Evening Star Newspaper, October 2, 1897, Page 14

14 Written Exetusively for The Evening Star. “The latest thing in the way of a hand- shake,” remarked Wm. G. Spotswood of the adjutant general's office to a Star re- perter, “is known as the ‘Klon,’ or the cold shake. It was originated, I am told, at Newport, where many of the adjutant gen- eral’s clerks, and especially the ladies, spend their summer vacations. The Klon- dike, or the ‘Klon,”’ as it is called for short, is easier to give than the high shake, which has prevailed in society for the past two seasons. The high shake is credited to the Prince of Wales, though it is not sure that he invented it. The high shake is an up and down affair, and in that re- spect is but commonplace, after all. The Jon, however, is built on a different plan and is a side shake, and has a wiggle to it. ‘The more the side motion the more greet- ing there is in it. Those who are perfect in it have much pleasure in it outside the north, for the Kion is distinctly an Ameri- can perfermance.” ee * ee “The transfer of Gen. Thos. Clingman, who was for many years a senator from North Carolina, and who participated in a dueling affair at Bladensburg while he was in Congress, to an insane asylum, is a sad ending of a most remarkable political cureer,” observed an old citizen to a Star reporter. “Though the published state- ments give his age as eighty-one, I am in- clined to think he was older. Forty years ago there was no mau of more prominence in Washington political life than he. Gen. Clingman was a bachelor, and for many years a royal entertainer, though of late years he has been seriously pinched for meney. The late Senator Leland Stanford of California knew of the shortness in his firancial affairs, and for several years quietly put a goodiy sum of money in his way, though he made him think ne earned it. For several years Gen. Clingman has been an inmate of a confederate soldiers’ home in North Carolina. Gen. Clingman was an enthusiastic believer in the use of totacco. He regarded its use as beneficial in every respect. He also thought it was a penacea for many of the ills and diseases that affect mankind. He was the author of a book on the tobacco cure, in which he urged the use of tobacco as a cure for many complaints, using it internally and externally. For a number of years the Ciingman tobacco cure, a proprietary prep- aration, was extensively advertised and sold, particularly in the southern states. He claimed for tobacco made up as a lini- ment that it was a sure remedy for mus- cular rheumatism in man or beast, and that tobacco poultices would heal up old Sores after all other remedies had failed. He was the personal friend of W. W. Cor- coran, and it was on that account that the Clingman portrait found its way into the Corcoran Art Gallery.” eee * € “There is nothing more pleasant to a public school teacher than occasional visits from the parents of children,” remarked a well-known teacher to a Star reporter, “for visits from parents are now almost a lost art. There was a time when they were fre- qvent, and seldom did ever a parent allow a month to pass without making at least one visit to the school. It is a rare thing of late years for parents to make one visit during the entire school term, and I have had hundreds of boys and girls in my sses during the past ten years and never Saw their parents once. A visit from a parent is mutually advantageous. A teach- er can pick up points about the character and make-up of the child and give a par- ent, in turn, hints as to how they can‘ best co-operate to advance the child's educa- tion. A visit, however, is one thing, and a call is another and an entirely different thing. There seem to be some parents, especially the woman parent, who think it is their duty to make weekly or even more frequent growls in regard to their chii- dren, and their calls are by no means pleasant to teachers. These growlers do not complain. so much about their own ebildren as they do in regard to the public school syst-m. They think that it is wrong at every point, because it is different from that in vogue when the parents were chil- dren, all the way from twenty to forty years ago. They think that the grammar teaching is all wrong, and that the gram- mars used today have been written by crazy pecple or worse, simply because they are different from those that they were taught from. They are also horrified with the present system of teaching arithmetic and spelling, and have complaints in con- nection with nearly everything else. Those who have but one child are much worse than those who have several. Now, the fact is, education has steadily progressed, and I admit there have been radical changes in teaching. These changes are improvements, and have been proven so. But it is difficult to convince some parents, and especially those who have been twenty or thirty years away from their books, of this, and the attempts to do so only enrage them. The most common complaint is in regard to spelling. In former days, and up to ten years ago, every syllable in a word was pronounced when it was spelled. This is now done away with, and the child taught to-spell by sight rather than sound. T admit it is an Innovation, but it is justi. ficd by the facts and experience, and pet- ter spellers result from it. All the time re- gvired in pronouncing each syllable and then the entire word Is saved, and the pu- aps rote just that much. ‘ut even if parents do occasionally come with a growl I think that teachers would rather have them than have no visits at ll. I aiso think that parents’ visits are beneficial to children, for children, as a rule, like that their parents be known, and they appear to be proud of their visits. If for no other reason, I think they should be reasonably frequent on