Evening Star Newspaper, April 3, 1897, Page 22

ef FOREST AND FIELD Signa of Spring to Be Noted on All Sides. April Has a Charm for Every Lover of Nature. —__-+-—_ WHEN THE SAP RUNS FAST ——— Written for The Evening Star. vT IS TRUB THAT “April showers bring May flowers,” but one who waits until 2 May to ramble TGQ! among fields and dells in search of spring's floral treas- ures will, In this Iat- Itude at least, be far too dilatory. Not only do many of the flowers of May commence to bdright- en the earth in April, a number of choice blossoms own, which have withered its nd gane to seed by the time May steps culiarly forward. The arbut New England as the “May flower,” is here almost strictly an April bioom. It may rarely be found during March, or even wary, but it attains the height of its bloom in April, and is certain to be practi~ ly gone by the end of the month. The liverwort, bloodroot and carly saxifrage, although known in Yellow-Winged Sparrow. which are abundant throughout the early part of April, are but a pleasant recollec- tion at the close of the month By May ighted up the April woods. And in sky lowlands. where the whiteheart’s ory trinkets were strung above -ate foliage. May reveals only the of the setti: the brown and with- 2 blossoms ccntaining no suggestion of fairness that greeted the April saun- In April only can one come upon we shadbush. or service berry, with its nk and branches completely veiled by white blossoms. And as April passes the greater part of the reddish- urple corollas cf the red-bud are on the ground. This smaii tree is very abundant in the neighberhecd of Washington. and its masses of bloom along Rock creek and other water courses are a brilliant and charming feature of the April landscape. ‘Then, too, it must noi be forgotten that it is In April thai the trees undergo their wonderful transformation. During the first part of the month a filmy green over- spreads the woods; the rays of the sun are Miltered as they find thejr way to the ground; there is no shade, but one !3 aware adows of the mi Whippeerwill. of some supervening obstacle whore before Each dey marks a decrease in = power of the sunlight, nntii ts reached that midway point in t between Ught and shade which of every grove a felryiand, a fit habitation for the gossamer-winged com- panions of our childhood. What words can adequately dese ¢ ethereal charm of the forest when the trees are in half leaf? ‘The gaze penetrates deep into the soft green tracery; every hanging grapevine, every graceful twig, has a background so delicate that only the purest harmonies of form and color prevail. The waite garish light of winter and the obscurity of sum- mer are replaced during these few days by a shimmering verdancy that softens and beautifies every object within its embrace. And for these enchanted days we are in- dedied to April Lot us bear this in mind when disposed to cavil at her volatility. Early Spring. In the city this transformation occurs a few Gays earlier than in the surrounding country. The parks are then in their hand- romest garb. But they do not compare tn teauty with the dense woods which are to be found beyond the city’s boundaries. The wilder and more unkempt the forest the more attractive will be its appearance. the northern end of Rock Creek Park, just inside the angle there made by the District line, the creek flows through what appears to be the primeval wilderness. Massive birchee, hung with festoons of wiid grape Vines, mingle their upper branches. The Tich, dark soil, formed by successive annual layers of decaying leaves and overflowed yearly by the early spring exceasez of Hock creek, is a congenial bed for choice flowera. The shelter of a@jacent hills on both sides swuards it from hardening winds. The re- moteness of the place protects it from de- iacement. Every April it is touched by the hand of spring 20 tenderiy and bounteously that it becomes 2 bower of perfect charm. me Gray Nut Catcher. ‘Ihe misty green haze above and the rich grren sward profusely decorated with bright-coloread blossoms, while the creek tangted with failen trees winds in and out, ——- to maks a landscape full of loveli- ness. Here has nature sowed so lavishly that in many spots it is impossible to take a step without crushing beautiful flowers er foot. Long and leafy-stemmed yel- low violets raise their canary-colored heads usd peep about. The yellow adder’s tongue, trout lily (to adopt the much more ap- priate and tasteful name suggested by Mrs. Dana), musters its troops by the gion, the pointed leaves of ohining pale green mottled with purple guarding on si le Like sentinels the drooping bells of of k r Virginia cowslip, whose dainty fight bise andy bells are so dell- cate of texture that cannot be — home unwithered unless Geode s shaded and moist. Before the month closes the golden ragwort lends its radiant glory to the scene, and Sear ir = ve erected their rostrums about the e and assumed their ministerial functions, A Wealth of Blossoms. It is toward the end of the month that the dogwoods don their spotless and daz- sling robes, and gleam amid the verdure in all the beauty: of purity. And the pur- ple violets, scentless, but with the charm of freedom, unfold their wings and nod and sway in the caressing breezes. The