just as a vair of children do with a new toy. I suppose I have an ambition to be a greai states nan and write my name on the pag-s of my country’s history, but I feel now as if I didn’t care a snap whether there was any- thing more to it than just what I'm hav- ing now. If my wife were here and we could walk around these streets and talk it over as we have talked when we only had hope to hold us up, I belleve I could quit right here and call it square.” And so the Congressman talked for an hour, and the reporter was almost sorry that he knew how wide the difference was between the congressional ideality and reality. z —_—>— AN OLD LT’S BLUNDER. He Suffered by Taking Too Much for Granted. “Experience,” said the man who had been telling tales of the sea, “is a great thing. But it gets in the way sometimes. I'll never forget the last shipwreck I was in.” “It must be terrible,” said the boy whom he was entertaining, “to be adrift in the ocean.” “Ik is rather trying to realize that Jand és miles away, no matter whether you meas- ure sidewise or straight down. But this shipwreck wasn't on the ocean.” “But you said you had sailed the At- lantic.” “Yes; that’s where I got my experience. But it was on Lake Superior that I found myself with nothing to tie to except an old washstand. It was three days before I was picked up.” “Weren't you almost dead? “Pretty near.” from hunger?” ‘Paruly that. And I suffered some from thirst. But the most of it was humiliation. The first thing I asked for was a drink of water. I had suffered agonies. My throat was parched-and my tongue felt like a herring. One of the men in the boat looked at me as if he thought.I was delirious, but when I repeated my request he took a tin can, leaned over the side of the boat and dipped me up a drink. Then I realized for the first time that I was on fresh water in- stead of salt and that there wasn’t the least excuse for a sane man's going thirsty a minute. Experience is a great thing, my boy. Never turn up your nose at it. But remember that it is as likely as not to run you into trouble if you haven't common sense as a compass to steer by Big Chief Snapback returns to his people. —Harper's Bazar. A LIVE WIRE NOT. FATAL. One Occasion, at Least, When' It 2 Served a Useful me. A Star reporter was coming down street a day or two ago with a man who lives in @ western city, when he carefully stepped around the end of a wire lying on the s{ide- walk, the other end reaching up toward the pole that usually goes with a wire of that description. “I don’t like to take any risks,” he said in explanation. i. “I understand,” responded his compan- jon, “and I know that a live wire is not to be fooled with, but, you know, I have rather a kindly feeling for that much- dreaded occupant of our streets. “One killed some fellow to whom you owed a bill?” inquired the reporter. “No. One saved the lives of my wife and three children, not to mention the nurse and a dog.” The reporter looked incredulous. “It doesn’t seem reasonable, aid the man, “‘but I'll tell you how it was, I hap- pened at that time to own a horse and ba- rouche, cnd one day my wife drove down to my office with the three children, the nurse and the pug. You see, our town isn’t so big that a lady can’t drive down town. We have a good time together, my family and myself, and after a pleasant call of ten or fifteen minutes the mother and kiqs went back to the carriage, and as I had some work to do I let them go alone, as they nearly always did. Two or three minutes later I heard a shout and a seream, and, jumping to the window, I saw my rig, with all that I held dearest, going down the street full-ttit. “Something had frightened the horse, one that I had hired to take the place of my own, which was sick, and he had bolted just after the party had got out into the street. For an instant, as I looked at the wildly careering vehicle, I was completely paralyzed, and then, with a yell, I went down stairs and down street. There was & drawbridge, open at this hour, with only a light gate across, five or six blocks down the street, and I knew nothing on earth would stop that horse except the water, forty feet below the street, and that meant death to all. Everybody on the street seemed to understand the situation as well as I did, but there was so little time to act and the distance was so short that every effort was unavailing. “The street was clear, and I could see the horse and carriage, and beyond it the draw. The nexi thing I knew, the