Evening Star Newspaper, July 31, 1897, Page 16

16 THE EVENING STAR, SATURDAY, JULY 31, 1897-24 PAGES. THEY LIVE ON ‘HOPE 32a | ee, Se cee cane + Office Seekers Who Are Never Will- ing to Admit Defeat. ARE SURE OF SOCCESS IN THE END The Pathetic Side of One of the Features of Washington. QN THE TOBOGGAN SLIDE HE SADDEST sights in Washing- ton are the faces of the men who have haunted the White House since the 4th of March, or soon thereafter. There's ro joke in that state- ment. The unfortu- nate side of this class of men is so often made to do duty for jokes that it 1s almost impos- sivl- Tor the public to realize that there is more of pathos than of fun-in many of these cases. Often the office seeker Js a man of means, but more often he is not, and while he Is criticised for killing time in the pursuit of what appears to more sensible men to be a phantom, he begins with good intentions and with the hope of bettering himself or his family. The ceparture of President McKinley for his summer vacation has left a class of these tenacious but unfortunate aspirants in the city, still with a lingering hope that the President will do something for them before or after he returns. Some of them are so sure of this that they will remain here until the positive assurance of the President himself is given that they might as well go home. These men not only know better than to follow the President with their importunities, but a large num- ber of them are unable to do so. They came here four or five months ago with a small sum of money in their pockets. It represented about all they possessed or could borrow. They continue to borrow, and manage to pay for a cheap room some- where in the city and for meals at respect- able but cheap restaurants. They don’t want anybody to know these facts, and to see them at the large hotels every evening it would be supposed they were guests of these holsteries. They stand around the hotel lobbies and chat with an air of the greatest impor- tence. In the course of nearly every even- ing they strike an unsuspecting and casy victim for a cigar. This they handle witn the nonchalance ,of men who have for years been accustomed to the, finest that are made. When they can’t get a guileless individual to talk to about the strong back- ing they have for the positions for which they are applying they “go up” against each other. They swap stories about their extended interviews with the President, and not one has ever been heard to admit that his chances were bad. They may carry faces around with them which would well represent a funeral procession, yet they never give up in words and never sus- et that their faces can be read. That Is corridors. : Results of Ambition. As a rule they are fairly bright fellows, some of them with pulls in their home counties or in their towns. They naturally beceme ambitious and want to dabble in rational politics. That and the o’erweening desire to hold office and live in Washington Waiting. or to go abroad is what brings them here. If they are able to do good work in a coun- ty it is not much trouble to get the back- irg of their representative in the lower house of Congress. He signs anything and everything which comes along. They don’t this, as they haven't become as wily h i they think with his sign: break into the White House with the President, and talk independently to a cabinet officer. It is a jong time after reaching Washington that they conclude that they ought to have some other indors-ment besides the backing of Representative Smithfield. They try one or both of the serators from their state, and these officials likewise sign most any paper presented. The foregoing is not descriptive of a ma- jority of the office seekers, but there are many of this class who will be a long time in learning the little tricks of politics. They practice these tricks in an uncouth way at home on their followers, but they think they are too important and cute to be made fools of here or anywhere else. Another gets indorsemenis from senators and representatives and from ody. The petition they present at te House is formidable enough to scare prospectors away from the Yukon | gold ticids. They are of the opinion that - Will Call Again. when a man signs a thing he means just what he says, and that the President will be obliged te recognize the formidable i Nattres of Sam Brown, the county sheriff, of Bill Jones, the village editor, and of people of this ciass. Why, didn’t they work hard for McKinley and elect him? he thinks. Why, Sam Brown wrote to Mc- Kinley last fali and told him he would Only One of Many. The poor, uninitiated fellow doesn't know that McKinley received thousands of let- ters, and that he saw none of them. His name was signed with a rubber stamp or by some secretary. Perchance, in great triumph,’ he wili produce a letter of some- what ancient date, postmarked at the fa- mous town-of Canton. It bears tae signa- g Z Z ‘This Way, Sah: ture of Wm. McKinley, and it informs the writer that his very encouraging letter has been received, for which he must accept meny thanks. “This shows whether Mc- Kinley knows me.” he says, with an im- perious wave of his hand and a disdainful look at the man who smiles in a knowing way at the letter. All this and much more he tells to those who will listen. He likes to tell it to newspaper men.’ Why shouldn't he? .Doesn’t he think all of them are iike Mr. Johnson, who edits the Sprizgs Run Bazoo? Hasn't Mr. Johnson given him many red hot notices, and can't he show those notices? They are on his applicztion, and they say that he has gone to Washington to see the President, who will be forced to recognize him “as a man fit for the emi- rent position to which he aspires. He is a lifelong friend of the Presiden’ Just after the inauguration of the Presi- deni the office hunters began their visits to the White House. Their representatives cr senators tuck them and introduced them to the President. Oh! what a proud mo- ment. The congressman says: ‘Mr. Pres- ident, this is Capt. Peters. He is an appli- cant for the consulship at Toulong. He is a great and good republican.” The Presi- dent smiles, grasps his hand, and Capt. Peters departs. He is satisfied he has won the day. The President is introduced to an- other man in the same way, and forgets, half the time, that he has met such 2 man as Capt. Peters. Capt. Peters finds this out in a few weeks. He doesn’t see his name among the nom‘ He wants to see the President aga‘n. The congressman consents to make one more trip. Again Capt. Peters comes in contact with the warm handshake and genial smile of the President. lie edges up and says something to remind the Presi- dent who he ts. ‘h,”’ says the President, “your papers are now at the State Department.” The Same Old Story. What pleasure floats over Capt. Peters. Of course his papers are at the State De- partment. That's where they were intended te go, but the President hasn't seen them. He simply knows they are there. He doesn't tell Capt. Peters so, but he will probably think that the papers are among a thousand others. In three more weeks nothing has been done. Capt. Peters tries for another visit to the President, but the congressman tells him his matter will be attended to so soon as it is reached. He has a hankering suspicion that he had better look after the case himself, and he goes to the White House. He sits around day after day. He is sure that if he sends in his card the President will rush outside to greet him. The card falls into the hands of Secretary Porter, who knows the President is busy. The card lies on a table, forgotien. The same old story is repeated day after day. Peters varies the program at times by going to the State Department and try- ing to see Judge Day or Secretary Sherman. But every day he is at the White House something goes wrong. Some of the numer- ous signs are hoisted to the effect that the President is engaged on public business and won't be able to see visitors. He knows that sign isn’t meant for uim, and he stays on. He stays until everybody has gone to lunch and then he ambles off. At last Sees Mr. Porter. Secretary Porter, to escape further per- sistency, agrees to give him an interview with the President. Mr. Porter instructs the doorkceper to admit him just as soon as the President is at leisure. But the President dvesn’t have leisure. Before he finishes with some senator in will come a cabinet officer. The badiy pestered candi- date stays outside and waits. He goes away late in the afternoon, satisfied that when he zomes back the next day condi- tions will be more favorable. He goes through this fcr months. There are many cases of men who have been in Washington three months and haye been able to see the President but once. It is not the Pres- ident’s fault. He is always busy and sees ‘whoever is. pushed in on him or whoever has the right to walk in. This is not an exaggeration of the trials of these poor candidates. In fact, it is a meager and incomplete story of what they undergo for weeks. At night they go to seo their senator or representative. He puts them off with some story which brightens them up for a few minutes. They discover the next day that what they heard from the senator doesn’t make things any bet- ter, and really amounted to nothing. Then they go to the hotels and.stand aroun and Pick their like.city boys at camp meetings. story is that a sure way to get an invitation to.aine at a camp theet- ing ts to pick your teeth. The man who is living at the camp ground thinks you have eaten and asks you to step in and have dinner with him. When you ac- cept ho nearly loses his Still He Hangs On. The President goes away for the summer without the consulship at .Toulong being eetticd He will make en appointment in every name he can. His money is scarce, but he is living cheaply. Some of his hated rivals charge that he goes to the market each day, buys a pig’s foot and goes off in a neighboring park and eats it. This {s cheaper than a 25-cent dinrer, and in hot weather it is better not to eat too much. His room rent is $% a month. When the end of a month draws near he manages to “touch” somebody for that amount. His landlady believes he is a man worth much money, and whose influence is val- uable. She even seeks his indorse nent for the application of her daughter for a po- sition in the Congressional Library.