Great Crested Fly Catcher. paler color of the houstonia, or bluet, tinges an occasional field or slope; the wild pink in various shades from deep pink to white, dots the rocky hillside with bright rosettes, and in shady covers the star clusters of the great chickweed spread their snowy rays. In the grass are the Uttle golden saucers of the cinquefoil, and graveliy hills are crowded with the showy bird-foot violets, whose pansy-like display of velvety dark purple and pale lilac petals suggest the greenhouse. These days, too, bring the full hosts of that mostly tender and highborn maid of the spring, the an- emone, each one a new surprise that such loveliness can be. The modesty and ele- gance of the violct have been the theme of poets from time immemorial, but the vio- let is a soulless chur] beside’ the anemone. See what a grace it lends to the rock or gnarled root beside which it stands! Its simple, unassertive beauty softens the rudest surroundings and creates an atmos- phere of reverence and iration that touches everything in its presence. While wood and meadow h ing vernal trophies the orc! not beer slothful. It has been quietly pre- paring for the great festival, and now, dur- ing these later days, suddenly offers to the world its floral tribute. And the wonders of bloom and fragrance it presents, as apple and pear, peach and cherry, unfold their blossoms and fill the air with their per- fume, are a rich gift to the season. It is additionally attractive because of the many King Bird. songsters that gather within its domain to sport and warble among its flowery re- treats. Nor are the bursts of melody it offers to the ear less refreshing than the feasts it gives to eye and nostril. For the great tide of northward migration has been steadily increasing during the month until by May-dey the land is tilled with song birds. Each day has brought its quota of new arrivals; some merely passing travel- ers on their way to their more northerly homes; others our own neighbors, who nave been spending the winter in the south and now return to their native heath to raise their broods and fill our hills and vales with song. Where have they been since last au- tumn? The gulf states have given shelter to some; in Mexico and Central America many familiar forms might have been seen had we taken a winter trip to those countries; and had we passed on down- ward through South America we might sul have met with here and there an old acquaintance among the crowds of strangers, even though the search had been extended to Patagonia. For among the sandpipers there are some adventur- ous spirits that every spring set out from Patagonia and the Falkland Islands for the north, and do not unpack their grips until they have crossed the arctic circle; and every summer, having raised their Bobolinks, Male and Female. brood in the north polar regions, return to their winter (or other summer) quarters fa the neighborhood of the south pole. What influence causes these globe trot- ters to go so far it would be hard to say. As the climate they find is quite similar to that they leave it may be for pure exer- cise that they swing back and forth from pole to pole. Perhaps they cross the equa- tor and its torridity with much the same spirit as that which causes the small boy to jump over a bonfire of burning brush. The Season's Birds. It ts a pleasure to be on the spot to give welcome greetings to our old friends after their long absence. Here is the catbird as sleek and loquacious as ever, telling with glib garrulity what signts and sounds he has met with during his sojourn in Mexico; apd the house wren, bubbling over with j Cheery song and tilting Tis tafl with the THE EVENING STAR, SATURDAY, APRIL 3, 1897-28 PAGES. ographer. The blue gray gnatcatcher, a | aera edition of the catbird, with all the latter's coquetry and consciousness, may be heard in the woods lisping its call notes and whistling its attractive song through its teeth. The bobolink fills the sunlit meadow with sparkles of melody. The oven bird, whose roofed nest is responsible for its mame, may be seen walking with a ludi- crously dignified strut about among the fallen leaves, at first silent, but in a week or two stunning neighboring ears with its song. This song consists of two syllables, the accent usually upon the last, repeated rapidly and continvously with a constant crescendo until the woods are fairly ring- ing. In the fields the curious droning song of the grasshopper sparrow steals upon the ear, so unobstrusively that many hear it without being conscious of the fact. It is just such a sound as fills the summer air when the grass is full of grasshoppers. A modest effort, it would seem, for a mem- ber of the vocally gifted finch family; yet ft is his very besi, as may readily be judged from observation of the ecstatic spasm which enthralls him during its de- livery. Very different are the dramatic utter- ances of the brown thrasher. The thrasher knows that his season will soon be over— he is one of the first to retire from the mu- sical contest—and he realizes that if he ts to attain a reputation he must let quality supply the place of quantity. Therefore ne posts himself conspicuously upon the top of a medium-sized tree and for a quarter of an hour or so at a time pours