Evening Star Newspaper, January 23, 1897, Page 15

THE EVENING STAR, SATURDAY, JANUARY 93, 1897-24 PAGES, _ na PLAYING FIREMEN With All the Apparatus of a Real Department. eee A NOVELTY IN MANUAL TRAINING Up-to-Date Course in a Cambridge Boys’ School. —_-_——_. ITS MANY GOOD POINTS Written for The Evontng Star, interesting feature of the for A novel and Cambridge Manual Training School Boys ts the fire battalion. In conduct and appliances this is noth- §pz less than a reproduction of the real @re organization under the civic govern- qpent, and it gives the youngster fortu- @atc enough to secure its advantages a @ractical knowledge and training fn the Whole selence of fighting fire. The drill qwae first introduced as an optional feature ® the school, but its success was so pro- @ounced, and the benefits so unquestion- @ble, that it has been made compulsory ‘pon all boys physically able to take It. ‘The compulsion involves no hardship, @ewever, for the dullest boy cannot help finding the exercises interesting. Before he can enter the battalion proper a semt- military course is given him, consisting of the simpler marching movements, set- ting-up exercise and other forms of train- ing identical with those used in the school The course also includes y competent surgeons. | st the boy | en to as: if with the various | fireman business. He e of the ladder trucks, ifferent ladders—straight lad- mn ladders, roof ladders the ladder dogs, the life-line gun, life belts, life harness and | appurtenances. | ully equipped for work, carriage furnished with all nozzies and couplings, a goose neck, reducers and ut-offs, are also provided. er elaborate but interesting preparation is completed in Decem- ne regular practice begins on the d about the Ist of March the ba prepared to begin the real joor practice, and then the fun com- Each piece of the fire department apparatus is under command of a boy officer, for the fire battalion ts constituted in the same manner as the military organi- hi feature of the same has a captain, a a corporal, and 4 to the depart- ber. Ist of J ‘sare regularly i and read at roll Method of Work. To become an officer is no empty honor, for the boy must have a satisfactory rec- ord for good conduct and good standing im his studies he other departments of the school; he must have been on drill a year, and he must pass a rather severe examination in military exercises, red- cross or emergency work and the handling of fire apparatus. If successful he is made a corporal, and promotions are neither rapid nor easy. A wooden structure forty feet high, call- ed the fire-drill tower, has been erected near 1 buildings, provided with window and other openings, on the general plan of a three-story house. Here every Thursday afternoon an imaginary fire is fought and imaginary rescues made, with excitement m and n of the practical knowledge and sense esponsibility attendant upon a real | conflagration. Or the arrival of the bat- | at the tower ladders are quickly nes of hose laid and water thrown skill ed and relish which | spea’ » value of the work | as a manner of training and a source of fun. Sometimes the lower part of the drill tower is supposed to be in flames. Then the life gun is called into use. An arrow attached to a cord is shot up into the top story, carrying a heavy rescue line to the fancied victims. The gun used for this purpose is a very powerful one, and the | brass-weighted arrow discharged from it | is never again seen by the battalion. An | emergency corps is always on duty at such times, and one can imagine the youth com- prising this department insisting upon tak- ing a share of the exercises by forcibly restoring to consciousness and adminis- tering unpalatable remedies to their un- willing comrades, with that perverse but enthusiastic enterprise so characteristic of boys. The boys who have the opportunity to take this fire drill may. perhaps, never be called upon to put their knowledge to Practical use, but they get from it a great variety of beneficial exerciss is still more valuable, it induces of alertness and prompt obedience, capacity for instant and correct judgment in sudden emergencie: combined quiekness in action with coolness and courage in oz confusion and danger—in urdy, noble qualities which awake American boy ought to CURIOUS WAYS OF OWLS. Some See by Day as Well as by Night —Ghostly Birds, From the New York Sun. “Ary one who has tramped much through the woods,” safd an observant Pennsylva- nia woodsman, ws how seldom it is that he sees an owl of any description, and also how equally rare it is to get a shot at a hawk, although many may be seen. “There are two good reasons why the every-day hunter seldom sees an owl while he tramps. One reason is that some owls carnot see by day, and therefore select hiding places which render their discovery next to impossible as a person passes cas- ually through the woods. The other rea- son is that there are some owls that see by day as well as by night. These double- sighted birds discover the intruder long before he can possibly see them, and they lose no time in seeking places of greater safety. There are owls whose eyesight does not depend on darkness to be of use. The screech owl and the long-eared owl are am the members of the family that are tlinded, or partially blinded, by the light of day. Others, among them the hoot owl, the snow owl, the hawk owl, and the short-eared owl, are sharp sighted, both by day and by night. The short-eared owl is a great field mouse hunter in wheat or rye stubble. He is among the first of the family of winter owls that come down from the north to forage in this latitude. “Early In the season, quail hunters working in wheat stubble, especially in Western Pennsylvania and’ eastern