Evening Star Newspaper, February 19, 1898, Page 23

THE EVENING STAR, SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 19, 1898-24 PAGES, STATELY SUITOR The Way ‘da Presidents Courted Their Wives. == THE PREPFY YOUNG WIDOW COSTIS Martha Jefferson's Harpsichord and a Certain Violin. —— JACKSON'S STORMY WOOING Fron the San Francisco Argonaut. We know little about the courtships of the Presidents, but that little is full of in- terest. George Washington was a colonel when he first met Mrs. Custis. He was on his way to Williamsburg to see the gov- erner, wien he was met by a Mr. Cham- beriayne, who owned a ptantation along the way, and was asked to stop and dine with him. Washingion replied that his business was urgent, and ke was only per- suaded when Chamberlayne told him that he had « young widow visiting him who Was rich wnd fair to look upon. He finally Accepted, saying that it could be only for dinner, and that, the meal ever, he must hasten on to Williamsburg by moonlight. He then threw the reins of his horse to Bishop, his body-servant, and told him to Wait for bis return. Dinner being over, the Virginia colonel was so pleased with his company that he was in no hurry to go. He forgot all about poor Bishop and his horse, and accepted an invitation to re- main over night. It was, it may be said, @ case of love at first sight. Washington ‘went on to Wiillamsburg the next day, and ‘on his return he called at the house of Mrs. Custis and asked her hand in mar- Flage. She accepted and they were mar- ried in great style at her home on the Pa- Quunkey river on the 6th of January, 1759. ‘A honeymoon of several months was spent here, and then the couple took a wedding tour to Mount Vernon. Mrs. Custis was twenty-six years old at the time, and Washington was three Months her senior. Her maiden name was Martha Dandridge. She had been married @t seventeen to Col. Daniel P. Custis, the son of John Custis of Arlington, who was one of the grandees of early Virginia. John Custis had ebjected to this marriage, and had told Daniel that he would cut him off with a shilling if he persisted in carrying it out. He had arranged, he said, a mar- riage for him with the daughter of Colonel Byrl ot Westover, and the contract had been made when the two children were babies in their cradles. Colonel Byrd was one of the wealthiest and most influential men in the state, and John Custis wanted to see the two fortunes united by marriage. Celene! Daniel Parke Custis persisted in bis preference for Martha Dandridge, and his father finally consented to the matcn. it was a happy one while it lasted, and Martha Custis had four children, two of Whom were living at the time she married Washington. By the death of her first hus- band she was left wealthy. and she brought to her new husband about one hundred thousand dollars in money and a large amount of real estate. Martha Custis was a belle at seventeen, and at twenty-six she was a blooming wid- QW. She was under le_size and had dark brown eyes and hair. Washington is said to have been a homely young man @ very fine-looking ofd onc jartha W: ingten was a very pretty girl, but not a Very good-looking old woman. As she ma- tured she grew stout, and, though her pic- tures represeat her as a beauty, the cur- Fent history of the times says she was a plainly dressed, robust old woman, who jJooked older than her husband. She was not noted for her social or her inteliecwal qualities. She could not spell, and prob- ably did not read wu book from’ one end of the year to the other. She was a sort of Boody-gondy we whe almost always had knitting needles in her hands, and who though: she did a great thing when she saved the ravelings of a lot of old black silk stockings and worn-out chair covers and wove them into a dress for herseif. She was very proud ‘of her husband, and they show the little room in the second Story “of the homié at Mount Vernon in which shy secluded berself after his death, Seeing no one for months, and allowing only a cat to-emer the-room through a hole ‘Which was cut’ uridér the door. . xx Themes. Jefferson had rivals in his court- ship. with Martha Shelton, but he wooed her Tonw. and married her’one cold Janaary night. while the snow was on the ground. One aight Curitig his courtship two of his rivals happened to meet on Mrs. Shelton's door-stor They stopped a moment as they heard the sound of music, an they found the young widow's vo! ac- companied by her harpsichord, joined wita that of Jefferson and his violin, in a love song, they conclided noi to enter, and gav. up all hope. Immediately after the mar riage. Jefferson and his bride started out by carriage for Monticello, which lay one hundred miles away through the forests. They arrived late at night and found the fires all out, no wood at hand, and not a servant in the mansion. A half-bottle of Wine made up their wedding supper, and they sang and laughed till morning.’ Jef- ferson at this time had an income of about five thousand dollars a year, and his wife brought him in a considerable estate. The license bond to their marriage, to the amount of two hundred and fifty pounds, was written by Jefferson himseif, and it now hangs among the curiosities in the State Library of Virginia, in the capitol at Richmond. Pas Andrew Jackson's courtship was a stormy one. Mrs. Jackson's maiden name was Rachel Donelson. She was married very Young to Captain Lewis Robards, a man ef good family, but of bad habits and a very jealous disposition. Robards suspect- ed every man who came_in contact with his Wife, he at one time wrote home to his mother-tn-law requesting her to take her daughter home, as he didn’t intend to live With her any longer. Mrs. Robards’ mother ‘Was at this time a widow, keeping a board- ing house in Nashville, and Andrew Jack- son was one of her bearders. Some yeare later quarrel was made up, and Cap- tain Robards came to lve with his wife at Mrs. De on’s. He at once became jeal- ous of Jackson, quarreled with him, and the resuit that Jackson left the family. Shortly after this Captain Robards again left his wife, and when Mrs. Robards an- nounced her intention of going to Natchez to visit some of her friends in order to k out of her husband's way, Jackson went with her. At Natchez he heard that yorce had been granted to Mrs. Robards by the Virginia legislature, and he mar ried her. He brought -her back to Tennes- gee and then found that the Virginia legislature had not’ granted the divorce, but had left it to the court to do so. In the Robards had gotten a divorce in Kentucky, and Jackson, in order to make his marriage absolutely