Evening Star Newspaper, May 13, 1897, Page 11

= THE EVENING STAR. pended PUBLISHED DAILY EXCEPT SUNDAY, AT THE STAR BUILDINGS, 1101 Pennsylvania Avenue, Cor. 11th 8t, by ing Star Ne ¢ Com beats ic AUFYMA! Pres ‘New York Office, 49 Potter Building. sdbretiaes The Erening Star ts served to subscribers in the city by carriers, on their own account, at 10 cents per week, or 44 certs per month. Copies at the Counter 2 cents each. By mail—anywhere in the United States or Canada—postage prepald—50 cents per month. Saturday Quintuple Shcet Star, $1 per year, with foreign postage added. $3.00. Part2. Che Fyening Sfae. Pages 1 1-14. (Entered at th> Vost Office at Wasbingtoa, D. C., | Printers’ Ink (the fittle scBook: master of advertising), saps: Jt is cfaimed for fhe Washing‘on Stor, and proBablp trutStuffe cfoim:2, that no offer newspaper in fe counfrp gozs info so farsz & percentage of aff Be Souses tiffin a radius of ftwenfp mifes 7All mail subscriptions must be pald in advance. as_secorl-class mail matter.) | Rates of advertising made known on application. WASHINGTON, D. C THURSDAY; {MAY 18, 1897—FOURTEEN PAGES. from fe office of puffication, PAIN IS NEEDLESS| Proposed Regulation of Vivisection in the District. i BILL REPORTED 10 THE SENATE. Mr. Gallinger’s Elaborate State- ment in Regard to It. | ITS NUMEROUS ADVOCATES aS Senator Gallinger reported in the Senate today the bill for the regulation of vivi- section in the District of Columbia, unaz mously adopted by the Senate committce on the District of Columbia, providing: Ist. For the use of anaesthetics fn all painful experiments on Hving vertebrate animals, the so-called inoctlation experi- ments, tests of drugs and medicines and cases of recovery from surgical procedure being expressly exempted from this re- ement. . For the licensing of all experimentors by the District Commissioners except thcse who are duly authorized officers of the government of the Uniled States or of that of the District of Columbia. 34 For the prohibition of v the public the gereral publ 4th. For the inspection of all p ent imspectors to be aj nt of the United Sta’ section in and in exhibitions for ces of inted Gallinger in reporting the bill sup- nented the elaborate report presented with it last year with another in whi he answered all the objections which had been raised by the opponents of the vre and presented the additional s and appeals of its advocates. argu- He ‘Since the former report appeared, ‘American Hum ly urged the p: Association has sage of the bill, and a number of college presidents and influential men and women ia ail ef the country have given it their indorsement. Protests against the pas- sage of the bill have also been submitted to the Senate, manifestly made or inspired ashington vivisectors, the suppor who are not vivisectors having been obtained by the vivis through misrepresentation of ons of the bill of vi- ors, the de largely provi: A “If the local opponents of this measure uy sent broadcast through the country ading statement that this bill was ‘to prohibit vivisection,’ as they ly have, one need not wonder at ment of opposition thus evoked. y denote what is called ‘good poli- "en the part of those engaged in vivi- tion in the District of Columbia thus to tain the votes and opinions desired, but does such misstatement afford ground for confidence In the accuracy of scientific where their personal preferences are ve fail to discover in a single protest slightest proof that those who con- word of the various ons of the measure they denounced. have been informed from Washing- ton that vivisection was in danger of be- ing abolished in the national capital. They have heen furnished, apparently, with the very phraseology with which protests must be worded, and they have become swift witnesses to protest against dangers that do not. exist.” Physicians and Vivisectors. In speaking of the statements of the pro- tests the report says: “It is repeatedly af- firmed in these protests that the medical profession is not less ‘humane’ than other classes of the community, and the infer- ence is plainly urged that if we may trust to physicians the care of our sick and suf- fering, we may put the same imp! on- fidencé in their treatment of vivisected a: mals. But how many physicians engaged in the care of the sick are engaged in animal experimeniation? ‘The American vivisector is, a e, a man apart from standing within it ered by but giving time and nergy and enthusiasm solely to animal ex- perimentation. Often he has been trained in foreign laboratories, where no concep- tion of pity for suffering of lower animals ever finds place. Often, too, he is a young man educated along a special line, but without the faintest thought of ever engaz- ing in the practice of medicine, so far as that includes the care of the sick. In the list of those who oppose this legislation there are, it is true, the names of some physicfans in reguiar pract at it is a fact, nevertheless, that th o re most © W active in urging opposition are regular business and means of nance is the vivisection of anima!s they who oppose, by e means int power, legislation to secure .he pub! their methods, the report of their results the inspection of their work, which we seck through this bill; and conceding without a moment's hesitation the humanity of those ho devote their lives to the care of their fellow-beings, we are not obliged to include those also whose lives are devoted to othe pursuits and who earn their bread by vivi- section. One needs but to study the faces of some vivisectors to see thereon the in- fluence of their work, and it is not strange that one of the leading vivisectors has for years crucified his family by describing in their presence the torments whica it is his business and pleasure to inflict upon dumb animais. The greater part of these adverse state- ents,” says the report, bac- logy only (inoculation experimentation), which is expressly excluded from the cpera- tion of the bill.” The report continu In regard to the ment of the vivisectors that the sign- petition in favor of the bill at th ssion of Congress, including six jus- of the Unite es Supreme Cour! u of the Supreme Court of th f Columbia, and three of the aims, the bishops of the Roman Protestant Episcopal and opal churches 11 Washing- together with the leading clergy of all sminations, the leading lawyers and many other preminent citizens, did not know what they were doing, the truth ts that many were already interested in the