Ohio, tre frequently surprised by the sight of » pair of big birds rising suddenly trom | made ; Stout steel trap, I would bait the trap with | the branches of the tree, | lceked after it. | here and at Carlsbad, Germany, and it has the field and gliding away, a few feet above the stubble, as ndtseless as ghosts and as swift as shadows. These are short- ear owls, hunting fot field mice. One might scare up 300 of these owls at once, and they would make scarcely any. more noise than so many butterflies. Ghostly si- lence in flight characterizes aN species of owls. “Hawks fly noiselessly, too. These birds depend on stealth in seeking their prey. It won't do for them to have any rustle about their hunting. There is another pe- culiar thing about the short-eared owls. If the hunter finds them on a piece of stub- ble he will not find any other game birds there. The only way that I can explain that fact is that the owl knows instinc- tively that the game bird ts Hable to be hunted, and that consequently he can hunt his own mice more securely if he goes where the quails do not come. The short- eared owl is a favorite with collectors, its coat of cream color and brown feathers seeming especially to be admired. “The rarest of all owls are the hawk owl, the snow owl, and the long-eared owl. The hawk owl I never saw in Pennsylva- nia, but I have shot it in eastern New York and in Connecticut. There fs a little owl called the sawet, which is sometimes plentiful and sometimes scarce. These owls are blind as bats in the daytime, and when dawn approaches they roost in the first place that appeals to them. Consequently we often see them sitting on fence rails, window sills, gate posts, and house roofs, just as well as in the woods. It is no trick to knock them over with a stick at such times. There is a curious thing about the day-blind owls, and that is that they are all summer owls, and go south on the ap- proach of cold weather. “Owls have a peculiar way of eating. They swallow thelr food bones and all. 3y some process the bones, fur, and feath- ers are all rolled up in small balls in the owl's stomach. When I was a boy I be- came aware of this, and it was great sport for me to search in the woods for trees l NUK under which I could discover these eject- ed balls. That was a sure indication that a rough-legged hawk or some species ef owl that tree its roosting place. Taking a long pole and fastening on one end a a mouse or some other thing the birds | were fond of, and then push the trap into and tle the pole fast. I seldom failed to find a hawk or an owl fast in the trap when I went to Once I captured a magniti- y. He was un- injured where the trap held his leg. After a great struggle—for a wounded owl is one of the worst customers to fool with—I tied his legs together, and his great wings down, and started proudly homeward with my prize. I carried with me an old single- barrelled gun. The time was in the fall, and on my way home I laid the ow! on the ground while I stopped to gather hick- ory nuts. While thus engaged I discovered yellow jackets going in and out of a hole in the grcund. I knew at once that the hole was the entrance to a nest of these lively insects. I took my gun, and goin close to the hole, fired into it and took io my keels. Looking back after I had run a safe distance, I saw the yellow jackets swarming angrily out of their dismantled home. The sound of the gun had startled the owl, and he had fluttered about, bound as he was. That flutter was fatal to him. The savage yellow jackets saw the move- ment and settled down on the helpless bird untii his coat was as yellow as old. Wherever the creatures could find a spot to sink a stinger they sank one, and in spite of his bonds the poor owl rolled and tumbled about in agony. I reloaded my gun and creeping behind a fallen tree until I was near enough almost to touch the owl with the end of the barrel, shot the big bird's head off, thus losing my great rize through my boyish mischief.” toe THE MUD BATHS. They Are New Mexican Institutions and Are Largely Patronized. From the New York Post. ‘The hot springs ef New Mexico,” says a gentleman from Las Vegas, “are on the Santa Fe railroad, six miles from Las Ve- gas, and they are situated in a basin about thirty acres in extent, surrounded on all jes*by hills rising to a height of from 300 to 400 feet, shielding the place from wind and sand storms. The mud baths, which are famous for their curative effects, are only to be had in two places in the world, been shown that the mud found at the hot springs of New Mexico, and which is used in giving the baths, is of the same chem- ical composition as that of Carlsbad. It is very interesting to note the formation of this mud or peat. It is formed by the veg- etation which has been washed down from the hills probably a century ago, and which, settling among the rocks, has be- come decomposed and formed into a sub- stance which is practically carbon impreg- nated with salts, magnesia, soda, lith!a and various other ingredients. “This peat is gathered from the rocks, dried and put through a fine sieve in order to remove the silicates, and after this treatment is as seft as fiour. It is then taken to the mixing room, where it {s put in large tubs and the water from the hot springs mixed with it until it is of about the consistency of mush. The mud fs now ready for use, and it is taken into the bath- ing room, where the patient is placed in a tub and covered, with the exception of the head, and allowed to remain in the mud for from ten to thirty-five minutes. The appli- cation of the mud has an effect similar to a mud poultice, and draws the impurities iy the body through the pores of the skin.” —————_-e-—____ WONDERS OF A SILVER GLOBE. It Was Made