Evening Star Newspaper, July 10, 1897, Page 11

————— THE EVENING STAR, SATURDAY, JULY 10, 1897-24 PAGES. "ARE PLAIN PEOPLE The Dunkards Have Little Use for Personal Adornment. STORY OF AN INTERESTING SECT A Feature in This Country for More Than a Century. PECULIAR OBSERVANCES -— + Special Correspondence of The Evening Star. FREDERICK, Md., July 1, 1807. Very recently this city, “green-walled by the hills of Maryland,” has been expe:t- encing the annual meeting of the German Baptist Brethren, better known as Dunk- ards or Tunkers, and sometimes Dunkers. While there is much to interest visitors to Frederick City, In poetry and higtory and fascinating beauty of landscape and de- lightful hospitality of peopie—I write as a transient—no visitor is here for any length of time before he begins to notice among the daily country contingent, which is a feature of all rural munictpalitics, odd- lcoking men, with flowing whiskers and no mustaches, broad-brim hats and plain clothes of almost clerical cut, and women, flat as to figure and exceeding unornamen- tal in attire, wearing little round sunbon- nets and never a bit of gold or jewel to relieve the gloom of their apparel. Nat- urally one asks what manner of man is this, and he Is at once informed: “Oh, those are Dunkards,” as if everybody ought to know that. Everybody dees know it about Frederick. Fut not so everywhere, and hence these few remarks. A week or so ago the annual meeting of the Dunkards took place here, and there Her First Meeting. were probably 10,000 of them in attendance. A tabernacle was erected in the fair grounds at that end of the only trolley line in Frederick, and the cars carried xx) passengers during the ten days of meeting, which shows that there is a deal of local interest in the Dunkards, as they: ere oftenest called in this se ‘They came from all parts of the United d the railroads had a lot of fun ng them, for if there is anything is more than anything else it is being “mighty puttickeller. A Bit of History. Now for a bit of Tunker history. The sect, of which there are about 100- 600 in the United States, had its origin in Germany in 1708, the founders being eight Presbyterians and one Lutheran, who, re- pairing to the river Eder, by Swartzenau, were baptized by immersion, and organiz- ing themselves Into a church appointed Alexander Mack as their minister. They increased rapidly, and it was not long until persecttion set in, and being driven from piace to place they at last began to migrate to America, settling at first in and about Philadelphia and Germantown. They came first in 1719, and with them Alexander Mack, who died in Germantown in 1729, and whose grave is shown to visitors today in the Brethren’s burying ground there. © of the remarkable points about the beginning of this Baptist organization is that it began in a part of Germany where £o Baptist had ever been known or heard Modern. of, and where there is not one today. The organizers of the church and those who brought it to America and nurtured It were people in the humbler walks of life, and today they have, by their sincerity, in- custry and good works, made the ckarch to spread all over the land, with a pre- ponderance in Pennsylvania, Maryland, Ohio, Indiana, Ilinols, Kansas, uri. nker comes from the Ger- man word tunken, to dip, and unless one be dipped into the water he cannot become of the church. They have no but believe in the Triniiy, Bible as inspired, and believe who dic at the years of knowl- > saved. In fact, they are as ndox a8 any religious organiaa- if it were not for their peculiar personal adornment they would iceably different from any of the ether chureh organizations. Away back In their history they discoun- tenanced marriage, and had some com- munity, or communal, or communistic no- tions, but they have happily outgrown all that now, and as before said, their clothes and some religious observances mark them Virginia, a membe 4 more than anything else as different from their fellow Christians. Their baptism, called “trine ffers somewhat in method the candidate ee times (Father, Son and Holy Ghosi). ry believe, too, in dipping the body for- ‘ward instead of backward, as the body bends so in bowing in worship. Feet washing is another church ordi- nance, and this is performed after the manner taught in the New Testament, that 28, after the Lord's supper, the men wash- ing the feet of men end the women the feet of women. The supper is a real sup- per of bread and wine, and it takes place in. the evening. They always salute each other with a holy kiss, but the men kiss the men and the women the women. This men-kissing prevails at other times than at communion, and during this last meet- ing it was nc unusual sight to see the men kissing each other in saluting. Anointing of the sick ts practiced, and at worship thé women wear little white | caps, waile the men ore uncovered. The government of the church is republican in form, and in many of the matters of church government the women are allowed | equal voice. the.men. The elders are the rulers, and are chosen from the min- isters, and nobocy gets paid for preaching the gospel, though if s minister be poor he is not permitted to starve to death or go naked; neither the members of his family. As “a peculiar people” they further re- fuse to bear arms, nor will they go to law, and they speak to each other as “brother” rd “sister.” _ They were to lavery, and