Evening Star Newspaper, November 2, 1897, Page 12

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D) S 6 (2) % THIS WEEK! umes to your home. eS) S @OS908 & Oe @ @ $2.00 a month OO9O00S © © Oca Your Last Chance; To Join = The Palais Royal Gia The publishers of the HOME REFERENCE LIBRARY decline to sell more than 400 sets of this magnificent work—at * the price we are now offering it. 3 work of reference—complete in ten massive volumes—will close The initiation fee is but ONE DOLLAR— upon receipt of which we will deliver the entire set of ten vol- Every hour is precious—if you wish to avail yourself of this unprecedented offer! The Home Reference In 10 Massive Delivered to Your Home for $5 11.OO If after keeping the set ten days—and thoroughly testing its merits—a subscriber is not satisfied—he may return it AND RECEIVE BACK HIS MONEY. If, however—he is satisfied —as we know he will be—the set remains in his possession and payments can be made monihly FIFTEEN MONTHLY PAYMENTS ARE TO BE MADE & $1.50 a month--Books Bound in Cloth. ==-Books Bound in Half lorocco. $2.50 a month--Books in Full Sheep Binding. We strongly advise the half Morocco binding on account of its beauty and durability. The Home Reference Library is the fountain head of all information—on every subject known to the civilized world. History—Art—Sciences — Astronomy — Minerology — Architecture — EVERYTHING—fully describ- ed and beautifully illustrated in colors. Book Department—Main Floor. © The Palais Royal,’ H=G& 1 1thSts, © SESSSESI ESS oc_— DOOOSSOHS OO OSG OSOOHSSOSHS OOOGHOS9SOOODOO Subscriptions to this superb Library Volumes is] ia) SEOESOHOSHOSOOG9OG9 as follows: Subscribe tomorrow— Oo THE CENTER OF SNUFF-DIPPING. Not im the Seuth, but Near the Good Old Town of Boston. Frem the New York Press. Passing through Lowell the other day with a companion well informed generally I remarked: “Here is the center of the snuff-dipping habit in the United States. He was astonished. “Do you mean to sas snuff is used in Massachusetts?” he asked. “I thought it a habit confined to the orgia crackers and the poor whites of North Carolina.” I then explained that in the state of Massachusetts every year the mill hands—mostly women and young girls —use sixty-five tons of snuff for dipping, scourit.g, chewing and pinching. The pow- der is sold in one-ounce tin cans, which re- tail at 1 cents. Thus we have 130,000 pounds, making 2,080,000 packages, which at 10 cents cost the operatives $208,000. While we have always associated the use of snuff in this country with the very dregs of humanity in the south, let us glance at the city of Lawrence, Mass., where are located such mills as the Pacific, Atlantic, Cotton, Washington, Everett, Pemberton etc.; population about 46,000. The mill giris are French Canadians and Armenians.with a sprinkling of American, Irish and Eng- lish. In summer groups of them, from six- teen to twenty years of age, go across the river and sit for hours along the banks indulging themselves with the snuff and tag. They consume over twenty tons of snuff annually. Lawrence is only twenty miles from al, pure, holy Boston. Regard the “Manchester of America,” or t Spindle city,” as Loweil is called.’ She was for years the chief seat of the cotton manufacture in the United States and has & population of nearly ¥),000. Boston 1s only twenty-four miles away. The mill girls use in . sitting afternoons with side the falls of the Mer- y-five tons of snuff annually, or 80,000 of those wicked little 10-cent packages. Come nearer, to Fall River, for instance, where are many mills and about This city is forty-five miles Its mill girls—the dipvers, vurers and pinchers—coi annually eighteen tons of snuff, or een thousand mills, and over 4,00) use he production of snuff has in- 000,000 pounds in the last seven- years. = — IMPORTANT, A Canadian Says New York Custom Officers Take Bribe: From the London Times. The following letter from “A Canadian” is interesting as showing how the customs examination may be evaded: “I have traveled between Liverpool and Montreal, via w York, for nearly twenty years, and invariably pay the customs officer £2 to pess my luggage. If I failed to do so I should not only be compelled by him to pay duty on clothing and personal effects which would be into Canada the next day, but I should also be delayed twenty-four hours at least in New York. I advise every passenger whose time ts worth £2 a day to do as I do. “I remember on one occasion the custom- house officer asked me to leave his fee at a certain hotel and he would call for it. He said that he was suspected and closely watched, and if