Evening Star Newspaper, December 25, 1897, Page 9

THE EVENING STAR, SATURDAY, DECEMBER 25, 1897-241 PAGES. —— WASH. B. WILLIAMS, Furniture, &c., 7th and D Sts. Looking for Bargains? If so, drop in here Monday. We've some big “surprises” for you. Lots of odd Rockers, Chairs, Chiffoniers, Cotiches, Ladies’ Desks, Ladies’ Dressing Tables, ete., hav: been marked down to cluse out. Watch for our “bargain list.” Wash. B. Wiiliams,7th&D. de25-God “Arrived at Last! IMVAQ A NEW ERA IN SKATIN NO DIFFICULTY IN LEARNL skater can vse them without any trouble r. ag the a nil sensation ts identical With that of tee sk OALL AND SEE THEM AT M. A. TAPPANG CO.’s, Forme:ly at 1613 Pa. ave., 9 FST. NTS POR THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA. de25-Lw 23 on teks ‘CRESCENTS’ ‘for $2030 "OS ies ant Men 0575 "OS Ctuinless | $75.00 Western Wheel Works, Was! E. Cor 9th and H Sts. 3 “Crescents” 98 Gia HA YS. “Return gifts” for giving toa Husband or Wife. ot 1 a Nice Carving fnab makes 4 s nsil ~ Mgr. Razors that insure t kind of razor. *s, goy and 477 Pa. Ave. Biggest value ever offered In Washington. Tae CEL za ¥8 Ottawa ~_ > ¢ Wheel 2 strong machine. $10 » 4." lke new, re-enameled aud ee $19 like new "21 * finet 2) #8 condition. neh Klom : Ir qucis Cycie Co., 810 MTH ST. N.W. Qooonnenan ~~ If you want Ask for it. Bottled in Bond Sealed by a government stamp, showing date of Gistilling and bottling. Age, proof and purity thus solutcly guaranteed All Leading Dealers. 56 octs.t.tb Don’t Pay $100 for a type er that has only a few of the desirable tures found the high-grade 3 = wea, TYPEWRITER No, 2 osts only $60, and the ils ts in siderable = q amount ex | ees Dility, igument Uni nume forth Ina machine. W buy it. and will there: nsible person for TEN DAYS’ TRIAL FR nd ta th = know that to e send «ie to ptive Ca we sent upon eation, iE WILLI MFG. CO., LTD., BOX 3, SBURG, N.Y. notO-t.th.s, lyr, Christmas. Beautiful and attractive issorted boxes containing Russian, English and ‘rench Chocolates and Fruits. N. W. Burchell, 1325 F st. = Three Rules for Bicycling Priests. From the Pell Mall Gazette. A stern prelate, with something of ahe Irishman in his nature, fs Mgr. Fava, Bishop of Grenoble. He has lately issued the following proclamation to the stewards and ministers of his flock: “The clergy are reminded that they may not ride the bi- ventre a_ terre. This means stomach unto the earth,” and probably refers to the scorcher or to him who rides for a fall. “2. The clergy may not part with their cassocks even when beginning to learn. 3. The clergy are hereby in- {crmed that they may not ride at all.” The Holiday Procession of Offenders at Police Court, PLEAS MADE FOR LENIENCY IN CASES The Judges Temper Justice With Mercy When Possible. COLD WEATHER EFFECTS “Merry Christmas, Mr. Flynn,” called one of the “Black Maria” passengers this morn- ing as he aiighted from the public vehicle in front of the temple of justice. “The same to ycu, old man,” was the big police nan's response. When the victims of the police and the holiday season, about fifty in number, had reached the cells “Mr. Flynn,” as he is known to them, went back with the caterer and helped the latter serve those who were behind the bars, “Get at your turkey there, boys,” he sald to them. “You know you only get turkey twice a year, and you'd better make the best of it.” know when we get it,” said a little col- ored man Who managed to make his way to the bars. “Because,” he adaed, “I was here Thanksgiving, and we had it then.” “Phis turkey,” Voiunieered another, “is mighty gooa: but, gentiemen, if I wasn't in here ['d have my breakfast sent up from the wolei Wuere 1 Work at, and that ain't no joke.” “See here, boys,” said the policeman, who is hked by the prisoners and disiiked by the «ers-oa about the court, “what are you+ ali in here for “1 Was runned in for drinking my big sins and heavy toddies, id the man who had missed his hotel breakfast, “but I had fun enough for my money. “Another ticket,” saia Caterer Baker, as he neared tie secona cell. e me your ticket,” he added, aduressing his remark to 4 man whose red nose and cheeks had been colorea by something warmer than the weath, “I don’t want anything to eat, man. “What's the matter?” queried Fiynn. “The matter?’ echoed the nervous man. u ought to have had my load last night, and I'll guarantee you would not eat or drink anything but straight red fire this morning. “Too much eggnog?" Nothing but straight whisky, and you can give my breakfast to one of the boys.” “Mine was eggnog,” an elderly man vol- unteered, “and I had to leave a demijohn of whisky, three bottles of wine and some cigars when the copper caught me.” “If you don’t mind, id a young col- ored man to the caterer, “I'll take a turkey wing,” and by the merest accident a wing had fallen in the basket and the applicant for it was accommodated. The Day Recognized. While Judge Scott's procession w: a long one most of the offenders were charged with offenses not of a serious nature. The judge announced that because of the fact that he was dealing with persons who nad been celebrating the holiday season he in- tended to be more merciful than usual. In ordinary cases fines of $1 were imposed, | While the more serious offenders were more severely punished. James Owens, a boy who appeared to be about fifteen years old, headed the proces- sion and said he was guilty of disorderly conduct. “This young boy was drunk last night, Policeman Trusse! ‘and he was head- ed toward the Aqueduct bridge when I ar- rested him.” Whe officer explained that the boy