Evening Star Newspaper, February 12, 1898, Page 23

THE EVENING STAR, SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 12, 1898-24 PAGES. 23 CLIMATIC CHANGES Are the Winters Warmer Than They Used to Be? WAS THERE MORE SNOW YEARS AGO? Things Observed Now and Then by the “Oldest Inhabitant.” MANY SOURCES OF ERROR ed Prof. Cleveland Abbe in “Weather Report."* A correspondent In Northfield, Mass., de- sires our opinion on the question: “Were the winters of fifty or seventy-five years go much colder, or were the snowfalls deeper than at present? The opinion is widely held that the winters were colder he snowfalls deeper, but I can find @ to warrant the belief except that he first part of the century a much larger percentage of the population lived in the hill towns or in the interior, which are both colder than the valley or the coast towns.” On the general question as to appreciable changes in elimate the editor’s opinion is that there has been no such change in any respect whatever so far as meteorology proper is concerned. If we divide our rec- ords of the weather recorded in North America since the days of Columbus into two periods, namely, before and after the year 1800, we shall find that every peculiar- ity, such a remarkable storms, winds, rains, floods, frosts, ete., recorded in the current century can be matched by a corresponding remarkable event before the year 1800. The popular impressions alluded to by our cor- t result almost entirely from the ions of our records and especially of our memories. There is a large class of persons whose habits of thought are so crude that when they experience any very remarkable weather they jump to the con- clusion that the climate has changed, for- getting that they themselves have had such i personal experience that they are ir judges of the weather over the country or of the climate of a cen- Weather Traditions. Our correspondent seems to suggest that @ certain change in the habits of the peo- ple, such as the removal from the interior to the coast, or from forest to prairies, or from country to city, or vice versa, will tly account for widespread errors in re- to climate. The suggestion is exce!- he editor would be inclined to in- ne phenomenon somewhat differ- The general movement of the popu- n in the past century has been from » Atlantic states westward, and from the try to the city, or quite opposite to movement suggested by our correspon- In fact, we find no real agreement in -alled’ popular traditions with re- the weather. We have met with s who think the win- are more severe as with those who think the winters are less severe than for- s to depend upo: » the “oldest inhabita he was a boy as compared with snt condition. If he moved from a farm on a windy hilltop in the country down to a cozy house in the village, the climate seemed to him to have improved. If he moved from the milder climates on st in his youth to the severer cli- in tue interior he was, as a boy, at change, and the im- rs with him that those severer than now. If he has PY lent, bi house: 1 diminished sunshine nged the climate, and ese combined with the changes in mode of living, especially the abolition of the open wood fire, have rendered the human system vastly more sensitive he finds that the frequalities of climate are greater than formerly. Little Real Change. From a hygienic point of view, “the cli- mate” includes everything that affects the health and comfcrt of the body. The me- teorolosical climate that agrees perfectly with one person may be entirely too se- vere for another. Our remembrances of our physical sensations is not a safe criterion when judging of climate. Our remem- brance of an occasional storm or winter is not a safe guide in comparing the past with the present. Our records of deep snows are too fragmentary to give any- thing more thfn a general conviction that there has been no material change in the srowfall. Our records of extreme low tem- peratures are liable to be in error several degrees by the ancient use of very imper- fect thermometers, and are almost certain to he exaggerated if the thermometers aced in valleys or lowlands where les on still, clear nights, so that aution in interpreting these records; difference of five, ten and even twenty degrees have occurred between the minimum temperatures recorded by weather bureau and voluntary observers loeat itkin a few miles of each, owing to the combination of these two sources of error, Remarkable rains and snows are usually local phenomena; there have been several remarkable cases of this nature in certain portions of New England and the middle Atlantic states within the past ten years. te cases occurred in others portions of these states fifty years @go and equally remarkable cases occurred in still other portions just before 1800. If the been any change in the climate of id, Mass.. it is because it lay within some of these regions of extraor- inary rain cr snow on one occasion and not on another. Such a change of climate pot is no criterion by which to j ‘8 at other places 100 miles weather is concerned has not y changed since the days when forest trees were young sap- that carries us back nearly five A TRAMP WITH A NEW ROMANCE. The Klondike Tale of Woe is Heard Everywhere. From the Chicago Tribune. “Please, ma’am, will you help me a lit- tle? I'm a poor woman with six children to support and no husbai Is your husband dead?" “No, ma‘am: he’s gone to the Klondike, and he won't be back until next year.” “Gone to the Klondike!” This is the bur- en of the plaint with which the child beg- gars of Chicago and their mothers are en- deavoring to excite sympathy and draw forth the coin of the reaim this autumn. “Gone to the Klondike’ will serve for “patter” admirably all winter. Always on the lookout for new ideas, the professional beggars of the city have deserted their time-worn stories of hard luck and no work fn favor of the Klondike song, and every ther feminine or childish mendicant who ints back doors and street corners will use of it this winter. Nor is the to the Klondike” idea confined to women and children by any means. “Gone ‘he authorities ef the charitable