Evening Star Newspaper, January 2, 1897, Page 18

18 =————— THE EVENING STAR, ‘SATURDAY, JANUARY 9, 1897-94 PAGES. HIGH TEAS IN PARIS} How This Social Function is Con- ducted and Enjoyed. ESPECIALLY IN THE AMERICAN COLONY Origin of the Tea Rooms Patron- ized by the Fashionables. ee SOCIETY CLIMBERS Correspondence of The Evening Star. December 21, 1896. HOULD YOU AS! ny one of theAme n colony in Paris, is the most feature of new European jal life?” the an- r ould come un- itated and de- eas!" PARI i “What important sw Pi cisi Teas hold this un- real, makeshift, tem- porary, noncommit- tal Franco-American society together. At look on these perfumed, rendezvous of the ne and futile, st hours of the day for any busy man, but rather for collegians and other butterflies. In Paris strong men, full of busy plans, intrigue for invitations like so many girls, keep their “day” hooks as co tiously as dowagers, and sniff the rich aroma of the samovar like devo- where there is Inc Teas, Inexp: |. generous teas, they ss, lonely Utlanders to- y it may be, but still suffici- The life of pension and apartment makes axainst all other form of entertain- ment. Teas are also inexpersive. There- fore teas are all in all in what they call not to mar the arise in various ways. According indeed, is more y civilized commun- must appoint her “day WHEN THE GUESTS | the red-hot fire in the open grate Is a de- it. This tea, though weak from caution, will be from good leaves, with a suspicion of perfume. And then, as if it called for some correction, rum and lemon will be pressed on one and all. . Fine little much-iced, candied, nut paste sandwiched cakes, called petits fours, are the accompaniment, with never homely, honest bread and butter; and for natives weak in faith there always will be Malaga, Madeira, Port or one of those sweet south- ern wines of an obscurer name. Now as these sweet, strong wines are their real favorites, it is a standing jest in French society that the delicious little countesses and duchesses who fiit in their smart turn outs from this ‘feeve-oh-cluck” to that and ever onward, end by taking into their de- Ughtful little systems far more alcohol than can be good for them. And “a sa vintieme visite, madame etait pompette!' “Pompette” is a real Du Maurier word. Boarding House Society. In the colony, and in particular the pen- sion society, which so distinguishes the colony, the great accompanier of tea on these occasions /is the buttered mufiin. Ladies who have houses of their own at home, who are much envied of their Eu- ropean fling by those who have been left behind who write back gorgeous pictures of their social whirl, whose fair daughters for whose benefit they are abroad will go back to you with the cachet of Parisian elegance and savoir faire and parley-vous, completely cafe-au-lait from top to toe, here hold their weekly teas in their own bed rooms, saving the expense of private parlors. With her daughter's couch and hers dis- creetly draped to look li ivans, with the washstand hidden by a Dolly Varden screen, and skirts, stray stockings, belts and chiffons hustled hastily from mortal view, she bids adieu to care on the ap- pointed day the moment that the muffins come up from the corner bun shop. With mufiins, happiness; without muffins, blank despair. And the delicate part of tt is that one m easily be disappointed after the most faithful promises from the de- ceptive baker. Brioches—good in them- selves, but no real substitute-may come instead, depending-on the mood of a mo- rose, ill-natured cook. The mission of the muffin in the colony is to beget a reckless gayety and homelike abandon in one and all. To toast them by lightful scramble, with sweet girls sitting archly on the floor and heightening their complexion by the coals, with brave men bending over them, each with his half muffin on a great long-handled fork. This girl will butter them. That girl will spread the jam. Oh, happiness! The conversation here is not of Shakespeare; and the musical glasses are tinkling teacups, from which better tea is drunk than we are apt to get at home. In an Apartment. Perhaps, indeed, these unpretentious bearaing-house teas are more enjoyed than sweller functions in the parlors of apart- ments, furnished or unfurnished. To have ARRIVE. intent on y poor or unacq ainted to may write “Wednesday” ‘the first Wednesday of rom 5 to 7 or “from me or stay away, She orders sand- hes of tongue and pate-de-foie-gras, lit- and candied chestnuts from the ie around the corner, gets in Mal- r Port at @ cents the quart, sets her 1 copper kettle singing—and it is Tea in a French House. se teas which are but mere develop- nts of the “at home” are the real stand- of Parisian life. The Parisians them- selves, who always had the custom, ha row learned to call them “feeve oh-cloque, and five o’clocks they are for these adopie: even when the written en the car to one of func . in a family which is more than good bourgeois, having time had connections in the diploznac; house is on the south side of the Seine, along the river, Five awful flights of siairs—Excelsicr!