by Melting a Dime, the Jerseyman Found a World in I From the New York Sun. “If any one doubts that the earth was once a molten mass and that its mountain chains, its great table lands and the re- cesses for the seas were the results of the cooling settling of the surface, and then its shriveling to fit the ever-shrinking cen- ter, let him see a world made,” said the ob- servant Jerseyman. “That sounds simple said one of his hearers, “but I haven’t noticed that there were any worlds being made just now upon which progress was any faster than right here, and I can’t say that I have observed much change In this old globe since I began to watch it.” “I have made many globes,” declared the Jerseyman, “not merely insensate things to represent what we know of the natural and political divisions of the earth, but minia- ture worlds of the days of chaos, with every particle in them aglow with heat, and all in motion. And then I have watch- ed them become cold, immobile and dead, with blackened, roughered surfaces, and it required no great stretch of to feel that within the few moments which the whole operatiun required one had bridged over millions of years in the “his- tory of a planet and seen it pasa through every stage of its existence, from that a lght-giving body to that of our dead and desolate moon.. Come with he continued, “and I will show you the Fis tory of our world, since ft first took form.” With that he led his little audience to a ‘work bench and drew forth’ a chunk of charcoal covered on all but one side with plaster of paris, a blowpipe, and a jewel- er’s soldering lamp. “I will make the globe of a dime,” he said, and he placed a silver ten-cent piece on the charcoal. Then he lit the lamp, and with the blowpipe directed the flame upon the dime. Soon the charcoal began to glow and burn away about the dime in a broad hollow, and then the dime turned first black and then red, and as it approached a white heat it drew itself together until presently it was a globule of molten silver. If you have never seen such a ball of glowing melted silver you have missed one of the prettiest of sights. On the outside there forms a very thin skin of black oxide, which serves like a woman's veil to height- en the charms beneath it. With the blow- pipe still adding heat to the globe, the silver became as liquid as water, and the geses emitted by the heated charcoal made it roll about in the hollow as mobile as quicksilver, while within the globe the met- al could be seen agitated by intense cur- rents. These currents changed their direc- tion as the point of flame from the blow- pipe was moved from point to point, and every moment the surface agitation was so great that the rest of the oxide would break and disclose the dazzling metal be- neath. * All know the beauty of quicksilver, and many have seen the glow of melted lead or tin or the red glare of iron as it was poured in the foundry or furnace, but none of these compares with the beauty of molten silver. Melted gold has a beauty of its own, but not like that of silver. The light which comes from the melted silver seems as brilliant as that from an arc electric light, but not dazzling; it is white with a tinge of heavenly violet, and the swirling metal seems translucent like a pearl of the finest water. “Now we will let it cool,” said the Jersey- man, removing the blowpipe from his lips and letting his inflated checs. wae their natural conditiun. The charcoal was placed on the bench. Soon the agitation of the surface of the tiny globe of silver ceased, and the quiescence of the dull outer coating showed that a skin of metal had cooled and set in plac “Now watch the mountains and valleys form and see the mighty earthquakes shake the crust,” exclaimed the Jerseyman, and as he spoke the crust, which had_ been smooth and even, began to wrinkle. Some- times the wrinkles would form long contin- uous lines across half the globe; then in spots the whole surface would pucker up and again all of these would straighten out erly to form new series of puckers and wrinkles in other places. It was all over in half a minute and the globe was set enough to drop into a glass of water to cool “Now look at it,” said the Jerseyman, handing the globe to his visitors and with it a strong magnifying glass. ‘There is a skimmer of water on it, caught in the in- terstices of the roughened surface. That is three or four times as much water in pro- portion as our earth has on it, so you have before you all the features of sea and land, mountain and valley.” It was indeed so, and, although the glass revealed only the more prominent of thc features, there was no difficulty in seeing all the others with the mind's eye. eee HE SOWED THE WIND. And WIIl Never Again Try to a Woman's Edi From the New York Journal. “Holy smoke! what have I fallen into?” He was just entering the parlor of the girl to whom he had been paying atten- tion. Pandemonium greeted him. The shrill voices of a score of women rose and fell in ear-splitting, blood-curdling cadence and the windows rattled and shook from the fierce concussion. In one corner sat a man with an ashen face and trembling limbs, to whom a volley of un- intelligible language was ofttimes hurled, and then again he sat, with staring eye balls, listening to those awful voices, as, suggesting, vociferating and jangling, they shattered the silence, quarreling among themselves. Twenty women with twenty voices! What could it mean? First, one shrill voice and then another predominated. : “I must have two columns for my essay on ‘Women cf Note.’ ”” “If you dare to cut down-my article on ‘The History of the Sleeve’ I'll simply quit.”” “I have sixty-eight receipts that are Just lovely and must go in.” “And I have—you should just hear my Poem on"—(All off in a bunch). Then the pale man spoke wearily: “But, ladies, space forbids—" Again a shrill voice above the others: “Where’s my manuscript on ‘The C dren's Corner? Don't you think, Mr. Spif- kins, that I should—* The pale man fainted. The man at the door recognized the un conscious sufferer. He was the editor of the Billville Blueblazes. He had been try- ing to issue a woman's edition of his paper for “sweet charity.” In the Wrong Town. From the Detroit Free Press. She looked like a woman from a remote tier of townships, and the way in which she was dressed tended to confirm that im- pression. She seemed in a world of trou- ble and approached the floor walker. “See here, mister,” she said nervously, “I've been robbed in this here store. Josh "lowed me to come down here to do my shoppin’ ‘cause it would be a savin’. 1 had $30 five minutes ago an’ now I hain’t got a cent. Oh, dear! I’m mor’n a hundred miles from hum, with no way to get back an’ nothin’ to eat; and the woman buried her face in a handkerchief, while threaten- ing to collapse. “You'd better report the matter to the police at once. Or I'll attend to that for you.” “Not on your tin type,” she responded quickly. “I’m no Rube.'* Then she gath- ered herself and between artistically exe- cuted sobs asked that she be lent enough to keep ker over night and take her back to Josh. But she had tipped her hand. The floor walker led her back to the office, and in the long bag within her dress skirt was found a choice collection of dry goods. She made the air sulphurous, and at the police station proclaimed herself a “jay” for leav- ing Chicago, where there seems to be a special immunity for the transgressor. —_-+__. A Bad Break. From Tid-Bits, Jagson—“I tried to pay the new woman a compliment last night in my speech, but it didn’t seem to be appreciated.” Bagson—‘‘What did you say?” J m—I said that the new woman would leave large footprints on the sands of time.” Business Terms. Fiom Life. TALK WITH BOYCOTT How His Name Booiihé Part of Our Languagp.' STORY OF AN AGRARIAN WAR The Part Played bythe Mayo Land Rent. HIS RISEIN FAVOR Written for The Evening Star, “Do you want to meet a man who con- tributed a new word to the English lan- guage? If so, come over to Morrison's Ho- tel and let me introduce you to Captain Boycott.” So ran an invitation received by the writer while staying-in the capital of Ire- land not many months ago. Its sender was W. R. Molloy, her majesty’s secretary to the Irish board of education, a learned personage and a genial withal: Under Dr. Molloy’s guidance a visit was made to the venerable hostelry on Dawson _ street, wherein Parnell made his headquarters while in Dublin, and frofrthe balconies of which Tietjens, Pattl an@ many another famous songstress has carroled for the benefit of enthusiastic throngs, In the smoking room of.Morrison’s sat Captain Boycott, pufling placidly at a dingy briar pipe. The once famous land agent is a middle-sized, old gentleman, with a long gray beard. ‘He was attired in rough tweed, and looked the small country ‘squire that he 1s. The obstinate nature which precipitated the bitter Irish land war of 1890-'81, and the attendant evils of “boy cotting,” was indicated by a firm mouth, and a steely blue glitter in the small, rather deep-set eyes. “Yes, I am the original Boycott,” said the captain, with an amused chuckle. “You may be surprised to learn, though, that I am nowadays one of the most popu- lar men in my country, if not in all Ire- land. Where my name was execrated by the peasantry, it is now well received. Every year I exhibit horses or prize cattle at the big Ballsbridge show; and I assure you tha‘ there. are no entries more loudly applauded.. I am on the very best-of terms with all my neighbors—landlord and ten- ant alike. But sixteen years ago it was different—a’ w different!” Every ‘stadépt of word lore knows that the now “actefted verb ‘to boycott,” and the substantive, adjectives and adverb de- rived therefrom, are due to the fierce con- filet between this elderly gentleman and the tenants under his control during the winter of 1880 and the spring of 1881. Cap- tain Boycott was a “small ‘squire’ at Lough Mask, in the wild Connemara sec- tion of County Mayo. He was also land agent of “factor” for several landed pro- prietors, notably, the Earl of Erne. He was a man of about fifty years of age, well preserved and vigorous, with a strong local reputation for obstinacy. Grim pov- erty stalked abroad in thejland. The peas- antry could not pay theirgrents, especially in the barren section wherein Boycott dwelt. But the captain (his title is derived from the militia) was a determined man. He deemed it his duty to collect rents at all hazards. In this way he soon found him- self at loggerheads with the people; name became a synonym for aggre: “‘rack-renting.”” Several times he as threatened; but threats had no effect upon tm. Threats and Violence. ¥ merntig mail,” said the captain, “seemed “incompleté..without oné or two bloodthirsty Warninngs, crudely. drawn pic- tures of coffins; and’ the-tike- Once I was actually shot at; but escaped’ death by my horse leaping a hetige.” At length, im’ September,< 1980, nell precipitated thé crisis by his Speech at Ennis, in yFhich he urgdiithe Bebete of Ireland to abstain, from agrarian ctimes, and adopt instead a policy of.sending land- lords, agents and bailiffs: “to Coventry.” “Sending to Coventry” was indeed the old word for “boycotting,” and had been found a highly effective. method of warfare. The idea became popular at,once, and the first important victim of the Ennis program was Captain Boycott of, the County Mayo. “I was warned that if I did not cease act- ing in the interest of my landlord employ- ers,” said the captain, “that I should be left ‘severely alone.’ This did not scare me, and I continued working as before. Then the ‘boycott’ began. My own harvest was late that year, and when I tried to en- gage harvesters I was everywhere met with refusals. Not a man among the laborers of my parish or barony dared to work for me. Mr. Par- The Siege Begins. “The corn remained standing. But this was not the worst. My servants left me in a body, and my wife and children were obliged to do all their éooking,? washing, etc., themselves. Then the village grocer and butcher declined te'gell me provisions, and when I sent to the neighboting towns for supplies I found it absolutely.impossible tereet anything. But I would not give in— not I. “Things went from bad-to worse," he con- tinued. “There was no fuel in the house. Nobody would cut turf “or carry coal for me. I had to tear up my floors for fire- wood. Finally I sent my good wife to Dub- lin in care of friends, and prepared for a siege. Meanwhile, however, the story of the ‘boycott’ had gotten into the anti-Par- nellite papers. Sympathizers to the Rescue. “People who-gid not believe in such meth- ods, and who knew that I was merely a faithful servant, working zealously for my employers, formed an association, known as the ‘Emergency Men.’ They gathered to- gether several score of stalwart harvésters, and marched them under police protection to my aid. Nearly all these men were from the north, and belonged to Orange lodges. ‘That irritated my Mayo friends more than ever, and constant attacks and sallies be- came the order of the day and night. Finally a detachment of soldiers came from Castlebar to our aid, and the belated har- vest was reaped and garnered. We had to guard the corn-haggard with fixed bay- onets, revolvers and blackthorns to keep our ‘ricks’ from being: burned down. “Of course all the newspapers were full of. my beleaguerment, and little by little the word ‘to boycott. crept into editorial veage. I did not notice thisat the time; I had other things to-think of.. A fund was raised for me in Engiand and Ireland; but it did not come near reimbursing me for my expenses and worry. -You see, at that time agrarian ‘boycotting’ ‘was not illegal, nor was it made so until the crimes act of 1887. By thai time the syste had become so widespread that it threatened to sap the whole social condition fn ireland. It was, indeed, a most powerful and insidious weapon, as I am now free to own. A Lively Christmas. “My Christmas and New Year day of 1890-’81_were anything but enjoyable feasts. Not a day, scarcely an hour, passed with- out a fight or a personal encounter between the oppesing forces. Our Christmas plum- pudding was sent by admfférs in London- derry, packed in a mail sack. The be- slegers respected the mail sack and we en- Joyed the pudding tremenddusly. “At last, in the spring of 1881, there was an armistice. 1 was left (with an armed guard, however, and all my provisions were sent by rail from Belfast rls Dublin. When I had time to take breath and read the pa- pers, I discovered that my‘ name had been @ household word; though I did not even then fancy that it would become embodied in the dictionary.” But nowadays there are few more popu- lar men than Boycott in County Maye, or in all Ireland, as he himself pointed out. This popularity came about from the secret pleasure which the try found in fighting against so brave and straightfor- ward an enemy. Moreover, the captain treasured no malice against his persecutoys —and some of his ‘friends today are among the very fa) him in 1880 and 1881, ln horse show, held ly, bis venerable’ figure and never~ fails- to attract: vigorous ap- He ‘always has two or three ex- bits, for he is. a notable breeder of horses snd fat cattle, Another cause for Captain Boycott’s recent popularity is his embrac- ing of the new Suth taxation cause in Ire- land—a cause into which such former unionists @s Lord Castletown and Lord Maurice Fitzgerald have heartily entered. Indeed, there is serious talk of sending Captain Boycott as M. P. for the intensely national district of Mayo, in which he lives. ‘This would, indeed, be a change of opinion —but Ireland has ever been a country of such surprises, Certainly the venerable — agent would make a vigorous legis- lator. The first newspaper to use the verb “to boycott” was United Ireland, a fiery organ of the radical wing of the Parnellite party. The stamp of journalistic approval was set on the word by the London Times in De- cember, 1880, and the American papers seized on i{ with avidity as “filling a long felt want." A few years later all the prin- cipal English dictionaries, and several for- eign ones, admitted it to their columns, — GEMS HAVE DISEASES. Some Precious Stones Lose Color, Some Gradually Fade and Die. From the New York Time: Gems have diseases just as men and wo- men do, with this difference, that the in- firmities of precious stones can rarely be cured. Some gems deteriorate, grow old, in other words, and gradually become lifeless. Pearls are most subject to this fate, and no means have been found to restore them to life. Among infirmities to which precious stones are liable is one common to all col- ored stones, that of fading, or losing color when long exposed to the light. The em- erald, the sapphire and the ruby suffer the least, their colors being as nearly perma- nent as colors can be, yet experiments made a few years ago in Paris and Berlin to determine the deterivration of colored gems through exposure showed that even these suffered, a ruby which has lain for two years in a show window being perceptibly lighter in tint than {ts original mate, which was kept in the darkness. The causes of the change are not very clear, even to expert chemists, but it