that account.” ie we Re ‘Of the thousands who pass over the Aqueduct bridge every day or otherwise in view of the islands in the Potomac known as the Three Sisters, there are few who regard them as property, though they are Property, private property and valuable,” observed a leading contractor to a Star re- perter. “The three rocks known as the Three Sisters belong to the Mooré heirs, who reside somewhere near Winchester, Va., and belonged to their parents before them. They have never as yet produced a cent of income, though they may some day. Recently I knew of a party who called on CATARRG Mrs. Josephine Polhill of Due West, S. C., had a severe case of catarrh, which dually became so deep-seated that she was entirely deaf im one ear, and part of the bone in her nose sloughed off. The best physicians — to no avail. Fourteen bottles of 8. S. S. promptly reached the seat of the disease and cured ber sound and well. SSS Swift Specitic Co,, Atianta, Ga. 8. S. S. never fails to cure a blood disease, and it ts the only remedy which reaches deep seated cases. Guarae teed purely vegetabaa, Books free; addeess the owners of the Three Sisters with a view t» purchase the three rocks, and who was rather surprised on being told by them that they would not take a ggod-sized brick heuse for each of the rocks. They think that some day the rocks will be bought by a railroad company as support for the piers of a bridge, and the chances are that they will. The party..that I refer to, however, as trying to biy them had a novel scheme ir. his mind for their use. _He claimed to be able to control the necessary capital to build on the Three Sisters a summer resort and dancing pavilion, and to construet a tunnel under the river through which the Patrons to the same could go, as a novelty, provided they did not want to go by the bridge that will eventually go there. It wes also to be used as a terminal summer resort for a railroad company. How the Moores got possession of the property I do not know, but I know from the late Gen. B. F. Butler, Mr. W. W. Woodward and others thoroughly competent to speak on the subject, and who it-vestigated ft, that their title is perfect. When the govern- ment purchased the Aqueduct bridge from the company which owned it there was a proviso in the law directing the purchase of the Three Sisters, on which to build a bridge in case the Aqueduct company held their property at a too fancy figure. It wes thought at that time that the Three Sisters could be bought at about $15,000, which is rather a good price for three large recks, for that is all there is of them. The Aqueduct company realized that the Three Sisters would give a better foundation than the piers under their own briage, which, as it has turned out, bave been a constant scurce of expense to the government ever since, and have already cost nearly ten times as much as the Three Sisters could be bought for, and gladly disposed of their property. The law authorizing the pur- cEase of the Three Sisters lapsed with the purchase of the bridge. I am satisfied that the ordinary passerby has never thought for a moment that these three big rocks are as valuable under some circumstances as an ordinary gold mine, and, indeed, more aluable than the great majority of so- called mines; for the Three Sisters have not cost one cent to keep them in repair during the past one hundred and ten years. I admit they have -not been an income producer. They pay no taxes, however, for they are not regarded as property, for the reason that they are under the water.’’ * Oe KOK OK “The burning of the power house of the Capital Traction Company on Wednesday night,” observed an insurance agent to a Star reporter, “was a blessing in disguise to the local insurance ‘business, and though the various companies which car- ried the insurance on the property will have considerable money to pay, they will get it all back again in the increase of the insurance business that is sure to follow. For the past two or three years insurance business has been rather dull, and life in- surance specially so, for there are lots of people who will keep their fire insur- ance alive even if they allow their life Policies to lapse. An extensive fire like that of Wednesday night impresses upon every one the fact that there are few buildings which are safe from the ravages of fire, and there is already an activity noticeable in fire policies. It is in this way that the fire insurance companies are likely to make more out of the fire than they will be called upon to pay. As has been fully explained in The Star and other papers, a heavy loss from fire is a very rare thing in this city, Washington being regarded by all fire in- surance companies as one of the safest cities in the United States to place risks. ‘The wide streets here guarantee a certain safety that no other city can furnish, and it is on this account that the various out- side companies are represented here in the competition for the business, which, though risky, as it necessarily must be. is profita- ble in the long run, for in Washington, until in very récent years, big fires and extensive losses have been very rare. xe ok ke “So far the authorities of Fort Myer have done nothing to remove the so-called well which cost over $7,000 to dig, but which has neyer produced a drop of water,” said a conductor of the eleciric car line which passes by it to a Star reporter, “and time and time again as the cars pass it we are called upon to point it out and give its history. The well is in the valley to the west of the fort, and the cars pass within fifty feet of it. The contractor got the money for work he never performed, and the strangest part of it is the fact that the quartermaster’s officers not only certi- fied tothe quantity of water the well pro- duced