Evening Star Newspaper, December 26, 1896, Page 15

THE EVENING STAR, SATURDAY, DECEMBER 26, 1896-24 PAGES. BUILDINGS AND GROUNDS OF ST. LIZABETH| E Among the Patients at the Govern- ment Hospital for the Insane. WHERE REASON 18 ~ DETHRONED What is Done for Comfort and Amusement of Unfortunates. ——— A CONTENTED COLONY N THE BANK OF the Eastern branch of the Potomac there jis a-space of ground covered with small mounds and marble slabs; it is consecrat- ed to those who have entered into life, and Its occupants need not the tears of pity that fall so often on its sward. From the broad expanse of the river itself, a hill slopes back into the borders of Anacostia and rears high above our capital city a group of vine-covered buildings that seem like fortressed castles walled in from the world. Here in truth sympathy has unlimit- ed scope, for this is the city of the “Living Dead.” Crusoe on his island had no wider sea between himself and his kind than have the inhabitants of this beautiful place. Their prison is not made by the iron bars that cross each window, nor by those who guard the doors, but reason, the divine faculty, is in chains and its charge floun- @ers on the sea of life like some frail rud- @erless ship. Every possible effort existence bearable for Gwellers in St. Elizabet Insane. is made to render the unfortunate "s Hospital for the Broad acres of green grass enable them to spend much time in open air and sunlight, flowers and trees blossom to de- light the eye, while appliances for outdoor exercise and sports are everywhere,making the play grounds of these grown-up chil- dren resemble a coliege campus. Indoors, ELIZABETH. Add to these the various male and female departments, buildings for colored patients, epileptic buildings, main building, includ- ing the sdministraticn department and wards for newcomers, and the cottages, andgone gets a faint conception of this en- terprise which is kept in motion to amelio- rate the condition of the unfortunates who have lost step in the race’s march. Annual Admissions. The number of admissions to the asylum was 371 during the past year, and has never been exceeded since the last twa years of the war. Altogether, there are about 1,700 inmates; only 400 are women. The hospital labors under a disadvantage in regard to the per cent cured. So many of its inmates are soldiers far past the prime of life, demented by hardship and trouble, that their chances of recovery are small. The average of patients who re- cover entirely is 33 1-3 per cent. Many re- cover only to relapse within a short period of dismissal. Some remain out for years and return, while others are sane and in- sane by turns, and go back and forth from home to asylum. Thefe are usually fifty or sixty out on a probation, which must not last longer than six months. A conversation with one of the prominent physicians in the hospital clears up many vagaries concerning the insane. Of course, it is impossible for one in full possession of Teascn to appreciate exactly the patient's cdndition of mind. A laugh does not al- ways mean happiness with them, any more than it does in the case of one sane, nor are tears necessarily indicative of sorrow; but the patients are not prone to throw a mask over their real feelings; and proceed- ing on this hypothesis, it may be said that when they appear gay their feclings are in unison with their looks. The majority of the insane are really happy. They are con- stantly on the verge of a great crisis, or in a Micawber-like expectation of something turning up. It is said that a few would be as indignant in case of recovery as was the insane Athenian, who regained his right mind only to curse the physician who thus deprived him of his kingdom, his ships and his slaves. The miserable beings are those who are in a state of melancholia and must eon- stantly flee from some dread pursuer. Tractable Patients. There is no such thing as a concerted re- bellion among the patients. They have no faculty for organization, and if one be- comes rebellious he“ usually acts on the impulse of the moment. If he does plan a conspiracy, the armies which are to uphold him exist only in his mind, a circumstance which makes quelling easy. As a rule, they live together far more peaceably than the same number of sane persons could pos- sibly do, and the association of congenial temperaments avoids much trouble. They have their likes and dislikes, all the more intense because they are ‘unreasonable. One man will think that anothtr has fixed an evil eye upon him, and is in misery un- wide halls let soft breezes reach the in- valids’ rooms in summer, or send up the warm glow of the furnace in winter. Everything in the wards bears the stamp oz perfect care and neatness. Kind hands attend the numerous wants and kind voices speak the words that cheer, yet, desp all, there is a desolation which no human @gency can change. Establishment of the Hospital. The movement for the establishment of a government hospital for the insane began as early as 1841, but received its chief im- petus about ten years later in the efforts of Miss Dorothea Dix, who in the course of her career established about thirty-five in- stitutions of the same character; one is in Dalmatia, one in the Isle of Jersey, Nova . Newfoundland, and the remainder United States. From the beginning of