had been knocked down by some young men and he was using bad language. “Young man,” said the ju ou have rly in life to get drunk.” n't drunk,” said the boy. added the court, “the officer says you were. Had you been drinking?” “I had had two beer: A fine of $1 was imposed. ampbeil, colored, answered: s I'm guilty, because I was drunk. “One dollar.” John Ryon, one of the court's regular callers, was in the toils and the lowest fine was impos “john Kelly,” said Clerk Harper, and Bailiff Kendig called: “John Kelly, come to the front. He don’t answer.” “There he is,"” said one of the prisoners, pointing to a man who was enjoying a nap in the corner of the dock. “Is your name Kelly?” the bailiff asked when he had aroused the sieeper. {y—name's—Kelly,"" he muttered. fere he is,” the bailiff told the court, “but s not in fit condition to be tried.” Then pass along to the next case,” said court. SHIFTING SCENES said the the “Cail John Buker,” the clerk then direct- ed. John, who is a young colored man, sgered to the rail, 2nd he disputed the court’! m that he was not in fit condi- tion for trial. “When was this man arrested?” Judge Scott inquired. ‘ “Last night about 11 o'clock,” Policeman Tri sll answered. nd has he been without liquor since then?” “Yes, sir.* “Then he must be shamming.” Drunk and disorderly and breaking a window glass were the charges against him, and, as his conduct was more serious n that of mort of the others, fines amounting to $8 were imposed. Ou the Car. Three of those in the line appeared for the reason that after doing some ante- Christmas celebrating in the city they were unable to reach their homes in the coun- try on a Brightwood car without doing damage to the electric vehicle. It was near the hour of midnight when the car om which they were riding reached Brightwood. The car was slightly disfig- ured, but there was glass enough left in the windows to keep out most of the cold. Not guiity,”” pleaded one after another when arraigned, and the court heard Po- lie Elliott tell of the trouble he had in arresting the men. “Davis was drunk and the conductor wanted to put him off because he wanted to vomit,” said one of his companions. “He went out to the side of the car next to the poles, and the conductor wanted to put him off.’ Tnen there was trouble, but I didn’t see any fight.” “There were eight or nine men engaged in fight.” said a citizen witness, “and were fighting all the way up the the they rouc “There was @ terrible time in the car,” said another witness, ‘and there came near being a riot. Men were piled aimost to the roof of the car during the progress, and women screamed. One of the women was jammed against the side of the car.” The court heard the statements of the defendants and fined them $10 or thirty days each. ——— An Awkward Mistake. From the London Mail. It happened once that two people enter- tained on the same night in Portman square. One party was a reception given by the Duchess of Fife, and the other was a dance, for which a certain young man had a card, which had been forwarded with the compliments of a friend. Having given the address to his cabman, he alighted where the cab drove up before an awning, and entered the house. What first struck him as he went in was the fact that the stairs looked a little deserted—no couples sitting out, and no sound of music. As he walked into the room it struck him that this also looked a little erspty, and having shaken hands with a hostess whom he had never met before, he sat down on a sofa, which was already partly occupied by a lady, to whom presently he turned, with an icea that hers was a famillar face. Then suddenly, as he looked, the truth dawned upen him. His neighbor was one of the princesses, and he had by mistake wan- ed into the wrong house! That same night a great statesman made a similar mistake, but, having ascended the staircase of the other house before he dis- covered what he had done, and being, on account of his imposing stature and full- dress a too-Important figure to turn back urobserved, he went on and shook hands with the hostess, with whom he had some slight acquaintance, and explained to her that he was due at the royal gathering ciose by. IN HOTEL CORRIDORS “There was one little incident in Gen. Sherman's famous march to the sea that has never been recorded by historians of the war between the north and the south,” said Judge Thomas J. Mackey, formerly of South Carolina, entertaining a coterie of friends in the southern colony at the Metropolitan. ¥ “South Carolina was the first state in the Union to send a regiment to the front to participate in the war with Mexico. The people of a grateful state caused to be erected in front of the capitol in Columbia @ monument to the memory of the brave boys of the Ist South Carolina Regiment who lost their lives in that conflict. “This monument is made of pounded brass and represents a palmetto tree. When Sherman's army entered Columbia, and his soldiers were destroying everything that came in their way, several companies made a dash for the shaft. With the butts of their muskets they began the work of demolition. They had not proceeded. far when a man on horseback rushed up to them and commanded them to desist. “ ‘Not another stroke!” he cried. “Several of the soldiers paid no attention. “The next man who dares assault that shaft I will kill!’ he thundered. “The men saw tears in the eyes of the one who thus addressed them; they also saw that he had weighed his words care- fully and meant every one of them. “ Soldiers,’ said he, ‘the boys who sleep beifeath that palmetto Icved their country as much as you or I. They fought as valiantly.’ And the palmetto still stands in the old town of Columbia. The man who caused it to be preserved was Col. Paine of the 124th Onio Regiment; and the pecple of South Carolina owe him a debt of gratitude they can never pay.” “For fifty years the destruction of the Palisades progressed with never an effect- ive protest raised,” said Waldo G. Morse, who is secretary of the joint Palisades commission from New York and New Jer- sey, at the Normandie. “In 1894, however, public attention was awakened, and in 1895 commissioners wer2 appointed by both states to lay the questions affecting the Palisades before Congress and ask that thi be made a national reservation. he commission prepared legislation looking to the end, and the acts were, in 1896, unanimously adopted by the legisla- tures of botn states. The bill approved by the states was then presented in Con- gress. Owing to the financial condition of the government and the fact that no legis- lation carrying an appropriation was al- lowed to pass the Fifty-fourth Congress, the bill presented by the commissioners has rested until the present time. ~ “From their first appearance in Wa ton the commissioners have met the stren- uous opposition of various interests. They found the twelve influential and intelligent famili the roots of whose household af- fection struck deep into the Palisades where the cellars of their houses had been blasted were generally opposed to the plan uted by the commissioners. Adverse ngs before the congressional commit- tees, adverse petitions and pamphiets and adverse newspaper communications and articles have manifested thelr opposition. “This opposition 1s not unnatural nor n any degree open to criticism; it is merely a fact. ry man is entitled to fight for his home. Some measure of annoyance may be forgiven the commissioners, however, when indefatigable opponents, who have stood unmoved their entire generation while destruction has gone on, attack the Proposition of the commission, with its In- ment by two states, us an obstruction ing- cent efforts, shedding tears as disappoin friends, presenting evidences of a hop future for the national park and lamenting that it may not be realized. “The states of New York and New Jersey contribute to the national revenues more than one-half of their entire amount. The national government has set apart in reser- vations the equivalent of $30,000,000. The proposed Palisades reservation lies between two states, the state most largely benefited having no power to join in preserving ven miles of cliff lying in another state. y Jersey has ceded her valuable water and granted other privileges of great istory and legend cluster about tne stand a heritage of the country. Their magniricent water front and towering heights may well be laid aside by the United States govern- ment, a choice in the great center of its densest popplation, In which must be car- ried forward, in some proportion to the greatness of our land, the enormous under- takings of coming generations.” “Quite true is the old adage that ‘Music hath charms to soothe the savage breast,’ and a few months ago I heard of a music cure for disease, but the latest field for the musical art has been developed in the usually retrogressive city of Philadelphia,” said J. W. Hannaford, a commercial drum- mer, at the St. James. “I was watking up South street, Phila- delphia, a few days ago, and as I got near a store in front of which was a butcher's sign, my ear caught the strain of a famil- lar song of the day, sung by what seemed to be a young man, with piano accompant- ment. It was good singirg, and I stopp2d and listened. I thought at first that the music came from some residence in the ne:ghborhood, but I soon found that I was mistaken. I moved on a few steps, and when in front of the butcher shop saw what solved the mystery. “Up in one corner of the sawdustecovered room was an old-fashioned square box piano, and at the keys was a young man of the type that was usally found in the Jow drinking places and cheap concert halls of the New York tenderloin before the Parkhurst war against vice. The proprie- tor of the shop was a rotund, jolly Teuton. From the outside I watched him cut up a reast to the strains of ‘Just Tell Them That You Saw Me.’ As I moved on, he was s!ic- ing off a boiling piece from the rump. while his young musical friend was playing and singing ‘My Mother Was a Lady,’ and stag- ging away beiween intervals at a cigareite. “I asked one of my customers who lives in the neighborhood what the butcher was getting at. ‘Don’t you know?" he replied. “That butcher is one of the most prosperous merchants in South street. He has an idea that the music draws custom. When there is a lull in trade it is not infrequent that you hear him singing his folk songs to the accompaniment of the plano. The ‘musical mcat shop’ is an established institution on South street.” Gen. John W. Nerner, P. P. Williams, D. W. Houser and C. W. Spencer compose a party of prominent St. Louis gentlemen who were at the Arlington Tuesday. Mr. Williams is principal owner of one of the street railway lines in St. Louis, and Mr. Houser is president of the company which publishes the Globe-Democrat, with which paper he has been connected for forty-one years. The gentlemen came to Washing- ton to confer with Representatives Pearce and Joy, and while here paid a visit to President McKinley. They were accom- panied by Henry 8. Pritchett, president of Washington University, St. Louis, who thanked