Evening Star Newspaper, April 9, 1898, Page 23

THE EVENING STAR, SATURDAY, APRIL 9, 1898—24 PAGES. RELIGION IN RUSSIA A Country Where Fanatical Sacer- dotalism Prevails. LAND OF CHORCH BELLS AND MUSIC Why So Little Sympathy Was Shewn for Armenia. IMPORTANCE OF THE ICON —_—_+—_——_. W. Durbar: in the Contemporary Review. This custom of religious holiday-making is the bane of Russian industry and the stronghold of priestcraft in the Eastern Church. There are about a dozen holy dsy= in each month throughout the year, end every Russian almanac marks these in large red figures. You go out in the morn- irg. probably int2nding to supply some nec- essary wants, and are surprised to find every shop closed. The church claps its {mterdict on commerce and hermetically seals up the avenues of industry by this system, which is enforc2d with astonish- ing vigor. Russia is the real home of church and state in the most perfect con- tinuity of mediaevalism. it is a vain notion, which the west3rn mind generally cherishes, that in Russia religious superstition is gradually yielding to the encroachment of modern progres- siveness Enlightened p2ople in Russia as- sured me that never has the whole laud ‘been so thoroughly dominated by a fanat- ical sacerdotalism as it is at this day. I saw evidence everywhere of the truth of this propesition. No keynote of any new song of toleration has yet been struck by the prevailing party. A lady of rank re- Yated to me how, in her own large circl2 of ‘acquaintance, a number of fine young gen- t!emen had ardently embraced the monas- tic profession. The religious feeling is no- where on earth at this hour so energet- feally alive as in Russia. If you move among the people you feel an all-pervading sepse of religion in the atmosphere. You can never move many yards from the shadow of a church, and betw>en the count- less churches there are shrines on the pavement, with candles burning and icons ‘Mluminated, before which, one after an- other, the peopl> crowding along on busi- ness or pleasure stop by hundreds for ado- ration. Religion mixes itself up with all affairs, commercial, social, military, polit- ical and domestic. The modern Russian ts the plaything of the priest, while he is th> abject slave of the tsar. Fiery patriotism and blind priesteraft make the “moufik’ what he is. The Wolsey of Russia. During the late reign the amalgamation fn the bureaucracy, which so uniquely locks church and state together, was Intensified. Pobiedonostseff is in Russia exactly what Wolsey was in England, and what Riche- lieu and Mazarin were in France. As the procurator of the holy synod he reduced Alexander HI to a puppet in church hands. Just at this point we may glance at the reason, which so few peopie seem to take adequately into account, why Russia has remained so quiescent over the history of the Turkish atrocities in Armenia. There is no such thing in the nation as public opinion in the ordinary political sense, but in no country is there such a powerful public opinion in the religious sense. The heart of Russia palpitated with popular fury when the sufferings of the Bulgarians were made known. All middle-aged En- gitshmen can remember also how, during the Se n insurrection, Russians swarmed Bs private adventurers over the Danuve. Why, then, do the people and government remain callous to the agonies of the Ar- menians. Simply because while Servia and Bulgaria are orthodox, Armenian christianity is not in affinity with the Greek Church. Had Armenia modified her religion into harmony with the ecclesiastic- ism of the Russo-Greek Church, Turkey would not have been permitted to perpe- trate any other massacre after that at Sassoon. And, as the differences are not in any sens+ radical or vital, it is lamenta- ble that som> reunion was not long ago effected. * * * There are mere sects in Russia than arywhere in Europe; but they ere underground sects, not pronouncing {their shibboleths publicly and not disturb- ing the megalficent Erastian unity of the mighty empire. And, moreover, Russian sectism is ascribed to the inevitable honey- combing of society with surreptitious lib- eral ideas. Among one hundred and ten millions of people there must necessarily be ramifications of opinion; but the main current of orthodoxy sweeps resistlessly on. The Universal Icon. The chief symbol of Russian religion is the universal icon, that unique sacred ple- ture which is everywhere in evidence. ‘Artistically the icon is unlike anything fa- millar in other lands. It is a picture con- taining no painting whatever except the ‘face and hands. These are painted either rudely, or with fair skill, or exquisitel the case may be. The rest of the { all in raised metal work—brass, nickel, sil- ver, or gold. A Russian cannot unuerstand ‘@ world in which {cons are not profusely displayed in all quarters. They represen. the Virgin and Child, or St. Nicholas, or St. Sergius, or the Redeemer, or any sacred character sufficiently famous to deserve homage. In every church there is, if possi- ble, at least one costly icon, and in all wealthy sanctuaries there are several of great value, usually adorned with rubles, amethysts, sapphires, diamonds and pearls. The Value of the jeweled icons, and of relics in caskets blazing with "precious stones, is, in some cathedrals and convents, simply fabulous. The traveler soon be- comes convinced that this most ancient of European churches, the Russo-Greek, is the most affluent in the world. Its treas- ures are incalculable, and it has never real- ly been spoiled and stripped, as other Eras- tian established churches have all been, by reformations and revolutions. With Due Reverence. Nothing ts done in Russia without ovel: @nce to tne icon. It {s an insult o: the “most flagrant order for a native to enter ‘Yhe dwelling of another without the sign of jhomage to the icon. In the bed room, the ‘kitchen, the drawing room, everywhere the holy symbol is encountered. In my cabin on the steamer when I opened my eyes in the morning a gaudy little picture of some int was staring down on me. ‘werved, by way of bi - ly that wersal hofnage pald not