her work dates a new era in the treat- of insane paupers. Legislatures were med and the attention of the public Was called to the mistaken judgment which accorded the poor creatures the same treat- Ment meted out to responsible criminals. Miss Dix’s crowning glory was the estab- Ushment of St. Elizabeth's. It was orig- inally intended that it should be solely for insane soldiers and sailors, for whom no adequate provision had ever been made, but ote mvauip ~ WARD. til removed from his ken; one sees a would- be murderer in a most harmless companion, while another will insist that a certain man has poisoned his food. Whenever pos- sible they are humored in their whims, which are as real to them as some of the deepest sorrows are to us. Through the Administration Building The first round made by the visitor to the hospital {s through the administration bufiding. Here are several large reception reoms, well furnished, and having no in- dications of connection with a hospital. Bright carpets cover the floors, while warm- ly colored landscapes and sweet faces look down from the pictures on the wall. The patients’ libraries contain all varieties of werks found in the catalogues of history and fiction, many of which have been do- nated by friends of the institution. The patients seem to care less for reading than ary other diversion. This is due to inability to concentrate the mind. Even those who have been great students in their time will listlessly turn the pages of a once favorite author and finally throw down the book in disgust. Awaiting Classification. A large part of the administration build- ing is set apart for those who have recently entered the asylum, and are waiting to be it was provided that the indigent of ‘the District of Columbia should be admitted. ‘The scope of the institution has gradually broadened, and now other classes from the District are confined there. The institution has had but two superintendents—Dr. Nicholls and Dr. W. W, Godding. The latter assumed charge in 1877, and under his su- pervision {t has assumed the proportions of a village. Dr. Godding is a native of Mas- sachusetis, and has devoted much of his life to the cause of the indigent insane; studying the best means of providing for them and the application of the most im- proved remedial agents. Dr. A. H. Witmer, first assistant physician, ts Dr. Godding’s principal assistant. He has been at the um for twenty years, and in 1881 de- d six months to special study of Eng- lish and continental public and private in- stitutions. Other members of the staff of physicians are Drs. M. J. Stack, J. C. Simpson, C. H. Latim G. W. Foster, I. W. Blackburn and J. A. Barry. The Buildings. Eight hundred acres of land are divided Into three tracts—St. Elizabeth, Stevens farm and Godding Croft. There are six groups of buildings, divided and subdivided according to the classification of inmates. ins Hall, The Relief, The Home, with annexed buildings, all covering a space of eight acres, constitute the soldiers’ dwell- & place. The Toner building, with its large per cent of single rooms, is a triumph in the arrangement of invalids’ quarters. classified before being consigned to Per- manent quarters. All along the corridors and in the wards these unclassified may be found, some wandering aimlessly up‘and down, some gazing out of the windows, some observant of what is going on, fix keen eyes on strangers, but most of them sit absorbed in self, conjuring visions of distant spheres, “the world forgetting, by the world forgot.” Here a prince sits in royal splendor dispensing favors to a host of flattering courtiers. Here a soldier tramples the bodies of the slain and leads his troops into the heat of fiery combat, while statesmen make and unmake empires, and queens lift their hands to imaginary diadems on their fair brows. It is Pathetic to think of the scenes of conquest, the marvelous deeds, the world dramas and tragedies, that are staged within the com- Pass of one poor deluded brain. Making the Rounds. I was conducted through the buildings by an attendant, whose popularity among the patients was made evident in the smiles with which most of them greeted her ad- vent. When she spoke each face bright- ened, as if diverted to some pleasing subject. Some of her glory was reflected on me, for an old lady seized my hand as we passed her and said, “I love you, my child.’ I replied that I loved her, too, and then went on, feeling enriched by that uncon- scious benediction. If we failed to greet any of the patients we were reminded of our negligence in forceful some of the insane are sensitive to sup- posed slights. We crossed from the administration build- ing to the wing where female epileptics are kept. They range from sixteen to ninety years of age, but old women predominate. “One old lady was angry with us because we had not brought her some trifling toys which she greatly desired. Another one, very stout and very garrulous, gave us a severe tongue-lashing because her bath towels did not suit her. The epileptics are a cheerful set of people, and do not appear very unnatural. They only suffer when they have convulsions, and all the neat white beds in their wards are only about a foot from the floor, to prevent them from being hurt by a fall. One feature of their establishment is a school which affords