out a perfect medley of short phrases in a voice that has a timbre as heterogeneous as his performance, sweet and harsh tones be- ing inextricably intermingled. He usually sings early in the morning and just before the evening twilight. When not engaged in this artistic occupation he goes to the opposite extreme, endeavoring in every way to avoid publicity, keeping under the protecting cover of low bushes er stalking across the road like a suspicious criminal when his business brings him out. This may be one of the tricks of his trade, re- sorted to in order to avoid the danger of making himself too cheap and common, for he has no bad habits with which to re- proach himself. In Striking Contrast. The soundness of his judgment seems to be shown when we contrast the general friendliness with which he is received with the aversion inspired by the king bird or bee-martin, as he is more generally known to farmers. Always proclaiming his pres- ence by his harsh, screechy twitter; perch- ing by preference upon telegraph wires fences and other similar unscreened points, Black-Yhroated Blue Warbler. where he can be most readily seen; dash- ing off continually and noisily upon little sorties after insects or passing birds, par- ticularly crows, whom he delights to harass. He certainly manifests no desire to avoid the public gaze. The tyrant fly- catcher is one of his names, and his blus- tering, domineering aggressiveness fully Justities the title. It requires attentive ob- servation to detect the presence of the brown thrasher, big and conspicuously col- ored as he Is, but if a king bird be near by only the most profound abstraction wiil explain a failure to notice him. Toward the end of the month the new arrivals tread on each other's heels. We have scarcely time to pay our respects to one before another claims our attention. In field, forest and orchard, on every hand, we find fresh comers. Even in the cit despite the dominance of the Engl sparrow, a resting place, or, in some cases, a summer’s home, is afforded by the parks. The canary like yellow war- Her, although he belongs to a wo0d- haunting family, seems to prefer city to country, and about the last of April his brief carol affords an agreeable ching from the bickering notes of the impor: nuisances. And his bright garb flashes amid the green follage until he takes his departure for the south as September closes. His brilliantly attired cousins—and he has a great many of them—scatter their varied tints among the forest trees of the outlying districts, and it is as though the fragments of a rainbow had been sprinkled upon the land. Tangles of blackberry and Wood Thrush. briar resound with the tinklings of the chewink’s silver bell, punctuated by the monosyllabic utterances of the handsome but uncouth yellow-breasted chat. The buzzing, upward rising drawl of the prairie warbler slides out of new growth pines; the harsh, vigorous call of the great crested flycatcher startles the air; the reedy solo of the wood thrush, ’ with the persistent, monotonous, _robin-like notes of the red-eyed virio for accom paniment, comes from the sylvan shad the tender, mournful plaint of the wood- pewee falls from afar and enters our hearts; the vesper hymn of the field spar- row steals across the evening meadow, and-as nocturnal shadows gather a mys- terious voice from the dark woods be- yond tells that the whippoorwill’s nightly vigil has begun. HENRY OLDYS. ita eS Money in Wasps. From the New York Post. Along the banks of the Cape Fear river, in North Carolina, are lowlands, behind which lies a higher level, or bench. The lowlands are subject to more or less fre- quent overflow by freshets, which are de- structive to crops planted therecn. A num- ber of years ago a farmer, resident in the vicinity, made a very comfortable sum of Money by insuring his neighbors’ crops against these freshets. His urvaryine suc- cess as an insurer was for many years a profound mystery to the prople of the re- gion. The years when he declined to insure were invariably years of destructive over- flow. The years when ihe was willing to in- sure were equally certain to be seasons of exemption from disascer. In the earller days in New England this man’s reading of the future would have brought him some unp'easant experience as a dabbler, if not an adept, in black art. In the middle ages of Europe he would prob- ably have been revered as a prophet and saint. Yet his information came from no occult source. Observaiion had shown him that a certain specios of wasp, which built ite home in the ground, bullt some years on the lowlands, and ofber years upon the higher level. Experience taught him that when the wasps bullt on the lowlands there were no freshets, and when they built on the higher ground, the lower would, some time during the season, he submerged. The man had simply noted an instance of that little understood prescience manifested by certain insects and animals, a better knowl- edge of which might even be of service to our national weathe~ bureau. It was only at his death that he revealed his secret. —_—_ +e +___ Proper Qualifications, From the New York Tribune. “Banger says he has been invited to join the choir.” “J didn’t know he could sing.” “He can’t. But he's such a good fighter.” : — ‘It