the President for his appointment as chief of the geodetic and coast survey. “Our mission in Washington,” sald Mr. Houser, “is to try and prevent the proposed abandonment of the Jefferson barracks by the United States army. It is the finest piece of ground for un army post in the United States. There is talk of establish- ing barracks at Ethan Allen, Vt. In the name of heaven, I would like to know what the government wants of @ post in such a place. “As St. Louisans, we take a pride in old. Jefferson barracks, which has been an army post for about eighty years. The grounds are only three miles away from the city limits, and only about twelve from the heart of the city. Another thing in favor of the maintenance of Jefferson bar- racks: St. Louis is the greatest horse and mule market in the United States. There is better ground around Jefferson barracks for the feeding of animals than can be found in the entire state of Vermont. “We have never felt right over Generul Miles’ removal of the headquarters of the department of Missouri from St. Louis to Chicago. That was done because of the world’s fair being located at Chicago, but it was an injustice to St. Louis. I believe it was a mistake, too,” NOBILITYS FRIEND : a Samuel Lewis; the Famous Money Lender of London, HIS LONG LISt OF CUSTOMERS The Profits of His Profession Are Something Enormous. A FIGURE IN VANITY FAIR Special Correspondence of The Evening Star. LONDON, December 10. 1807. What a pity Thackeray had not lived to embody in a second “Vanity Fair’ Samuel Lewis, esquire, lender of moneys to the peerage of England, and his customers, the Lord William Nevills, who trap their friends into putting honest names to other- wise flimsy promises to pay. Lewis is so distinctly In Thackeray's line, so peculiar also to the British aristocracy, an institu- tion so Indigenous and so indispensable to the upper crust thereof. One can fancy Rawdon Crawley slinking off Piccadilly in- to the Lewis cash emporium, No. 17 Cork street, to discover what his expectations through the unctuous elder brother, Sir Pitt Crawley, bart., might profit him in cash in hand. And the mind’s eye can see the smug covered carriage of Samuel Lewis stopping before that modest little back dcor to Gaunt House, in Gaunt Square, to appraise Lord Steyne’s ancestral piate in the Steyne time of need. If all the skeletons of “Vanity Fair” were to be paraded from their closets into sun- lignt, how tiie trail of the Samuel: Lewises might be seen warmed through their dry bones. What tragedies of younger sons, tutored to champagne appetites, finally to be thrust from the paternal thresholds to maintain the same on beer incomes. Thack- eray’s s0-cuicd fiction was amazingly would walk down into history. For Thack- eray’s so-calied fiction was amazingly steeped in reality. Any man in London can tell you who was the original of Lord Steyne; they will point out his heir of the third -generation stroiling in the church parade of Hyde Park any Sunday morning. ‘They will inform you who was Rawdon Crawley also, and who Sir Pitt; name the real names of the sporting Captain Mac- murdo, he of the purple whiskers; Mr. Wenham, the go-between for the noble lord, and direct you to the cozy house, not on Curzon street, where Rawdon found his helpmeet entertaining his lordship, and in- ate upon the map the exact longitude of Coventry Island, whither Crawley was bil- leted into exile for the relief of Steyne. Some of these specifications may be apo- chryphai, but, at any rate, there is no harm in perpetuating them along with the Poca hontas and Santa Claus legends. The per- sons and episodes of “Vanity Fair’ must have had their being in real life, though the novelist doubtless dressed them for the purposes of his stage. Samuel Lewis would have been thorovghly at home in that classic company Thackeray would have painted him from the life and left the im- pression with the reader, as he did in the © of Mr. Sam Moks, who kept house in rsitcr street for the compuisory lodging of debtors, that he was a human being after all, a brother man and not haif a bad feilow. Not a Bad Sort. That is the popular verdict of London on Sam Lewis, as everybody knows him; that he is not a bad sort. Instances of his gen. erosity figure in the repertoire of London's after-dinner stories. His business is deemed a@ necessary evil, and, these Britons regard the evils incident to the maintenence of their aristocracy with a kind of fond toi- eration. So no ore iooks down upon the younger sons+or the glider sons and fathers, for that matter—when the wolf at the door drives them Cork-street-ward, while the as- sociation with patrons of so high a stratum elevates Mr. Lewis above his colleagues in the note brokerage line whose doors are surmounted by the dingy trinity of gilt balls. A British peer must have his houses and horses and traps and servants, yachts and opera boxes and jewelry, morning coats, evening coats, golf coats, cricket cua tennis, shooting, dining, walking, runr 4 and traveling coats, coats in which to be born, to grow up, tu be christene 1, iari‘c und to die, with all the ace*ssories which they imply, and these he may get by bor- rowing, begging from his relatives, lending his title to the directorate cf shell game corporations for a stipend, or marrying gn American heiress whose parent eats his fish with the wrong fork, but the only thing he may net do without losing caste is to work for a living. Thus, when the tailors wax too importunate, and the bailifig threaten to take possession of the house, as they are said to have once