Evening Star Newspaper, January 30, 1897, Page 20

20 ——— THEY EARN A LIVING The Working Girls of Paris and Their Standing. DIVIDED INTO FOUR CLASSES Domestic Service and Its Trials and Chances. WOMEN IN PUBLIC SERVICE ees Specin] Correspondence of The Evening Star. ARIS, January 12, 1897. OWEVER much the Paris working girl may differ from her sister in America,she moves within a set of social ranks and rounds about the same. A shop girl is a demoiselle de maga- sin; a seamstress or milliner’s apprentice, iike a blanchisseuse, or laundry girl, is a simple ouvriere, or * and a general house servant, be- placed of all, gets the prettiest e fs called a bonne—“a good ne, f girl.” In Fran s in America, it is she who i. the foot of the social ladder, al- the has often more dignity and ease and asanter surroundipgs than many , higher up. And it is thence on, laundry girl and the factory girl, y way of the seamstress and shop girl, the . the typewriter, and the rnment employe, until one sees—in the the dazzling vision y who exists to spend her hus- money, though he be but a clerk Nevertheless, within these ranks a certain forced fraternity, on four ad lines. There are domestic servants; de commerce and gov- ling house in the Marbeuf quar- sion bourgeoise patronized by Inglish people, there is a ght and winsome Sonne rejoicing in the me of Sophie. On New Year eve this brown-haired, clear-eyed French girl danced and ri 1 the whole night long in a cer- tain carriage house, well decorated and freely given up to this fond purpose for that one nigh a neighboring grand seigneur, dan ompany with other servants, male and female, naturally, young Kitchen Drudgery. and little shopkeepers’ and French ent, snug and . she returned to sat up dozing two because she had to serve t and feared to go to sleep ad gro a At 4 o'clock chen, wher ooping tc Conquer. ago this young woman was a shop r She did not see her way clear to do much in this line and took refuge—thought- ful personage!—in do: ie service. In a great Paris boarding house, hke that in wh the conditions are s of clothes and money from ladies wish to lie in bed instead of dressing from ladies who send them out s, and from business men who rly breakfast of meat, instead of read and butter and coffee. © girl has found a better life. and enjoys her new theless, she has ended socially; and such a stooping to conquer is as rare in Paris as in New York. As an employe in commerce she might mar- any sort of clerk. As a domestic servant chance is to save money and es- another servant—butler, valet, res- taurant or other waiter. The two may open shop and be comparatively rich in n years; or, if unsuccessful, they may their days in peace as conclerges; that ts, janitors. Where Domestic Servants Come From The great mass of Parisian domestic serv- come from two sources and are almost into two species: First, the descend- of other Paris servants, who inherit 3’ graces and places; and, sec- , peasant girls, who come in from the country. These are oftenest the drudges. It is rot considered a great promotion for a girl to come to Paris as a servant. A peasant girl, whose parents’ plot of ground Trouble in the Kitchen. is too small to permit thelr keeping her at hom rather work in the fields. If she ty, though poor, she is likely, after . to ind a lover of her own condition . when his term of military service is r, she will marry. Her tiny dot, to- her with what he has saved and his father has given him, will make the start of their finances. They will live so meanly that Americans would scarce believe it; and they will be salting down money all the time, or adding slice of land to slice of land. To be married and in possession of the smallest field, which she herself will till, exing it out with her own and her hus- band’s day labor in the fields and stables of richer neighbors, is considered a paradise by the French peasant girl in comparison with being a domestic drudge in some Doin little Paris lower-middle-class family. Im the Kitchen. There, if she be both plain and poor, or has had bad luck fn the country apd been advised to take a change of air, she finds @ place as maid-of-all-work among the petty Paris petite bourgeoisie, so close, so avaricious and so greedy. For ten or fif- n francs a month—two to three dollars— she must carry up the wood to mayhap the sixth floor, do the cooking, make the beds, wax the floor and sometimes wash the line: Some of these girls work from ® in the morning until 10 at night. If a girl sits down a moment she ie scolded by the dcmineering mistress. And what food they give her! In the morning, soup and an egg; in the evening a bit of sau- sage and the remnants of the French din- her. They even stint her in the matter of bread. Even in the better class families, the habit fe to purchase for the servants special vin de merage, sa’ de menage, butter de menage and so through the lst of eatables! “De menage!”