each day, but government chemists certified that the water was unusually pure and good. The fact is there never was a Grop of water drawn from the well, the contractor turning a little stream which ran near by into it. It was the water from the stream which was measured and ex- amined. The pump house and pump, as you see, are still there, though the-storm of September one yeer ago knocked over the smoke stack, leaving it in the shape you sce it today. As it is, the wreck is a constant reminder of the cuteness of the contractor. It is also the cause of the continuous criticism, and if for no other reason than that I would suppose {t would be removed. It appears, though, that none of the authorities want to mix in it.” x eK KOK “There is but little sympathy for the many ladies who report that their purses are grabbed from them,” said a police officer to a Star reporter, “though, of course, we use every effort we can to get the money back, as well as the parties who stcaJ it. The chances, however, are all against catching many of these purse grabbers, for they nearly always throw the purse away, even before they spend the money, thus destroying the chances of recovery. With an article.of dress, jewelry or hundreds cf other things the thing stolen has to be sold sometimes to get any- thing by stealing it, and in this way we fortunate in ‘turning it up,’ as the police phrase goes. All this is lost with the pocket-book snatcher, for he loses no time in destroying the evidence of his crime. Tne reason the police do not ex- tend much sympathy in the matter {s be- cause the victim in some respects suggests the crime by carrying the pocket book or purse openly in the hand. ‘Lead us not into temptation’ is forgotten by many la- dies when it comes to carrying their money in their hands. My idea in speaking about this kind of stealing now is that pocket- book snatchers are much more bold in the fall than during any other time in the year, and I would like to counsel ladies to fix peckets in their dresses and carry their money therein, especially in the evenings. They are safe enough on the traveled thoroughfares in the daytime, but they must blame themzelves in some degree if they insist in exposing themselves in the evenings, or, in other words, tempting the povket-book snatcher to commit crimes that he would not commit if the oppor- tunity was not so open and suggestive.” —_>—__. Whent From Life. The prices of Silver, Wheat and the West- ern Farm Mortgage—“When shall we three meet again?” ————_-+e. THE LATEST FAD. Showing the Difference Between the Handshake Last Year and This. IMITATION OYSTERS. Showing How Far Paris is From the Chesapeake. “The most singular thing I saw while in Paris,” said a gentleman who hes just re- turned from Europe to a Star reporter, “was artificial oysters. I don’t mean what are called mock oysters—that is, meat Jone up in a patty or a potple—but the real bi- valve intended to serve raw. And as far as looks go, you would say at a glance that they were genuine American oysters, but when you came to eat one the difference would be perceptible at once. How they are made and what materials are used in their manufacttre is a mystery which I did not solve, but it is certain that a great deal of money is made by the producers. The usual price paid for tnase artiticial oys- ters is three cents each, or thirty centa a dczen, and sometimes, in the second-class restaurants, they are to be had’ for two cents each, though they are not apt to be very fresh at that price. You order a plate on the half shell, and when the waiter brings them to you they look as nice as the real oyster that you get in the best Nev York oyster house. If you are not a good judge of oysters you will eat them with your wine and go away without asking any qtestions. “The only really genuine thing about them is the shells. The manufacturers, I was told, buy second-hand shells from the Testaurant keepers at a small expense, gpd with a harmless and tasteless paste fasten the spurious oyster in its place. Only one-half a sheil is used for the pur- pese, and In that shape the fraud vysters are packed fn tiers in boxes and baske: which are displayed in windows, oa cow ters, or on shelves. Others to be served without the shells are, put up in cans, or in glass jars containing from twenty-five to one hundred. The“imitations” are consumed in such large quantities that the dealers in real oysters are urging the restaurant and hotel Keepers to break up their shells as fast as their contents are eaten, and sven Pay the cooks end waiters liberally to Dourd them to pieces, so that the makers of the aftificial article will b. et Toppy Oban will have a limited —_.__. CALIFORNIA FRUIT FARMS. Enormous Profits That Some of Them Are Making Thia Year. “It is only since the year 1890 that the people of California have shipped their fruit to the New York and Philadelphia markets in any large quantities, but Cali- fernia fruit has found its way into eastern cities more than ever this summer,” said a gentleman who is the owner of 10,000 acres of choice fruit land in Tehama county, Cal., to a Star reporter. “California frult has acquired a world- wide reputation on account of its size, shape, color and flavor. The largest fruit farm probably in the world is that of the late ex-Senator Stanford. It contains 35,000 acres, and the grapes raised and wines made there bring in not less than $75,000 a year. Ex-Governor Bidwell has a fruit farm containing 18,000 acres. Some of the cherry trees on this property have been Srowing for twenty-flve years and the branches form a circle at least sixty feet in diameter. Not more than a dozen such trees can be profitably grown on an acre of land on account of their immense size and the lack of room. I have seen $174 werth of cherries picked from