Evening Star Newspaper, April 24, 1897, Page 19

\ es : HONOR AMONG THIEVES SS so Written for The Rvening Star by MORGAN ROBERTSON. ea (Copyright, 1807, 8. S- McClare Co.) Hx days thou shalt Iaboe, and do all that thoa art ie. on the th, thou shalt hotystoue the deck aot seven hoty aud serape the Commandmente, ‘When ycu have made a more than suc- Cessful cruise, on which you have ravaged the coast from Callao to the isthmus; ‘when your hold {s filled with the choicest of brandies, wines and liquors—with fancy groceries and the finest of silks, brocades end broadcloths, and the covers of four treasure-chests in the ‘tween deck will hardly close over the contents; lastly, when your number is reduced by fights, sick- mess and quarter-deck correction from 40 to 20, and your shere in the spotl ts in- creased in like ratio, it is hard, very bard, to lie in the scuppers under a hot Pacific @un and whistle for a wird, with your isl- @nd retreat just below the western horizon, @ fat and tempting Chinese junk a half mile off in the same direction, a curious “though quiescent man-of-war three miles east, and Palm Tree Island to the south- ward, toward which the current is setting, threatening to receive you on its shark-in fested reef. Such conditions would try the patience E gentler souls that Captain Swarth and is crew. Their brig was tal in water through a started butt—in spite of the thrummed topgallant sail under it—at the rate of a foot an hour, while the one gang that they dared show to those inqubitive government glasses to the eastward could mot pump her free. In fact, the water gained. Wind was what they wanted; wind would settle the whole matter. They ould man ail pumps, lay the junk aboard, “POWDER IS WET, YOU BLASTED tears, had disappeared behind that the northern hortzon, hidden by a newly formed feg bark, fonably elevated—they seemed the rail, and though intentionally, perhaps from some canon of Chinese seamanship— and a moment later were slid to near the crest of an 8)-foot slope, where a Niagara of foaming water pounded their decks and sides and rushed them on. Hatches were ripped off, gun breechings snapped, cura- ing and praying men were hurled around the deck, and the salt avalanche held the brig in its clutch for a full half minute, then passed over her and on; and they Kcoked—those who could—up the receding hill to where the wavehead was shivering itself over the barrier reefs, and, in the other direction, at a recond wave, higher, blacker, more menacing than the first, its FOOL,” ROARED THE INFURIATED CAPTAIN. i a = \@ispose of her crew, transship what wes {good of her cargo, lead the “bulldog” a jehase to the southward and dodge back to ;thetr tsland to careen end refit, divide up and rest. They knew that man-of-war— though she did not seem to know them— knew her speed and gunnery, and feared her not—with wind. ¥ank Tate. the carpenter, sounded the pump well and groaned a gentle oath. “No wood, cappen.” he said as he walked aft ‘with the soundfhg rod; “must be up to the second tier now.” Captain Swarth swept the smoky horizon with his glasses. There was no sign of even a catspaw; the metioniess man-of- ‘war—a gurdeck sloop—lay outlined against athe haze with the distinct detail of a stcel engraving—every block. rope and reef-point howing. Aboard the junk a big, fat China- ‘man sac at the tiller on the high poop, ‘“oddiz g. as though asleep, while the rest of her crew were hidden. Paim Tree Isl- and was nearer—he could plainly hear the surf crashing on the barrier. “Get the boys up, Angel,”” he said to his ng-legged, solemn-faced mate. “Man th pumps: and Chips’’—this to the car- nter—“see what you can do with the jember down below. Make a balia’ pump you can.” “Then we'll have that feller’s boats down Fags won't fool the brass buttons after they see our crowd.” He pointed to a ring of signal flags at the gaff end, which, In answer to @ previous inquiry of the ship, had given the official number of the brig they had taken—that now lay on “Why not The moon'll bring ,the bottom forty miles east. ‘hold on till dark BIN? wind.” “We'll likely have her boats here soon anyhow; they're only waiting till it’s cool- er. As for the junk, let her go: there's not much in ker. We've got to float, above all, and float high, or we can’t get away when the wind does come. We can fight the boats off.” “Guess yer right, Bill. Pity we lost ours. ‘We could be through wi the junk ‘fo: this if we had ‘em. Man the after pump,” he called. The carpenter had disappeared in the “tween-deck, and the cosmopolitan crew, with growls and hurrahs according to their individual appreciation of the situation, arose from the hot deck and shipped pump brakes. As they did so a tremor ran was broken into minute ripples. “What the devil's that,” said the captain; “barrels adrift in the hold? : there, bullies; lighten her up,’ to the men. “Look at the Chinamen, Bill,” said the Wate. The crew of the junk had come to life. Not less than forty long-tailed Ce- lectials were flying about her deck; some lewering the heavy mat sails: some ship- ping sweeps; others working at the sharp- pronged wooden anchors—evidently getting them ready. But the sudden showing of fourteen extra white men on the deck of their neighbor did not seem to be the cause of their agitation, for they swung the light craft around until the two painted eyes In.