—of the kitchen. At the New Year a drama with many scenes is played in these petty Paris homes. ‘The question is to fird a pretext for send- irg away the girl who has been eter | faithfully for months. This is to avol giving her a New Year present—§2 to be economized. Nothing goes well; the rag- out cannot be eaten; “You have not sawed The Sewing Girls. the wood!” “You stayed out talking on the street!” and the poor girl laments upon her mattress of shavings. From the case of such a one to the smart femme de chambre of a really flourishing Paris household there is a greater actual gulf than that between an ouvriere and an employe de Commerce. The Working Girls. All girls, not in domestic service, who labor with their hands, are called alike ouvrieres, or “workers.” AH fall into one social class, factory hands, laundresses, dyers, sewing girls, milliners’ girls and the rest. As far as the judgment of society goes and the attitude of their employers, no eccentricity of conduct not lightness of walk and conversation bars them from their employment. How a pretty working girl in the central part of Paris shall be- have herself is a matter of her own dis- cretion purely. Charitable people, as if to emphasize their recognition of this Hberty of choice, have established two institutions for their comfort. ‘The first, aimed solely at preventive re- lief, is a series of restaurants and libraries combined, exclusively for the use of work- ing girls. They were founded some years ago at the instance of a well known priest. They admit only women. Apprentices who can only make cents a day may con- tent themselves with sucha a dish as boeuf a Vhuile, at 6 cents. This is Plain boiled beef and potatces, with the oil and vine- gar at discretion. She who eats It makes a “dressing” to her taste; and when it is fixed it seems a kind of hot salad, nourish- ing and palatable. Bread and wine bring the cost of such a meal up to 10 cents; 2 cents for dessert, or, rather, a black coffee (fer the Paris working girl would rather skip the meat than miss the petit noir!) ill bring the total cost up to 12 cents. The average lunch in these library res- taurants, therefore, costs about 15 cents. This will buy soup, a small steak, white . bread and a glass of wine. While g cclmly at this modest dejeuner, the girl who prefers improvement to ilirta- tion is glancing cver the library catalogue, selecting a book to read at night in her lonely garret. it is a garret, for one of the most un- happy facts about the Paris working girl is tnat the customs of the French exclude a hope of her getting board in a pri- te family, however humble. Taking a boarder or two to “help out the table” is unknown in France; the “sanctity of the home” forbids it. With this in mind it will be easier to ac- cept the pouponniere, the second institu- tion mentioned. It was built up by Mme. Charpentier, wife of the great publisher. The object of the institution is to furnish young mothers who cannot keep their own new born children with them, a handy nur- sery in a large and healthy scale. The children may be from one day to two years old. The mother pays $8 a month or, if she is unable to do this, there may be some diminution in the price. The child receives its cradle, and the use of haif a wet nurse. That is to say, for every twen- ty-four children there are twelve nurs:s, none of whom is engaged until after an ex- amination into her health by a council of doctors. The Sewing Ha’ Of all the species of working girls, most remantic to the eye and most frequently in view are the sewing hands in the great dressmaking and millinery shops of the Boulevard, the Rue de la Paix and around the Place Vendome. At the noon sortie a flood of little women issues forth, with tousled hair, high words, wrapped in their A Home of Their Own. eternal little gowns of black merino in win- ter and printed calico in summer. They are specked with bits of thread; their faces are flushed and their eyes are bright from the overheated work room; and they are going now to eat their lunches at the res- taurants. All are young. The older ones, married for the most part, have remained at the shop, where they ccok or heat -up what they have brought with them from their homes. The younger ones, and those who have no household responsibilities, love better to take the air. Some go to the Kbrary restaurants. Others go to little cor- ner places where they may meet their sweethearts. The beau, who is a clerk of the neighborhood, will pay for his girl's breakfast. She, in return, in the evening, will make him such