them great pleasure; they learn the elementary branches easily, and though what is learned one day is generally forgotten the next, the review is as much of a novelty as a new land to the discoverer. They imagine, however, that they make progress; the delusion is @ harmless one and Keeps them happy. One woman informed us that she had just bought a couple of love songs and wanted us to hear them; she was a bright, ener- getic looking woman, and, to the unprac- ticed eye, seemed as sane as ordinary mor- tals; she was once a singer in one of Washington’s most fashionable churches, and her voice is excellent; we left her humming her ditties to two friends who thought they were playing a game of checkers. In the Colored Ward. The mcst amusing feature of my Visit was the walk through the colored ward; here the characters of the race are ac- centuated in high degree. All the glad- ness and mirth of the African disposition found expression in Methodist camp-meet- ing shouts, snatches of popular songs and a continuous chatter in the soft south- era dialect. There was no depression, such as we detected in the faces of white pa- tients, and some who were eating dinner had as ecstatic a look on their faces as if they were being regaled with "possum and watermelon. In the same ward were two Indian wo- men; ore from the Sioux tribe looked mo- rose and sullen, and stood apart from the other inmates; the other, of the Paw- nee tribe, shook hands with us, and though she jabbered away in her native tongue, smiled inteliigently when we spoke to her in ours; the two were put together that they might be companions, but the scheme did not work; when ene catch a glimpse of the other she turns her back and says, “Heap bad Injun.” The female patients do a gréat deal of sewing and domestic work; some are good performers on the piano, a few love to draw and paint; they have a gceat deal of freedom in their occupation, and no work is compulsory. : Work as a Panacea. Dr. Godding regards work as the nearest approach to a panacea for the cure of imagirary ills. It takes the patient out of himself, and makes him feel as though he had a place in the world. There are also material rewards for toil, and a salu- tary spirit of emulation is aroused. Male patients work on the farms, help in the laying out of walks and plant flowers. In the agricultural cplony at Godding Croft harmless working men find an ideal home. Those who behave particularly well are permitted to dwell in the cottages and be- come members of the colony. Im the Soldiers’ Quarters. After pass'ng through the soldiers’ quar> ters, where numbers of the veterans might be seen playing billiards, cards and various kinds of games, or talking over hair- breadth escapes and thrilling battles, we went into the great dining hall, where 360 soldiers were taking their noonday re- past. It was indeed interesting to see so many together enjcying one of the great- est pleasures left the insane. They were hearty and healthy, and it was wonderful to notice the rapidity -with which huge loaves of bread and other goed things dis- appeared. The hall is very large, and has a stage at one end which is utilized when enter- tainmeats are given; these occur often, and some of the best talent in the city is secured to give pleasure to the inmates. Amusement The ficor was smooth and polished in preparation for a dance which was to be given the following night. Of all amuse- ments, the patients find their chief delight in dancing; the rhythm of music, brilliant lights and that indefinable inspiration in concerted motion, which even makes the feet of the sane tingle in anticipation of the giddy whirl, bring a glow of warmth to those childish hearts and create a paradise in their excited minds. Two interested lookers-on at the dances are an old king who has reigned over the asylum fifty years. and a high priest of nature already past four score and ten. Storm after storm of trouble and pain have swept over the nation that shelters and protects them, but nothing touches their philosophical con- tentment, and they look as serene and hap- py as the child in its father’s home. The Culinary Department. The dining hall is connected with the culinary department by narrow tunneled railways, and small cars carry food and dishes back and forth, The kitchens fill one large building. Here the profusion of food made one feel like the beer-loving tramp who saw a great boiler marked 100,- 000 gallons capacity, and wished he had such a capacity and the means to satisfy it. In the room below 400 fat turkeys had been led to the slaughter to make ready for the Christmas sacrifice. Tubfuls of onion, chopped celery and bread were ready to decorate their interior. The great cabbage boilers were the size of asmall tank, and there was enough tea and coffee to drown a regiment. Seven hundred mince pies were in process of construction. The bread ovens occupied more space than an ordinary din- ing room, and it took two or three men to carry a single batch of dough to the table where it was cut into loaves. About ten barrels of flour per dey are consumed in the asylura. When each ward is ready for dinner, a bell is rung, and its rations are sent to it by the underground ratlway. From the kitchens we went to the sol- diers’ play grounds. They were almost de- serted save by a few who lingered