a slaveholder could not be a member; they oppose secret societies and Permit the use of alcoholic and malt avers for strictly mechanical and me- dicinal purposes only. Various Pursuits. They are principally farmers, though they are in all kinds of business and in the professions, except the law, and no- body ever heard of a Tunker lawyer. They are a thrifty, honest, hardworking people, and they have no paupers. The organization is growing, but as one could see who moved about among the members at the meeting, the doctrine of no ornament is becoming unpopular, and the young men and women showed very clearly that they were in opposition to making “sights” of themselves, although some of the girls, in their efforts to get away from the plainness of their mothers, made matters worse by attempting to dike themselves in a fashion to please Representative. taste and ‘o satisfy the church tenets also. e, I noted one tall girl, in a x with one of those little round bonnets of pure white and white gloves. Naturally she was largely a blaze of color. Another one, however, was a Perfect picture. She was a dainty little body, attired In a straight up and down gown of ecru figured silk, with puff sleeves just puffed enough, with such a straight- laced waist and the cutest little bonnet of the same material as the gown that any- body ever did see. She was pink-cheeked and pretty, too, and to this day I believe she was one of Frederick's far-famed pret- ty girls out among those staid folk in that utterly bewitching costume just for a lark. Speaking of the attire of the women, I must say that while those round silk sun- bernets they wear seem to be of uniform make and quality, I am prepared to state on authority that there are no two Tunker bonnets alike. I counted five hundred at the least caltulation, and I was astounded at the ingenuity of those women in getting so much difference into things that are the same. Some are plain; some are plain with frizzly little talls to them; some of them have quilled tops with bows at the back; some have ruffles all over them; some are round-cornered; some are square- cornered; some are silk; some satin, some cotton, and some wool; some are black, some brown, some white, some mixed and some even glaring. Indeed, the variety is simply bewildering, and is intensified by one’s surprise that there can be variety at all. As to their making, some are made by the owners themselves and some by miliiners, like any other milliners, and the price runs along from a dollar or two up to four or five or six, or even more, but never to those dreadful figures that par- alyze other Christian husbands when they see the bills. Like a Little Adornment, No jewelry is worn by the women, but they can’t help to save their lives tying a ribbon in a pretty bow or pin on a flower or do something to show that while re- lgion to a woman is the greatest thing on earth, she doesn't want to go to heaven if she has to go looking like a fright. Among the men matter of attire is of less moment. They wear plain garments of dark and gray stuffs, with no buttons at the back of the coat, but buttons in front, though I have seen some of the more par- ticular members have their coats buttoned with hooks and eyes. The mustache, how- ever, seems to be in universal disfavor. That is probably owing to the fact that a8 the men don’t kiss the women, they don’t know that a kiss without a mustache is Uke an egg without salt. The young men are even harder to man- age in the matter of dress than the young women, and I don’t recall a young fellow at the meeting who was diked like his dad. I saw any number flying around with maidens in the little white caps the women wear when they are bareheaded, but they could not have been told as Dunkards by any pecullarity of their clothes at all. Af- ter all men are vainer than women. I saw Uttle girls and babies in arms with the quaint little bonnets on, but I didn’t see any boys in the habiliments of their re- ligion. I saw several tots like Little Lord Fauntleroys, and they were always sur- rounded by a lot of straight-up-and-down women in poke bonnets, who seeemed to be tickled to death over the showy effect of the kids. Object to Photographs. During my movements about the grounds the man with me, whose name I shall not divulge for reasons of safety, sprung his camera several times with the results pre- sented herewith. Now, if there is anything that the Dunkard derogates more than anything else among the vanities of this world it is getting oneself into a picture, and we had to be exceedingly careful not to get caught at our little scheme, and we did not, though I think we were more than suspected at times. It was a cloudy day and pictures were hard to make in the grove, but Providence was on our side and these photographs, I am quite sure, are more than have been taken of all the thou- sancs of Dunkards there, in all their previous experience. For which may we be forgiven, and as they never go to law and are non-residents, what are they going to do about it? Bless their honest hearts and honest ways the world over, and may their tribe increase. Ww LAMPTON. ——__. Rich Reporters. From the New York Press, By the death of his father, Bryce Gray, , dr., will probably come in for a snug for- tune. He is a clever and agreeable young man, who has been these six or seven years @ reporter earnestly seeking advancement in the newspaper calling. He was