-de signs his name to the application and the lady thinks she has secured, all that- is necessary to'get the coveted position. When September comes the Toulong con- sulship will go to a man Capt. Petors hi never heard of. Capt. Peters will still stick, however. He will change his app! cation to some other consulship. That has ‘been what all the other defeated candidates have done so far. He follows custom. Ex- actly what will become of him is a matter for speculation, but in all probability he ‘will go home vowing vengeance on the republican party and the President. -Few of the candidates here realize that they will never get what they want unless their senators are personally interested in them and will push their cases before the President as often as possible. That is the way appointments are -ecured. The two senators fron a state have fifty men after them for consular offices. They sign the applications of all these men, but they are told by the President that their state will not be given more than six places. Fifty won't go into six. The two~senators make up iheir minds that they will have to pick out the six men, and they do so, conceatrating all their influence on the six. Naturally they hate to tell the other forty-four that there is no chance for them. The forty-four go to the White House on their own hook and Pass through the experiences narrated in the case of Capt. Peters. A few of the more sensible of the number go horhe and give up the fight, but many of the others stick, and will be sticking next Sept2mber. They fully believe that the bare Indorse- ment of their senators is sufficient, wken they are too simple or too anxious to know the truth. . Senator Mason, for instance, has been known to have a dozen consular candidates waylay him at the door of the White House to force him to take them to the Presi- dent. He has had to put them off and even to talk roughly to some of then. His Eyes Were Opened. A bright Illinois man, who came here early to secure a good foreign rppoint- ment, said to a Star man one day that when he left Chicago to come here he was certain that the President would be forced to recognize him. “I had no other idea, he said, “but the President would say: ‘Certainly, what will you have? I will have it tixed tor you in a minute.’ I have found out something,” he concluded, and he went hem He was a man of considerable in- fluence in his ward and throughout the city of Chicago. He was a philosophical kind of a chap, and when he found out the ex- act facts he even laughed about it. He didn’t go’ home threatening to turn the fifteenth Ward over to the demo:-rats. The simplest of all the candidates are those who are striving for positions with- out the influential indorsements of vepre- sentatives or senators. They come backed by the county sheriff, clerk of couris, cor- oners, all the town merchants and min- isters and the politicians of the county. Last Tuesday, the day before the depart- ure of the President, there were many familiar faces in the crowd waiting tor a last chance at him. They ought to have known there was no opportunity. On the door of Secretary Porter's room was the sign, in big letters: “Cabinet day. Visitors net received.” This was plain, and all of them saw it because they went to the door to make an effort to get in. - In the number was a piucky fellow from Boston. He has a petition as long as the Mississippi river. He has the backing: of one or two of his representatives, but the senators won't indorse him. He says he doesn’t care for that, as he was an original McKinley man and made speeches every- where. He has been a regular attendant at the White House for months, and has seen the President twice. That was when the President re-elved the pubic for an hour each day about noon. The President stopped that long ago. This candidate started out for a consui generaiship worth a great deal of money. He was so san- guine of getting it, because of being crigiral McKinleyite, that he sent ‘“‘cheek: letters to railroad and steamship companies and obtained free passes to his destination. The President Listens. He still has the passes, but the office has passed to another man. His application now is for something else of a less exten- sive character. He is still sanguine. He is built that way. The Pity of It All. Another was a young man from ‘Illinois. He wanted a consulship, and still wants it. He has one of his seriators, but not the other. Last December he sent his invalid wife to Cailfornia., He came here in March, hoping to get a consulate that would make him a living. His wife and children are still in California, and he is here !ving cheaply. He is without money. His eyes fill with tears when he talks of his far- away family. He loves them, and came here hoping to better his and tieir condi- tion. 1t has been made worse. He haan’t the money to go to his family, and can't send them money to come to him. His case is one of a number. Every-hing is staked on the chance of getting office, aud all is lost. There are not many instances of a man profiting by an