actuaily patrolled ths premises of the Duke of Teck, and che grocer man rings the front door bell and announces in his coarse way and in the hearing of the dining guests, as one did in the hallway of a prince of the royal blood, that he will not leave until his little bill shall have been settled, in such straits the aristocrat must betake himself to 17° Cork street to hypothecate his expectations. There, unless his future is too hopele insolvent, he will be given the cash he needs at interest varying from 10 to 100 per centum per annum, according to the prob- abilities of payment. But he must not be seen afterward speaking to his angel on the street. Long List of Customers. Lewis’ Ist of customers—borrowing is es- teemed a word too common, just as certain houses in Washington whose menu is in- versely to their frills entertain guests in- stead of keeping boarders—runs high into the hundreds, and it is believed that hae never has less than two or three million pounds afloat in the community on terms of living profit. One of those notes given By Lord William Nevill, which have just brought Mr. Lewis again before the camera of public interest, was, according to the testimony in court, for the sum of £3,000, for which £1,840 interest was to be pald, and it was testified that other transactions in the course of two or three years with this ornament of the peerage totaled £80,0U0 or £90,000. Whatever the profits of his pro- fession may be, they enable Mr. Lewis to live in richer style than most of his pat- rons can carry, Any American who desires to see this great and unique personage unprofession- ally can find him at a theatrical first night. He will be seen always in a box, to speak more accurately, in the best box. He is a round, well-fed looking man, apparently on the desirable slopé of forty, with jet black waxed mustache and curly hair to match, sharp, black beads of eyes, sportish in his general cut, with the air of a race track follower. _He is not unpleasant in looks, nor does his face mirror the tradi- tional flinty heart of the money lender. To be viewed in his giory, “however, Lewis must be framed in his box at the Royal Opera p Covent Garden, as, for instance, at the jubilee performance, when princes, generals, dukes and ambassadors were thick as congressmen at an inauguration. On such occasions the blaze of diamonds which irradiates from the Lewis party out- shines the display, of crown jewels in the tower Gossips may whisper innuendo con- cerning the source of these diamonds, but as the pearl necklace encircling the white throat of a duchess*in the next box may have been purchased4with money put up by the same Mr. Lewis, ‘it is really all a game of give and take, and it doesn’t do to-go burrowing beneath the surface of things in Vanity Fair. Next after the opera the race tracks and Monte Carlo are Mr. Lewis’ favorite stamping grourés. He is one of the most religiously regular frequenters of the latter resort in its season, and there he wins and {s parted from great fortunes with the flippancy of a Senate page at penny ante. No, 1¥ Cork Street. But No. 17 Cork street. Who in London, or rather who of London, does not know ‘it? “He is going to Cork street," they re- mark when a young blood drops his thou- sands on the horses. He docs not find it bard to reach; it is a sbort lane opening from the afternoon promenade of fashion ard the demi-monde. No. 17 is a modest, matter-of-fact three-storied house; No crest with “Purveyor to H. R. H.” is em- blazoned onthe door. Two rooms suffice for this great business; the firat a solidly furnished waiting room like a doctor's outer office, where the lord may sit for half an hour, if business be ordinar- ily lively, and for an hour or more if it happens to be the day after a Derby, when losers come in battalions to raise the wherewithal to meet the only sort of debts i is held disgraceful to forget. Meantime he may hear through the partition, “Good morning, my lord,” and “Sorry I van't oblige your lordship today,” and the speed- ins of the parting guest. Finally, after more ceremony than is required to pene- trate the various strata of secretarics hedg- ing a British cabinet minister, he will be ushered into the presence. The inner sanc- tum is a smaller room than the outer, fur- nished with a desk where sits the money merchant, a solitary engraving on the wall, appropriately enough Frith’s celebrated picture of the Derby, displaying the spert- ing spendthrift in the foreground scatter- ing his cash, and covering the opposite wall a fat mahogary book case which se- cretes the most remarkable library in the united kingdom. A Visit to Scotland Yard. The writer once had occasion to visit Scotland Yard. There is a superstition that this dismal bureau of English police secrets cannot be approached by any emis- sary of the press, but a letter from a gov- ernment official swung the doors inward, for an official autograph bears more intlu- ence even than gold in Evrope. He invaded the den of Inspector Melvi.le and asked in- formation concerning the French anarchist Louise Michel. “Michel,” repeated the inspector, as a librarian to whom the title of a book has been mentioned. “Ah—yes- M." He strolled over to a file like the letter boxes in an American post office, pointed along M in the horizcntat row to L in the vertical row and picked out one- from a stack of cards. ‘Louise Michel,” he read, as a merchant weuld quote the price of eggs. “She is now in Paris. Monday she will go to Belgium. She will make speeches there for two weeks, then she comes to London, where