horse went down in the street, and, supposing that all had gone into the river, I col- lapsed and fell over in a faint. When I recovered consciousness my wife was standing by my side, with the children around her, and the sight of them had such a good effect that I got’ up at once and hugged them in the most emphatic manner. “It was readily enough explained,” con- cluded the husband and father. “There was a live wire right across the horse's track, not a hundred feet from the draw, dropped by Providence, I presume, and when the horse touched it he went down, and didn’t get up any more. It was a nar- row escape, and since that time, as I be- fore remarked, I do not look upon the live wire of our streets as entirely without its redeeming traits. And the reporter, being a bachelor, won- dered if he could afford to cure his abhor- rence of live wires at such a price. ae A CRITIC CORRECTED. He Was on the Right Track, but Did Not Go Far Enough. It had been a very bad attempt at au- thorship, and the actor who had made the venture into literature was sensible enough not to quarrel with the unfavorable verdict of the audience. It was hari to admit that his genius was at fault, but he did so with @ good grace and without reservation. “I—er—I suppese you saw that comedy of mine?" he was saying to a friend. “Yes. Isaw it.” “In locking over the house I was forced to the conclusion that a great many people were missing it, and I was afraid you might be one of them.” “No. 1 stayed till the very end.” wasn’t a very hilarious occasion, was it ‘Not very, I must admit. It may be that I didn’t catch the spirit of the thing. I hear so much about the density of audi- ences, that I suspect it was due to my own lack of appreciation that I couldn’t get en- thusiastic. But some of it was undoubtedly your fault. You misled me.” How “You told me it was going to be a funny pla: hat’s what I get for trying to be a prophet. I was sure it had all the symp- toms, when I started in with it. I regarded it as a masterpiece of effervescent hilarity.” “You were wrong. That was the great difficulty with the piece. It was too somber. You must pardon my frankness, but that performance was positively gloomy.” “My boy, you don’t speak advisedly. Your comment may be justified by your point of view, but it doesn’t cover the ground.” , “I had one of the best seats in the house.” “But you should have been with me, up on the stage where you could watch the audience. Then you would realize that ‘gloomy’ isn't the word. It was sepul- chraL” —_—.—_ A WELCOME PHENOMENON. A Vision Which Revived the Sinking Spirits of n Man Away From Home. “Just got back from New York?" said the man who takes an interest tn other people’s business. “Yes,” replied his easy-going friend. “Great town, that.” “Yes. It’s interesting.” “I suppose you saw all the sights.” “Oh, yes. I took in Central Park, and the Brooklyn bridge, and the stock exchange, and the Bowery, and the rest of the usual exhibits. “They're great people for business over there.” “They seem to be. Everybody is going with a rush.” “What impressed you most?” “I think I was most struck by a dachs- hund that I saw trudging calmly up the street at the busiest time of day. You know the animal. He looks as if nature had started in to make a lizard, and finding that he was growing too big, had turned him into a dog. His body doesn’t stand more than five or six inches from the ground, and his paws look iike the flippers on a seal. He's the most extraordinary anatomical specimen I know of—” “But you surely don’t mean to say you hadn't seen a dachshund before.” “Oh, I've seen the animal many a time. It waa the environment that made him in- teresting. He was the only creature I met there who looked as if he hadn't been hav- ing his leg pulled.” + Once on a Time. From the Somerville Journal. “Once on a time’’ is a favorite phrase for beginning fables. Ard when a man has Leer once on a time his wife will find that fables are pretty sure to follow. coo Prepared for the Winter. From the New York Journal. “I've ordered the stove for the parlor,” said Mr. Moveup, “and one for the’ dining room.” “And the oil stoves for the kitchen, bed rooms and side chamber?” Mea fd “How about the arctic sleeping bags lined with sheepskin?” “They're all ordered and will be up at ithe same time as the Japanese charcoal hand warmers and the French hot soap- said Mrs. Moveun. “And, of course, you got the baby’s mittens, the Hot water bottles and the muffs and ear 5 