neckties from silk which she has secured from the workshop that he may easily rival the most flaming dandy. A sewing girl, no matter how skillful, will never receive more than from seventy- five cents to one dollar and twenty cents a day. A good cutter may possibly have o dollars a day—but she must have leas” and ceases to be an ouvriere. A girl may, also, if she have a figure and de- portment, be promoted to the sales rooms, and even the fitting rooms—to show off gowns upon her person, putting on, taking off, walking to the right, to the left, turn- ing, bending and re-turning, all a weary work, but a promotion. Or she may, if she saves up money, take @ contract for a Meek Under Fire. magasin {o trim a hundred hats or make hundred gowns. Her profits will then pend on her industry, economy and ‘What determines them to enter their par- ticular form of employment, or © “workers” at all, instead of taking a higher and “going into commerce,” as THE EVENING STAR, SATURDAY, JANUARY 80, 1897-24 PAGES. say, is force of circumstances, love of free- dom, lack of education, or lack of ambi- tion. They are, as day-workers, almost absolutely independent.- They are not con- stantly on the rack of attention and en- for good humor, as a shop girt must be. ‘They are not obliged to dress so well as she, and if they lose a place, as often hap- pens, through mere caprice or love of pleasure, they can find another with in- finitely more ease than any shop girl could. The Shop Girl. Education and ambition are the tests of @ shop girl in Paris, and family tradition and pride have also a great deal to do with it. A shop girl, as a person “in com- merce,” ranks exactly as a bookkeeper, a cashier, a typewriter, or other clerk who does no manual work. A Paris shop girl ordinarily begins at a salary of from five to eight dollars a month. Besides, she in- variably has a commission on her sales, varying from one-half per cent to 1 per cent, according to her place and experience. Many receive as high as thirty dollars a month in salary and make as much again in commission. Retail selling is, after all, the great business of all Paris, but the bet- ter places are, nevertheless, hard to get, and require almost as much influence as to obtain a government position in America. The most attractive girls will always stand the best chance of engagement at the out- set, and many keep their places on the strength of their good looks and stylish dressing, but, in the end, it is remarkable, in view of all the joking in the Boulevard press and theater, how many, many plain, sour-visaged Parisiennes—maids, wives or widows—seem to hold on by force of their character and ability. And, in passing, it is worthy to remark it that politeness, winsome jollity and sunny affability are not at all characteristic of Parisian shop folk. On the contrary, they are a discon- tented lot. Civil Service Customs. The great magasins, like the Printemps, the Bon Marche and the Louvre, have de- vised elaborate systems with regard to the treatment of their clerks. In this “civil service” there is scarcely any place of re- sponsibility and good pay which any clerk may not aspire to reach through merit. Marriages between clerks are encouraged rather than otherwise, owing, though it may hardly be believed, to an outcry rals- ed against the system which would other- wise keep whole masses of the population of Paris in celibacy quite as much as though they were enlisted in the army. The Sole Support. Clerks are assisted in sickness. Places are kept for the men during their enforced three years of military service; and a vaca- tion of six weeks, with full medical treat- ment, is given to the mothers during con- finement. When it is remembered that a law is seriously proposed granting a pen- sion of $40 a year for each and every child born in the land of France—in order to combat the dread “depopulation” so much talked about—these details are not insig- nificant. Women in Public Service. It fs interesting to note the gradual ad- vanee of the French woman in the public service of the republic, In business life, from time without mind, the French wife has been the cashier and bookkeeper of her husband; and to this may be attributed in great measure the unequaled thrift which makes this people the richest in the world. But the movement, in virtue of which wo- men are to take their place in the noble army of office seekers, is a matter of the last few years. For a time, behind the wickets of the local post offices, young wo- men appeared seHing stamps, weighing and registering letters, and so forth; it was an experiment on the part of the government, and has been lately discontinued, without cause being stated. But it has drawn at- tention to the employment of