she will stop for four days at 83 Chelsea road, West Dulwich, and on the 26th she will sail for the United States.” All of which prophecy was fulfilled down to the last item, and that was checkmated by the announcement from the treasury of- ficials that if Madame Michel voyaged to American shores she would be promptly consigned homeward. Irspector Melville keeps a card catalogue of anarchists. He knows not only what each agitator has done, but what he in- tends to do. Mr. Lewis compiles a cata- Icgue of the aristocracy on a similar plan, but so comprehensive that beside it the catalogue of the Congressional Library is a mere crossroads sign board. It is related how Von Moltke had drafted and filed a plan of campaign for every possible con- flict which might befall Germany, and how when the message came that Napoleon III had declared war he merely said to his secretary, “Bring the third portfolio on the second right-hand shelf.” A Catalogue of Nobility. When one of the rising generation of Nevills calls Sam Lewis directs a clerk to bring the Neville ledger. Therein he finds detailed statistics of the Nevill fortune, the funds and prospects of. each member of the family, the estates with their inevi- table incumbrances, the manner of living of each Neviil, his virtues, his habits as to paying debts, the names and standing of his intimates and their dispositions in the way of extending help to a friend in need. The biography has been in preparation for years on the certainty that its subject would some day appear just as every well- regulated newspaper office keeps sketches of Gladstone, Bismarck and the pop awaiting the inevitable bulletin of their death. Personally Lewis does not often require to study his library, because he carries the details in his head, but they are a chart and compass for the guidance of clerks when he may be absent, telling them infallibly whether to lend an appii- cant money and to what limit, and what securities to require and what interest, whether 10, 50 or 109 per cent. Thus the business is reduced to a science as exact as the law, and based on the same princi- ples as the writing of insurance policies, where a small premium is charged on the new modern fire-proof building which ad- vances through the grades @f property to the rotten wooden huik whereon no risks are ventured. With a Grand Air, Sam Lewis can play his part with tie grand air as well as his customers. One summer night he was seated at a table at the green cloth at Monte Carlo, when a titled Briton whose argosies -ad gone ashore there came stalking up with a re- quest for a loan, as he would have ordered drin “Sir,” replied Lew shingly business at 17 Cork street, and my when I am absent.” He is no common money lender of the kidney of those who enmeshed the son of an American minister to England and in return for £20 and a box of cigars extorted a note for fifty, which, by repeated renew als, was _rais into the hundreds. Nor éces he drag his clients into court, for the suit agai’ young Clay was his first in thirty years of business, though the fear of such exposure on the part of the cus- tomers and the ironclad securities which Lewis, on his part, insists upon work to- gether to this end. Lewis asserts: “I would not have sued but he went about calling me nd saying that the whole affair was a job put up on me. I had my reputa- tion to defend. If he had come to me and said that he could not pay I wou have torn up the notes and told aim that he owed nothing.” That he would have done so is not incred- ible. An American, one of the most con- spicuous on the stage, never tires of telling how Sam Lewis came to him at Monte Carlo, when the bank had swailowed his last dollar, and he was on the frontiers of ruin, and stuffed his hands full of bank notes, saying: “Go away from here and stay aw ‘This game ts too fast for you. Pay me when you can, and never mind the interest.” The noble society that cheats its guests at baccarat and procures money from its friends for its little luxuries by fraud sneers at such as Sam Lewis, calling them Shylocks. at least, it may be written down in the credit column of his page that he does net always insist upon the choicest cut from the joint when he comes to his RM. C. “I do clerks pound of flesh. erga Santa Claus on an East Indiaman. A. B, de Guerville in the Instrated American, Here is a ship going to India, and Santa Claus rests on the deck a moment, What is this? Piano on the deck, music, every one dancing and happy, loads of good things to eat and plenty of champagne; this is a royal Christmas, and the sailors and servants, thanks to the captain, are n» Jess joyous inan the passengers. “What 13 that?” asks Santa Claus, stopping to read one of many cards posted avout the ship. “Nightgowns and pajamas will be al- acwed on the aeck from ¥ p.m, till 7 am. “Very exiraordinary,” remarks the o.d man, anc ne asks uu ouicer to explain. “Very easy to understand, my dear Santa Claus— we are getting into very warm seas, so vurm that it is nearly impossible to sleep in the cabins. So on every Indian steamer, for the comfort of passengers who wish to sieep on deck, nightgewns and pajamas are allowed there fr»m 9 p.m. until 7 a.m. You might enjoy a new rig ycurself!” But what pajamas! Some white, others blue, yellow, red; some with dots, others with stripes; Japanese rajamas with big fishe rroons, mountains cr queer signs embroid- ered upon them; many having been washed often are now so shrvnk that they do not wholly cover wnat they are supposed to Inde, and ah! here are the ladies in long, ficating