matters little what it is that want whether a situation or -a eevenin “want” ad. in The Star will reach the person who ean fill your need. A PLANISPHERE OF > Position of the Principal Stars that Showing t THE SKIES IN APRIL Many Timely Hints for Amateur Astronomers. HE CONSTELLATIONS -—- A REVIEW OF 7 Inconceivable Distance of Arcturus From the Earth. i Ae SSE MERCURY AS EVENING STAR Oe Written for The Evening At 9 o'clock tonight, Leo, the Lion, will be crossing the meridian, or, in other | words, will be exactly uth, at about? three-fourths of the distance from the horizon to the zenith. Leo is the fifth of | the zodiacal corstellations, lying between Cancer on the west and Virgo on the east, and is the most striking figure among them, with the excepticn, perhaps, of the Scor- pion. The head and shoulders of the Lion are formed by the well-known Sickle, in the handle of which ts the bright star Regulu sometimes called Cor Leonis, the Lion’ Heart. His hind quarters—toward the east —are marked by a rectangular figure oe) about the size of the bowl of the Great | Dipper, formed by four stars, of which | ene is of the second, one of the third and | two of the fourth magnitude. The bright- est of the four—that at the lower left-ha: corner of the rectangle—ts Denebola, Arabic name contracted from Deneb Asad, the Tail of the Lion. The hind are supposed to extend downward and rear werd, while the fore paws extend forward. With the help of a lively imagination one can see here the figure of this king of beasts in the act of springing on his pre and we may, therefore, set Leo down one of the very few constellations whi have some resemblance to the objects for which they were named. : Below Leo is the Hydra or Water Snake, remarkable chiefly for its enormous length of over 100 degrees. If hung perpendicu- larly in the heavens it would stretch from the horizon more than 10 degrees beyond the zenith. It is, however, so poorly mark- | ed with stars that with all its length it ts a rather inconspicuous constellation. Its most noticeable part is its head, formed by a very pretty little group of four stars, the brightest of which, of the third mag- nitude, makes an excellent eye. To find this head run a Mne from Denebola to} Regulus and continue it to a distance about equal to the distance cf these two stars apart. It will be found to be a very pretty object for the opera glass, which reveals here quite a nest of small stars. The sinu- cus course of the Hydra’s body is indicated on the planisphere and with this aid the constellation may be located, even if it | cannot be seen very distinctly in the actual | heavens. The Crater, or Cup, and the Crow, which stand upon the Hydra’s back, will be found easily, though neither contains any star above the third magnitude. Both are very | pretty little constellations, particularly if examined with an opera glass. Of the two the Cup is the most like. It is, in fact, a very passable celestial goblet, though a} little lop-sided. Cor Hydra, the Hydra’s Heart, will also be found casily, though of only the second magnitude, being quite conspicuous from its loneliness. It forms with Regulus and the Hydra’s head a tri- | angle, of which the sides are all nearly equal in length. A Celestial Landmark. ‘Turning now toward the east, we shail have before us the great Diamond of Virgo. Although this is not one of the old constel- lations, it is a celestial landmark which the beginner in star-gazing should note par- ticularly. It is formed by the four stars— Arcturus, Spica, Denebola and Cor Caroli. Denebola has already been pointed out. Arcturus is the brilliant orange-yellow star, now seen almost exactly in the east at one-third of the distance from the hori- zon to the zenith. Observe that it lies on a continuation of the curve of the Dip- per’s handle. Continuing this curve to the right, we strike Spica, at a little lower alti- tude than Arcturus, in the southeast. Spica is the principal star in Virgo, marking the } wheat-ear which the maiden, a harvest gleaner, apparently carries in her left hand. Virgo, by the way, now stands erect above the southeastern horizon, her head well up toward Derebola, though the con- stellation is so shadowy that time is wasted in searching for its outlines. The three stars—Arcturus, Spica and Denebola—are at very nearly the same distance apart, thus forming a large equilateral triangle. Cor Caroli, Charles’ Heart, so named in honor of England's ill-fated king, will now easily be found, though of only the third magnitude. It lies between Arcturus and the Great Bear, and is the principal star in the Hunting Dogs. It is a double star, sufficiently wide to be separated with a small telescope, and4s a very pretty object for such an instrument. The principal star is white, and the companion, somewhat smaller, has a wivlat tinge. About midway between Cor Caroli and Denebola lies.a beautiful though rather diffuse sprinkling of small stars, known | as Coma Berenice’, Berenice’s Hair. The bright«st starsain this cluster are below the fourth magnitude. There are said to be forty-three visible 40 the naked eye. An opera glass will treble or quadruple this number. This littlei section of the heavens is particularly interesting astronomically from its richness dn nebulae