Evening Star Newspaper, July 2, 1898, Page 16

THE EVENING STAR, SATURDAY, JULY 2, 1898-24 PAGES, 15 LIVE TO REGRET IT Soldiers and Sailors Find That Buck- ing Does Not Pay. THE ODDS ARE ALL AGAINST THEM | ——__-+—— tories of Mea Who Have Tried it | and Have Failed. —s PUNISHMENT IN WAR TIME Star. HAT RECENT IN-] cident down in the Tampa camp in which a young pri- vate of the District Guard, ordered, | along with one of his companions, to do a bit of log carrying for misconduct, clined the issue and resorted to “buck- ing’—a foolish re- course for any man wearing a uniform— reby plunged himself into a court- mess, ought to possess iristructive s for new men in both of the ser- de- and th mart fe vices, land and sea. This young man’s companion, fully aware that he had vio- lated regulations and deserved punish- ment, level-headedly accepted his dose of log packi and after he had walked post with his log weighing down his shoulders for the period specified, he was turned and probably walked then to his “pounded his ear,” as old sol- a the act of sleeping after unusual The young man who couldn't see log-packing business, and chucked ‘ the ground with-the declaration that he hadn't taken on for that sort of thing, Will learn. It may require some considera. ble.effort and hardship on his part, but he will learn. The soldier or sailor who doesn't apprehend the entire meaning of the word obedience when he first jumps into his uniform {1s by no means a hopeless He generally turns out trig and right-minded after he has done a trick or two in guardhouse or brig. Some recruits, however, remain “buckers” until they achieve their finish. The finish of a uni- formed bucker—“bucker” is a phrase em- Ployed in both services—is always the same. His days are made so dreary and unjeyous for him that he Is usually com- pelled to desert. If he fears capture after desertion, and therefore continues in his Service, only to keep on bucking, he is due, sooner or later, but inevitably, to wear a number, stamped in big red figures, of the left shoulder of the striped jumpers dished out to military and naval convicts. The chronic bucker knows this just as well as his peaceful and obedient comrade or ship- mate. It seems, therefore, extraordinary enough that any uniformed man possessing the sense that he was born with should adopt persistent bucking tactics while in the military employ of Uncle Samuel. Always a Few on Hand. Yet the army ts never withdut its buck- and neither is the navy. Scratch a ‘ker, and you will always discover that a man who donned a unfform for the and ale and the beer and skittles. of is not a man who ts ready to take He the game of soldiering or sailoring as i comes along. He would be a perpetual kicker in civilian life. The difference is that, while he might make his incessant kicking as a civilian go through all right, and be a nuisance to his neighbors, he can’t make it stick in the army or navy. There is the book of regulations. It was devised for the bucker as well as for the man of fent disposition. All hands have to +Fegulate themselves in accordance with that book of regulations. The bucker takes it that the book is all wrong—thereby oe- coming known to his companions in arms as a “barrack lawyer” or a “man-o'-war chaw,” according to his service—and begins to buck. Then it is pretty nearly over with him. His wind-up is in plain view, bigger th horizon than a Liverpool oii barge. ar, the military courts-martial have Sone very lightly upon military offenders. ‘The courts-martial have taken the com. parative rawr of the regulation viola tors into consideration. Now, military reg- ns in time cf war and in time of © are very different indeed. War mag- fies minor military offenses a good twenty- fold. And yet, the volunteer soldiers who have thus far been brought before courts- ‘martial have received much smaller sen- ces than reguiar army soldiers get for ar offenses in time of peace. For ex- down in Chickamauga a private soldier slugged his first sergeant—“t sergeant, :rmy name. He got a-summary court-martial and thirty days in the guard tent. This, in time of war. If, a month before ar was declared, a regular army soldier had thrashed the first sergeant of his outfit, he would have got a general vurt-martial, and a sentence of. three ars in a military prison at the very least. then, regular army soldiers are sup- i to theroughly understand the inevi- ftermath of fractiousness. So are eer soldiers, for the matter of that, they are being given time to permit the { obedience to thoroughly soak into their minds, which is quite right and prop- er. But. if this war is protracted, the courts-martial of the future will not be » lenient as they now are. It will then be a bad time for buckers to engage In bucking There are ways in both the army and navy to bring buckers to their senses, and the majority of buckers eventually achieve sense enough to appreciate what a hard proposition they are up against in endeavor- ing to bring the framers of regulations to an understanding of their incapacity, and they subside into good soldiers. A few buckers, however, stick it out to the end. ‘There was such a bucker soldiering with an artillery battery stationed at Alcatraz Is- land, Cal, a few years ago. This man, however, thought ke was right, and