one of the Bidwell trees, and cares are well authenti- cated where cherries to the value of $200 and over have been gathered from a single tree on other fruit farms. A full crop of cherries from the Ptdwell orchard will cane its owner anywhere from $30,000 to 5,000. “Just to show you how enormous the Profits of fruit farming are, a friend of mine, the cashier of the Fresno National Bank, owns 325 acres near Fresno, which he turned into a fruit farm seven years ago. His wife manages the farm while he attends to matters at the bank. Perhaps it is due to his wife’s able management, per- haps to the fertility of the soll, but he told recently that his profits this year from $25 acres would be over $10,000, and he showed me books and figures to substanti- ate this statement, which I, knowing the fertility of seme of the California fruit farms, have not the slightest reason to doubt.” —.__ HE COULD KICK. Would Be Very Un~ popular on the Avenue. At rare intervals along the mountain roads of West Virginia and Kentucky the traveler* may come upon a_ blacksmith shop, but he is much safer in the shoeing of his horse if he will carry a few nails and tools in the bottom of his buggy. On a trip by Pound Gap on one occasion I found a blacksmith shop at the forks of the road, and, as usual, a half dozen or more men sitting around it in the shade. My turnout needed some repairs and as the smith was pottering about it inside, I made talk with the men outside. One of them wanted to sell me a mule which he had hung up on the fence and I started in for a dicker. After we had been talking for perhaps a quarter of an hour, the smith asked me to step inside and show him something about the work he was doing. As soon as he got me away from the crowd he came close and grew confidential. “Y'ain’t thinkin’ uv buyin’ that critter, air-you?" he asked In all sincerity. “Well, I don’t know. I want a mule and that one looks all right,” I said. “You can’t tell a mule by his looks, mis- ter. Mules is fer all the world like wo- men. “What's the matter with him?’ I in- quired, quite ignoring the comparison. “He ain't safe. Course I ain’t got noth- in’ ag’in’ the mule ner the owner and I'd be glad enough fer him to git the money fer him, fer_he owes me fer the shoein’ uv him, but I don’t like ter see a stranger tuck in an’ done up like he’s tryin’ to do you “But you haven't told me what’s the matter with the mule,” I insisted. ‘Will he kick?” “That's his weakness, mister,” responded the smith, letting his voice fall to a whisper. “You won't believe me, p’raps, but I’m tell- in’ you he’s the kickin’est critter in the mountains, He shore is, mister, and I hope I may die right here, éf he can’t kick the sody outen a biscuit an’ never crack the it. He kin, mister, er I’m a brother to A Mule That ———— Telephone Improvement. From the Baltimore Sun, Louisville is said to have the best tele- phone service in the country, the arrunge- ments for the use of the instruments being much improved and simplified. No bell is rung to attract the attention of “central.” When the user takes the “receiver” from its hook the act lights a small electric lamp in the central office, which shines only so long as the conversation is going on. When the receiver is put back on its hook the light goes out. There is a minimum of yelling for attention under this system, and a diminished percentage of sulphurous imprecation from the unregenerate. aes Uses of a Rough Trolley Road. From the Chicago Inter-Ovean, The roadbed of a local trolley line in a well-known packing house center in Kan- sas is not in the best condition. A milk- man, watching the oscillations of a car, concluded to utilize the vibrations for op- erating churns, The reSult is that several owners of cars in the vicinity set their churns on the front end of a car, and the reund trip se tes the butter from the buttermilk. motorman receives some of the latter in payment for the mechani- cal agitation ‘ted to the cream. It is well known to physicians that the constant swaying, jolting and jarring motion of electric cars produces ill effects upon per- sons constantly subjected to it, sometimes producing partial paralysis in the lower limbs, as in the case of a brakeman re- cently. He was conveyed to a hospital, and, after all other methods of treatment had failed, electrical massuge was em- ployed. It proved to be'a specific for the ailment. man has returned to work.’ AN ELOQUENT PRAYER. And It Was the First That Was Ever DEMAND IS INCREASING > & Delivered Before ing Better Prices Than They It does not matter who the member of Horses Now Bring Congress was who was doing the talking, 3} Did a Year Ago. but he is one that is supposed to know as 7 Uttle about religion as he knows much about politics. “Don't be alarmed about me,” he said to three or four correspondents the other day, during @ passing visit to the capital, “but I've got soinething you haven't thought of in a thousand years, and I'm going to read it to you. It may remind you of our very dear and good old friend, Chaplain Milburn, but that’s no harm. What 4 have here is a copy of the first prayer ever delivered in Congress. I found it in an issue of Thatch- er’s Military Journal, bearing date of 1777, and it is credited to Rev. Jacob Duche, rector of Christ Church, Philadelphia, who subsequently proved traitorous to the noble cause of independence. The prayer is as follows: ***O Lord, our Heavenly Father, high ana mighty King of Kings and Lord of Hosts, who dost from Thy throne behold all the dwellers on earth-and reignest with power supreme and uncontrolled over all the king- doms, empires and governments, look down in mercy, we beseech Thee, on theseyAmeri- can states, who have fled to Thee from the rod of the oppressor, and thrown them- selves on Thy gracious protection, desiring