his superior officer de- tected him receiving a fee he would compel him to hand over half. “Some years ago Congress passed an act forbidding Chinamen to enter the United States, and yet every ship from China to a Pacific coast port brings Chinese pasxen- gers. The recognized bribe to the customs Officials is £10 a head. In case the customs officer becomes too extortionate the Ciina- man is landed, arrested and locked up by the police. The next day habeas corpus proceedings are taken by his friends. He is brought up in court and discharged by the magistrate before any charge can be made. The magisirate’s services command a@ bribe of £10, although at times competi- tion between the customs officers and the magistrate tends to lower prices. “That the system is not confined to the customs department the following will show: A few years ago I was obliged to get an amending act passed by the iegis- lative assembly of one of the western states. The leader of the party in power IF TRU undertook to put the bill through both houses for i200. He explained in a short speech that the act was required to amend a geographical error in a former act, ind it was passed without discussion. Before the end of the annual session I was :ent for by the governor of the state. He told me that his signature was necessary be- fore the act could hecome law, and unless I could satisfy his secretary that the m, ter wis urgent he should refer it hack to the legislature for further consideration the following year. I satisfied his e: lency’s secretary, and the governor's signa- ture was affixed within half an hour. It cost me £100." a = Struck by a Ball of Fire. From the Philadelphia Inquirer. Two Instances of the occurrence of that rare form of lightning known as “globe lightning,” for which scientists have never been able to offer an explanation, were re- cently observed in Europe. One case oc curred at Szliacs, about noon, when a vio- lent thunder storm broke over this famous watering place. At 2:45 a ball of lightning, about the size of a man’s head, was seen to descend and float about six feet above the ground. It whizzed past the stair ra ing of the Villa Buda, throwing a wo: man, who was standing near, against the pillars that support the steps. It then Passed through an open window into a room on the ground floor, passed within a few paces of a table, thence out again through a closed window, in which it cut a hole the size of a fist. When outside the lightning ball ran against a poplar stand- ing fifteen paces in front of the building. From this it tore off the bark and wood to a height of ten yards, whence it de- scended on the other side to the earth, leaving behind it another channel. The sound which accompanied the Mghtning Was net louder than the report of a gun. Nebody was injured. Another case {s reported from Nioheim, Prussia. A lightning discharge, accom. panied by crashing thunder resembling the noise of a mass of broken glass on a pave- ment, struck a2 farmhouse near the sta- tion, and the following description of the ghtning was noted by six eye witnesses: It descended from the cloud to the outside of the chimney in the form of a ball about the size of a cannon ball. After the ball was an interval of perhaps five yards, then a tail of fire, one or two yards long. The ball appeared to be accompanied by a short, sharp report, while the crashing thunder appeared to be due to the fire sheaf or tail. A Cowardly From Harper’: oo Crown Prince. Magazine. In the old days a prince was not exempt from exposing himself in the fighting line. It is true he disguised a half dozen other men in armor like his own, so that he had a seventh of a chance of escaping recog- nition. But there was that one chance out of seven that he would be the one set upon by the enemy, and that he would lose his kingdom by an arrow or a blow from a battleax. They led their subjects in those days; they did not, at the first sign of a re- buff, desert them on a special train. That unfortunately was what the Crown Prince Constantine did at Larissa. It was only right that, both as the heir apparent and as commander-in-chief, he should have taken care to preserve his life. But he was too careful; or, to be quite fair to him, it may have been that he was ill advised by the young men on his staff. Still, his staff was of his own choosing. His chief of staff was a young man known as a leader of cotillions in Athens, and who, so I was re- Reatedly informed, has refused to fight nine duels in a country where that relic of bar- barism ts still recognized as an affair touch- ing a man’s honor. It was this youth who turned the Greek