in the cold to watch a skiff skim down the broad Potomac. ‘St. Elizabeth's seems like a village run on communistic principles, so far as the gratification of material wants is concern- ed. Yet there is no dead level of uniformi- ty in the treatment of its people, and no stiff, unhomelike buildings im its grounds. When the inmates are driven in the long herdics down the tree-lined avenues to the road, and across the river into the heart of the city, they can find no place made more teen pts by nature and art, or half so well itted to minister to a mind diseased. —->__ Appropriate, From Life. Ethel—“What motto has the Bloomer Club adopted? » @s| Marie—‘Excelsior.” RESORT OF RICH MEN Island on the Georgia Coast Owned by a Olub.’of Millionaires, AN ETENSIVE GAME PRESERVE Description ofthe Casino, Apart- ment House’and the Cottages. ae Le THEIR AMUSEMENTS (Copyrighted, 1896, “by Frank G. Carpenter.) WONDER IF PRES- ident Cleveland visit- eq the Isle of the Mil- Honaires during his last week's trip to the south. There is no doubt he was very near to it. But the details of his journey have been -kept se- cret, and no one knows whether he has -been wading about. the swamps trying to bring’ down the festiye snipe with his gun or whether he nas been rolling in the lap of luxury with the nabobs of: the United States. The Isle of Millionaires! Have you ever heard of it? It is a lone retreat for the Robinson Crusoés of Wall street and 5th avenue. A fairyland be- longing to a club whose members have men Fridays by the dozen and who live in palaces rather than huts, I visited it dur- ing my recent trip to the south. It lies just about eight miles. from. Brunswick, Ga., surrounded by the warm salt waters ef the southern Atlantic. It belongs in common to about five score millionaires. It is estimated that the aggregate for- tunes of its owners foot up several times one hundred million doliars, and it Is said that every man who loafs within its club house sperfds his tenis of thousands of dol- lars a year. ‘It is known as Jekyl Island, and it was bought as a millionaires’ resort. The membership fee at the start was $600, but I am told that admission to the club is now worth thousands. The island cost the club $125,000 when it was only a stretch it wore a gold collar. Its pudgy little nose was kissed again and again by this beauti- ful heiress, and I venture that young Van- ¢erbilt has many times wished himself in its place. Then there are the CGoelets, the Rockefellers, the Cuttings and a score of other well-known names which are almost regularly registered on the Jekyl Island Club book. ‘There are millionaires from Cincinnati and other great cities, and, in fact. @ representative of most of the great fortunes of the United States may ve found in the club. ‘Where Wesley Made Love. President Cleveland would be delighted by a visit to Jekyl. It is a fairy island, where it is almost always summer. Heated as it is by the amorous kisses of the voluptuous gulf stream, the air is always balmy, and the trees are always green. It is, you know, just opposite Brunswick, Ga, which is one of the great turpentine and resin markets cf the country, and the Sweet smell of the long-leaved pines is mixed with that of the tropical plants of the south and the soft salt alr of the sca. Jekyl does not He alone on the waters. Within a few miles of it are many heauti- ful islands, the famed Sea Islands which embroider the coast of South Carolina and Georgia,and which are noted for raising the finest cotton of the world. But Decem- ber in Jekyl is iike June in Dakota. The flowers are in bloom and nature has on its seven-leagued boots of luxuriant life. Your surroundings are those of perpetual spring. The air is such that it opens the soul of the most ascetic. It was here that the pious Charles Wesley fell in love, and here John Wesley came to straighten out his brother’s trouble. Here John Wesley preached some of his great sermons, and it Was on one arm of this island that Charles Wesley stood when he composed the well- known hyinn, the first verse of which is: “Lo! on a narrow neck of land *Twixt two unbounded seas 1 stand, Yet how insensible! A point of time, a moment’s space, Removes me to yon heavenly place, Or shuts me up in hell.” Above Jekyl is St. Simon’s Island, upon which Fanny Kemble lived for a time, after she had married one of the Sea Isl- and cotton kings, and it was there that Gov. Oglethorp fought the Spaniards more than a quarter of a century before our in- dependence was declared. I went to the island with Mr. C. W. Deming, the news- paper man of Brunswick, who made him- self famous through his reports of the yellow fever here of some years ago. We had a little naphtha steam launch, and our captain and pilot was a one-eyed negro who knew less about a boat than the aver- age salt water sailor does about digging gold in the rockies. We started at noon and wound in and out among the islands through narrow channels until we came into a wide river or strait which les be- tween Jekyl Island and one of the other bits of land lying below it. As we neared Jekyl we could see the cottages shining out of the trees. We rode for some miles CASINO AT JEKYL. of sand, marsh "an forests. Since then hundreds of thousands of dollars have been expended upon ity and when I visited it I found an army of