is evi- dent that the action of the light on the coloring matter of the gem effects a deteri- oration, slow but exceedingly sure. In tie case of the garnet and topaz the change is more rapid than in that of the rtby and sapphire, but there is a curious difference in the result in topaz and garnet, for while the latter grows lighter the for- mer appears to become cloudy and dull in hue, losing much of the brightness char- acteristic of a newly-cut gem. For ages the opal has had the unenviable reputation of being the most unlucky of gems, and it is believed that the jewelers themselves were originally responsible for some of the superstitions and hard luck stories connected with it, since to the pol- ishers and setters it is one of the most troublesome gems on their list. Microtonists say that the prismatic colors and fire of the opal are due to myriads of minute cracks in the body of the stone, the edges of which reflect the light at different angles and give the hues so much admired. A stone full of cracks is liable to split in two at any time, and disasters of this kind, especially in the process of grinding and polishing, have occurred so often that every gem polishing house has its store of hard luck stories in connection with the opal. After the gem is set and sold the load is taken off the mind of the manufacturer and transferred to that of the wearer. Opais that have successfully passed the ordeals of grinding, polishing and setting do not often crack afterward, but it is best not to expose them to even the moderate heat In- volvel by the wearer sitting in front of an open fire, for the opal is composed _prin- cipally of silicic acid, with from 5 to 13 per cent of water, a combination which renders them very treacherous objects. The idea that they are otherwise unfortunate in the sense that they bring disaster to the wear- er may be dismissed as superstitious. Of all precious stones, however, the is the most open to be diseased. —+ e+ A Warning to Mr. Crane's Admirers. From the New York Tribune. ‘The public has come to look upon Wil- liam H. Crane as a fun-maker, a come- dian clear through, and a man who under no consideration is to be taken seriously. His plays have always been jovial, hearty and wholesome, with never a tinge of sadness in them. The departure he made this year in choosirg a play in which in the last act he dies has upset to some extent this belief that he cannot portray the tragic side of life. A striking instance of the feeling of the public on the matter happened at the Sth Avenue Theater re- cently. ‘The curtain had been up for several min- jutes and the play had fairly started when a carriage drove up to the door. Two men and two women alighted. They were in evening Gress and also in particularly good humor. They had evidently had a good dinner and were ready and willing to bub- ble over with enthusiasm. They were look- ing for comedy and were ready to laugh. As they passed through the door one ot the men said with a chuckle: “Il bet it's great. I always laugh at Crane.” Whea the curtain was rung down afte> Crane, in the part of the wornout, world- wearied man had quietly breathed his last, the little party soberly put on their wraps and started cut. As they passed through the door one of the women said: “Well, how did you like it? The man savagely kicked a program out of nis way and replied in a gruff way: “I've been buncoed.” “Why, how?” asked the woman in sur- prise. “Well,” and here he wrapped his heavy coat around his throat, “I came here to laugh—not to cry,” and then the party passed out into the night. —.0e— A Genius in His Line. From the Detroit Free Press. “I've hit it!” exultantly exclaimed the theatrical manager from the bounding west. “I've turned the trick. You other fellows in the business haven't learned the ele- mentary principles of feminine human na- ture.” “What are you trying to get at?” “Come out and sit through a perform- ance at my house. I'll give you $10 for each and every hat bigger than a bird’s nest that is worn by any woman in the audience.” “You're just kidding. No manager on earth can get e crowd of American women to obey an imperative rule made by the house.”” “There’s a glimmer of sense in that last remark of yours. Of course he can’t. And that’s just where my generalship came in- to play. I did like the rest of you, by post- ing notices that all large hats must be re- moved during the performances. I vowed that the order had to go if it wrecked the business. I hired policemen, base ball um- pires, lightning rod men, book agents, prize fighters and professional referees, but their ckeeks withered before the stand made by the women. Haif the fellows slinked away without giving notice or drawing pay.” ae I thought you said you won in the ight.” “That's right. I got out a new set of no- tices stating thet ni bareheaded woman would be allowed in my theater. They could have their money back, but their absence would be insisted upon. The first night there was not a hat in sight, and there were a hundred men in sight to protect them. I made a big bluff, but finally pre- tended that I was scared out by the dear creatures and their champions. Now the hatless women give me the freezing laugh as they pass in, and I pretend to be the maddest man west of the Mississippi. Wo- man, in the aggregate, is very prone to back up and go the other way.” ——__+-e-_____ Unsafe. From Brooklyn Life. Miss McFlirter—“No, captain, you have not beer. on every sea; you know you haven’t ventured on the sea of matri- mony.” Cavt. Batchelor—“That’s s0, but you must remember that matrimony’s the high sea for which no compass has been in- vented.” _———too Nutritious, at Least. From the Boston Courier. Knox—“I really don’t see why people should make so much