there- fore differed from the ordinary run of buckers, who buck not on principle, but because they were born that way. He was accused of neglect of duty on post, and the generai court-martial sentenced him to three months in the Alcatraz guardhouse. Guardhouse prisoners are turned out at fatigue call every morning to work around the post. ‘This prisonety was turned out on the morning foliowing “the receipt of his sentence, along with half a dozen other minor prisoners. When he was counted off to walk in the van of a sentry, he turned to the provost sergeant, and said he: “T don't work.” “Hey?” inquired the provost sergeant. I don’t work,” repeated the prisoner. “On, I guess yes," said the provot - geant. “Sentry, take this man out behind the officers’ line to dump the swill cans. The prisoner gently slipped down and stretched himself at full length on the peb- tly walk in front of th> guard house. Not this morning,” said he. “Nor any other morning. Nor any other evening. No work. This man’s army is just about enter- ing upon a huge and determined effort 10 gc: along without my prisoner's fatigue service. I hope it'll succesd. But uu hear that, con't you? I hop clear to you. No work for me, n after, for the pushing along of of the United States arm ‘Then the prisoner yawned, placed his arms under his head and took it easy. The provost sergeant looked at tne man with his eyes st.cking out. Heavy Talk. “Look a-here, my man,” said prisoner, who was chewing blades of grass that he td -ked from the lawn along- side the wal hat’s heavy talk. You don't expect to make it stick, do you?” “Watch me,” said the bucker, complais- antly. The officer of the day was called. “Get up out of that,” said ihe officer of the day to the non-working prisoner. “I'm tired,” said the bucker. “And this provost man wants me to work. Not much! No work.” Alcatraz was not Fort Sheridan, and so the bucker was not prodded with bayonets or dragged to the cammanding officer's of- fice by a rope, but he was put in the dun- geon. The Alcatraz dungeon is below the level of the sca, and the restless and often stormy waters may be heard, from within the dungeon, beating against its outer walls. The Alcatraz dungeon is infested with rats of quite remarkable ferocity. For resting place the occupant of the Alcatraz dungeon has a six-foot plank, and for ra- tion bread and water. This bucker was given three days of it. Then he was brought out at fatigue call on the fourth morning. He was a bit pale, and he didn’t look the 180 pounds that he weighed before he went into the dungeon. “Ready to work now, eh?” said the pro- vost sergeant to the prisoner. The bucker plucked a wisp of grass from the sward. Nope,” said the prisoner. “And never will be ready. You can put that down. Dungeon or no dungeon, I don’t work out that sentence, not a day of it, nor a minute of it. You hear me, don’t you?” Would Not Give In. The officer of the day got the same re- ply. Three more days of the dungeon was dished out to the bucker by order of ths commanding officer. The prisoner was paier and thinner-lcoking yet when he w through with this dose. “You've learnt sense now, I'll bet,” said the provost sergeant. “If sense means -work, I'm still a-learn- ing,” replied the bucker. The man had to be kept, by regulation, three days locked up in the guardhouse proper before being again relegated to the dungeon. When the three days were up, into the dungeon he went again, this time for a six-day trick. He looked ghostly when he was drawn up in the prisoners’ line on the seventh di n> work. it I mak or he: this post ¢r e to the Willing to do a little coal-hauling chore or two now?" inquired the provost ser- Seant. “No, and I never will be. Might as well get that fact drilled into your thick skull. I never will be.” Then the man was taken before the commanding officer. He was talked to rather nicely by the commanding officer, and recommended to take a quiet little tumble to himself. “Go to work, like the other prisoners, my man, and save yourself misery and get yeurself restored to duty when your sen- tence is worked out.” “Never,” said the prisoner. And he was a pretty pallid and thin-looking lot, too, by this time. : During the ten-day trick in the dungeon that followed this, the man was found in the dungeon in a state of collapse. He was surveyed, by the post surgeon. The commanding officer thought it better, after the man got out of the hospital, to “bob- tail” him outright—that is, dismiss him the service without further ado. The man weuld have died before he would have wcrked under a sentry. He w&s one of the few buckers who ever came out ahead in a contention with military authority in the regular army. Too Young to Know Better. An apprentice boy aboard one of the gun- boats of our navy performed a star bit of bucking about three years ago, but after getting very much the worst of it his nerve left him, and he succumbed. This boy took a dislike to one of the chief petty officers. The lad was a striker for the chief petty officer's mess, and one day ina fit of temper he threw the chief petty officer's mess stool violently away from the mess table. Grown men in the navy are not permitted to spank the apprentice lads, much as the boys occa- sionally need spanking, so this chief petty officer went