white gowns. Senta blushes a ceeper red than the frost produces and leaves the ship. The Burgiars Called Him Up. From the Boston Herald. One of the most novel uses to which the telephone has yet been put is heard of from Chicago. A firm of booksellers in Chicago was called up late one evening vy telephone, and in response to the inquiry it was stated that the firm had in stock a rumber of very valuable books. The caller thanked the firm and remarked that he would be in in the morning to purchase some. In the morning the book store was found to have been broken open and the very books about which inquiry over the telephone had been had were stolen. This stows the enterprice of the modern bur- glar. He was ready to rob the store, but he took the precaution of findiug out whether the job would be worth while. By using the telephone he saved himself all the annoyances of possible identification which a personal call would have entailed. ——--— 00 Codfish are still being caught on the Vir- ginia coast in large quantities. The oldest citizens have never before heard of this fish in Accomack waters at this season. _ | tinger, AFFAIRS IN ALEXANDRIA Business Houses Genera!ly Observe Christ- mas Holiday---Services in Churches. Prospective Bride an@ Groom Ha Their Matrimonial Hopes Rinsted ee oh eral and Personal. Evening Star Bureau, No. 529 King street, Bell Telephone, No. 106, ALEXANDRIA, Va., December 25, 1807. Christmas has been very quietly observed tcday. Most of the business houses have been closed, the post office and telephone exchange have observed Sunday hours, and the small boy with his tin horn and fire- crackers has been very much in evidence. Services were held in the varicus church- es as follows: Christ Church, 11 a.m.; St. Paul’s Church, 11 a.m.; Grace P. E. Church, boly communion, 6:30 a.m., and morning prayer and communion at 10:30 a.m.; § Mary's Catholic Church, solemn high m: 5 am.; mats, 6 a.m., and high mass, a.m.; there will be no vespers; M. Church South, services at 6 a.m.; Trinity Church, 6 a.m.; M. P. Church, a.m., and Emanvel Lutheran Church services in Ger- man at 1! a.m. Mother Forbids the Banns, Mrs. Lvla Reeves of Manassas came here yesterday afternoon and took her youthful ughter, who had eloped with her first in, Theodore Reeves, back home. Mrs Reeves stated that the girl had been ab- ducted. Young Reeves did not seem E. he had heen pla: in singing and wh took from Ree bout $11 the young lady. Young Reeves wa. given half an hour to vacate the city. he took the evening train for Man: belonging to then wiser young man than when he le township. Mrs. Reeves, accompanied by her daughter, went to their future home in Maryland, the young lady, however, avow- ing her determination to wed Re as Soon as she reaches her majority. Field Band Parade. The Third Regiment Field Band paraded the streets at an carly hour this morn: end discoursed sweet music to announce the arrival of Christmas day. Generéus Sergeant Smith. The prisoners at the city jail were given a fine Xmas dinner by City Sergeant Smith today. Sergt. Smith also bought them a lot of treworks with wnich to amuse them- selves. Brevities, Miss Bettie Deeton has returned from a visit to friends in Norfolk. Mr. George Forbes of Annapolis, Md., is the guest of his aunt, Mrs. J. T. Beckham, on Washingion street. A Chrisimas observance of Old Dominion Commandery, Knights Templar, ill be held tonigat, in honor of the grand com- mander. Archie Hollet, charged with petit lar- ceny, Was dismissed in the police court this morning. See CYCLE CLUB GossIP. Arlington Wheelmen, Notwithstanding the cool weather Sunday morning, Captain-elect Murp ‘Several winged A's rode over the Conduit road as far as the bridge and then went down within a short distance of Marlvoro’, where they located a fine growth of mistle- toe. It is needless the boys brought home a “bic The ther- mometer told thai the weather was just at the “hitting it up” point and fast time was made. Extra fast time was made to accommodate Robert Stone, who informed the boys that he was compelled to return by 2 o'clock. 3 The regular club runs will be suspended until after the holidays. bers, however, will take a ride tomorrow also on the following Sunday. Weath- er permitting, the runs will be resumed about the middle of January. Very little riding is done during Christ- mas week. The bo: ve been busy chasing Christmas presents and preparations to leave the city for days. The club contemplates giving some time soon, probably next mon! ‘either time nor money will be spared to ke the event a success, It has been the custom of the club since its organization to give an annual banquet—this year a dance will be substituted. After the next meeting a definite date will be announced. The club is glad to learn that Mrs. Get- wite of President Gettinger, who has been critically ill fur some time past, Jast y and a is now convalescent. Messrs. Chas. Miller and Wm. MeCaul- ley, rumor kas it, have recently be dreaming of the valuable nuggets which lie unearthed in the rv of Klondike, and th have decided tovstart for the newly overed gold fieids in March next. It is possible that during the winter the club will give cne or two smokers. Various entertainers could be selected fr to entertein those who attend. The club has a good pianist, several sweet singers, a mandolin and guitar quartet, while sev- lean render recitations with great ef- fect. The pletures of the club and century team can be cbtained from the secretary, where arrangements have been made to have them framed. Queer Wheelmen. The