ladies out of a carriage to make room for the prince, and who helped to fill it with his highness’ linen and dressing cases. It is pleasant to remember that one of the democratic por- ters at the railroad station was so indig- nant this that he knocked the aid-de- camp full length on the platform. One of the Greek papers, in describing the_fiight of the crown prince, said, in an editorial: “We are happy to state that on the arrival of the train it was found that not one to the prince pocket hand! ede Auothor wen asia: i the sav paper ; “Loues peasant won the race from Marathon: Con- stantine the prince won the race from La- rissa.” IN WINTER QUARTERS Cold Weather Drives the Gypsies From Their Camping Grounds. (a LOATH 10 LEAVE THE PATTRIN TRAIL They Either Head for the South or Some Big City. AND SIGH FOR GREEN FIELDS “The gypsy’s winte- is at hand. All the country over the scattered bands of the vagram Romany are turning their horses’ heads toward that particular spot which is to be their place of hibernation. He loves warmth and sunshine and bird song, does the Romany; but the frosts of winter time affright him. So he hies him to the far south; or, putting his van away, takes shelter beneath an uncongenial roof in some khaulo-gav or gloomy city.” In this wise spoke Paul Kester, the best interpreter wiiom the gypsy race has found in our own times. Mr. Kester has devoted many lIcng years to the study of these nomads from the east, and he may be taid to know them as well us any Gorgio ir gentile can ever know. He has just re- turned from a visit to the famous summer camp of the patriarch, Chenodin2 Lovel, near Newark, cne of the largest of its kind‘ in America, and has made a careful study of the preparations now in progress for the annual southern migration of old Lovel and his tribe. The Pattrin Trail. “Some of the families,’ said Mr. Kester, “will remain a little longer following the pattrin trail. These are the ones in whose natures a deeper love of nature and open- air life happens to be planted. The gypsy hates cold, heartily, but 1 have known him to brave the twinges of premature frost in erder to snatch a few more days in the country, among the changing leaves. How- ever, the great majority are already get- ready to move. ‘Where does the Romany spend bis win- ter? Well, mostly ne goes into city quar- ters. Nearly every gypsy has some avoc tion which he can ply in town. Many in- deed have prosperous businesses of their own, which are left io take care of them- selves, or to be taken cate of by Georgios during the summer months. Livery stable keeping is a favorite pranci of trade with them, and scores of gypsy stable proprie- tors, some of them quite rich, may be met with throughout the sities, and éspeci:liy in New England. The women, of course, practice fortune telling wherever the police will let them, and peddling where fortune telling is taboved. In numerous cases cozy little shops are waiting for them to start the winter occupations again. Chenodine Lovel. “Old Chenodine Lovel and his tribe are going south, and will probably continue their open-air life all through the winter, while camping through Florida and Louis- jana. ‘Don't you talk to me of the gay,’ said old Lovel, a few weeks ago. ‘The gay stifles me, I tells you. The gay's just like a churchyard, rye; and when I goes into a big city and sees the Gorgios a-living in their white houses, all alike and all side by side, I thinks to myself that I'll be laid away in the ground soon enough under a little house just like one of them. My peo- ple were made for the fresh air, rye, and the fresh air, and the roads, and the trees and fields are our only real home.’ Old Lovel meaat every word he said. I don’t believe you could get him to live in a city under any circumstances. The Lovels have several vans, and sometimes as many as thirty, or even thirty-five, people travel with the tribe. It is quite a formidable caravan, and in the days when ‘drabbing the baulo’ (stealing the pig) and similar de- vices for illicitly swelling the Romany larder were in vogue, the southern farmers used to go around with guns while Lovel's tribe was passing. Now the old man and his family are better known in the south, and they are seldom or never molested. “For weeks before the actual striking of the tents, there is packing going on in the camp. Everything not in actual use is stowed away. Moreover, the trade in horses (every traveling Romany 1s a horse dealer to a greater or lesser extent) becomes brisk. Animals are bought, sold, or ‘s ped’ until a goodly string of likely cattle is hobbled at the back of the encampment. You can