to henceforth be dependent only on Thee: to Thee they have appealed for the right- eousness of their cause; to Thee do they now look up for that countenance and sup- port which thou alone canst give; take them, therefore, Heavenly Father, under Thy nurturing care; give them wisdom in council and valor in the field; defeat the malicioua, designs of our cruel adversaries: convince them of the unrighteousness of their cause; and, if they still persist in their sanguinary purposes, O let the voice of Thine own unerring justice, sounding in their hearts, constrain them to drop the weapons of war from their unnerved hands in the day of battle. Be thou pres- ent, O God of Wisdom, and direct the coun- sels of this honorable assembly; enable them to settle things on the best and surest foundation, that the scene of, blood may be speedily closed; that order, harmony and peace may be effectually" restored, and truth and justice, religion and plety, pre- vail and flourish among Thy people. Pre- serve the health of their bodies and the vigor of their minds; shower down on them and the millions they here represent such temporal blessings as Thou seest expedient for them in this world, and crown them with everlasting glory in'the world to come. All this we ask in the name and through the merits of Jesus Christ, Thy Son, our Savior. Amen.’” —————— THE FOUR SUITS. Perhagg the. Influence’ of the Bicycle is of the Wane—Real Good Ant- — Are Rather Scarce. 4s A Star reporter asked the proprietor of a local Worse exchange the other day if the all but universal use of the bicycle in Wash- ington had greatly decreased the value of horsefiesh here, and if the general preva- lence of the bike enthusiasm hereaboutS during the past few years had. had the ef- fect of erowding thé horse out so far as concerfed his use for purposes of pleasure. “I could nbt now give so unqualified a ‘yes’ Im @iswer to both of those questions as I might have given, say, about two years ago, when, in my opinion, the bike fever was at the flood tide in this town,” was the reply. “You would hardly get the confirmed bicycle enthusiasts of Washing- ton to admit that the bike fever here is on the wane; but observation that has not been merely casual, but close and undertaken for business purposes, proves to my Satis- faction at least that it is. Even so, how- ever, there is no denying that the bike has been pushing the horse pretty hard around here. For example, a good road porse that would easily haye brought $200 at auction a few years ago is not now worth more than $110 at the highest. This is a case of cutting a price in two that speaks for it- self But, oddly enough, you happen in here with your questions just at a time when the horse business in Washington has taken a decided boom, and all of us are confidently looking now to the re-estab- lishment of the former prices for horses of all sorts within two years at the most. Not that any of us are quite so lacking in foresight as to suppose that the bike is to be abandoned within that period, or any- thing like it. The steady rise in the prices or horses dealt in in Washington is not due so much to any greatly increased local de- mand (although this unquestionably ac- counts for it in some small measure) as to the actual scarcity of good horses throughout the entire country, owing to a demand for American horses by foreign buyers that is nothing short of phenomenal. Considerably more than 100,000 head of horses have been shipped from the United States to all parts of Europe since the first of last January. Horseflesh in Washington. “There are about 20,000 horses on duty in Washington at the present time, and hard- ly a day passes now that does not add to the market value of every one of them. Of the 20,000, I should say that about 12,- 000 of them are employed for business, and the remainder for purposes of pleasure. I ,don’t think there is a city of equal size in the United States that could furnish a cen- Sus of 8,000 horses used for pleasure. It Is not a far cry back to the time when most of the young business men hereabouts, col- lectors, clerks, men whose avocations re- quired them to push around the town with some expedition a good deal during working days, used their own traps for this purpose. These men saw a good thing when the bike came along, for it let them out of the ex- pense for the stabling of their nags, and stabling has always been high in Wash- ington. Tt costs from $18 to $22.50 to Keep a horse atid rig in a livery stable here, and @ good maily of the young fellows who used to own their own horse and buggy did not greatly reach over these figures when they settled up for their own board and keep. “While the géneral introduction of the bi- cycle, amd the introduction of another means of, locomotion that I shall speak of later on, certainly set to rocking the values of horses used’ in Washington for pleasure driving and riding (especially the latter), the number of them so used never suffered any very;anaterial decrease. Just as many young feliows take their girls out driving on these warm nights as ever did, and just as many df them are the possessors of their own outfits as ‘ever were. Moreover, the class. of{:peopie in Washington who use horses for .their-open-air pleasure is of a sort that could never be weaned from the use of traps-and carriages by so compara- tiveiy 2m unconventional affair as the bike. “I suppose I know, or know of, about three-fifths of. the people here who during the past ten years have maintained from one up to ten or twenty horses for pleasure driving purposes, and I can’t recall more than a dozen of them who have entirely abandoned the use of the-horse for the bike. The decrease in the value of their horseflesh has been sinsply due to a glut in the national horse market, which