workmen putting up new buildings, transplanting palm trees and making other expensive improvements for the winter season. How the Millionaires Privacy. z No one can land on Jekyl Island unless he has an invitation. Steamboats cannot stop there, and the millionaires are as safe from intrusion as they are behind their English butiers in their homes in the great cities. The privacy of the rich surrounds them and the golden key of blue blood allied to wealth is required before-mem- bership to the club can be obtained. So far little has been said about the club in the newspapet Some of its members, I venture, look down on newspaper men, and one especially, who belongs to the Vander- bilt family, and who usually sails down here from New York in his yacht during the winter, always has a private secretary with him to keep off the press. Still, there gre newspaper men among the mem- bers, aud a notable figure {8 Joseph Pulitzer, who comes here after New Year for his winter rest. He has for the past two seasons rented a cottage at Jekyl, pay- ing, I am told, $1,500 for six weeks’ rent, an average of $250 a week to merely have a roof over his head. Think of paying more than $0 a day for the privilege of. living in a two-story house. Add to this per- haps $75 additional, and you have about the daily expenses of one man at Jekyl. He brings his horses with, him. He has six, which come in their special car some weeks in advance in order that they may be acclimated before his arrival. He has his private secretary, and his own serv- ants, and his family chef keeps his table supplied to such an extent that he hardly knews the difference between this desert island and his own house at homé. Though shut off from the world, however, the world is not shut off from him. There is a telephone and a“telegraph line running from Jekyl to the mainland, and he 13s in as close communiéation almost with his office in New York as though he were in the editorial room at thé top of the great building on City Hall Square. J. Pier- pont Mcrgan gets. away from his business cares by coming to Jekyl. Guarded by the sea he rides and drives about the island, and with the Aladdin’s lamp of his fortune clothes his solitude with luxurious ease. Where the Millionaires Come From. Before I take you with me on a visit to the island, let me say a little more about the members of the club. A list of them lies before me, and I see that they come from all parts of the Union. There is Marshall Field, the big merchant prince of Chicago, who began life as a farmer's boy, but who now does a business of something like $25,000,000 a year. He has made a for- tune in dry goods, real estate and mines, and his income i§ mous. He travels to Brunswick in a specel car, and crosses in the club launch to the island. Then there is James Hill of St. Paul, who back in the sixties was a clerk, and who now has more railroads than any other man in the coun- try. He owns the Great Northern, has a large share of the Northern’ Pacific, and such other property, that his pile is meas- ured by the tens of millions. I am told that he knows to’a cent the wages of each of the 10,000 men in his employ, and that his brain never\ stops working from one year’s end to the other. He comes to Jukyl to try to get rest, shoots and hunts in this warm climate when the thermometer {s at aero in his biimmesota home. Another railroad millio1 who has a membership in the club is Gould, and a third man whose spedial éar carries him here is Calvin 8. Brice, the-capitalist and United States Senator. >iPferre Lorillard, the rich tobacccnist, spends some time at Jekyl, and Cornelius N. Bliss, who is now spoken ot as a possible Secretary of the Treasury in McKinley’s cabinet, is another rich mem- ber. Vanderbilt's Guard Their Sweetheart and Her $1,000 Dog. A large number of the members are rich by inheritance. Some are polite loafers, who do little more than try to kill time, and a chapter might be written on the rich w«men who ‘come_to Jekyl to while away the weary hours. The younger girls pulse to flirt saa met husbands, for the matches made are sure to be good from a financial ipoint at least. They bring their poodles with them, and I was shown ame. a puntoaren® beat Sa aeeegres which was ow y whom Frederick Vanderbilt courted "at Jekyl and came go near ing. The dog sits on a plush cushion, and I am told through low, marshy lands, which are famous for their hunting and are filled with snipe and ducks. Beyond these we couid see the forests and off in the distance the great casino or club house, where the most of the members of the club have their winter quarters. We landed at the wharf and spent some hours in going about the island. A Great Game Preserve. Everywhere we went we saw traces of game, and we learned that we were in one of the best game preserves of the United States. Jekyl Island is eleven miles long and about two miles wide. It con- tains 14,000 acres, and this is of such a character that it is adapted to all kinds of game. Thirty-five hundred acres of it are of salt marsh. Twenty-five hundred acres are of heavy oak and pine forest. Twenty-five hundred acres are of old Sea Island cotton land, and 4,500 acres are of hemmock and dry Savanna land. The result is that all kinds of game will thrive. The forests are full of deer and wild hogs. In the game