safe, bought a new license and had the ceremony performed over again. During Jackson's presidential campaign this question of his marriage made great scandal, and Jackson was probably think- ing of this when he put the testimonial of his wife's great worth in the epitaph which Mrs. Jackson Her speech ungrammatical, and full of frontier She smoked a pipe, and what read- did was confined to the Bible. She enty-three years old when Jackson fet her, and he was about one year older. ® wrote for her tombstone. Was not an educated woman. wa = = Van Buren’s wife died seventeen years before he became President. Her name wae Hanna Hoes, and she was distantly related to him. He was engaged to her for a long ti but was not married until he could support her comfortably. They were of the Bs age, and their married life of twelve years was a happy one. * President Harrison was a captain in the United States army, just twenty-two years old, when he was married to Anna Sym- mes, a bright Ohio girl of twenty. Miss Symmes was the daughter of Judge Sym- mes, one of the associate judges of the supreme court of the Northwest Territory, She was visiting her sister at Lexington, Kentucky, when she met Captain Har- They were married at North Bend, Ohio. Harrison then r his commis- = in the —, and was elected the first lelegate to Congress ‘Territory. 23 when Harrison came to Washington, and she néver lived in the White House. x * General Tyler, the son of President Tyler, says that his father. was married twice, and he was the first President. who was married while in the White House, Cleveland being the second. Shortly before President Tyler died he said to his son: “My son, I have in many respects been a fertunate man; btu in respect to no one particular have I greater cause to congratu- late myself than in that since I reached man's estate I have passed only two years out of the marriage relation, for it has protected and preserved my moral life.” General Tyler describes his mother, the President's first wife, as a dark-haired, fair-skinned lady, with a person which was a perfect mold of beauty. She was of medium size, and looked much like the Empress Josephine, save that her skin was fairer. Tyler met her at a ball given by one of the wealthy Douglasses of Virginia, and fell in love at once. He was then about nineteen years old, and it was per- haps a year before he became engaged to her. “This courtship,” says General Tyler, “was much more formal than that of to- day. He was seldom alone with her be- fore her marriage, and he has told me that he never mustered up courage enough to kiss his sweetheart’s hand until] three weeks before their wedding, though he was en- gaged to her for nearly five years. He asked her parents’ consent before propos- ing to her, and when he visited ‘her at the bome of Colonel Christian, her father, on his large plantation, he was entertained in the parlors, where the whole family were assembled together. As was the custom then among the better class of Virginian families, the lover never thought of going out riding in the same carriage with his affianced, but rode along on horseback at the side of the carriage, which always con- tained one or more ladies in addition to his sweetheart to add decorum to the oc- casion.”” President Tyler and his first wife were of nearly the same age, he being only eight months her senior. Their wedding took place on his twenty-third: birthday, and their married life of twenty-nine years was a most happy one. President Tyler's second marriage took place two years after the death of his first wife. Tyler was fifty-four. The bride was a girl hardly out of her teens. Her name was Miss Julia Gardiner, and she was the daughter of a wealthy gentleman of New York. General Tyler says that in the sec- ond winter after his mother’s death Mr. Gardiner and his two daughters came to Washington on their return from Europe. They visited the White House one Thurs- day evening, and he, as private secretary, took their cards, they being unknown to him, and introduced them to the family. A short time after they called upon his sis- ter, who was then presiding at the White Hovse, and she returned their call, discov- ering that the girls were very beautiful and accomplished, and also of excellent family. They repeated their visit to the Whit> House during the season, returning to New York at its close. At the opening of the following season they were back in Wash- ington, and renewed their attentions to the President and his family. After a time President Tyler began to look with eyes of love at one of the Misses Gardiner, and finally proposed a marriage with her to her father and mother. His proposal was well received, and, the young lady being willing, the marriage was determined upon. It took place In New York. General Tyler thinks it would have been an indelicate thing to have had it celebrated at the White House. President Tyler lived seventeen years with bis second wife, and had a number of ehil- dren by her. . x Fed Mrs. President Polk was a belle of Ten- nessee, and there is a tradition in Tenn see that Polk was advised by Géneral Ja son to marry her. Andrew Jackson, a greac friend of young Polk, thought his atten- tions among the ladies were entirely too promiscuous. He urged him to select one of the number of sweethearts, so the story goes, telling him at the same time that mong them all he could not find a sweet woman or a better wife than Sallie Child- re: Polk took Jackson's advice, and was accepted. x xe President Pierce met his wife while he was studying law.. Her maiden name was Jane Means Appleton. She was the daugh- ter of a president of Bowdoin College, and was married at the age of twenty-three, when Pierce w2s-a member of the lower house of Congress. She was not well enovgh while in the White House to make much of a sé¢ial figure. She, died in IMs, six years hetore her husband. = “ xR © mafried, and his first . Superior. Her name - the youngest child of n of New York. She Was: tall, tmestockmy and well-formei, «with’ a fair -complexton ait? tiful éyes.