adoration, then I can 6n! 4t 1s an imitation of it which is absolutely perfect. \. The religion of Russia is remarkable both 4m its abundant accessortes and in its elim- fhation of some of the essential features of ‘other forms of Christianity. Russia is the land “par excellence” of church bells. The “‘kolgkol,”” or bell, is unspeakably dear to Muscovite ears. If you cannot sleep when the air is paipitating with the clashing Yeverberation of scores of bells, then you bad better keep out of Ruswa, for very @arly every morning the tintinnabulation sbegins, and it does not cease .for hours, @nd then the interval is very short. But What wonderful belis they a How deep, ich and harmonious they afe! Musical Services. It seems a singular anomaly that organs @fe prohibited in churches, as are all other {ns:ruments, but the singing is so fine that 4nstrumental music is not missed. The aixture of mirth and melancholia peculiar €o the Slav tcmperament predominates in @! Russian music, in which the minor gncde generally conquers the major. The ‘eburch services are simply all musical from 4nd to end. Even if some ceremonial is j going on, music must accompany it, how. unnecessary, or even out of place. [The chanting is incessant. A deep bass Yrecitative is being performed by a monk in front of an icon. He stands, splendidly reled, with his back to the people, 3 before the holy picture, blazes with precious stones, and which will fat the end of the services ‘be j by scores of the people. chanting in t as an operatic sing- {ee, & Magnificent burst of harmony from \Dehind the screen of the iconostasis thrills | the is r The effect gitagether indescribable. Nowhere outside Russia is anything to be heard like it. LI HUNG CHANG’S FURS. A Sable Skin That Surpasses Anythisg im Nature. From the London Spectator. _ Li Hung Chang fs belfeved to be the rich- est man in the-world. This belief certainly gains credit from a glimpse at one portion of his invested capital which has recently made its appearance in the city of Lon- Gon. Among other sources of income, the great Chinese satrap draws an annual tribute of precious furs from one of the nerthern provinces. This is said to be the morntain and forest district of Northwest Manchuria, whose “natural commodities” of fur-bearing animals are mentioned by the Emperor Kien Lung in the pious work in which the imperial author describes the ccuntry still held sacred as the dwelling place of the spirits of his ancestors. Part of the tribute of tne Russian Tartar tribes is also collected in the form of sables, and it is known that while the poor Tartars send in the finest skins in true loyalty to the czar, dishonest officials substitute -in- ferior furs, and the choice of skins in the imperial wardrobe come not from tribute, but from purchase. They manage these things better in China. Li Hung Chang has immense warehouses in Pekin crammed with precious furs from top to bottom, and no middleman pilfers the choice skins on their way to this repository. It has been dcne, but Li Hung Chang is a watchful ruler, and it ts rumored that the punish- rent inflicted was so appropriate and di- verting that no one has ever meddied with Li's tribute sables since. s There is an immense demand for rare furs in China. A nation tn which neither men nor women wear jewels, but which has an exquisite taste for personal luxuries, firds a substitute for jewels in costume. An Indian or Afghan prince will perhaps dress in white cotton, provided this be set off by some priceless gems on his sword, dagger and turban. A Chinese mandarin’s sole jewels may be a few bits of jade or carnelian, but he makes up for this in summer by the richness of his silks, and in winter by wearing robes of furs 80 splendid that it needs a certain education to appreciate the full beauty of the cos- tume. It has long been Known that the Chinese furriers were the best in the world; and that except in the dyeing of sealskins, their treatment of the fur itself, especially in improving its tint and luster, was un- rivaled. It was not, however, suspected that they could improve on the work of nature. An inspection of some of L!’s furs recently sent to London showed that this was a task not beyond the art of the an- ctent civilization of the far east. There were three or four robes which raised a certain excitement of admiration, even among the purely commercial experts of tke wholesale fur trade. One of these me was constructed with a special ob- ject. The atm of the Chinese furrier had been to make « skin of sable magnified to the size of the skin of a bear. In addition to creating a gigantic sable, this gentus also wished that the animal should have fur with the hair all lying parallel; whereas in nearly every fur except that of the seal, when the long hairs are removed the grain and direction follow the anatomy of the bedy, and give an unevenness to the whole. To effect these objects the artist had cut out the “tit-bits” of sable skins, and di- vided these into tiny strips averaging from an inch to half an inch in length. These strips were all from the same part of the sable’s body, and were covered with fur of even lergth, luster and thickness. They vere then sewn together with minute art, so that at the back the skin looked like a patchwork of tiny parallelograms like the squares on a fritillary flower, averag- ing from three to four in the square inch. In front the fur was absolutely uniform, emogeneous and apparently without seam or joining the kind of giant sable skin which might appear In dreams as the ideal of a Russian bride’s trousseau. But Li Hung Chang’s furriers had produced some- thing better than this—a fur robe which can justly claim to be an improvement on anything that nature has given us in the rarest furs of beasts. Sable was again the terial used. In this robe also tne skins divided, and rejoined so as to se- cure uniform of tint, fur and setting. But in the robe so made the artist had in- serted at intervals the skin of the sable’s shoulder and fore-paw. This, when cut cut, laid flat and sewn together, with a little addition to the curves, forms an “ocellus” like