women by the state in the various branches of the public service. These places are reserved for the wives, daughters or sisters of the men who have themselves been in the public service. As one voter in every ten throughout all France is a government clerk, it may be imagined that there ts al- most as great a scramble for these places as if they were open to the whole body of French females. STERLING HEILIG. ese OUR NATIONAL WEALTH. The Narrow Margin Which Separates the World From Starvation. From the Engineering Magazine. What we now call society in this coun- try consists of about seventy-three million human beings. Each one must be supplied every day with two and one-half to five pounds of food material, with fuel where- with to cook it, and with a certain amount of textile fabrics or furs and with some boards to put over his head. The world, as a whole, is always within about one year of starvation, within two or three years of becoming naked, and within a very few years of becoming house- less. In this country nearly two million human beings are added every year to our population. That number would soon crowa existing dwellings to death, unless in each year about a half million of men were occupied in adding to the number of dwell- ings already existing. ‘We call ourselves very rich. We gloat over the billions of dollars’ worth of prop- erty disclosed by the figures of the census. In 1890 the computation reached the huge sum of over sixty-five billions of dollars. Only think of it! How rich we are! But what does it all come to? About one-third of this valuation is the estimated value of the land on which capital has been placed. Land is our endowment, not our creation. If we deduct a reasonable sum for land valuation, what is left is the capital of the community—about forty-five billion dollars. This is an estimate in dollars of what we have*saved and put to purposes of enjoy- ment or future use in more than a century of existence as a nation. Again, this is a stupendous sum. What does it amount to? If the value in money of all that we con- sumed—food, fuel, shelter and ciothing— in the census year, figured at retail prices, was equal to fifty cents a day per person, then the product of the census year reached a valuation in terms of money, in round figures, of eleven and one-half billion dollars. In other words, in a little over a century of existence as a ration, and in less than a century of union under a constitution, we have succeeded in saving products of human labor in the form of public build- ings, warehouses, workshops, factories, railways, vessels, dwellings, tools, ma- chinery, and goods and wares on the way from the producer to the actual consumer, to the amount of a little over. seven hun- dred dollars’ worth per head. We consume every year nearly a third as much as this measure of all our savings. The Poster Knight to His Lady. Schuyler King in Puck. Oh! prithee, cong ey, casement wide listen, gentle ma While I, thy’ poster knight, twang forth ‘A poster serenade. ‘The dark-mauve sun has sunk to rest Behind the square red ill; ‘more the orange ostrich struts Beside the yellow rill, ‘The pale-blue cows with coral eyes ‘And all the dainty purple theep, “They, to0, beloved, have gone. ” Cavorting through the chocolate hedge, From youler pium tree ‘none essay To pluck’ the curly plums: ‘Then haste, T pray thee, loved ove, baste: Eauauce thy beautecss augles by ‘Thy most composite dress. ‘Sardevslecte tows i TWO OF'A TRADE (Copsright 189% py Robert Barr.) If a man finds hi If enduring a night journey on an Anjéfican railway train, there are two or three things he may do to make life worthiving. If he has $2 to spare, with 25 cents extra for the porter In the morning, he may‘ enrich Mr. Pullman to the extent of the $2, and thus get a berth in the sleeping car, [his is a good way to spend $2, and if you'are on a line where train robbers are epidemic you are just that much ahead, for what Pullman gets you may depend the train robbers never see, and so you have the comfort of the berth, and the satisfaction of knowing that your money has been divided between two sets of robbers. Of the two I like Pullman the better, for he certainly gives you some- thing for the money, while the others give you nothing but bad language with per- haps an ounce of lead thrown in. If you haven’t the $2 to spare there are still three things left for you to do. You THEY WERE ROUGH LOOKING CITIZENS, WHO MIGHT HAVE BEEN COW- BOYS OR ANY THING ELSE. aera? a ae conn the = the waving of a red lantern—the signal of danger. When the train came to a standstill there appeared on each side of the engine shad- owy forms that seemed to have risen from the black earth. In response to a curt com- mand, the