° Her pictures’ as Tady 6f th hite House rep> resent her with Inxuriant ‘curls hanging down the sides of, her face and a white lace cap upon her head. She was.two years older than Fillmore. = THE ATMOSPHERES OF PLANETS. Fillmore was twi wife was by far th A Theory That There i» No Water on Mars. Frem the Literary Digest. A very curious method has very recently been used by Dr. G. Johnstone Stoney, the English physicist, to fd the composition of the atmosphere of the planéts. Some time ago Dr. Stoney accounted for the ab- sence of an atmosphere on the moon by reminding us that according to the accept- ed theory of gases every gaseous molecule moves in a straight line with great veloc- ity till It is turned aside by an encounter with another molecule. Since the moon is a small body whose attraction is slight, the gases around it would in course of time dart off into space, particle by par- ticle, only those being left that are close to the surface, where the attraction is strong enough to hold them. This would be true also for any other heavenly body, but the larger the body the greater the dis- tance at which its gravitation would hold the gas, and the thicker its atmosphere would be. As the molecules of lighter gases move with higher velocities, these would fly off when heavier gases remained. This would account for the rarity of free hydrogen in the ecarth’s atmosphere. The discovery of the gas helium together with the certainty that it is not found free in our atmosphere, has enabled Dr. Stoney to make his data more exact, since helium is twice as heavy as hydrogen. Says Na- ture, in a review of Dr. Stoney’s paper, which appears in the Transactions of the Royal Dublin Society: “It is contended that helium ts contin- ually being supplied to the earth's at- mosphere from hot springs, that it exhibits no tendency to combine with other ele- ments, and since no trace of it can be found in the atmosphere, it escapes above, as rapidly as it enters below. Water va-> por, on the other hand, remains on the earth, and consequently limits of speed can be assigned between which gases are either imprisoned or are free to escape.” From calculations based on these facts the following conclusions are reached re- garding the atmosphere of the different planets, using the known intensity of grav- itational attraction on the surface of each: “Limiting the inquiry to a temperature of 66 degrees C., Dr. Stoney applies the theory to all members of the solar system with the following results: From the moon all gases having a vapor density less than 39 will pass with greater promptness thar helium does from the earth. On Mercury water cannot exist, while nitrogen and oxy- gen would gradually dribble away. The conditions on Venus resemble those on earth, but the case of Mars is of excep- tienal interest. Dr. Stoney says that it is legitimate to infer that on this planet Water cannot remain. The atmosphere he considers to consist majnly of nitrogen, ar- gon and carbon dioxid. He thinks there is no vegetation, as we understand the term, on the surface of the planet, and the snow, frost and fog do not arise from the same! cause as on the earth. Jupiter its able to imprison all gases known to chemists, but whether the more distant members of our system can retain hydrogen is doubt- ful. Helium and the denser gases prob- dbly float in their atmospheres, but the molecules of the lighter gases are describ- ing orbits about the sun, the velocity they can acquire enabling them to escape fronr planetary control, but still insufficient tc liberate them from the gravitational influ- ence of the sun.” 02 * Bismarck’s Confession. From the Londou Dally News. Of the neuralgic pains in his face, which were so severe that he sometimes had to Press the points of his fingers on his cheek bones for several minutes for a little re- lief, Bismarck was [CHILDREN OF THE POOR Transplanting Them to Better Homes in the West. A Philanthropic Work That Has Been Attended With the Very Best of Res From the Madison (Wis.) State Journal, It may not b2 known that the shipping of the children of the poor of New York to the homes of the west is an industry of forty-five years’ standing; and as conduct- ed by Charles Loring Brace of the Chil- dren's Aid Society, one of the noblest phii- anthropies of modern times. His work, by m2ans of lodging houses for homeless chil- dren, with shipment to prairie homes (never to cities) exterminated the “Topsy” child in New York—by which was meant the waif with no place to sleep—and per- ceptibly ch2cked and finally decreased ju- venile crime. which Brace was the moving spirit of the aid society, it placed 84,318 poor city chil- dren in “safe country homes.” Children are still coming west—sometim2s by the trainload. Farmers drive twenty and even thirty miles; alt the mothers in town go to the towr hall, or wherever the exhibit may be, to se> and inspect the little travel- ers. But they are placed in homes only after wise precautions to secure their wel- fare. Local committees are formed in th» villages and towns on which leading men and women serve. They receive the chil- dren; they consider th: applications; they are responsible for the happiness and prog- ress of the little ones. Finally agents from the New York institutions visit the homes to see that all is well. It is stated by ex- perts that from 75 to 90 per cent of appli- cations for children are not worthy of con- sideration. The applicants want, not a child to love and bring up, but a drudge, or perhaps something worse. The brace an- swer to this sort of thing ts “Not your need, but th> child’s need.” The success Of child-saving on this order has been wonderful. It has shattered old notions of the part heredity plays in desti- ny. “We can think,” wrote Mr. Brace be- fore his death, “of little Five Pots thieves who are now ministers of the gospel or hon- est farmers; vagrants and street children who are men in professional life, and wo- men who, as teachers or wives of good citizens, are everywhere respected; the children of outcasts or unfortunates whose inherited tendencies have been met by the new environment and who are industrious and decent n.embers of society.” Governor burke of North Dakota is one of them, dis- patched forty years ago to an Indiana farm home. It is seriously stated that 90 pcr cent of these children sent west make good citizens. Those who disappoint are the old- er one—the secret is to get slum children in- t® good homes at an early age. The average is nine years; and 14 per cent are under five; and 44 per cent from five to ten years. The boys and girls who haunt the slums Until they are twelve or fifteen years old are the ones who prove troublesome in the new environment. Child-saving of this scien- tifle, kindly order is markedly different from the Miiwaukee occurrencee. We haye no sympathy with the notion that because the stat2 has its own dependent children, there- fore homeless ones from without should barred. ‘There are 400,000 firesides in Wis- consin and there is room for all the mother- less boys and girls that are likely to come within ovr borders. The adoption of chil- dren is like measles—it spreads. The more children people adopt, the more they will adopt, and if they are properly brought up they will prove a blessing. Nor is there reasonable objection against an invasion of ignorance in baby garments! The only in- stence should be that they are not. lumped,”” but are placed wisely in homes and watched with loving and intelligent in-~ terest by those who are the means of send- ing them. ey gpg ee CLE SAM'S DOMAIN. With All of His Extravagance He Still Owns Over 600,000,000 Acres. From the St. Touts Star. : " The -idea that Uncle Sam is at ta, landless old Yellow Has generally taken pov- | session of the people throughout the coupe try. This, however, .is a great mistake.’ He still has land enough to give each one of his 73,000,090 chikiren-a nice little home- stead of eight acres each and st{tl haxe a‘ ranch. of over 16,000,000 acres left: “In ‘other: words, your dear old unele still owns some: thing ‘over 690(000,000 acres, distributed as follows throughout the various states and territories: Alabama, 332.339 acres; Arizona. 54.40¢ 211 acres; Arkansas, 3,022,042 acres; Cali- fornia, 43,841,044 acres; Colorado, 4,087,204 acres; Florida, 1,797,662 acres; Idaho, 45, 962,855 acres; Kansas, 1,046,589 acres; Lo isiana, 845,020 acres; Michigan, 522,431 acres; Minnesota, 6,240,049 acres; Missis- sippl, 41,441,220 acres; Missouri, 497,764 acres; Montana, 71,432,917 acres;’Nebras- ka, 10,669,353 acres; “Nevada, "61,578,556 acres; New Mexico, 56,983,047 acres; North Dakota, 21,385,293 acres; Oklahoma, 8,105,- 238 ucres, Oregon, 35,892,318 acres: South Dakota, 13,250,718 acres: Utah, 44,207,270 acres; Washington, 17,958,536 acres; Wis- consin, 454,107 acres; Wyoming, 49,341,588 acres, and Alaska, 369 00 acres. About one-half this vast amount of land iles, it will be seen, in Alaska, and it is very certain that this will never be avall- able for homestead purposes, but for min- ing purposes its value in gold coin may prove to be even greater than though ‘it were arable. The larger part of the bal- ance lies in fertile and productive states, and is all subject to homestead laws, Those who want homes should avail themselves of the more than liberal home- stead laws of the United States. This is the place for the surplus labor. ———-+0- New Memorial Window at Princeton. From the Baltimore Sun. A beautiful stained-glass window has been placed in Marquand Chapel, Princeton University, as a memorial to the late Ho- ratio Whitridge Garrett by the family. Mr. Garrett, while a student at the uni- versity, was greatly beloved by both fac- ulty and students. Shortly after his mar- Yiage he went abroad, and died in England in October, 1896. He was a son of the late T. Harrison Garrett. The subject of the window is the “Glorifi- cation and Triumph of the Incarnation.” The window is divided into three panels, each of which contains a figure of heroic size. In the center is St. John, arrayed in the garments of the priesthood and holding in his hand a chalice. His eyes are up- lifted and his attitude is that of prayer. ‘The background shows cherubim and ser- aphim. The dominant idea is to give the spiritual side of the theme. The right figure is that of Gabriel. The archangel is clothed in an alb, with a crossed stole. He holds in one hand a lily and in the other a scroll bearing the words “Hail, thou that art highly favored.” This ig intended to embody the idea of purity. The third 1s St. Michael, clothed in armor and bearing in one hand a sword and in the other the banner of the cross. This sym- bolizes strength. Behind th» two archangels are angelic figures, with musical irstru- ments, forming an effective background to the archangels’ wings, which reach in graceful curves nearly to the top of the Panels, The window is 20 feet high by 15 feet wide. It contains over 5,000 pieces of favrile glass. {SS Good Roads Protitable. Frem the Easton (Pa.) Free Press. The road commissioner of New Jersey, Mr. Budd, points out that it costs 3 cents a bushel to haul wheat on a level road a distance of five miles, and at least 9 cents to haul it the same distance on a sandy road, which goes to illustrate the practi- cal economic importance of good roads. This is a point which deserves the serious attention of farmers. Sandy and rough roads are wearing out their horses and ve- hicles and increasing the actual cost of meg Revie supplies and of the markett of tl In the thirty-nine years in [ | ar ont through the mists of the Now, in the il ~ loved bs ‘| The misic of RANDOM:VERSE. oN Washington. Written for The Evening Star by W. T. Talbott. Facing the cloud wrack ag the, tempest brewed, Prophetic tmpulse aver And sealed bis heart with at Beyond the dim, * ; Wild dawn of Freedom with dad heart he viewed ‘The sacrificial torrent, crfitiséti-hued; But saw the land her thwel6f empire trim, And bent his mind, thed would not brook’ their whim, to = ‘To weigh the people's canse,.avd found it good. And when, full-orbed, fromm biittle rose the state, They scarce could feek'tie found thetr praises sweet, 2 And conld but think that he'd dare question fate, So firm he stood, #0 coldly gracious—great In that sure way, dispelling base conceit, Which simply s:eks renown by pathways > The M: Rebert D. Burnie in Torerto Globe. ‘The man who o apeake A kindly word to soothe an aching heart ‘Or light some dear-dimmed eye, To break or turn the poiat of sorrow’s dart Aimed at a weary. wanderer passing by— ‘The man who lends A helping hand to raise whem cares bow down To boldly att, though world ald, t worldlings scoff or fro ‘The hand that at tyraopy a blow The man who loves All nature's gifts—mightlest or most minute— The bird, the brute, the flower — ‘The tempest blast, the air that tuges the lute, ‘The rays that brighten and the clouds that er He who thus speaks, thus lends a hand, thus loves— ©Confiding in the genins of the Giver, (‘Unknowable’” ) Glides to his rest—his record safe forever In the great archives of eterni Gipsy Song. From the Pall Mall Gazette. You are the safe and firelit room 1 am the open world; You are the city and this your doom— Never to feel the outer cold, Never to fear the utter dark, Never to strain the eyes, and hark For any foot but the foot of Time: Never to find hill worth the climb Or Joy that may be worth the tear, jear! ¥ou are shut in from snow and sleet, I am out in the wind, My feet are strange to the trodden street; Love cannot hold or bind My empty hands that let you go, My hands that cateh the silken snow, And let it slip from me in rain, I love you. yet our souls are twain, For I am Hope and you are Fear, My dear! ————_—-e-—_______ Love and Riches, James Barrett Kirk in Life. Love and Riches long ago Ne'er spoke to one another; For Love was proud because he'd wings, And scorned to greet the other. But once, on meet.ng, Riches cried: ‘I've wings! } Jack a feather!" “Way, so you have,” said Love, surprised, And now they chum together. —_——-e- Each in His Own Name. W. H. Carruth In Christian Register. A fire mist and a planet, A crystal and ell; A jeliytish and a saurian, And caves where the cavemen dwells ‘Phen a scone of Jaw and beauty nd a face turned frow the clod— Some call It Bronte a And others call it ‘God. WP A haze on the far horizon, ‘The infinite, tender, ply; The ripe, rich tints af the cornfields, Gnd the "wild geese ‘sailing bigh: nd all over upland)end! lowland The charm of the golden! rod— Some of us call it Aptian, And others call it God. Like the tides on i'tréscent sea beacl When the moon is Rewind thi = Into our hearts high Yehrnings Come welling and suegieg in— Come from the mystic qeeau Whose rim no foot, ; ‘frod— Some of us call it og, And others call-it fod. a 70 A picket frozen on: duty, _ A mother starved brood, Socrates deluking i rans And Jesus on thé robd:* Ahe million who. ibe) and namelews, The straight, thakay trots call it Gonvedeadhne” And ogbepy-call It.Geg P ; A Song’ in the’ ‘Strife, * Will T. Hale in the Chicago Thmes-Herald. region of ‘Then, Are.the bills. of the After Awhile; The lights and the shadows He. saft as, sleep in the overworked eyes :of men— On the hills of the “After Awhile! - -. ‘The day’ts as deathless as truth and Iéve;! un- ‘heard is the sound of no more; lutes rings out, responding: % joy's — Now ful on the ears entranced, now faint on the tropical shore, And the hills of the After Awhtte, The hills of the After Awhile. Ged fasbioned them out of the loss of the pleas- urea.of Paradise— The hills of the After Awhile— To: gladden the spirit that tires of the world—the world and its tear-laden sighs— tears of the After Awhile. O, fresh a3 the smile of a friend, when the pa- tlence of heurta seems vain; ‘ As bright as a steadfast splendor aglow in despité of the rain And dedr as the eyes we have loved, -come back- in a dream again— Are the hills of the After Awhile; ‘The hills of the After Awhile! Coors Kismet. “The sky is clouded, the rocks are bare, ‘The spray of the tenipest is white in alr, ‘The winds are out with the waves at play, And-I shatl not tempt the sea today.’ ‘The trail is narrow. the wood is dim, The panther clings to the arching limb, ‘The lion's whelps are abroad at play, And I shall not Join in the chase today.”” But the ship sailed safely over the sea, And the hunters came back from the chase in glee, And the town that was builded upon a rock Was swallowed up in the eathanake shock. —BRET HARTE. ———++ e+ Content. When I behold how some pursue Fame, that is care’s embodiment, Or fortune, whose false face looks true— A humble home, with sweet content, Is all T ask for me and you. A humble home, where pigeons coo, Whose path leads under bre ezy lines Of frosty-berried cedars to A gate, one mass of trumpet vines, Is all I ask for me and you. A garden which all summer through The roses old make redolent, And morning glori And tansy, with its homely scent, Ts all I ask’ for me and you. An orchard, that the ippins q From whose bruised geld e juices ‘spring; A vineyard, where the grapes bang blue, W ne-big and ripe for vintaging, -Is all I ask for me and you. A lane, that leads to far view Of forest and of ‘faifiand, Bloomed o’er with meadow-rue, Each with a bee in fte Rot hand, Ie all Lask for me an@gou. At morn, a pathway ‘dgép with dew, And birds to vary tiie ded tune; At eve, a sunset aventte,!! And whippoorwills ‘fit Naunt the moon, Is all I ask for me andiytat. Dear hearts, with wahta sp small and few, And faith, that’s clear than gold; A lowly friend, a r two, To care for us when! we?are old, Is all I ask for me and) yole. —Madiscn Cawein in Harjer's Magazine for Feb- ruary. Erriaty et Maternal AdVict”in Chicago. From Life, 5 “Ah, which shall I mafry,“my darling mamma, ‘The duke, the dude or ‘i preacher? \cker of pork, They’ at tee it to tell you the tmth, re al = 0 Bor none of the lot dd't banker? ‘My dear Marguerite,"" said her “You'd better begin with the + 00- ~ Song. Wm. Carman Roberts in the Miustrated American. A wind ts astir ig my garden Whi spills the ‘rose, to death. 10 1 will not, en ‘The bftter doting mamma, will not hearke thing he saith. A LITERARY CURIOSITY Later History of the Oharacters in Vanity Fair. Thackeray's Letter, W ich in n Sort + Of Posteript to the Fa- mous Novel. S. Arthur Strong in I n’s, on the Duke of Devonshire and bis. friends. The duke was no more satisfied than the other readers of “Vanity Fair,” when the puppets were finally shut up in the box. The antics of the Becky puppet at any rate could not have stopped there, and this is Treckéray’s account of the matter: My Lord Duke: Mrs. Rawdon Crawley, whom I saw last week, and whom I in- {crmed of your grace’s desire to have her Portrait, was good enough to permit me to copy a little drawing made of her “in hap- Pier days,” she sald with a sigh, by Smee, the royal academician. Mrs. Crawley now lives in a small but very pretty little house in Belgravia, and is conspicuous for her numerous charities, which always get into the newspapers, and her unaffected piety. Many of the most exalted and spotless of her own sex visit her, and are of opinion that she is a most injured woman. There 4s no sort of truth in the stories regard- ing Mrs. Crawley and the late Lord Steyne. ‘The licentious character of that nobleman alone gave rise to reports from which, alas, the most spotless life and reputation not ulways defend themselves, The pre: ent Sir Rawdon Crawley (who succeeded his lute uncle, Sir Pitt, 1832; Sir Pitt died on the passing of the reform bill) does not see his mother, and his undutifulness ts a cause of the deepest grief to that admirable lady. “If it were not for higher things,” she says, “how could she have borne up against the world’s calumny, a wicked husband's cruelty and falseness, and the thanklessness (sharper than a serpent’s tcoth) of an adored child?” But she has deen preserved, mercifully preserved, to Dear all these griefs, and awaits her re- ward elsewhere. The italics are Mrs. Crawley’s own. She took the style and title of Lady Crawley for some time after Sir Pitt's death in 1832; but it turned out that Colonel Crawley, governor of Coventry Island, had died of fever three months be- fore his brother, whereupon Mrs. Rawdon Was obliged to lay down the title which she had prematurely