of Bulger; there is really nothing in him.” Fox—‘I don’t know about that. There must be considerable nutrition about him, pada neta ital doesn’t he?” hee asa: nee, Exchanging -Confidences "That young Goldplate is s0 fascinating,” | declared Laura, “He's a man after my own heart." “SHfe told me last night that he Odell- of Washington. HER TEACHER HELPED ALICE LYLES TO A CURE OF DEAFNESS. HOW Miss Alice Lyles, 215 South Alfred strect, Alexandria, Va., fourteen years old. (This is the young lady's story mm her own words): “I cannot remember when I was not deaf. My broth- ers had to shout at me, and { often got scolded when I could not help things, I nearly got run over once with the cable cars, for I could not hear the gong. I could see folks talk and would wonder what they were saying, but I could not hear a word. “At Sunday school (I go to the Southern M. E. Chureh) I could not bear anything except what my sister told me. The girls used to tease me some- times because I could not hear. “At the day school my sister had to sit right close to me and write or repeat what the teacher said. I Could See Her Lips Move and understand her better than any one else. My sister read about Doctor McGoy, but I was afraid to go to him for fear he might hurt me. He didn’t, though. Don't you think I am glad I went to him? All of « sudden I heard what the folks were saying at home. I was frightened for fear it would not last, but it lasted, and I can hear all right now. At school I Can Hear Every Word the teacher says, My teacher is Miss Davis of the Peabody School. She lets me out of school to take the treatment and 1s so glad I can hear now. Doc- tor McCoy bas made me hear like other folks.”” Mrs. Sarah Lyles, her mother, says: “My danghter had been Deaf since she was fiv years old. . She could not hear any ordinary conv: sation, Unless her attention was called by touch- ing her she would not know you were speaking te her. She is intensely happy over her cure by Doc tor McCoy. She said? “Ma, I can hear everybody and everything 1s so plain now.’ We had had other doctors treat her, but not one of them helped her.”* Miss Davis, the teacher, says: “When I first knew Alice, three years ago, she was very deaf; this term, too; until last few weeks she hears better and.I notice she readily answers any ques- tions. It used to be painfal to me to give her rect- tations at all.”” Alice Lyles, 215 South Alfred st., Alexandria. Cured of deaf- ness. HAD TO LEAVE SCHOOL = OF DEAFNESS; PERFECTLY. Seven Years ~My an Master Caryl H. Ode Mrs. M. t totally de: says: result attack of Malarial Fever. He complained of in- tense pain in itis head and ears and he bad ab- scesses in both ears. While he was sick It was almost impossible, although we shouted right into his ear, to make him understand. After he recovered from the fever he became permanently deaf. Nothing we or our physician did for him helped him in the least, so we decided to employ a specialist, and havi Heard the Praises of Doctor McCoy by people whom they bad we decided to take Caryl to sounded on all benefited and cured, bim “We had been obliged to take him from school because he could, not hear the te: when she spoke to the other scholars reciting their lessons. He conldn’t bear the bells ring. He might stand by the side of a strect plano and even then he could not hear the music. The ticking of a watch he couldn't hear or the clock when standing very near it “His little sister when at play would get close to bis ear and call right into it to make him under- stand. “You can imagine our surprise and delight when ‘one day He Answered Readily When Spo! To in an ordinary voice. Now he hears everything perfect! do not have to raise our voices. He hears a watch tick, He gots to school again and hears as well as he ever could. “Another thing I notice is that whereas he was formerly subject to colds and the slightest one would throw him Into a fever and make him very iN, be has never had one since he took the Me- Coy treatment. We are extremely grateful for what the doctor has done for our boy and perfectly willing to testify to the great good that has come to him.” ENTIRELY CURED OF A TERRIBLE SKIN DISEASE. Geo. 119 2d st. m.w.: “About five years ago I first discovered on my hands water pimples about the size of a penny. ‘There came two or three at a thne first and then they would spread and cover my whole hand. They would swell up and burst, and my hands would become a mass of sores, I lost two of my nails from the disease. During winter weather my hands were worse.” Last winter I lost seven weeks’ work because of the soreness of my hands. “I had been treated by mary doctors, but they could not cure me. I read in the papers of the cure of Jobn B. Barker, 1310 12th st. n.w., of Eczema by Doctor McCoy, and placed myself under his treatment. I have been entirely cured. The skin on my hands is as-soft and clean as those of a young child. I recommend any one suffering from avy skin disease to go to him. ‘The case which Mr. Ca) alludes te is told below in the words of the patient himself: THE CASE OF J. B. BARKER. J. B. Barker, 1310 12th st. n.w.: “My experlence with the skin disease that doctors call Eczema was something terrible. It seemed to be the result of a severe attack of grippe, for soon after I recovered from that there came watery pimples on my feet and ankles. “For nearly or quite a year I was unable to walk without experiencing the most intense pain. “When I put mygelf under Doctor McCoy's treat- ment my entire body was covered except my hands. “I consulted doctor after doctor, but no one MIRACLE OF HEARING TO CHILDHOOD AND AGE The Stories of Two School Children, Alice Lyles and Caryl The Verity of Doctor McCoy’s Triumph Over Deafness Illustrated Again and Again in the Homes A PROMINENT LAWYER RECOVERS HIS LONG-LOST HEARING AT EIGHTY, Robert Patterson of St. Mary*s, Va.t now at No. 471 Marylind ave. city: Mr. Patter son fs @ well-known attorney-at-law and long-time resident of St. Mary's, Va. He fe stopping at prese ent with his daughter, Mrs. W. L. King, of Mary- land avenue—altbough eicaty years old next month, he is a finely presery. 