pretty nearly always tell by the look of those horses how their gypsy own- ers are going to spend the winter. If the horses are heavy, stoutly built beasts they are intended for farm use, and you can feel certain that the caravan is about to drift southward. If, on the other hand, they consist of hacks and the like, suil- able for the city, it is reasonable to sup- pose that their possessors propose to make for some large tow’ Folding Their Tents. “The true gypsy has the oriental knack of folding his tent like the Arab and silent- ly stealing away. Once the loose impedi- menta of the camp has been stowed away, the heavy packing is begun with a will, and frequently finished between two suns. I remember one evening visiting a gypsy camp—an unusually large camp, too—and noticing no sign of an approaching depar- ture. The tents were all up, the fires were lit, and cots were swung above the blazing logs. Children and dogs played among the vans, and horses grazed as they had done throughout the summer. Men lay smoking under the trees and women moved hither and thither, or gathered in little groups for a chat. In this state I left the en- campment, promising myself to return next day, when I might be able to increase my friendship with the Romany. Next day, accordingly, I returned to the spot, but saw no sign of vans, tents or gypsies. At first I fancied that I had made a misteke in the locality, but an investigation showed me that I was quite right. There were the charred remains of the campfires, and there, too, ran the wheel marks left by the vaas as they were being driven toward the nearby road. Truly the gypsies had started for winter quarters, between sunset and sunrise. In such a way the-old patriarchs of the Bible must have moved from pasture land to pasture land, bringing with them their tribes and driving before them their flocks and herds. While I was still in ‘the land of drowsihead’ my Romany friends had, without doubt, put many miles be- tween their summer resting place and the winter home for which they were bound. Private Telegraph Syxtem. “Such caravans cover great distances. Rarely does a gypsy go into winter quar- ters at a place near which he spent the summer. When he changes, he desircs a complete change, and hence he generally goes as far away as he possibly can. I have known gypsies who summered near St. Paul to winter in Denver or further south. They still keep up the romantic custom of sprinkling tufts of grass and similar tekens along the roads by which they pass, so that other gyrsies may be guided by there pattrins along the right trail. But, as I have elsewhere pointed out, they are getting to use the telegraph more and more every day. Poetically inclined persons may agree with the old-school Romany that this innovation is a regret- table one, but the convenience of the wire appeals to the young gypsy, who is often most orientally indolent, and prefers to serd a message in the Gorgio fashion than to starin his eyes looking for the pattrins along dusty roads. “Where go the vans and appurtenances of the summer camp, when the Romany families return to the cities? To the livery stable for the most part. In every big eastern town there is sure to beat least one livery stable owned by a man who is either himself a gypsy, or who has affilia- tions with the Romany. Look through his shi during the winter months and you will find, I'll warrant, @ van or two, packed ready for the next campaign. In nearby stalls the van horses vg saad found com- fortably bedded. A true unany hesitates long before he his summer horse during the cold season spent in the city; and so the horse lies in his box and dreams. probably, like his master, of warm weather and the verdant country. Gypsies in High Life, “You would be surprised, and so would the matter-of-fact, work-a-day world, were i to be made plain how many ot tne | QSSTSESEOdS OOBED9ERSSON090C e95E CaSeECE Tele SHOE EVENT strata of society. Your lawyer, your doc- tor or your $roctt—any of these may be a gypsy, withopt ygur knowing it. There are scores of millionaire gypsies. Two of these I have the pleasure of knowing personally. They are highly, respected citizens, and go regularly to church must frankly own that I"tegarli ihe gypsy’s religion as miereiy assumed for business reasons. The sypsy is a born“pagan), while their social and business associates never dream for & moment that a single drop of the errant Romany bloed fiows in veins so singularly respectable. But, bless you!