to the officer of the deck and told quietly of the occurrence, saying that while he didn’t care to have the boy pun- ished, he'd have to insist upon the ap- prentice’s picking up the mess stool and replacing it at the mess tabie. The ap- prentice boy was-summoned by the officer of the deck, lectured and told to pick up the chief petty officer's mess stool and re- Place where it belonged. The boy would not do it, and said he wouldn't. This was simply mutiny, but the boy's age was con- sidered. He was double-ironed and put in the brig. Ten days later he was given a chance to put the mess stool back at the mes table, but he wouldn't do it. ‘The stool was permitted to remain Just_where the boy had thrown it, even during Sunday inspections and one muster. The lad was feneral court-martialed for rank disobedi- ence of orders, and was sentenced to thirty days’ confinement in the solitary brig on bread and water. After doing twenty-sev- en days of this hard stunt the lad wilted. babied at the mast and was released. He picked up the mess stool. Fate of Mutineers. Even when unifermed men of this gen- eration mutiny, or buck, in a body, they very rarely make their point stick. The 1¢ason why seven bells is never struck in the british navy is because, at seven bells one evening over a hundred years ago, there were mutinies—long prearranged— aboard a lot of British ships of war throughou. the world. Seven bells has never been struck on the evening watch on a British man-of-war since that occa- sion, in order that the absence of the half- hour tolling at that particular period of the day may be a nernetual reminder of obedience to British naval tars—for* the necks of a slew of the mutineers were stretched when this thing was all over and the mutinies suppressed. But this was a long time ago. Mutiny ddesn’t go now. ‘The old Hartford, Farragut’s flagship, had as wild and reckiess a gang of sailors aboard of her after the war as ever jumped to the piping of mess-gear. This ship's company then inciuded scores of buckers. A few years before the Hartford went out of commission the buckers got together and decided that they didn’t like the qual- ity of the neckerchiefs and tobacco being served out to them by the ship's paymaster. So they declined to accept the tobacco and neckerchiefs. It was a big ship's company, and the buckers numbered They thought they’d surely overawe all hands with such goodly number. The 217 of them did -all the way from two weeks to two months in double frons for their little job of attempted skipper-bulldozing, and that was the last mutiny in our navy. But the individual bucker remains, and he probably always shall remain, as long as there is a ravy. A Picturesque Bucker. The most picturesque bucker the regular army of the United States ever had was a wild Irish drum major who arrived at his finish at Fort Leavenworth, Kan., 2 good long while ago. The man was a good drum major, but the commanding officer of the post had to break him time and again to the ranks for all-around tumultu- ousness. It wore on the Irish drum major mightily,. this thing of being frequently relegated to the privates’ racks for bad conduct, and his nerves, no doubt, got on edge. Anyhow, the last time he was broke to the rank of private, he went into line at dress parade one afternoon with the determination that he'd get square with the commanding officer for breaking him, if be bad to hang for it. So, as the command was passing in review before the command- ing officer, the ex-drum major dropped quietly out of ranks, made for a loose brick walk, picked up a half brick, end Jet the commanding officer have it right in the chest. The commaniin.; cfficer went dowr. as if he had heen hit by a bullet. The soldiers broke ranks and made for the ex-drum major. He stool them off, pelt- ing them with bricks, for ten minutes, and he used them up a good deal. Then overpowered him, and he got twelve y at_ the Fort Leavenworth military prison. The ariny and navy, in brief, are bad places for the man of an analytical turn of mind. He is liable to meet up with some things that were not devised for analysis, but for perfocmance. There Iz Justice, the very best quality of it, in the two United States services no better in any service in the world. But the bucker who sets about to undo the man with the gilt ornaments on his cay and »louse has got an inconceivable amount of bitter ex- perience in store for him. it Is the easiest matterein the world for a man to behave himself in our land and sea services. ‘The trouble is, that it is still easier to misbe- have. But the cost of misbehavior is so heavy that the young man of judgment stands willing co Go anyibing to keep his 5 averted from the cool stare of | the Judge advocate of a court-martial. ——— What is Most Needed. From the Chicago Evening Post. “What is the one thing most n2eded to add to the effectiveness of warships?” he inquired with the air of a man who had given considerable attention to the subject. “We had a dispute about It, you know, and Jim said it was improved armainent, whil> I claimed {t was better armor. We decided to leave it to you.