subject, and that the others veful- ly explained to them. The a of their conviction was own by the fact that, although they were solicited by the vivisectors by letter and by personal inter- views, as soon as the list was published, to withdraw their names from che petition. not one out of the hundreds of names was withdrawn.” Vivisectors Opposed to Regulators. “It should be carefully noted,” the repoft continues, “that if it were true, as our op- ponents in the government service would have us believe, that no cruelties are per- petrated in the government laboratories, and that inspection 1s freely invited, no possible reason other than mental aberra- tion could be assigned for the strenuous unremitting exertions that have been and the time that has been spent by busy men to stir up every possible influ- ence to defeat the passage of this bill They have admitted that the cruelties against which the bill is directed are wrong. ‘Trey assert that they have themselves nothing to conceal, yet they move heaven and earth tc prevent iegislation intended merely to provide against such cruelties and to legailze the very inspection which they profess to invite. “When a cgshier of a bank objects abso- lutely to making any report of his business and refuses inspection of his books because these involve an ‘imputation upon his pro- bity,’ and then proceeds to mention minor inconveniences, we see at once that no shaping of legislation to meet the minor ob- jectlons will make acceptable the publicity Which he really fears. No matter how the Lill is altered, so long as it provides for irspection and protection against cruelty it will be opposed by those who ‘love dark- | ness rather than iight.” In Government Laboratories. “All the reasonable objections to the orig- inal bill were met by the amendments made by this committee before the bill was reported in the last Congress, and it is the bill so amended which is now reported to the Senate. But it is clear that every con- cession to the opponents of this bill must be absolutely useless until agreement can be reached upon the great underlying prin- ciple for which it contends, to wit, the right of the government to govern the individual. Stall the United States government exercise the right to inspect laboratories where viv- isection is carried on in the District of Co- lumbia? Shall it detine the limits within which such experiments shall be carried on? These are the real points at issue. If they were affirmatively answered by those who are fighting this measure there would be hopes of a compromise, if a compromise is needed. “Should there be no restriction placed upon a ‘scientific’ investigator in the pay of the United States government, who, in the seclusion of his laboratory, in or out of ‘official hours,’ desires to subject a liv- ing animal to the utmost possible degree of torment, for no purpose of usefulness to its kind or to the human race, but sim- ply to test a theory or to gratify a whim? Not long ago there appeared in the Popu- lar Science Monthly the statement that a very distinguished vivisector of Europe, Prof. Mantagazza, intended to favor this country with a visit. Prof. Mantagazza's Experiments. “Suppose him to visit Washington, and to offer to repeat, for the instruction of young ‘experts’ in government laboratories, that series of experiments In causation of pain which made him famous—or in- famous—wherever his name is known. Should he be permitted to do so? Le: glance at the work of this famous sector as related by himself. He says that the object of his researches was ‘purely scientific;" it had no relation to the cure of disease, and its method was the torment of animals. One of his devices was to nail the feet of the animal, as in crucifixion, so that every struggle to escape would only increase the agony; in his own words, ‘to plant sharp and numercus _ naiis through the soles of the feet in such way as to render the animal nearly motionless, because in every movement it would have felt more acutely {ts torment.’ To exas- perate pain this ingenious scientist devised a machine which he styled his ‘tormentor.’ With it, he says, ‘I can take an ear, a paw, or a bit of skin of the animal, and by turning the handle squeeze it beneath the teeth of the pincers; I can lift the anj- mal by the suffering part; 1 caa it in all sorts of ways.’ One of his celebrated ‘scientific experiments’ was upon a guinea pig nursing its young: an- other upon a guinea pig ‘in an advanced stage of pregnancy.’ But this animal, after ten minutes of what the learned scientist calls ‘most atrocious pain,’ went inte con- vulsions and became us:le3s for experi- nfent. “Shall this great European pl be permitted to repeat his our government laboratories? Shall our own vivisectors be permitted to repeat them, or experiments like them. The op- ponents to the bill apparently see no ob- jection. This is a matter, they say, for the experimenter himself to ‘lecide. But tho who advocate this bill do not admit that even the eminence or the qualifications of Mantagazza justify him in experiments such as he has made, Even a man of sci- ence must not overstep the boundary that separates right from wrong. “It is not to be believed that the pos- session of a degree in science should con- fer upon any young enthusiast the right to torture animais after the example of Mun- tagazza or others like him, and especially should they not be permitted to do this in laboratories supported by taxation of the people of the United Stafes, free from !n- spection or criticism, free from account- ability to public opinion; ‘ree from the control or supervision of representatives of the national government other than those who are officers of the particular department under which the experimenter is employed.” Uselessness of Painless Vivisection. The latter half of the report is an ab- stract of an interesting book on ‘“Biologi- cal Experimentation,” published some months before his death by Sir Benjamin Ward Richardson, M.D., F.R.S., etc., the eminent English physician, surgeon and scientist, whose death last year was la- mented by the scientific world, giving his reasons for condemning painful vivisec- tion as worse than useless, because det mental to the experlmenters,as well as “p plexing and deceiving,” in which he say: “I never proceeded to any experiment on a hving animal, though to the best of my ability deing everything possible to save all pain, without feeling what I think is the proper expression, compunction. I am not alone in this particular. Every person whom I have met pursuing the same line of research has acknowledged, when ques- tioned, the same sensation. Senator Gallinger concludes: “This report can well be closed after such testimony. Sir Benjamin Ward Richardson was a vivisector within reasonable bounds, but, above all, he was a physictan. His warn- ing to the profession that modern experi- mentation tends to unfit the physician for the practical discharge of his dutles is worthy of serious thought, and he sums up every contention of those who support this bill when he says: ‘Were I again to deliver a course of physiological lectures to qualified hearers I should make the ex- perfmental demonstrations on living ani- mals as few and far between as was com- patible with duty. They would be excep- tional of exceptional, and painless from be- ginning to end.’ Upon that testimony the advocates of the proposed legislation have won their case.” Advocates of the Bill. In an appendix to the report, that will make over a dozen printed pages, are given the memorials and letters in favor of the bill received since the former report was made, headed by the memorial adopted by the American Humane Association at the annual convention at Cleveland last fall. Others advocating the bill are Profs. Hart of Harvard, Corson of Cornell, Bascom of Williams, Anderson and Wilkinson of the University of Chicago, D’Ogoe of the Unt- versity of Michigan, Abbott of Leland Stanford, the president of the University of Cahfornia, the president and faculty of Stevens Institute of Technology, president Cochran of the Polytechnic Institute of Brooklyn, the president and board of trus- tees of Western Reserve University of Cleveland, the dean of Colgate University,the president of Iowa College, the president of Geneva College, the president of Shaw University, the president of Morgan Col- lege, the president of Central Tennessee College, the president of Upper Iowa Unl- sity and other college officers, the bishops of Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Georgia, Springfield and New Jersey, and the Hu- mane Societies of Kentucky, Chicago, Georgia, Maine, Oregon, Nebraska, Ver- mont, Tennessee, central New York, Al- bany, Columbus, Ohio; Peoria, Ill.; Ta- coma, Wash.; South Bend, Ind.; San Diego, Cal.; St. Paul, Minn.; Hackensack, Morris- town, Mt. Holly and Salem, N. J.; Nor- folk, Va.; Ravenna, Ohio; Buffalo and Poughkeepsie, N. Y.; Port Huron, Mich. Retention of Soldiers’ Pensions. Commander E. C. Stahl of the New Jersey G, A. R. had an interview with Commissioner of Pensions Evans yester- day, in which he unsuccessfully protested against the practice of the New Jersey Soldiers’ Home in retaining a part of the pension of the inmates. The money, he claimed, was retained by the institution for the benefit of the state, and amounted to about $7,000. Commander Stahl was ad- vised that the bureau had no jurisdiction, as the issue is purely a state matter. PR RRA Sea If you want anything, try an ad. in The Star. If anybody has what you wish, you will get an answer. tear it siologist Xperiments in THE NATIVE VOTE Hawaiians Would Undoubtedly Elect Liliuokalani President. RELIGIOUS AND RACE PREJUDICES Elements of Political Strength That Favor the Ex-Queen. THE WHITES TO DECIDE ‘Special Correspondence of The Evening Star. HONOLULU, April 29, 1897. I have not the data for judging whether or not Liliuokalani actually proposed to President McKinley, as reported from Washington on the 12th, that he should cause an election for president to be held in Hawaii, ail natives voting, in which the ex-queen proposed to be a candidate, and felt sure of election by an overwnelming majority. Mr. Juiius A. Palmer subse- quently asserted io a Star representative that in such a contest she would undoupt- edly gain a majority over all other candi- dates. That such would be the fact I think highly probable. There can be no doubt that a large majority of the 10,000 native Hawaiian voiers are strongly op- posed to the republic, and want the mon- archy restored. They want the whites en- tirely displaced from power, and the goy- eriment put into the hands of Hawailans, which is no more a possibility than to put the forty or fifty miliicn dollars’ worth of sugar plantations under native manage- ment or to make natives captains and en- gineers of the. twenty-two international steamers. It may be interesting to recount briefly the history of the change during the | thirty years in the sentiments of the na- tive Hawaiians trom a great confidence and friendliness toward Americans in poli- tics, to alienation and distrust on the part of a large majority. Up to a date at least as late as 1867, and probably later, the American party, or as more commonly termed the missionary party, could usually command a jority in the legislature, notwithstanding the great political ascen- dency of King Kamehameha V, who was opposed to that party. It was the party of moral and political reform, and actively opposed to increase of royal prerogative. Soon after, a change progressed, and un- der Kaiakaua, in 1 had become very manifest. From that time on the iegisia- tures showed inercasing tendency to cor- ruption, and to sul will, while Americ in ence in the government. Occasionally the reform party would gain an election, but rarely. The king was an active politician, and could generally get the district judges and tax collectors elected, who held office at his pleasure, aud therefore would vote as he directed. What were some of the chief factors helping on this change? One was the pa ing away of most of the old missionaries, who had possessed the most affectionate confidence of the chiefs and people. They had stood together in the severe troubles with England and France between fifty and sixty years ago, when the indepen- dence of the country was repeatedly in great jeopardy. In those days Americans were regarded as the especial friends and deliverers of the native people from for- eign subjugation, As time passed on, the old natives passed away, who had ‘been through the old troubles, and a new gen- eration arose, who forgot the past. Many of these younger men, having some little education, thought themselves equal to or better than the whites, and began to resent the absorption by the latter of the higher offices, for which the natives were in fact totally incompetent. Immediately after Kalakaua’s sion, the rallying ery Was raised, “Hawaii for the Hawilaus,” ans was emphatically encouraged by the PE. Sectarian Rivalry. A variety of elements combined in oppo- sition to the old American and missionary party. A very strong one was that of the Roman Catholic natives, who were deepiy hostile to the Protestant missi onaries, and could always be depended on to vote against any candidate whom the Protes- tants favored. As the American missiou- aries died out, their native churches were placed under native pastors, who were un- able efficiently to withstand the influence of the capable white Frencn and German Catholic missionaries, and the proportion of native Catholics has in cousequence greatly increased during the past thirty years. A similar fact is true in respect to the Mormons, who now constitute prob- abiy one-fifth of the native population. They also are solid against the old Protes- tant party. The Salt Lake authorities constantly keep a force of twenty or more white men working in Hawaii. A like attitude is true of a majority of the Anglican priesthood and their ad- herents, although many of them are earn- estly on the reform side. The present bishop of that denomination is a very bit- ter and zealous supporter of the corrupt monarchy. Most of his part white ad- herents are of the same party, as is true of the part whites generally, owing to the fact that their social status was necessa- rily higher under a native regime than it can be now. Another and grossly evil element of hos- tility remains to be mentioned. Dating from some thirty-five years back, there has been a revival of the old heathen ele- ment, which strongly appeals to many per- vading hereditary instincts of the native Hawaiians. It is second nature to these gentle but very superstitious people to be- Neve in the demonic influence. of their numerous minor family deities. Although under the commanding light and preva- lence of Christianity, with the ubiquitous churches and schools, idolatry and its gtosser practices were for forty years practically suppressed, a multitude of su- perstitious practices remained lurking, and the adepts in the old system remained se- cretly at work. Before his accession in 1863 Lot Kamehameha V, acting as pre- mier, had vigorously fostered the sorcery of the old native kahunas or medicine men, of whom he caused some three hun- dred to be secretly licensed. I have seen one of their printed licenses of 1861, with a scale of fees appended, ranging from one to fifty dollars, Native Medicine. The medical practice of these native doc- tors consisted to some extent in the admin- istration of certain indigenous vegetable drugs, also of a few well-known foreign remedies. The main part of their work, however, and that from which they derived the chief part of their revenue, consisted in incantations, by which to drive out the akua or demon, which caused the disease. All diseases were held to be caused by the presence of a hostile god or demon in the sufferer. Either such demon must be pro- pitiated, or the interposition of a stronger demon must be invoked to drive the for- mer one out. The whole subject is very complicated. The operations required many idolatrous sacrifices and incantations, at immense expense to the sufferer, with more commonly a fatal termination. It was part of the sorcerer’s policy to create in a hoped- for patient an apprehension that an evil demon was starting business tn his interior. Stokness was quite sure to follow such ad- monitions. As“ speedy result, every one of these I- ——_ Kkahunas barges peda teacher of superstition, and many of them ergan- ized classes of young people to whom they taught the ancient superstitions, .as a means of them medical practice and revenue. that time on. there and of gross heathen ceremonies and orgies. The adherents of the kahunas were naturally adverse to the missionary party. ‘They were also instinctively on the side of Aespotic monarchy and chiefs’ arbitrary power, as oppo: to civilized and liberal government. There thus grew up a distinc- tively heathen political party, which co- alesced with the other adverse elements above named, to overcome and suppress the American reform party and support the arbitrary efforts of the monarchy. Kalakaua became a very active and dili- gent fosterer of the kahunas. He culti- vated and organized them, in order to be a chief support to his political object of weakening constitutional government and restoring ancient Cespotism. He became himself a powerful kahuna, with great in- fluence with the akuas. It is probable that he began with no great amount of personal superstition, but that it grew upon him by Fractice. For some: years before his death he caused himself to be worshiped as a god, and had sacrifices and 9blations cf- fered him as such. That is a long and complicated story. He organized a semi- Masonic semi-demonte association, called the Hale Nau-a, including many degrees of sorcerers, with himself at the head. ‘This was intended to be a powerful political engine. Some efforts have been made to deny. the gross heathen element which ruled in that secret society, but it is unde- niably true. The king’s death took place before the power of that society had he- come consolidated among the people. Lil- juokalani did not oppose it, although as queen she may not have actively encour- aged the Hale Nau-a. Mrs. Dominis is probably not deeply superstitious, although she cannot have escaped some hereditary influence of that sort. ‘The best that can truthfully be claimed for her would be that she may not have actively encouraged the kahunas, al- though from strong political motives she never threw them off. The support of the heathen party was too essential to her des- potie aims. The kahunas and their ad- herents were the ones most bitterly dis- appointed of all others when her coup d'etat was frustrated and she was de- ‘throned. | was a continuous reyival of heathen belief Pagan Constituency. The present native opposition to the re- public, the supporters of :he monarchy, who are the people Capt. Palmer says would vote for Liluokalani, are foren ost 0! all the numerous and deeply degraded acherents of the old heathznism. I could repeat the most horrible stories of the cruel and loathsome practices common in their sorceries, but they are totally unfit to be put on paper. It was toward government by kahunas that the monarchy had been ; tending for many years, when the progres- sive element, headed by Americans, re- fused longer to tolerate it. The combina- tion of “king and priest” in that, or any other form, is doubtless