engineer and stoker-fireman threw up their hands and remained in that Pesition, standing out redly against .the glare of the engine fires. A masked man, with a seven-shooter in his hand, entered each door of the smoker, and instantly most of the now wide-awake passengers got under the seats. Not all of them, how- ever. The tall, black-bearded man, who had keen one of the card playel rose hastily to his feet, letting the bits of paste- board flutter unheeded to the floor. He cursed loudly and energetically, using the most fearful language with a dexterity and ease that instantly commanded the respect- ful admiration of the masked men at each end of the car, who both paid him the im- mediate compliment of turning the muzzles of their weapons upon him. “Throw up your hands!” they cried simul- taneously. “Throw up nothing,” cried the’man in a tone of the utmost contempt, although he forebore to make any motion that might indicate he possessed a gun himself. “Do ycu know who you're chinning? I’m Steve Mannies.” “The devil you are,” cried one of the masked men, lowering the point of his re- volver. “Same thing,” replied Steve, who was jvstly proud of his well-earned reputation, A Au By F. a Bui serial GRANT AND MEADE. GRANT AND GRANT'S UNPROTECTED HEADQUARTERS. Dr. NEW SUBSCRIBERS ber numbers free of charge, an Gen. Porter's i mplete in the numbers from dealer or to the publishers. §4.00 @ year. The Century Co., Union Square, New York. The Midwinter Number—Ready Today. FEBRUARY CENTURY. Special Features: CAMPAIGNING WITH GRANT, By Gen. Horace Porter. THE WOUNDED CONFEDERATS. Illustrated Travel Articles. TROPIC CLIMB (IN JAMAICA), IN THE DESERT WITU TE 2 KAY, THE BATTLE OF COPENHAGEN, By Capt. Alfred T. Mahan. Short Stories by Well-known Writers. “A Man and Some Others,” Miss Selina’s Settlement, By, STEPHEN CRANE, By M URTON HARRIS thor of “The Red Badge of rage,”* etc. Author of “Sweet Bells Out of Te « ’ ‘WHY THE CONFEDERACY FAILED,’ A Symposium by MAJOR-GEN, DON CARLOS RUELL, MAJOR, 0. HOWARD, MAJOR-GEN. JACOB D. COX, Confeder Weir [itchell’s Novel of the American Revolution. “HUGH WYNNE, FREE QU mt event of the yea! “In the world of fiction the Interesting Pictu Hi. Lungren, E. Potthast and others: * Standing Room Only” (at the Op ingurian Cafe,” “A Misty Night on th ° Bat te to THE CENTURY w Jannary are the first end Dr. Miteh © whole of Marion ©) “Campaigning successes of the season: bY ir subscription oU may sit bolt upright in your seat, or you may turn the back of the opposite seat over and stretch your weary legs across the chasm; or you may try to lie down on one seat, which you will find to be practically impossible unless you are as short of stature as you are short of cash. Entering a smoking car at night on a through ex- press you will find men in all these three attitudes, doing the best they can with the weary hours that are ahead of them until daylight breaks. The smoking car on the night express of the Texas, Belmont and Crucifer Air Line was well filled with men of all descriptions, most of whom were! endeavoring to get some sicep in cne or other of the three at- titudes above allided’to. There was only one sleeping car on the train at the rear; in front of that camé two ordinary cars, then the smoker, the luggage car, the car of the American Express “Company, and in front of all, the engine.’ On’iMe train were two very anxious menj‘arid they sat on camp- stools near the big'safe in the express car, fully armed, knowing that in that safe were gold packages amounting to over $200,000 coming east frert California. "These two men at least madé no‘attempt to sleep, but listened without Saying much, to the €x- press grinding on” through the night, the whistles of the engine Sreaking through the continuous roar With an occasional long toot, followed by" :wo'short ones. It was row midnight and in two /hoars the train would reach Belmont; after \hat the two guards of the safe would’ féeel easier in their minds. They wet'¢ at present go'ng through a wild country where enything ‘vaight hap- pen, although they hoped that the secret of the safe had been well kept. It is astonish- ing how news leaks ou: afid how quickly it travels when Jarge sums of Money are Le- ing transported across the plains. In the forward end of the smoking car four bearded men sat opposite cach other playing euchre. They were rouch-looking citizens who might have heea -awboys or “There goes nearly a quarter of a million of good sound money to some cussed, bloated capitalist in the east. anything else. The conductor looked askance at them as he collect-d the money for their ride, for none of them had tickets, but they paid their fares without troubie, and that in itself was a boon, for the con- ductor expected some dispute from the leok of them. Three others had come on ai the next station, and were now watching the game. ‘There were a few more passen- gers in the car who mtgkt have been suz- pected of belonging to the same gang, if gang it was, but. no sign of recognition passed between the card players and the others, who were‘apparently trying to get some, sicep. » “I ‘don’t half tke the looks of that crowd,” said thetonductor to the brake- man, after he had collécted the tickets and the fares. = of “What's the terowith them?” asked tke brakeman, who was chewing tobacco, teking a bite from a, black plug as he spoke. “They segm_quiet enough.” The brakeman appeared to be himself about as rough a customer a8 any of the card play- ers, and so perh: had a feeling of com- radeship for them; “That's just it.” They're too darned qui- et,” replied the conduetor. “If they were real cowboys, playing «a real game, there would have been'@ row before this, sure. That tall, black-w, efed man’s been look- ing at bis watch @ gopi deal lately, and’s beert trying to peek through the window 's if he wanted to kgow just where we were. I don't like the look of it.” “Think they’re goimg’to hold us up?’ in- quired the brakeman, with a trace of anx- fety in his voice. “T shouldn't be a bit surprised.” “Why, there ain’t %@ on the whole train, is there? How many people in the sleep- er?” “Not more’n half a dozen; still, there may be some rich cuss on board we don’t know any ae about. These chaps may be onto mm." “Well,” drawled the brakeman, with some deliberation, “I give the T. B. & C. Co. nc- tiee that when the firing begins I crawl under a seat. £ don’t take no lead in mine for $85 a month.” i “Phe conductor. made no reply to this hero- ic declaration, for at that moment the en- gine gave a tong whistle, and through the entire train ran the shudder of the quickly- applied air brake. The two trainmen hur- {ried to the outside platform, and the con- ductor, hanging on by the iron stanchion rods, leaned forward, and, peering along the s'de of the slowing train, saw in the dark- The being known far and wide as the most in- battle dustrious and capable train robber 4n all Texas, a quick-firing and straight-shooting, ruthless desperado, afraid of nothing, least of all the law. Important Effects on American Ship- From th> Engineering Magazine Secretary B. F. Tracy, and he felt war- ranted in recommending the for betterment from things to be worked for and attained; observation, invention, imitation, emulation—all these distinguish man from the most intelligent of beasts and the exercise and development of these tendencies and faculties have brought man- kind to conditions of life and power so dif- ferent from those of even the nodlest ari- mals that the idea of common origia of man and beast seems preposterot well-informed and thinking per R PRESENT NAVAL POLICY. building. program that eventuated in three ships was carefully thought out by building of Three were all that Congress felt Fall th eight. When the possibility of obtaix nz pro ees canara e a show?" demanded } wining to authorize. It seems, in the light | tection and shelter in walled and routed jn- n . vhno’s your boss? vhich atter of | closu fii dawned upon primeval » “Wer 4 5 ; of the pregress whica is now a m pon primeval mar. or Te, Captain Snike's gang,” replied the | {itor that, had elght been authorized in | the initial and most important sten toward “I might a-known it,” cried Steve, with | 1890 instead of three, cight would now be | 17) 50 “degra bdharenine po Psderegh cod urconcealed derision. “It’s just like his | in commission, or available for it, insteal | the discovery of fire, no invention a» aie. Piper picnic way of holding up a | of three, and no one qualified to judge will | covery has been more fruitful of results aoe going out to have a talk with gainsay+that the capabilities of the ship- aa was the invention and discovery of im.’ pa ae ed by | the house, however primitive and rudimen- The masked man made no attempt to stop | builders had been accurately gauged by | Ur = ef the car into the surrounding darkness. It may be argued that the throwing of | first appeared among men. a from “What are you about there?” yelled a| eight battle ships on the market at that | day of the first utilization of a cave as voice from near the engine. “Don't ler | time would have acted as an overstimulant | human habitation; from the hour when the Se eS to the development of the industry, with | first crude hut tected a human tamily “It’s Steve Mannies and his boys,” shout- | the consequent certain reaction. But 1 am | from the scorching sun and pelting rain neither offering nor combating purely spec: ulative arguments. 1 am dealing only with accomplished facts and knowa performn- ances. If we turn elsewhere for illustration or example, we shall find that twice, since we began our new navy, has England launched on her shipbuilding market singie programs of new construction exceeding in Gisplacement and cost our entire flee! Before we began our new navy Great Britain had the Bellerophon as flagship of her Nerth Atlantic and West Indian squad- ron, old even then, but more than a match for any vessel we possessed. But, as we have launched ship after ship, the English vessels on this station have been keeping pace with us in strength, and the succes- sor to the Bellerophon, the splendid armor- ed cruiser Blake, has been succeeded by a battle ship since our Indiana was com- missioned. The inference is obvious. What we seen and what we know requires no a ment to establish; and we have seen end we know that the policy of the new n: more than all other causes combined, ha: raised American shipbuilding from its struggle for existence a decade and a half ago to its exultant eminence of today The New York, Columbia, Minneapo! Indiana, Massachusetts, Brceoklyn and Io: made the St. Louis and St. Paul possible; and they also made possible any needed number of St. Louises and St. Pauls, or bet- ter ships, in the future. In a word, our policy of the new navy broke the back of England's shipbuilding moropoiy, and broke it beyond cure. There {s another prime consideration ger- mane to the question of stimulus involved ed back the masked man in excuse. Althougl. the surprised Capt. Snike mere- ly mentioned the lower regions, there was a tremor in his voice which showed that the unexpected meeting with so noted a man as Steven was not one of unalloyed pleasure. “See here, captain,” roared the angry desperado, ‘‘what’s the meaning of this? What are you doing on my territory? Can’t I take care of these here trains, or has there been any complaint on the part of the T. B. and C. Company that I’m not looking after them close encugh? What in thunder’s the reeson o’ your being out so late at night, anyhow? Some o’ you boys "ll catch cold, first thing you know.” “Why, hang it, Stev said the captain, in tones of apology, “I didn’t know you were in this locality at all. You see, no- body’s heard from you for a month, and we thought perhaps you had struck fur Californy. We did, sure. But I'll tell you nat we'll do. We'll divide square and fair.”? “Divide nothing,” cried Steve. “The train’s mine, and you've no business here at all. Still, there’s nothing mean about me, and I like to encourage amatoors. If you want the passengers, you kin have "em. You go through ’em and then git.” “We don't w: no passengers, not to- night, we don demurred the captain. “We got news from 'Frisco and thought nobody else was onto it. We're after the safe an’ that’s what's the matter with this crowd.” “Well, I'd like to oblige you, but that safe’s mine. We had news from 'Frisco, too. Did you think we were off on our va- cation?” from the time when walls of rocks, of 1 or of logs, first gave protection and vantog: to man in his struggle with the wild beast the history of the development and » of the human race has been coin wita the development and prog. art and sclence of building. justry provided t able t spring more numerous and more heal:hy and strong than their less ingenious less industrious competitors in. the gle for existence. And thus the tribes and nations by whom building was most assiduous! were those which waxed mc prosperous and strong, white th rug- famili the ar eultiv numerous, and tribes who e content to exist with- out artificial shelter, or were satistied with the rudiments of hut and house by z became extinct; or, if their exis prolonged, it was ‘often in slavery to those more iniclligent and dustrious tribes and nations by tecture had been originated, developed ar cultivated. White it is true t hosts of cave and hut inhabiting bar- barians, envious and covetous of the com- fort and wealth of the highly prosperous house-dwellers of Assyria, Babylon, F) Troy, Greece, Rome and scores 9f civilizations, swooped down upon and over- ran and conquered their more hignly civil- ized, but much less numerous, neighbors by sheer force of numbers, it is also true that these barbarians were themselves cap- tured and overmastered by the civilizations whose creators and conservators they had set out to annihilate, and whose frutis and products they had come to appropriat “Won't you divide?’ appealed the cap- tain; ‘there ought to be enough to go round.” jary a divide, id Steve, determined- ly. “The safe’s ours and has been ever since we got on the express. We've got dynamite in a bag to blow her open and we'd a-b2en through and away by this time if you hadn’t chipped into the game when you weren’t wanted.” At this juncture one of the express mes- sengers with a genius for doing the right thing at the psychological moment, fired at Steve dimly seen through the radiance from the car windows, missed him, of course, but winged one of the gang who stood near, who instantly whipped out his gun with an oath and blazed away in the di- rection the shot came from. Each side thought the other had broken the under- wood truce and had fired first. Both gangs had been on the alert for t very thing and every man had his finger on a trigger. In two seconds the biggest fight that part of Texas had ever seen was on, and the black darkness was fitfully sputted with the crimson splitting of revolvers. Cries of rage and pain showed that some at least of the bullets were finding their bil- lets. ‘The conductor crouching along on the off side ox the train stole up to the engine and said in a hoarse whisper to the driver, who still stood dazed with his hands on his head: “For God’s sake, John, pull out quick.” “Ain’t they covering me?” asked the frightened engineer, in a trembling voice. qualiti cision the m man’s in the naval policy of the government—the fact that, ncthwithstanding the feebie state of contributory industries at the outse:, and the consequent necessity of initial de- velopment, the tests prescribed for physical constantly exceeded in severity and_pre- requirements have been met and overcome, and today we can say with pride that the steel made for the navy and merchant ves- sels of the United States is far superior to that of any other nation. ARCHITECTURE AS A CIVILIZER. The Part It Has Pla From the Engineering Magazine. However the outward surroundings of of the men whose existence was coeval with the ¢awn of civilization; animate world and over the forces of na- ture may have increased since he first sought shelter from the elements and pro- tection against the attacks of wild beasts— the underlying traits, instincts and emo- Dissatisfaction with things existing; hope { you're such an old salt, you know! Thus, while nations perishe building lived on to continually w more diversified development, v ifying and adapting itsel¢ to the requirements and conditions ot ing times and periods and al uing an essential factor in the si existence and for the survival of the fittest among men. + ———_____+ 2+ Jealousy? he chang- es of material used in our ships have the tests of any other ccuntry. These From Judy. “All their neighbors speak very badly of Mr. and Mrs. Talbot. “They must be living happily with each other then, if I krow anything of the neigh =" ——__—+e+_____ ‘ed in the History of the Nations. Precaution. From Troth. Buckskin Bill—“How is it, Sam, hain't got yer gun in yer belt today Sam Spurs—“'Sh! It’s in me hat! duffer calls “Hands up! today, drop on him.’ —_—__ +e. —___—_ Shady WV From the New York Press. en of today may differ from those however command over the animate and in- If any I've got the Shade of Pharaoh’s Daughter—“Say, if tions of human nature remain unchanged, | you were on earth now you'd make a fine and are as potent today as they were in| sailor!” the time of contemporaries of the cave-| Shade of Lot’s Wife—“Why?” bear and the mammoth. Shade of Pharaoh's Daughter — “Oh, “No, you're all safe. They’re fighting like cats and dogs. Get a move on you.” “But the track’s bound to be torn up aheac “We'll have to risk that, John. Any- thing’s better than this. Pull yourself to- gether and clap on all the steam she'll stand,” said the conductor, climbing beside the engineer. ‘The engine gave three stentorian puffs, so long that both conductor and engineer trembled with apprehension lest the sound would be heard by the combatants above the roar of the fusillade, then the train glided almost noiselessly away into the darkness. When the firing slackened off a bit the voice of Capt. Snike from behind a bush made itself heard. “Put up your guns,” he yelled. ‘What's the use of this nonsense? Somebody will get hurt with all this carelessness. Stop your pack of fools, Steve.” “Stop yours,” roared Steve., “You began it, you lunkhead.” “We didn’t. You fired first.” “You're a Mar,”’ cried the thoroughly ex- asperated Steve. “One o’ your men fired at me and hft Bill Simmons. I never see such foolish shooting in my life before. You fellows couldn't hit the Nevada moun- tains,” “You're not much better. Well, Steve, seein’ it’s you, we'll go through the pas- sengers, while you blow up the safe.” In answer to this there was a torrent of profanity from Steve that startled both gangs with comprehensive terseness. Th smoke had now lally cleared away. Bteve stood between the rails looking east- ward at the two rear lights, winking ma- From HOW TO GET RID OF TRAMPS, Harper's Bazar,