* “It is neither,” replied the naval officer promptly. “There is one thing that is of vastly more ii-portancz, and if yon can in- vent it your fortune will be made.” “What is it The naval officer drew nearer and whis- pered his reply so that there might be no danger of so important a communication be- ing overheard. “It is a machtn2 for the manufacture of. coal,"’ he said. “There really isn't much inducement to go to the seashore this summer.” “Why not?” “Why, you can stay in the city and wear a bicycle skirt that’s almost as short as the skirt of your bathing suit.” _—— = = = — HIGH SCHOOL BOYS IN THE WAR. se Graduates of the Washington High | ment, with the rank of captain. With this School are to be fourd in every walk of life and in practically every part of the country. Taere fs 2 certain spirit of pride fm the iastitution that preserves a bond of unity among them, and wherever they may rect they never fail to resume or form ac- Quaintance on the basis of their local aima mater. In these war times High School beys are beivg heard from in many hon- orable connections. The District regimeni, now on its way to Cuba contains many of these young men who re- ceived their educational start in the ‘Washington High School. The Star has just received a copy of a photograph of the igh School grvduates who were at the time members of the regiment. This picture was taken at Tampa before the departure of Adjutant Horton, who fs now in the adjutant general's depart- exception, all the men who appear in this reproduction are now members of the reg- iment. The lst herewith given shows the names of the men arranged according to their seniority of graduation from the school. The preceding numbers, by which they may be identified, follow the three lines of arrangement, beginning at the upper left-aand corner as the picture Is faced, and follcwing the lines consecu- tively from left to right. It is to be noted that every grade is included, from the ma- jor, representing the class of '85, to the privates of ’98, whose diplomas were delly- ered to them on the sands of the tropics rather than on the platform of a co! T™mencement hall. This group is an effective object lesson to Washington boys that love ce oeeery is Ligher than personal ambi- Py 15. Maj. Charles Hin 14. Capt. Wm. E. Horton, '86. 16. Capt. Wm. 8. Hodges, "8h 17. First Lieut. F. G. Stutz, '93. 12. Second Lieut. F. E. Skinner, "98. 13.~Second Lieut. R. B. Hayes, '93. 18, Second Lieut. 8. C. Redman, ’93. 1. Regt. Q. M. Sergt. C. G. Mortimer, ‘92. 19. Act. Com’sary Sergt. Geo.C. Meigs, 2. First Sergt. Sheridan Ferree, ‘93. 20. Sergt. N. H. Ferree, '96. 6. Sergt. John Mahany, '98. 7. Sergt. Wm. A. Kent, ’91. 11. Sergt. W. P. Keene, ’88 25. Corp. A. F. Towner,’ ’87. 8. Corp. Charles H. Lyman, '98, és - Privates, H. Ockert, '98. ASHIONABLE PROMENADE COSTUME, FASHION’S FANCIES]: Just Now the Rage is All for Baby Ribbons, IN USE ON GOWNS AND UNDERWEAR Design for a Handsome Walking Dress of Cloth. NOVELTIES IN LINGERIE —_—_+ Special Correspondence of The Evening Star. BERLIN, June 23, 1898. Each year fickle Fashion shows despotic favoritism to some particular style of gar- ment, or some ec¢entric toilet accessory, some particular fit of bodice or hang of skirt, some peculiarity Of trimming, which she holds up to her admiring imitators for a brief time and easts into most obscure oblivion afterward« B Just at present it'{s the narrow baby rib- bon which must trim everything that is fashionable. Baby ; ribbon is made use of on all materials fer all occasions. It is found on lawns an@‘linens, silks and wool- ens, laces and velvets, and it certainly deserves a long-live& prominence, for it is as dainty as it is practical. A pretty illustration 6f this garniture is shown in our désigri“of a fashionable promenade gown of gray Venetian cloth. The skirt of silver gray Venetian cloth shows the long pointed, tight-fitting yoke with very full-serpentine flounce lined with white taffeta. A narrow piping of darker gray velvet edges the skirt yoke. The graceful bodice of silver gray Vene- tion cloth has loose folds in front, which are overlapped by reveres of heavy yellow guipure lace, the design of which is out- lined by gathered white baby ribbon. These lace 1everes, which expose in front a tucked vest of white taffeta, finish at the back in a wide sailor collar falling over another larger sailor collar of darker gray miroir velvet, elaborately edged and embroidered with crimped baby ribbon and steel beads. The velvet collar forms caps over~ the shoulder and ends in two slender points on either side of the front of the bodice. Edged With Ribbon. A full serpentine basque of gray velvet, embroiders< and edged with baby ribbon, like the sailor collar, is attached over the hips. under an applique of yellow guipure, and finishes with long points over the skirt at front‘ind back. The tight sleeve of Venetian cloth, with its small shoulder puff, finishes at the wrist with a cuff of the same dark gray velvet with baby ribbon and stéel bead em- broidery. Nor does this trimming with baby _rib- bon confine itself to outdoor wear. Even the silk underskirt shows the same attrac- tive garniture, and is illustrated by our model of primrose colored taffeta. It is bell-shaped and gorcless, except for the bias seam at the back. A wide serpentine unce adds to tre fullness below, and is attached to the skirt under a narrow ruche of white and black pinked taffeta. The flounce is