| the bows looked at the brig, and pulled in te sweeps. “She's a pirate—a Chinese pirate,” cried the captain: “no trading junk carries that crew. . likely.” The . howl of execration arose from the brig’s deck—not from offended virtue; it was, rather, the protest of union against non-union labor. Pickings were searce and hard-earned In these seas, even ot dl For Weak and Run Down People. ‘The richest of all restora- What is It! live foods, because it r0- ces the esecntials of life that are exhausted disease, indigestion, high living, overwork, Sorry. excesses, abuse, et What it Does! tine, sm, soos gation perfect—Ke creates lid desk, moscle and Tength. The nerves being strong — becomes are aa clear. yee) : Vitality, stops. all wast a 4 sither sex, od 1 Binal ‘regulator haa equst. Price S0c., or five bores $2.00. or by We can help you. Advice book, free. Write Us About Your Case. | The Dr. Chase Com . 3512 Cheastant street, mb18-th&s52t \ on us,” answered the mate; “and lose the Junk, too—they’ve got sweeps aboard. Them through the brig, and the water alongside | toa: ripped out, an’ there ain't a sound crest hidden In fog. With barely time for @ long breath, the gasping men felt their craft thrown to the top of this comber, aug- mented in height by the reflected water of the first. Again were they by the liquid riot, and amid fog and foam and thundering uproar were again hurled shore- ward. Some caught a momentary glimpse of the disappearing knuckles of the reef be- low, and a dismasted junk just above; then the fog thickened, blotting out all but the punishing water and its deafening sound; then came again the nauseating sinking, which told them the wave had passed; then @ shock and a sound of smashing wood. a brig had struck—on the reef or within But the dominant volume of sound was ‘transferred from landward to seaward, and, though they could see nothing now, they fnew that the third wave, as it crashed aver the barrier, was the largest of all. Up the unseen slope the half-flled brig traveled, the crew clinging to ropes and deck fittings, until, above the fog, and be- fore the pitiless cataract began to smother and beat them, they viewed the highest hilltop of the isiand, not a quarter mile away. Then they saw no more—nor did they breathe—until, after a succcssion of wrenchings, joltings and crashings, they found their brig surrounded by palm trees, Jibboom and bowsprit gone, mainmast pointing one way and foremast the otker— which latter phenomena, with the open veams in the spirally curved decks, indi- cated a broken backbone—and looked through thinning fog and tree trunks down @ moist slope to a chaotic ocean, crossed and recrossed by advancing and reflected tidal waves. Mr. Todd, with the captain and carpenter, dropped over the side to hold a survey of the twisted hull. They walked around it in the mud in which it lay, probing gaping seams with their knives, and peering into fore-and-aft fissures and thwart-ship crev- ices, through some of which they could see the barrels of their cargo. The brig lay. bows down, half-way up the hill, with the beach a quarter mile away. The water was still draining out. “She'll never float again, Chips, will she?” said the captain. Yank Tate ruefully shook his head. “She's a fixtur’, cappen,” said he. “A dock-Kead caps’an couldn't budge her, an’ a dock yard couldn't mend her. The Keel’s in two pieces, three feet apart; rudders gone, an’ sternpost’s out o’ true; port gar- frame that side. She was a beauty, too—a teauty. I never saw her like ‘mong work- in’ boats.” A man hailed who had climbed to the main royal yard: “There's the junk up the alll,” he cried, “right-side up, an’ the yal- ler-back’s eating supper.” “Supper,” growled the mate; “supper—an’ cur grub must be spoiled. e were half- Way to the bottom. Bill, in the last sea.” “If they have grub we'll have some, too,” said Capt. Swarth quietly. “It’s a question with me if the junk wasn’t right to take it broadside. Royal yard, there,” he hailed; “d'ye see the bull-dog?’ The man aloft stood up, looked to the eastward and called down: “Headir’ south under tops’ls; everything gone aloft an’ low down in the water. Portholes amidships awash.” “Well, she’s afloat, anyhow, while we and the Chinamen are high and dry. But if they can’t pump out they’re done for, tco; there'll be wind on top o’ this.” Capt. Swarth was right. Such a cata- clysm, as had with three waves washed a 00-ton brig over a reef and almost to the center of an island, could not but be fol- lowed by atmospheric disturbance. Wind came—a vicious hurricare—which kept them beneath their leaky decks, listening to wail- ings and screamings in the rigging, and to the crashing of palm trunks and branches over their heads, feeling the sway and the heave of the brig on her muddy bed with each heavier puff of the tempest, and pass- ing the day ard following night thus, to the