at an end in this north Pacific. I have in former letters named a promi- nent source of native hostility to America. That is the diligent labors of anti-American Britishers to foster such hostility among hi them. There are at least one thoisand in- telligent men and women of British sym- | pathies who labor with zeal and virulence to convince the Hawaiians that Americans are cruel and usurpers and oppressors. These people are anxious to have Hawali become British territory, in order to give Ergland the enormous commerctal and military advantage which the possession of Hawaii wiil confer upon whatever great power comes to owniit. It is my full con- viction that the present antipathy of a ma- jority of Hawaiians to America is chiefly ate to this sedulous British misrepresenta- tion. ‘There is nevertheless a very constderable body of our intelligent and superior Pro- testant natives who Most earnest sup- porters of the repubf{e and of annexation. Among them are a jority of our native Protestant pastors, who vizwed with hor- ror Kalakaua’s sucéessful efforts to re- paganize the people, and who recognized in Litiuckalani’s coup d'etat and its accompa- niments of bribery and lottery an attempt practically to subjugate the churches to heathen domination Had Mr. Willis’ de- mand on Mr. Dole to restore Liliuokalani prevailed, these noble Christian pastors would speedily have fallen martyrs to her vengeance. “As I have urged before, the verdict of the true people of Hawaii upon annexation is not to be taken by a vote of these mis- guided and incapable native Hawatlians. The opinion to be consulted is that of the neble white men, largely here. who have created the wealth of the country a its civilized and Mberal government, pd who are successfully administering both in the highest interests of mankind. No wrong, no robbery is proposed against these feeble natives. Their Hawail is of- fered the glorious status of a member of the American Unicn. Themselves are of- fered promotion to a noble citizenship as Americans. All that the United States need consider is whether they reed Ha- waii as their indispensable commercial and military outpost. ‘To take in these native Hawalians as citizens is the highest favor to them. For many reasoas I belleve they will prove good and useful citizens. They are now making constant and rapid pro- gress. KAMEHAMEHA. a TOOK THE CORPSE TO PRISON. Maryland Deputy Sheriff Follows His Instructions Literally. Something akin to a sensation was caused at the Maryland penitentiary last night, when Deputy Sheriff Saunders of Alleghany county, Md., delivered a corpse at the insti- tution with the regular commitment Papers of the county's executive officers.’ The body was that of John A. Caler, a convict who jumped from a Baltimore and Ohio railroad train between Hanover switch and Elkridge Tuesday while on his way to the Maryland penitentiary. He received injuries from which he subsequently died yesterday morning at the Maryland Uni- versity Hospital. eputy Sheriff Sanders last night took Caler’s body to the penitentiary. He ar- rived there with the corpse a few minutes after 8 o'clock. Warden Weyler was out, having gone for a short walk. When he returned he was informed by a deputy that the bedy had been. received and placed in the dead house. “The wardea was non- plused at the proceeding. He said that it was the first time that such a thing had happened in his ten years’ experience as warden of the penitentlary, and that he did not believe the casé of receiving the bedy of a man sentenced to the penitentiary who had died on his way to the institution had @ paralllel in the history of the institution. With Caler’s body, Deputy Sheriff Sanders left a telegram which he had received from Sheriff A. L. Miller of Allegany county, di- recting the deputy to deliver the body of Caler at the penitentiary. Warden Weyler was somewhat annoyed at what he termed the peculiar transaction. @le said: “I suppose that in delivering Caler’s body the desire is to obtain the fee which is paid to the sheriff. for every person under sentence who fs delivered to the institution to which he or she is committed. I re- fused to give a receipt for the body and will wait until I have car2tully considered the case before acting. At any rate I will not give a receipt until I have the coroner's certificate of death and then I shall: re- ceipt, if at all, for the desi body of a man supposed to be John. A. Caler.” ———r2-—_—_——_ Marine Barencks Concert. The following 1: the program of the con- cert to be given by the Marine Band at the marine barracks this afternoon at 5:30 o'clock: March, “Pride of the Navy" : Overture, “Benvenuto +-Berlloz « ‘arranged in Italy for the Marine Band.) Hungarian Fantasie -Fanciulli at the Grant. time In Wash- ‘De Koven THE KING OF FISH Interesting History of the Small- Mouthed Black Bass. PROPAGATION IN THE POTOMAC Data Concerning the Wide De- struction of Bass in General. GOOD WORDS FOR CRAPPIE SS “It is not all of fishing to catch fish,” has been often said, and probably grew out of the biblical injunction to the fishing disciples to abandon their nets and become fishers of men. So, when the tackle is in order, and the Season or lack of opportunity forbid the pleasures of the woods and waters, some of us find consolation and delight in whai others have said and done in praise or en- couragement of angling. It is an easy stage from the valuable work already accomplished, and the great- er future results hoped for from the new organization and its friends to fill the Po- tomac with bass, to the first attempts in this direction and their wonderful success. None of the many accounts are more interesting than that of Dr. Henshall in his “Book of the Black Bass,” since to the minute details he adds the “personal equation” of his own early recollections and impressions of the event. Subsequent accounts of the transaction— mellowed by time, like oft-repeated gos- sip—change with each telling, and only remind us of the original because they are so different. One tells of the fish being brought from the Youghiogheny, another that they were brought over in a baggage car, ete. The Real Facts. The only authentic story is that Mr. Wil- lam Shriver of Wheeling, W. Va., brought the bass in a basket suspended in the water tank of his locomotive, from Wheel- ing creek, and placed them in the Cum- berland canal basin of the Chesapeake and Ohio canal. These fish were of the small-mouthed variety, and were quite small in