interview with the President unless one or both of nis senators were with him. In the first place, the President doesn’t care to be worried with him. It is naturally supposed that if he hasn't the proper backing he doesn’t amount to much. Several candidates have had good stories, thowever, and when they secured private audiences with the President have made out good cases. One man presented his case so well and made such’an impression that the President gave him a promise to give him a position. He can rest secure that the promise will be kept. All he will have to do will be to have somebody to oc- casionally remind the President that he is still waiting. This has to be done in most cases. even when a man is well backed, as the President. cannot remember every man who ought to be cared for. There is a good deal in keeping a case before the President, if it can be done without giving offense. “Ere, just ‘old my broom a minute, I'm | any. just goin’ up the street. If any of "em to regular customers comes, just arst ‘wait a bit!”"—Punch, A Planisphere of the Heavens, showing the positions of the principal stars which are above the horizon at 9 p.m. July 31. HEAVENS IN AUGUST Hints for Those Who Like to Watch | the Stars. THE METEORIC SHOWER NEXT MONTH | Conditions Are Favorable for a Study of the Zodiac. be EQUINOXES ON THE HORIZON Written for The Evening Star. The brilliant white star which may be found at 9 o'clock tonight almost directly overhead is Vega, or Alpha Lyrae, the jewel in the constellation of the Lyre, and one of the brightest stars.in the northern hemisphere. Run a line with the finger from Vega, in a southeasterly direction, and at tworfifths ofthe distarice to the horizon you will strike Altair, a star of the average first magnitude brightness, in the Hagle. Altair is flanked by two stars, one of the third ard one of the fourth mag- nitude, the three.stars forming a line about five degrees: ngth, which points nearly in the dir ‘Vega. These two flank- ing stars Werégvery likely, the witigs of the original gle, though the modern chart maker has thought otherwise and has depicted a bird here which has no sort of resemblancp tegknything to be seen among the actual stars. Return to Vega and run a line in a north- easterly direction. At one-fourth of the distance to the horizon you will strike Alpha Cygni, @ brilliant second magnitude star—sometimes# ranked as a first magni- tude—which’ m#tks the tail of the Swan. This star &nd Wega are at about equal dis- tances frém Mitair, the three forming a large triatigle, Which makes a useful land- mark in is fart of the heavens. Near the center of this triangle is Beta Cygni, in the Swan’s Head. This constellation, of which the“five brighter stars have a cross- like arrangemeft, is known also as the Northern Cross Beta is in the foot of the cross; Alpha in the head. Its two arms form the Swan's wings. Starting again with Vega, run a line in a direction between south and southwest. At one-fourth of the distance from the horizon to the zehith you will find Antares, a de- cidedly red star, hardly up to the first mag- nitude, at the center of the sparkling con- stellation Scorpio. Directly on this line from Vega to Antares, somewhat nearer the former ‘than’ the latter star, is the bright second magnitude star, which marks the head of the Serpent Holder, Ophiuchus. Five degrees to the right or west of this star is the head of Hercules, marked by a reddish variable star, which ranges from the third to the fourth mag- nitude. Below this star and a little to the right is a pretty pair of fourth magnitude stars, which mark the left SuOUIGEE ot hiuchus. This little group of stars is Se noticeable pede) or which it will e well to make a mental note. mn the west Arcturus will be found at 9 o'clock tonight, at about one-third of the distance from the horizon to the zenith, Contrast its orange-yellow hue with the bluish-white of Vega. A line run from Vega to Arcturus passes through the ‘trapezium which forms the body of Her- cules and through the Northern Crown. This latter constellation, formed by a near- ly complete oval of six or seven stars, will easily be identified. Its brightest star, Alpheta, forms with Arcturus, and a sec- ond magnitude star in the left shoulder of Bo-otis, a triangle of which the three sides are about equal in length. At the center+ of this triangle is Epsilon Bo-otis, an ex- ceedingly pretty colored double star, the components of which are ashy-white and emerald-green, though to see it in its beauty one requires a good three-inch tele- ecope st the least. The Constellations. In the oppostte quarter of the heavens the great square of Pegasus is now fair- ly above the horizon, directly, below the Swan; in the northeast Andromeda, whose head forms.son® corner ‘ef the square, though lowel, is’ wholly visible. Above the feet of the less Andromeda sits Cas- siopeia, her haughty mother. In the north- west, at the same altitude a3 ‘Cassiopeia, is the Great Dipper in the etc between these two. constellations ia tho Bole Star. Directly above the Pole Star, and partly to’ the left, is the Grest Dragon, the*two second magnitude