socie- ties ure growing weary of Klondike tales of woe, and the novelty of such narratives has long since worn off for the dwellers in comfortable residence districts. Unless something new turns up to once more whet the public appetite for Klondike details of all k the tramps and beggars are like- ly to find their newest excuse growing de- cidedly stale before the season closes. ‘Just how and where the tramps and ‘s acquire the knowledge which * them to take advantage of every happening of note is a question which said a man who has grown old in caring for and working among the people of this class in Chicago, “but that they do acquire it somehow ts unquestionable, as every one who has ever worked among tramps and has always puzzled me great! admit. Whenever anything of public interest happens it is immediate- ly turned to account by the men, women just as soon as the nights grew chilly. It was quite, too good an opportunity for the ingenious tramp to lose. It is impossible to prove or disprove it, and anything which pertains to the Klondike ts popular with the public just now. And then, too, the idea of the wonderful finds of gold took possession of Weary Willle’s imagination beyond doubt. There is something about the idea of large sums of money, or mon- ey’s worth, which {fs irresistibly attractive to the ordinary man’s fancy, especially if he happens to possess little or none of that commodity,.and the tramp with the Klon- dike story undoubtedly enjoys telling it far more than he would a less romantic tale. This is true for the women and children also, although to a lesser extent, but the “husband gone to the Klondike” romance is one of the best dodges which could be worked, speaking from a financial stand- point. The idea of a woman parted from her husband, or of hungry children whose ‘ather is away laboring for gold which ig to make them all happy later, is one which appears almost irresistibly to the average generous man or woman, and success gen- erally actends its development. ——s BERMUDA “HOG MONEY.” How the Island Happened to Get Her Peculiar Currency. From the Philadelphia Inquirer. Hog meney is rather a queer name for currency, is it not? Yet that is the name by which the brass money which began to be struck in Bermuda in 1615 came to be known. On one face of it was a hog, on the other a ship of that period. They are very rare and highly prized by col- lectors. The history of this device is curious and irteresting. A Spanish vessel, commanded by Juan Bermudez, and on its way to Cuba with a cargo of hogs, was wrecked there. This was in 1515. Later in the same century, when the English discovered this land, they found a country inhabited by hogs. It is also interesting to note that the English discovered it in the same way as the Spaniards. An English ship was wrecked there. Is it any wonder that the treacherous coast got from the Span- ish and English alike the name of “Devil's Land?” Yet it is one of the most beau- tiful coasts in the world, and it has been claimed that in brilliancy Mediterranean effects are not at all equal to those of Bermuda. Bermuda ts said to be the island of Shakespeare's “Tempest.” The strange noises which mariners heard coming from this island, and which they did not know were produced by hogs, caused them to say that it was haunted and to report weird things of it. While we are talking about Bermuda, we might as well tell of the queer way in which the people there get their build- ing material. The houses are all built of coraline rock. When a man wants to build a house, he cuts hts plank out of his ground and builos away. If he wants a Plank for anything he goes to the side of his yard and cuts out a slab. He seems to think very little about how the hole left is going to look. There are big and little quarrics all about in Hamilton, which is the capital. Another thing about Bermuda, which is not written in our histories, and which you might care to know, is the way she helped us in the revolution. One hun- éred barreis of good British gunpo' went from Bermuda to Boston in . If you go t¢ Bermuda you will have point- ed out to you the quaint old town of St. George, the exact spot from which that very useful powder was taken by the col- onists, with the connivance of the local government at Bermuda. The powder was supplied in recponse to a letter from Gen. Washington, who emphasized the advan- tages which might accrue from commer- cial relations between Bermuda and the colonies, and suggested that these rela- tions could be further strengthened by timely assistance in the way of ammuni- tion. Great Britain kept then, as now, large military stores at Bermuda. It was whispered at the time that Bermuda thought of casting her fortunes with the colonies. However that may have been, she is loyal enough now to the British flag. It is a pretty thought that she now sends us Easter lilles where once she sent us gunpowder. Raising Easter lilies for the New York market is a favorite industry in Bermuda, and fields of Easter lilies there are no uncommon sight. se Squaw Men in Alaska. Esther Lyons in Leslie's Weekly. At Lake Lebarge we met an Englishman who was taking his wife and three children for a trip to Five Finger Rapids. His wife was a squaw, and her face, as were also those of the children, was painted black. I never did find out the real reason these squaws have for painting their faces black. Some say it is because they think it makes them more beautiful, and still others claim that it 1s a preventive from the mosquitoes. We became quite friend- ly with this Englishman. He was taking his family to visit some of his wife's peo- ple. He had just received news from Eng- land that the death of three people had made him heir to a noble title and quite an inheritance, but to enjoy its lon, etc., of course he would have to return to Eng- land. “Of course,” said I, “you are going at once.” He looked around at his family and sald, “Well, I could hardly take them with me, and I'm too fond of them to leave them here; so I think I'll stay here myself and let the other fellow enjoy my property over there.” This was all said with a de- gree of pathos which