a peacock’s eye in sable damask, for the tint of tne robe was uni- form, and only the difference in the lie and texture of the fur produced the orna- ment. The result was the creation of a sable skin, adorned at regular intervals with an apparently natural ornament of peacock’s eyes, such as one sees in the tail of tne white peacock, indicated by the same alternations of reflection and lights as in damask. The magnificence of this cenception needs no comment. ——_+e-+-____. Electrical Pregress of a Year. From the Chicago Record. A notable feature of the electrical pro- gress of the last year has been the awak- ening in England and Germany in electric taflroading, and the recognition of the su- periority of American plants for this pur- pose evidenced in the large orders for elec- tric equipments that have come from Eng- land t» this country. The Frankfort-Lauf- fen transmission of electric power on an experimental scale over a distance of 107 miles, which excited much wonder a few years ago, has been approached closely curing the year, by a prospective transmis- sien in California of seventy-five miles, un- der the unprecedented commercial voltage ef 30,000. Niagara has nearly doubled its power of utilization within the twelve- month and at Massena, N. Y., a 75,000 horse-power electric plant has been start- ed. ‘These are startling figures. Another point remarked in the electrical record of 1897 is the largely increased number of clec- tric motors used in printing. In one large Mthographic establishment, newly equipped, to less than 140 motors of various sizes furnish power to the presses and other ma- chinery. The electric cab has become rec- ognized as mcre than a fad, and New York has ordered an addition of 100 vehicles to its electric cab service. The electric launch also is making its way, although its pro- gress may be delayed for some short time by the difficulties of procuring current. In lighting, the inclosed arc has established its practical excellence, and phosphorescent lighting has made substantial progress. The storage battery has forged ahead in a re- markable way, especially for lighting, and in central stations the three-phase high- tension system, with rotary transformer substations, gives promise of soon coming into high favor. The obtaining of electric- ity direot from coal has made a distinct ad- vance, and some interesting new phases of electric heating have been entered upon. The long-distance telephone has enlarged its borders; Omaha now talks with New York; the quadruplex has extended jts pos- sibllifies and wireless telegraphy, netwith- 8! ling the exaggerat claims which have been made for it, promises to resolve itself into quite a practical system of com- Re ication, more especially with light S and in marine work. ee ee To the Poie With Steam Rams. From Chambers’ Journal. Boats described as steam rams are now in use in fce-locked Russian harbors and rivers, and have proved that they can force their way through thick Ice, even with 72 degrees of frost. The harbor of Viadivos- tok, till of late hermetically sealed for four o: five months, has since 1893 been kept accessible through the winter; the Finnish Port of Hango is now open to commerce throughout the year. And last winter a similar steam ram kept up connection with the Ural railway through the ice of the Volga at Saratoff. It is proposed now to keep open, by stronger boats of this kind, communication of St. Petersburg with tho sea, and to force a winter connection through the ice from Archangel to the mouth of the Yenisel. Admit addressing the Russian praphical Bo: ciety, insisted that still more anetal beats of this kind might safely be counted on to cope with polar ice, such as Nansen had to deai with, and to cut a passage the north pole. 4 Death of the Small New England Town. From the Boston Herald. The decadence of the litle rural towns of Connecticut is well filustrated by the case of Warren, one of the smallest of the rural places in Litchfield county. A resi- UNSTABLE QUICKSANDS Explanation of One of Hatare's Most Oull- ous Phenomena. = In Every Case an Upward Cerrent of Water is Necessary — How _ They Are‘ Formed. From Inyention. Very little ig known by the general public about quicksand, and that little is usually obtained from novels. Such information is usually wrong, being composed of a pinch of truth and a handful of fiction. The sen- sational novel goes even so far as to give to quicksand some attributes that belong only to living creatures. No ordinary ob- server could distinguish quicksand from any other, if it were dried; and if he wish- ed to restore its fatal property artificially, he would in all probability fail. Suppose he fills a bucket with water; it dees not in consequence become mobile. If he drains the water off from the bottom, the sand will be found wedged firmly in place, and if the water be measured it will be found to equal 30 per cent of the bulk of the sand, or about 20 per cent of its weight. From this we may infer that a cubic foot of dry sand weighs nearly ninety-four pounds. This, for sand, is a very light weight, for there are other qualities of sand which weigh as much as 171 pounds. Quicksand, when examined under a microscope, will be seen to have rounded corners like river ‘8 than the other. It is quicksand that is used in the hour-glass and E} the smaller egg-boiler, partly because of its fineness and partly because ft does not obscure the inner surface of the glass by scratching. The lightness of quicksand is the quality which wil] lead us most surely to the cause of its reputation, and to illustrate this the bucketful of sand must be loaded with wa- ter from below, and made to overflow very slowly. The upward current will be found to loosen the sand and to raise the surface very slightly, separating and lubricating the particles so that they are easily dis- placed. Curious Qualities. The bucket now contains quicksand, and this sand from the support it receives from the water has its weight or supporting power reduced. In the dry state jt weighed nearly niriety-four pounds, but if weighed in the water it is reduced