2°” “I did, my dear.” “Then we can move into our Harlem steam-heated flat!” ee His Reason for It. From the Texas Sifter. Crossing tae ferry from Gretna the other night two of the boys were coming home from a trip and had on a small jag. In the dourse of their conversation one of them referred to the money he had made for his firm, when the other said: : “I coilect so much I don't know whet to do with it, and frequently barrel it up and slip it in as potatoes.” “That's nothing; I have money to burn."” “ “Why dcn't you burn some of it, then?” “Because I have no matches,” was the quick reply. THE INGENIOUS STRATAGEM It seemed _a small thing to arouse so mvch indignation—a mere serseless tree. But its ower -had. watghed,1t grow for years. As a boy he had spent many a sultry afternoon drowsing in its shadow and listening to the wind songs In its fo- lage. To him it was not inanimate. “he birds who paused in their singing only to feast upon/g luckless insect; the black snake, who stretched himself in iethargy upon its lowest limb; the spiders, who spun thelr rainbow fabrics in the leafy angles, madé‘ the majestic elm seem the gentlest of companions and the .nost gen- erous of hosjs. Full of the warm sym- pathy with the woods and their inhabitants, which only he who has at some period of his life made his sole friendships among them, Mr. Talbott consented with reluctance to give the new railroad right of way through his land. He declared that his final com- -pliance was due to his conviction that it was wrong to oppose the progressive spirit of the age, but in reality it was based on the perception that while he might hinder the construction of the line on the chosen Toute, he could not stop it. He was get- ting along toward middle life; he tried to Teason and tolerate with the breadth of mind befitting a man of years «nd prop- erty. But in his heart he resented the commotion which the rattle and rbriek of every passing train must cause among the timorous folk whom he had tried so long to placate and reassure. His consent was accompanied by an ironclad agreement that none of the trees should be injured by the workmen. ‘This stipulation was in no wise contrary to-the interests of the company, and it was a consolation in the tinconfessed resentment which Talbott experienced. His face hecame a deep red and then white when the news was brought by one of the children that the workmen on the road were cutting down trees. They were camping on the land and they wanted the timber for ferces to keep the cattle out. The messenger, a boy who understood his. father’s attachment to the woods, because he Inherited it, was out of breath from running, and his face was streaked where the angry tears had burst barriers of reso- lution. But he kept pace with his father as they ran to the scene of vandalism. Two trees had yielded to the ax and lay supire. A brawny, red-shirted fellow had begun to chop the big elm when Ned shout- ed to him, “Who're you?” asked the workman. “I'm the man who owns this property,” lied Talbott. ‘Well, I ain’t working for you. I'm working for the railroad. If we get orders from the company rot to cut trees, that’s a different affair. “You mean to say yo stroy my property before my eyes?” “We don’t know anything about you are, and we need the wood.” ‘re going to de- who Talbott turned to his son and said: “Neddie, hoy, go to the house and tell your mother I want my rifle. You can't carry it. She'll have to bring it herself. The child started on his errand and Tal- bott turned to resume his parley with the wood chopper. They realized that they had him at a disadvantage, and they could not understand why, if his property was dam- aged, he should not be content to apply to the company for the compensation it was amply able to make. The discussion was getting hotter and hotter when the labor- ers caught sight of little alrs. Talbott marching ind'gnantly up the road with the rifle over her shoulder. ‘They burst into a laugh, but Talbott's fece was serloug as he took the weapon from her hands. The merriment of the man who had wielded the ax turned into @ sneer. 1 z “We must look like a scary lot,” he said, centemptuéisty! “what’'re you goin’ ter do with the gun, g0 huntin’?” s I'm’ going to use it right here.” “That's a’ bial,” commented a man who sat on a rock smoking, and the spokesman grinned and ratsed his ax. “Hold om," said Talbott. doubt about my having myself on my own lan: “Not unlés {t strikes you as bein’ amuse- ment to lay yourself lable for homicide.” “I haven't the faintest idea of killing anybody.” 