was almost sublime, and yet I could not help picturing to myself the sensation that that squaw wife wou'd make at some reception held among his titled friends if she were to enter au naturel, as we were looking at her then. I think something of the same thought must have passed through out friend’s mind, for hastily murmuring, “What might have been,” ete., he looked suspiciously like shedding a few tears,bade us a hurried fare- well, and gathered his small family and be- longings together and proceeded on nls way. There are many white men in Alaska married to the Indians. They call them squaw men. ———_+-e+_____ Andree’s Expedition. From the London Times. Reuter’s Agency states that the opinion is held in geographical circles that if noth- ing is heard of Herr Andree before the end of April there is very little chance of him being heard of at all. By that time, if he hac wintered in Siberia or in North America, he would have an opportunity of traveling over the frozen tundra and get- ting into communication with some trading posts or settlements. It is also regarded as quite possible that Andree may have come down on the west coast of Greenland, in which case he could not be heard of until next autumn, when the Danish steamers end whalers return. There is also a chance that he may have reached Franz Josef Land, but the most prebable theory is that, if alive, he is in North Siberia, in which case hope may be sustained at any rate until April. The Center of Greater New York. From the New York World. Center of ths Greater New York--where 1s it? Half a dozen places are claimants for the honor, but only one is entitled to it. And what do you think it is? It's a golf course, and the building nearest to the center Is the club house that crowns the inks. There are several ways—all compli- cated and mathematical—of finding the geographical center. But there is only one simple way. Just take the map and bal- ance it on the point of a pin. The geo- graphical center will be where the point of balance is. That point is Richmond hill, Long Island, on the map of the Great- EM apd York. The links of the Richmond Pp ‘The pretty club house that tops the highest hill commands nearly the whole course, and gives a sweepirg vista of nearly the entire borough of Queens. + @+—____ A Convenient Custom. MOUNTAIN TUNNEL AFIRE A Vast Deposit of Lime “Slacking” With Intense Heat, The Santa Fe Railroad is Barred by a Peculiar Accident From Use of One of Its Lines. From the Los Angeles Times. The Santa Fe has set a mountain on fire in Arizona and is in the most perplex- ing situation that any railroad has ever faced. In fact, so serious is the problem that the company has summoned all the best engineers into consultation as to means and methods to be used to mdke the read available again for traffic, for, as it 1s now, all of the company’s trains have to be operated on the Southern Pacific Company’s tracks between Maricopa and Deming, or between Colton and Deming, the former route being used for freight trains and the latter for passenger traffic. The trouble is with the tunnel through the mountain at Johnson’s canyon, near Williams in Arizona. This caught fire some ten days ago, and, as has been stated, the company has been put to the greatcst exjense in fighting the blaze, op- erating its trains meanwhile over the Scuthern Pacific road. Thursday it was anwounced at the gen- eral offices here that the tunnel fire was extinguished, the woodwork replaced and that trains would be operated through it from that day on. Thursday evening, how- ever, a few minutes before the time for the first train to arrive at the mouth of the tunnel, the operator at the station there thought that he had better take a look at the place, and, on walking to the en- trance, found to his amazement that the interior was nothing but a roaring furnace, the new woodwork being ablaze, and while he watched, in a space of not two minutes, it became evident that the entire work that had been done was thrown away. In half an hour the heat from the fire was so intense that no one could approach within a quarter of a mile of the opening, the flames and gases spouting out for many feet at each end. Investigation showed conclusively. that the new fire was a case of spontaneous com- bustion. In short, the tunnel is now noth- ing but the flue for an immense limekiln, the largest, perhaps, that the world has ever known, for it is really a mountain that fs being burned. The geological formation of the mountain through which the tunnel passes is chiefly limestone of a high degree of purity. The lime is part of a series of strata; lime, lava. and voleanic ashes succeeding each other. The fire of the past week, together with the natural moisture of the soil and the water which had beeen used to extinguish the former blaze—all these things together have resulted in starting the lime in the moun- tain to “slacking.” This would not have been so bad if the casing of the tunnel had not been put in place in air-tight shape. This served to cenfine the gases from the “slacking’’ lime, and finally they broke out end, flaming up, set fire to the casing again. But this Is only a portion of the difficulty. The lime, as it is “slacked,” is dissolved into gas, liquid and ash, which, falling out of place, releases the stratum ad- joining of volcanic ash and lava. These fall down, catch on fire and add to the con- flagration. : The railway people fear that they may have to abandon the tunnel, and there does not seem to be any way by which they can avoid its use—at least, without an expense that would mean almost financial disaster. The whole mountain is made up of ‘this limestone, and there is no reason to believe that it will stop its “slacking” operation until it is exhausted; meanwhile the caving process is continued. There does not seem to be any way by which the fire can be stopped. The caving in will continue so lcng as the Ime is on fire. The heat is too intense to allow of the approach of man or apparatus within working distance from the place, and so the company’s engineers aré nonplussed. As stated, they have called in all the noted mining and consulting