trimmed in zigzag design, with heavy black silk lace, edged with black crimped baby ribbon, and the hem Is stiffened by two narrow, full ruches of white taffeta and one of black. Each succeeding year adds variety and extravagance to the department of fash- fonable Tngerfe, and all the novelties in the garments of this season are distin- guished for their dainty fineness and beau- tiful finish. Hand-made underwear of fine nainsook. expensively but not elaborately trimmed with embrofdery or lace, is greatly desired by women of refined taste and abundant means, but the average woman cannot please her taste for this kind of elegance, and the machine-made garments have to satisfy her. Fortunately, they do not lack either fineness cr daintiness, since they are iade of the same soft cambrics, lawns or mulls as the handsome pieces’ and are trimmed with the same laces. Point de Paris is a favorite and well wearing lace, and the fashicn used this season is €x- tremely fine. Pongee Underwear. Pongee has lately been revived for un- derwear, and with a purpose, as nothing is cooler for hot weather use and nothing vill resist the merciless efforts of the laundress ds well as this light, washable silk. It 1s trimmed with white or butter fcolored laces and insertions through which ribbon is drawn. The prediction that longer coats are to be worn has not yet been realized. On the contrary, the newest designs for jackets to be worn when chilly evening zephyrs forewarn the summer girl that her reign is at an end, are all short and close fitting Eton coats are recommended by the tailors as one of the most desirable styles for the peoming season. There are double and single breasted Etons, and Eton cocts turned back in fancy double reveres, which do not meet or fasten in front at all. The plain short ntting fiy-frent coat with small reveres turning back just enough to show the necktie and fasten be- lcw is shown among other models as one of the styles which never die out. Strapp-d_ seai are again in evidence and our illustration shows a very nat model of tan brcadcloth lined with fancy celored taffeta. It 1s cut very short and the straps form the only trimming. The white sailor hat has a round fold of straw at the rim, and the trimming consists of a band of folded velvet ribbon and high standing shaded tan and brown qui!lr. The same model has been satisfactori! copied in red broadcloth, and looks very chic when worn over summer gowns of light washable fabrics. HERRMANN GEREON (Berlin.) ——— IT GENERATES HEAT. The Incandescent Electric Lamp Not is Safe as Supposed. From the London Lancet, The incandescent electric lamp is essen- tially a device which transforms electricity partly into light, but mostly into heat. As 41s well known, the carbon filament of the lamp is a substance offering great resist- ance to the passage of the current, and the product of this resistance is light and neat. It 1s an instance of the translation of one form of energy into another. It-may not, however, genzrally be known that the light produced is but after all only.a small per- centage of the energy thus manifested— some 5 or 6 per cent only at the most. This fact 1s very important, bearing in mind a yery common notion that th3 electric in- candescent lamp ts free from the heat rays. It is true that the lamp when working is not comparable with a flame or naked light, but | at the same time the heat evolved fs such as may l2ad to ignition. We are disposed to emphasize this point because the incan- descent electric Jamp is used for the pur- poses of. illumination and decoration in shops without any regard to the possibility, nay, probability, of fancy goods being fired which happen to beycontiguous. Inde2d, so firm is the idea that the incandescent elec- tric lamp is free fpomyheat that it is fre- quently to be for ried in a mass of = OLD FLOORS TO MEND. Hew to Do Away With Summer Pests and Fill the Cracks. From the Kansas City Star. When the winter floor coverings are car- ried out, though great coolness and cleanli- ness is the result, too often an unsightly stretch of board 1s presented to view. Flooring in any except the best built mod- ern houses is so often ill laid that the housekeeper is puzzled how to conceal the small chasms between the planks. Rugs are costly and dusty, and to paint or var- nish a straggling floor is love’s labor al- most lost. Comnion sense advises her to fill up the cracks, but how—not with putty? There is a better plan than that. Gather up all the letters from the waste paper basket, until there is a big: bag full; enough paper to stuff a couple of big sofa cushions. Set the idle or the willing members of the fam- ily to shredding into bits the paper board. This accomplished, pile the tatters into a pot with water and cook it. To every quart of paper and water-add a handful of gum arabic, and let the whole simmer to a very thick, thick cream. ‘The sequence is easily guessed. The mix- ture must be put hot in the cracks, well packed and neatly smoothed. When cold it is ready for the coat of floor paint, and easily ignited and highly inflammable ma- terial. This-is a fWistake, and care should be exercised with thecelectric lamp -in its application in thisigongeetion, but the risk, of course, is not so. ereat as where naked lights are employéd. ,We