—must be accomplished, remember—this is nothing to Paris- , even tender ladic Indeed, the climb- thought to be beneficial, strengthen- heart and lungs and affording a elopment to the calves. is also notable in that Vol- taire once owned it, lived there and died in it, a fact which every one recalls and men- 9 his neighbor as he climbs. A little you, offering to take your vat. You will not dare present your> » a French lady in an overcoat. But, e other hand, you would be very ill- ised to leave your hat out with the coat it would be a real gaffe— break”"—to come to this French u in anything but a hat—and frock coat—all the men will a in the drawing room unhappily pre- d in nursing their ungainly, awk- led, embarrassing chapeaux orme { madame thinks of it, she will In time ask you to put your hats aside, and then it A “VERY rner, or in the empty chair A newcomer will be intro- » Who will then present to her daughters. Guests, of course, never introduced, one to the other; but address each other and take ral conversation. Talk of an character, which deals much stage and art and | i with new inver. improving with th soft he age in which we have the of living, form the staple of this se, very much, I think, as a con- foreigner. ng ladies will be lively, arch and naive questions, to at once dis- our preconceived ideas of their seclu- zion, lack of siberty and social habit, while same time giving fine examples of personne innocence, unworidiiness, y and modesty. The conversation emancipation of the French jeune vat, “We must not make undue to which we hasten to agree. Doubtful About Tea. Now as this is a “tea,” tea you will get, though in their secret hearts French men and women, old maids, youths and maidens down to little boys and girls all think that tea fs not a beverage, but a powerful medicine and indicated to be taken after purges in particular and to assist in break- ing =D new colds in general. Yet as it is an Anglo-Saxon custom to drink tea, and, buy- | t and third Wednes- | | QUIET” TEA. re to plac® them, on this | ends with a symposium,of the | | land where men do chamberwork as readily ; then be sure to show you in. A maid from one’s ewn apartment is not, in itself, con- vincing, easy-going, hotel-thronging people that we are. Nevertheless, the apartment is there; It is something tangible; and pen- sion people are extremely fond of mention- ing when they have been to such a tea or dinner—at the So-and-So's—“‘their own apartment, you know; yes, they live mag- nificently!’ Imegine that the entrance from the street is a great vestibule, one story high, of carved white stone, with broad and winding marble steps inside and heavy, ornamental balustrades. The car- pets in these marble halls are soft and rich. Electric lights In gilded ornamental stands and chandeliers light the gray after- noon and early gloaming to something of the artificial charm of a theater at matinee time. It is a pleasure to walk up these one or two low, easy-winding flights of steps; while for the weak and indolent there is tho “lift. You may be sure the door will not be opened by a maid; it will be an imposing “man,” for cur Americans cannot, cannot forego this luxury. This is a city and a as girls, and cost no more. A suit of so- ber livery is not expensive—see the price ist of the Bon Marche. Eureka! At last! Like the delightful, much-washed hero in “The Princess Aline,” we are now able to refer, in verbal conversation and in letters, to our “man.” This man in livery will out the pages of Du Maurier or Mr. Gibson will then move before you, not for any purpose but the mise-en-scene. More blaz- ing lights beyond in the Louis Quinze re- ception room. But why go on? Have we not all seen Mr. Gibson’s pictures? The Tea Rooms. These Americans of ours who live so worthily and richly here in Paris cannot ask the whole world to their teas. Yet, on the other hand, it palls on one—n’est ce pas?—to be forever giving teas to the same people and forever ordering out the horses to pay tea calls in return. It lacks variety. That fatal need of the soul, that cry of the heart—ts it not noble?—that imperious com- mand laid on us to communicate our good to others through their eyesight, beckons on these fortunate ones of the colony to a more equal ground. Hence rise is given to a very special kind of place of entertain- ment, limited to Paris. This is the tea rcom! There are tea rooms in London and in many a city, but they eannot bloom and fiourlsh us do these two Paris tea rooms of the rue Cambon and Boulevard Hauss- mann. It was Mr. Davis who discovered “Coiumbin'’s"—misspelling it—while Mr. Gibson made a picture. High bred society ladies in delicious gowns sat toying with the tea cups in this little Paris cake shop. And the text gave full directions. Our Paris people were enchanted when they saw it. Just the thing! Let's do it! Here- tofore they. had not dreamed of setting up a fashionable rendezvous in any bun shop. What they did feel was that longing, that dumb need, that empty yearning to find some place and no matter what, but any- thing rather than their own drawing rooms, in which to pose of afternoons for mutual admiration and—perhaps—a larger pubic. The tea house-leaped into vogue immediately! Enjoying Society. Now, here were two birds killed with one stone. While these little cake shops were still wondering what struek them, and be- fore the waiter girls had even grown ac- custome’ to the faces of the new clientele, ‘herefore, chic, they will exert their cheer- Sulest efforts in preparing it and serving another class of customers had found their way to the rue Cambon and the Boulevard Haussmann. From boarding houses and hotels which they inhabit, from thetr little home apartments wherein they could never hope to entertain with brilllangy, see them t » fresh, bright-faced, new, beauti- fully dressed, to sit and drink tea, mingling with their richer sisters, gaining pointers, re a Re aD nest PO ER AE gS ol AM A aE a ec TR ak EE RSS ar I Ri ec aA A pe cn SARC A Se LE MRR ESA OSS ee ee Ee ee Serpe woe th contac me cetieeiay in ttle perhaps, fo et a nod afd “How do you 49?” from ‘id patrician Ups, ‘Ah, the joy of it! Is it not almost like being asked to tea? The