stars which form {ts ‘eyes. belng well up toward the zenith. Thé. Little Dipper, at the end of the handle of which 4s the Pole Star, curves upward to the-left. The two stars in this dipper which correspond with the “pointers in the Great Dipper are some- alled the guardians of the pole. Tonight they are in a line nearly perpen- dicular to the‘horizon. “peavéns are now posed at 9 ordleck a the twd' equinoxes are on the hori- zon, the vi fin the east, the autumnal in the west. “THe occasion is favorable for a special Std? of the zodiac. Begin by locating among the actual stars the celes- tial Std ‘Pint the finger to the exact western point’ with it a tine 4 the horizon, and sweep the heavens to the exact 1, passing on the way three pete low the star which marks the right shoyjier"8t Ophiuchus and eight de- bel ir. All stars above this the‘horthern and all below are equine hemisphere. Upon _re- he'pisnisphere it will be seen of the “sun’s path’—ihe momers — which is now In, Hes wholly in the south- ~. The sun will traverse this Pann course between Septem- ber 22 ni en it will “cross ‘the line” from north td“south, and March 21, when it will cross in the opposite direction at the uinox. ‘The six zodiacal “signs” ed from Aries—is Libra, the symbol of whieh is designed, apparently, to represent pair of scales. This si about Christmas, when it will enter the sign Capricorn. Signs of the Zodiac. The symbol of Capricorn is a Chinese- Icoking affair, and is a crude representa- tion, apparently, of the monster which stands for Capricorn on the chart—a goat with a fish body and tail. A conspicuous pair of stars—the brighter of the second magnitude—which stand in the head and horns of this mongrel goat marks very nearly the eastern limit of this sign. Next comes Aquarius, symbolized by a pair of wavy lines indicative of water. The termination of tnis sign is near th nter of a triangle of three second magnitude Stars, the upper two of which are in the shoulders of the Waterman. The twelfth sign—the sixth of those row visible—is Pisces, the Fishes, the symbol of which obviously represents a pair of fiskes, fastened together by a sort of skew- er. This sign terminates at the vernal equinox, upon passing which the sun en- ters Aries. It will be observed that the “signs” do not match the .constellations which bear the same names, each sign being to the west of the corresponding consteilation— occupying the place of the preceding con- stellation. Thus, the sign Libra is in the Blace of the constellation Virgo; the sign Scorpio in that of the constellation Libra, and so on along the whole line. This state of things nas been brought about by the “procession of the equinoxes.” The equi- noxes are not fixed pofats, but are slowly sliding along the ecliptic_the sun’s path in a direction from east to west—at a rate which in the last 2,000 years has advanced them about 30 degrees, the length of a sign. They drag with them the whole belt of the twelve signs, while the constellations are, of course, changeless in position. Hence the dispiacement. Meteors. On the evenings of the 9th and 10th of the mouth keep a lookout for meteors, or “shooting stars,” directing attention par- ticularly to the northeastern quarter of the heavens. After taree or four have been seen it will become obvious that they all Shoot from the direction of one particular point in the sky—a point beiow the constel- lation lopeia. This point is raarked on the planisphere ‘Meteor Radiant be located pretty exactly by running a line from the first—the uppermost—star in the W of Cassiopeia to the fourth star and prolonging the line to a distance about equal to that of the two stars apart. The point lies in the constellation Perseus; hence these meteors, which annually are seen at this season in greater or less num- bers, are called “Perseid: Meteors are now known to be simply particles or small masses of matter, vary- ing in size, perhaps, from that’ of a marble to that of a paving stone, which circle round the sun, like the short-period comets, in highly elliptical orbits, some of which cross the earth’s path. They move in clouds or “shoals,” millions of them moving in practically the same or- bit. These particles of matter being struck by the earth and entering its atmosphere with a velocity 50 or 100 times that of a rifle bdll, are quickly consumed by the heat engendered by the friction of the air, their tracks being lighted up momentarily by their fatal splendor. A large number of meteor systems is now recognized. Al- though the meteors belonging to any par- ticular system always move in the same direction after entering the earth’s atmos- phere, or nearly the same, and their tracks are therefore parallel with one another, yet, from the law of perspective, they ap- pear to radiate from some single point. The position of this point or “radiant”. gives its name to the system. These Per- seids seem to come, as just stated, from a point in Perseus: the Leonids—the Novem- ber meteors—from a point in Leo; the Ori- onids from a point in Orion, and so on. Of late years the annual display of Perseids has been remarkably fine, the meteors