have found by experiment that on iminersing a 16-cand!e- pcwer lamp (100 ¥élts’pressure) in half a int of water, the: water boils within an Ron and in proportionately less time when a 82-candle-powerslamp is substituted. If again the lamp be buried in cotton-wool, the wool soon beginsito scorch and ulti- mately to burst into flame. In one experi- ment which we triedj: the bursting into flame of the wool wa® accompanied by a loud report, due to the explosion of the lamp. It clearly appears from this that the incandescent ‘lectric lamp cannot be regarded as an unlikely means of starting a serious fire, and ees especially those who exhibit highly inflammable fab- rics, should know that there is risk in plac- ing such goods too close to the lamp. The lamp in contact’ with celluloid fires it in Jess than five minutes, and therefore the danger is particularly obvious in the case of toy shops, where electric incandescent lamps are often suspended in the midst of toy celluloid balls. of Good Feeling. In This Era From Puck. r Tourist (in London)—"I suppose we for- eigners give you lots of trouble with our “The bol a “Bless you, ma’am; we don’t She mericans as foreigners any morsel” wee ‘ - as hard as the rest of the boards, for it is really nothing more nor less than a papier mache, and every one knows what a tough article that is. Cracks in floors are altogether too great a temptation for insects, so it is best to do away with the possibility of their proving a harbinger by adding a little paris green to the paper filling. This poison will ban- ish entirely the hideous water beetles that often infest even the cleanest kitchens and bath rooms. Care must be taken to keep it away from children and pet animals, as it is very poisonous, A little, mixed with sugar, and put on old plates or saucers over night, and used once or twice in a season, will be all that is required. Those familiar with country life know what a yn this green paint has been to farmers In ridding them of the ubiquitous potato beetle, and there is no reason why the housekeeper should fear this ammunition if used intelligently. ing of this poison. Those who have studied the habits of the croton or water beetl light, and how like a flash they S Their fortress, or home, is generally at the base of the kitchen water and sink pipes, and it is behind these that they scud and down so mysteriously. Forewarned is forearmed. There is little use in destroy- a few insects upstairs while allowing them te multiply below. Royal Baking Powder for Army and Navy There is no Baking Powder equal to the Royal in leavening strength. The slowness of the action of the Royal Baking Powder, as compared with all others, renders it particularly valuable for use in camp or at military posts. It does not deteriorate with age, and, more than any other brand, gives uniform and satisfactory temperatures prevailing results under the varying and conditions of service required for Army and Navy use. Maintains Full Strength in All Climates. HOUSEHOLD HINTS _— The wholesome currant is now at its best, and the housewife begins her field days in the making of jeliies and jams. The old wives’ tradition that currant jelly won't “jell” after the Fourth of July 1s not infallible; but the truth remains that currants should not be over-ripe nor should they be gathered just after a rain, if firm, clear jelly is desired. Equal parts of red and white currants or red raspberries and currants make a delicately flavored and colored jelly. If possible, select a clear, sunshiny day for the work of jelly mak- ing, and see that the kitchen is scientific ally clean, and the jars, glasses and co ers well sterilized with boiling water be- fore being used. The requisites for the work are a good quality stone jar or porce- lain or agate kettle, an earthen dish into which the fruit juice may drip, shallow tins for heating the sugar, a long-handied wooden sjfoon, a coarse jelly bag made of loosely woven white flannel, a little par- affine to cover over the jelly before setting away and an assortment of jelly glasses. It is not necessary to stem the currants, though they should be picked over, all bits of leaves removed and then washed and drained. Put the currants in the stone jar or preserving kettle, and set this in a large pan of hot water. As it begins to heat mash with a large wooden pestle until the currants are reduced to @ pulp. Take the jar off the range, and, scooping up the pulp, put it in the jelly bag to drain. This may be done the night be- fore ethe jelly-making proper begins, and the bag left suspended over night with- out squeezing, or it may be done in the morning, pressing the steaming juice out a little ata time. When the juice is all ex- tracted measure it out by pints and return it to the kettle. Take as many pounds of sugar as there are pints of juice and place on the shallow tins to heat in the oven, taking care that they do not get hot enough to discolor the sugar. Boil the juice just twenty minutes from the time it begins to boil and throw the heated sugar in, stir- ring rapidly all the while. As soon’ as it is all dissolved remove the spoon, let the Juice just come to a boll again, and re- move at once from the fire. The jelly glasses should then be rolled in hot water and filled with the scalding