best part of it is that as both of these contingents—the “real” fashionables and their admirers—came to The French Touches. patronize the tea rooms at the selfsame date, these innocent French waiter girls and their good-natured moon-faced pa- tronne of the rue Cambon have never dreamed that they are serving in two camps; that here there could be a line drawn, invisible to their own democratic eyes, between the beau monde and its satel- lites. How could they? Both worlds dress alike, they look alike. One of these tea rooms has a railed-off space, where curtains can be partly drawn to screen it from the public throng; the other has two places on the same street, separated from each other. Private teas of great magnificence—the use of silver- ware, flowers, china coming extra—may here be held by any little lady living with her daughter in one pension bed room, which may be transformed into a salon through the day, as I have indicated. These little women have some money, too, you understand, they"have their proper pride, and it gives them exquisite pleasure to dispense high tea. Do they have money? You may well believe it, for no une of all this colony can get along without it,though {t should be borrowed. It is easy to speak patronizingly of these small people and the flutterings of their hearts when they give gorgeous teas down on the rue Cambon or Boulevard Haussmann; but these selfsame little people are your friends and mine, and who may know but what they are much envied by a@ circle of admiring friends at home for their mere Paris residence. Then let us bless the teapot for their sakes, the teapot and the kettle, the cups and the saucers, the inspiring beverage that cheers but not inebriates, except, perhaps, at par- donable moments, with ideas of fashion. STERLING HE:LIG. a ae NN ae tea tently SES A Military View of the Efforts of the Peace Congress. From the Army and Navy Jorunal. The peace congress at Buda Pesth has among its resolutions one calling for the excl@ion from all school bcoks of every- thing calculated to foster a warlike spirit. Fancy what would be left of the Bible, after it had been subjected to this process. It is a book of war, and is filled with re- ports of battles from the ¢ime when Cain smote his brother Abel to the time when “there was war in heaven: Michael ana his angels fought against the dragon, and the dragon fought with his angels.” It is yery sad to think tha: we must have war, but we fear that we shail not get rid of it by passing resolutions even at Buda Pesth. The Paris Debats has a vigorous reply to an essay by Count Tolstoi denouncing war. The writer in the Debats truthfully as- Serts that the ordinary service-in-arms of a soldier is, taking it all in all, the most noble and at the same time the most at- tractive calling in the world. Like war itself {t develops more than anything else all the sentiments and practices which tend to raise and ennoble a man and which are commonly known by the name of vir- tues—qualities which are inherent in and inseparable from the profession of arms. Such a declaration may sound like a bold “petitio principii,” but as the Duke de Fezenac writes in his memoirs, “Living with soldiers you learn to recognize thetr virtues; otherwise you only learn their vices, To be worthy of the name a sol- dier, because he is a soldier, must display patriotism, valor, loyalty. integrity, fidel- ity, love ef duty, frugality, prudence, regu- larity, energy, constancy, unselfishness and self-denial. The “complete soldier’ must be possessed of these qualities. Discipline, enforced and conformity to rule, self-re- spect, these are the methods and means by which honest and obedient citizens are fcrmed, and the army is the political school were duties and rights are taught and distinguished. Lieutenant Colonel Harry C. Egbert. 6th U.S. Infantry, in his article on the increase of the regular army in the “United Serv- ice’ for November, shows very clearly the need of such increase. At the close of his article he calls the attention of those who consider standing armies as unmixed evils to the fact that in these times of over-production, an army, being a body of non-producers, affords a large market for home productions of food, clothing and munitions of war, and that an army; an- nually returns to the body of the people a uvumber of men, proportioned to its size, trained to athletics, inured to hardships, disciplined to obey lawful orders, and de- voted to their country and its flag. Col- onel Egbert might in this connectior have called attention to the immense impetus given to our national development by the war of 1861-65. When the returns of the presidential election of 1864 were handed to Lincoln he immediately noted the fact that the voting population had increased in spite of the war. Death must come in some form to every member of each gen- eration, and statistics would probably show that the average longevity of the genera- tior_ which contributed on the two sides of the line three million soldiers to the war for the Union was not decreased by that war. That increase in intellectual vigor, In energy and enterprise is shown by the records of our national development during the past quarter of a century. Nothing can be said against the sad conditions of war that every military man _ will not heartily respond to, but much of the civil- fan criticism upon war and the wisdom of preparation for it apparently assumes that the condition of peace is an ideal one. There can be no peace in the true sense without universal justice and absolute fidel- ity on the part of individual citizens to the obligations of duty and honor. When and where