1 ntleman of ye olden time,”” a typteal Virg standing six three and straight as an arn He te very enthusiastic in praise of Doctor McCoy's system of treatment and says: “I'm like the young man in the Sertp- ture, I know uot wh bis power, whether er not It be a miracle; I only know that whereas I was deaf now I can hear. “For more than thirty years T had been troubled with my bearing. It bx came so bad that I Was Compelled to Give Up My Proe fession na a Lawyer. T could not hear the witnesses und had to stand close by judge or opposing counsel and strain ev herve to catch what they were saying. t one time Thad an apoplectic seizure from the use strain and finally gave up the law. “I consulted doctors years ago who told me there was no use for me to spend any money, for I couldn't be cured, as the drum of my ear wae #0 gone that there was no help for me “As Ume went on I grew more aud more deaf, and I attributed it to the infirmities of age and int | Settled Down to a Life of Silence. “My attention was attra: cures of deafness by Doctors MeCoy and ¢ and I thought there must be a chance f availed myself of th pronounced my case ( ed by the sto f conver sation unless people «po close to me and in a load voice. “The children never disturbed me, for 1 directly to me, ver rd them make a noise, the door bell I never rd, or the gongs on tw cars going by, the clock ticking or any sounds of like nature, “I was returning from and I heard a couple of 2 they were speaking to m ¥ word they we was not addre the first time that My Hearing Was Coming Back. I stopped a though their “ito me, Theu I knew for e next time I was in the office I beard dis tinctly the conversatio® of two ladies in the same room “I have no trouble now in hearlug the door bell, and the curs, and the 0! ck tn the next room awakens me in t ung. My little grand- children's voices so: tty loud some aud almost drown all other sounds, but the case with Which I hear them avsures me that I'm wo louger bard of hearing. “I advise everybody, old and young, if they have any trouble with th to physicians say, to go to Ir Two weeks ago Tw nt t what other Sisch Street Pres ncine what I of Rev something E hudu't be to oar ever Skellen for years." 8 sermon, George H. Cannan, 119 24 st. n.w. Cured of terrible skin disease. | | hii J HAD BEEN DEAF SINCE BEFORE HE THE WAR HEARS AGAIN, Samuel Allen, 205 Harrixon st., Anas costia: “I hadn't heard a « ru When I went to Do-tor Met he cable curs could go right past wouldn't hear even the gong ring, 1 | rumble of the car. ing the war T was drafted, but was exempt= «1 on account of the total deafness of my right ear, occasioned by an =ttack of mumps. coulda't hear a wazon or any noises going om about the house or in the street. “I belong tc Harmony Lodge, 1. 0. 0. F., end to Encampment No. 4, Magencnu, but T have been forced to give up attending the mectings because my left ear became so dnil of hearing (p iy from sympathy) that I couldn't bear a word of the for twenty years and T me the ritual. I might perhaps bear a very lond and heavy clap of thander, but all ordinary sounds were dvad to me. “I am employed at the St. Elizabeth Asylum, where I've been for three years past. I crew so Dad that the gentleman who gave me orders found the utmost difficulty in making me bear, “After I aad been under Doctor Mc ment some time I was sitting by th evening, and I put my watch to my jumped, I was so delighted. plain as day in my left car. "s trent= © one rs. 1 fairly I could hear it tick am ‘Then I found 1 could | hear the voices of people clearly, and noises that E had ®ever heard came to me di inctly. “The next Sunday I went to the Methodist Church, Rev. Dr. McLean, pastor. Bei I got inside I heard bim reading. A pillar in the chuech hid him from my view, but I beard every word of his sermon. Just think of it! I hadn't heard 8 that for twenty years! Why, I could evem hear the words of the hym “Every day my bearing improved. Now my left ear is entirely cured, and I hear sounds in my right. I hear the hoofs of the horses when they strike the paved road when I sit in the cars. I have no difficulty in hearing the boss speak across the barn, which is abont two hundred feet long. I hear my watch tick under my pillow. I Lave no trouble whatever in hearing ordinary conversation and I don't know of any sound that I don't hear distinctly.”” SERIOUS STOMACH TROUBLE CURED. A. L. Hixson, 164 Superior st. n.w.4 “Two years ago 1 caught a severe cold, which settled in my Stomach and Bowels. Ever since that time until I was treated by Doctors McCoy avd Cowden I was a constant sufferer fron Stomach trouble. I tried several physicians and took many remedies, but with mo permanent relief. Food in my stomach would ferment and form gas, which pressed on my beart, producing a feeling of terri ble distrees, oppression and pain. T'was in pretty Dad~condition when I began Doctor McCoy's treat- ment. My improvement begun in a short time, and bas continued, until the pain is now all gone. I sleep well and I am aguin in perfect comfort.” DOCTOR McCOY’S BOOK FREE TO ALL. CONSULTATION FREE. McCoy System of Medicine PERMANENT OFFICES DR. McCOY’S NATIONAL PRACTICE, Dr. J. Cresap McCoy, Dr. J. M. Cowden, _ Consulting Physicians, 718 13th Street. Northwest. Office ‘Hours, 9 a.m, to 8 p.m., daily, Sunday, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m, 4