acecmpaniments of hunger and thirst. Provisions were spoiled—except the salt meats, which these free lances would not eat—and their appetites were only increased by the tot of good grog served out by Capt. Swarth at nightfall, while their tempers were ruffied by his injunction to stay below or get shot. The hurricane ended at daylight, and the sun rose in a clear blue sky. Hungry now, and sav: as uncaged wolves, they ate the ler was intact and no holes could be seen in her. In her was foad of some s2g0, curry, kind—rice, fish, ete. Did they want her? An in $ yall man they at the tiller stood on seemed to be in command. ‘Melicam man no hab come tep side,” he called; “Melican man ne blong; Chinaman eae side.” “¥ ey, you yellow-skinned vipers,” cried Capt. Swarth. “At ‘em again, boys. Don’t breathe till you get aboard.” The second charge was half-hearted and futile; they did not breathe the demoral- duestionabiy, Sghters and with Secealng dq and with several of their mumber prodded i E a i by the spears they withdrew. “Why didn’t ye give us pistols, cappen,” one, as he rabbed the blood from an his cheek. bloody knuckles, drew aside and conferred, ta which conference they called the car- penter. They studied the junk and the Stound under foot, peered down the slape through the trees to the shelving beach, and discussed the shortcemings of the me: “It's on’y cog they’re ashore, cappen, said the carpenter, ‘a sailor ashore isn’t himself.” “Well, if they can’t fight, they can work. And Werk they shall if the Chinamen With a dingy handkerchief on the end of a stick, Capt. Swarth approached the junk. The Chinamen evidently understood a flag of truce, for they threw nothing at him, and hs called to the captain: “Chinaman no fight—no bobbery; Melican no boobery: savvay?” “Chinaman b’long,” man. “Yes, that’s right; Chinaman belong. But we can’t get away; neither can you. Now 8’pose Melican belong all same Chinaman— savvay?”’ The big captain nodded and Capt. Swarth went on. ‘“‘Metican ship alt smash—one piecee wreck —all gone—no belong. Savvay?”—more nodz —‘Chinaman got junk; no got mast—no got sail. Melican got mast—got sail—no got junk. Melican takee junk down fore side— makee junk top side—one good junk. Melican makee mast—makee gail. Then chop-chop Chinaman go way fore side— takee Melican fifty mite one piece island all same this.” eee man no fightee—no kick up bob- answered the big No, no, no bobbery—no trouble at all,” replied the wrathful and humiliated Capt. Swarth. ‘We'll slide your old tub down to the beach, fit her out, launch her and navi- gate her; all we want ts to get away—over yonder.” He waved his hand to the west- ward. The junk captain safd something to his followers, and while a babel of Chinese dis- putation troubled the air, Capt. Swarth sat down and smoked (it was a fine cigar, from the private stock of a teaclipper’s captain) mentally computing the weight of the junk, and the horse-power of his crew. The out- cry on the junk was silenced by the big captain's laying about him with a bamboo pole, and Capt. Swarth, grinning from a fellow-feeling, approached. The under- standing arrived at was—that the China- men were to remain aboard their craft and do no work; that the white men could do what they pleased except interfere with the Feace and comfort of the Chinamen; and if trey succeeded in launching her they could only ride in her as far as their island, when they were to depart, and allow the junk to go on with the masts and sails as her own. To which compact Capt. Swarth and Capt. Lee Kin shook hands over the ratl. Then Capt. Swarth climbed aboard, exam- fred the crazy windlass with which the Chinamen got thetr anchors, shook his head. looked at the strong partners (strengthening pieces) in the deck, which had received the shroudless masts, smiled, and then asked about her cargo. There was very little of tt—all clear of the mast- steps. He returned to his men and told them what they were to do. Another uproar fol- lowed. They would see him in the lower regions first. The cruise was ended and with it ended Capt. Swarth’s authority. They would do what was possible to repair their own craft and launch her; they woukl fight the Chinamen til the last man drop- ped, but they wouldn't work that junk down the hill for any nest of rat-cating heathen. To which Capt. Swarth replied that he had six bullets, each equal to a man, and a cutlass good for another. Did any one care to make one of the seven? Capt. Swarth was a good shot and a good swordsman, and thelr indignation subsided to muttering sulks. Then, efter ‘WHE EVENING STAR, SATURDAY, APRIL 24, 1897-94 PAGES. “W- masts end tepmasts, with tha spammer becm and gaff. “Grow! ye may, >ut work ye must.” sai¢ Ms, Tedd to them, es they showed him their sores and cursed him for a@ slave Soa saa bread fruit, #ehich wild yams and 2 eee ical @ day’s rest—which was denied them, mm _the ensning argument lost snother thetr number—Shorty it was—ami they drugged the carpenter’s tool chest up the hitl-—buryimg Shorty on the way, without prayera—and ;retured for the twa lower yards. This job used the day, and as In the