size, select- ed as better calculated to bear such con- fined transportation; the first consignment numbering fifteen or twenty were brougat over in 1853. This was once or twice re- peated, about thirty or more being so placed, and from this modest plant the Po- tomac’ has grown to be one of the finest bass rivers in the country. ; How this result was so promptly realized is partly accounted for in an interesting comment by the Pennsylvania fish com- mission in its annual report for 1870 (p. 8): “The upper Potomac is full of these de- lightful table fish, all produced from a few thrown into the stream by a locomotive engine driver at Cumberland, who brought them in his tank from the Monongahela. ‘The fishing In the Potomac was inci- dentally protected by the war, that river forming a line between the belligerenis. For several years it was unsafe for in- dividuals to appear on either of its banks. Hence, there was little or no fishing on anything like a large scale, and as for fish baskets they naturally fell into decay or disuse. “The result is that the upper Potomac teems with this excellent fish, a fish that can be taken with the hook and line, even when they have reached the weight of ten and twelve pounds.” Again in 1873 the Pennsylvania commis- sion (page 11) said: “Fifteen of these fish carried from the west in the tank of a locomotive on the Baltimore and Ohio railroad sixteen years ago and deposited in the Potomac river near Harper's Ferry has made them so abundant in that stream that it today sup- plies the markets of our chief cities with this excellent fish. The annual catch in this river is beyond computation.” ~ Some Glaring Errors. These reperts show the deplorable ten- dency toward inaccuracy in any account of matters periaining to fish, and th!s mod- ern we:kness, probably more than any- thing else, has led to the recent lamentable controversy over the scientifiz and theo- logical possibilities in the adventures of Jonah. ‘These reports fix the date at 1857 instead of 1853; say the fish were taken from the Monongahela instead of Wheeling cre’ were placed in the Potomaz n2ar liarper's Ferry instead of the canal basin at Cum- berland, and the 1873 report goes on to say that a number of public-spirited citizens of Pennsylvania had three or four years be- fore gone to Harper's Ferry and purchas- ed a number of “these fish” (grystes sal- moides) or black bass of the south; that they could not get the grystes nigricans, or black bass of the north, on account of the cost. Both these names rightfully be- long to the large-mouth bass, but they have been so carelessly or indiscriminately applied so Icng that one wouli hardly no- tice that slip if they had not specificaliy described the fish taken at Harper's Ferry as the black bass of the south. At that time the bass in the Potomac at Harper's Ferry were the small-n.outh. It was not until long afterward that our government fish commission added to tis wonderful work of distribution this fish. This delay grew principally out of the difficulties sur- rounding the artificial propagution of the black bass. The glutinous nature of Its ova, which adheres to whatever it touches, precluded the possibility of profitable prop- agation by any known methods, and it was the state commission of Illinois wnich gav2 this valuable fish to the country, and that state still furnizhes the principal supplies which have for ten years stocked the wa- ters of the United States. Former Government Policy. Indeed, the discouraging results of their early efforts to artificially rear the black bass led the United States fish commission to discourage its distribution. Fifteen years ago, in its annual report, the commission said (p. Ixxxii): ‘In accordance with the policy of the fish commission no special efforts have been made looking toward the intrcduction of the~black bass into new waters of the United States. All that has been done in this respect has been per- formed either by state commissioners or by individuals. Without preteading.to decide as to the expediency of such introduction, the United States fish commission bas sur- rendered this department, as stated.” In the annual report for 1885 ‘t xili, p. Ixxvi), following a list of ihe fishes culti- vated and distributed during the year, the commission says: “In addition to the species mentioned in the foregoing list, the red eye perch (ambloplites ruprestris) and black bass (micropterus dolomien) have re- ceived favorable consideration, and may perhaps be added to the list of species culti- vated at an early day,” and then, walle ad- mitting the already urgent jemand, pro- ceeds to black the eye of the latter as fol- lows: “The black bass, although frequently called for, cannot be recommended to farm- ers generally or for use in limited waters, on account of the Sr enepiag then of the species, the necessity of m apart from other fishes and the expense of keep- ing them provided with suitable food. They are, however, frequently used to advantaze for stocking rivers and large bodies of water. As late as ten years ago the commission, part Sy Pp. xxiii, ‘on the Wytheville, Va., station said: “No arrangements having fthis species for distrination, Gach um: ol! fer my = bers as are required to mee: occasionally urgent demands are procured by collection from waters in the vicinity of the hatcnery. During the season there were obtained in this manner 550 yearling small mouth black applicants in the state, 200 to streams in to Bath county, Va., and 50 forwarded central station, Washington.” Work in Mlingts. It was only in the winter of 1887-8 that LIGHTNING’S PRANKS — + -— It Generally Has Things Its Own Way. bass, of which 300 were supplied to three the attention of the commission directed to the efficient work of the Illinois state fish commission in the distribution of native fish led to n-gotiations, and a pooling of issues. This work was under the direction of Dr. Bartlett, the secretary of the Ilinois commission, with headquarters at Quinc: Under a law of the state no seining is al lowed of any pool or stream except sucn as will dry up or freeze solid in the tollow- PAYS BUT LITTLE ATTENTION 10 RODS epee Obstacles That Beset the Path of the Investigator. ing season. But the annual spring freshcts leave many just such pools and sloughs along the illinois and Mississippi bottoms, and as the overflow occurs just spawning time they are filled with fry. Leter in the eeason, when the pools have shrunk and the fish have grown to a good size for