—if those wealthy gypsies did not have their annual month cf two of: inherited vagrancy they would pine and die of ennui. So they just slip quietly out of town, have it noised abroad that they are going to some fash- fonable watering place, and then make a dash for liberty and the nearest gypsy camp. One of them secretly owns a van ond travels in it when he can do so with- cut attracting attention. A Gypsy Clerzyman. “I have it on the authority of William Dean Howells and other eminent Boston- ians that there is in the capital of Massa- chusetts a certain clergyman of widespread fame, who, unknown to the world at large, is a Romany. Every summer this reverend gentleman cannot resist joining some gypsy band and roaming from place to place as his kindred have done since within the memory of man. Little do the good man’s congregation dream that, while they picture him as sedately journeying abroad, he is sitting beside gypsy campfires and chattering the wild Romany tongue, to all intents and purposes a vagrant. But, as Mr. Howells pointed out, none ever heard it said that this preacher preached any the worse for his wild, free life over road and prairie. Indeed, the increased vigor. and ¢loquence of his sermons im- mediately after each successive annual ‘vacation’ have long been matters of com- ment in Boston. “Obedient to the unwritten law which their sires have tanded down, the Ko- many chal and the Romany chi are leaving the wampum-dyed woodlands of the north and flocking to the cities, or over the hills towards the southward in pursuit of the fleeting sun. And so, during the winter months, when treading some busy street, if you suddenly encounter a swarthy stranger, with great dark eyes and a quaint, roguish look in them—with the lithe oriental figure and graceful carriage of his race, you may safely say to him, ‘Saro-shan” for he is like to be a gypsy.” ————— FAILURE OF JEWISH COLONIZATION. A Notable in South America Accomplixhes Little. From the Chicago Tribune. Almost simultaneously there comes the report that two great schemes of Jewish colonization have resulted in practical or absolute failure. One of these of more re- ceat ate, initiated a few years ago under the patronage of Baron Edmond de Roth- schi'd, contemplated the occupation of Pai- estine by adherents of the Jewish faith. It soon became apparent that the scheme was regarded with disfavor, if not absolute hostility, by the Turkish sultan, and it was found impossible to obtain possession of Jands needed for the site of a colony, and least of all a foothoid in the city of Jerusa- lem itself, as had been anticipated. Besides this, the lands obtained ¥. found un- suited to profitable cultivation, and as a corscquence it is now announced that many of the colonists are begging for re- moval to the Island of Cyprus or some oth- er more favored locality. The other scheme was on a larger scale, set on foot by the late Baron de Hirsch, the Jewish millionaire and philanthropist, who died in Hungary over a year ago. De- siring to secure the betterment of the con- dition of his oppressed coreligionisis in Russia and other portions of central and southeastern Europe, he planned an exten- sive system ‘of colonization in America, to the accomplishment -of which he contrib- uted several’ millions of dollars. The Ar- gentine Republic, with {ts vast area of un- occupied lands—some of it of the most fer- tile character, suitable for the cultivation of grains, fruits and suger, and the raising of stock—offered“a favorable field for the experinient. Some 440,000 acres of land were purchased from the government at a nom- inal figure, ehiefly in the provinces of Bue- nos Ayres, Santa Fe and Entre Rios, and immigration began in 1891. The River Plate and its tributaries furnish a means of cheap transportation for commodities for a large portion of the republic from the foot of the Andes to Buenos Ayres, a city of 700,000 population, and finally to the sea. Previous to 1895 four colonies had been tablished, corsisting of families, and during that year ten additional groups were added, embracing about 400 families. In spite of these favorable conditions and the fact that some 300,000 Italians out of a total 1,0,000 foreigners had succeed- ed in establishing themseives in prosperous homes tnere, only a few thousand Jews could be induced to accept an offer of free passage thither, with a virtually free gift of lands on their arrival. Some refused to accept the lands offered them. A flood of complaints began to reach the home 9ffice of the association, which had been estab- lished to promote the enterprise, and finally a return tide of discontented emigrants be- gan_to flow toward Europe. The number of Russian Jews still remaining in Argen- tina is estimated at scarcely more than 