married and independent when he went on the Tribune, where, while his qualities were appreciated, his efforts were regarded as a jcke. It was right hard for the profession to take stock In the son of a rich maa, but Bryce Gray actually became popular. George Lord Day was a reporter before the days when he became a millionaire. He also was popular and a good fellow. Will- jam Walter Phelps put one of nia sons on the Tribune, intending that he should use the paper as a stepping stone. Afterward he tried other papers, and finally became a New Jersey editor. ——___+ e+ ____ A Pyramid of Barrels. From the Bostoa Trrnseript. A pyramid, not of the kind usually read about, but one composed of hogsheads, barrels and casks of every kind and de- scription, which has been in the process of construction for several weeks on the top of Gellows Hill, Salem, where nineteen persons were executéd in 1602 for alleged witchcraft. collapsed yesterday afternoon, much to the chegrin of many persons, who had been anticipating a big bonfire at mid- night of July 4. The pyramid had reached an altitude of 120 feet and was to be still higher. It was forty-seven feet square at the base, and contained more than 10,000 barrels, thousands cf them being by the fall. Several persons rarrowly es- caped being hurt. While its destruction ‘has somewhat spoiled the ardor of those building the pyramid, it is announced that there will be another one erected, but ft will not be anywhere near as high. -—— see Peter Hoist, ninety-two, has just taken out naturalization papers at Chicago. By the new law, Sat urday afternoon is hereafter a holiday in Pennsylvania. HOUSE COMMITTEES Precedents the Speaker Follows in Making the Appointments. TAKING CARE OF THE STRONG MEN Mr. Reed's Probable Action Fore- shadowed by His Past Record IN THE FIFTY-FOURTH Written for The Evening Star. The refusal of the House of Representa- tives to express the opinion that the Speak- er ought to appoint his committees as soon as possible has apparently settled the agi- tation on the subject. There is no longer any doubt that the Speaker will withhold the appointments until the tariff bill is at last sent t> the President. The plea made by General Henderson that the Speaker required time to become acquainted with the members and ascertain their adaptabil- ity for the various committees is ingenious but hardly ingenuous. The action of the Speaker is probably foreshadowed by his action in the Fifty-first and Fifty-fourth Congresses. It is customary to select as chairman of a committee, when a change of administration has been made, the lead- ing member of the minority of the com- mittee in the preceding Congress. Mr. Reed, with very few exceptions, followed this precedent in the Fifty-first and Fifty- fourth Congresses. In the Fifty-fourth he made Jonathan H. Rowell of Illinois chairman of the commit- tee on elections. Mr. Rowell had demon- strated his merits as a leader of the minor- ity in the Fiftieth Congress. The Speaker followed precedent in his appointment of the chairman of the committee of ways and means. The leader of the minority on that committee in the preceding Congress was William D. Kelley of Pennsylvania. The Speaker selected as the chairman in the Fifty-first Congress Maj. Wm. McKinley, ir., of Ohio. Judge Kelley was said to have been very indignant because he had been set aside. He had served thirty years in the House, and as “father of the House” had administered the oath to the new Speaker when he took the chair. The se- lection, however, was made-in strict con- sonarce with precedence. Major McKinley had been the leading contestant in the struggle for the nomination for Speaker. Etiquette seemed to require that the new Speaker should place the major at the head of the ways and means. At all events in full fairness he had a right to choose between the major and the judge. It was fortunate for the-major that the selection fell upon him. It made him President of the United States eventually. On the other hand, it seems to be unfor- tunate for Mr. Reed that he was elected Speaker. If Major McKinley had secured the nomination Thomas B. Reed would pelea be seated in the White House to- ay. Following Precedents. The Speaker made Joseph G. Cannon of Illinois chairman of the great committee on appropriations to succeed Samuel J. Randall. Cannon was the leader of the minority on that committee in the preced- ing Congress. Ezra B. Taylor of Ohio was made chairman of the judiciary committee, strictly following precedent. If precedent had also been followed Nelson Dingley, jr., of Maine would have been cl of tl committee on banking and currency. For som-e reason George W. E. Dorsey, a bank- er, of Fremont, Neb., was made Chairman of that committee. Dorsey had not been even & member of that committee in the Preceding Congress. Mr. Dingley was Placed fourth on the committee of ways and means, and was not made chairman of the committee on merchant marine and fisheries, although the head of the minor- os there in the preceding Congress. He hat not previously served on the y and means. See 1 The Speaker appointed C P. Wickham of Ohio chairman of the cn mittee on banking and currency. He was the only republican member of that com. mittee who was re-elected. Following the same precejent, he made Lewis E. Payson of Illinois chairman of the committee on publlc lands. The chairman of the commit. tee on commerce was Charles 8. Baker