Queer Wheelmen, like all other cycle clubs in this city, have had their ups and dewns; but it is safe to say that the club is now on a firm foundaticn. All the dead Wood has been thrown out of the club and the remaining mecibers are doing all in their power to make the club a winner. The basket ball team has come out of its tranee sinc? Tierney has been appointed captain, and judging from the way they wiped up the Century boys last Wednes- day it is safe to say that the boys will wind up somewhere near the top before the close of tbe season. The Queer Wheelmen team hold the rec- ord for “whitewashing,” and both the Mount Pleasant Athletic Club and the Century Wheelmen were compelled to put goose ezgs down as their score. be easy to score a goal when you have to walk over the Queer’s giant backs, Von Boeckmann and Pitkin. The club is making arrangements for an- other “smoker,” “one of those red-hot ones.” Among the features of the evening will be an exhibition in feats of strength by the “Giant Jims” (Bain and Parker) songs and dances, by “The Wild Irishman;” recitations by “Graphite Bill,” and the fun will no dovbt be wound up by a toast by “Most.” _——— Charles E. Greene, one of the most promi- nent trustees of Princeton University, died suddenly yesterday of heart trouble. to | It must | "ah RDP Greeting. We thank you fora season, which with your aid, has been the most successful in our history. SomeLate Arrivals. rr 1 oa tat seumy ante ve've fst received from David Anderson, the Court Jeweler of Nee- of Norwegian Jew Ron Roxes, “Hat too late for the now for quick se it. AM GOING ABROA Pennsylvanian Men of Ca of what is expect to be a great athletic event of 1808 has been given out by Alvin C. Kraenglein, who is attending the University of Pennsyiva- nia. The Uni ity of Pennsylvania will end a track team to England to meet mbridge Unive in ad test to be held in London next year. two univ. me itfes have b s time, and rranged except the en corresponding everything has been details, Pennsylvania ented in an athletic gland the be fore Pennsylvanias will Winsor, 1 aldwell, Hoffman, 44-yard das Lane, half nul high and broad walk; McCracken, run; and jumps; Fett throwing weig! WALBROOKS BEATEN. The trophy American Whist League challenge has once again changed hands, although it has not moved from the umental city. Th tants were the Waibrook Whist Club (holder), represented by Beverly W. br. FLW Smith, James L. Sellman S. Fiske and the Baitimore W Club (challey represented by Thomas A, Whelan m cont ), wap- in), W. E. P. Duvall, George P. Thomas, jr, and A. H. McCay. Final score, Baltimore, Walbrook, 16. Umpire, Mr. John N. Steele of Baiti- more. The next club in line is Brooklyn, but it is rumored that a team will not appear from that city, and tnat the New Jersey Whist Club will be the challenger that | will visit Baltimore next week. Af this should prove to be the case a most interesting situation would be pro- duced, as New Jersey was the team that Some of the mem- ; dance | m the tist | won from I wre the week after Bal- timore had brought the trophy home from Toiedo. Cornell and Boating. The meeting of the Cornell Universtiy athietie council Monday evening, lasting from 7:30 o'clock to ght, was wholly siven up to a discussion of the rowing definite action taken. made this announcement received en. for jumbia, Harvard, Pennsyl le. All hout conait f th e challenges as to ume or ne from Yale. except th No de- n will be taken on aay of lenges until promised informa- is received from In mean time yacat other meeting of the until the first week in January. Michael to Race Chase. Jimmy Michael and Arthur A, Cha two of the greatest middle-dist ers in the world, will meet in Madison Square Ga: ew York, tonight to 4 cide which r man in a paced thirty-mile race, Semi-Finals President's Cup. The semi-finals in the President's cup match at Rosslyn, on the links of the Were played ye: pif’ Club, Mr. Boardman 2 7 up and 6 to play Mr. Wylie beat Mr. Whiting, 4 up and 5 to play. * See ent China's Emperor Badly Scared. From the New York 1 . There is one country at st where the forthcoming eclip: of the sun ts alread causing lively fear, namely, in the empi of China. The eclipse will occur on Ja ary, and the emperor has ordered that the ceremonies of congratulations habitually paid to him on that day, the Chinese New Year day, shall be held in a penitential hall instead of the throne room, while the an- nual banquet given at night to the members of the imperial house ts to be omitted, lest, raply, there should be no imperial house, indeed, no China, at the end of the a Furthermore, according to an imperial de- cree, the eclipse is regarded as a warnin from heaven that the reigning prince has been “wanting in wisdom and morality.” It is added that the emperor is “filled with a great fear,” and that he has tried, “during his moments of leisure, inwardly to ques- tion his conscience as to whether he has not commiited some fault calling for Divine retribution. Rare ee Se About 30,000 bales of cotton are booked for shipment to Japan this winter from the single port of Seattle. This is said to be 3 per cent more in value than the value of all American export to Japan during the season of 1894-15. put up up REDUCTION IN PRICE OF THE IMPROVED WELSBACH LIGH LIGHTS, former price LIGHTS, new price --- 128 reece te eat beret MANTLES, former price - 50 -- 40 MANTLES, new price Se'put up it desired” tor 10 cis. extra. 607 Seventh Street N. W. All Genuine gocds have ‘Welsbach” on each box. - $2.00 ‘purchaser, or will FOR SALE AT