as well as stars. al | | | | The Northern Crown. To the left of Arcttrus and at a lower al- titude lies the Northern Crown, one of the prettiest of the,small constellations, formed by a nearly closed oval of six or more stars, of which the brightest, Alpheta, sometimes called the Pearl of the Crown, is of the-second magnitude. * Of the stars which we just passed in re- view, by far the most Interesting is Arc- turus, not merely because of its superior brilliancy, but more especially because it is, perhaps, to use the words of Miss Agnes Clerke, “the most stupendous sun within our imperfect cognizance.” Dr. Elkin, in 1888, using the fine hellometer of the Yale Colk observatory, was unable to detect in tl brilliant star any “parallax” of an amount sutticlently great to be disentangled | from “probable errors of observation,” or in plain English, he was unable to obtain any trustworthy indication of its distance from us. Arcturus Ce pred 80 pr foundly buried in the of space while Sirius and other brilliant stars shift their positions ‘or three-quarters THE HEAVENS. are above the Horizon April 4, at 9 P.M. position of this star is scarcely, if at all, affected by this movement of the earth. Let us figure a little on the probable size of a sun which at this unmeasurable dis- tance is yet one of the brightest stars in the firmament. An Inconceivable Distance. The best photometric measurements make the brillianey of Arcturus about one-fifth of that of Sirius. It has heen estimated hat Sirius shines with a light equal to the ombined light of forty—some say seventy— uns placed side by side at its distance from Hence the combined light of eight suns (to adopt the smaliest cf the numbers just given) set side by side at the distance of Sirius would form for us a star of the bril- ancy of Arcturus. At Gouble that distance it would require four times as many suns to form a star which would be equally bright; at three times that distance thy number of suns must be nine times as great; times a tinuall cist at four times the distance, sixteen S great, and so on, the number con- ith the square of the nce of Sirius is now put dight years to say light cf th pout takes it throug’ the space second, nine to from it to us. The le has been thought turus, upon the ba: make dist nee which igned to Arc Ikin's obser- vations, is sixty-seven light years, with a probability greater than this. Astro eak, indeed, of Areturus lihood 100 or even 200 light years distant from us. Let us & moderate and say ninety; or, in words, assume as probeble that Ar is ten times as far from us as Sirius. square of 10 is 100, and this multiplied by § vy as the number of suns which must ide by side at the distance of Arc- turus to make a star equal to it in splendor. It can readily be figured out that a single sun to present a dise equal in area to the % other urus The combined disc of these 8%) must have a diameter neariy 28 times as great as the sun's; and in that case it must eq in volume over 20,000. sun: EE v tep: s have been reached hay for the result of thi oundine as almost to Allowance m whi be h these figur n purposely alculation take away s be made, of cour wide margin of error. But when the most liberal allowance has been made there still remains the cer- tainty that Areturus surpasses the sun in volume several thousand Umes. Our sun moved to its distance would most certainly become Invisible to the naked eye. The Planet». Mercury was in “supericr conjunction” with the sun, or directly behind the sun, on the Ist of the month. Since that date it has been an evening star, though it has not yet come into visibility. In a week or so from today it should be so far out of the twilight glow as to become visible a half of an hour after sunset low in the west. It will continue to be v1 ble during the remainder of the month, reaching its greatest angular distance from the sun—about twenty-one degrees—on the 28th There is a popular notion that Mercury 1s a yery Gifficult object to see. This Is a mi take due probably to the circumstance that much of our information in astronomical tters has been derived from the books lish writers. It is true that in the h latitude of England, owing to the great in- clination of the ecliptic with respect to the horizon, this planet can be seen well only at certain seasons of the year, when the conditions are most favorable. ‘But in the lower mean latitude of the United States Zercury can be seen by one who knows hen and where to lock for it whenever it is near its greatest distance from the sun, either east or west. The average duration of the time of its visibility in the latitude of shington is about two wecks. shone with her test bri g star on the 21st of last month. She is rapidly drawing in toward the sun, at the same time diminishing in splendor, and by the middle of the month she will be too near the sun to be visible to the naked eye. She will pass between us and the sun—will be in “inferior conjunction”— on the 28th. After that date she will be a morning star for the rest of the year. Mars is still an evening star, in the con- stellation Gemini, at about two-thirds of the distance from Aldebaran to Pollux. Though still equaling in brightness a star of the first magnitude, Mars has ceased to be an object of special