have we had this thus far in the history of the world? When It comes there will be no need of conventions ard resolutions to abolish war. ——___—e. ___ The Cost of Big Tunnels. A recently published item relative to the comparative cost of the world’s four great tunnels places the cost of the Hoosac tun- nel, in the United States, the oldest one of the lot, at £76, or about $380, a foot. The Mont Cenis tunnel, the next in date, cost, according to the same item, £71, or about $855, a foot; the St. Gothard cost £46, or $230, a foot, and the Arlberg, the latest in date, cost only £31, or $155, a foot. This rapid decrease in cost, within comparative- ly few years, is cited as a marked indica- tion of the great progress in mechanical methods and improvement in rock-excavat- ing tools. A still more striking result ex- ists in the case of a tunnel through the Cascade mountains, on the line of the Northern Pacific railroad, in the United States. This, unlike those named, which were excavated in old, settled countries, with the terminal easy of access, was in a reculiarly difficult location, so much so that it took months to convey the macnin- ery to the spot. Rivers had to be turned aside, bridges built and material transport- ed over improvised roads through nearly 100 miles of forest, mud and snow fields, yet the tunnel, which is 16% feet wide, 22 feet high and 8,950 feet long, was bored through the mountain in twenty-two months, at the rate of 413 feet a month, and at a cost for the completed tunnel of only £24, or about $120, a foot. ———_-+ e+ —___. They Knew the Signa. From the Detroit Free Press. It is crrious how they knew, for they were strangers to each other, and had Just made a rush from the train and se- qured stools side by side at the rafiroad lunch counter. One of them called for a piece of mince pie and a pint bottle of beer, and the other said: ‘ “Pretty cold in Chicago by this time, ain’t it?” Then he gave his order for a rum ome- lette, corn bread and the pepper sauce, and the first man remarked: “Races turn out pretty well in Louis- ville this season?” i AFTER’ THE CROOKS Preparations Mado to. Receive Un- desirable Inaugural Visitors, DETECTIVES 10. MEET THE et Local Officiafs Aided by Those From.,Other Cities. iret WILL BE SENT AWAY HE POST-INAUGU- ration lay of the crook is plaintive. Its burden is failure and disaster. He is given no show for his — white alley by the “ Washington _ police, and he makes furtive moan over the in- justice. This is well. Unorganized, yet vast, the free mason- ry of crookdom hath many heralds and couriers, and these disseminate among the ever-dodging fraternity a knowledge of the unprofitableness and the danger of working Washingtor. during the progress of the na- tion’s great quadrennial fete of installa- tion. Such dismal report holds many of the more cautious among the cheerful workers aloof from Washington during the effer- vescent days, when “Le roi est mort, vive le rol,” republicanized into “Three more for the new one!” echoes through Washington's swarming streets. But scores and hun- dreds of others, more reckiess, among the oleaginous tribe, attempt the stealthy storming and sacking of this Washington citadel when the myriads of strangers within its gate to see a citizen made into a President are bidding restraint to the four winds. That these reckless ones know that their chances of walking open-eyed into a cul de sac are of the very best, does not deter them. Hjther they come any- way, taking their chances. Stalking wide- awake to grief, yet they come. “We 2re making unusual preparations for an unprecedented descent of the crooks upon Washington during the coming inau- guration,” said Inspector Hollinberger in conversation with a Star reporter on the subject the other day. ‘American crooks have had pretty hard picking during the Past two or three years, owing to increased vigilance and new methods all along the line in capturing and landing them, and a great many of the notable ones among them look upon the inauguration period here as a first-rate recouping and enrich- ing season. But we are going to be better prepared for them this time than ever be- fore, and I don’t think that 500 of them will contrive to get ifto the city around the fourth of March next, as they did dur- ing the last inauguration.” Practice in Identification. The crooks’ reception at Major McKin- ley’s inauguration. will be enthusiastic. They are to be made to serve an end. They are to give prdctige in {identification not only to the police, of Washington, but to the police in every leading city in the United States-to ‘detectives representing Scotland Yard, indéed, and to seyeral crook worriers from the Paris prefectures of po- lice, the English and French sleuths hav- ing already been detailed to “cover” the inauguration for the purpose of keeping an eye open for certain famous foreign crimi- nals known to be in the United States. English and French crooks, when they happen to be in this country for a litle pe- riod of enforced. absence, do not scorn to have a try at this field when the inaugtra- tion vortex is a-whirl. ‘The coming inaug- uration’s round-up of. merry bunco men and Chesterfieldian piekpockets is expected to be enormous, international. “Welcome the coming, speed the parting guest,” Measurably, and in a sense somewhat twisted to accord with police ideas; this is to be the system of treatment adopted for the hendling of the hordes of human eels, hither flocking for inauguration plunder. The smooth men and women who attempt to create purse-filling diversion for them- selves during inauguration festivals are the eminent persons in their business