assumed. The late Joseph Sedley, esq, of the Bengal civil service, left her two lakhs of rupees, on the interest of which the widow lives in the Tractices of piety and benevolence before mentioned. She has lost what little good Icoks she once possessed, and wears false hair and teeth (the latter give her rather a ghastly 1_ok when she smiles), and—for a pious woman—is the best crinolined lady in Knightsbridge district. Colonel and Mrs. W. Dobbin live in Hampshire, near Sir R. Crawley: Lady Jane was godmother to theér little girl, and the ladies are exceedingly attached to each other. ‘The colone!’s “History of the Pun- jaub” is looked for with much anxiety in some circles. Captain and Lieutenant Col- onel G. Sedley-Osborne (he wishes, he Says, to be distinguished from some other branches of the Osborne family, and is descended by the mother’s side from Sir Charles Sediey) is, I need not say, well, for l saw him in a most richly embroidered cambric pink shirt with diamond studs, bowing to your grace at the last party at Devonshire House. He is in parliament, but the property left him by his grand- father has, I hear, been a good deal over- rated. He was very sweet upon Miss Craw- ley, Sir Pitt's daughter, who married her in, the present baronet, and a good deal » when he was refused. He is not, however, a man to be permanently cast down by sentimental disappointments. His chief cause of annoyance at the present moment is that he is growing bald, but his whiskers are still without gray hair and the finest in London. I think these are the latest particulars relating to a number persons about whom yoir grace was good enough to ex- press some interest. I am very glad to De enabled to give this information, and am Your gracc’s very’ much obliged Servant, z M. THACKERAY: «. CHINESE BEGGAR CHIEFS._ Features of So- zs China. Frotir ‘the Philadetphia Pregs. * « Dne of the most peculiar and ‘interesting figures in Chinese social life is the beggar chief; an fo less peculiar and- interesting, both as to méthods ‘and persénal’ appear- ance, are-the.members of the motley organ- ization of mendicants over which he reigns absolittely. He is required to pay a sum equivalent to about $100 to every newly-appointed tung _hwan prefect,-as a humble testimonial of his allegiance to the high authority from whom his badge of office emanates, and | when this requirement has been duly ful- filled he is allowed to exercise the preroga- tives of his position without fear of inter- ference on the part of the government offi- cials in the district assigned to him. His authority over the beggars is absolutely unlimited, and they obey his orders with- out hesitation or sign of protest. The office is hereditary, so long as the tribute is paid; but the immediate progeny of the incumbent are debarred from the en- joyment of any literary degree. Why this condition 1s exacted is not quite clear, but {t is certain that no descendant of a beg- gar chief has ever held a literary degree. However, the other privileges enjoyed by him are so attractive and the income is so substantial that he probably does not worry much over this one privation. How does he secure his income? From the merchants and tradespeople who know that unless they procure from the beggar chief on or before New Year day a “holo twa,” or “passport of safety,” their shops or “hongs” will be infested almost con- stantly by a horde of boisterous, impudent, importunate vagabonds, who ‘will drive away customers and damage the stocks of goods without hindrance from the regular authorities of the district. Once a month, on a day suited to the convenience of the chief, he assembles all the beggars of his district at the “‘Khichia Jan,” or rendezvous, and dis- tributes alms’ among them, each receiv- ing a sum commensurate with his per- sonal merits and obedience to orders. BIRDS PROTECT FRUIT. Prof. Scott Believes They Can Rid Us ~-of San Jone Scale Pest. From the Bsltimore Sun, A strong plea for the protection of native Maryland birds is made by Prof. Martin P. Scott of th Maryland Agricultural College, who believes that if the birds were not ruthlessly shot, bu® were fed during the winter to induce them to return in certain neighborhoods, there would ba a marked decrease to the damage which has been done to the orchards of the state during the past few years by worms, bugs and other parasites. Dr. Seott has given much attention to the subject, and he believes that birds will do much to check the ravages of the San Jose scale, which has been introduced in Mary- land from California, and for the extermi- nation of which an appropriation for two successive yaars is asked’ of the general assembly. ‘The professor's opinion is based Upon the fact that he has watched care- fully the habits of certain inaecttverous crows, blackbirds, jays, orioles, sparrows, tanagers, swallows, warblers, thrush2s, wrens, robi catchers and others. While ali cf these birds, Dr. Scott claims, destroy many of the pests which damage the fruit trees, he refers especially to those which seek as th2ir special food the larvae of insects found on or under the scaling outer bark of trees or within trees, ‘ } pbegdns g_ Wetece Gaceilhis tncileeeds Feeetendaks GUEAES ft Uasal reisledeiiissbileciete fists sOUiitbaeitielnbabeia i tereaiiter , T&S red feathers on his head, to the varieties called sap-suckers. The sap-suckers ar> so called because it was believed that they pecked ‘nto the tree and sucked the sap. ‘They were killed as enemies, when, in fact, they search for larvae and external para- sites, upon which they feed. “Sap-svckers are among the best friends of forest and fruit trees. They ar> close hunters and indefatigable in their work. The work of the red-headed woodpecker is familiar to every farmer. The flicker is a ground feeder, as well as a tree hunter. The tiny wren also deserves notice ae an insect fesder, and he ts a great friend to the beeman, always on the alert for the A few boxes or old fruit cans or gourds or brush piles, as secure nesting Places, will attract many of these birds and induc> them to remain where their services are required. “My suggestion is that farmers shall find out by a little close observation the birds which are special feeders upon larvae up on the bark of tre2s, and introduce them into their orchards, with the idea that when, in their search they find the scale insects—particularly the ravaging San Jose Scale—they will prey upon them. It is a striking fact that with the destruction of our birds came the invasion of our enemies. T have but little faith in bird laws, believ- ing that the farmers alone, by