of New York. He had never before served on this committee. If precedent had been for. lowed Charles O'Neill of Pennsylvania would have been chairman of tee. O'Neill, however, ae eee er to give ‘him the committee on Hbrary, chairman of the com: W-Te too arduous for In making the appcl. chairmanship of the Se duties of the mittee on com rps merce Intment on harbors precedent was again Neiragene homas J. Henderson of Iilinols being © Dew chaitman of the committee on merchant marine fes was Maj. John M. Farquhar oe een York. We had previ pana committee, but he war vac ed On the was not member after Mr. Dingley. Funston of Kansas became the committee on agriculture. ranking member in the Previot Ree R. tae ef Illinois was the new an of the committe - fairs, ‘The ranking member in the traces ng Congress was John H. Ketcham York, a valiant Union general, with eens years’ service in the House. Gen. Byron M. Cutcheon of Michigan became chairman of the committee on military affairs. He Was entitled to it under precedent. The chairman of the committee on naval ai fairs was Charles A. Boutaile of Maine. The ranking member was Alfred C. Harmer of Pennsylvania, who had served seventeen years on this committee. The appointment of Mr. Boutelle gave rise to much news- paper comment. It was said that Mr. Harmer had been slighted because he had been an ardent supporter of Maj. McKinley in the republican caucus as a candidate for Speaker. Although one of the oldest re- publican members of the House, Mr. Harmer was placed third on the committee on Indian affairs and second on the com- mittee on expenditures in the Interior De- partment, the latter of which never met. He had not previously served on either of these committees. He Is today one of the intimate friends of President McKinley. The Other Committees. Gen. Harry Bingham of Pennsylvania was made chairman of the committee on Post offices and post roads, as he had been the ranking minority member in the pre- ceding Congress. The same precedent was followed in making Bishop W. Perkins of Kansas chairthan of the committee on In- Gian affairs, Isaac S. Struble of Iowa chair- man of territories, Henry C. McCormick of Pennsylvania chairman of railways and canals and James Buchanan of New Jer- sey chairman of the committee on manu- factures. On mines and mining Thomas H. Carter of Montana became chairman. Carter was a new member, but the previ- ous election had swept into oblivion every republican member of that committee in the Fiftieth Congress. Seth Milliken of Maine became chairman of the committee en public buildings and grounds, and John Dalzell of Pennsylvania chairman of the committee on Pacific railroads, both being the ranking minority members of said com- mittees in the Fiftteth Congress. Julius Caesar Burrows of Michigan was made chairman of the committee on levees and improvements of the Mississippi river. He had not previously served on the com- mittee, but the surviving members of the committee were elsewhere properly placed. James O'Donnell of Michigan, being the ranking minority member of the commit- tee on education of the previous Congress, of that committee. Wil- Mam H. Wade of Missouri was the new chairman of the committee on labor. He had not previously been a member of the comm'ttee, but no one was oversiawed heaa of the committee on militia. He was a new man on the committee, but no one was the ranking chairman of He was the us Congress. tranked by his appointment. Ben But- terworth of Ohio became chairman of the Edward H.} In the Fifé-Pourth. In the Fifty-fourg 2 : . Reed was elected & ni} second term as Speaker, the record: gence from preced attract more than ment. Jares W. became chairman ofthe § culture in this Con: have required the Apsley of . Massac! declined the place. Nebraska was nex nk, but he prob- ably preferred the place jon the committee on appropriations, which he received. The next fn rank Henry M. Baker of New Hampshire. was placed on the judiciary, leaving the field open to. Wads- worth. Joseph G. Canhon was made chair- man of the committee on appropriations. He had been a member of the preced- ing Congréss, but he Was fairly. entitled to the place on account_of his long term of service in preceding Congresses. If the ranking member h: David B. Henderson a been the man. He h@@.no cause for com- plaint, however, as hé'was made chairman. of the committee off the judiciary and stood next to the Speaker in the Contmft- tee on rules. & Charles N. Brumm pf Pennsylvania was appointed ‘to: the chalgmanship of the -com-’ mittee on claims. Therranking member wasi Eugene FP. Loud offalifornia. He was. also the ranking member of the commit- tee on post offices and post roads, and took the latter in preferenee. The next in rank was Henry A. Cooper of Wisconsin. He was placed on rivers and harbors and le- vees and improvements of the Mississippi river, which he protiably preferred. - The next in rank was a Settle of es Carolina. He was placed on interstate and foreign cOmmerce and"post offices and post roads. This. was probably satisfactory to Settle, as he was afterward very active in securing delegates from North Carolina for Mr. Reed to the national convention. ‘The next in rank was Daniel B. Heiner of Pennsylvania. He Wa overslawed, as-was Robert G. Cousins of Iowa. Cousins ap- peared on the committee on foreign affairs and on mines and mining, which was un- doubtedly more than satisfactory