interest, either to the naked-eye observer or the astronomer. Its distance from us now is nearly 140,000,- 000 miles. Jupiter is now the reigning evening star, though his brilliancy has diminished some- vhat since the date of his opposition, Feb- ruary 22. He is now in Leo, about’ three degrees east of Regulus. Since December 25 Jupiter has been retrograding, or mov- ing westward. On the 25th of this month he will be stationary. After that date his movement wiil be direct, or toward the east. Saturn is now an evening siar, rising at about 10 p.m. {t is in the Scorpion, some 10 degrees northwest of Antares. About two degrees farther in this direction is Uranu. ptune, never visible to the naked eye, sin ‘Taurus, between the horns. See Ss Fashion's Conquests Are Easy. From the Woman's Home Companion. Fashion is not so great a tyrant, after all, as her enemies would have vs believe. No matter how strongly attached we become to certain modes in the various accessories cf dress, when a change is rung in by this ruler of feminine fancies we fall in with her ideas and vote them an improve- ment upon anything heretofore offered. Only a short year ago the huge balioon-like covering for the arm was thought to be the only stylish, becoming and comfortable sleeve, and war to the knife was declared against any invasion upon this much-cov- eted bunch of fluffiness, believing that nothing could be so pretty and graceful. Now this immensity in sleeves is but a memory, and we find ourselves questioning our taste in adopting a much-stiffened, out- standing effect on the arm, when we see the contrast brought about by the new sleeves that bring out the contour of the arm, “Want” ads. in The Star pay because they bring answers. A DAY WITH MR. GAGE The Secretary of the Teasury Has Few Leisure Moments. —__>—_-——_ BUT HE SEEMS 10 REVEL IN WORK ee eS How He Masters the Details of the Office. HIS UNUSUAL METHODS eo A $8 SECRETARY OF the Treasury, Ly- man J. Gage of Chi- cago is taking a rest. Mr. Gage him- self put it in this way in a remark he made the other day to one of his close friends. It was a re- mark peculiarly characteristic of a Chicag> man, emi- nently characteristic of the man who made it. For, to the new Secretary of the Treasury, the meaning of the word “rest,” except in its merely comparative sense, is probably unknown; it is certain that during the whole course of his vielssitudin- ous career—better, his Chicago career, for the terms are practically synonymous—he has rever experienced complete rest as the ordinary citizen apprehends that condi- tion. The president (and brains) of one of the grectest banks in the world, suddenly re- lieved of the direct responsibility for ew thirty millions of doilars of other men’s money, might very possibly find compara- tive rest even in the assumption of the s of a governmental office so notori- exacting as the headship of the United States” finance department. Yet other ex-presidents of banks have becou Secretaries ot the Treasury without en,« particular amount of rest during In truth, , the strain of es in the coun- ned of the neryous prostrat . if any, of them had t ieneices of mo chronic B rh . the ps the most evenly pol most reposeful, of distinguished American mon. His hee = trayals, in m . of the head of Zeus. His frame. f1 when he was was amplified 1 strength in a sawmi trunk of chest of a Swell beneath his coat sleeves. He is the picture of physical strength. His exuda- tion of mental! power is known to every man who ever sat in a room with him fer five minutes, A moment's conversation sedative. He rega into proportions rs of rou He is as straight nut palm. He t. His gre the the with him is a rds a man of excitable speech as a freak. In manner he is judicial without being ponderous. He reads his itor with half-closed eyes, and talks to him with e i fully closed. He is prob- the best listene shington, but he wants his man to at the point in season. The only of w he is capable ts that whic ttertains for a generalize: ch a one he breaks off, courteously enough, with “And you wish me to do—what?” or “Your point being—" or “You were saving—” Yet he is not an abrupt man. Rather, he ts courtly. Hi has a manner of other days. He makes a better obeisance to a woman clerk than he does to a United States senator. He has a faculty for making his affairs slip on ofled gear. Not Afraid of Work. “When I decided to come to Washington,” he said, the day he arrived here, “my friends cheerfully told me that four years of the treasury would make me a physical wreck. They painted for me many lugu- brious pictures of the last Gays of former Secretaries of the Treasury. I made them reply that, as I had put in about forty years of a trifle more than moderately hari work, an average of ten hours a day of it, I thought I could make out all right in Washington for four years. I felt what I said, for phy: rong a man today t ‘The first month of Mr. Gage’s incum of the treasury has been a sufficiently - vere one, in all truth, and yet the peculiar smile he executes under his white beard is as warming as it was when he came here. Seen at his treasury desk at any hour of the day, he looks like the east worried man on earth, in spite of the fact that since the 5th day of March Jast he has been stormed, besieged