transportation, these little ponds and burrow pits become the storehouse frem which the fish may be obtained in almcst unlimited quantities, and supplies, too, that If not transplanted would only perish. The levee system along the river banks, wherever effective, of course, inter- feres with this natural hatchway. Some of these pools Dr. Bartlett had seired each year and distributed the fish thrcughout the state. The U. 8. fish com- mission offered to join in the good work and pay half the expenses and divide the proceeds, which offer was readily accepted The first year over 100,000 fish were sent out to various states from this source, of which nearly 18,0 were black bass. The werk has grown since and is now a regu- lar branch of the United States commis- sion service. After Dr. Bartlett had sev- ered his connection with the state commis- sion Mr. McDonald, recognizing the value ef his experience and services, appointed him the government resident director in charge of the work, and the distribution gces on now practically mdependent of the Illinois state commission. Good Words for the Crappie. The writer remembers one consignment brought by the commission's fish car No. 2 to Waterloo, IIL, late in the season, un- der an emergency demand, when the bi furnished were all breeders. The fish car will transport a million fry, but these thou- sand bass taxed its capacity. In seining for these fish, to fulfill a long-deferred promise—the season was far advanced and the weather very warm—Dr. Bartlett secured with the bass enough crappie to stock all the streams in the country, but they do not stand transportation like b: and the heat was so intense that they w: all returned to the Mlinots river. The crappie is another fish well worth more attention than he seems to receive here. One of the most prolific of breed- ers, affording excellent sport. still fishing and occasionally at dawn a wonder at the fly, many think it the best pan fish in the world. It grows over three pounds and with bright colors in spring water, but will thrive even in a mill pond that catches the hot water from a Corliss con- denser. He molests no other fish but the minnow, and is infinitely to be preferred to the white or yellow perch, both for size and flavor. ene GONZAGA FAIR CLOSES. Father Gillespie Awards Prizes to Successful Contestants. The fair held for the benefit of the Gon- zaga College building fund, which was commenced two weeks ago, closed last night. There was a big crowd in attend- ance to witness the distribution of the ar- ticles voted for. The tair has been a success in every par- ticular, and Father Gillespie, president of the college, is well satisfied with the result of the work dene by the ladies and other friends of the coliege. In the arrauge- ments for the event the college authorities are also much indebted to the members of the general committee, who were indefati- gable in their efforts for success. When the time arrived for making the awards all persons interested were anxious to learn the result, and the announcement of the winners by Father Gillespie afforded considerable amusement. In this task he was assisted by Mr. Joseph Kummer, Mr. Dowell, Mr. Thos. A. Rover and Mr. Den- nis Connell. The awards first called were more amusing than the others, and when the popular president of the college an- nounced that a suit of gentlemen's clothes had been carrried off by Miss Mamie Hur- ley, there was a storm of applause. Next it was announced that Miss McKellar had won the Gonzaga scholarship, and this also brought out a hearty laugh. ‘The. remaining awards were made as fol- lows: Bed room suite of furniture, Mrs. Burns, 810 I street northwest; gold watch, Thomas N. Malone, 2l2 F street northwest: set of Dickens’ works, P. J. Coffey, F street southwest; center table, Michael Maloney, 218 Arthur street northeast; $10 in gold, Mrs. Fitzgerald, 1007 3d street northcast: oil painting, Willlam Stockman, 811 North Capitol street; tea set, Mrs. McAugh, 2d street northwest; mahogany writing desk, Mrs. Gillman, 441 New Jersey avenue; set of Thackeray's works, Miss Lizzie Kelly, 31 G street northwest; $ in gold, J. E. Monk, 931 E street northwest; silver watch, Mrs. M. R. Roach, 1541 7th street northwest: set of’ Shakespeare's works, Mrs. 8. C. Mit- chell, 42 K street northwest; oil painting, A. Winestine, 186 K street northeast; 35 in gold, Albert E. Ferweston, 36 F street northwest; cake basket, Miss Alice Warder, 1515 K street; lady’s shoes, K. Browne, 72 Jackson street; handsome rocker, Charles J. Beck, Brightwood Park: ton of coal, Daniel Hurley, 1004 3d street northeast; barrel of flour, A. B. Eichborn, 87 K street northwest; silk umbrella, Mrs. Holloran, 320 H street northeast; lamp and shade, F. C. Cross, 817 C street southeast: a han some book, J. D. Sullivan, 13th and G streets northwest: a handsome book. Mrs. Keppell, 1018 Florida avenue northeast; wonder of the world, in a book, T. Hollan- der, North Capitol and H streets northeas' vase, MF. C. C. aw of the War Depart- ment; lady’s fascinator, Clarence Miller, 159 F street northeast: lady's fascinato! Mrs. Thomas Quill, 50 G street northwes' tidy, M. P. Campy, 519 H street northeast; mat, Mr. Lewis Kine, 508 G street norih- west; watch holder, Willam D. Donohue, and wax work in a frame, Mrs. R. E. Pres- ton, 53 K street northeast. The returns from the sale of tickets and other sources will be made in a few days, and next week the general result of the work will be known. SiS ee SEEK TO BRIDGE DIFFERENCES. Factions in the A. 0. H. Linble to Be Reunited. The forty-eighth annual convention of the Ancient Order of Hibernians, Board of Erin, wes continued in Tammany Hail yer- terday. The morning session was almost excifsively devoted to the hearing of com- mittee reports. ‘The all paramount topic is the proposed amalgamation of the two wings of the or- der. The conference committee held a pro- tracted secret session last night and re- sumed ifs sitting carly today. The great majority of the delegates, especially those from Chicago, Ohio and Pennsylvania, are said to be pronouncedly in favor of bridg- ing the differences which have prevailed during the last thirteen years. This policy is said to have for its opponents certain ‘New York delegates. —+e+-———_ Minister Sewall’s Instructions. Mr. Harold Sewall, U. 8. minister to Ha- wall, was at the State Department yester- ‘day afternoon to receive his final instruc- tions preparatory to his departure fer his post this afternoon. His family