to him. Brumm had not been in Congress for six vears, but everybody appeared to be sat- isfied’ with the selection. Joseph W. Bab- cock of Wisconsin became chairman of the commiftee on the District of Columbia. If precedent had been followed, Gen. Al- fred C, Harmer would have been made chairman. He accepted the chairmanship of the committee on library. The onty man who was overslawed by the appointment of Mr. Babcock was Samuel G. Hilborn of California, He was put in the third place on the committee on naval affairs, which was far more pleasing to him. The new chairman of the committee‘on Pacific rail- roads was Judge H. H. Powers of Vermont. By his appointment George W. Smith of Illingis was left. He wes made chairman of the committee’ on private land claims. By the appointment of William F. Draper as chairman of the committee on patents, William W. Bowers of Callfornia was jumped. He was made’ chairman of a minor committee. Warren B. Hooker of New York was the new chairman of the committee on rivers and harbors. The ranking member was Blager Hermann of Oregon. He became chairman of the com- mit‘ee on irrigation and arid lands .and second on the committee on rivers and harbors. Mr. Hooker. possibly owed his elevation to his actiyity.on behalf of Mr. Reed in the canvass for Speaker. Nelson Dingley, jr., was m&dé"chairman of the ways and means. \Blezhad not been on that committee in the preceding Congress. The ranking membex, woe Serenc E. Payne of New York, who willingly gave way to Mr. Dingley and atdepted the chairman- ship of mershant mafinb?and fisheries. As They;4ngy Be. Three committees MavWalready been ap- Pointed in the Fifty/Hirtl? Congress. Prece- dents have’ been follSweg: in their appoint- ment of chairmen. djelegn Dingley,.jr., has been made >chairmem of the ways and means. Gen: David: Henderson has been placed next to the Spedker on rules, and Ashley B. Wright of,. achusetts chalr- man of mileage. Pyedicating the selection of the new committees upon the Speaker's action In the Fiftycfirst,ind Fifty-fourth Congresses, the chaffmen of the remgining pommel of importdnce wit’ be’ 28 fol- lows: 7 rsaegn, : ze Agriculture—JamesW. Wadsworth, New. York: leader of the thinority, Join S. Wil- liams, Mississippi.’ i 8 Appropriations —Jeseph.»G: Cannon; In- nois; minority, Jasepb: D. Sayers, Texas. Barking and currency—Joscph H.. Walker, Massachusetts; mitfority, Nicholas N. Cox, Tennessee: 3 7 ors Claims — Charles N. Brumm, Pennsyl- vania; minority, N. N. Cox, Tennessee. Coinage, weights and mezsures—Charles W. Stone, Pennsylvania; minority, John M. Allen, Mississippi. District_of Columbta—Joseph W: Babcock, Wisconsin; minortty, James D, Richard- son, Tennessee. - >) + Foreign affaire—Robert R. Hitt, illinois; minority, Hugh A. Dinsmote, Arkansas. Immigraticn—Richard Bartholdt, Mis- souri; minority, ‘Stanyarne Wilson, North Carolina. Indian affairs—James 8. Sherman, New York; minority, John M. Allen, Mississipp!. Interstate. and foreign commerce—Wil- Nam P. Hepburn, Iqwa. .All the, minority members of the committee in the last Con- gress were wiped out in the last election. Invalid pensicrs-—Cyrus-A. Sulloway, New Hampshire; minority, George B. McCiellan, New York. Judiciary—David B, Henderson, lowa; minority, William L. Terry, Arkansas. Labor—John J. Gardner, New Jersey; mi- nority, W. J. Talbert, South Carolina. Mississippi levees—George W. Ray, New York; minority, John M. Allen, Mississtpp. Library—Alfred C. Harmer, Pennsyl- vania; mirority, Amos J. Cummings, New York. W. Faris, Indiana; ion of. Lewis D. Towa would have i Manufactures—George minority, Cliften B. Beach, Ohio. Merchant marine—Sereno BZ. Payne, New York; minority, Albert I. Berry, Kentucky. Military affairs—John -A.. F. Hull, Towa; minority, Geo. B. McCleHan, .New. York. Mines and- mining—Robert G. Cousins, Jowa; minority. F. C. Tate, Georgia. Naval affairs—Chas. A. Boutelle, Maine; minority, Amos J..Cummings, New York. Pacific raflroads—H. H. Powers, Vermont; minority, Wm. Sulzer, New York. 1 Patents—Josiah D. Hicks, Pennsylvania; minortty, Themas J. Strait, South Carolina. Post oftices—Eugene S. Loud, California; minority, Claude A. Swanson, Virginia. Printing—George D. Perkins, Iowa; mi- nority, James D. Richardson, Tennessee. Public _lands—John F. Lacy, Iowa; mi- nority, Thomas C. McRae, Arkansas. Raitways and canajs—Chas. A. Chicker- ing, New York; minority, Peter J. Otey, Virginta. Rivers and harbors—Warren B. Hooker, New York: mincrity, Thomas C. Catchings, Mississippi. r ‘Territories—William* §. Knox, Massa- chusetts; minority, Sam. B. Cooper, Texas. War claims—Thad..M. Mahon, Pennsyl- vania; minority, John F.: Fitzgerald, Mas- sachusetts. As to the new mbmbéts of the present Congress they willbe .dandwiched in the various committees1as) the Speaker sees Gen. Henderson!im axrecent speech said that he needed enkghténment as to their qualifications. ake “said Pressing preferences by others are supplying’ thé: vessel caught pil | as if-the horses would be | BE A THRILLING RIDE. ——E———EE Written Exclusively for The Evening Star. It was in the smoking room of a hotel- that four commercial travelers recently sat in a circle and exchanged stories. One of them was a swarthy, keen-eyed Westerner of some forty years of agé. A story had just been finished, when the dark-haired man knocked the ashes off his cigar and remarked: “I guess it’s. my turn next, boys. “Yes; go ahead, Jack,” said