to thirty-two and one-half pounds, and its mobility prevents any animal from walking on it. The mix- ture of sand and water weighs quite 112 pounds per cubic foot, or nearly twice the weight of water, and bulk for bulk nearly twice the weight of a man; but it is too thick to swim in, and the person engulfed would soon be too exhaust2d to escape. He would probably die of suffocation if not drowned by an advance tide, for quick- sards are found mostly within the influ- ence of tides. He would not be swallowed ‘by the quicksand, because it is so much heavier than his body. Quicksands require in all cases an up- Ward current which is not quick enough to form what 1s called a spring or foun- tain. It may be formed in two ways—in tidal rivers and on the shores of tidal seas the rising tide may saturate a porous stratum of ground below high water mark, and when the tide falls the return current is established through the same porous (sandy) ground with sufficient velocity to loosen the sand as above described. This sand as soon as the rising tide reverses the current ceases to b> “quick.” The oth- er case is that when a slow current of fresh water finds an exit through a surface of sand above or below water. This is a permanent quicksand. Any sand and al- most any material might have the quality of quicksand imparted to it by means of a suitable current. Coal is separated from shale in an up- current of water, so regulated that the ccal is made to float while the shale falls to the bottom, and heavy iron tools have been carried to the surface by the sudden discharge of artesian wells. Quicksands that are encountered during the sinking of wells and foundations are all due to the in- flux of water when the work gets below “spring level,” or the level of water in the ground. The sand, being deprived of the support of the excavated part, {s pushed from behind by the water current flowing in from all sides. ———__+e+____ BISMARCK ANECDOTES. Reminiscences by a Former Chief of the Imperial Chancellery. From the New York Times. Christopher von Tiedemann, ex-chief of the imperial chancellery, has published in pamphlet form some personal reminiscences concerning Prince Bismarck, and the Leip- siger Neue Nachrichten quotes some in- teresting passages. During the first din- ner at which Herr von Tiedemann was present the prince talked about love and hate. He thought Goethe was wrong in saying that only love beautified life. Hate does the same service, and is quite as great a vivifier as love. “To me,” added the prince, “‘are indispensable love for my wife and hate for Windthorst.” One morning Bismarck said to Herr von Tiedemann, “I have not been able to sleep, I have hated the whole night.” The prince used to pre- pare himself for answering questions put in parliament. He was very indignant at the practice, and at the meeting of the min. istry, when the matter was discussed, de- clared, “I must speak straight out, and should like to be as rude as possible with- out being insulting.” He made use of sev- eral expressions, asking the minister of justice if those were insults. The minis- ter, being conscientious, was obliged to say yes. Then the prince grew angry, exclaim- ing that in that case it would be better that he should not answer at all, but leave it to Camphausen, the vice president of the council. Herr von Tiedemann describes the office hours in the chancellery, which began early and ended late. At that time Prince Bis- marck rose only toward noon. He worked hard from 12 to 6, and again from 9 till late at night. Tiedemann seldom left his office before 1 a.m. It was not easy to read to the prince. He demanded a susci- tating extract (as he called it) of every- thing, and declared, however complicated & matter might be, its kernel might be ex- tracted in a few words. His subordinates. gradually accustomed themselves to speak in, and Tiedemann often condensed more than @ hundred paragraphs into the space of ten minut But the preparation for guch cost several hours’ study. as dg Was over Bismarck gave his ithout a moment's re- flection. a sstonriag with what cer- it we tn Wal th (APed what he wanted. anything did not in- terest him, he said, ‘“‘Do what you like.” He wrote very little, preferring to dictate. Since Killmann’s bullet grazed his right thumb he had found it awkward to hold @ quill pen. His method of dictation was strange. He spoke in jerks, sometimes with long pauses, and then so rapidly that it was difficult to follow him. His thought and expression were so rich that he fre- quently uttered two or three tautological Phrases, and then said, ‘Please choose the most fitting.” As he might never be inter- rupted (for, strange to say, he then lost the thread of his thought) it was all the more difficult to follow him. Bucher did this more easily, for he was a st In the French quarries of St. Triphon PATRIOTIC, VERSE. —rero- Happy are all free peoplgs:tt@ strong to be dis- But blessed are those anicng nations who dare to ‘be strong for the re ie ELIZABETH. ETT BROWNING. a > te ‘Toll for tie: Brave. 4 BRITISH LAMENT Los? Ix THE BATTLE SHIP Te oe HAVANA. | ‘The time foretold tu ages:past'must ‘surely be at ‘When not’ one shore, Lut.7ait 4 ot one shore, Lut-'all Yhe world, shall be aside: thete'fends, raee-batred, ban, And take a nobler step téward the brotherhood of! man. No thander-clond of battle hung above the seas When with « shock that shook thé world a vessel sank from sight; Ay, shook the world—and in the shock our land has borne its part, For those who ‘neath’ the sca went down were hers in hand aud heart. And they that on the New World's shores are mourning now for these, Are hers, in spite of circumstance and intervening race, one blood, oné Janguage, sea-divided, spirit-blent; os z If not the self-same flag to wave, the self-saine proud descent. Ay, nations put aside their feude—all honor to the ve, Who faced the flery foe that night their fellow- men to save; 4 Z One step toward the franchise which the whole wide world shall free, And nations shall one anthem own, keynote— Humanity. sadder far, the vessel's loss, than ff the tempest’s = Had