Keep- ers’ lodge -I saw specimens vf the game which had been shot and they embraced many kinds of animals and _ birds. the deer are found here naturally, but many of the birds are imported. The game Keeper said, “We get thousands of quail every year and let them loose. Our members want to shoot quail, but they do not thrive well here, so we have to import them. We let out from 800 to a thousand at a time, and it is not uncommon for a dog to chase up 500,gout of a single cover. We have so many deer here that we have to put a net around the club house grounds to keep them away from the house. You may see a score of them walking about near the houses almost any moonlight night, and it is no trouble to shoot them.” “I should think that a good sportsman would soon kill them off,” said I. “So they could,” replied the game keeper, “but we have a limit to the amount one man can shoct. He can kill only so many quail or pheasants in a day and only so many deer in a season. During the sum- mer the game gets very tame, but it soon grows wild when the members come down here in the winter, and it is good spor: Turkey and Pheasant Shooting. Some of the best sport upon Jekyl Island is in hunting pheasants and turkeys. ‘rhe pheasants have been imported from Eng- land. One hundred were brought over in 1888, and of these only seventy-eight lived. In one season they laid 1,000 eggs, which were hatched out by barn-yard hens, When the little pheasant chicks had grown they were turned out into the woods. The next year 100 more hen pheasants were im- ported, and now the woods swarm with them. Wild turkeys are native to the re- gion. They are to be found in the oak end pine woods. They are very shy, and it takes a turkey call to bring them out, It is two and one-half miles from any part cf the mainland to the island, and the birds nearly always stay. In the salt marshes there are plenty of snipe, and the cotton and grain fields are filled with quail. Then there are plenty of woodcock, plover and doves, so that the millionaires have no trouble about getting something to kill. The Cottages ana the Club House. I spent some time in looking at the build- ings on Jekyl Island. The cottages are not very extravagant—that is, they are not extravagant as rich men’s homes, They are rather extravagant as cottages, for they cost all the way from $15,000 to $60,000 each. There is one $50,000 house that has never been occupied. The millionaire who ordered it built thought he might want it some time, but so far has not come to see it. The club house itself cost, I am told, about $100,000, It is a big three-story brick building with a tower at one end and with: an immense circular porch running around it. It is heated by steam and it is now be- ing lighted by electricity. It formerly had gas, but the result was not satisfaczory, men Can stand it. I went through the new apartment house ‘which is now being built. There are about 200 carpenters and masons at work upon it, and it will have, I judge, about a dozen apartments. It is being built with a pack- ing.of wool or hair between the order that every sound may be and so that the may of i How the Nabobs Amuse Themscives. I could write about the miles of magnifi- cent drives along the coast and tell you how these old nabobs sit here and watch the sea and roll over and over upon the sand, taking sun baths on a hot February day. I could tell you how the million- airesses lie with the hot sim shining down upon them. Here and there an ankle may show out, but there are no vulgar cyes to see It, and during the greater part of the year even “Miss Kilmansegg with Ler golden leg” could lie here in peace. I would tell you how these men of money work up their appetites by walking. The air here is pure; it is full of ozone; and you can walk for miles without tring. Then I might speak of the surf bathing. Think of it—there is surf bathing here in midwinter and there is hunting and fishing all the year around. If you don’t like such amase- ment you can take a drive, and if you have not your own horses there is plenty of s0od stock for hire in the stables of the club. It is true that a double team will cost you $200 a month and your bill for your riding horse will be more than half that. Horses are cheap everywhere else, but where mon- ey is king, as here, there is nothing cheap. and even horses are dear. FRANK G. CARPENTER. —_.——_ THE DRAGON'S MIs: iG CLAW. The Tale of the Cutting of Li Hung Chang's Flag. From the Chicago Tribune. When Viceroy Li Hung Chang was in Paris in midsummer he was domiciled at that famous hostlery in the Boulevard des Capucines, “The Grand.” If the great Parisian system has a cen- ter this is it, and men.and women from all over the wide world inscribe themselves here with confidence an@ get in gay groups in the great court, listening to the music, watching the playful fountains and the constant ‘going and coming of the “voit- ures” that deposit or carry away an end- less stream of pleasure seekers. No less than six of the most prominent families in Chicago have been guests of that house in the lest six months; indeed at the very moment that the renowned Celestial diplomat was seltered there a well-known family of this city occupied apartments directly above that of the great oriental. The man and his daughters found their propinquity to the