his three companions. “Well,” commenced Jack, tilting himself back in his chair, with a thoughtful ex- pression, “in 1880 I was in Denver, and had to visit Leadville on business, In those days there were two ways of reaching the latter place—one was to take the railroad to Buena Vista and the stage up the Ar- kansas river; the other was the stage from Denver across the mountains. I had al- ways gone to Leadville by the river rout: and on this occasion, for the sake of va- tiety, I resolved to take the all-stage road. “We started at daylight in a coach of the-old Concord pattern, that was almost as large as a Noah's ark. The vehicle was swung on leathern hinges, so arranged that it was capable of every conceivable form of motion. It would lurch, pitch, roll like a ship in the trough of the sea. It would rear, kick and buck like a mustang, and had the solid jolt of a dromedary. “Like all the other coaches used for car- rying passengers over the mountains, it had_a mechanical attachment, within easy reach of the driver, by which he could in an instant detach the horses from the coach. It was to be used to save the horses in case the vehicle toppled over a precipice. “There were three seats inside, each of which had three people, who were so closely packed together that in case of an overturn there was no extrication, but all Must go over as one. There were two seats on top of the coach besides the driver's, all of which were filled, making a total of eignteen persons, including the man who held the reins over the four-horse team. In the front seat was an Englishman and a young woman, he an agent of some English capitalists sent to inspect some mires, and she an actress, as I afterward learned, going to Leadville to join some theatrical i starring company. “The driver, who is always the most im- portant feature of the outfit, was a mere boy in appearance. He was rather slender, very blond as to hair and smoothly shaved save as to a mustache, milky in its white- ness. He wore an immense sombrero and his hair was so long that the ends lay on his shoulder. “I studied him with curiosity and mingled anxiety, He seemed to me to be very young for the responsible duty of holding the ribbons over four horses on a route that ig regarded as one of the most diffi- cult and dangerous in the Rockies. “I ascertained that this w: his second trip on this line and thet before coming here he had been driving in the San Louis valley. This was not in his favor, as the valley is almost a dead level, and affords no training for mountain driving. “He was very reticent, unlike the average driver, and hence the passengers did not cetton to him. We tried to establish social relations with him, but he would only re- ply in surly monosyllables. He spoke only once to the extent of one or two words. We were passing a shanty on a bit of ta. ble land, beside which stood a dog regard- ing us with a friendly glance and exhibit- ing his setisfaction by wagging his tail. Suddenly from the seat behind me a voice was heard: “ “Say, driver, will your horses scare? “The driver as well as the rest looked around and saw a young man holding out a revolver pointed in the direction of the a “Put up that gun, you fool!’ roared the blonde driver. ‘What do you want to fire at the dog for? What harm has he done you?” “The young man, very much abashed, muttered something about only wanting to have a little fun and scare the brute, and sheepishly returred the pistol to his pocket. The little incident had the effect to raise the driver in my estimation, and the favorable impression was further hetghtened when the Englishman offered him a drink from’ a flask of whisky, which he refused in a gruff manner. “The second morning we reached the sum- mit of the pass. The road was steep, dif- ficult’ and in places very dangerous. The @river, however, seemed always cool, and began to exaet the confidence of all the passengers. “It was not quite light when we reached the divide, and began the descent on ‘the further side. The pass was scarcely a Pass in any proper sense of the term. It was simply a broken, ragged hollow, which cut through the ridge at an elevaticn of many thousands of feet above the level of the sea. The shadows of night were just sinking from the mountain tops and the scene was one of grandeur. “Above us to the left rose a single peak, clad in snow, and which catching the earlier rays from the eastern horizon stood in the clear atmosphere clean cut, massive and glittering with a resplenéent opal- escence. Just below us extended a cloud- formed ocean, still dark and with the shadows of night, which was as level as a floor, and which extended to the distant horizon. The high peak, with its bright- ness, seemed a huge dome of light as if a giant to illuminate the cloudland below. As we descended we entered the ocean of clouds, which receded a little way from us, making it seem as if we were dropping down into an enormous well. Through the walls of this cloud shaft we could see dis- torted objects—pines assumed fantastic shapes, and great fragments of fallen rocks became hideous monsters. The composition of this ocean was something wonderful. It was of two colors—a fleecy white and a blue. These two colors were not inter- mingled except in large masses; there was’ clearly a vetoes stratum of one and then the other overlying it. They were like fa- ctae of the blue and white, all exhibiting a superb