Evening Star Newspaper, February 6, 1897, Page 21

FROM A CAR WINDOW SF a Notes of an American Traveler in Siberia. SS TRAINS THAT TAKE THEIR OWN TIME Where Food and Water Are Not Easy to Obtain. —— MANY NOVEL EXPERIENCES = eee Writivn for ening Star. . Allen! Get up! It's day- Mg A sleepy grunt, and a still more rowsy “Is it?” from a pile of coverlets on the divanlike seat of a Russian railway carriage betrayed no very lively interest on the part of the prostrate figure in the fact announced, while the heavy, long- drawn breathing which soon su led this Interruption proved that more measures would have to be taken to him from the land of dreams. “I x! At Wake up! We're in Siberia! The magic name Siberia appealed to a stronger feeling than drowsiness, and, raising my head from my atr-cushion pll- low, I took a sleepy, blinking view of the tuatior endeavoring in a feeble way to lect just where I was and how I came momentary acti recall en! was a beautiful, clear morning. Al- h only 3 o'clock, the sun was already above the horizon, illumining the eastern slopes of the Ural mountains, which we had just crossed during the night, and shedding a flood of golden light over the boundless steppe before us, whose flowery surface, like an interminable sea of red and yellow petals, was waving in graceful undulations with the morning breeze. i thought of the vague conceptions which I had formed in my boyhood days of this mysterious land of icy moun- and snowy plains, lonely and forbid- in its uninhabitable wilderness, and to compare them with the impres- but the effort was vain. I could not reconcile those absurd fancies with this strangely ding tried sions created by the scene before me: had now faded away into the half- mbered imagery of a dream, and noth- ing was real but the variegated steppe. sparkling with the sunlit dew, the vandal railway that was marring its loveliness, and the far-away purp!e mountains. I was roused from my reverie by the ab- rupt entrance of the conductor, announcing a change of cars at the next station, Che- liabinsk. The through trains from Moscow after traversing a distance of 1,360 miles at an ar. average rate of sixteen miles per stop at this point as the terminus of curopean railway system, in order to connect with the present operating portion ef the Trans-Siberian railway. The Trans-Siberian railway at the time of my it was open to general traffic only as far as the Ob river, a distance of S82 ailes, 4386 miles beyond the city of Omsk: h the special favor of Prince Hill- Ru the I was able to continue my urney beyond the Ob river as far of Achinak. The formal opening s last division to Krasnoyarsk during ‘sent month will at last establish a ete railway communication between St. Petersburg and the greatest of the Si- berian waterways—the Yenisei river. Ax the intermediate point between the two great railway systems of Europe and Asia, we naturally expected to find at Che- Mabinsk a spacious and commodious sta- tion house. In this, however, we were more an disappointed. A small room, 30x40 . served as buffet, dining room, luggage room, toilet room aad ticket office all in one. Discomferts of Travel. Lackeys, laden with bundles and huge Pillows, were stumbling over the piles of luggage on the floor or scraping elbows with tea-bearing waiters, and upsetting the hot beverage down the necks of some pa- tiently waiting guesia at the breakfast t: ble. Babies in arms were making the air hideous with vociferous protests against this unseasonable disturbance of their morning slumbers, and this, with the noise of rattling of dishes, despairing calls for walters and scuffling feet, added din to | hopeless confusion. Although the Cheliabinsk station house ‘Was exceptionally small and If] equipped for THE EVENING STAR, SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 6, 1897-24 PAGES. on the Trans-Siberian railway averages a little less than 3 cents per mile: for third- class a little more than 1 cent. Considering the accommodations afforded I should say that this rate was somewhat higher than that in America but, as I am told, it is only temporary. When the line is completed and fully equipped it is the intention to incor- porate it with the European raflway sys- tem and to institute the regular zone tariff rates there In force. This system, whic in European Russia, has made tong distan: traveling very cheap indeed, would in Si- beria ftself—the “Land of Distances’—re- duce it almost to a bagatelle. Very little, if any, effort has as yet been made to encourage traffic over the present completed portion of the Trans-Siberian railway. In addition to the risk attendant creasing {ts slowness—as we advanc3d upon the more recently constructed reatbed, and, indeed, beyond the point open to gen- eral traffic, this precaution was by no means unnecessary. The ties were but balf ballasted, and in several places the spongy nature of the soil seemed to defy all ef- forts to establish a firm foundation. The train lurched to and fre like a ship in a swelling sea, so much so, in fact, that all occupants of the train were at one thine re- quested to get out and walk. So far as { could distinguish, we lost but very little in our rate of speed by this change in method ef locomotion. From Omsk to the Ob river our schedule rate, including stops, was fourteen miles ver hour, altnough we actually made but ten, and before we reached the end of the par- GIGANTIC BRIDGE A’ upon the use of an unsettled roadbed, the tardy fulfiliment of orders for rolling siock has occasioned a scarcity of means of transportation for even construction ma- terial. Three regular passenger trains a week each way are now running full, be- sides the many “specials loaded with Si- berian immigrants. Classen on the Train. The train which carried us out of Chelia- binsk comprised, besides the regular first. second and third-class carriages used in European Russia, an additional fourth class, which is nothing more than ordinary freight cars fitted up with rough plank benches. For this accommodation the peas- ants jay something more than the ordinary immigrant rate of one mill per mile, but they are thus secured from being crowded into benchless freight cars, like herds of cattle. The higher class carriage is built in the regular Russian style, with a full-length aisle on one side and a series of open com- differs from the third in having cushion coverings for its seats and berths instead of plain bare beards, and has therein the disadvantage of harboring certain dead- head occupants of a very obnoxious order. ‘The first class differs from both in having inclosed compartments with superior up- holsicry and the attendance of a special car porter. Its lavatories, however, are just as filthy and ill-contrived, and ‘there is the same dearth of washing water in all. Drinking water along the Trans-Siberian | route is almost unobtainable. In the first place, the ordinary Russian never uses it, and the supply has been largely governed by the demand. If you happen to ask for a glass of water at any of the railway sta- tions the waiter stops and gazes at you as much as to say: “Well, I wonder what you're going to do with that! brought it is never full and seldom contains enough to slake your thirst, but fearing the suspicion of at least eccentricity you refrain from asking for another glass, and as you have often done before in Russia, sacrifice your personal feelings on the altar of inexor- able “Russian custom.” The difficulty of obtaining drinking water along this route is further increased by the fact that over a great portién of the way, from Petro- payloosk to the Ob valley, where the rail- way skirts the northern edge of the central Asiatic steppe region, the station wells are strongly impregnated with saline matter, even after boring to a depth of 00 feet. ‘The truth of the matter is that the buildiig of the line through the saline and quag- mire district is one of those evident, but inexplicable, blunders so peculiarly Rus- sian. I am told on good authority that other surveys revealed a more feasible and practical route farther to the north, but— “it just wasn't adopted and that's ali there is to it.” Besides the scarcity of good water and the difficulty of establishirg a firm roadbed in the saline spongy soil, these quagmire districts afford the additional obnoxious feature of swarms of gigantic files, which act as the day relief corps to the blood- thirsty mosquitoes in their sanguinary at- tacks upon the cooped-up railway passen- ger. Even the thick-skinned Russian baby, whom I have seen sleeping in peace- ful serenity with a perfect mass of ordi- HAULING A CAR ON A NEW Such an important relay center, yet it is} quite in keeping with the policy of station building all along the Trans-Siberian iine. Nearly all the stations are inadequately small for the accommodation of even the traffic. In comparison with the agnificent, commodious structures of even the branch lines in European Russia, and | in view of the greatly increased traffic which is certain to develop on the com- pletion of this transcontinental highway, they appear positively ridiculous. 1 am aware that a lack of funds has been ad- vanced as an excuse for this seeming lack of foresight, but this plea, it seems to me, is unbefitting so giganiic a government ua- dertaking, and would in itself appear rather dubious in view of the peculiarities notux riously rife in other departments of the en- terprise. I am inclined to believe that there is more truth than humor iff the jocular re- ply of an engineer acquaintance whom I questioned as to this singular parsimonious policy. “Ob,” said he, “we must have an opportunity for building larger stations when the traffic increases; we don’t want io kill the goose thdt laid the golden egg.” Pending certain alterations in the Chelia- Dinsk ticket office all tickets were being sold from a plain, flat table in one corner of the dining room. The general rush for first place which ensued on the opening an- nouncement came near demolishing this im- provised ticket office and spilling the con- tents of the company’s exchequer on the floor, The present rate of first-class fare nary flies swarming upon Its face, is not callous to the voraciousness of this. local species, E Many Discomforts. Very few of the station houses beyond Omsk were ready for occupancy, and the chances for obtaining even frregular food became more and more precarious as we advanced eastward. On the stoppage of the train at some of the more populous- lcoking stations—i. e., where there was at least one other house besides the unfinished station building—there would be a general rush of passengers with small buckets and teapots, to secure, if possible, a pittance of hot water for making tea on board the train. Those of us who had not beea provi- dent enough to lay in a supply of food at starting had to be constantly on the alert to catch Dame Fortune on the wing, 80 to’ speak, whenever she happened to filt our way. Our principal supply of food came from the Russian and Tartar peasants, who would frequently be on hand, when the train stopped, with rings of peasant bread, cucumbers, a = = blueberries and rai in w the country abounds,» and jars of cold, fresh milk. We welcomed tkelr coming as the visitation ing angels in the hour of need, CROSS THE OBE. tially finished division to Achinsk we were covering but little more than four. The stops themselves were exasperatingly long and frequent. Owing to the incapacity of our old-style, second-hand engines, two of which were required to draw our train over the level steppe, we were consian‘ly stopping at some roadside stream to pump up @ water supply—for the water tanks at the stations were not yet completed—or in some one of the many bicch groves which dotted the flat steppe country to fill up the tenders from the plies of firetvood already prepared. The use of these antiquated locomotives from the cast-off steck of the European lines, pending the arrival of others, diready ordered, leads to frequent and very*moun- venient breakdowns. ie i No Brakes ou Train. In the absence of brakes of-any kind all trains begin to arrive at a station a mile before they reach it, so to speak, and the time thus wasted in losing momentum is almost equaled by the time consumed in getting started again. At every station the same tedious program Is religiously carried out. After a ten or twenty minutes’ chat with the lounging local officials, the conductor finally emerges upon the platform and blows upon his small pocket whistle. There- upon the station attendant, standing with his hand on the clapper of a large bell sus- pended from the side of the station house, begirs at first an almost inaudible tapping srowing louder and louder as he continue: and finally ending in cne loud, thwack. This constitutes the first signal. The passengers now begin to saunter leisurely in from the outlying attractions, and by the time they have reached the station, taken a final stro!l or two up and down the platform and hit a fresh cigarctte, another whistle and betl-ringing gives th> second note of warning. Then, and only then, do they begin to think of getting aboard. When at last all is in readiness another whistle from the conductor conveys this information to the engineer, who an- nources in reply that he, too, is ready for the start. Not until the fourth and re- luctaatly given signal does the train begin to move slowly away on another tedious run to the next station. “Time” is not “money” in Tene. were it would cost x fortune a da; on its present system the Trans. railway. THOS. G ——— IMPROVING COAST DEFENSES. piercing ac to run iberian ALLEN, Jr. Favorable Action Taken on Some of Gen. Miles’ Recommendations. Favorable action has been taken by the military authorities on some of General Miles’ recent recommendations relating to the construction of quarters for officers and troops at points where modern fortifi- cations are being erected. Last summer General Miles visited a number of coast defenses in the east. On returning to Wash- ington he recommended to the Secretary of War that, as the progress of improve- ments was such that guns and carriages at a few Places would soon be in position, it was important that quarters be built for the troops which it would be necessary to station at these points to man the fortifi- cations. Not only was it advisable, the general said, that the guns, carriages and works should be looked out for, but it was important that at the eartiest’ date prac- ticable officers and troops of the artillery should have an opportunity to become fa- millar with the siege guns, mortars, ete., which they would be called upon to handle in time of war. Following out these recommendations, orders have been issued to repair certain old buildings at some of the Atlantic de- fenses, and to erect new ones at others. Work has begun on quarters at Fort Moul- trie, on Sullivan's Island, Charleston, 8. C. At this place there are some old bulidings. These are to be improved and’ made habit- able and some new work done. New build- ings are to be put up at Fort Washington on the Potomac river, one of the new forti- fications constructed with a view to the protection of the capital in case of war. At Fort Delaware, on the river of that name, improvements are also to be made. The Presence of troops at these defenses will be necessary within the next three or four months. If Congress passes the pending army re- organization bill, which increases the arti!- lery by two regiments, a sufficient number of troops will be available to send to these new points of defense, as well as to others which are being modernized. If Congress fails in the matter the Secretary will be compelled to decrease the strength of some of the existing posts, in order to obtain a force for the new places. If Congress is neglectful in the case the probabilities point to the abandonment of the artillery post in this city. There are now here four batteries, but no fortifications. There is a disinclination on the part of the authorities to abandon the Washington post until pro- vision is made at Fort Myer, across the Potomac river, for infantry troops, but un- less an increase of the artillery foree is provided for by Congress it will probably be found necessary to take at least tir batteries from here and send one each t Fort Moultrie, Fort Washington and For Delaware. ' —-—-— ree — Powerfal Fond 0° Clams, From the Providence Journal. There is a resident of Kent’s Corners in the town of Scituate who is exceedingly fond of the succulent hivalve which has made Rhode Isiand so famous. Last Sun- day morning he placed a bag and a clam rake tn a wheelbarrow, which he trundled down through the mud of Hope and the Valley villages to Riverpoint and thence sla. Apponaug to the frozen shores of |-Cowesett bay. |: The ice covered the bay, and the Scituate /man was compelled to wheel his barrow along the beach almost to Warwick light before he found a place where’ -he could dig. His quest was successful, however, for when he reached Phenix on his return journey the barrow contained a bag filled with a bushel of as-nice, big, juicy clams as the digger averred he'd “ever sot eyes on.” He said he “didn’t mind the tramp, the day was fine.” He “wanted a mess 0’ clams and went and dug ’em; that wuz all.” Kent's Corners are some sixteen or seven- teen miles from where the clams were dug, and the distance covered ,suggests that some fotks in Scituate are “powerful fond o’ clams.” a Poker Term, From Life, THE BEACH-COMBERS A Feature of Life ‘on the Pacific Islands, THEIR GROWING POWER IN POLYNESIA >-——_—_ Obstacle the Way of Civilization. An in DRIFFING WITH THE TIDE tas Written for The Brering Star.’ HE, NAME OF iut"beach-combers” is of dbubtful origin. It is Khown that it was wpljed more than a crcentury ago to those stworse than pirates, ane “wreckers,” the shores of udhe ; British islands + andof our own coun- “try.” These wretches Se ped hailed wrecks as a ad L> _ godsend, and by false signal lights they | helped to produce them. ‘Their harvest was in the cargoes,fast,upon the sands, when the ship had gone te pieces, and in the flotsam taken from the sea when the waves had subsided. Light hovses, buoys and well-organized life-saving stations have banished the beach-comber from civilized shores. Al- native wives, settled in Pitcairn’s Island, and for nearly two generations were lost to the world. Then came this unexpected discovery, when all but one of the original crew were dead. The world learned of their wees, their troubles, their sufferings, their meanness and withal of their triumph, out on that desolate little island, and condoned their crime. When discovered, they had outgrown the land. Adams, from an old Bible, had taught the swarming half-breeds to read and write, so that when found, there was not a more moral or peaceful community under the sun than these de- scendants of outlaw whites and savage native women. The English government has transported most of these people to a larger island, where, let us hope, in the language of your own Rip Van Winkle, ‘they and their families may live long and prosper." Many incidents about the beach-comber, learned from the narrative of his Avian associates, but, still more valuabie, gleaned from his own sympathetic and unsurpassed powers of observation, my hest repeated to me that night, 1s we sat on the wide veranda, the waterfall’s music filling the unfrequent pauses in our talk, and the sil- very flesh of the moon on the bay feasting our eyes, whenever we turned them in that direction. Kit Carson said to me one night, as we lay in that glorious gorge through which the Rio Grande tears its way from the heart of La Sierra Madre to the prairie- like expanse of St. Luis Park: “Yes; the old hunters and frontiersmen know a mighty sight about this country, from the frozen ocean plumb down to Pan ama, but it’s nothing compared with the knowledge of the prospectors. Gold leads men where there's neither meat nor fish. if the United States could get the informa- tion of these gold hunters and write it into shape, the world would know mere about this great American continent than a thou- sand surveys like the one you are on now could give it in a hundred years.” Old Sam Brant. I recalled this remark of the famous scout and guide, when, years afterward, I spoke with Sam Brant in the Island of Hawaii, both of us sitting at the time on the glistening igneous recks that form the shore line of Kilalea’s ever-burning lake. od n99t otniabi + at bot BEACH COMBERS OF SAMOA—DRAWN FROM PHOTOGRAPH. though equally brutal and indifferent to the laws controlling the Tights to life and property, the beach-comber of the Pacitic islands is an entirely different creature | from his English and American predeces- | ser. With his life lines cast in those favored “purple isles,” where nature is so lavish of ner bounties, the Polynesian beach-comber has lost his love of wealth. He has adopted the modes of life of the people va whom he forced himself, and, although he has not In all things adopted thelr gulleless methods, something of the poetry of his surroundings and the sim- plicity of his associates comes to him | after he has ceased to yearn for the bust- ling, selfish world, on which he has for- ever turned his back. ‘A few years ago while in Apia, the capl tal of Samoa, the one city of the Nav gator’s Islands, a city with one street, and that street with very few houses, i gladly accepted an invitation from iny old friend, Robert Louis Stevqnson, to spend a night with him in his picturesque home, “up the mountain, within hearing of the waterfall and within’ sight of the world's most beautiful bay,” ‘as he put it. His Part im Lite. Before this I had started in to study the Polynesian beach-comber, and I had just returned from the Island of Tetuila, where I had learned@imuch that increased my interest in the stbjedt, without at all adding to my respect for ‘It. I found my kindly, prilijant host an en- thusiast on the subject of beach-combers, and had he lved he would have added another fascinating chapjer to a subject that has inspired the pens of some of the greatest writers,in the last two cen- limited, experience turtes. . After repeating my with these fellows, wax, denouncing the whole band, when Stevenson interrupted | me in a half-laughing, half-serious way: “My dear boy,” he sald, as nearly as 1 can recall his words, of which 1 made a note next day, “you forget that students af psycholagy, like students of physiology, find their mcst abrormal subjects the most interesting. The beach-comber ts not a thinker, but he has set me a-thinking. How much he has done for literature— I stared in surprise, and then my host went on to describe the beach-comber, who is to be found in nearly all the fnttabited islands of the Pacific, from the Aleutian group to the clusters of islets that frin, southern New Zealand, These men, he e: plained, were Americans and represent: tives of nearly every maritime people in the world. Nearly all were deserters from ships. Some were fugitive criminals, but a majority were driven to extremes by the cruelty of theft masters: Many had no home ties, no sense of obligation, and no idea of duty; but for these deficiencies they were hardly to blame. They contrasted the Deauty of these lovely islands and the per- fect freedom of the graceful natives, with the fetid forecastles of the whaler or mer- chantman on which they served, and they compared the tyranny of their captain with the low voices and seductive eyes of the Deautiful maidens of Polynesta. They yielded to the latter and deserted by thous- ands; indeed, they have been deserting for ‘more than a century, and the end is not yet. * These deserters, now.called “beach-comb- ers,” whether they reside on the shore or in the interior, have taken native wives. Where the custom permitted they took more than one, and the result is a new race of half-breeds. As a rule this race is physically superior to that of either of the originals; but, unfortunately. the greater mental capacity that accompanies this greater eccomtneand grace has not been used in an ennobling way. 5 “What the frontiersman was to America the beach-comber, though not with the heroic nature and splendid purpose of the former, is destined to be to Polynesia, id Stevenson. 3 *SsBut what has he done for literature?’ I asked. “Nothing directly,” “was ‘the respon: “but then neither has the frontiersman, the soldier, the sailor or’ any other man whose life has been devoted to ‘physicat struggle. All these, however, have inspired the pens of others, ahd, in this way, the beach-comber has done his share. Seeing that I looked incredulous, my host continued, with a pleasant smile. The First Beach-Comber. “The first Pacific beach-comber, of whom the world has any knowledge, was our old friend, Alexander Selkirk. He was ma- rooned on an uninhabited island by a cruel captain. Being put ashore against his will, differentiates him very decidedly from his vast army of succesgors.,j But it was this event that inspired Defoe to write the im- mortal Robinson Crasoe, without reading which no boy's education’ is complete. It was the same subjext that gave us Cow- Per’s most popular peem eutside John Gil- pin. = A “A hundred years tter ‘Selkirk we have the fest attempt at wholdsale beach-comb- ing in the mutiny ofothe Bounty. Captain Bly may have been, a, tyrant—most -mer- being set adrift in an opel poat out fn that vast expanse, with afew friends, and the | Professional Sam Brant was, ifever there was one, a beach-comber and quite as proud of the name as the veteran is of his medais. When the whaler or merchent sailor deserts his ship in a Pacific island, he remains in hiding till the inevitabl: search 1s over and the vessel sails, and then he makes friends with the natives, who rarely betray the refugee in their midst. The descrter marries and soon ac- quires the language, and drops into the customs of the people, but it is not till years have brought forgetfulness and se- curity that he ventures to the shcre where im casts anchor. When I me: Sam Brant he told me he was seventy-one years of age, though he might have passed for fifty, he was so straight, strong and supple. “I've been a beach-comber out here in the Pacific,” he explained, as we sat look- Ing at the fiery waves below us and smuk- ing our pipes, “for just fifty-fi years. I began when I was sixteen. Why did I start? Well, it’s the old siory. I was born at Sag Harbor, Long Island. My father and mother died when I was fifteen, and, as I was my own master, [ signed articles and shipped on the whaler John Adams. Why, in those days there was no kerosene that the world knewed of, and so whaling was the business. At one time there was over 700 whalers, mosuy Yankee, out in this ocean. . “When I first shipped it was with the notion that one day I'd be a master myself, but then I was a boy and a fool. The cap- tain of the Adams was a man named Phipps, very nice and smooth on shore, but a hog when oui to sea. We hadn't doubled the Cape when another boy and me made up our minds to desert the first chance, and that chance came in the Bay of Islands, in northern New Zealand. We married and lived with the natives for two yesrs. Then a war broke out. We were suspected, and Tom Davison, my chum, was killed. My wife warned me, and I Hi out and made my way south to Auck- land. There I shipped on an Englishman bound for Fiji. This captain was worse than Phipps, so I deserted with a Scotch- man named Koas, and we married ard lived with the Fijians till the missionaries came. Then we left.” I asked him if his departure was due to the missionaries, and Brant said that he did not dislike them personally, but that swherever they went, powder and “square face”—rum—followed. A Curtous Career. The story of this man’s life, as outlined to me, was one of the most interesting I had ever heard. During his long career in the .Pacific he had been in a dozen or more is- lands, ard knew as many languages, and had adopted as many heathen religions. Whenever he took his departure, he left be- hind him children and at least one wife, “But. they didn’t need much clothes and could get all they wanted to eat, so that it didn’t much matter where I went,” he said by way of explaining his seeming neglect of duty. At this time Brant had a wife in the tention group of islands. He had come up a sh Wy for a change, and was about yin to his last wife and last lot of n in afew days. ), But Brant, as I afterward found, was too Well-traveled and too intelligent a man to be regarded as a fair type of the Polynesian beach-comber. The great majority of these men are ignorant, degraded, cruel and in every way immoral. Their influence on the simple-minded and hospitable natives is of the very worst character. ‘The cruelty of captains has,without doubt, driven many good men to desertion, but my own investigations lead me to believe that a majority of these self-exiled out- casts from the world were incited to change by a love of ease, a dislike for law and hard work, in addition to a craving for that form of sensuality which it would be an in- sult to the lower animals to call brutal. It is these beach-combers, rather than the natives of any Polynesian island or group, that most need the efforts of our mission- aries and the prayers of our churches, They are not only barriers to the progress of these Eden-like lands, but the tendency of their example is degrading, even to the most bloodthirsty savage. Some day, and that not in the far future, the civilized worid, when planning for the religious and commercial betterment of this rich field, must reckon with the beaca- comber and his increasing offspring. ———— ‘The Origin of “Yankee Doodle.” ‘From the Ladies’ Home Journal. “Yankee Doodle” is claimed by many na- tions. It was known in England as “Nankee | Doodle” in the time of Charles I. The Hol- landers had an old song te this air called “Yanker Dudel.” It {s said to be also an old French vintage song, a native Hunga- rian air, and the ancient music of the sword dance of the Biscayans. In June, 1755, Dr. Rickard Schuckburgh, regimentai surgeon ‘under General Braddeck, thought to play a joke on the ragged, tattered Con- tirentals by palming off the ““Nankee Doo- die" of the time of Cromwell upon the colonial soldiers as the latest martial music. It at once became but a quarter of a century later joke seemed turned when the Continental bands same “Yankee Doodie” as Lord marched out after surrendering his America-te the Yankees, : ART AND ARTISTS. Max Weyl has recently painted a number of large canvases that are more than usu- ally effective. One of these is a scene upon the Potomac ‘flats, a region where he sketched a great deal some years ago and of which he never tires. The restful hori- zontal lines of the broad moors and the perfect balance of the masses of light «mi shade make the composition of this pic- ture extremely pleasing. The sky is over- cest save for a few patches of light here and there, the clouds, and these bright spots are re- flected in the stagnant pools In the fore- ground. Another picture which Mr. Weyl finished a short time ago is a wood interior with rather delicate autumn coloring. On the left side of the canvas is a small stream, and on either bank rise the gnaried trunks. of several old trees. He will prob- ably send several of his best paintings to the centeonial ‘exposition at Nashville, Tenn, * x * Mr. L. S. Brumidi has been working on owing street scenes about the city. They are executed in gouache, and one which he has now upon his easel is a view of the driveway around the White Lot, with the White House seen beyond the trees. The scene is full of life and action, and one sees in the foreground the omnipresent bicycle girl dodging in and out among the carriages. Mr. Brumidi has also been en- gaged upon a pastel study of a nude figure. ‘The dominant hue in the draperies and ac- cessories of the picture is pink, and the color scheme is particularly pleasing. is very skillful in his treatment of drapery and is alike successful in giving the texture of such stuffs as satin and silk. Several portraits in off and pastel are at present claiming a large share of his time. * ** Mr. Wells M. Sawyer has been apointed illustrator to the bureau of American eth- nology and the Smithsonian Institution, and in this position has entire charge of the illustrations for the books issued by these departments. As the aim of the government is to make these publications superior, if possible, to the best works priated by other nations, the task of super- intending the illustration is no small one, and requires a great deal of judgment as well as artistic skill. * * oe Miss Juliet Thompson has recently fin- ished a pastel portrait of Mrs. Dr. Mackay Smith, in which a silvery gray tone is the ruling note in the color scheme. The face is shaded by a broad hat with dark plumes, and a gray feather bea and white satin dress make a delicate color combination. The portrait is considered an excellent likeness. Miss Thompson is now at work upon a portrait of Miss Elsie Curtis, a daughter of William Elroy Curtis, and is making in this portrait a study of reds. It is consequently rich in color and alto- gether a most effective piece of work. She is also making a likeness of Mrs. Hoppin. * * * The two designs in mosaic by Frederick Dielman, just placed in the special reading room for the House of Represeniatives, are an important addition to the decoration of the Lew Congressional Library. The de- signs have been set into the carved mantel- pieces of sienna marble at the ends of the room, and are in complete harmony with their surroundings. As a medium for ex- pression mosaic has many limitations, but it is perhaps these very limitations that make it so suftable for mural decoration where a certain flatness and architectural formality of treatment is desirable. The subjects for Mr. Dielman’s panels are His tory and Law. In the former, History represented by a femaie figure clad in an olive green robe, stands in front of a mar- tle throne, upon which the names of the most famous historians are inscribed. At ber right is a figure personifying Mythol- ogy, and at her left is Traattion. nm the background faintly outlined against a deti- cate blue sky are the Parthenon, the Ro- man Coliseum and an Egyptian pyramid. In the second allegory Law is represent- ed by a seated female figure holding in one hand the sword of Justice. At her rignt are two female figures bearing lilies, per- sonifications of Peace and Truth, and at the end of the composition is a male fig- ure typifying Industry. In marked con- trast to these are the figures upon the ot side, embodying the evils which a lack of respect for law may bring upon a nation. Fraud and Discord are represented by two women, and the latter, holding a pair of twined serpents, is an especial; dramatic figure. At the end of the panel is a man representing Violence, the flaming torch lying on the ground at his side being a symbol of destruction. There is in some places a little stiffness and awkwardness in the drawing, but this will readily be pardoned when the peculiar nature of the medium is taken inio consideration. The coloring in both designs is extremely bril- liant, aad some very delicate differences in value have been accurately indicated with the tiny blocks of stone. * * OK Mr. Spencer B. Nichols is at work upon a number of illustrations in black and white, and is also busy with several ud scapes in oil. The most important of the latter is a large canvas giving an early morning effect along the river. In the foregrourd are a couple of picturesque sheds, and at the water's edge is a flotilla of small boats. In the distance one sees the masts and spars of the vessels that line the wharves, and over the whole scene is the soft light of early morning. Another pleasing canvas upon which he is now at work is a surset scene, full of artistic feeling: The picture is painted in a low key, and a single patch of luminous sky is the only pronounced light in the com- Position. A small canvas which Mr. Nich- ols has been painting has an especial in- terest on account of the manner in which it is handled. The color has been applied in transparent glazes, thus giving the pic- ture a very luminous tone, and the motive, which is one such as Inness loved to paint, is treated in the very style te which he was most attached. * x o% There have been a number of important where the sunlight !iumines | number of black and white drawings | Hej | period. addttions this week to the collection of old English masters on exhibition at Fischer's. Several fine canvases, which were on view at the Lotus Club tn New York, and coald not, therefore, be hung earlier in the week, have now been placed in the rear gallery. Among these is a very fine example by Sir ‘Thomas Lawrence, and there are a nuinber of canvases by other masters of the same One of the new pictures is a por- trait of a lady by Sir Joshua Reynolis. ‘Th subject is not a5 pleasing as some which have come from the artist's brush, but the position of the hands is extremely gracetul, and the drapery is handled with consum mate skill. There has never™been a time wher. old English pictures were so much sought after as they ar¢é now. the com- prehensive collection that has been on ex- hibition at Fischer's 1s, therefore, of very timely interest. * ** Messrs. Thompson and Waring have re- cently installed themselves in the reception parlors of the Arlington, and bring to the city a very large collection of pictures, many of them by artists of international reputation. Of course, in such a large col- lection there are bound to be a number of aintings of oniy zaediocre merit, but there are many whicn are undeniably good. * * * g It is understood that among the paint- ings to be sent here for exhibition on the occasion of the cpentng of the new Cor- coran Gallery building there are three canvases by Chartran, the popular French portrait painter, who has taken a in New York for the winter in order to execute the many commissions he has from Americnn sitters. They are all por- traits, representing, respectively. Preside: elect McKinley, Pope Leo and Mr, Andre Carnegie. The general verdict of those who have seen the paintings in New York is that the portrait of Mr. McKinley és scarcely creditable to the artisi, but that that of the Pope fully atcnes for any de- ficicucies observable in the other. x a % Mr. A. B. Griffith has done no work in water color of late, but has been confining himself to pen and ink drawing, a medium which he handles with great facility. An interesting sketch which he recently made of Wm. H. Crane in his new play. “A Fool of Fortune,” now beats the actor's signa- tere. * xe Miss Caroline Ransom has now upon her easel a portrait of Mr. Cowles, who w for some years the editor of the Cleveland Leader. The portrait is far from finished, but even in its present state is considered a striking likeness. She is also at work on a portrait of Judge Baldwin, of Cleve- lard, and will soon commence a likeness of Mrs. Judge Ranney. Miss Ransom con- fines herself almost entire to portraiture during the winter months, though she de- votes her attention at times to the elab- oration of some of her summer sketchos Of these she has a large number, and the walls of her studio are covered with the interesting studies which she made at Niegara Falls last year. * Mile, Irma Komlosy* who has recently come to Washington, has opened a studio in the Corcoran building. Flower painting is her forte, and the thirty-eight ofl studies which cover one wail of her studio show the resuit of a sincere and conscientious study of nature. It is her wish to keep this collection together in the hope that it may eventually find a place in some museum or gallery. The collection is indeed a fine one, and some of the sketches are such Paul de Longpre, perhaps the best Ameri- can flower painter, would not be ashamed to own. While Mlle. Komlosy considers these paintings as studies rather than as pictures, the composition of the different sprays is carefully studied, and the effect is highly decorative. Much of her time now is given over to teaching, and she brings to this work high recommendation: having had the Archduchesses Mari Therese and Marie Valeria as pupils when, she was in her native ountry, Austria, Se A Watch That Winds Itself. From the Chicago Tribune, The latest novelty in the line of times keepers will appeal to lazy and forgetful people. It con: of a watch which does not require any winding. All that is neces- sary for its owner to do in order to have the time with him always is to walk half a mile a day. The watch does the rest. These novel watches are got out in sev- eral varicties of cases, some of them ex- tremely ornamental, but the commonly seen in’ Chicago is made plain black case and au open f winding mechanism consisis of an genious contrivance by which in- a small weight is raised and lowered from the jar of walking. The motion of the weight works a small ratchet arrangement, which winds the spring to its full tension, and then is automatically held until more wind- ing is nesded. A course of shaking up and down for a few minutes will answer the same purpose as a stroll afoot. while all the jolts and jars of ordinary existence are likewise made useful as a means of wind- ing. The possibilities which this new watch opens up for forgetful and lazy people are enormous. The man who comes home late at night by an irregular course of progres- sion down the street wiil no longer need to have his wife wind his watch in order to keep it going, and the more tempestuous and full of ups and downs his evening has been the better the watch will be wound. The student, college professor and the young woman in love will all be blessed with a perfect-running timepiece, no mat- ter how often they forget to wind it before going to bed at night. Above all, society will be delivered from the necessity of hear-_ ing the remarks of the fool man who says he dcesn’t carry a watch simply because he is too lazy to wind it. From the Chicago Record. “Don't you want to get into this National Encyclopaedia of Prominent People? Cost your only $25.” don’t Uke the way it is run. George Washington and Quincy Adams getting in for nothing.” | THE EVENING STAR ALPANAC & HANDBOOK. HANDBOOK. Every well-informed person in the District of Columbia should possess a copy of THE EVEN- ING STAR ALMANAC and Its value as a ready book of teference. makes it well nigh in- dispensable to every one who de- sires to keep in touch with latter $555505500S8590S50S5000990101019 PLS TPOSS SDPO POSE OT SGOT OTST SIONS SOC TEOO OO PSS OSS OS SO OSS O* c