flung its/challenge and: foretold the fate that was in store. ‘The Stars and Stripes unto’ the last had floated on In batte with’ a human foe or on the sto:my seas. a bs A flercer foe than allen or storm waa nigh at Before whose rush the gallant ship went ‘down 11 wien ion ceo Z ee land a-near, with friends around, in view ‘And fo the deepe. e'took,."His sald, three hundred e ‘men that night. Yet from the saddest scenes have sprung a nation's boast and r Even this bas given new Ife to one which Time belief of Britain that ‘tis British blood it stirs All hero hearts, though they may not own & sw: ‘het is pot hose id = Was it the British spirit which awoke to urge im on ‘Who stood upon that burning wreck till hope: itself had gone ‘The Geath defying that was borne upon the lurid There told the Puritan descent, there spoke the British blood. Some trait of those old Pilgrims who, defying poke tyrant Left Britain, yet bequeathed their sons a very British dower or pluck and prowess living—deséent and blood wi tell, Proved has it een in battle shock and ‘mid the ocean swell. Now knits the Old World to the New a link of sympathy, In trouble and’in triumph it 1s ‘‘hands-across the We two as one, in spite of time and change, will ever stand, One boast, one race, one language, and one sturdy motherland. ———_+ fs ____ The Star Spangled Banner. Oh, say, can you see, by the dawn’s early light, What ‘so proudly we hailed at the twilight’s fast gleaming, ani 2 Whose stripes’ aad brightvatars, through. the peril- ous: night, Pane Over the ramparts we watehid, were so gallantly streaming; And the rocket's red glare, ‘the bombs bursting in # ; : air, Gave proof through the night that our flag was atill there. Te} yh say, does the star spangled banner still wave O’er the land of the ftee-and the home of the brave On the shore dimly seen through the mists of -the 2. ey ‘Where the foe's haughty host in dread silenca re- What is that which the Breeze, o'er the towering steep. As it fitfully blows, half condeals, half discloses? Now it catches the gleam of the’ morning's ditst | beam; = In full glory reflected now shines:in the stream, ‘Tis the star spangled banner! Oh, long may it ‘wave O’er the land of the free and the home of the brave. ‘Ob, thus be ic-ever, where freemen shall stand; Between their loy'd bome and the war's desola- thon; Blest with vict'ry and peace, may the heav'n res- cu Praise the Power that has-made and preserved 7h us & nation. * ites en conquer we must, when our cause it is Aud this be our motio, “in God is our trast: And the star spangled banner in triumph shaw wave Over the land of the free and the home af.the brave. : —FRANCIS SCOTE KEY. gg ge ‘Two Views of It. From the Army and Navy Journal. 1 I have sharpened up my cutlass pana I've ground my snicherse = couse I hear wa're, going to fight » To set the Cubate frees . We fought four years for niggers, And that was bad enough, But to have to go fight again For Dagoes?—that's too tough! I've my business to look after, My bi unk, and bonds and shares, ‘Than have our stocks impaired. So I've sharpencd up my cutlass Aod ground my sniekersee To sell them to some other chap ‘To yo and fght—for me. 1. To the men who fonght with Decatur, To the men who with Lawrence died, To the men who fell in that blazing ‘hell Of Mobile by Vurregut’s side. Take them our icexage, stern and plain, ‘Tell them the {fans are east loose, in, len of the Mainc! This to the men of the ships of oak From the men of the ships of steel, ‘To the hearts that broke ‘mid the flame and smoke From the living hearts that feel, There is no mizgen, nor fore, nor main, But all uf the flags are aloft again, Men of the Maine! Not inst foes of our 5 ele ees own true blood, © kin -across sea, But straight in the face ‘of a stranger race Who never, like you, wete free, ‘Tell {hem aE that eae And the si are lined, the Mer: of the Maine! we train ie Dagu comes And our aan ‘in fast old sive 5 inine! —_+ o + ___ Rattle Hymn of {hy Republic. Mine eyes have seen the glory of the coming of the He 1s tramplag tae me eet ee ee a8 pad ¢ fateful lightning of terrible His ‘truth iDibardiing on. Sion! serptaa s | Bor’ i SS ast ae H 1 have scen Him in thg-watgh-fre of a hundred ‘Him an altar in the evening dews 1 can/ Seg "Ble tous His cae: aed BERR, 1 have read a ery gospel writ in burnished rows “as deal with my contemners, eo with yon my Lot the Horv, born of woman, crush the serpent ” Glory! glory! Halogen &e. He has sounded forth the trumpet that shall never call retreat! So SSG. ee «me Ste Om, Sm mY Po, to anwer Him! be Jebiant, | Gioty! Gioayt Hata" ee. Of the Mies Christ was born across as = y FOR UNRULY STUDENTS The Academic Dungeom is a Stern Fact in Germany. A Prisdm Where Many Famous Men Have Been Confined in Their Day. From London Sketch. In this country the student’s body is com- Mmitted to prison only by the civil author- ity. In Oxford, it is true, the vice chan- cellor deals with undergraduate naughti- ress, principally in the form of debt and insubordination, for which he may impose @ momentary penalty, but he does not deprive the defaulter of liberty. There is, or was, a legend that a certain apartment urder the old Clarendon building was real- ly the university “qucd,” but for its au- thenticity it is impossible to vouch, Cam- bridge has its spinning house for female offenders—not-lady students, but ladies who might prove a delusion and a snare to the mcre male undergrad. There, if we ex- cept the irksome penalty of “gating” (con- finement to college or lodgings after a stated hour), our academic efforts at m- carcerationxmay be said to end. In Germany, however, the academic dun- geon is a very stern fact. ‘The Heidelberg “Carcer’ is famous. Every reader of Mark Twain will recall his entertaining description of the place, and how h» con- trived to visit it, even unwittingly enlist- ing as his guide a “Herr Professor.” His pretext was to see a young friend who had “got” twenty-four hours and had con- veniently arranged the day to suit Mark— for the German student convict . goes to prigon on the first suitable day after con- viction and