fre- quently being of a great size and leaving long trails. Keep a lookout for them. The Planets. Mercury has been an evening star since July 15 and will continue to be an evening star throughout the month, attaining its greatest elongation east—27 degrees 18 min- utes—on the 26th. It ought to be visible tonight, half an hour after sunset, low in the west, if the sky is clear. Venus is a brilliant morning star, about three hours in advance of the sun. Mars and Jupiter are both evening stars in the constellation Leo, Mars a little to the east of Jupiter. Both set before 9 p.m. Saturn and Uranus are evening stars in Libra, juet within the grasp of the Scor- pion’s claws. Saturn appears as an orange- yellow star of the first magnitude; Uranus, -{PARISIAN CYCLISTS Ife, where the sun is allowec to shin> on As They Ride Along the “Boy de Boolong” REMIND =ONE OF THE BALLET The Drinks They Drink Are Never Strong. WHEN RESTING AT A CHALET Special Correspondence of The Bvening Sta ae PARIS, July 20, 1897. “For ‘Paris wheelmen—and girls, without whom no Frenchman would ever engage in any sport for any length of time—the chalets des cyclistes form a pleasant rendezvous. The chalets are a number of little Swiss houses—one with a cabine de douches, others for putting up the ma- chines, and others with porches for a good orchestra and shelter in case of rein— while-between,in the open air, zre the num- erous small tables and chairs of a cafe, with dining tables under striped awnings cn the turf beyond. The establishment ts among the trees on the flat ground of the Bois de Boulogne, near the river on the one hand and with the great racecourse of Longchamps on the other. To reach it you leave the city and cross the entire park for two or three miles, cr you come by the longer route round by the road which follows ihe windings of the Seine. If you only come to look at the cyclists and their costumes and to share in th universal passiun of the French for o dcor life in fair weather, then you take the boat as far as Suresnes ‘and cross over the bridge—a sail from the Tuilleries of an hour end a watk of a few minutes. it is from 5 to 7 of a summer evening that the crowd is greatest and most curi- cus to look upcn. In the morning—from 9 till noon—the cool umbrageous alleys of the Bois see the correct world—gentlemen and ladies, with young masters ard misses —cantering on horseback or ccmparing the speed of their wheels. But in the after- noon every one who is not cribbed, cabined and confined by French conventionai re- strictions wheels abroad; and those who wish to see or to be seen, or to rest awhile at the turning point of their course, aim for the chalets before their return to the city. Birds of Different Feather. The difference of the morning and even- ing crowds is characteristic of Parisian the just and the unjust alike, and where ro inquisition is made as to your neight-or's respectability in places opened to the gen- eral public. Perhaps, in the afternoon among English and American girls, who come with gentlenwn after the frank, ar- less fashion of their own country, there imay be seen inore dark pencilings under French female eyes, and a greater fullness of lip produced by a judicious use of car- mine salve; but the umaccustemed Ameri- can will not at once recognize the difer- ence of the “worlds” around. In the morning, too, there are many seeming ex- travagances of costume, which set the American woman to criticising and the man to wondering if he really Mixes the sight. But he, or she, who knows Paris, easily distinguishes the real ladies from the painted imitations, who. bave no other place to show their fine feathers than public resorts like this. Above all, let not the tourist of a single visit hastily judge that all French wemen use rouge and bistre and carmine and the rest outrage- ously. There are women and women, here in this Paris, where the eternal feminine holds sway. The morning then—except of a Sunday or holiday, when all nigh and low, spreads itself out of doors all the day long and a great part of the night-is the sclect time of the chalets. Let us seat ourselves in on- of the light gray-blue chairs, at on of the little white-topped tables, and, or- derirg a long drink of syrup and water, Prepare to observe. There are “cocktels, it is true, for the male American; they are bought by the establishment, ready-made in bottles. But it is better io follow the practice of French male kind and keep the head clear when bent on pleasure. What- ever mounts to the head makes these young Frenchmen so much the le thinking about the enjoyme ing; and this thinking is ess it the enjoyment itself would be pale and poor. And so self-consciousness helps the whole race to temperance—as does also its great sensitiveness to making oneself ridic- vlous. £ 3 capable of it they are hay- ial—without No Absinthe Here. This is a digression, by the way, for even the cocktails here are all but a iem- perance drink, like the brandy and the Ma- deira which are served out by thimblefuls— economy again assisting sobriety. afternoon “bocks” of German or thin French beer are in demand-—a measure that is less