organization and combination, can protect the birds.” Efforts-have already been mad3 in Mary- land to kill off the San Jose scales, but with little success. Betng suctorial in their habits, their food cannot easily be poison: ed, and other means must be sought. The dir2ct application of such remedies as ker- osene or its emulsion has been tried, as has fumigation with hydrocyanic acid. It has been discovered, however, that these agents do great damage to the plants as well as to th> insects, and, as all the insects are not killed, the experiment is not worth the risk, as those which are left alive propa- gate very fast. and the scales are soon as numerous as ever. It bas be2n discovered in California, where the pest flourishes, that the small Australian beetle, or lady bug, is an enemy of the San Jose scale, and several orchards into which the lady bugs have b2en intro- duced have soon been cleared of the in- sects. The state is now raising the lady bugs and sending them throughout the va- rious counties where thre are infected orchards. The director of the agricultural experi- ment station of Florida claims to have dis- covered a fungus which can be applied to trees, and which will exterminate th> San Jose scales, but this has not yet had a test which proves its real value. ——__-+e+-__ __ THE PRICK OF SHOES. Why Is It So Low Compnred With the Cost of Producing Themt From the Shoe and Leather Reporter. The problem we find the most difficult to wrestle with is: What can be the reason why shoes are so low compared with the cost of producing them, and why does not jeather bring enough to yield any profit on the labor of manufacturing it, at the lowest rates at which hides can be bought? All this would be readily comprehensible if it were true that the stocks of shoes Wwer2 excessive, but the weight of evidence supports the proposition that such is not the case. That there will be shoes enough to accommodate the demand may be taken for granted. There are ext2nsive factories in which to make them and ample material to make them of. But that there will be so many more than enough as to render the production of thm as unremunerative as it is now for any great length of time, we consider highly improbable. We enter- tain the belief that the surplus holdings of venders and consumers are ess2ntially reduced, that they have been using up their reserves to such an extent that they will requir2 additional supplies in sufficient quantities to establish values which will admit of satisfactory profits to producers. Our conviction in this respect is strength- ened by the undisputed fact that dealers are almost all asking that the shoes they have bought or ar> buying should be dis- patched to them with the least possible de- lay. The natural inference is that they withheld their orders as lorg as they could, and longer than they have b>en accustom- ed to; that they sre accordingly running short, and find it necessary to replenish quickly. This applies, of course, chiefly to shoes that are worn by the masses and sold at low figures, but of thes> there are vast quantities consumed, and when the stocks of them in second and third hands fall below the average, a great many are needed to make up the deficiency, espe- cially at a time of the year when the want of shoes is most pressing. Of the more ex- pensive kinas, of which fewer ar> worn, prices are less, and perhaps not at all in- adequate. But we have the Idea that the rates alike of the low and the high-pricad ewilt be equably adjusted presently, to the advantages equally of sellers and buyers. Suwanee Spring. Florida Letter in Philadelphia Ledger. A short distance down the peninsula and below Jasper is Suwanee Spring. It forms one of the principal feeders of the river, and is a well-known favorite winter re- sort. It is some distance from the railroad station, and tourists are taken thither in an ancient “dinky” street. car, and thei- baggage on a flat open car linked behind. Both are drawn by a venerable but vicious- looking mule, and the wisdom of the own- ers of both the vehicle and the mule is exhibited by the length of the traces, which are sufficient to allow the animal to kick freely without battering down the dasher, should the whim seize it to" make the attempt. Suwanee Spring, like many of the other large bodies of so-called springs in Florida, is nothing more or less than the coming to the surface of a considerable sized under- ground river, and, like many of these springs, that at Suwanee is supposed to possess valuable medicinal qualities, par- ticularly for diseases which affect the kid- neys and bladder. The large springs of Florida are among its greatest curiosities, and many of them are wonderful for their beauty and varied features. Almost invariably they are clear as crystal and very deep, some as much as eighty feet. Many, like Suwanee and Green Cove springs, are heavily charged with sul- phur, and others, like those at Homasassa, with sulphur, iron and magnesia. The waters are almost invariably warm. Besides the Suwanee Spring there are others in the near vicinity, one a few miles below, called High Springs, and still a third close beside the railroad tracks at Juliette. This one is quite large and of Such remarkable limpidness that from the railroad tracks, more than a hundred feet away, fish may be plainly seen swimming about in its depths. a o-+—___ An Ocean Trolley Line. From the New York Evening Journal. An ocean trolley line, which reaches near- ly a quarter of a mile over the sea. con- veying cither passengers or merchandise, is one of the curious sights to be seen at Bear Harbor, on the Pacific coast, not far from San Francisco. While the ostensible object of this strarge trolley is the carry- ing of lumber from the rocky “highland abcard the big schocners which form the ocean terminus of the lire, dozens of lum- bermen ride in a basket attached to the suspended cable on a wheel. of coursethere is no electricity used in ecnnection with this novel’ trolley. The Power of gravity does most of the hard work. The lumber schooners come from the Merdociro county ports. Until a year ago they were 'oaded by the slow process of lighters plying to and from the wharves. By the new trolley system lumber in any quantity can be carried from any island point over a long and high railroad bridge te a sort of cage, where the wooden car- goes are stacked, and thence to the deck of each ship. . The troliey line is thrown from iCLIMATE AND. MEN Effect of Sun and Storm on Human Character. ENERGY DUE 10 -_ —- OUR ENVIRONMENT An English Compliment to Ameri- can Weather and