2,000, while many of these are discontented and anxious to follcw the example of those who have already left. Thus the experiment, undertaken at such heavy cost, having proved a failure through the incapacity of those whom it was in- tended to berefit to adapt themselves to new conditions, it has been virtually aban- doned at the advice of the widow of the late baron, and the funds provided for its support will be diverted to other purposes. The failure is traceable chiefly, if not wholly, to the inability of the Jewish people to adapt themselves to an agricultural life. For eighteen hundred years they have been wanderers from their native land, often ex- posed to the most cruel oppression, and, while they have multiplied in smaller pro- portion than any otner people who have survived during that long period, they have maintained their native characteristics with greater persistency. They have found their congenial employment ar traders and many of them as-successful financiers, while the less fortunate have clung to the cities, often under the most squalid conditions. The failure to make successful farmers of them is scarcely surprising, and, while the re- sult is to be deplored, it implies no reflec- tion upon the brvad-minded, generous lib- erality of the phiianthropic representative of their race whose beneficence rendered the experiment possible, ee EARLY SLEEPING CARS. Some Corrections and Additions to Pullman Biographies. William Westlake in the Brooklyn Eagle. The best article written in reference to the late G. M. Pullman's career was in the New York Times. But so well written an article neéds # little correction. In the year 1859 thé writer put two of his patent car heaters “(undérneath) on two sleep- ing cars on, ‘the "Illinois Central railroad, built by Mr.“Elmindorph. These cars were very fine, the fowWer berths made up pre- cisely as they ftiow are, but the upper berths slided'' up and down on beautiful silver-plated ‘tube§ or posts. Mr. Pullman called to see these cars three times while I was putting upt my car heaters. About the same timje @ Mr. Field of Albion, N. Y¥., joined Mr. Pullman and ordered a car,from. the Wasson car shops of Springfield, Mass. This car had sixteen wheels. THRONE berths were construct- ed like a sofs. The passengers sat facing each other. {fhe seat of the sofa pulled out and the back fell down. The top berth morning. fied out in 1603 the altar. This SOOOGHS HHGG0O HN OOS 90899080080 Srdeetente Of a Life Time! TO BE SACRIFICED. We are in the midst of the greatest slaughter sale of ladies, men’s and children’s fine footwear that has ever taken place in Washington. The Wilson Shoe store—for- merly 929 F street—has been leased, and the entire stock, consisting of upward of 20,000 pairs of shoes, has been removed to the Family Shoe Store—and must be sold at some price AT ONCE! We have no room for these shoes. TOMORROW TPORNING We offer you a feast of shoe bargains—absolutely without parallel in the history of Iccal shoe selling! These shoes are made on the newest lasts of the season—stylish and; durable throughout—but we are compelled to sacrifice them—at the rate of two pairs at# DSc. the usual price of ONE! On one of the bargain tables tomorrow will be found odds and ends in ladies’ $2.co shoes—choice while they last. . On another table will be found odd sizes in men’s snap bargain while they last at. A fine lot of ladies’ $2.50 and $3 shoes—all sizes—in button ana § ll B50) lace—be quick if you want a pair for. You will find a host of wonderful values on our Bargain Tables tomorrow—shoes from 50 cents a pair up. 310-312 SEVENTH ST. N.W. Avenue Entrance Through S. KANN, SONS & CO.’S. 20,000 PAIRS OF FINE SHOES fa FAMOILY SHOE STORE, SBS SG SSESS €88S 9 SSS SS 08 SSS9DSSSSSESS Ce €999@ SOSMSTOOSSSCEOOOOS & @ @ &) © @ e Four Days More of Seetoegente onto ete a powerful telling effect. portunities to buy cloths are always presented to us first, and when the price is to your benefit we are to the front. This “price opportunity” is an- other link that welds our selling methods closer to It proves that we are to be depended upon at all times to keep prices down. We know that many tailors would sell these suits Think of the saving--our price, $0--and every piece of cloth is the newest of this season’s weaves, the latest of this season’s colorings and SE a ee es te at $18. your saving instincts. effects. With money back if they don’t fit. Mertz and Mertz, “New Era’ Tailors, 9006 F Street Northwest. segeee a a ss ss es Oe Ca to a te a os oe te ee ee te te te $9-to-measure Suits. Our Great Suit Sale that started yesterday had It proves that