than half a pint. Some of the dudish young men call for hot miik; and there Is a good bit of vlack coffee in tall glasses. “ Ice3, in small quantities at bi Prices, may be had. A few of the afternoon ladies call for bitters with a dash of cura- coa; and so d6 some of the faster-look: men. But there is next to no absinthe though this is the “greea hour” along the boulevard, which is redolent with the odor of the deleterious drugged alcohol. It is always the same instinct en the part of this thrifty French race; its members will not mix the iness which kills thought with taeir pleasure and sport, which de- mand to be savored and rolled over by a free mental tongue for full enjoyment. There are forty or fifty people seated about, and an excellent band of stringed in- struments is playing the leaping, thrilling, wailing music from “Carmen” or some of Wagner's operas, that express the unrest and endless search after the unattainable of the modern soul. Wheels dart up at every moment, riders gracefully alight—it Is the first lesson here, where everything it done so that it can be seen to the doer credit—and the ready attendants, hand- In the ‘= al- of the sixth magnitude and therefore visi- some young men in easy blue uniforms em- ble to a keen-eyed observer, is a trifle over two degrees a little east of south from Saturn. Both planets can be seen together through an opera glass. Neptune in Tau- rus is a morning star, rising between 1 and 2 am. a Lost His Authority. From the Chicago Record. “Mr. Chubbs, your little boy doesn’t obey you very well.” “No, he has never respected me sirfce I tried to show him how to fiy a kite.” She—“I am quite sure you had too much champagne when you called on me yes- terday afternoon. He—“Yes; I thought I'd just look in to- day and see if I was engaged to you.’ Tid-Bits. ——_—_——-see. An Expedient, broidered with red, seize the machines, hand over tke numbers and disappear to the storing rack. Others are leaving in in- verse order. In the late afternoon there will be a crowd, and the newcomers will have to look, often in vain, for places at the tables. Carriages will also drive up, and fashionably attired men and alight for f nt and a few minutes’ refreshment and a look at the young world around. Stick to Bloomers. Near us sits an English girl, whose cos- tume my American mentor pronounces per- fect, except that the skirt is too long. Her blonde hair escapes from beneath a Fedora hat—simple gray felt; she has a light shirt aist and the skirt Is of dark material. A French girl marches jauntily forward. From the soles of her feet to the iop of the ribbons on her head she is one esthetic fault in the eyes of my mentor. Instead of leggins shehas low shoes, and—it goes without saying—she wears no skirt, neither long nor short nor yet divided. her example that the skirt is na end more becoming than any other bicycling integu- ment. But lessons and examples drop from tair ine like rain from the curled-up cabbage leaf, and she sticks to bloomers. The bloomers in this case are ample in black and white checks, with a bright belt confining a pink waist, which is worn an open bolero of white Pique. On the head above the masses of coal-black hair there spreads far and wide and high a hat with multitudinous roses end great bows of ribbon to “It is not the place for such things,” says Mrs. Mentor, severely; “ the party seem to agree that they look bet= ter on the wheel than any kind of skirt, which always threatens (to the mind's eye) to catch the wind or the wheel, and which has an inverted sail look that is for- ever out of drawing, so to speak. Breadth of Beam. Of the wheel there can be no doubt that the effect of the bloomers is often—oh, so very often, with the forms of these Pari- slennes—grotesque to a degree. Breadth of beam, to say the least, should not be exag- Serated by dress, especially with a waddle which is far from all poetry of motion. Some of the mie costumes are scarcely less grotesque to the mental vision of the American man, although here, too, the American woman is apt to differ with him. Their bandbox trimness her heart just es the French girl's brilliancy a flow- er. makes him look upon her kindly Here is a fine young man riding up with white gloves on his hands an b duck breeches as full ers. They are spotless white starched, as the angles in which th: have broken show. A neat Wark sack, with the latest thing in colored shirts ar’ summer cravais, a straw hat with tri-colored rib- bon, and black stockings ending in we Strapped shoes and white gaiters, complete his attire. How should he not look anywhere—even on the stage? But, here in Paris, more than anywhere else the stage! ion by contemplating a New York clubman, as he should seem to be, who is oghng the bloomer girl from his Place. With tall hat of the latest sty’ eye glasses in a good-natured, resolute face, white vest comfortably settled over a swelling abdomen and faultless trousers and shoes, he looks on the scene with the grace of an easy conscienc ‘ked by money. Even the French men and women iook admiringly at his distinguished pres- ence. But he would not do on the wheel, just as not