morning they rigged the bow of the junk (which, like the brig, pointed down hill), of the fore and main small trunk, end to a stump near & roustabout or heavy snatch block take of the eight-inch hawser cure toa shot of anchor chain, which were to pass under the Dow. And this was a job at which their souls revolted, for they were forced ta burrow under the junk with knives, as there were no spades in the brig. If the Chinamen possessed them they made ao sign, but hung over the rail and guyed them in derisive pantomime. ‘They took turns at the muddy task, and the mud dried on them, layer over layer; for ne time was’ allowed them to clean up. And as only four could work at a time at this, the rest, after reeving off the big tackle, busied themselves in cutting down palm trees and flattening the trunks for ways (or rails), and in ripping up deck planks and dregging them up the hill for cradles. This work was not done in a day; it took several And they labored in the hot sun, policed continually by the captain or mate, teased by their sores and on a short allowance of water; for several tanks had been demolished tn the wreck. But at last the hefes were dug and the chain passed under the bow, through the rings of the lower blocks, and secured. Then they hauled the 12-part tackle hand-taut toa pahn tree, and clapped a tackle to the haviing part close to the shears, another on the ‘hauling. part of this, and thus, luff upon luff, they quadrupled their power, until, with five. tackles rigged to five trees, Capt. Swarth decided that his men could lift the bow of # hundred-foot junk. And they did. Under his stinging ob- jurgations, backed by the flourished pistol, they swung on the fall of the last tackle, shifting up when blocks eame home, sweat- ing, cursing and complaining, while the painted eyes tn the bow glared at them, and two score Chinamen grinned down on them and added their weight. Up came the bow—a quarter-inch at a heave—untli high enough for Yank Tate to block up the forefoot (she had no kecl) with fenders. ‘Then they slacked her down on the blocks, shifted the shears and the gear to the stern, and repeated the operation. ‘With the junk resting on blocks, the next step was to build two cradles to fit tae bot- tom. The men rigged the ways under Yank Tate's supervision, while he himself fashioned the cradles of the deck planks and the halves of anchor stoeks, which, flat sides down and cleated, were to rest cn the ways. With a slack stern line out to a tree, they pulled on a tackle leading ahead, and the creft, amid the squealing of her crew, lid forward until brought up by the hawser astern. This was encour- aging, and for a moment the underlying saflor instinct, dominated, and the men gave a rousing cheer. But when the next step was given out—chopping down trees and clearing:away stumps—the sailor died out of them, and Mr, Todd remained up in is watch below ¢o assist the captain in clubbing them: into obedience. Capt. Swarth was loth to shoot them, recognizing tHat' tere was more of death- potential in‘threé bullets against fifteen men (the cook had assumed an armed neu- trality) than“ in: olte against thirteen, or two against fourteén. So the. three bullets were held in feservé, and Mr. Todd's asser- tion that “dne Handspike was worth a dozen of ‘em’ was"acted upon.’ And Yank Tate flourished his broad ax, and they went to work, with aching heads and blue spots on their several skins, and in three days bad cleared a track half way to the beach, where a' deep gully end a stretch of swampy ground beyond sent them back for instructions. ey received them. They would trim off end sharpen the trunks of the trees they had felted and as many more as were needed; then, after the carpenter had constructed a piledriver, they would sink two peraflel lines of piles to support the ways to the solfd ground beyond. Capt. Swarth was asleep at this juncture, and Mr. Todd and the carpenter received the assault, the one with a handspike, the THE LIEUTENANT IN CHARGE REPORTED THIS. admonishing them to be respectful _and obedient, he laid out their work. They would first dismantle the brig, leaving nothing standing but lower masts; then they would execute such suggestions of civil and mechanical engineering as came to the mind of the captain, mate or car- penter in regard to the floating of the junk. ‘When that was accomplished other things would follow. The carpenter was to be their immediate boss or foreman, under whom they would work by day. At night they would sleep in their forecastle, and they weuld stay out of the hold and let the liquor alone. The captain and mate would stand “watch-and-watch” with tHe pistol, to keep them civil by day and sober by night. The first man who refused duty or entered the hold of the brig would be shot. ‘hey would be served a tot of grog three times @ day and eat the salt meat and such vogetables as the cook, who was to be excused from other labor, could find on the Island. Sullenly they arose at his order and marched back to the. brig, where they handed in their sidearms and pikes. They loosed all the canvas, and the day was spent in sending