from all parts of the country. Those of them who penetrated the cordon of Argus eyes that will make an alert ribbon around Washington during the next inauguration perlod will be smooth, indeed. None of the high-class and best-known crooks will be able to run the blockade. In the first place, the “really admirable police force of the District of Columbia,” as it was termed by an English superintendent of police who visited Washington a few years ago, is to be amplified by a special force of 400 men, reliable citizens of the national capital, sworn in tor five days of duty. In addition to these, each large city of the country will send several of the best representatives of its detective department. New York, Chicago, Philadelphia, Brook- lyn, Boston and Baltimore, for instance, will each contribute five of its most ex. verienced criminal hunters, and there will be at least one crook spotter from the me- tropolises and capitals of nearly all the states. Know Them by Sight. The detectives of these outside cities are familiar“ not only with the countenances of the crooks infesting their own communi- ties, but, through the interchangeable rogues’ gallery system, which has been better developed in this country than in any other country in the world, they have @ general familiarity with the Physiogno- mies of all the most famous crooks, male and female, in the United States, for the Police department of all the major cities of America now trade criminals’ photographs with each other. Night and day for a week before the inauguration these detectives, practically unseen and unnoticed, but all-seeing, will have possession of the two Washington railroad stations. If they should fall into line together the body of detectives station- ed at each depot would form a pretty size- able crowd, but they are not going to do any falling into line. They will simply circulate around the depot rooms when the trains are coming in, and during business hours they won’t know each other from Adam. They will gather in their harvest of crooked men and women quietly and with- out any ado whatever. In front of the de- pots there will be cabs and carriages, hired in advance by the police by contract, await- ing the crooks at all hours of the day and night, so that they, will not be but to the inconvenience ef walking to Police head- quarters. In order that there shall be no wu ry ‘not to be captured instde the depots. Tap on ti alder. They will step off the trains with fur- tive looks around them, and, navigating easily through the station rooms unhinder- ed, they will naturally fancy that the thing is easier than purveying gold bricks and that they are safe. Not until they get outside the depot doors will the awaken- ing come to them. They will then be quiet- ly tapped on the shoulders by quiet-looking men with very firm jaws and invited to take a little carriage ride over smooth as- phaltum pavements to police headquarters. Crooks do not decline such gently put requests with thanks. They are ordinarily endowed with profound insight. More, they are vain. They are frequently pleas- ant to look upon, and they dislike to have their countenances and their skulls frac- tured. So they will make no difficulty about accompanying the mild-mannered sleuths to police headquarters. Nor is this to be the only precaution, so far as the railroads are concerned. De- tectives will be stationed at the railroad depots of all the cities contiguous to Wash- ington, and these will make tours of the through trains bound hitherward. It is calculated that a whole lot of the crafty delvers in the pockets of other people will be intercepted in this way. A Collection of Photographs. Those of the crooks who contrive to get as far as Washington, however, and who are snared as they pass out of the depots, will have quite a ceremonious little pro- cess to go through. ‘Their photographs will probably all be found on file in the Washington police headquarters rogues’ gallery, which is second to none in the United States in completeness, but they will be photographed again for luck and to keep the gallery thoroughly up to the hour and minute. The photographic de- partment attached to police headquarters will be largely amplified for the inaugura- tion rush of business, and the photogra- phers will be on hand day and night. After they are “mugged,” the crooks’ term for posirg for the camera, they will be persuasively requested to remove all of their clothing, down to the last garment, in @ room set aside for the purpose. They will then be measured by experts in accord- ance with the rules of the admirable Ber- tillon system, which was introduced in Washington immediately after M. Bertillon introduced it in Paris, twelve years ago, Washington following close upon the heels of Chicago in adopting the system. Every mole, scar or tattoo mark on the crooks’ bodies will be carefully noted, and after they are subjected to this scientific course of sprouts they can be readily identified in any part of the world as long as they live, for copies of the measurement, with the attached remarks, thus made in each great city are exchanged all over the earth. Photographed, measured and registered. they will be finally taken before the chief of the Washington detectives, Inspector Hollinberger, who will decide whether they are to be held until after the inaugura- tion or shipped out of the city forthwith. He will question them. They quite per- ceive the impracticability of profitably doing business in Washington? Um—yes, Where did they come from? Um—oh. In about eight cases out of ten they are to go back there by the next train. No money? Oh, but the police