every one can be a poi STERLING HEILIG. — THE FARMER D GOOD ROADS. Practical Systema New at Work in New York and New Jerse. From the Motocycle. With all the advance of thought in the direction of better highways, there are still many who believe that their cost must pessarily fall upon the agriculturist. Just as the farmer was the ploneer settler in most of the states, so he has been the pioneer road builder. At his town meetings he has determined where new roads shou be Jaid out, which of them should 1. “worked” and improved and how much of a tax should be expended upon each im Provement. As it was left to him to plan this important work, £0 its expense hax rested almost iy upon his shoulders. Now that the cry for macadamized high- Ways is to be heard in the city and coun- y alike, farmers as a rule, that be cal upon to build them is wrong. Farmers hav hoa bur- ly heavy undertaken in load. the Whatever ma: way of constr manent high: hould be don aren f who are to reap its benefits. True bat the saving in the cost of hauling would be considerable, and that this saving would result almost enti to: farmer. But that is no reason for asking him to pay the cost of building such roads He is not the only one to use them. They serve to bring city people and city prod into the coun as much as they s: to bring country people and country ucts into the ¢ The merchant who has busine: farmer is as muc' ne through a good road to travel over as is the farmer who comes to town on ther is the use living in the vi- “rs from a distance s ulting from their impr It would be the height of injusti therefore, to ask the farmer alone to sta’ the cost of good roads. The proper ¢ ion of the cost of good roads has been accomplished through state aic. This is the system by which the stone roads of New Jersey have been built. Th. farmers in that state are so enthusiastical- ly favorable to the extension of the stat aid system that it deserves to be described, In the first place, under the State aid system, no improvem N ds limited to thor. and tra the benefits re ment. ure nt is under. taken xcept upon the petition of those re- siding upon the road to be improved. Whi such a petition has been duly signed, it is presented to the county boar to have the These are then presented hway commissioner for ap- Upon their return by the stat commissioner to the county officers, they proceed to advertise for proposals to build the road. When the contracts are let, a copy of each contract must be filed with the state commissioner, who thereupon aj- poiuts a supervisor of construction, up the recommendation of the property holders. who have petitioned for the improveme: This supervisor must give his whole tim to the work, and see that the conditions of the specifications and contract are carri:d out. Under this state aid system the cost of improvement is divided between the sta the county and the adjoining the state paying one-third, the owners the property adjoining the improve: paying one-tenth, and the county payin, the remainder. The bill introduced in the New York lez- islature by Senator Higbie provides for a similar state aid system of road building, except that the proportion of the pense borne by the siate is raised to one-half of the total cost. This bill is the result of nu- merous conferences between Mr. Isaac FB. Potter of the League of American Wheel. men, and representatives of the various farmers’ organizations in New York state, and will have the generous support ef both farmers and wheelmen. This systeta of building improved roads is highly popular, because no work is un- dertaken except upon the petition of those to be benefited. At the same time the cost of the improvement is not required to be borne by the farmers, and those of them whose land borders upon the road where the work is done are required to pay only @ small share of its cost. The rest of the expense is shared by city and country property holders, because county taxes ar assessed in the cities as well as in th country, and because state taxes are shared by every one in the state, according to U amount of property he owns, including the wealthy manufacturers, railway and surance companies. As most of the wealth of the state is to be found in the cities, t New Jersey system successfully brings about the construction of improved gravel or stone roads without laying their entir: cost upon the farmers, and without requir- ing them to contribute more than an equi!- able share of expense according to the wealth of each individual taxpayer. The state aid system successfully answers the objection still made by many, that we can- not have good roads without overloading the farmer with taxes, of which he is al- ready payirg more than his share. —-e0e—_____ The Frolicsome Searchlight, From the New York Sun. : Several of the big passenger steamers that run on the Hudson river have becn equipped with big searchlights, and every night, whether clear or foggy, the men who operate these Nghts flash them along the shores with results that are sometimes startling. When these lights come flash- ing up from the river into rooms in the big to the state hi proval.