it down as fast as it dried. Nightfall saw the last sail, snugly rolled, deposited on gratings alongside and covered. Then they ate their salt supper and turned in. In the morning mutiny was rampant. Nineteen bad-tempered men faced Capt. Swarth at the mainmast and informed him that he was from the captaincy— that future and movements would be that an imme- dead and the rest went te work (burying their fallen shipmates first), while Capt. Swarth, remarking that there were four bullets left, handed the pistol to Mr. Todd and went to his breakfast and his bunk. Sixteen able seamen, officered by such men as Capt. Swarth and ‘Todd, ean other with top maul, a light sledge, for Yank Tate had a big kindly heart, and only threatened with his broad ax—he could not use it on them—and they retired with more aches and pains, and carried one man to his bunk, envied ofthe rest, for he owned a leg, “which excused him from work. The carpenter “fished” the injured limb that night, and gave the moody men words of couasel and comfort; but what good might have ome from it was nulli- fled by the mate's, looking down the fore- castle hatch and peviling them. When he was gone, they chased Yank out of the forecastle. yj, The pile dgiver,was constructed with a carronade fof @ hammer, which they pulled to the top by hand and then let go. The iron rings of the.anchor stocks served to slip over the; heady of the piles, and when the ends were ,sqwed off to a’ chalk line mark, these singg..were split away to be used again. .tt wpg weary work, and soul maddening tot: under the scorching sun ona diet of aa meat and scant vege tables, and ll wonder that respon- 1s, amma sibility left them..,One meor eine thay, pass: up tl and an- had punished him: for 3 it, — pod day's continue, 24 lore, from sun- result in the aioppage of the gree, “Sine grog. charged on him, ling, ‘of @ yell cursing mob of toll-crazed animels, who could not under- » four lay on the deck, two from bullets, two broken skulla, for Mr. Todd was an with @ handspike and even preferred quarters to fii cut- With one bullet left, - uate = & ‘Cay t. By ‘th Dt wart hesitate to stop their grog as he mised. The work went on and for i i 5 i il a I above and be had but one shot tained man main his ule, marshalling them back and forth night and morning like convicts—which the mate averred they were born to become. The spirit of resistance was nearly extin- guished now, but the appetite for lquor was strong as ever. It is questionable wis- dom to stop sailors’ grog—almost as dan- gerous an experiment as stopping tobacco. They worked through the forecastie Dulk- head one night, secured a barrel of whisky and were immovably drunk when the mate ‘called them in the morning. As there was no way to punish them for this but to kill them, Capt. Swarth allowed them to sleep it off. end then turned them out with burst- ing heads to strike out of the hold every barrel on top of the cargo. As fast as the barrels came up, Yank Tate knocked tn the bungs and allowed the contents to run te waste. In the judgment of all well-regu- lated pirates, this was as illogical a pro- ceeding as suicide, and they began to doubt the sanity of their captain. But they went to work again. The sheers were rigged and the double tackle singled to ome, while the carpenter dressed down and tenoned the heels of the topmasts and enlarged the holes in the deck. Then, with luffs on the sheer tackle they hoisted the brig’s main topmast and fitted it where the mainmast of the junk had been—in the center. The fore topmast followed, ship- ping near the bow, and raking forward “She'll never be anythin’ but a junk,” said Yank, as he eyed the hybrid, “no matter how we fix her; so what's the odds.” They rigged no bowsprit, but the fore topmast staysail, cut down and bent to the forestay, made a handy sail to box her around with; and for a spanker they rigged their own—boom, gaff and all—with a reef in it to make it fit. Finally she Iay, com- plete, with four square, and two fore and aft sails, ready to launch at the next high tide. As this would not be until 2 o'clock rext morning they used up the day hunting for any possible leaks or weak spots in the hull, and as the tide went out in the evea- ing, they followed it down the beach with the ways, pinning and greasing them. While this was going on, Capt. Swarth and Capt. Lee Kin—who had become very good friends—heild a little confab over the quarterrail. The outcome was that when the ways were laid the men, tired as they were, would take tackles up the hill and hoist out of the ‘tween-deck the four treasure chests, drag them down and lift them aboard the junk. They did it, and midnight coming as the last chest was transshipped, they threw themselves down lke dead men on the sand to await the time of launching. — | Then tt was that Capt. Swarth gave way to the first weakness—the first feeling of pity. He had nearly killed them with work, but the work was done. There was not a breath of wind, and it might be dangerous to try to pass the reef at night. So he spoke kindly to them—told them to turn in and sleep until high tide the next