viceroy and his suite vastly entertaining, and congratulated themselves on really being part, as it were, of the best show in Paris. But, alas for human happiness! scarcely were the wise men of the east installed, with the Chinese flag waving proudly over their quarters, than a large gilded wire cage was suspended outside the winlows. Its occu- pants were two great, fat, loq ‘ious par- rots, who seemed to become fairly intoxi- vated with the Paris air and the gayety of the boulevards. Twenty hours out of the twenty-four they turned claw-springs and squawked their approbation of French cooking, French roise and French climate. The parrots dv'y becam2 a vast nuisance, and the amiable Chicagoan at last put in a protest at the office. The monsieurs there were all agreed that another suite of rooms was due the Chicago family, but that it was not convenable to make any objection to the birds of his excellency. The Chicago family held a closed ses- sion and decided that they would suffer the din. One night, when it was particularly hideous, the young girls were unable to sleep. Rushing to the window in despair to hurl curling irons at the wire birdhouse, they were attracted by the flapping of the Chinese flag. It was dark, d Paris slept. There was a sound of suppor d giggling, and a long-handled parasol stole resolutely out of the window and hooked itself deftly into the Chinese national em- blers; four pretty white hards grabbed it, and there were more giggles and the sharp snipping of scissors. Wnen the flag fell back in its place again a round piece seven inches in diameter was missing and the dragon had had a claw amputated. This limb was immedi- ately buried in the darkest depths of a Louis Vuitton trunk and the maidens fell into a sweet and dreamless sleep. 8 ‘They were awakened betimes to a realiz- ing sense of the enormity of their midnight escapade by the never-failing parrots, and after a hurried consultation as to the ability of an American war with China, they decided that a day at Versailles was what they would fancy above all things. Among the passengers who were driven out to Versailles on the “Comet” that day were the two Chicago girls and their amiable parent. Great consternation obtained in Paris over the desecration of the celestial flag, but no extensive investigation was possible. The flag went to London and was un- furled there with its disabled dragon. Li Hung Chang's loss was the Chicago girls’ gain, for the bit of bunting is now the cherished treasure of a souvenir album on the north side of the city A NEW MEXICAN EPISODE. Dave Rudebaugh’s Attempt to Rescuc His Partner From Prison. From the New York Sun, “It was in 187%, the year the railroad came to Las Vegas, that Dave Rudebaugh and a man named Alien made their famous attempt to rescue Dave's partner, Webb, from prison,” said the New Mexican in the office of the Fifth Avenue Hotel last even- ing. “For careful planning and reckless executicn I reckon there is nothing in the stories of Jack Sheppard or Dick Turvin to beat It. Webb had killed somebody in an irregular way, and was held for trial in the old adobe jail on the north side of the plaza, with the prospect of a severe sen- tence by the courts, if he wasn’t taken out and hanged meantime by the vigilantes. “Dave Rudebaugh, as I remember him then, was a handsome young fellow, with soft black eyes and smooth, pleasant voice. Beneath this attractive exterior were nerves like steel, desperate courage and absolute unscrupulousness in the taking of any human life that stood between him and his purposes. Having decided to try to get His partner cut of prison, he set about the business very systematically. Every afternoon he came to the jail with delica- cies and newspapers for the prisoner, and, ? 15 lle SSS srating of the cell, he gained a full knowl- edge of the interior of the place and the time and manner of posting the guards, The jail, modeled en the plan of the Mex- ican calabozo, had a courtyard in the cen- ter, and the covered passage connecting it ih the street was barred by a grated gate. In the courtyard were two arched cells, closed by-grated doors at one end, and in one of these cells Webb was con: fined. Armed officers, prompt to shoot when occasion demanded, guarded the jail. “On the day set for the rescue an emis- sary of Rudebaugh’s came inio Houghton's store, on the street leading from the plaza to the open plain on the east, and bougnt three Winchester rifles and a large supply of ammunition, which was packed in @ box. The box and rifles, at his request, were placed near the door, the purchaser saying that he would call for them later in the Cay. in the afternoon Rudebaugh and Allen drove up to the entrance of the jail in a hack drawn by a pair of livery { horses, and asked permission to visit Webb. The one guard on duty at the time, a Mex- ican named Pino, admitted them. N. er were they in the jail y from the sireet, than Ruc len drew. revoivens and augh ar 4 of Pino emand that he release Webb from his cell. This Pino refvsed to do, and Allen at once shot him dead. The desperadoes seized his keys and tried to find the one that fitted the lock of Webb's cell, but before they could do this the citizens about the plaza, hear- had begun to gather round that the jig was up as far sevting his partntr w« is baugh flung the bunch