striation. : We passed through the cloud masses, which left open the view below. The hollow-in which we began to descend had sunk rapidly to a fathomless ravine, ard we were seen to be crawling along a narrow shelf blasted out from the side of the mountains, and which was but a few inches wider than the space required for the wheels of the coach. We were be- tween what seemed to be two parallel mountains. I gianced up. It was like looking out of a deep slit in the earth. I lcoked down to the right, and withdrew my eyes with a dizzy feeling of horror. It was on the very edge of the precipice that we were moving, and so close was its outer edge that it seemed that with my extended hand I could have dropped a peb- ble directly into the abyss. In the momen- tary glance I had caught sight of a border o? pines so far down that they seemed like hothouse plants strewn along the walls of the chasm. Not a sound was heard save the queruleus creaking of the leathern hinges and springs of the coach and the dull grating of the brakes on the wheels. Even though the latter were so fastened that the hind wheels no longer revolved, they were not sufficient to control the speed of the coach, and the wheel horses, a:most on their haunches, were tugging at their pole straps till they were apparently about to be carried from their feet. I glanced along the road in our front, with the hope that there might be some visible termination of the seemed were descending at an angie of not less than 30 degrees, and at each step ft looked earried off their feet by the tremendous pressure of the coach. The wheels at one moment would sink into the soft wash from the mountain side, and the next strike a detached frag- i E é f E i i i i | z i i [ i if be it ii ; i 2 ? 7 if i Ps | i H Ff i t g fil Terrific Cuts Hi Think what it means! prices quoted in Washington. It’s Your O for hotels and boarding houses. our space. Refrigerators and I Here are sample bargains: A splendid regular $20 Solid i RNR MRA TTT HM ance, lasts. The credit dealers are aghast—never were such Make the most of it and come at once. Big money saved Room Suite—really well made and finished. i Handsome White Enameled Iron Bed- a strode let Cotte Elegant Reed Rockers—most useful around ie the house. Cut SOE ee ee er ne 4 Twenty-four-inch Solid Oak Center Tables RGU E ere coe ecbee seca steer e ee Jackson Bros. 919-921 Seventh Street. n learance On All Furniture At This Great Sale. Every piece of Furniture in these % | two big stores at absolute cost while this, our first annual clear- i a pportunity. i AD SUR aN Bargains crowd every inch of ice Boxes also at absolute cost. vénisted. $12.50 Sixteen-inch Solid Oak Center Tables. Cutto DOC, — { 79¢. Great Cash Furniture House, ha Wc MRT RR rem was recalled to my own danger as I clung with difficulty to the seat, and braced my- self for a leap the moment opportunity of- fered. “Just then the driver rose to his feet. His long whip described a swift circle and fell across the backs of the leaders. They sprang forward like a shot from a cani.on, dragging the whee! horses with the coach. As the lash struck the leaders the driver tightened the reins and gave a yell of en- couragement to his team, and then, lean- ing far back, guided them with taut lines directly down the narrow road. The four horses at once leaped into a wild run, and then I comprehended that he intended to keep in the road instead of abandoning the coach to its fate. So far as I can recall, there was no sound uttered after the shout of the driver. Within and without the coach a paralysis possessed all. The only sound was the fierce pounding of the iron hoofs on the rock-faced road, the roar of the wheels, and the frantic’ creaking of the leathern-springed coach, as ft rocked like a tempest-tossed vessel. “On neither side did anything take definite shape. We moved, as it were, be- tween two great walls of darkness, some- what as are in a swift railway train when passing through a narrow gorge. There was no difference between the wall of rock on one side and the abyss on the other. I continued standing, clinging to the stanch- fons with a deadly clasp, possessed by a vague impression that a jump must be made at some approaching crisis. I have an indistinct impression that the woman in the driver's seat had both her arms about the waist of the Englishman, and that he stood with his face to the wall to the left, and clung to the railing of the seat like a drowning man to a storm-tossed 5 r. I recall that we seemed scarcely to touch the ground; that we flew; that our move- ment was one of vast leaps, in which we struck the ground with a resounding clasn, like a vessel in a storm when its bow is met by a wave. “The air pushed against my face as if it were some demoniacal energy trying to wrench me from the coach, All the time, in my hazy cnsciousness, lying apparently across the road, was impending death. I felt it was the fate which menaced us; it was a black wall against which we would break, and then—annihilation. “T have no idea of the time; ft might have been a minute, it might have been twenty for aught that I comprehended during our descent. I only recall that we went rock- ing, thundering down the steep grade, and ther—unconsciousness.”” Here the dark man stopped his narration, as if there were no more to say. “You were not killed, evidently,” said one of the listeners. “What else hap- pened?” “Nothing much. When I