and ambuscaded by office hunters in a fashion that has endured by few cabinet ministers since the foundation of th mt. He has re- ceived them all. an has been turned from the door of his office. And yet it is probable that Mr. Gage has learned more of the details of the opera- tion of the vast machinery of the Treasury Department within the space of the single month during which he has been its head than any former Secretary of the Treasury ever acquired within the period of half a twelve-month. His mind acts with the di- rectness of a great gun projectile. He has odd methods of getting at the heart of matters. Today he has an excellent gen- eral idea of the workings of every branch of his department. In getting hold of this information, he is something of an undisguised Haroun-al- Raschid. In the intervals during which the office seekers, withdrawing from his wide-open citadel for conference, grant him temporary armistice, Mr. Gage takes seem- ingly directtonless walks throughout the treasury building. In the course of these tours, quite unattended, he casually drops into the offices of a few of the division chiefs. He draws up a chair to the desk of the division chief and engages the offi- cial in a few minutes’ coaversation. The sharp directness of the questions he asks on such occasions never fails to excite the wonder of the official thus sought out. As Chicago newspaper men know, Mr. Gage has a facile cleverness in asking questions almost equal to that displayed by the dis- tinguished Li Hung Chang on the occasion of the Chinese statesman’s recent visit to this country, When anything happened in any part of the world, the Chicago re- porter was always sent to find out what Lyman Gage thought about it, just as in New York the reporter is always dis- patched to interview Chauncey Depew on all.concetvable subjects. Courtecusly and graciously as Mr. Gage always received the newspaper men on these occasions, they would invariably leave him with what is known as “that pumped feeiing;” for, while permitting himself to be interviewed up to a certain point, he would generally contrive to dig more out of the reporter than he gave up himself. Absorbs Information. The treasury officials are now dis>over- ing the ability of the new Secretary as a mtner and an atsorber of information. In making his little treasury building tours he will notice an official letter lying on the top cf a heap vf documents vn the desk of a division chief. He picks it ug, reads it carefully, studies it. “What reply shall you make to this?” he finally inq:vires. Thus he puts his head men on their met- ‘lo and gathers necessary information at the same time. In this fashion he has vis- ited nearly all of the important divisions are recalled by the oidest employes of the de. partment. But no official knows just when to expect a visit from Secretary Gage, and, as Mr. Gage’s reputation as a man r of piercing, though kindly, ability is well krown, the Treasury it _person- nel has perhaps never be! heen so much ti eeiee IT CAN'T BE DONE. Ne One Cam Remain Well, No Chrenta Disease Can Be Cured Unless the Stomach is First Made Strong and Vigorous, ‘This is plain berause every organ in the body, Sepends on the stomach for its nourishment. Nerve, bone, sinew, bicod ate made (rom the food which the stomach converts to our wes How useless to trent disuse with thts, that ind the other remedy and neglect the most Import- ant of all, the stomach, The earltest symptoms of indigostt isi ) bad t tm the mouth, gas in bowels, palpitation, al headaches, constipation ‘om jones of fireh, consumption, liver and ‘heart troul les, kidney dl eones, hervous prostration, all of which are t indirect result of poor nutrition Any person sulfering from indigestion should make it @ practice to take after cacti meal one of Stuart pepsin Tablets, allowing it to solve in tl mouth and thus mingle with saliva and enter the stomach in the most nat Way. These tablets are highly recommen Dr. Jennison because they are composed ot natural digestive acids and fruit caences Wile) Qesiet the stomach in digesting all wholesome food Lefore it has time to ferment and sour. Stuart's Dyspepsia Tablets are fall sized packuges, at 50 cents excellent for invalids and children. stomach diveanes and thousands of of genuine cures sent free by address! Co., Marshall, Mich mt erormous ledger. “That ts a pr book.” says he to the accountant When the weather permitied, Mr always walked from his Chic re to his Chicago bank in the morning, and he bes already formed the habtt of walking briskly from his Washington res! to the Treasury Depariment a cigar on his way down r at-looking He smokes He would rath smoke a@ pipe, but this is one of the few matters in which he is wiling to conform to conventionality. So he smokes his pty at home. He arrives at the treasury build ing at ® o'clock. He used to “hay to his bank at 8:30, and he s: nat he rather appreciates the extra halt r he has here in the morning Prompt as the Secretary is, he is no more so than the office seekers. Even at o'clock the ante-room to the office is more than comfortabiy filled with ary t and t ung on their pegs than (1 ins to percolate into his office. F Secretary Vanderlip undertakes th management of the percolation. He make the