engin- eers in Arizona and New Mexico to study the situation. As things look now, -thelr only hope seems to be to wait until the mountain is consumed, and then build their track on the surface. ‘The matter of a tremendous daily mileage bill from the Southern Pacific company, however, is not pleasing to the general officers. = eee Famous Potboiler Work. From the London Times. At Corbin-hall, Crouch-end, Sir Wyke Bayliss, president of the Royal Society of British Artists, distributed the govern- ment awards and prizes to the successful students of the Hornsey School of Art, and, after -the distribution, delivered an address on “The Bogey of the Studio.” Sir Wyke Bayliss, in the course of his ad- Gress, said that the “bogey of the studio” appeared in three different shapes, and in each of them he must be peremptorily hanished. His first shape was in the idea that art, after all, was nowadays a com- mon thing, that there were thousands of people all trying to earn a living by art, and that what one could do hundreds of others could do equally. The second ap- pearance of the bogey was in the sugges- tion that art was merely a commercial af- fair, because the artist painted for a living. He had seen people so frightened by the word “potboiler” that they had changed the whole purpose of their Mves. A pot- boiler was a picture painted by an artist, not in an idle moment, or for an experi- ment, but in the ordinary course of busi- ness for money. The finest art work which the world had ever seen had been done un- der those conditions. The friezes sculp- tured by Phidias on the Parthenon were potboilers; and, no doubt, “Mrs. Phidias and the kids” had their share of the pay- ment made for them. The most precious of Turner’s works were painted for pub- lishers. The third appearance of the bogey was in the declaration that there were no More great artists. The belief that the golden age of art was passed arose from one of two causes—despondency or conceit —# conceit which would not acknowledge the value of contemporary work. Let it be remembered that art was a living and growing force, strong enough to shape the destiny of a nation. Were women beautiful only in the time of Helen? Were men ex- alted only in the days of the Renaissance? The source of the inspiration of those great days was not exhausted; and that inspira- tion could still be drawn from the common life pf men and women for those painters who, having a passionate love of art, sub- mitted themselves to the training of the schools. ——__+e+____ The Time Niagara Dried Up. From the Toronto Globe. It seems almost incredible that at one time in its history the greatest and most wonderful waterfall in the world actual- ly ran dry. Nevertheless, it is an estab- lished fact that this occurred on March 20, 1848, and for a few, hours scarcely any water passed over Niagara Falls. The winter of that year had been an exception- ally severe one, and ice of unusual thick- ness had formed on Lake Erie. The warm spring rains loosened this congealed mass, and on the day in question a brisk east wind drove the ice far up into the lake. round and blew a heavy gale from the west. This naturally turned the ice in its course, and, bringing it down to the mouth of the Niagara river, piled it up in a solid, impenetrable wall. So clasely was it packed and so great the out- sai RANDOM VERSE. A Portrait. Written for The Evening Star by Grace E; Palmer. ‘There is one smong you dares to walk straight onward, : ‘Treads no maxy measure, seeketh not his own; Earth bounds not his vision, be is looking sunward, Light he holds the honor, be the work well done. No man ts his master, yet sl men he serveth, Oft with deeds forgotten ere the day is o'er; Not for goodness slighted he from kindness swerv- eth, ‘Though too prond £6 nding at a fast-closed door. BS He 1s tender-hearted. ‘roeting children love him, Every wordless creature knows in him a friend; Joy has he in storm-clouds swept through heaven above him, Yet o’er the first snowdrop he is first to bend. And his mind seeks ever truth in all {ts phases; Books to him a passion, suns that Ught his sky. Though he now. ts jcurncying through “life's mid- way places, ‘ Light of youth still gleameth in his eager eyé. Thus be walks among you, ‘worth a poet's pratsing, ‘Worthy Shakespeare's sonnet to his friend u- known, Are you on another's face in fancy gasing? Humaukind ts nobler, stands be not slane, ———— Lhe Debutante. Agnes Rogers in Harper's Bazar. grown Iike a This slender slip of a maid, Who stands in the wing of her mother, And smnfles as we greet dear As the bud half-blown, as the dawntng ray, Our pride in this latest year. We wish her joys annembered, ‘We hope for her all things bright, That only the best may reach her, And never the worst affright; That her own may swiftly find her And her life be brimmed with cheer, As she stands to face Ler future In the mofn of this latest yeur. only One above us lay cast the horoscope But M. of fate to ope. Ber steps may lead through deserts, gh pathways steep and drear, Or over desolate mountains, ‘Through many a lonesome year, Yet, as we watch her standing, ‘8 dream, Her eyes are as an angel's, And we may safely deem The sweet maid sure of finding A life of bliss and cheer, And wistfully we greet her, ‘Our pride, this latest year. SS Fame. * Fame is a bee, Tt has a song— It has a sting— Ah, too, it has a wing. —EMILY DICKINSON in The Independent, —— Growing Gray. A littte more toward the light, Me miserum. Here's one that’s white, And one that’s turning; Adieu to song and “‘ealad day: My Muse, let's go at once to And order mourning. ay's We mus: reform our rhymes, my dean, Renounce the gay for the severe— Be graye, not witty; We have no more the Mght to find ‘That Pyrrha’s hatr'iq neatly twined, That Chloe's pretty. Young Love's for us a sfaree that’s played] Lene cauzonet and, seren No more may tenipt ‘0s; Gray hairs but fl Accord ‘with dreams; From aught but sour didactic themes Our years exempt us. pit ght “A la bonne beare}’" You fancy s02 ., You thik for one White Streak we grow ee satires Bach hairth a string To which our graybeard suse aball sing, yA younger lyric. — |, Our ‘heart's still sound. Shall ‘Ghow rare: to youth beent ‘At schoolboy dishes’ Perish the thought! :"Risours to sing, Though neither, Time wor Tide can bring W TAUIERT HOBSON The.Cello. paom oF “cakes and ale’ we Fail From the Century: When date { heard the trembling cello ptagji/« In every face I saw sad memories ‘That from dark secret chambers where they lay Rese, ab? looked forth from melancholy eyes. Se every mournful thcught found there to To miteh despondence; sortow knew dt mate Ul fortune sighed,-and mute despair made moan; Ang. engj:deep ‘chord gave unswer; :t*Late—too Then ceased the quivering strain, and swift. xe- turned Unto its depths ths secret of each heart; Each face took on its mask, where lately burned A spirit charmed to sight by muste’s-art: But unto one who caught that inner fame No face of all can ever seem the same. The Egoist. John Mowatt in the New York Times. I am the Weathercock! Listen, good people: Listen to me! Proudly 7 me bere. high on my, steeple, King of the sea! air and prince o! 1 am the lord of the winds that blow Round the compass and high and low. When I swing to the east, it blows from the east— I call and call Till the storm-rack drives o'er the moaning sand, And the rain .ssh scourges the shivering land, And the good imast splits in the sbrieklog squall— And I did it all, I did it all! When I swing to the north, it blows from the north— I call und call Till it blears the lake with a film of ice, And whitens your autumn’ paradise, And you trudge to church to your knees In snow, Poor little people that flock below .- ‘To worship me on my steeple tall: For I did it all, I did it all! When I swing to the west, It blows from the west— : Hurrah, for my westing wind! ‘There is health and life ior the world and his wife, When I feel in # rollicking ini Othe steer is glad as he: gies earth With the share of the Wallowing-plow; -And the plowman Greams pf the husking's mirth, The shocks and the ing mow. © the wind is true to ita ‘master's call: For I did it all, I did it all! ‘When 1 swing to the south, it blows from the south: And Tom stole a kiss trom Prue; And Bob bussed Kate on ger red inouth Because the south wind blew! . © hearts grow kind in the:warm south wind With the oye and the girs at play: And many’s the wedding that would not have been Had the wind blown a different way! ‘Thus I hold the world tn my gracious thrall: Bor I did it all, X did it ‘allt Heloise to Abelard. Thomas Walsh in the Bookman. ‘The wild roge that you.pressed between Han, Ane my Book ot Hoa iat a ste green ‘To mark’ the Joy that once was Ours. Not 90 the flowers unplucked, whose scent St us as we wandered on; ‘The sweetness of them isnot spent, Nor is their staing though they be gone, ee From the Deadwood Pioriser. A Dawson Cit . the He didn't have a Wout neers Glasee hte tigi nugget that I. swiped bate “Dell my friends ch Z too éyated and the wind too South Dekota yield as good a not to worry with a sorrow of thas buve panned out bad T had the land’s awful cold, Hills: of the fellows in the bome land to remain and ‘Deadwood, at Dead- | at 2 a and fall mg" en'mies, tf yon ever | I was Deadwood, tn Deadwood tn | EFFECT OF THE ECLIPSE The People of India Give It a Supernatural Importance. Hindoos Believe the Phenomenon Oc- curs Less Frequently Nowadays Be- cause of the Prevalence of Sin. From the London Times. As the eclipse reached its zenith the tem- perature fell rapidly and the atmosphere became perceptibly chilly. Quite an earthy smell pervaded the ‘air. One naturally expected to see stars peep out and twinkle in semi-darkness. But the scene here was too bright for that, and rather resembled a landscape under a wintry English sun. Crows flew from tree to tree or circled in fights, while sparrows twittered preparatory to roosting. Kites descended and cocks crowed. At the mo- ment of totality the conditions were fa- vorable at Sfr Norman Lockyer’s camp at Vizladrug, and the same was the case at Professor Campbell’s camp at Jewar. The sun was gradually blotted out, and a Marvelous corona of pale silver blue ap- peared. The duration of totality was two minutes. Stars sprang out and all was deadly still. Native astrologers had proph- esied all kinds of calamities, including a tidal wave at Bombay, and some foretold & great disaster a week hence. Religious Hindus sat down and counted their beads at the moment -of contact, at the same time reciting prayers and hymns. Here and there on the foreshore stood Parsees, Zend-Avasta in hand, with their faces turned towards the sun. The Brahmin priests, who are ever ready to receive alms, ceased their solicitations during the eclipse. Beggars, however, swarmed nearly every- where, and the Hindu streets were alive with the cry, “Give alms for the recovery of the sun from the jaws of the dragon Rahu!” The large gatherings which usually as- semble along Back Bay on the occasion of eclipses for the purpose of bathing in the sea were prohibited by the plague com- mittee. The few bathers to be seen tied Durab grass to their clothes and put some ot it into pickles and preserves to insure that they should not be affected by the eclipse. There was general fasting, but not much alarm seemed to be felt. It is the impression of some of the Hindus that when there was no Mahomeden or British Raj in India the solar eclipses occurred once in twelve years, and that they are now more frequent on account of the in- crease of sins and misdeeds. The natives in various parts regard the event gs pre- saging the downfall of the British Raj, but no disturbances are reported from any quarter. Immense crowds bathed in the waters of the Ganges at Benares, Cal- cutta and other centers during the eclipse. ——se7+ ——____ THE THREE KRUPPS. The Great Shops of the German Gun- mrkers, From the Iron Age. The city of Essen is located in the center of a hilly valley, which abounds in coal and iron ore, and the digging for both and the melting of the ore and casting the metal into ingots and rolling it into bars have been the occupations of the inhabitants for centuries past. Friedrich Krupp, the founder of the great works bearing his name, was born in 1787, and when crucible cast steel was first being introduceu in England, and its importation from there into Germany had been made impossible through the edict ef Napoleon called “the continental-sperre,” F, Krupp began to pro- duce crucible cast steel, first in small quan- tities for files, stamps, rolls for coins and shears, but only slowly could he convince and persuade German manufacturers to use his cast steel, and after a fe full of disap- pointments and hardships he died in 1826, eftera long and severe illness, leaving to his son Alfred little else than the old home- stead, which still stangs in the midst of the great works, and the seeret of his inven- | Ftion. . Alfred Krupp’s energy and enterprise soon gonquered. His first success was to be able to furnish cast steel of 4 varying degree of hardness, thereby increasing its adaptapili- ty for m&my new purposes. Next came the invention of the weldiess car wheel tires, which were patented in 1853 in all countries and furnished him capital for enlarging hs Plant. In 1865 he interested himself in coal mines, fron ore mines and furnaces, which should furnish the material for his own works, and in 1867 he began to reap the harvest from his experiments inaugurated long since wita steel cannons, and the great Franco-German war of 1870-71 proved be- yond doubt their superiority as against the old bronze cannons. Since then the success of these works and their growth have been phenomenal, and when Alfred Krupp closed the busy and successful and philanthropic work of his life in 1887 at Villa Huegel, his princely home on the side hills of the valley of the Ruhr, the city of Essen in recogni- ‘| tion of his great work erected in his mem- ory a beautiful monument on the most Prominent square of the city, and deputa- tions from many nations mourned at his grave. Essen fs a city of 96,000 inhabitants, and over twenty thousand of this population are employed in the works of the able and en- ergetic son of Alfred Krupp—Friedrich Al- fred. Over twelve hundred acres of ground are covered with buildings and machinery. Many coal mines furnish fuel for the works, over four hundred iron ore mines furnish the metal, and large iron ore deposits in Spain, near Bilbao, have been purchased in addition, and a special fleet of steamers has been built whic.. bring over three hundred thousand tons of this Spanish iron ore from Spain to the German coast and up the Rhine. Twenty furnaces at Duisburg and Neuwied-on-the-Rhine are reducing this ore for the Krupp works and are owned or con- trolled by them. The main street of Essen divides the Krupp works into two parts, connected overhead with innumerable’ mammoth steam pipes and bridges, and parallel with it, running east and west, the tracks of the Rhenish railway pass the works in the north, while in the south the railroad lead- ing from Dusseldorf to Bremen, Hamburg and Berlin skirts the mill. Innumerable tracks connect these two main lines of rail- road, surrounding in an inextricable net- work the buildings and crossing the street leading to Muelheim below its level. erful locomotives bring train loads of raw material into the yards and leave the works with valuable products, finished and ready for shipment to all parts of the globe. Miniature engines and cars move about be- tween the buildings on narrow-gauge tracks, bringing material of smaller size from one building to another until it fs fin- ished and ready for the market. —_———__-e—_____. BAGER FOR VATICAN ‘TREASURES. Anarchists Know That Under the Pope’s Roof Are Untold Riches, Bome Letter in St. Louis Globe-Democrat. anarchist movement secured a more exten- sive hold upon the masses than in the eternal city. The all-prevailing distress and misery render Italy a particularly pro- Pitious field for the anarchistic propaganda. Disciples are found not only among the lower classes, but also among the impov- erished aristocracy, and it was not for vent its growth; - every other Italian statesman, he realized that the chief danger hich his coun- try 1s threatened is the red apectes of a == expenses have increased. This is all the more unfortunate and untimely from an anarchist point of view, as in Spain, in Portugal, in Germany, in Austria and above all, in Italy, the movement has mever been favorable for anarchist coups. Resources are, therefore, needed at once. They cannot ‘be procured by legitimate means, and must, therefore, be sought by either fraud or violence. Now, there is no place in the world, not even the Klondike, where jewels and pre- cious metals are gathered together in such enormous quantities and in so relatively small a space as in the vatican. During @ period of six centuries, and possibly, for several hundred years’ previously, the popes have been accumulating gold, gems and treasures of every conceivable char- acter, the present pontiff alone having re- ceived in 1588, on the occasion of his jubi- lee, offerings, mostly in gold, silver and Jewels and coined money, to the extent of $20,000,000. Scarcely a foreign prelate visits this city without bringings offerings of gold from his diocese, the most munifi- cent gifts of this kind coming from the new world. When it is remembered that going on not merely dur- ing the reign of the admirable pontiff, but throughout those of his countless prede- cessors, it will readily be realized to what ‘an extent the ten acres of land occupied by the vatican are crowded with treasures vast beyond the dreams even of a Monte Cristo. Naturally they excite the cupidity of those stepchildren of fortune who, ren- Gered desperate to the point of madness, by the sense of thelr own want and mis- ery as compared with the wealth and luxury of the well-to-do, constitute the most untiring and bitter enemi®s of every- thing in the shape of property and capital, and resort to anarchy for the object of re- leving themselves from destitution. That is why, whenever in the past there has been even the slightest popular disturb- ance here, the government has at once dis- patched not mere detachments of troops, but whole regiments, to block all the ap- proaches to the vatican, at the same time barring the Angel's bridge across the Tiber with guns for the purpose of preventing that assault upon the pontifical palace which everybody here realizes would con- stitute the first and chief object of the on- slaught of any Roman mob that manages to get the better of the authorities. ' This peril has, in the opinion of the gov- ernment and of the Italian police, become more acute and imminent within the last few weeks, and not only are the military and civil authorities devising special meas- ures for the protection of the vatican, but the pontifical officials have been warned to be on their guard. ——_—_e+_____ The Leaky Missouri River. F. R. Spearman in St. Nichola: With all its eccentricities, the Missouri river leaks badly; for you know there are leaky rivers as well as leaky boats. The government engineers once measured the flow of the Missour! away up in Montana, and again some hundred miles further down stream. To their surprise, they found that th2 Missouri, instead of growing big- ger down stream, as every rational river should, was actually 20,000 second-feet smaller at the lower point. Now, while 20,000 second-fe2t could be spared from such a tremendous river, that amount of water makes a considerable streem of itself. Many very celebrated rivers nev2r had so much water in thelr lives. Hence there was great amazement when the discrepancy was discovered. But of late years Dakota farmers away to the south and 2ast of those points on the Mis- scuri, sinking artesian wells, found im- mense volumes of water where the gcol- ogists said there wouldn't be any. So it is believed that the farmers have tapp2d the water leaking from the big hole in the Mis- sourt river away up in Montana; and from these wells they irrigate large tracts of land, and, naturally, they don't want the river-bed mended. Fancy what a blessing it is, when the weather is dry, to have a river boiling out of your well, ready to fow where you want it ever the wheat fields! For of all manner of work that a river can be put to, irrigation fs, I think, the most vseful. But Isn't that a queer way for the Missouri to wander about underneath the grovnd? ee Early Writers on Smoking. From the Medical Record. The fact has been discovered that Shake- speare never mentions smoking or makes the slightest allusion to the habit. This is the more curious, as most of his contem- poraries, Ben Jonson, Decker and others, discuss the then new fashion at length, and the humorist and satirist of the time lost no opportunity of deriding and mak- ing game of the votarles of the weed. The tobacco merchant was an important per- sonago in the time of James I. The Eliza- bethan pipes were so small that when they are dug up in Ireland the poor call them “fairy pipes.” King James himself was one of the most virulent opponents of the habit, and in his ludicrous “‘Counter- blasts” calls it a vile and stinking custom, “borrowed from the beastly, slavish In- dians—poor, wild, barbarous men—brought over from America and not introduced by any worthy or virtuous or great person- age.” He argues that tobacco is not dry and hot; that its smoke is humid, like all other smoke, and is therefore bad for the brain, which is naturally wet and cold. He denies that smoking purges the head or stomach, and declares that many have smoked themselves to death. The Supply of Oxygen. From Tarper's Weekly. Persons who happen to be inconvenienced by dearth of anxieties are invited to agi- tate their spirits by contemplation of the prospect of a shortage of oxygen in the at- n:osphere. It seems that there are well- informed persons, Lord Kelvin among them, who find reason to believe that this calamity is impending. The figures (est!- mated) in the case are that the world uses annually six and a half billion tons of oxy- gen for breathing purposes, and nearly half as much for fires. This is a big con- sumption. To repair it we rely on vegeta- tion, which we are pretty constantly re- stricting. So we use more and more exy- gen all the time, and make less and less. No wender Lord Kelvin says the earth is undergoing “a steady loss of oxygen.” As yet, though, the atmosphere does not show it, and it may be a few thousand years yet before the difference will be measurable. To the short-sighted the pros- pect may not seem distressing, but folks Who need anxieties should not neglect this one, since, after all, in anxieties. and an- cestry and such things a little remoteness dces no harm. ——+o+—___ Oldest Church in Europe. From Tit-Bits, The oldest church in Europe is that of St. Pudenziana, at Rome. About the middle of the firet century a certain Roman senator had # house on this spot. He was a Chris- tian convert, and it ts sald a distant rela- tive to St. Paul, who lodged with him from A. D. 41 to 50. For the religious uses of himself and guests, he built a small chapel in this house, and when he died in 96, and bis wife a year later, his daughter added a bapilstry. A church was afterwards erect- ed on the site of the original house of Pudens, and consecrated in 108 or 145. Canon | Routledge, in his history of St. Martin's Church, ‘Canterbury, claims that that venerable edifice is the oldest church ia ee pa race gd it as occu- ing the jue position of bei the oni existing cour that was o1 =~ 4 built =A @ church during the first and has remained a church till the present day. Its font is the very one in which Ethelbert was by St. Augustine, as mentioned by Venerable Bede. ; | i : é i : i i i fe? i 8 B i & il 7 i et AE a! if URBAN BIRD LIFE London’s Winged Denizens, Their Ways and Haunts. eee THEY LOVE THE THAMES SIDE Great Variety of Migrants That Frequent the Metropolis. WOOD PIGEONS IN PARKS ee Frem the London Spectator. Two interesting questions are raised in the Edinburgh Review, the first being whether the birds now found in our great cities have been “inclosed” tn their pre: ent haunts, while the second is the practi- cal one whether we can expect them to continue there or to diminish. The writer anewers the first in the affirmative and-the second in the negative. He thinks that those still living in London can hardly re- ceive additions from the country, as the