great op- It was furnished with elegant inclined chairs, room, heated with my patent ventilating car duster kept the car a perfectly free from dust, with cast iron | The unsuccessful six then go on trying un- ornamental bay windows. The manager of the railroad invited over sixteen managers | come a very old of other railroads to take a ride from Mil- waukee to La Crosse in this cai went with them. The expre miration for this car were very remar: able. The managers all cars. The New York Tribune’s account of Mr. Pullman’s early work is not correct. Pullman built two new cars (I worked on them) in 1860, on the very spot where the costing over refrigerator for wines, and said it would Mr. ; sion. Union depot in Chicago now stands. In the year 1862 Mr. Pullman and Mr. Field put on their Sprirgfield sleeping car, which was a great success. The firm of Cros, Dane & Westlake put the cooking apparatus in the cars that were built in 1865. The cars up to 1868 were lighted with candles. The writer first introduced the burning of oil in 1969. Throwing Dice for Bible in Church of Ancient St. Ives. From the St. James Budget. On Tuesday, in accordance with the an- nual custom, there occurred at the ancient town of St. Ives, in the county of Hunt- ington, a ceremony which, if not absolutely ‘The queer old custom started in this wa: As far back as the year 1675 a bequest in- vested in land was made by an eccentric, Dr. Robert Wild of Oundle, Northampton- shire, for the purpose of distributing six Bibles yearly among twelve children. It was stipulated that six boys and six girls should cast dice for the Bibles during divine service every Whitsun-Tuesday ‘When the custom was first car- ——— QUEER OLD CUSTOM. the curious a relic of ancient Ha the dice were rattled on was ligiven land ities boys bexin competing with $300 each; a wash | three boys and then half the girls compete was | with the other half in like manner. Each patent car heater. My | ccmpetitor throws the |and the church wardens keep the counts. dice three times til they win, and although one might be- “boy or sitl” that happened, fortune is never The writer | to have frowned on any of the dicers for | ions of ad- | longer than five years. k- | six, who are presented, according to the ¢ | Brice stipulated, with Seven-shilling Bibles, ttempt to build such | strongly bound in leather, are expected to pe attend divine service in the evening, when the vicar, of course, improves the occa- ——— NANSEN ON THE METEORITE. Had No Intention of Disparaging Lieut. Peary’s Work. From the New York Herald. On being pressed as to my opinion of the meteorite, I told the reporter that I did not believe it was a meteorite, but that it was iron of the same formation as that found by Hordensjold on the Greenland coast further south, which has been found to be of telluric origin. When Lieutenant Peary says I have spoken “thoughtlessly and wil sence of personal knowledge” he is per- fectly correct, as I didn’t even know that he himscif regarded it as being different from the iron stone found by Nordenskjoid. The only thing I knew about it was that he had brought back the iron stones found near Cape York, the was first brought to our knowledge by Ross’ expedition in 1818, and which Nor- denskjold sent his ship, Sofia, to bring back 1883, without being able to get hold of This iron stone, so far as my knowledge goes, has always been believed to be of the before known The successful €d this sign, “Road to Hell.” WILL TEST THE 10WA LIQUOR Law, : | “Stormy” Jor€an to Defy the State Resume Business, Ottumwa Dispatch to the Globe-Democrat. After November 1 the traveler to Ottum- wa will find the notorious “Stormy” Jor- dan again in the saloon business. became famous fighting the prohibitory llaw. He ran a place that was known the world over as “The Road to Hell.” the place, in flaming red letters, was print- Inside were Jordan Above numerous other signs, such as “Nose Paint ments as for Sale Here,” and the eccentric proprietor dealt out from behind the bar such senti- those embodied in the signs. When a customer asked for the best in the house he always set a glass of water be- fore him. When the prohibitory law was passed Jordan refused to abide by it and Spent a fortune fighting it in the courts, At last, when the court of last resort de- cided against him, he had twenty-five years in the penitentiary and $60,000 fine hanging over him. The execution of these were suspended by Governor Larrabee on condi- ticn that he leave the state. He went to +. h entire ab- of which Missouri, but when the original package

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