4 thought ye hadn't,” replied the spokesman, with another grin. ‘Talbott took an envelope from his pocket and pinned it to the elm tree “Now,” said he, “it'll take about four hours for a messenger to get to town and ascertain what the company thinks about your conduct here. I’m going to spend that time shooting at a mark. I shill ex- ercise the utmost care not to hit anybody and I'm-sure that you will oblige me b: doing your best to keep out of the w: PHILANDER JOHNSON. SS A MILD PROTEST. “There 1s 10 right to enjoy Wan Axnious to Oblige. but He Re- sented Unreasonable Expectations. The Star reporter happened to be in the florist'’s shop when the sentimentai girl made her appearance. She is ubiquitous, and she seems to take an inordinate pride in the delicacy of her sensibilit She didn’t know exactly what she wanted. “The chrysanthemums are very nice and large today, miss,” remarked the young man who is learning the business. “No,” she said, “I don’t care for chrysan- themums. They are so coarse and osten- tatlous. They seem to be flaunting their charms in your face so persistently that they lose that suggestion of gentle refine- ment which to me is one of the sweetest attributes of a flower. Mebbe you'd like some nice fri or- chids?” sald the young man. He had once worked in a dry goods store and was bent on conveying the impression that it was no trouble to show goods. “We have some very pretty designs in orchids.” “Orchids? They are too uncanny. I never care much for orchids; excepting for a lit- tle while. A momentary glimpse is fas- cinating, but there is nothing sympathetic about them.” “We have a lovely article in pinks. “Ah, no. The perfume is oppressive. They remind me, with their elaborately formed petals, of nothing save the vanity of life.” “How would you like some roses? We make a specialty of roses, and they're on the bargain counter for this week only.” “I don’t care for roses, either. While pinks svggest pride, roses are to me sym- bolicul of a disdainful hauteur that is no less unworthy. “If you want something retiring and quiet —neat, but not gaudy, so to speak, let me show you our line of violets. Now, there is something fine in the way of a violet.” “What memories those flowers reviv she sighed. “They take me back to other days. How touched I was by the fragrance of some violets that were given to me by— by a very dear friend. I cherished the lit- tle blossoms. But, alas, I found that they faded. “Well, miss,” the young man rejoined in the tone of one whose patience has been sorely tried. ‘‘Flowers is flowers. We can guarantee that you're getting as good as there is on the market when you come to us; full size and everything exactly as rep- reserited. But we can’t warrant ’em not to fade.” “I must ‘peepiinto the professor's speci- men box. Isnt it a nice one! . The Professor—*Great Scott! they are all loose!” FADS IN CHINA, A Fancy for Ware From Portugal Italy. There is a craze just now for Portuguese and Italian china. This fall for the first time Portugal has sent over the ocean large quantities of her goods, and Italy has sent much more than ever before. Both these countries have a knack of making vivid and contrasting colors harmonize as no one else is sble to do. Bright -blues, reds, greens anc yellows seem to shade off into one another under their magical touch, whereas when we or other countries com- bine them they are hideous, Taste at the present day seems to be for the grotesque in all things. Funny and queer objects are preferred to those which are merely pretty. Portugal certainly ex- cels In the art of making extraordinary and lovely caricatures in china, One is a large snake, simply intended for an orna- ment. Animal designs seem to be their Special delight. A very weird thing to have on the table is a teapot in the shape of a monkey hugging a snake. The snake is the nose of the pot, while the tail of the monkey serves as a handie. A three-cor- nerad hat makes a cover. ‘The only objection to this Portuguese ware is that it is very brittle. The least little knock breaks it. On the other hand, it is not at all expensive, and is most showy. A monkey with one arm and leg around a cocoanut and the other arm holding on to some bright green leaves above his head makes a lovely wall pocket. An extremely pretty match box is in the shape of a bull's head. Among the oddest of their fancies are plates of fruit intended to hang upon the wall. All these articles show exquisite workmanship and blending of colors. The Italian china is much the same as the Portuguese in point of brittleness. ‘The col- ors on it are, if possible, more vivid. Noth- Ing can be too bright to sult their taste, and vases of extraordinary shapes and ha ing every hue of the rainbow are their es- pecial delight. They are not so much given to the grotesque as the Portuguese and de- vote more attention to the beautiful Some of the Italian candlesticks are works of art, and represent lilies, roses and pansies. Others are little clowns lying on their backs with one foot in the air. On the foot is balznced a ball, which is hollow, to hold the candle. These are all most ex- auisitely colored, some most brilliantly and others very delicately. A very cunning as well as extremely pretty ash receiver Is a cock’s head. The rooster is very gorgeous, being bright green and brown, with a ved comb. All these articles make delightful Christmas gifts. Among the most beautiful of the dish male by the Italians is a salad se er plate ts a leaf ef lettuce, the dish being a large leaf. ‘These are a delieate green and exquisitely made. One plate has a little chick standing up on the edge and looking down on the plate. Another has a cunning rabbit standing on its hind kgs and peering over the edge. All sorts of china brackets seem to be the fashion. Many of these are grotesque, hav- ing a clown's fa on them. Hanging flower vases are also In much demand. ‘These are very pretty and are just thi thing for growing such plants as wandering Jew in. This is the first time this sort of ware has ever been in the United States in any quantity. It is a great novelty, being entirely different from any other china, —— » FILIAL REGARD. Why the Little Sister Objected to the Big Siste: Elizabeth is the daughter of very ex- cellent parents on Capitol Hill, during the winter. Also during the summ She fs now four years old, “going on five,” and she has, as is the custom in all well regulated families, more or less diffi- culties to settle with her mother during the day. Indeed, it may be safely said that Eliza- beth is one of the best children living, et night—when she is asleep. Under the circumstances it not infre- quently happens that Elizabeth's n.other does unto her those things which meet with Elizabeth's distinct disapproval, yet, by some instinctive reasoning or other, Elizabeth feels that a child’s mother fs to be held in the highest regard whatever the conditions and however much the evidence :8 against the parent. For these reasons Elizabeth bears her burdens in silence and thus nurtures the sentiment of filial regard. Not long ago there was a clash between her mother and herself, and, as usual, Elizabeth felt it to be her duty not to talk back, though she felt that it was getting to be more than she could endure. Her older sister, a grown young wom: had started down street with her just fore the trouble began, and after it wa: over Elizabeth, very much in the sulk: was told to come on, which she did, though she was silent and solemn until they had got aboard a street car. Then Elizabeth gave vent to her over- charged feelings. “Say, Mary,” she piped out. “Well, what is it?” inquired the older sister, rather surprised at this form of ad- a ‘d like you ever so much more than I do if it wasn’t for one thing.” ‘This was even more surprising than the introductory remark. “Why, Elizabeth,” laughed the sister, “what's the objection to me?” “It’s that hateful old mother of your: responded Elizabeth in a manner which really seemed to be a great rellef to her and at the same time did not grate upon her sense of filial obligation to her mother. eee WAS THERE TO GLOAT. An Oversight by the Gas Company That Glnddened His Heart. There was a look of joy about his face as he went Into the gas office that made the man behind the counter glad in his soul. It was so different from the expres- sion which visitors ordinarily wore. He walked to one window and then to another and stood around and smiled. “Can we do anything for you?” the clerk inquired. i “Nope. Go right ahead with your busi- ness. Don’t mind me.” “If you came to get warm,” the clerk suggested, ‘the heater is over on that side cf the room.” “I didn’t come to get warm. There's a genial glow through me that makes ex- ternal heat entirely unnecessary. I had a few spare minutes, and I came here to Doren whom” was the surprised query. ‘Over the company.” i—I must say I don’t quite