is now awaiting him in San Francisco and will accompany him to Honolulu. ———-2-—____—_|_ “Want” ads, in The Star pay because about TALL BUILDINGS ARE SAFE ee, The fear of lightning seems to be a thor- oughly ingrained human instinct, Nke the hatred of reptiles. The gathering of the spring thunder clouds, which put in their first appearance about this time of year, always sends a lot of timid persons scurry- ing to the shelter of the nearest feather bed. The feather bed theory of protec- ticn from lightning has the advantage of long tradition to recommend it, and is not likely to be untnroned by a single article. Still, there are always some readers amen- on, and for the benefit of those Story is printed, to correct the spread misinformation on the subject of the etiquette observed by Mghtning in its irregular visits to the earth. Every year, for some seasons past, the United States government has issued a little pamphlet, compiled by Mr. McAdie of the United Stat eodetic survey, giv- ing statistical information on the of lightning. This pamphlet shows that while the number of deaths from lightning has increased h year for some time past, the increase has not been more rapid than the growth of population. Last ycar it was about 5) for the whole country, and it may console the tirfffd person to reflect that his or her chance of injury from this cause is something like one in 110.000, which, as a philosopher has remarked in another connection, is very consoling if you can be certain that you are one. not the The true philosophy on this subject scems to be a cheerful fatalism. You can't docge a Nghining stroke, says Mr. Mc- Adie, and you can’t turn it aside excep: by very elaborate m doubtecly be dy to climb to the top of a loft during a thunder storm, or to sit with your back against a ligh While it wou ning rod, you might be more safs there than hidden awa: a feather bed. The great clentific authority on the subject of Mghtning is Dr. Oliver J. Lodge of the University College, Liverpool. In this country it is probable that there is no man who has a greater fund of practical information as to the nature and charac- teristics of lightning than Mr. William A. Eddy of Bayonne, N. J., who ts a follower and close student of Dr. Lodge. “The general fear of lightning is not en- tirely without reason,” said Mr. idy, discussing the subject, “for it is capable of great devastation. Experimental scientists have been very chary of tackling this sub- ject, and this is probably the reason why the scientific knowledge of lightning has not kept pace with progress in other lines of investigation., The study of lightning has been greatly retarded by a terrible ac- cident which happened more than 100 years ago. A Scientific Tragedy. “Franklin may jusily be given the honor of being the pioneer in the practical study of lightning. After his remarkable feat a score of investigators in different parts of the world began to make a study of light- ning. Most of these experiments were brought to a sudden termination by an In- cident sufficiently tragic to shake the nerves of even a cool-blooded man of science. An experimenter named Rich- mond, in St. Petersburg, had built a labor- atory, which contained, among other things, the lower end of a lightning rod 100 feet high, which he had erected. and from which he had succeeded in drawing off electrical charges of considerable fo: One day, while Richmond was working in his laboratory, a thunder storm came up. Lightning struck the lofty rod, flashea down it and killed the scholar at his work, badly burning and mangling his body. That put an end to experiments with light- ning for the time being. Toward the end of the century there were one or two fa- talities in France, which acted as a further detriment, and caused Voltaire to remark, in a quotation which I get through Dr. Lodge: “There are some kings whom one must not approach too closely, and light- ning is one of these.’ Lodge, therefore, found an almost unworked field before him when he began his experiments. The essential characteristic of lightning, and the one that accounts for most of its vagaries, according to Dr. Lodge, is its “impulsive rush.” In unscientific language this means that when a charge of lightning breaks through a cloud and starts for the earth it moves with a rush so vehement that no ordinary conductor will turn it from the path it elects to follow. “There are many cases to illustrate says Dr. Lodge. “Here is a striking one: In May, 1889, lightning struck and nearly demolished a brick wall in a small English town. Directly opposite the wall at the point where it was struck, and not six feet away, stood a gas lamp. Gas fs one of the best conductors of electricity, and the lamp was some feet higher than the wall. On the old theory of attraction the light- ning ought to have gone for the lamp, but, as a matter of fact, it was not injured. Lightning Rods No Protection. There have been repeated instances where lightning has struck a roof though it had a rod to protect it, and in some cases the roof has been struck only a few feet from the rod itself. On this theory, lightning rods are of lit- tle value. As Dr. Lodge has abundantly proved, lightning may travel down a rod to the earth without doing any damage in case the rod happens to be in its path, but the stroke will seldom turn aside to follow the rod. It must not be supposed from this that it is impossiMe to secure immunity from injury by lightning. Some buildinys are protected by the very character of their construction. May Kill Without Striking. Another peculiar thing about lightning, according to experts, is that a person may be killed or an object set on fire by light~ ning without being actually struck by the current which descends from the clouds. ‘This is due, so says Mr. Lodge, to the “surging current,” which ts another char- acteristic of the lightning stroke. It is a little difficult for the untrained mind to un- derstand what is meant by the “surging ctrrent,” but the theory of Mr. Lodge, that when a lightning stroke descends to the earth at any place a part of the current may fly off at a tangent and injure objects at considerable distances, and Mr. Lodge hes within his knowledge several instances in which this has occurred. The buildings which are most carefully gvarded against injury by lightning are probably some of the big powder maga- zines. Some of these are almost covered with a network of connecting rods and wires. These run down to the earth on all