sentence. If Thursday is not convenient, he tells the officer sent to hate him to jail that he will come on Friday or Saturday or Sunday, as the case may be. The officer never doubts his word, and it is never broken. The prison is up three flights of stairs, and is approached by a “Zugang”’ as ricaly decorated with the art work of convicts as the cell itself. That apartment is not rcomy, but bigger than an ordinary prison cell. It has an iron-grated window, a strall stove, two wooden chairs, two oli cak tables and a narrow wooden bedstead. ‘The furniture is profusely ornamented with carving, the work of languishing captives, who have placed on reccrd their names, armorial bearings, their crimes, and the dates of their tinprisonment, together with quaint warnings and denunciations. Walls and ceilings are covered with por- traits and legends executed In colored chalk and ir soot, the prison candle forming- a handy pencil. Some of the inscriptions are pathetic. One runs— E. Glinicke, four deys for being too eager @ spectator of a row. If four days were meted out to a mere spectator, what, one wonders, had heen the sentence of the participators? It must have been a moving spectacle. Savors of a Great Name. Anoiher record (also quoted by Mr. Clem- ens) has the savor of a great name to It. Of cours2, it is tle scn that is meant, not the father. The legend is; F. Graf Bismarck, 27-29. II. ’T4. This Mark Twain interprets as a record of two days’ durarce vile for Count Bis- marck in i874. Had 1874 been leap year one might have been inclined to interpret the numeral “II” as February. But the “20” makes this difficult, so perhaps the humorist is right. A third specimen fs too tragic for com- ment. It simply says: R. Diergandt—for Love—four days. Ungenerous successors to that sad cham- ber bave dealt harshly with their fore- runners’ reputations by ingenious substi- tution of heinous. crimes, so that certain prisoners go down to posterity as having been punished for theft end murder. The prisoner must supply ais own bedding and is subject to various charges. On en- termg he pays about tenpence, and on leaving, a similar sum. Every day in prison costs sixpence; fir> and light, six- pence extra. The jailer supplies coffee for a trifle. Meals may be ordered from outside. Every prisoner leaves his carte-de-visite. which is fixed, with a multitude of others, on the door of the cell. This queer album is glazed, to protect the photographs. Academic criminal procedure in Heidel- berg is curious. If the city police appre- hend a student the captive shows his ma- triculation card. He is then asked for his address and set free, but will hear more of the matter, for the civil authority reports him to the university. The Oxford regu- lation, by the way, {s in certain cases al- ™ost identical. In Heidelberg the univer- sity court try and pass sentence, the civil power taking no further concern with the offense. The trial is very often conducted in the prisoner’s absence, and he, poor wight, may have forgotten all about his peccadiilo until the university constable appears to conduct him to prison. But thither, seeing he may choose his day, he always repairs cheerfully. ———+o+—___ CLAY PIPES. The Largest Factory in the World— How It Was Started. From the Richmond Dispatch. The largest tobacco-pipe factory in the world is located in Appomattox county, near Pamplin City. This is in itself an interesting fact, and one not generally known, but the manner in which the factory came to be Jovated in Appomattox is of even greater interest. It had been known for many years prior to the war between the states that there existed clay in that county well adapted to the manufacture of tobacco pipes, but the industry was carried on in the most de- sultory way. Sometimes a negro at odd times would fashion a few rude pipes and sell them in the neighborhcod, generally at th ccuntry store, receiving In exchange such articles as he coveted most and were within the reach of the very moderate meee derived from the sale of his handi- we But at the close of the war tha whites turned their attention to the clay deposits. = ee. @ necessity, and not a matter of cheice. ‘The-war had swept away averything. The implements with which the pip2s were manufactured were simple and rude, and it must be confessed that the article which they fabricated did not bear the closest pos- sible rssemblance to those turned out by the thousand today. The pipes were sold to local merchants, who shipped them to wholesile dealers in northern cities, who sold them to retailers thpouehout the country. now comi3s the part of the story that sounds rather romantic, though it is every werd true. Among the retail dealers who purchased @ lot of rhee Door men's spipes was in groceryman a little town"in Ohio. He AN ELEPHANTS CUNNING. He Kaew How to Get Even With Hin ‘ Tormeator. From the Golden Penny. This ts a good story of an elephant's in- telligence. The animal in question was a mere baby when he was sent by an Indian Prince to England as a present for Queen Victoria. He was shipped as { deck passenger by one of the Indian mail steamers from Bom- bay, and as he had but attained the height of a well-grown calf, and was always most docile and tractable, he was permitted to have the run of the decks for an hour or two every morning when the state of the weather permitted. By the sailors he was dubbed the “Bos’un's mate,” owing to the penchant he had for carefully picking up every loose coll of rope that he could find and then throwing it over the side, being, as Jack said, “as bad as a naval lieutenant for keeping the decks tidy.” Among other acquaintances that he form- ed was that of the ship's baker, whose ad- dress he soon discovered to be the place of origin of all the sweet dainties with which he was petted. Here he took to making a regular morning call for something sweet for tiffin, and was generally regaled with a stale tart or piece of cake; but, upon call- ing one morning and extending his trunk, as usual, he found that his visit was unwel- come, as something had occurred to irritate the baker, and, instead of the