understand ‘I suppose I'd better explain it. It’s too good to keep. But I get so much enjoy- ment out of it that you'll have to excuse me if I tell it slow, so as to make it last longer. You people are very particular about your meters.” ft course. We have to be.” You've got it down so you can measure the extra pressure that occurs all through the city if one of the workmen happens to cough in your gas factory.” “We haven't got it quite so close as that. But we've done our best to protect our in- t 8. “Well, I had occasion to have a sanitary plumber in my house yesterday. He's the man that made the discovery. He informed me that there was a whole lot of sewer gas in my house that you never discovered. You didn’t have any arrangements for measuring it in the meter, and it got clear past you. I'm not naturally vindictive, but I couldn't resist the temptation to come around and tell you about it and make you feel bad.” Ss Hix Usual Style. From the Pittsburg Chronicle-Telegraph. Mr. Hilltop—“Well, the sultan really sees to be carrying out his promises of reform.” Mr. Birmingham—“Oh, he always carries them out.’ “What's that?” “Yes, he always carries them out; but Iy he carries them out and buries +o+—_____ Forewarned. From the Philadelphia North American. Walker—"'l come, sir, to ask you for your daughter's hand.” = Mr. Windy—"Well, young man, before going any further, I may as well inform you that her hand is the least expensive thing about her.” One More Shock. From the Hindu Punch. Patient—“Doctor, I don’t think I can use the battery any more. Will it be necessary to shock me again?” = Doctor—“Only once more. I'll send in my bill tomorrow.” | ROYAL BAKING leavening strength purity. brands, SE OF BUCK FEVER. How a Hunter Wan Effected in an Encounter With a Panther. Correspondence of The Evening Star. LINTON, Fla., December 2, 1806. “Panther Bill” is the name of a Florida hunter. So far as his friends know, it is the only name he ever had. If he ever had arother it as not been mentioned in Florida. He 1s six feet tall and spare built. All the fat has been fried out of him by south- ern sunshine. His complexion is like russet leather. His gray eyes seem always to be squinting along a gun barrel. He seldom speaks, & hubit acquired during years of solitude in the pines. His specialty is panther hunting. more exciting than any other Florida. Killing “gators and wildcats tame in comparison. Nearly every hunter knows what “buck fever” is, and nearly all have passed through this species of stage fright. A grcup of them was recently swapping “buck fever” stories. The story which Panther Bill told follows: “It was just after I had a little difficulty with a man up in Georgia, that I came down in these parts. In them days there | warn't nubody much living between Fort Pierce and Palm Beach, and nobody at all between Palm Beach and Miami, and the population ain't increased much since th I had an old dog, a bull terrier, not much gcod on the trail, but he'd fight like a low wasp. He had a habit of running a | little way ahead of me and then running back. It was out In that saw grass around the slough south of Lake Sheridan that he began to raise a fuss. I went on after him, but couldn't keep up. Pretty soon I thought I heard him coming back. Any way, I heard something tearing and plun; ing through the saw grass right toward me. I didn’t know what sort of a trail we'd struck, but I supposed it was a dee I didn’t even think of panther, for it w: when I first came to Florida. Well, I thought it was my bull terrier tearing back to meet me. But it wasn’t a dog at all. It was of a different family. I saw it bounding through the tall grass directly teward me. It was doubling back on its own trail. It would have run right over me. My arms seemed cold and numb. It was hard to get the gun to my shoulder. ‘Then my neck seemed stiff, and it was slow wer? to make my head lean on the stock. My eye was watery, and there seemed to be a haze around the front sight. My finger was stiff, and I did not seem able to pull the trigger. The panther was bound- ing toward me. There was a puff of smoke. a flash and a bang, and a roar from th wounded panther. The charge had entered his breast and had broken his fore legs. He would spring with his hind legs, but his fore legs, not sustaining him, he would fall on his head. Then he would roar and spring again toward me. I had another shell in the gun, but I was too paralyzed to use it. My legs seemed bound, and I could not move one step. Each second that panther was getting nearer. I couldn't think. My brain seemed groggy. But the bull terrier had heard the racket and came up from behind. He tackled the beast. He planted hia teeth in the panthers neck, and they rolled over and over in the saw grass. Ot course, if the cat had been able to use his fore paws the bull terrier would not have been in it. The loss of blood from the wound in the chest was telling on the big cat, and he grew weaker. His roaring turned to groaning, and, after several fierce rallies and attempts to shake off the dog and get at me, he died. “When the cat was dead I wondered what had ailed me. I had never met a Florida panther face to face before. It must have been a stroke of ‘buck fever.’ ” —— ALTOGETHER GUILE! NOT He Was From the Cou: ry, but He Was Modern in His Ideas. The professor in the Smithsonian Institu- ticn adjusted his glasses to take a second look at his very unusual visitor. The young man wore a large plaid comforter around his neck and his hair was cut straight across the back, so that It looked like a whisk-broom. He took off a bunglesome pair of mittens, untied the string under his chin, which secured and held in place the earlaps, removed his big cap, and came, bowing and smiling, to the desk. “What can I do for you?” the professor inquired. “I reckon ye kin do a-plenty, ef ye're so minded. Though mebbe ‘twon’t seem much ter you. I want ter call the ald 0” science in ter he'p me ‘long weth a little scheme.” “What ts your scheme?” “Gittin’ married,” he answered, as he twisted the cap in a pair of hands whose redness was now fivaled by that which glowed in his cheeks. “Ye see, Marthy Mariar—that’s her name—ts ter'ble super- stitious. She b’lieves in signs more’n an: body else I ever knew. I know she’s kinder inclined ter like me, but she won't make up ‘er mind. She says she ain’t sure thet she’s genuinely attached ter me. She's afraid it’s jes’ a passin’ girlish fancy, same ez ye read about. “I don’t see how I can assist you in a matter of this xind.” “That’s because it’s a deep-laid scheme he answered, beaming with self-apprecia- tion. “Nobody but me could be expected ter sense it all at a gla . We're goin’ to a party ternight, me an’ Marthy Maria is. You know how young folks cuts up at parties. There's goin’ ter be apples an’ there's gointer be cider an’ cookies. Did ye ever tell fortunes by countin’ the seeds in an apple?” “Not that I remember. “It's done weth port seeds in an apple, a count the Three, I love, I say; Four, I love weth all my heart An’ five, I cast aw: Six, he loves: Seven, she loves: Eight, they both love’— “An’, mister, I don't want it ter git no | furder, nor yit ter stop this side o’ number eight. Whut I called ter find out is, hey ye one o’ these X-ray machines thet ain't in use jes’ now, an’ ef ye hev would y gimme th’ loan of it fur about an hour. I don’t wanter take it away. I've got a bar'l of apples outside, an’ I'll go through the hull lot_an’ pick out them ez has eight seeds. Ef I kin fix it so thet when me an’ Marthy Maria is fortune-tellin’ ternight the pertry'll stop at ‘eight, they boti love,’ a dozen times or so durin’ the evenin’, she’s that superstitious I haven't the least doubt she'll regard It ez @ case 0’ predestination A ‘ARIAN BITTER WATER, from the UJ HUNYADI Springs: under the abso Yate control of the Royal Hungarian Chemica! I stitute (Mioistrs of Agriculture), Buda-Pest. oc24-s18t It makes your cakes, biscuit, bread, etc., healthful, it assures you against alum and all forms of adulteration that go with the cheap The absolutely pure POWDER ROYAL—the most celebrated of all the baking powders in the world— cel- ebrated for its great and ROVAL BAKING POWDER CO., NEW YORK. PSTTVAGOS BASE OF HIS LIFE. How Hix Wife Turned the Lig! of Heaven Upon Him. Yes,” he was saying to the group around the hotel stove, “invention and progress and all that sort of thing have a great deal to do with the enlightenment of the world, but I want to say right here that Tam posed to the whole business.” “You must be from a back cou England,” suggested a War ¢ from Posey county, Ind ty in New D nent “Not much; I'm from India said the talker, indignantly. “An Indianian is al- ways known instinctively by persons of in- | telligence.” | “So I have understood,” apologized the y county man, “but go on with your | You must Nave a reason for your opinions?” “I have, and It all comes of my marry ng a Yankee school mar’m.” “No wonder,” ventured a treasury clerk from Maryland. | “Yes,” continued the representative of the dark ages from Indiana, “it all comes of merrying a woman that was scientitic and | sot In her ways. You see, she wasn't a | spring chicken when I got her, and she had ideas. I had been a bachelor for some- thing like forty-six years, and I didn’t care much what time I got in of nights, but | my wife did, and she insisted on my con- | forming to her notions. I kicked and told | her she could conform to mine and stay out | as late as she pleased, but that didn’t seem | to do any good. Then we had scraps right | along because she was bound tu make me come in at an early hour. “She wanted to reform you,” remarked a | guest from Harper's Ferry. | “Did she?” snorted the martyr. much. She wanted to have her own w But I was no slouch myself and s:ood out. Ther she quit coaxing, and } of innocent-like about ng hind women I thought I had taught her a lesson she wouldn't 1 | get. So the next night, it being Sund: - | didn’t get in till about I o'clock. I'm will- < | irg to admit it wasn't quite p ‘ “Well, when I came up,on the front steps | 1 did it powerful quict, and just as easy 1 |shpped my night key in the door and turned it. I pushed the door open t Same casy terms, when to my eve Siing astonishment a bell in the back yard be to bang, bang, bang. like a terrific fire alarm. Of course, I didn’t know what ic was, and I chased back aft to find never having heard a bell in that ¢ borhood before, and then when I the kitchen door the church x back yard and ours wen a clang, clang, and then both bells seemed to be loaded full of devils ali trying to & out ai once, and when I tried to get bi into my house the kitchen door was locke and I was caught in a trap. “With all that racket going on, it didn’t take long to bring half the town down en me, and I was found in my own back yard unable to get out and unable to explain what I was doing there or why I ©. Some of my dear, good neighbors, who seemed to smeil a mice, said they would go in and find my wife, as she nad not showed up; but they couldn't find her; nor could 1 tell them where she was, because I had left her at home when I went down town, after dinner.” “Had she eloped?” inquired the Posey county man. “Not mu responded the other hoosier, regretfully he had merely put a job up on me, and gone out in the suburbs to s all night with an aunt of hers, while I stood the brunt of it. You see, she pat a lot of electric wires in there and connected them with the doors, and a bell she had set up in the back yard. Then she ran them, or one of them, on over to the church, where she was organist and coud get and out as she pleased, and fixed it to make a striker on the church bell. As I said, she was scientific, and the she played it on me was one of the finest scien- tific displays I have ever witnessed, 2nd, by gravy, if it happens again something else is going to happen.” Later the clerk explained that the guest had only reached Washington that evening, and while he was ostensibly looking for the postmastership of his native village, ho was in reality away from home anti the echoes of those bells had died away, znd he could return in peace and comfort. > A Large Curran Meehans’ Monthly for December. Although no American garden in the northern half of our continent is considered complete without some currant bushes, it is rare we hear tell of them growing any- where to the perfection that they do in England, although it is quite possible that they may successfully contend for the palm of superiority in Canada. The currant does not like long spells of warm, dry ther; under these circumstances the leaves be- come a prey to parasite fungus, and we all know that injury to leaves is the first step towards deterioration. At a recent meeting of the Royal Horticultural Society in England, the red currant called the Comet was exhibited—in which the bunches | Were 6 inches long, and some of the berri half an inch in diameter. With these fig- ures we may be able to decide how near | American currant growers can come to this | excellence of their English brethren. so A Vast Difference. From Trath. “It am a great blessin’,” said the Afro. American philosopher, ‘dat de chickings came home to roost. Dey'd spoil many a | good dinner ef dey wuz in de habit of spendin’ dere nights out.” = PARR e eee Thonght Transference. From Patch. Hostess—“Good night, general! So kina of me to have askeg you.” Guest—“Not ai ll. So kind of me to have come!”