of keys into Webb's cell, and, with Allen, made a rush for the hack and sprang into it. Allen seized the reins, and, lashing the horses, they dashed across the plaza, swung round the corner at Bridge street, leading eastward to the mesa (table land) and the plains, and were beyond gunshot before the people at the plaza realized what had happened. At Houghton’s store Allen pulled the hors up short, Rudebaugh jumped out of the hack ana put aboard the rifles and ammu- nition in waiting there, and then the des- Pperadoes were off and aw: y again at breakneck speed. They were out of town and well on their way up the mesa, on th trail leading to the Pecos country, before the news of the attempted rescue of Webb and the killing of Pino became generally known in. the heart of the town, “An unorganized pursutt by citizens was begun at once. ery man and boy who gould .ct a horse and a firearm of any kind siarted as quickly as he could on the trail of the outlaws, until the impromptu posse numbered several hundred. The foremost of the pursuers soon came within rifle shot of the hack, and shooting at long range began on both sides. The running fight continued through the remainder of the afternoon without injury to either party, for, knowing the ski with firearms of the two desperadoes, none of the pur- suers was desirous at this point of | ing the gap between him and the hack. At dusk Rudebaugh and Allen (ook the horses from the hack, and, mounting them, escaped in the darkness, and an organized pursuit by the sheriff's posse, though quickly begun, failed to overtake them. Once in the Pecos country, then practically @ region beyond the pale of the law, and dominated by desperadoes and outlaws, the two fugitives were safe, although the par- suit of them was not siackened for a jong time. “A characteristic and tragical event of this long flight from pursuit was the death of Allen several wecks after the outbreak at Las Vegas. It was told by Rudebaugh Dimself. To Alien, who had st one lung through consumption and was sorely af- flicted with rheumatism, the pain and dis- comfort from the exposure and hard riding to which he was forced became unbear- able, and he often entreated his companion | {to put an end to his misery by shooting him. One day, as they were riding along together, Rudebaugh took him at his word, and, putting his pistol to Allen's head. blew his brains out. H ried him by the Wayside, and rode on his way unhamper with an extra horse te reward his act ¢ friendship. It was soon after this occurren Rudebangh Joined the gang of ily Kid, and became the chosen friend lieutenant of that formidable young outlaw It was in associatéon with him t he his greatest notori wor j | | | | as a robber an | perado, and he was one of the three com- \ panicns of Billy when Sheriff Pat Garr {captured them all, after a siege of a ¢ j and a night in an adobe house at Ojo He- | dionda, and took them in irons to Santa | Fe. Both Billy and Rudebaugh, at difver- {ent times, made their escape from prison after this capture, and Rudcbaugh contin- ued his career of outlawry after his chief had fallen at Fort S ni mner Garret’s pistol. When it be for him in New Mexico, he w before ame rit hot across the j border into Mexico, aud became the fore man of a cattle anch at Parral in Chi- huahua. Here h s of ferocity so in- censed the people that at iast they roge against him, beheaded him with a butch- er’s cleaver, and carried his head on a pole about the town in triumph.” HERRMANN AND THE TRAMFE cd Dollars Fellow’s Rug: From the Rochester Democrat and Chroni-le Herrmann came into a restaurant whe the Chronicler was iunching with a cou of theatrical ac Out of uaintances, friends of tne magician, and he joined the party. Me was in great vein, and during an hour or 80 of chat and tobacco did m ing things with cigars, corks, «gl. Kins and the like There came a pitiful looking tramp with a tale of woe, to wh the nonnecromantic members of the tet liste with more imoa e than pathy. But Herrmann, in his broken iish, began questioning the fellow t astonish- es, nap- ing, eh! Got no mon Not a cent! Too } bad!” His hand went to his waistcoat pocket, but it paused, or seemed to, on tha | Way. He regarded the vagrant sternly and broke out with a fine assumption of wrath: “What do you mean by saying you haven't @ cent? What do you call this? And this? And this?” meanwhile gesticulating ex- titedly and rapidly extracting silver pieces, quarters und half dollars from all over the astonished tramp’s regged garments. “Hah! You're a nice swindi You take your | Money and get out. with you!” He forced the silver (it must have amounted to $3 or $) into the fellows d and start- ed him by an imperative gesture toward the door.. The dazed beggar, looking more frightened than happy, went off without a word. Herrmann’s only comment wa: “That fellow will think he’s met the devil. I hope he won't be too afraid of the money to spend it.” “What do you want to throw away your money on drunken loafer like that for, Herrmann?” said one of his friends. “Oh, well, it was only a joke, apologized the berated pauperizer, “and then, he was so miserable looking. What would you?” And a shrug closed the sub- being allowed to talk with him through the Ject. THE LATEST SLOT MACHINE, Automatic Barber's Chair. From the Flieg2ade Blatter.