liquid. They may then be coated with melted paraftine or one-third paraffine to two-thirds wax, or sealed with white of egg or sterilized cot- ton. Keep in a cool, dry place. Bread and milk tabies are among the new nursery furnishings that commend them- selves by reason of their practicability. They come in oak or enameled wood, and consist of a child's low table with vis-a- vis seats, the three pieces held together at the bottom by a wooden rail. The usual casualties of bowl and pitchers falling into the children’s laps will probably be mate- rially Iessened by the use of and conventent bit of furniture, though the price, $9, seems an outlay requiring con- sideration. Cherry vinegar is highly esteemed by many bon vivants, and now is the time to make it. Pour over two quarts of sour cherries, lightly mashed, one quart of good cider or white-wine vinegar. Put in an earthen bowl and set in a cool place for two days. Then strain through a muslin bag, and to each pint of liquid add three quarters of a pound of sugar and let it boil | fifteen minutes. Then strain, set aside to cool and bottle. A litthe of this added to a glass half filled with cracked ice makes a cooling summer beverage. Among the pretty curtains fer doorways in the summer are the Indian cotton prints in wool effects. These have palm-leaf pat- terns, and at a little distance take on the A appearance of a fine cashmere shawl. cotton curtain of some sort should alw accompany the voyageur or the guest at the summer hotel. With a light portiere hung over the doorway, the door may be left open to get the benefit of all the air that is stirring. Currant ice made of the fresh fruit is a beautiful color, and is frequently more ac- ceptable than the creams. To prepare it, soak a tablespoonful of gelatin half an hour ‘in enough cold water to cover it. Pour over it a half pint of boiling water, add one pint of granulated sugar, one of currant juice, one of cold water and the juite of one lemon. Freeze and pack. The popular iced drink among the West Point cadets is made by allowing to each glass of ice water @ little less than a tea- Spoonful of lime juice, two or three drops of Angostura bitters and sugar to sweeten to taste. The rapidity with which this drink can be mixed doubtless adds to the high esteem in which it is held. In case of sunstroke, when the face is red and the head and body hot and dry, remove the clothing at once, bathe the body, face and head in ice water and lay ice in towels on head and neck, or remove to a private place, strip, lay on wire mat- tress and sprinkle with ice water from a watering pot. Cheese sandwiches are excellent to serve with the salad course at dinner or appetiz- ing for the picnic basket. Grate any cheese that is not too dry, rub it to a paste with butter, spread the bread, dust with salt and paprika and cut into strips. An old Catskill preserve is made of plums and maple sugar. Melt the maple sugar in a little water and cook with the plums, al- lowing pound for pound. This gives a tart, sweetness especially agreeable to many palates. An excellent and simple remedy for a sprain is said to be found by mixing the well-beaten whites of six eggs with a half cupful of table salt. Spread between thin muslin cloths and bind over the sprain. Popular additions to “the cup that chee: but not imebriates” are a few pieces ol shredded pineapple, fresh or preserved, three or four preserved or brandied cher- ries, or a slice of orange or lemon. In making jelly it must be borne in mind that the less stirring there is the better. If stired too much the jelly is not clear, while the tendency of sugar to granulate is increased by stirring. this pretty | A NEW INDUSTRY. Manufacture of Palm O11 on the West Coast of Africa, ren shing of seeds and nuts for the From the § The cru 1 oil which they contain and the prepara- tion of feeding stuffs from the residue is, +o far as England is concerned, a com- paratively new industry. And one of the most important phases of this business is that which centers around the products of the oil palm, and plays such a consid- erable part in the trade between the west coast of Africa and Liverpool. ‘This falm—a beautiful tree of the umbre! pat- tern—flowers about September or October, ond the fruit ripens about four or five months afterward, the main crep being gathered from February to May. The fruit 1s gathered by natives, who nd the trees by means of | ropes—satior fashion—and detach the masses of nut clusters, or “hands.” as they are called with a small ax or cutlass. The nuts are then heaped on the ground, covered with palm leaves, and left for a week in the hot and more or less moist atmosphere, to fer- ment. During this process the nuts be- come loose in their sockets amd are re- moved by hand and placed in baskets. The next processes aim at the sepora- tion of the hut proper from the seed ves- sel or pericarp. First, huge earthenware pots are takcn, with a capacity of about twelve or fourteen gallons, and in these are placed about half a hundredwetght of nuts. Water is added and the pot placed ever a slow wood fire. After two hours’ boiling the sced vessel is sufficiently soft to be squeezable by the fingers. The nuts are then placed in the bottom of a cance Grawn up on the river hank, and the na- lives tread