afternoon if they wished; then they could bring their clothes and his instruments, which would be their last work on the nd until they returned in a new ship for the barrels under the cargo. He would serve out a nightcap to each and would hope that there was to be no more trouble or mis. understanding. Some cheered faintly; others, too weak to cheer, shed tears; all voted him a fairly good fellow at heart; and they thankfully drank the grog and turned in to dreamless sleep, while Capt. Swarth went to his oom and Angel Todd ced the deck—on watch. van hour or so later Capt. Lee Kin emerged frem his cabin and looked around on the moonlit ocean and shadowy palm groves. It was full high-tide and the water was lapping against the bow of his junk. He whistled softly down a hatch and his crew came up. Picking up Yank Tate’s top maul, Capt. Lee reached over the bow, and with cne blow--he was a large man and a strong man--sent the starboard dog-shore flying. The rattling on the beach was answered by @ shout from up the hill “Melican wakee up,” he muttered. He stepped around and released the other shore, and the junk, with a quiver running through her, slid down the ways, raised her bow, foated and drifted toward the reef. The crew were evidently instructed ahea: —and not for nothing, perhaps, had they watched, for months, the reconstruction of their junk; for they mounted aloft, loosed the square sails, came down and set them. Then followed the staysail and spanker, while Capt. Lee Kin steered her, under the faint breath of off-shore wind, for a break tn the reef, and looked back, occasionally, at a crowd of yelling, cursing, raving men on the beach. “Melican dam fool,” he grunted. A shot rang out—only one; and Capt. Lee observed that the crowd had split up into three groups—each a whirling, heaving bunch of arms and legs. Then, for a while, bis attention was required in steering through the inlet; but as he looked back, from without the reef, he saw three men, bound hand and foot, hanging from the sheer-head, where they writhed and twisted in the moonlight. “Cappen, matee man, calpenee man,” he said. The spectacle impressed him, how- ever, and he treated his own crew kindly as he sailed westward. Six months later a gun-deck sloop with lew royals and topgallant sails heve-to off the reef and sent in a boat. The lieutenant in charge reported on his return as follows: “We found the wreck of the brig up in the woods, dismantled and half burned, but no sign of the junk. There’s a line of piles up the hill, ard ways on the beach, which go to show that they launched her. We buried over a dozen grisly skeletons—three of them we cut down from the sheer-head— and by the looks of things, they had’a bat- ue, for every skeleton gripped a knife or a cutlass. It’s Swarth’s crowd, no doubt, ard I suppose they killed the poor China- men, fitted out the junk, then fought among themselves, and the side that won got away.” But a corpulent, opulent Chinese gentle- man, who, about this time, opened a prince- ly establishment in Shanghai could have given a better explanation. ——. The Question. However the battle ts er ‘And echoing roll of drum = MO Suil truth proclauns this motto In letters cf living light— No question is ever settled Until it ts settled right. ‘Thoogh the heel of the strong oppressor May grind the weak in the dust, And the voices of fame with one acclaim Mey call him great and just; ppland take warning And keep this motto in sight— No question is ever settled Until it is settled right. Let those whe have fulled take courage; ‘Tho hie ranks st trong, 3th ranks are strong. if he be ‘The ‘battle ia uot yer done, |" '™ ‘Be Wrong For, sure as the morning follows ‘The darkest hour of the night No question is ever settled Tatil it ts settled right. the And crusled by the power Keep on with your weary battle— Against triumphant migh No question 1s ever settled Until it is settled right. —ELLA WHEELER WILCOX. An Explanation. From the Pittsburg Chronicle Telegraph. If we understand Mr. Weyler, his idea ‘Ws that the Cubans are pacified, but they don’t know it. ———_+e+—____ A La Mede. ART AND ARTISTS On Tuesday the annwal meeting of the Art Students’ League was held, Mr. V. G. Fischer presiding, and much business of importance was transacted. The offi- cers who were elected to serve throughout the ensuing year are as follows: Mr. E. Francis Riggs, president; Mr. Parker Mann, first vice president; Mr. V. G. Fischer, second vice president; Mr. W. B. Chilton, treasurer; Miss Anna Lee, as- sistant treasurer; Miss Sadie Meetze, cor- responding secretary; Miss Aline Solomous, recording secretary. The board of control is composed of the officers just mentioned ard Mr. Weils M. Sawyer, Mrs. Marble, Miss Sands and Miss Juliet Thompson. The league has never been entirely scif- sustaining, and but for the stanch support of its friends its work would have been Seriously hampéred on many occasions. The amnouncement made at the meeting of the*| gsenerous gifts from Mrs. Hurst and Mrs. Mackay-Smith was a welcome one, and the liberality of these two ladies is thor- oughly appreciated by all, as the sum