department has quite an ample amount of transporta- tion money especially provided for this oc- casion and purpose. Will Leave ‘the City. Inspecior Hollinberger will then turn over such crooks as are to be reshipped to the detectives who brought them to his of- ‘unnecessa! A fice, and each departing train will bear away from the thronged national capital a dozen or so of cheerful workers, not so cheerful as when they started capitalward. Those whom the inspector decides to hold will be locked up in the various precinct stations until after the ‘!nauguration is over, by which time the Washington police department will have a chance to communicate with the police of other cities to ascertain if any of the crooks detained here are “wanted.” Notwithstanding all of these carefally arranged precautions a considerable uum- ber of crooks is bound to be at work here- abouts during the inauguration period, for the shaving off of his mustache by a male pickpocket, or the bleaching of her hair by a female badger or panel worker, are after all pretty effectual disguises, and In- spector Hollinberger estimates that several scores of the crooks got into town during the last inauguration disguised in one Way or another. But those of the crooks who contrive to get through the line in disguise will be pretty thoroughly handicapped so far as doing business on inauguration day is con- cerned. The same eagie-eyed detectives from all the country over, to say nothing of the Washington force, who will put in their time up to the inauguration day in watch- ing the depots, will distribute themselves through the city while the ceremony is going on. There will be a score of cetec- lives on the President’s stand in front of the White House, dozens of them in the Capitol building, slews of them scattered along the gigantic parade’s line of march and a battalion of them at the inaugura- tion ball room, and with all of these lines out it is expected that there will be a corraling of soft-voic2d crooks such as the country never saw before. ——.__ Why He Conldn’t See Him. From the Chicago Tribune. “I'd like to see Mr. Wexworth,” said the man at the front door. “I'm sorry,” replied the woman of the “He is , “No, sir; but——” “Then I think he'll see me. Tell him, if you please, that Willis Higgamore is here.” “TI should like to oblige you, but—” “Pardon me for being persistent, madame —you are Mrs. Wexworth, are you not?” “I am.” “Pardon me for insisting,Mrs. Wexworth, but your husband and I are old and inti- mate friends. I dare say he is busy. In the old days when we were thrown to- gether often he was always busy. A pro- fessional man has to be saving of his time. But I repeat that I am quite sure he will see me. I shall not detain him long, but while passing through the town where he lives I could never forgive myself if I didn’t — and say ‘How do you do? if nothing else.” “You will excuse me if I say —' “Your pardon, again, madame; but will you oblige me by telling him I would like to see him?” “I can’t. He has been dead four years. I tried several times to tell you, but you wouldn’t—certainly. No offense. Good day, sir.” ——__+e-____ Holiday Shopping. Frem the Cleveland Plain Dealer, “Just to see that young fellow plunging through the solid crowd of shoppers! Who is the tall woman foilowing so closely be- hind him?” “That's Mrs. Skaggs, and the young man is her nephew. She hirea him to go shop- ping with her. He’s the halfpack in the college foot ball team. Whew! See him break through the line!” “A SUDDEN THOUGHT STRIKES ME—1LET US SWEAR ETERNAL FRIEND- to SHIP.’ From Life, é We “and there, above the little gra Oh, there above the little grav kissed again with tears!’ | quested, pick @ stone out of a mule’s hind FOLLOWED-THE ARMY A Northern Soldier's Description of Colored Camp Followers. SOME AMUSING ANECDOTES OF THE WAR Stubborn Mules Hypnotized nto Docility by Their Power. GRAPEVINE TELEGRAPH Written for The E ening Star, HE AFRICAN race in America, from the respectable “colored person” all . the way down the scale to “niggers” (and- please = mark right here that ali negroes are not “nig- s and all dar- keys are not respect- able colored persons) is strangely attract- ed by music, musk and the military. AS cur troops marched into the south- ern country the darkeys would flock to ‘ooh at the soldiers and, especially in the case of the younger ones, could not keep from foliowing. Thus every advancing column carried with it a black contingent gatherirg volume, like a rolled snowball, until at times the white force se2med to be a were nucleus. This was complimentary, but not al- Ways convenient; as there was small de- mand for their services except as body servants to officers, and mobs of the ig- norant creatures became simply nomads. trudging aimlessly after the troops and exposed to most of the hardships, if not to the dangers, of campaigning, with none of the glory or pay. For all that they were @ happy lot in childish recklessness of the future and easy oblivion of the pasi. Beyond the general idea that contact with the Union soldiers meant being free, they had little idea of what the war was about. One fairly intelligent looking negro being told, laughingly, that he looked like a se- cessionist, replied: “"Deed I isn’t no secessionist.” “Why. Don't you hurrah for Jeff Da- vis?” “Well, do you hurrah for the Union?” _ sah, doesn’t hurrah fer him needer.”” “Tren who do you hurrah for?” “I jess hurrahs fer Abe Linkum.” That was a word of magic to the war time negro. As body servants to the offl- cers the green field hands were sore trials, as the very names of things in daily use were unknown. “Meat” meant only