cake, he re- pce a blow on his trunk with the rolling pin. The blow was not severe, but the Bo’sun turned tail and went trumpeting up the deck, where he took a post that would en- able him to watch for his assailant. Be- fore long he saw the baker leave his “shop,” and mischief being his obiect rather than malice, he promptly marched down, and, with several vigorous sweeps of his trunk he swept all the shelves in the bakery clear, until loaves, tarts, cakes, patty pans and cake tins lay in confusion on the deck. This achieved, he bolte. like any school boy, and was locked up in di: grace; but, upon the circumstances being known, the popular verdict was in his favor, and he was allowed his liberty as before. Bo’sun marched down instanter to the baker, and never failed from that day to exact tribute, which was larly paid, and from that time he and his opponent became fast friends. Min @ Disease Producer. From the Horal Review. When a man is in the excited stage of al- coholism—that ts, has had a quantity of al- cohol sufficient, not to make him drunk, but to stimulate the processes of his ‘thought—we find him talking rapidly and vividiy, and, if we are ourselves the man, we find ourselves thinking in pictures with very great rapidity; that is, each thought or mental picture leads instantly to anoth- er. But we know this to be morbid and the result of alcohol poisoning. And we know it to be disastrous to the brain to repeat this process often. We know further that the same thing may occur without the al- coholic poison. In persons of a certain temperament, called sensitive or emotional, any little dis- turbance in circumstance cr chance word wil) in the same way set the mind off, rat- tling it; it may happen even without any marked cause at all. Such a one will, in body, compoee himself to sleep, in bed, but that is not what his mind is proposing. It passes from thought to thought, from memory to memory, from picture to picture, and at last the very possibility of sleep de- parts. By morning the wearied brain is vnable either to think of anything or not to think of everything, and two more such nights would mean insanity or aploplexy. This form of wear and tear of brain, like the alcoholic, is morbid. No one would de- ny that. Yet that is what we all do, in lesser degree. It is an example of an ex- treme degree of that utter uncontrol and unconcentration of thought of which every one of us in less>r degree guilty, and as in this form the brain may be destroyed unless help comes in a few days, so in the course of years we perhaps ali destroy our brains and die prematurely from useless wear and tear, due to unconcentrated, wandcring weakness of thought. ———_-+e+ The Erratic Need! From the Boston Traveler. One of Russia's innumerable mysteries is the erratic behavior of the magnetic needle in many parts of the great empire. The compass is freaky enough anywhere, but it seems to take a particular delight in refusing to point north for the subjects of the czar. French and Russian scientists have recently been investigating this sub- ject on the vast central plain between Mos- cow and Barakov. The greatest aberrations were found in the province of Kursk, the capital town of which is. some 600 miles almost due south of Moscow. In the northern part of the province, near Tim, the needle deflects twenty degrees, farther south, in the prov- ince of Staraoi Oskol up to thirty degrees, while in the southeast of the province, about 150 miles south of Tim, the deflection is over ninety-six degrees, the necdle stand- ing almost perpendicular and pointing near- er east and west than north and south. This reversal of the magnetic forces may have some curious effects. A number of new railways are building in that region and the engineers are interested in finding out whether the durability of their lines will sustain the long accepted theory that those rails last best which are parallel with the magnetic meridians. As these run east and west over a considerable part of Russia, it will be the north and south lines that first show signs of wear, whereas such lines in other countries are the more easily maintained in repai. oo —___-_ The Southerner of Today. W. P. Trent in the Atlantic Monthly. No teacher who has been brought into contact with students drawn from most of the southern states can fail to conclude that they are in the main a #®markably fina body of young men. In essential charm of manners they are not inferior to their grandfathers; in morals they are, on an average, distinctly better in some import- ant respects, certain vices being now more frowned upon than was the case fifty years ago; in knowledge of the world and in in- tellectual curiosity they are plainly su- perior; in sheer mental power they are not inferior, at least; and in genial kindliness and bonhomie, and in that indefinable but supreme quality, manliness, they are cap- able of holding their own with the youth of any land and of any age. More high seriousness of purpose_might be desired for Importance of the intellectual side of our jectual nature, but being southern boys, they have the defects of their own and of their pro- genitors’ qualities. Still, when ali is said, they impress any fair judge as being just the stuff out of which a great civilization to be evolved. They are as good Americans, in the true sense of that term, @s are to be found in any section of the Union; they have inherited the best qual- ities of their ancestors; are free from the clogs of slavery; and if they have yet to atrugel> ical and religious intolerance, they i) surely emerge the stronger for the contest. ——_+e Paper Cartridges Used im Civil War, From the New Londor®(Conn.) Day. A LUCKY ACCIDENT How Sir lnede-iieieass Disoovered His Famous Process, EFFECT ON THE IRON INDUSTRY Has Resulted in a Tremendous Cheapening of Steel. BENEFITS ALL MANKIND From the Chicago Brening Post It is refreshing, in considering the nota- ble achievements of great inventors, to hap- pen upon an occasional instance where for- tune has not only smiled on, but has weil rewarded genius. It is far too often the case that the successful