country birds would simply be unable to find a living in the town. We believe this view to be correct, and to hold good in all cases of resident birds, except the star- lings and a few which enter London by a very curious highway. Starlings are some of the very few birds which regularly mi- grate from towns—not necessarily large towns—to the fields, revisiting each more than once in the year. Now, of all things, Starlings love to feed on newly mown and watered lawns. The area of this kind of turf has greatly increased in London iate- ly. Several acres must be added every year in the parks, public gardens, county council “open spaces” and in the little Squares and plots of big buildings. These attract the starlings in great numbers, There are also a few visitors from the country which come to stay by the one bird road still left open, which is the natural entrance gate both of residents and mi- grants. The Birds’ Highway. This is the greatest of all open spaces, open from side to side and end to end— namely, the London river. Down this the migrants pour when leaving the Thames Valley above London, and by it they re- turn. In frost and cold the home birds also follow the tidal Thames downward. Black- birds, finches, thrushes, wagtalls, rooks and robins, and even kingfishers, enter London by its river gate every .year. Whether they stay depends on the accom- modation they find on either bank. Where the old-fashioned willows are left, as they were until recently from Putney to Ham- mersmith, by Chiswick Eyot, and whe public gardens or strips of shrubbery ac join, as at Battersea, the Chelsea em- bankment, or higher up at Fulham palace, some of these birds doubtless stay. It 1s almost certainly by this route that the dab- chicks and other wild waterfowl, of which such a pleasant account is given in the Edinburgh, arrive in St. James’ Park, the Serpentine and Battersea Park. Every night dwellers by the river may hear the calls of moorhens and other w ing up and down the stream, and w’.cre they find suitable quarters they are cer- tain to prolong heir visit, otherwise the; fly back before dawn to their previous quarters. In the Willov Wherefore we hope that the Thames con- Servatory commissioners, who maintain a vigilant guard over the riparian beauties of the upper Thames above Teddington, will retain the ornamental fringe of osiers and willows when they replace the lower line of the tidal banks with stone, and 60 enable London to “tap” some part of the stream of birds which passes up and down the course*of the river. The conservancy should also acquire the same powers for protecting birds on the water and banks below Teddington lock which they have used to such good purpose above it. “The number of species which inhabit London must go on decreasing as London grows larger and more smoky, and the Parks more artificial and more frequent- ed.” This is so, But must the parks be- come more artificial? We believe that in each there will soon be reserves or “wil- dernesses” artfully natural, with plenty of turf, shrubs and water, made partly to encourage the birds, especially those which, like the whitethroats, are insect eaters. There is nothing in the gathering of human beings which is in itself dis- tasteful to most birds. They are a friend- ly race, as witness the conversion of the wood pigeon. But the physical difficulties in thelr way are want of proper food—in the case of some species want of nesting places—which can be provided, and the ‘want of running water, or a constant sup- ply near their aunt. This is often for- gotten, but is a real drawback. They Love Water. Set a small hose running in any Lon- don garden, and in two minutes a black- bird or a robin is there, first drinking, then bathing, and then seeking food on the moistened grass. Wood pigeons will crowd to a shallow bow! of water set on the leads many hundred yards from the parks. The introduction of such beautiful and luxurious vegetation as adorns the Sub- Tropical Garden at Battersea Park must also encourage the migrant warblers, and with the increase of kingfishers on the Thames, due to their preservation by the conservancy, they can hardly fail to re- appear in London waters, as they have re- cently done in Battersea Park. If in the rush at luncheon time the feathered citi- zens find themselves inconveniently crowd- ed, there is also ample vacant space for another “city of birds” on a different level from the ground floor. We have never made such use of the flat roofs and gal- leries of our great public buildings as we might. There we might construct “hang- ing gardens” and keep endless flowers, ferns and tiny fountains, and let the only permanent inhabitants be the birds, the intrusion of any others, especially city cats, being penal without benefit of clergy. Where Little Things Count. From Harper's Round Table. Bookkeeping has been reduced to such an exact scienc2 in the big metropolitan banks that the clerks are expected to strike a correct balance at the close of each day's work, no matter if the transactions have run into the millions of dollars. When the books fail to balance, the whole force of the bank is put to work to discover the error, and no clerk starts for home until it is discovered, whether it amounts to two cents or $2,000. Generally a quarter of an hour will bring the mistake to light, but sometimes the hunt is kept up until late into the night. but still no clew, so sandwiches and cof- to "e served. SHelio!” said a clerk. “The Blank Na- tional le are wi tonight, too. the across the street were brilliantly lighted. ‘The incident was soon forgotten when the ‘wearyiog hunt after that elusive forty-five ‘o'clock the morning, they were about to give sp torte sath, took capuiny woe bebe at the front door of the bank. ‘Matter, chumps. > we've got Outside stood the crowd of clerks from makin the other forty Ave conte much. result half a hundred men haa worked for nine hours, and the search Shrowdly guessed the cause, hunted ap the cash slip, and discovered the erfor. ‘A Successful Meeting. ‘From Harber Lights (Salvation Army). Pek At © recent meeting held in Ohio twe mewepaper reporters got saved.