introductions, handles the papers, sifts our the erowd ing . and does his part of the work adn Secretary nor th tary makes any tations that have been pla pointing power th civil service law ing the law, as partment,” Seer etary’s © secre the limt- n the ap- ion of tt disres: ts in who. When I assumed the the treasury i found tw pointments at my comm and my stenographer. bees Dealing With Office Seekers. a The applicant, > und how for the Treasury I a careful hearing, despi er, positi artment » the fa the applicant's papers and recommen- of} dations are to be the final mea eligibility, Cour ly as he re it Is a fact that the men who seek pe interviews with Mr. Gage in their own tr are srest practically wast cir time. He himself says that their chances would be quite as good, if not better, if cressed him through ( other waste of time to se ever, for no oflice seeker c: It down mails vinced that he is not hugely benefited 1 his appearance in the Secretary's office backed up by a representative or a # ator. It is of no whatever £ pint me the Beer precier forwa £0 to minw an applicant for a treasury aj in person t papers go through ax if they had be ed by mail; that is to say, t appointment division within th after the applicant leaves the Se presence, there to be filed until t called for. In the appointment aivis the same mill names, with the accompanying recom- mendations, of all the applicants, for tn stance, for the position of col r of tn ternal revenue for the first district of New York, are inscribed in a right clerkly band in a separate paper-bound volume set asil@® solely for that one position. When Sf Gage decides to appoint a collector of ‘n- ternal revenue for the first district of New York, he will call for this book, look it over, and pick out his man. It is a system whic completely neutralizes the oiliest efforts o? the personai interview applicants. Yet they come—singly, in pairs and trios, in delegations, h oman nimbused with the aura of hope. he Secretary, leaning back in his revolving chair, gives them ear, and permits them to do most of the talking. The interview is concluded when Mr. Vanderlip brings up another applicant cr pair, trio, quartet or delegation of a plicants, Short as has been his period of service, Mr. Vanderlip has become @ nice gauger of time in this respe. Seems to Enjoy It. Through it all Secretary Gage sits, com- posed, judicial, the embodiment of patience. He appears to rather enjoy it, and certainty finds a certain philosophical pleasure in the study of the constantly shifting kalei- Goscopic crowd. For instance, Gen. Long- sSireet, the famous confederate leader, ap- peared in Se retary Gage’s office the other day at the head of a delegation of colored As the confederate general departed the delegation, Mr. Gage re- 's reconstruction for you. During the noon hour, when man born of woman 1s supposed to eat, there is no in- dication of the slightest abatement tn the tide of visitors. Rut Mr. Gage's office is closed for a matter of about fifteen min- utes, while the Secretary of the Treasury and his private secretary partake of crack- ers and milk for Nuncheon. Mr. Gage is an enthusiast on the subject of crackers and milk for luncheon, and so ts his secretary. Thus there ts a quarter of an hour breath- ing spell. Then the door is again thrown open, and again the broken chain of appl!- cants flows In. But, by the Secretary’s order, it is ali over promptly at 2 o'clock. He will receive no one after that hour, for at that time of day his “signing” time ins Letiers for the mails that reach the desk of the Secretary of the Treasury for signature are generally sufficiently littered with the initials of the various officials through whcse hands they have passed to make it fairly certain that they are ali right, and most of Mr. Gage’s predecessors have signed them with as great a degree of rapidity as they could run their pens over the paper. Not so the new Secretary. He exhibits no mere fussiness in carefully Teading, as he does, every letter (and there are hundreds of them every day) to which he appends his signature. It is simply one of his methocs of mastering the routine of the department. Nor does he sign all of the letters. Many of them he puts to one side as he goes along, and, when he 1s through with the main stack of letters, he sends separately for the chiefs of the di- visions whence emanated the letters which have “stuck” ic paasing his desk, and makes inquiries. Such inquiries frequentiy result in the letters being written over again. ‘At about 5 o'clock a messenger enters the Secretary’s office and announces that his carriage is awaiting him at the main door of the treasury building on 15th street. Then, after nine hours of pretty solid work, Mr. Gage goes home, an hour after the practically complete desertion of the bullding, except for the watch force. —— ae If you want anything, try an ed. in The Star. If anybody has what you wish, you will get an answer. —— To Make Sui From the Cincinsatt Enquirer. “Young man, sald the statesman, “I de- cline to be interviewed.” The hopeful reporter looked sad. “I always interview myself.” the states- man explained. “It is a great plan for missing mistakes. Just sit down, and I will have your copy ready in about twen- ty minutes.”