will enable the league to close the school year Practically out of debt. A committee was @ppointed to rearrange the schedule of prices for the classes next year, and to consider some other matters relating to the league's finances, with a view to plac- ing the schcol upon an independent foot- ing. Nothing definite has been decided in regard to the instructors for next year, but the league is promised some distinguish- ed artists. Beginning with this year, a scholarship will be offered annually’ to the student graduating from the high schools of the city who shall submit the best drawing. Another scholarship is to be given, which ig to be confined to the stu- dents in the class in decorative and in- dustrial design, and which will allow one of thelr number to work in the class next year free of charge. In competing for it the students will submit a book cover design, and their work throughout the year will also count in making the award. By Wednesday next the drawings whic are to be ‘sent to New ‘York, and su mitted in the competition for the scholar- ship which the Art League there offers to the students in the school here, are to be hended in. Miss Bertha E. Perrie's class in water color commenced outdoor work on the 20th of this month, and the Pupils: ee cma on Tues- * x * There is a decided display of originality in the work in black and white which William Fuller Curtis has exhibited at Fischer's during the week. His two burnt wood decorations, “The Singers” and “The Pcet,” attracted especial attention on ac- count of their beauty of design and their quaint style of handling. Rich in its darks and yet susceptible of a good deal of deli- cacy In the half tones, pyrography is a wonderfully effective medium in skillful hands, and bold line work may be employed without a trace of harshness. Mr. Cur- tig thoroughly appreciates the decorative value of line, as one sees in his poster dc- signs—a class cf work for which he seems very well fitted on account of the fertility of his imagination and his- strong sense of the decorative. On one wall of the gal- lery is a group of seven heads, some in charcoal and some in ordinary pencil, ard of these the horizontal panel, entitled “The Death of the Hour” is notably impressive and dramatic. There is perhaps a lack of variety in his ideal heads, as he has rarely departed from the single type that he has chosen to portray, and save for some si striking and unique heads as Medusa and Naia Haje his faees seem to be of one mold. In pen work Mr. Curtis is thoroughly in his element, as his East Gloucester sketches testify, and there is a sense of color as well as of valuggof tone in many of them. * * * The many friends of Mr. John C. Clay have marked with pleasure his successful beginnings in illustrative work, and feel confident that there is a promising future in store for him in that branch of art. He was a student in the Art League here, and winning the New York scholarship has been studying in the metropolis for the past year. He has had little time for cut- side work, but has done some excellent things nevertheless. Among these is his design for the poster announcing this month's issue of Frank Leslie's Magazine. ** * A number of other pictures have been added to those already selected for the women's exposition of the Carolinas. Mr. R. Le Grand Johnston has contributed two pictures, “The Coming Storm” and a very strong cattle piece, entitled “The Last Rays.” Miss Aline Solomons will send her “Peonies,” a bold, effective, palette knife study, which received hardly the notice it deserved at the Cosmos Club, on account of its rather poor hanging. Mr. F. J. Fisher will be represented by a canvas called “Spring,” and a view of Balsam Gap, Waynesville, N. C., and Mrs. Fisher sends three excellent still life pieces. There is careful work in all of her studies, and the melon and the bunches of grapes look very tempting. * ** ‘The most recent thing that Signor G. Trentanove has executed Is a fine bust of Jas.G. Blaine,now on exhibition at Fischer's. The sculptor never saw Blaine, and has made the portrait entirely from photo- graphs, yet the face that he has created is a wonderful likeness. He has fixed in marble many of the little traits of expres- sion which gave life and character to the face, subtleties of expression which one would hardly look for in a work executed as this has been. It is a strongly modeled bust, and is entirely worthy of the sculp- tor of the Marquette ee * + The picture which Gaylord Sangston Truesdell sends to the Salon of the Champs Elysees this spring ts called “Changing Pastures,” showing a woman driving a flock of sheep through the edge of the woods out into the sunlit open beyond. The absolute sincerity and fidelity to nature with which the picture ts painted finds an illustration in the type the artist has chos- en for the woman driving the sheep. He has refused to add to the pleasing quali- ties of the picture by making her beauti- ful, or to heighten the effect by making her appearance picturesque, but has shown a@ type of the French peasantry, a woman grown prematurely old by a life of