People. — -—-- INGENUITY AND RESOURCE eee eS From the London Spectator. It is commonly held in America that the climate is less rigorous than it wes even within the lifetime of many people still liv- ing. The winter is now ustially open along the Atlantic coast until Christmas at least, though in New gland the “storm win- | dows” are g>ncrally put in by the end of November so as to be ready, for anything of an unusual nature on the p: of a pe- culiarly treacherows climate th Washing- ton bright spring-like weathers is quite usual in December. In the ‘northwestern states, however, the cold is g+nerally in- tense, the winds cut like knives, and in Duluth, at the head of Lake Superior, which boasts the nonor of being the celdest city in the United States, the winter sea- son is no joke. While it seems certain that, on the whole, the climat> has become less severe, it is at the sume time treach- erous and swift in its changes to a degree which we rarcly know in England. Thera can be little doubt, we suppose, that America was always the theater of greater and more suaden climatic changes than Europe, especially our part of Eu- rope. Russia and Hungary more closely reproduce the physteal and climati> condi- tions of tha central parts of the United States, though the summer heat rarely at- tains the same exireme as in America. Western Europe is so broken up by chan. nels, gulfs and bays that the moderating influenc? of the sea dves no: permit the sudden changes so common in America. A Fine Climate. For a thoroughly healthy person the American climate, except in the guif states, has meny attractions. It is clear, dry, with a sharp, bracing crispness in the air at certain times of the y-ar almost un- known in England, France or Germany, where the sea air produces mild and gome- what damp conditions. but each kind of climate has its own attractions; f America can yield crispr sunsets, Europ gives which lends poetry an pect of nature. Beyon beauty or of health tion of the influenc acter. That human character is largely molded by geographical conditions is so manifest @S to need no proof. The Greeks would not have been the Grecks nad they lived in the center of Russia. In his fa’ speech Pericles connects the intellectual qualities en with the “most pelluctd purple baze y to the as- question of the S, however, the ques- of climate on char- aur’ of Attica; and ‘n the same way ws can connect many of the characteristic traits of our own countrymen with the Physical conditions of England. The most obvious of these conditions is the per petual nearness of the sea to every islander—a fact which has stamped our histery with a character unique among modern nation: We live in the center of the modern hy “ays of the nations, and we have been familiar wth the sea for a thousand years, therefore we could not choose but to be @ seafaring and colonizing people: the choice Was practically made for us, as it was male for Greece and Carthage. But while tis fact has been widely recognized, it has not been seen with equal clearness how much We owe to fairly calm and settled weatacr condi-ions. Great Storms. There have been great and sudden storms in English history, such as that noted by Addison, or the great blizzard of January 18, 1881, which certamly caught us napping; but, speaking generally, we have not in these islands to contend with sudden” and unusual outbursts of natural force. We do rot know whether ft will be ‘x wet‘or a hot summer, but we do-know thal earthquakes and zyclones will ot wreck “our cities; and that armies of locusts will not eat up every green thing. We feél? on tHe side of nature, @ certain security, a certain assuranc even our rough ocean, Coleridge sity “speaks safety to his island child.” Can tt be doubted that this smooth uniformity of climate has imparted to the.men of .Eng- land a certain calm which is not seen in the inhabitants of treacherous elimes? The melancholy of the Slav ts tracea to his deep forests and boundless steppes; the quick energy aad the suspicious caution of the southern Italian to his volcanic hilis; and the uniform course of nature in these is- lands has given to the Englishman his calm, his patient energy, his sure com- mand of himself. Whether the race will maintain this character under such differ- ent climatic conditions as are afforded by Australia or Africa it is too soon to say at present. But that this character of calm confidence has been asnociaud. with the English people in their history a thousand incidents proclaim. Make Little Fass, We do not disturb ourselves or make much fuss: and, in spite of that “spleen’ which we were long ago discovered to pos- Sess in an abnormal measure, we are never melancholy as is the Slav. Our Puritanism did not breed suicide of mutilation; the worst it did was to give us a gloomy Sun- Gay. We have contrived to keep our balance because for ages we have felt safe and as- sured in the arms of nature. But there are advantages, too, in the mere checkered course of the American climate. It has kilied off many weaklings, but it has develcped a resourceful char- acter, a mind ready for sudden emergen- ces. Nature must have begun this edu- cating influence in:mediately the Pilgrims landed on the bleak New England shore; for they assuredly could not have survived at all unless they had been able to accom- modate themselves to the caprices of that exacting climate so amusedly described by Mark Twain. Many improvements in ways of living, in houses and in dress have been introduced into America ‘as the result of the educating influence of climate. The mind has teen quickened, the character tmiade both more eager and more inventive by the pressure of natural forces. On the other hand, just as Englishmen are in dan- ger of stolidity as the extreme of their calm ccnfidence, so Americans are in dan- ger of violent nervous tension as the out- come of a climate full of surprises, Politics and Weather. The sudden political excitements of Amer- ica, so often inexplicable on purely po- litical lines, may perhaps be explained on the hypothesis of an organism subjected to severe over-tension; and the sudden vio- lence of American labor disputes, like a bolt from the blue, may be due to the same cause. Hamlet asked whether he was a pipe to be played on; but to some extent by ” we mean the general physical char- acteristics of the country in which the race lives. Our own race has in this islam heme slowly drawn in from the soil and climate an immense stock of vigorous en- ergy, but energy dominated by calm direc- tive force. Rome had a similar power, and hence Rome and England have, in two dis-