Inventor closes his life In poverty and distress and leaves to others the harvest of substantia! benefits which in justic> should have been bis. Sir Henry Bessemer was a marked exeep:ton to this class, and his death, occurring so re- cently, makes consideration of the most important of his inventions timely. While Bessemer did not invent st-el, he discover- ed @ process for its manufacture that has revolutionized the iron and steel working industry of the entire worll. Up till the time when his experiments w= owned with success, the making of st: wasa very slow, and, consequently, a very la- borious process, and steel had a compara- tively restricted application in the indus- trial arts. Besssmer brought if so near perfection and at such reasonable cosi that it 1s today one of the most widely employed and most us2ful of all the materials which man has pressed into service for his advan- tage and comfort. In a measure, the discovery of Bessemer's Process was accidental. To begin with, he had no knowledge of chemistry and lurgy when he first set about hts inve tion to turn iron into steel. But he many places where iron was wroug at he kept his eyes open. He saw that i slow process of “puddling” the par molten metal wer: gradually brow; contact with the air, and that this see to, in time, produce a fair quaatity of steel. Had he known the chemistry which was at work during puddling Bessemer steel un- doubtedly would hav: been made some years sooner than it was. But he only saw the mechanical part of the opration. He knew that tt was a great deal caster to stir air than it was to stir iron, and i w while recovering from a sever> illness tha the idea came to him of blowing air through the melted iron. As he lay in bed the breezes from an open window fanned his cheek, and this turned his thoughts in an- other direction, which proved io be the be- ginning of the problem's solution. The Day for the Test. As soon as he was sufficiently recovered to resume his investigations he set about making a retort in which he could test his new idea. It was so constructed that # biast of cold air was forced into the bot- tom so that it would pass through the melt- ed fron in the upper part of the retort. The day for the test arrived, and Henry Besse- mer was naturally not the least excited of the group that gathered around the new contrivance. When the pig iron was melt- ed the blast of air was turned in to prevent the metal filling the holes through which the air entered. Then the metal was pour- ed in through the charging hole by an at- tendant stoker. A tremendous commotion immediately took place within the vessel. ‘The molten iron,” to quote “bounded from side to side; a v' lition was heard going on inside, w.¢ a vehement violet flame, accompanied with dazzling sparks, burst from the throat of the cupola, from which the slang was also thrown in large foamlike masses. A cast iron plate of the kind used to cover holes in the pavement, that had been suspended over the mouth of the vessel, aissolved in @ gleaming mist, together with half a doze~ yards of the chain by which it hung.” Thought He Had Failed. It is not surprising that such an unusual sight should have frightened not only the men, but the daring experimenter. Bcsse- mer thought he saw in this terrific demon- stration of two prime elements the com- plete failure of his plans. He wanted to shut off the air before the charge of iron was spoiled or the furnace burned, but the stopcock regulating the supply was so close to the retort that no one dare go near it. This proved fortunate, for soon the commo- tion within the retort subsided, the fu-y of decarbonization had expend-d itself and the proevct was run off. The result was not quite satisfactory. The product was, for the most part, burnt iron, but Besse- mer saw enough in the experiment to en- courage him in meking a second trial. and the product from this proved to be malle- able fron. By further experiment it was found that by interrupting the process before tue de- carbonization of the iron was complet~ the product ‘was unmistakably steel, which when tried proved to be of very good qual- ity. Here was a discovery of immense im- portance. If malleable iron and steel could be produced direct from pig iron by a pro- cess so rapid and simple it could not fail before long to effect an entire revolution the iron trade. and such it actually did many years before Bessemer closea his lorg and successful career. Chemistry of the Process. The chemistry of the Ressemer process is simple, so simple, in fact, that the wonder is it was not sooner applied to the making of steei. Bessemer at first called it “the manufacture of fron and steel without fuel.” While this tile was a misnomer, it answered his purpose in placing the process before the leading iron workers of Great Britain. This is how he explained the method of conversion: “By forcing atmos- pheric air through the fluid metal the oxy- gen is brought into contact with the sev- eral particles of fron and the carbon which it contains. The carbon and oxygen con- tinue to form carbonic acid gas, which passes off by the throat of the vessel through which the slag is also thrown, leaving as the product a mass of malleable iron, which is run off by the tap into ingot molds placed to receive it. Thus, by a sin- gle process requiring no particular Mmanipu- ulation and with only one workman, from three to five tons of crude tron pass into the condition of several_piles of malleable ircn, in from thirty to thirty-five minutes, With the expenditure of about one-third part of the blast now used in a fiery fur- mace with an equal of tron, and with the consumption of no other fuel than is contained in the crude tron.” In fact, the chemical action of the oxygen, carbon tation temperature to maintain the Muidity of the metal until the process was ccmplete. Far-Reaching Results. Before the Bessemer process came into use, the production of steel in Great Bri- tein was only 50,000 tons a year, and the average price Was $250 a ton. In 1477, when the general condition of trade was greatly depressed, the Bessemer mill alone turned: