Evening Star Newspaper, January 29, 1898, Page 19

Tre Tre Sacred Crown oF Huncary Tre German Emperor's Crown: HoLLAND. Snan or Persia's CROWN - ROWN > WORLD-FAMOUS CROWNS. Tre Crown oF DENMARK - THE EVENING STAR, SATURDAY, - JANUARY 29, 1898—24 PAGES. Tre Barrisn Stare Tre Russian Imperiar Crown! Tre IRon Crown or Lomearnny PRECIOUS DIADEMS Jeweled Headgear for Europe’s Kings and Queens. THE IRON CROWN OF LOMBARDY Portugal’s Emblem of Royalty is a Very Costly Affair. TIARAS IN THE VATICAN 1898, the S. S. McClure Co.) Written for The Evening HO WOULD NOT W =« his hfe for a crown?” one of the French conspirators was reported to have exclaimed to Na- poleon, when that mighty man shrank back from the coup @etat which would either place him up- on the throne of France or submerge him in overwhelming disaster. If the ques- tion were asked today the ordinary man would reply that it depended much upon the crown, for of late years many of the lesser diadems of Europe have actually gene a-begsing. Considered merely from the standpoint of intrinsic value there are many and various kinds of crowns ex- tant in the world at the present time. For instance, the crown of Roumania is com- posed of gun metal, mage, in fact, out of a bit of eld cannon captured at Plevna, that of Portugal has gems in it which have tar. caused it to be valued at no less than $5,000,000, The iron crown of Lombardy, which, by the by, is the oldest diadem in Europe, is only six inches in diameter. The ques- tion usually asked by those who behold it for the first time is, where is the tron? for to all appearances the crown consists of a broad circle of gold ornamented by an enameling of flowers. This, however, but the outward case; within the coronet rests the iron itself. The tradition con- nected with this circle of iron has it that oi it was fashioned out of the nails by which Christ was fastened to the cross. The crown now rests in the cathedral of Monza, Italy, and is under the care of the monks of the establishment. These holy men call attention to the fact that while no attempt has ever been made to clean the baser metal, still there is no sign of rust uron it, a fact which, to their minds, con- clusively proves its sacred origin. For England’s Queen. England possesses but two crowns which are ever used. One of these ts the British state crown: the other the crown of Eng- land. ‘The former is reserved for import- ant cecasions, while the latter is used at times demanding less magnificence. The state crown, the one used by Queen Vic- teria when ascending the throne, was made especially for that purpose, and weighs bet thirty-nine ounces. It is valued at $1,900,000. The jewels with which it is studded were supplied mostly from older diadems of the realm.and include nearly3.000 stones. The cap is of crimson velvet, lined with white silk, and has an ermine border. To some of the gems blazing in this insignia of royal power grewsome and romantic Iegends are attached. For instance, the famous ruby given by Pedro the Cruel to the Black Prince is said to have come into the former’s hands by foul means. The story runs that Pedro invited the Red King of Grenada to his palace and murdered his | guest for the sake of the wondrous gem. Perhaps the sinister influence which might attach Itself to this jewel is counteracted by its companion, the tmmense sapphire which is famed to have eome from the ring of Edward the Confessor. So great were the virtues it was supposed to have gained through its contact with this holy man that it was generally believed that the stone en- dowed its possessor with power over var- icus diseases. In connection with the dia- dems of England might be mentioned the j ancient crown of Scotland, which still may | be seen in Edinburgh Castle. It was made in the fourteenth century, and was used at the coronation of Mary, Queen of Scots. Czar and Emperor. The Russian imperial crown is a wonder- ful piece of workmanship. The czar being regarded by his people as to a great ex- tent a religious as well as a temporal lord, it is not surprising to find the badge of sovereignty modeled after the patriarchial miter. Five beautiful diamonds resting on a magnificent ruby form the cross which composes its summit. Diamonds and Pearls of the utmost perfection and a: sap- phire which, it is claimed, has no riva}, render this diadem one unsurpassed in magnificence. The crown possessed by the German em- peror is of peculiar shape. The cap rests upon eight shields, four ornamented with diamond crosses and the others with the figure of the imperial eagle, while above this, four hoops sparkling with diamonds support a globe surmounted by a cross. Singularly beautiful, both in shape and ornamentation, is the crown of the Em- peror of Austria. From the coronet there arise eight jeweled ornaments, each topped by a superb pearl, The hoop of the cap is surmounted by an enormous sapphire. The lining is of ruby colored’ velvet. The emperor is also the possessor of the sacred crown of Hungary.” This is, in fact, two crowns, which have been welded together. The first is a golden diadem ornamented with pearls and precious stones, the other a Byzantine circle. At the back of the Byzantine coronet is an enormous sap- phire surrounded by four oblong green stones of some unknown kind. Lapidaries disagree as to what these remarkable gems may be. This crown has been the subject of many extraordinary adventures. In 1848 it fell into the hands of Kossuth and mysteriously disappeared. Rumor had it that Kossuth had carried it off, broken it up, and sold the jewels in Turkey. Others declared that it had been taken to London. A government commission was appointed to inquire into the mystery, but discovered nothing until 1853, when a countryman of- fered to disclose the secret of its hiding place, and led the searchers to a tree near Orsova, in the roots of which Kossuth had caused it to be buried. . Fortunes in Gems. One of the most beautiful crowns in Eu- rope is that of the King of Denmark. This, while comparatively simple in design, is of most artistic workmanship. The leaves by which the circlet is surmounted are curved and veined by precious stones, and each leaf is ornamented in turn by a magnificent Jewel. The King of the Belgians is an uncrown- ed monarch. There is no coronation func- tion in the exact sense of the word. The chief feature of the ceremony consists in the king’s swearing to preserve the consti- tution ard laws of the country. Spain had in early times no royal dia- dem, nor dces its crown today figure in the coronation services, the sovereign tak- ing an oath similar to that which forms the chief feature of the Belgian installation. The vatican treasures contain a variety of papal tiares, some of enormous value, which, from the beautiful workmanship and precious stones that adorn them, are renderei priceless. Among: this collection is one presented to Plus:TX by Queen Isa- bella of Spain.. It is valued at more than $1,000,000, ‘and weighs over three pounds. Another treasure is the papal tiara pre- sented by Napoleon to Pius VII. One of its gems is the largest emerald known. The sultan pessesses no crown, coronation betng unknown in Turkey. In place of this ceremony is substituted the investure of the monarch with’ thé “sword of Othman. ‘The saber is girt sround the new sultan with the words: “Take it with faith, for ye have received it from God.” Outside of Furope the crown hecomes a rarity. The crown of the Shah of Persia, if such it may be called, is of an altogether exceptional shape and size. Indeed, it is most frequently described by those who |"! have seen it as a bonnet. It is composed of cloth of gold, adorned with strings of hang- ing precious stones, with here and there tufts of feathers ornamented by diamonds, rubies, emeralds and pearls. PROBLEMS OF DRESS An Important Discussion From the Earliest Times, THE SWALLOW TAIL VERSUS FROCK Waterioo Sedley’s Martial Tunic, the Scotch Bailiff's Trews. A "OWLING SWELL’S MISTAKE eee Written for The Eventug Star. Among other leading questions, the what- to-wear discussion has been an important one from the earliest times—dating, in truth, from the Garden of Eden. ured in history as the topic of writers, sacred and profane, from the days of Jo- seph with his coat of many colors, the Romans with their toga and tunic, down through mediaeval armor, the Spanish sombrero, or cowboy’s hat, the high silk hat of today and even to the modern bath- ing suit. Dress discussion is no new thing, indeed, and the get-up of this year’s dude is not more talked of than was the gorgeous cos- tume of the French Directoire and the dandy of Beau Brummei's day, a century ago. Climate has much to do with the of course, but, whether it be for or fashion, the inhabitant er of the globe arrays himse!! ort of raiment. squimaux wraps himself in furs, outh Sea Islander sports a nose ring, . a pair of ankle pracele ative of tropical Nicaragua, ac- t ular report, usually wear? a straw hat and a cigarette. Citizens of the enlightened temperate zone combin comfort + elegance, and carry thi their persons—more especis} sex—to the highest piace of an interval, argu- en heard again recently for the dress suit, or rather the claw-hammer coat for gentlemen's evening wear. This time the agitation proceeds from certain young and middle-aged men, Who, like Joseph Sediey, the civilian of Waterloo fame, prefer the gallant-looking Duttoned-up military coat to any other. Sedley’s coat was a fine affair, with its frogs and loops and laces, which attracted the cupidity of his Frerch valet. There is, fact, no iittle envy on the part of many jan wearers of the swaliow-tail at the on exeited for the smart appear- a the military full-dress tunic worn by the army officer at social functions. And if the frock coat is good enough for the soldier, they contend, why is it not al right for the eltizen? : ‘The Doctors and Fat Men. _ But physieians and old men with “ruined blood” and fat men with too great a capon- lined ponderosity are the chief objectors to the claw-hammer. The former declare that @ man dressed in a swallow-tail coat which cannot be buttoned over its accompanying low-necked waistcoat is not dressed at all— no mor: than a duchess at one of Victoria’s drawing rooms. There {s, they say, some slight protection to the back and” arms; otherwise a man might as well be in his shirt sleeves, so far as he may be exposed to the night air without and the draughts of rooms within. Stout’ men denounce the claw-hammer partly for the reason that it fs such scanty It has fig- | of covering for their ample persons, but mainly because, in order to look well, it must be a “tight fit.” Who has not slyly congratulated his corpulent neighbor at the cotillion on his personal appearance in a loose-hanging dress coat? And who has not heard the strong language of his fat friend pinched by a close-fitting garment? Dunean of Knockduner’s objurgations were as nothing in comparison. Duncan was the captain and bailiff in Scott's “Heart of Midlothian,” as will be remembered, and had charge of the Duke of Argyle’s high- land estates. The keen-tempered captain of Knockdunder wore for his usual cos- tume the plaided kilt of his clan, but on a visit from the duchess, who once ac- companied her husband to the highlands, he had borrowed the minister's trews (trousers), in which he incased himself for the oceasion. Speaking of the incident at a later date, he said: “I will put myself under sic confinement again for no man on earth, nor woman either, her grace being always excepted, as in duty bound.” A circumstance which may threaten the existence of the swallow-tail is the fact that, owing to the fashion set by actors in recent years of shaving the upper lip, as well as the remainder of the face, a society man cannot now be distinguished at all times from the worthy servitor who attends him at table. The so-called evening suit is the universally established costume for waiters and club servants, who are, of course, beardless; and if awkward mistakes of identity are to continue something must be done—either the actor’s beardless face for the man of fashion or the claw-hammer coat must go. An Awkward Mistake. An amusing experience of Mr. William S. Gilbert is told as a case in point. Mr. Gil- bert had attended a full-dress club recep- tion in London and was standing in the entrance hall of the house awaiting the re- turn of a messenger when a swell of the first chop came forth from the cloak room ard shouted to him, ‘Hello, my man; call me a four-wheeler, like a good fellow.” “Well,” responded Gilbert, adjusting his | own monocular, scrutinizingly, “you are a four-wheeler; I can't call yer hansom, you know.” Here was a clear case of mistaken identity, for which the ‘owling swell stam- mered an apology, as a matter of course. Gilbert's, play on these words, by the | way, was nearly as good as that of Charles Lamb’s Oxford scholar, who, meet- ing a porter carrying a hare through the streets, accosted him with: “Prithee, friend, is that thy own hare or a wig?” and the puzzled porter was welinigh as flabbergasted cs Gilbert’s swell. But the swatlow-tail has too strong a hold on the younger gentleman of society to be disposed of easily. For him it has a pecullar glamor when he sees it on the shapely persor of his favorite actor in the heart-rending play. What with footlights and the filustrations in the society novel of the day, it has become strongly in- trenched in the hearts and heads of the youth of the period; and they constitute a power in matters fashionable. It is furthermore the only garment not fitted for out of doors or street wear, and is, therefore, out of the more vulgar chan- nels of use. It is never seen om the backs of our tramp brethren—even the oldest and most scond-hand specimens. And after all that may be said it is of sufficient elegance to be admired beyond other coats for draw- ing room occasions by—the younger ladics. And that settles it. H. M. 8. JORDAN. ae ee MAMMOTH NESTS. Hens of Aus From the Chicago Inter-Ocean. ‘The mallee hen of Australia lays its eggs in a huge nest. The nest ts really an arti- ficial mound of gigantic’ proportions for the size of its maker and the purpose it ts to serve. This artificial mound is a co-opera- tive incubator. It is built by many pairs of birds, male and female working alike to construct it. These same pairs of flocks of birds annually repair and enlarge the queer- Marvelous Mounds Built by the Mallee tralia. looking cone, which rises up like a turret dome from the level prairies, Sometimes these tunnels attain a height of fully fifteen feet in the perpendicular, with a radius of equal measurement. Many of these nests have measured as much as fifty yards, or 150 feet, around their base. That would give the largest one measured a diameter of about fifty feet. These mound nests are entered through a sort of tunnel cavity at the top of the cone. The hens of all the building and repairing Pairs lay in this immense nest. The eggs are deposited about six feet below the sur- face. While each hen lays her eggs in the family mound, noe hen drops her egg closer than twenty inches to that of her neigh- bor. These eggs are deposited in a cavity made for it, wherein it is placed in a verti- cal position, carefully covered, and the sur- face as carefully smoothed over by the hen before she quits the nest. Contrary to the usual practice of the bird and fow! species, these mallee hens lay at night, mstead of in the day. Several days elapse also be- tween the dropping of two eggs by the same hen. The eggs of the mallee hen are out of all proportion to her size. They are as large as those of a goose, and of large hens are very much larger. The eggs thus laid and covered in this great sand oven in the hot districts are never again disturbed by the hens. The eggs are hatched by the heat the sun bakes into the soil where they lay. It has never been known how the young chicks are ex- cavated from their egg grave, for the eggs are deposited fully six feet below the sur- face, and the hardening rains do not aid their exit very much. The hen is so very shy and vigilant that no one is able to study her maternal and domestic habits with satisfaction. As she lays her eggs at night and transacts most of her affairs in the night watch, so that no naturalist or curious individual can fer- ret her out, possibly she steals to her ex- pected brood under cover of night also, and gives them the parental unearthing which they must surely need after the pipping of the eggshell. Bush naturalists have been cyrious to know how this peculiar fowl builds that nest. The birds have been seen working at it and the mounds have been inspected, but the piling of the dirt is not from the imme- diate vicinity, for that is undisturbed. Small sprigs and the like enter into the plastic masonry, which stands storms and heavy rains, when they do fall, without serious injury. These huge cones stand for years, to be annually nested in by the same flock which originally constructed the family incubator. When detected the hens emit a pitiful little cackle, and flutter away like a wounded in- nocent. The young of. covey either root under the sand or hide behind some mound or object of a friendly color. ++ Autograph Collection Worth $500,000. From the “ondon Mail. I wonder what will become of the magni- ficent collection of autographs which be- ~— [THINK HIM INNOCENT Views of Handwriting Experta on HE DID NOT WRIfE THE BORDEREAU Startling: Diweliginents Fromisedie the Near Future. CLAIM IT WAS FORGERY Written for The Evening Star by Earl W. Mayo. I: WILL DOUBT- less interest Ameri- cans ‘to know that there is an American side to the great French trial for treason commonly called the Dreyfus case. Two citizens of this country were called upon to give expert testimony as to the document on which the French captain was convict- ed. These two men are Mr. David N. Car- valho and Mr. Daniel T.’ Ames of New York, who are two of the most prominent graphologists in the United States. Their reputation as handwriting experts extends beyond the limits of their own country, as their employment in the Dreyfus affair shows. There have been many cases, civil and criminal, which have turned upon the au- thenticity of a signature or a scrap of writing, and the profession of grapholo- gist has come to be recognized as one of serious importance. Mr. Carvalho has been or’ sixteen years the official graph- ological expert of Néw York city, and Mr. Ames, for an even longer period, has been recognized as an authority in nice ques- tions of penmanship: ‘They have been em- ployed in many famous cases, notably in the Fair wiil forgery, which was decided last summer. There has never been a case of such im- portance as that of Dreyfus, involving as it does the honor of the French: nation, for the graphologists to decide. It turns apparently wholly upon the testimony of handwriting experts. So far as the public is aware, the only evidence that bas made Dreyfus a lonely exile on Devil's Island is @ scrap of paper, undated and unsigned, that is alleged to have been penned by the hand of the captain at a time when he was @ confidential attache of the French min- istry of war. On this bit of paper the fate of Dreyfus hinged. In order to make clear this fact, and also the connection of the American handwriting experts with the cose, it may be well to briefly recapitulate the story of this celebrated paper, which has come to be known as.the ‘“Hordereau. The Famous Bordereau. At the time of the ‘arrest and trial of Dreyfus it was given, out that the incrimi- nating evidence had.come from the waste basket of the German embassy, and had been secured by one of the secret military agents of the government: This individual, who was disguished as a fag picker, made a practice of buying and carefully going over all the refuse paper that came from the office of the German embassy, in an effort to find some clue tg the Source of leakage of important military secrets which were known to be in the possession of the Ger- man ministry of war. One day, according to the story given otft by the officers of the French government, this detective rag picker secured, among thé papers that had been thrown out, the ‘“Bbrdéreau,” or “list ef documents.” ‘Thtswas a single sheet of buff-colored notepaper of ordinary size, and from its contents seemed to be a memo- randum of certain documents which had presumably been conveyed to the Germans. It was written in French and ran as fol- lows: Although I have had no news from you, to.the effect that you wish to see me, I nevertheless send you, sir, some informa- tion of interest. : 1. A note on the haudraulic brake, 120; how it worked when experiments were le. 2. A note concerning the covering forces. Several modifications will be made by the new plan. 3. A note relative to alterations in the formations of artillery corps. 4. A note relating to Madagasca 5. The draft of a manual of field practice, March 14, 1594. This last document is exceedingly diffi- cult to procure, and I can only have it at my disposal for a very few days. minister has sent a certain number of copies to the different regiments and the regiments are responsible for them. Every officer who has a copy has to return it after the maneuvers. So, if you wish to wake such extracts from it as may inter- est you, I will procure a copy, subject to your promising to return it to me as soon as. you have done with it. Perhaps, how- ever, you would prefer that I should copy it out word for word and send you the ir. artillery copy. I am just going for the maneuver. That was all. There was no address, no date, no signature. The documents re- ferred to In the memoranda were scarcely of vital {mportance, but, naturally, the French government was interested in find- ing out its secret orders were being sy# tematically conveyed to the Germans. Tracing the Papers. Armed with the clue provided by the berdereau, the secret agents of the minis- try set about the task of finding its author. The writing of all the persons from whom {t could possibly have emanated were ex- amined and compared with it. It was finally announced by Maj. du Paty de Clam that the writing in the bordereau coin- cided with that of Capt. Alfred Dreyfus, stagiary in the second bureau at the gen- eral staff corps. Though Dreyfus was under surveillance from this time, he was not at once placed under formal arrest. The bordereau, io- gether with authenticated specimens of the handwriting of the accused man, were first submitted to two French handwriting ex- perts for their opinion. These authorities-M. Gobert and M. Bertillon—after a thorough examination of the papers submitted to them, delivered opinions exactly opposite. Gobert decided that the two could not have been written by the one man, while Bertillon announced himself convinced that were the work of the same hand, ‘and liter three graph- ologists wera congylted, two of whom agreed with Bertffion, “wbile the other sided with M. Gol ot, opinion was aj ite of brotéstdtiong’ of innocence, the authorship of the horde; itenced to per- upon him, and he ‘was - y_of being de- petual exile and tie in: ‘The French Experts, graded as a traitor. |. i will simply “This conclusion was that the person who wrote the paper known as the Bor- dereau had simulated the handwriting of Captain Dreyfus, as it appeared in the other specimens submitted to me. He had evidently made himself thoroughly famil- jar with all its peculiarities. They are all reproduced in the Bordereau, with this es- pee difference—they are all exagger- “This appears in many ways. For in- stance, the peculiar loops of the I’s and q’s are more pronounced tn the doubtful specimen than in the genuine. Simulated, but Not the Same. Now, it appears to me,” continued Mr. Carvalho, “that a man in penning a document that he knew to be incriminat- ing would endeavor to disguise his hand- writing. He certainly would not lay stress on the peculiarities which would certainly identify it. On the other hand, if you or anybody else wished to simulate another's writing the natural impulse would be to lay stress upon these peculiarities. These facts formed the basis of my opinion, which was that the two papers submitted to me were the work of different men. Of course I am not giving an opinion as to the guilt or innocence of Captain Dreyfus. I merely say, and say with all certainty, that the papers submitted to me as au- thentic specimens of Captain Dreyfus’ handwriting and that known as the Bor- dereau were the work of different per- sons.” Mr. Ames followed a somewhat different method from Mr. Carvalho in making his examination, and it is interesting to note the steps by which he arrived at a simi- lar conclusion. “Every man’s handwriting,” says Mr. Ames, “‘possesses certain essential charac- teristics, a personality, so to speak, as marked as that of the writer himself, and which it is impossible for another to re- produce. It 1s also a fact, well known to experts and interesting to laymen, that, roughly speaking, a man never writes the same letter twice alike. Where the same character appears over and over again in exactly the same form it is conclusive evi- dence of forgery, and many cases have turned upon that fact. Am Expert Analysis, “Now, to come to the Dreyfus matter, I found in my examination a wide diverg- ence in what I have termed the essential characteristics of the two specimens. The person who wrote the Bordereau had evi- dently made a careful study of Dreyfus’ hand, and had a good general idea of it, as well as an accurate knowledge of certain of iis peculiarities. But, as in all such cases, he was incapable of copying the unconscious characteristics, which show to the eye of the expert as plainly as pecu- Harities of speech and manner. “To come to the details, the handwrit- ing of Captain Dreyfus is longer in its gen- eral projection than that of the disputed copy, as is shown in the g’s and similar looped letters. Dreyfus spaced his writ- ing uniformly, while the copy is very un- even in the spacing of both words ana iines. In the authenticated writing of the accused man the m’s, n’s, etc., are made with open angles at top and bottom, while in the other the angles are closed at the base and more rounded at the top. “Another tell-tale discrepancy is found in the crossing of the t's, a point which experts always consider thoroughly, since it often tells the story carefully concealea in other symbols. In the Bordereau the t is crossed with a horizontal stroke, while in the genuine samples it regularly ap- Pears with an upward angle to the stem of the letter. “In addition to these points there were certain differences in the mechanical ex- ecution of the two papers. The pen was sloped at a different angle. In the dts- puted writing the shading on the down strokes and the tail flourishes shows that the pen was held sidewise and sloping to the left. In the genuine the pen was held in a horizontal position. “Ali these peculiarities might escape an ordinary perusal, but to one who has made @ lifelong study of handwriting these fine points are noticeable at a glance, and when they are pointed out to anybody else they are as plain as a sign post. They have con- vinced me that if Capt. Dreyfus wrote the letter submitted to me as a sample of his hand he did not pen the Bordereau.” Same Conclusions Reached. It is noticeeble that Mr. Carvalho and Mr. Ames approach the problem from dif- ferent points of view. The former, com- petent, through long experience in exam- tring different hands, to give a convincing opinion, studies their geueral and specific resemblances and differences and pro- ounces one an exaggerated copy of the other. Mr. Ames, an eminent student of the art of penmanship, examines the es- sential characteristics and analyzes the mechanical execution with the same con- clusion that the disputed cory is spurious. The different methods that they empioy make the fact that both reach the same result all the more striking and impressive. In this connection it is worthy of note that a sensational development is promised in the Dreyfus case which probably will also turn upon the testimony of expert graphologists. A gentleman in New York who is deeply interested in the efforts for the release of the condemned man, and who, for obvious reasons, does not wish té reveal his identity at this time, said to me: “The finding in the Esterhazy trial does not disturb the friends of Capt. Dreyfus. Though he was at first believed to be the guilty party, they have known for some time that he would be acquitted and that he was not the real author of the Borde- reau. I may say, however, that the name of the real man is known and that it will be revealed in good time—soon, I think.” “Was his identity discovered by a com- parison of his handwriting with that of the Bordereau?” The speaker hesitated, and then went on: “I will not say as to that; but 1 will say that his Identity is positively known and that all the world fs likely to be informed of it ere long. Mark my words, within four months Capt. Dreyfus will be a free man, and not only free but exculpated from the horrible charge that new rests against him.” To all of which the French officials shrug their shoulders and reply: “Mais c'est impossible; 'affaire est fini.” oes Literary Dogs. From the Topeka State Journal. Some time ago the Kansas. City (Kan.) passed an ordinance giving the THE ROTARY PLOW AT WORK. BATTLING WITHSNOW How the Great Railways Are Kept Clear in Winter Time. PLENTY OF DANGER AND EXCITEMENT Long Lines of Engines Charge the Drifts in Vain. THE ROTARY PLOW a IN USE Written for The Evening Star. (Copyright, 1898, by the S. S. McClure Co.) “North America is the battle ground of the biggest snow fights on earth. whose only occupation during the winter months is to fight snow. It is exciting work, too, a life that involves the greatest hardships and continual risks. One might search the world over for a more desperate and dangerous employment.” It was a Canadian Pacific engineer who spoke. We were traveling over the Rocky mountains at midnight. Through the glass- paneled door at the tail of the train one could see the icy crests of the mountains in the pale moonlight. In the wake ot the summer fires the trees stood up thin and rakish, like the masts of ships. Elsewhere they were shrouded, with drooping branches and spattered stems, in the universal snow. The snow gave an impressive sense of peacefulness to the impenetrable silence of the mountains. I looked out upon tue sol- emn stillness, the broad stretches 0. mo- tionless white, the deep passages of ava- lanches carved along the mountain sides, with a feeling of awe for the immensity of the power that had so changed the face of nature. But the railroad man had no illusions. To him the snow was a foe, a foe to be feared, a foe against whom men and en- gines had often measured their strength in vain. Every now and then the scenery was blotted out; the glass panels suddenly showed us nothing but the reflection of i e car and bobbing light of the overhead lamp. They were snow Sheds through which the train was passing. The railroad, cut like a single step in the side of the mountain chasm, was roofed in as snugly as a house. Above, for all we knew, the snow might be tumbling headlong over the slippery ledge in a tempest of passion; but for all its malevolence, impotent to inflict an injury to the poor snake of a train hid- ing beneath its shelter. Force of an Avalanche. These snow sheds have been erected among the mountains at an enormous cost. They are of massive timber work—heavy beams of squared timber, dove-tailed and bolted together, and backed with rock. They are fitted into the mountain so that they become, as it were, 4 part of the mountain side, so as to bid deflance to t_e most terrific avalanche. Anything may precipitate an avalanche down the steep declivities of those piled-up precipices, among which the single-track railway looks like a pin’s scratch on the hand of a man. It need be no more than a loosened scrap of rock that has started rolling downward with no forethough. of the immeasurable cataclysm that its pas- sage will create. In a few yards it has become embed- ded in a mighty mass of moving snow, a wool-white torrent licking up the levi- athan trees as it passes like straws swept up in a storm of autumn leaves, growing more venomous, more powerful, more irre- sistible, until the rush of the wind before it clears a passage through the forest an- ticlpating its ravages, removing all obsta- cles as the outriders to a royal equipage make way through a mass of human be- ings. it is truly a royal foe that the railroad men of the northwest have to encounter among the mountains. An onrushing, ter- rific force, something which cannot be turned, that cannot be checked. It is nec- essary to resort to subterfuge to cheat it, to hide from it, or to make good by arti- ficial means the path that the railway has struck out for itself. Battering a Drift. Among the Cascade mountains I have seen seven and eight engines linked to- gether charging impotently against the snowbanks, and at night time there is no more wonderful sight than this, each hissing engine throwirg its sheath of firelight on the tenders, with their heavy loads of wood fuel, cn the gleaming snow- banks, on the great trees seeming to press round to.mock by their stillness all this useless fuss and fury, this powerless rag- ing, this resultless disturbance of their peace. Under favorable circumstances the snow parts readily before the onslaught of the piow. At times, however, under the bat- tery to which it is subjected, it only be- cemes more rigidly compressed, more solid, mcre impenetrable at each renewed charge, a solid, unbudging block of ice. The engine may go back a mile, the throttle may be thrown open, it may rush upon the barrier at a speed of forty or fifty miles an hour, but when the shock of the impact is over, when the snow dust has cleared suffi- ciently for the engineers to see around them, it may be that they have only ad- vanced a yard, possibly the engine fires have been extinguished, not improbably the engime may have been thrown off the line. ~ The one recourse which then remains is to call in the aesistance of a small army of men, that a way may be forced through the snow with pick and shovel, and, while these operaticns are progressing, the pas- There | are thousands of men in the northwest | senger train has to be kept constantly on the move, lest in a few hours it become incapabie of movement at all. At such a time it is no unusual thing to see several hundred men at work on a single drift. Perhaps eight or a dozen platforms are cut in the snow, and thus what is removed from the line is passed upward from stage to stage, climbing the ls in tiny shovelfuls, until it finally reaches the open waste, thirty or forty feet above the heads of the workers on the ground level. The men are brought to the spot in spe- cial trains and fed and housed as best they can be. They work day and night, some- times shoveling for thirty-six hours at a stretch. The Rotary Plow. The thing that has simplified the task of snow fighting more than anything else, especially in the prairie country, is the rotary plow. The appearance of the “ro- tary,” as it is familiarly called by railroad men, reminds one of nothing so much the screw propeller of a steamship. a huge rosette of flanges, about twel in diameter, that bores its wa: ks. clearing just enough space to en. able the waiting train to pass through. As ™ Boes on, the snow is piled higher Tr on both sides, until we have the tiar embankments through which as It is feet into snow- | often passes f je vith- a Dasses for miles with As the wheel revolves the snow chips pass back through the the abeveba spel tervals between into a large-sized fan elevator and are hurled forth on thie aoe cr that side of the line, according to the puarter from which the wind is blowing. In a graceful arch of silver dust, the snow is flung into the air to a height of sixty or Seventy feet, descending like a fountain over the half-buried posts of the telegraph From the smokestack a voleano of fire 1a rising. There is an uproar like the sound of artillery galloping over a cobbled street, As a spectacular effect the snow plow is a Sreat success. Some of the bigger plows weigh over fifty tons by themselves, and with the machinery that operates them the total weight ts over 100 tons. The cutter, with its own private engine, as it were, is placed on a massive truck, which is inclosed like the cab of a loco. motive and linked to a heavy freight en- gine, the “Hog.” Following behind this travels another engine, drawing its load of tools and its complement of workers. The men who operate a snow plow draw high Wages, the expenses in this respect on one job amounting to over $150 a day. A rotary in good hands will clear a stow blockaded track at the rate of from two to twelve miles an hour: but the consumption of coal is one ton in thirty minutes. Dangers in the Path. With a rotary plow the engineers do not run the same risk as they do on the plow of the old-fashioned type, with which it wes often necessary to charge the snow- bank at top speed, not merely cutting through, but burrowing under the snow. But even the rotary plow is liable to be disabled by encountering the frozen carcass of a horse or a steer in a snowbank, or the debris of fallen telegraph poles, or, among the mountains, the trunks of gigantic trees. It is nominally the duty of the section men to look out for this, and, if possible, to warn the engine driver, and to telegraph for a gang of workmen with Pick and shovel to clear the track in the old-fash- jened way. But it is needless to sey that the most vigilant section men cannot al- = be relied upon in such a matter as is. It isn’t often that a train is lost in a snow storm, but that has happened once, at least, not in Dakota, either, but in Eng- land. The train started on a Monday night in February, 1881, with, fortunately, only six passengers—four men and two women. It was missing next morning, but no search expeditions could then. be ed on ac- count of the terrible state of the weather. The train was discovered at daybreak on the Wednesday morning by a farmer who had ventured out in search of some missing sheep. His house was barcly 200 yards from the spot where the train ‘lay buried beneath that immeasurable white tomb- stone. but on account of the thickty falling snow he had not noticed it. All the com- partments of the carriages, although the doors and windows were were fille@ with snow up to the hat racks. ESSewtrermter A Musical Asylum. From Harper's Weekly. To the charitable institutions which owe their existence to musicians and their wills —as in the instances of Rosini, Meyerbeer, Verdi and many more—is now to be added the new Asylum for Homeless Children, and its “creche,” founded by the late Leo Delibes, the eminent French composer, through the careful observance of his wishes by his widow, Madame Delibes- Denain. The establishment, formally ac- cepted by the municipality of the city of Paris, represents a great boon. It offers, with its endowment, a gift of about $40,000. The building is a perfectly appointed one in the suburb Clichy-la-Garenne, and it shelters already many of tts little persion- ers and guests. It is a pleasant thought in hearing “Lakme” sung, or in being en- tertained with the liveliness and grace of the ballet “Coppelia,” that its composer's name is cut over the door of the “Astle Leo Delibes,” and that royalties on the composer’s best scores and percentages on their innumerable French performances have kept little Parisians from brutality, vice, disease and the streets. —— -eee- — How Bee Wax is Made. From the Chautanquan. One of the most taxing of the bee indus- tries Is the making of wax. Bees gorge themselves with honey, then hang them- selves up in festoons or curtains to the hive, and remain quiescent for hours; after a time wax sc.'es appear, forced out from the wax pockets. The bees remove these scales with their natural forceps, carry the wax to the mouth, and chew it for a time, thus changing it chemically. Thus it may be seen that wax-making fs a great expense to the colony, for it costs not only the time of the workers, but it is esti- mated that twenty-one pounds of honey are required to make ore pound of wax. for, eh?"—Harper’s Bazar.