the com- paratively recent demand for American horses by foreign countries has not only broken, but rendered practically out of the question for the future. It is laughable to read some of the stories that are printed nowadays as to the general slump and no- accountness of the horse out west, as, for instance, the yarn that on the Pacific coast they are establishing canneries for the put- ting up of good horses that have ro value, and therefore have to be converted into food themselves to prevent them from cat- ing their’ own heads off. The prices brought by horses of all kinds all over the country are now at least 20 per cent higher than they were at this season last year. ‘Work of the Bitycle. “While, as I have said, there has been no decrease whatever worth talking about in the number of horses used for pleasure driving in Washington, the bike has got in its fine work by preventing what would otherwise have been a natural increase in the number of horses so used, and this lack of demand has, of course, served to keep the prices down. The man who has ever been used to driving his own trap is not likely to surrender the pleasure he derives from its use for a vehicle which compels him to do all the work of propulsion. It is the men who have never experienced the pleasure of driving their own rigs who take to the bicycle for their open-air recreation, and a very: large number of such men in Washington are in circumstances to war- rant their possession and maintenance of at least one horse. “Now, as to that other means of locomo- tion that I spoke of awhile back. In my opinion, the suburban car lines have done quite as much as, if not more than, the bike to cause the use of the horse for pleasure driving to remain at a standstill in Washington during the past few years. ‘The main purpose of a man’s possession of a rig of his own is to enable him to drive around on country roads on fine Jays and nights, to take in the scenery and accumu- late gulps of fragrant, fresh air. The Washingtonian of the past few years has been enabled to indulge his appetite for this kind of healthful pleasure simply by giving up a dime for a ride on the trolley cars. Of course, there is not so much pri- vacy or all-aloneness in this scheme for young pedple who have a whole lot to say to each other, es there is in the rig, but it is a good deal jess expensive, and Washing- ton folkszhave: appreciated the fact. “The je has, of course, smashed the riding honse to.smithereens in Washington. When a man-came in here the other day in search.of @ saddle nag for his caugh- ter all the employes around looked upon him. as @ curiosity. Some Facts About Cards That Are Not According to Hoyle. They were sitting around the table, wait- ing for the rest of the party to arrive, when a new man in the game picked up the cards and began to spread them before him on the cloth. “Of course,” he said, in a half soliloquy, 'ycu all know that cards were invented in 90 to divert the mind of Charles IV of France, who was dreadfully in the dumps with a torpid liver or something of the kind, but possibly you don’t know about the figures of the four suits. Well, the in- ventor proposed by them to represent the four states or classes of men in France. By the Caesars (hearts) are meant the Gens de Choeur, choir men or ecclesiastics; the nobility or military part are repre- sented by the points of lances or pikes, which we, in our ignorance of the meaning or resemblance of the figure, call spades. ‘The Spaniards have espadas (swords) in- stead of pikes, which means the same thing. The diamonds (carreaux, square stone tiles or the like) designate the order of citizens, merchants and tradesmen. The Spaniards have a coin, dineros, which an- swers to it, and the Dutch cail the French word carreaux, steineen, stones and dia- monds, from the form. Treste, the trefoil leaf or clover, corruptly calied clubs, al- ludes to farmers and country folks gen- eraily. It is not known how this figure came to be called clubs, unless the name was borrowed from the Spanish game, which has staves or clubs instead of the trefoil. “The history of the four kings is that of David, Alexander, Caesar and Charles, names which were and still are on French cards. These names are those of the great monarchies of the Jews, Greeks, Romans and Franks under Charlemagne. By the queens are intended Argine, Esther, Judith and Pallas, typical of birth, piety, fortitude and wisdom, the qualifications residing in each, and, I may add, most of those neces- sary in a good poker player. I may alse explain that Argine is an anagram for regina, meaning queen by nature. By the knaves were meant the servants to knights, the old definition of knave being servant. There are some, however, who think that the knights themselves were intended by those cards, because Hogier and Lahire, two names on French cards, were famous knights at the time cards were invented. “Now,” continued the new player, warm- ing to his subject, “if you will take the history of cards from the time of—" but he was never allowed to finish, for the other members of the party came in then, and who ever heard of a lot of poker pla: ers delaying the game for anything, histori- cal or otherwise? —_—— Income of the College Professor. From Scribner's. ‘To turn to the material side of things, the assurance of a fixed income is a source of permanent satisfaction, however dispro- portionate the income to the service that is rendered. To be sure, the salary of a full professor, the country over, is little if at all in excess of $2,000. In the larger uni- versities it may rise to $3,000 or something more, but the men who receive above $4,000 are so few as scarcely to affect the general average. Aside from the bare pos- sibility of a call to a richer institution, the college professor