unre- mitting toll. No matter how prosaic the truth may ke, he always paints life as it is. The sheep are drawn and painted with the accurate knowledge which comes only from long study, and which has given the artist an envied place among contemporary ani- mal painters. The woods, which form the setting for the figure and the flock of sheep are in the garb of early autumn, and there is a fine effect of color and at- mosphere, qualities that one would natur- ally expect in Mr. Truesdell’s work, as he ts one of the most uncompromising ad- herents of the plein air school, and his pic- tures are executed out of doors from start es * ** Miss Jane Bridgham Curtis has placed on view at Veerhoff's her pastel “Galahad,” which was exhibited at the Water Color The Truth ‘The trath f all we want the gublie te know about RADAM’S MICROBE KILLER ‘We want people to know exactly what ft ts an® What It will do. A whole book could be written about ite great curative virtuos, but etill the stogg can be told in a dosen woxls, The main facts to keep Im mind are that it CURES ALL HUMAN DISEASES by Killing all the microbes in the bieod that canse there diseases. Everybody has to die sooner or later. Death ts 2 necessary sequence to birth, Ne remedy can stop death after a life's full course is run, But there are thousands of people whe ie before thelr time. ‘There are thousands of sick people today who would get well and stramg again If they would only take Radam's Micraye Killer. It ts hard to make the public believe the claime made for a good remedy. ‘There have been @o many worthless preparations sold that a remedy that really cures is looked upon with dowbt All we can do is to tll the truth about Radam's Microbe Killer, If sick folks will take It, they will get well. If they wou't, we can't help ft. Remember that it has been curing the sick all over the world for more than ten years. Its sales are increasing all the time. Send for a free book of fifty pages that clves @ full history of Radam's Microb Killer, togetter with a long list of testimonials, Address ‘The William Radem Microbe Killer Co., 121 Prince St., New York, or Washington office, 1018 Tth Mt, We m2 eapat as expressed to perfection the softness and delicacy, the morbidezza of the flesh. The portrait of Mr. Charles Scott and the like- ness of Mrs. Jerse Tyson, the Baltimore beauty, are amorg the other miniatures that attract attention. * ** On Wednesday the collection of paintings by Thos. Moran now on the walls at Veer- hoff's gallery will give place to an exhitit- ticn of the original drawings by the ta! Mr. George Y. Coffin. The artist left all his original drawings to Miss Isabel Sole- mons, and the general desire to see the car- toonist’s work has induced her to place @ number of them on e-albition, Only @ small portion of the work which he did can be exhibited, as he executed a number ef cartoons every week for many years. The field of politics seemed to offer Inexhausti- hle material for his pen, and he was never at a loss for ideas for his daily drawings. He had a genius for caricaturing men im the most fanciful way and yet retaining @ strikingly clear likeness. Keen as his wit was, it never had the sting of il! feel! ard his work never degenerated coarseness. His cartoons were all made an the spur of the moment, without the ald ef models, and for a man with practically ae elementary training in drawing his sue- cess in catching the action and expressian he desired was marvelous. The exhibition ts one of very wide interest, and will un- doubtedly be largely attended. A memorial bust of Mr. Coffin will probably be placed tm the Corcoran Art Gallery, and H. J. Ellicott has been chosen’ to execute the work. * 7-* The general interest now taken in the pro- ductions of the French period of Louls XV ard Louts XVI has led to the unique ex- hibition which three local artists will hold at Fischer's next week. Miss Anna Sands, Miss Marie Mattingly 4nd Miss Hattie B. Burdette have been at work during tha winter on pastel portraits of some of the famous people of that time, and have exe- cuted them somewhat in the style em- ployed in that period. Their work, which is now to be placed on view, Is of a novel character, and promises to attract quite @ number of visitors to the gallery next week, ad —_—_—_ Too Late. From Life. Editor—“You remember that poem you Jeft the other day on my desk? While I was out to luncheon the office cat came around and chewed tt up.” Castle (the poet)—“Great ‘Where is that cat?” “He has gone into a trance, and all our efforts to bring him to have failed.” ~~ Anchor to Win From the Chicago Record. Patient—“Say, doctor.” Surgeon (calmly opening his case of Im struments)—“Well?” Patient—“Remember, we are insured t@ the same mutual company!” +O A Soft Answer. From the Boston ‘Traveler. Mr. Fussy—“I don’t see why you wear those ridiculous big sleeves, when you bave nothing to fill them.” Mrs. Fusty—“Do you fill your high hat? heavens! ¢ 7 The (hanincns Twe will carry u down hill and on the level —with the very least ped- al work, Meosech Bh les are built for speed. - ihe the Winds. of te find SS, hill,