came to myself we were in front of a ranch used for a station. The coach had stopped and several men were running toward us from the stables. The four white horses stood with drooping heads in front of the coach and were hardly visible through the dense cloud of steam which roge from their heaving bodies. The driver was sitting in his seat, his elbows on his knees, his chin resting on his hands and himself as impassive as if cut in marble.” “How about the rock you were going to smash up against? That’s what I'd like to know.” “That's what I'd like to know myself,” replied the dark man. “TI belleve, however, that just where we rounded the rock there was a deep impression in the road on the side next to the wall, and it was the dip of the wheels in this hollow which pre- vented the coach swinging outward, so that as it righted we had passed in the open place just a few feet from the gulch. It was the tremendous shock as the wheels plunged into the depression and_ the thought we had struck the rock and I was killed which made me insensible.” “Anybody hurt?” “Net a hatr of one of our heads. The driver landed us in as good condition as we are this minute in this room. We made up a purse for him of $100 and the co: gave him as much more. That's all. I'm off. Good nigkt.” —_+__—__ The height limit for Boston buildings is 125 feet—cornice projection, three feet. Phillips Academy of Andever, Mass., hav- ing come into possession of the Hamilton county, court house, by foreclos- ure, has sold it back to the county for §5,- 000. RUM IN COLONIAL TIMES. There Were Sixty-Three Dine in Masanchusetts in 1750. From the Brockton (Mass.) Times, The power of rum as # commercial fa: in the colonies was at its height about 1770, That year the royal treasury report gave 683 distillerics in Massachusetts turning mo- lasses into rum. This formed the store for about 900 vessels engaged in vari branches of trade—400 in cod fishing, 200 mackerel fishing, 100 whalers, etc. New- Dort kept pace relatively with Boston. Re- fuse codfish paid for much of the molasses, Connecticut attempted to prohibit dis. tilling, because it made molasses but the prohibition was very hast! ped pin the citizens found. went where rum could be obtained. Rum Proved the best New England commodsty in all trading operations. Rum was the In- dian‘s choice, in fact his only accep ance, as payment for his peltries; it was chosen with equal eagerness by the Virginian or Carolinian in exchange for his tohacco. The Newfoundland fishermen wished it in for codfish, and, most important of the Guinea coast New England rum entirely vanquished French brandy as a medium for acquiring slaves. The com. merce in rum and slaves afforded all the ready money that paid for «any merchandise in England. It was the driv- ing power of all commercial machinery. The circuit was powerful at every step. The Yankee vessel laden with home-made rum safled to the African coast. The rum was bartered scarce, top- found that business it_at the West Indies end tts distillation in Newport and Boston started afresh the round of New England money making. Sometimes trade was #0 brisk that the market was stripped of rum. In the year 1752 Isaac Freeman wanted a cargo of rum for the African trade. He sent to Newport, where there were then thirty great rum distilleries in full blast. His correspondent wrote that he could not have it for three months. can’t get our hogsheads of rum for cash. We have been lately to New London and all along the seaport tewns In order *o pur- chase molasses, but we can’t get one hogs- head.” The shipmasters were not above water- ing the rum, to make it go as far as pos- sible. Old Merchant Potter instructed his captains to “trade with the blacks, worter ye’ rum as much as possible, and cecil as much by short messur as you can.” SSS Colto Advice. The other day, as I was clinging to a strap of a Lexington avenue car, says @ writer in the Christian Advocate, two la- dies sat near me, and as one opened her portemonnaie to pay her fare a scrap of paper which was pasted to the leather was disclosed. “Is that your shopping list?” asked the other; “it doesn’t look like # long one.” “No,” was the reply; “it is not the list, but it is what keeps the list from being a “He who buys what he does not need will soon need what he cannot buy.” “What a capital guardian of your capi- tal! You must let me copy that for my loaky purse. Who wrote it?” “I don't know, but I wish I did, for he has saved many a dollar from lightly roll- ing from my hands since I put it here.” I was intensely interested in the conver- sation, for at that very moment there lay in my note book a scrap which I would have brought forth but for the fact that my own corner was reached. I publish it, for. if the truth which ft contains were assimilated, many a pocket book wou!d remain a pocket book: “We are ruined, not by what we really want, but by what we think we do; there- fore, never go abroad in search of your warts. If they be real wants, they will come home in search of you; for he that buys what he Goes not want, will socn want what he cannot buy.” —_ + e+ —___ In Bombay the plague ts carrying off over 500 persons a week still. Jerusalem's Garden of Olives has eight trees known to be 1,000 years old. DOLLARS GENUINE 10. That go into a tailor’s till through misrepresentation. ROYAL BLUE = SERGE SUITS are made Mertz, and [ertz, ~ “New Era” Tailors, only by us the price.