is not Ikely to be earning more at fifty than at thirty. Unlike most other professions, there is here no gradual increase of income, to give tangible evi- dence of a man’s growth in power. Unless one has taken the Northern Farmer's thrifty advice, and “gone where money is” when he married, his outlook as he faces old age is not reassuring. Pensions are extremely rare; ‘college trustees are forc2d in most cases to be as ungrateful as _re- publics. The cost of living has steadily risen in college towns, keeping pace with the general increase of luxury throughout the older communities. Here and there, particularly in the west, there are excep- tions, but upon the whole the scale of necessary expenditure for a man fulfilling the various social duties required by his position is constantly growing greater. The professor's Incidental income from books and lectures is ordinarily insignificant. When he has paid his bills he finds no margin left for champagne and terrapin. | If he smokes at all, he invents fngenious reasons for preferring a pipe. He sees the light-hearted tutors sall for Europe every summer, but as for himself he decides an- nually that it will be wiser to wait just one year more. Once in awhile he will yield to the temptation to pick up a first edition or @ good print, but Aldines and Rem- brant proofs are toys he may not dally pap ee Seats” pests! aur valine . In short, his tastes are cultivated market value for them. Nowadays a saddle horse is never, brought to Washington for | petter, after all, than to have more income than taste. —__-e-__. Business, From Life. . eed ee Slight-of-Hand om the Conductor. From the Philadelphia Record. “It was on one of my early trips,” said the conductor. “A well-dressed man got on my car, and when I went to him for his fare he handed me a five-dollar bill. I took the bill and examined it pretty close, as I always’ do with big bills. I didn’t a re JOHNSON? Written Exclusively for The Evening Star. A remarkably odd situation Is that of Miss Myrtle McBudd. Her family is not high in station; There isn’t much blue in her blood. But now invitations oft reach her, Most of which she discreetly declines. Though they say “now, do come,” and be- seech her, Since her father set out for the mines. To be sure there’s a coolness that lingers. She gets an occasionel rose; And the men press the tips of her fingers, But none of them ever propose; And girls who once “couldn’t endure her” Will sometimes go out of their way, And with sweet condescension assure her That she “really looks charming today ‘Tis thus Fate contrives to embarrass The coolest and worldliest folk; This knowing a possible heiress They agree is in no sense a joke. For news from the Klondike comes slowly And there's no means of telling if they Are to rank her as one of the lowly, Or as one of the haughty, some day. There was never a bold politician When doubt brought excitement intense, Who held a more joyless position Than that of her friends, on the fence. And their foreheads already show ridges— Relentless znxiety’s lines, As they wait before burning their bridges Till her father returns from the mines. * * * A Tip on Trade. “I knows wkut I’s gwineter do,” said the old colored lady who gets up at 3 o'clock in the morning so as to be in market early herbs and wild “Ef yoh wants ter fin’ out fings, listen ter de white folks talk. Ef it hadn't been gemman_w’'arin’ with an assortment of fruits. jes’ stree! “Did de white gem- to do man tell dat?” “No, But I hyuhd whut he wah sayin’ He done tol’ huh dat he wah hahd pressed foh money an’ he gin’ huh ter de lady. yer de same explanation dat fits my case. an’ he ‘splained it right out to huh.” “Go long. Don't try ter git you business mix up ‘long side wif white folks's. ain’ no mo’ use foh you bought out'n a jewelry sto’.” “I’s gwineter gib it a tri: dis spot ef I kin git de pubmission.” “Whut was it you done hyuhd de gemman say? “I hyuhd ‘im tell de lady dat he done los’ thousan’s an’ thousan’s ob dollars by bein’ on de wrong: side er de mahket an’ I's made up my min’ dat dat’s jes’ whah in * * * An Inspiration. “There,” she said, as =he finally got the check properly indorsed, and handed it to “I'd like to have the the paying teller; money, please. then looked at her. “Is there anything wrong with it?” she inquired apprehensively. “No; I am sure it’s all right. Only we you have the moncy you will have to be identified.” “But the friends I am visiting took a this morning.” row. with this afternoon.” very sorry.” absolutely necessary 2" she asked, plaintiyely. “Absolutely.”” “yi “Well, I suppose I.can manage it. Will the bank be open for an hour?" “Yes.” ter use people’s chahms dan it is foh white folks ter try ter fool de luck wif a rabbit's foot foh dat de silk hat dat jes’ walk pas’ wif de fine lady, Ya er gone right along habbin’ bad luck an’ nodt knowin’ how ter ‘count fur it.” “Whut is yer gwineter do?” in- quired her neighbor. “I's gwineter see ef I kain’t. m “rangements ter move ovuh on de yuthuh side er de She done ax him how it come dat he wah so hahd pushed when business orter be good Dar dem nohow. Nex’ week sees me right ober dar, across fum “But I need the money to do some shop- to be identi- you wasting subject as that.’ And calmness is what we'll have—se We've sent to the poultrymen’s rs So that no one may want for a do And a dray will soon bring olive-b: To betoken our mutual love. your energies on any suck, * ~* Proclamation by a “Boss.” ‘Tis harmony that this convention Is mostly in need of today, So see that we have no dissension. Be hushed while 'm saying my say These feuds, s9 ferocious; these factions, Are truly distasteful to me. It’s calmness we want in our actions. “Good will” is the motto we cherish. Let every man keep to the key— Let discord's embarrassment perish And T'll lead the orchestra—see? Through life, hand in hand, let us ram)! These bickerings dire and these broils Retribution will find, you can gamble. When it comes to dividing the spol!s. We want no remarks disputatious, When I have put forth my decree, But a mien Chesterfieldian and gracious: And we don't want to wait for it—see? * the ing: “I see your $10,000 an@ call you. ; have you got?” The young man scanned it carefully, and | Pave vou ROU rather my own. As they cor As they x * A Remarka' Game. A wayfarer in South Carolina had stop- ped for the night at a rural hotel, where the company was considerably better than the table. It was an interesting and pic- turesque assemblaj that discussed local topics, and the trav- eler regretted their adjournment for a “friendly game.” The two or three who 4@id not play soon dispersed anil left him to his own of finding further en- tertainment, he went to the landlords desk and asked for his key. “I am afraid you will have to wait a minute or tw the landlord said. “Isn't my room ready?" “Yes, I sent up to have it fixed as soor as you registered. room in which the gentiemen generally play poker, and I for occupied, so the long, though, tify them.” “Couldn't you give me another room, sc as not to disturb them?” “Not with men need is some chairs there are plenty of ¥ they can make themse! able as they are now “Do you think they w into the game if you introduced me?” kind of a game t play suggested, as they reached t stairs. “I'm used to a great many kinds,” dent answer. “I'l bet a thousand “And I'll raise it five thousand,” came the\ . reply in cool, determined toner. The traveler cast an apprehe cn the landlord and exc! mean ‘dollar: But, you see, that’s the to tell them it was to be ve probably gone ahead with the game, as usual. It won't take h for them to move into an- other room, and I'll go up myself and no- niture in it. nd a table, and cant rooms where es just as comfort- jd let me come in- I'm not at all sleepy, and I believe Td have their company than their ‘ou'd exactly enjoy the * the landlord > head of the was “Ll guess 1 can hold proached the room they heard the sound of voices through the open tran- said a player. sive look aimed: replied the landlord. iy. entered the room a man with a gingham shirt and black felt hat was say- What was the reply. “It's no good. I have a pair of tens.” The traveling man turned to his host, and in a hoarse voice said: “He didn’t bet all that money on a pair have our rules here, and before we can 2et | of tens, did he?” “Of course, he did. That isn’t anything.” Then turning to the party he said: “Gentlemen, let me introduce Mr. Sam- trip out into the country with my mother | pleson. He’s a particular friend of mine and being somewhat lonely thought he'd “Then you will have to wait till tomor- | like to join in the ¢: or free as to tell him I di e. And I made so n’t think you would have any objections.” “Certainly not, said the man who had just won, moving his chair to make room. “Sit right down and make yourself at he ‘ “I'm a little bit afraid I haven't money enough about me to stay in the game long,” he remarked “Oh, never mind about that. gloomily. We fur- “Then I'l hurry home and put on my | nish the money. This is a gentleman's evening gown. It’s a great deal of trouble, | game, and we don’t take any chances on but it’s the only way, and I’m glad I hap- | anybody’s departing with hard feelings toward anybody else. We found that there pened to think ef it.” “I don’t quite understand.” right shoulder; mark.’ * *-* An Apprehension Allayed. Mr. Nagby’s face kad been gloomy dur- ing the entire dinner. His wife had refrain- ed from asking him what the matter was in the hope that he might forget his trou- likely to last through the eitire evening his confidence and tender sympathy. “Is anything on your mind, Caleb?” she “Why, I have a strawberry mark en my and everybody who has was a great deal the confederate s! f the money issued by tes in this part of the country and as nobody wanted it we gath- read anything at all knows that there isn’t | ered it up and keep it here for this pur- any better identification than a strawberry | pose. Jake,” he added, calling to the man ‘ag opposite him at the table, “just you reach over into the bottom drawer of that bu- reau and give the gentleman a couple of hundred thousand dollars to start with.” ———— An Expensive Book. From the Kansas City Star. Mr. George W. Curtiss of this city is the ‘that his morose mood was | OWner of an author's edition of the plates esteem made from the photographs of animal teco- luded it would be better to invite | motion taken by Edward Muybridge. The ores book is worth $250, and Mr. Curtiss’ copy have something on it. Do you want to see | ed the world the mind of the human race maintained in | tiors. His pictures of a horse trotting, idleness until it becomes useless the way like a veriform appendix?” and in | pacing, running showed a jumping and state of affairs. But the progress strange “Of course I don’t,” she answered, — in quick photography has made such phe- the softness that turns away wrath. simply wanted to be a sharer of your sor- rows. I felt that it was my duty to give | bunched together is not you my sympathy if you care to have it.” “The problem that is worrying me is one | lenses of which were that you couldn’t understand if I were to before you.” “I might try.” i [ j i i if i 5 8. of flr [ nomena familiar, so that a trotting horse with one foot on the ground and three feet remarkable. Muybridge used batteries of cameras, the unin | a) g i) electricity 3 exposed and then cov- by talk of taking me on an arc’ = ‘Second “Well, Gon’t be so down- hhearted. may not run short of pro- iD to’ to Sire people the tmprension All the gentle- > -4 y- thoughts. In despair—\