out the nuts from the encir- cling pericarp with their bare feet. Three men will thus tread out 250 pounds in an hour. Water is then poured into the canoe to the depth of three or four inch. the nuts treated to the final sep . Process by being rocked, stirred and shaken. By this means the kernels with the hard shell containing them become de- tached from the pericarp and after dry- ing in the sun are cracked between stones £0 as to separate the “palm kernels” of commerce from the hard shell inclosing them. But the water in the canoe has bi come covered with a yellowish ofly scum. | This 1s carefully collected in calabashcs jand the pericarp fiber fs squeezed and washed and finally pressed in a mortar to extract the remaining particles of off, and being of no further commercial value, is | thrown aside to be used as fuel. ‘hus the West African negroes supply us from the oil palm with two valuable ar- ticles of commerce—paim of] and palm ker- nels. The processes employed are wasteful, no doubt, and the absence of means of communication, save by the rivers and creeks, implies that many thousands of tens of precious produce are annually al- lowed to rot. This waste, however, im gradually being reduced, and with the ad- Vent of much required railways our eup- plies of West African tropical produce | Must be increased indefinitely. The bulk | of the palm kerncls—or rather that sec- ticn of them shipped to England—find their Way to Liverpool, and it certainly did not reflect creditably upon the enterprise of | the merchants of the Mersey port that the major portion of such imports also figured in the exports or transshipments from Liverpool to continental ports. —se-- California’s Weather Prophet. From the San Francieco Chronicle This is bound to be a dry year. Scarcely any rain is to fall during the next twelve- j Month. At least, that is what the “oid man of the mountain” says, and the Indians say that he never fails as a weather prophet. The old man of the mountain ts a species of sagebrush, so called on account of the soft gray top that forms on it in the fall of the year. In some parts of the state it is simply called “old man” and in others “maidenhair sage.” Its scientific name is Artemisia California. For countless moons many of the Indian tribes of this state have looked upon this plant as the greatest weather prophet that ever existed. Will the season be wet or dry? Ask the old man. Tals ts easy to do, but you must know a litle of his tanguage before you can tell what he says. The old man speaks with his roots. When there is to be plenty of raim his roots are short, and when there is to be little rain his roots ars long. The old man knows there will be no water from above, so he goes below for it. How dces # senseless plant know there is to be no rain? By the same unknown force that caus:d seed pods to be thick before a long, cold winter, while they are thin when th winter is to be mild. All over the hillsides of Marin county can be found specimens of old man, and its roots are longer now than they have ever been known to be before. At the beginning of a rainy season the roots cf a plant twelve inches high are about six inches long. This year the same plant will be found to have roots as mucn us eighteen inches long. ——_ 465 Japanese Maple Hedge. From Meeban’s Monthly. Considering the many wonderful beauti- ful effects to be had from the arrange- ments of plants unknown to the general public, it is puzzling that some of our wealthy citizens of leisure do not interest themselves more in beautifying the sur- roundings of their large and expensive residences. The resources are unlimited. Take the subject of this paragraph, for in- stance. A hedge of this lovely Japanese maple would surpass any effect ever at- tempted in landscape arrangement, and so simple, too. It would cost no more than a ized bed of rhododendrons and be exactly eight times as effective, for the charm of such a bed ceases with the fada- ing of the flowers. During the last week in April the writer drew inspiration for this commendation from a view of about a dozen nursery rows of these maples, the leaves just expanded, each extending a distance of 100 yards. Their beauty was unsurpassed! Can the reader who has seen single specimens im- agine such a mass of coloring? Picking Pockets With Toes. From the Boston Transcript. The Gauchos, or dwellers in the extensive Two tablespoonfuls of washing soda dis-| plains of Buenos Ayres, are marvelously solved in a gallon of boiling water makes an excellent disinfectant for the kitchen sink. Pour in while boiling hot. dexterous with both hands and feet. Many of them have acquired through long prac- paw tice such skill in using their toes as if they A good test for the right consistency of | Were fingers that they can fling the lasso jelly “when boiling is to let it drop from a end even pick pockets with them. Some spoon. If the last drop sticks to the spoon | time ago a Frenchman who was fishing in ce eee ee. one of the rivers of Buengs Ayres was > warned to on against keep a. Supply of apeclal cloths ana melden | Hight-fingered natives. Eran kept 8 @ su; holders, | vigilant watch companions, but nev- to use, as the stains cannot be removed. Seusetic eae ang whee Petartaeinn una closely riveted on his float a wily Gaucho