fat pork, “bread” conveyed nothing but corn meal cocked in small loaves, and one will- ing youth who served me, answered a question as to what he had been doing with my sword by stating: “I'se jess been cleaning yo’ savious,” which was as nearly as he had caught the word seber. “One ob de Stam.” Officers’ servants took amonk them- seives the rank (not the title) ef their em- ployers. A general officer’s servant would converse only de haut en bas with the darkey vho waited on a captain. I knew a case where a detailed staff officer re- turning to his regimental duties could not get his servant to accompany him. The fellow had, he said, been servant to a mounted staff officer and couldn't demean himself by waiting on a mere infantry lieutercnt. Sometimes these airs were like- ly to get the darkeys into scrapes. One night in eastern Kentucky a certain general and his staff were sleeping on a ficor of a deserted house during a brief night's halt, and, although all were snor- irg, the creaking noise of the door being stealthily opened awakened every man on the instant. Pie) goes there?” was promptly called out. The answer, in a gentle, almost apolo- getic, tone came through the darkness: “One ob de staff.” Boots, sabers and everything else that hands could throw went crashing at that hastily shut door, and for days afterward the general would smilingly point out any particularly ragged darkey as perhaps be- ing “one ob de staff” off duty. The news brought by “grape vine tele- graph” frequently beat the regular chan- nels of information in the most astonishing fashion. Reports of decisive battles long distances away were current, with correct statements as to the issue, on several occa- sions when no known means of such early transmission existed by or wire. Granting a few cases when coincidence arising from the constant chatter of our sable attendants might furnish the solu- tion, there were others where the whole subject of the manner of transmission was, ard still is, a mystery. White people, hundreds of miles from the Scene, are said to have learned from the negroes that the battle of Bull Run had been fought and lost by the Union army, just as they are said to have learned in Iss of the fall of Vicksburg by “grape vine tel- egraph” long before the news could reach them through white channels. Virginia State Pride. The army darkey, with all his Blee over his freedom, bragged of having belonged to rich people, and to some extent boasted of his state. Virginia darkeys certainly looked down on those of other states. Even a Kentucky darkey would observe in a quar- rel: “I never yit did see an Allerbarmer nigger wuf anything.” The cortrabands had the acquisitiveness of magpies as to cast-off things of no value. One who could get part of a worn-out uni- fcrm was an object of envy among his fel- lows, and in every mob of them could be seen sorry mules, usually the veriest limp- ing skeletons, loaded with trash which was almost pathetic in its worthlessness—su*h as ragsed fragments of blankets, coffee pots without spouts, kettles without bot- and bits of all the odds and ends left in deserted camps. Sometimes such an ani- mal would be surrounded by an entire fam- ily, from the new-born pickaninny, looking like a black rubber doll, and carried by its mammy, while she led the next larger sized child by the hand, up to the gray-haired ‘uncle,” who limped along with an impro- vised cane. ‘The contrabands, who, it may be —— ect of themseives ands”’—mis| by the sound—were usefu! When permitted to handle army seeing They had, and have, a natural faculty with a mule far beyond the capacity of a white man to acquire. An army mule was more dangerous than a Gatling gun. He could kick in seventeen directions at once, and with unerring aim, while the peculiar tele- scopic extension slides on his hind legs en- abled him to kick a soidier anywhere from three rods to a furlong distant, even if that soldier was up a tree or down in a cellar. Some mules kicked better than others, but a strictly average three-year-old would think nothing of kicking the weathercock off an Episcopal church the other side ot the railroad track. When the six-mule Wagon teams would quarrel emong them- selves about forage or politics, ail com- mencing to argue With their heels simulta- neously, the white teamster might be kick- ed into an adjacent township, but if an ordinary contraband came on the ecene he would calmly take the bridle of the near wheel mule, crawl up on the animal's back and call ow ‘High dar! You mewels! Jess look at yo'selves. Whatcher doin’? Get up dar, you mewel!” and the team would clamp their bell-pull tails down and haul that wagon away so steadily and sweetly that only the way the mules would wink at each other would prove they were not at the funeral of a near relative and much im- pressed thereby. ~ Influence Over Mules. The boldest soldier in the army would wince in passing a mule train cn a narrow road—never knowing what minute he might be playing tag with the eavenly bodics— whereas, any stray. darkey would, if re- said in as “country foot, using no stronger formula of speech “Watch out dar, you mewel! I sees you = SSS SS —————————ssSsw———— excitement, the crooks are ing pre- pared for it. There is no way so good to prevent sickness as being prepared for it. 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"Hayve yi"= self, “fo I buss yo" wide open!” While the southern darkeys frequently made good guides in personally conducting 4 party over theirsown neighborhood-—in- deed, they seemed, Nke horses, to have the faculty of remembering roads even in the darkest nights—if asked for verbal Cirec- tions their instructions would lose a man scing from his own gate <o the smoke house. “Yo’ take de fuss road on de right an’ when yo’ git clar ob de ole medder whar Jedge Taylo’ use ter keep dat brinnle bult what got so savigeous, yo pass cross de ole deadenin’ an’ right facin’ yo’ on de hilt is whar Aunt Jane Beecham lived so lone Yo’ cain't see de house sense it buhred down. Den yo’ bar away pass do Simpson place, an’ "bout a mile furder yo’ come to a cross road like dey hauls lawgs on an’ jess beyon’ on de leff dey’s a ole rail pen whar we use ter scald der hawgs when I was a little feller no more’n so high,” ete. Of course, any one could follow that. It won't do to y that the soldiers were always considerate of these colored waits, but any war-time negro will testify that the rough soldiers were kinder friends than the political jayhawkers who followed the soldiers south when the war closed. These vermin robbed the negroes right and left, incited them against those willing to deal fairly with them and wheadied them out of the votes which it was, at that time, a political crime to give them. Occasion: ly a soldier left in the south after the sur- render would be tempted to emulate the methods of the swindling carpetbaggers, who, like buzzards, came to feast on what war had left. A Seo el's Device. One such case was where a darkey plow- ing a field for his former owner, and be- leving, as most of the negroes did, that a blue coat and brass buttons meant the United States government pure and simple to whom came a soldier asking why he plowed. Being answered that the plowing was for wages, and that the land belonged to his employer, which employer was a secessionist “from way back,” the friendly soldier asked the darkey why he didn’t buy ground and work for himself. The colored agriculturist explained that he had only $10 for capital and knew of no field to be bought for that sum. Thereupon the sol- dier offered to sell him the very field on which they stood for that exact amount. And so a trade was made, the poor plow- man paying for the land his only $10 bill, receiving therefor, as he had stipulated, a written deed which, to be sure, he could not real, but which he knew to be all right, inasmich as he had seen the soldier write it on the spot with a pencil. The ignorant southern dark had strange ideas of “Yankee sodgers” before seeing them. I have heard them speak of their surprise that the first specimens seen were like other white folks and not so much as wearing horns on the head. One old “uncie” observed: “I was most jubous tell I see one take his hat off, an’, bless yo’ soul! he hadn't no mo’ horns on his hade den me. "Deed de onliest diffunce 1 see is ‘um was dey didn’t chew terbacker an’ talk polerticks ce whole blessed time lak our folkses did.” There was something touching in their subserviency to the whites. Straggling soldiers would make them carry like mules. One poor contraband, staggering along wn- der four muskets and inngmerable accou- terments, was angrily a: by an officer who happened on the scene why he carried such a load for lazy soldiers. He answered simply: “De gennlemen tole me I hat ter take Dey’d been totin’ dem all ae mawnin’ se’ves, dey said, an’ was tireder den "Sides, dey tole me I was "bleedzed ter "m anyways.” Gentlemen and Chickens. An angered officer, trying to console a regro woman lamenting her lost poultry, finally said that if she could point out the soldiers who had stolen her hens he would cempel them to compensate her and would punish the men. “Pint ‘em out?” said the woman, “how'se I gwine ter pint "em out? All de gennelmen lcoks jess alike, wearin’ de close de does, an’ you know yo'self every gennelman de whole lot jess nachelly takes chicke anyways he fines dem. Deeshur sodger nelmans done tuck de las’ chicken I_ had in de roun’ world—settin’ hens an’ all. I "spect all you gennelmens suck aigs ef dey ain’t watched!” She was about right in the main, but the association of ideas—gentlemen | sucking other folks’ raw eggs—could hardly origin- ate outside of the darkey mind. Contrabands hanging about the camp believed at first everything told them by the soldiers. Army horses and mules were branded “U. 8.” on the left shoulder in let- ters about two inches high. On one occa- sion the soldiers circulated a report that all the contrabands were to be similarly marked fer identification as Union darkeys. The result was @ remarkable reduction in cur sable camp followers within a few hours, but some were quite willing to sub- mit to the branding for the sake of re- maining with the “sodgers.” One of these actually stood without flinch- ing while the practical jokers brought a heated branding iron ¢lose to his forehead, fully prepared to stand the burning. An- other one swore he had already been brand- ed but the marks “had got wore off.” The orly one who really felt the iron was an agile youth who was calm until the mere edge of the heated iron touched him about half way between his neck and his heels, when he gaye a warwhoop and shoi out of camp like a black meteor. One of the jok- ers in his enjoyment of the delicate humor of this laughed until he fell backward into the fire and sat down on it. The darkey’s ‘wild warwhoop was a consumptive whisper in comparison with the ear-splitting yelle of that humorist. —__.—_—_ _ A Certainty. From Harlem Life. Oldboy—“Say, plumber, you are a very improvident man, leaving those pleces of lead, nuts and screws lying about. They'll sured, Jost.” be Leadly—"Oh, no, sir, You'll find "em all in the bill!” ‘em. des me. tote ——___+e+____ In Boston. From the Chicago Tribune. “Perhaps the little girl would like a talk-