Evening Star Newspaper, September 24, 1898, Page 23

ad THE EVENING STAR, SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 24, 1898-24 PAGES. QUEENS A Enthusiasm of the Subjects of Hol- land’s First Lady. WOMEN MAKE HUMANE SOVEREIGNS Less Likely Than Men to Attempt Changes of Policy. - MORAL AND WISE, SAFE From the London Spectator. The mation of the young Queen of nd amid such general signs of almost mate enthusiasm among a_ people who have acquired a character for stoiidity suggests the theory which was put forward both by Nassau Senior and by Freeman, that in modern countries the old Salic law might with advantage te absolutely re- versed, and instead of a woman being ex- eluded from the throne, none but a woman should ever upy it. That such a propo- sition should have been put forward by so intim: n observer and critic of things Political as Nassau Senior, and by so able @ student of history as Freeman—Freeman, as a political thinker, showed always virile force, if occasionally modified by pedantry— Proves at least that there is something to be said for it, though we do not suggest that it should be adopted as a practical political measure. There have been, speaking generally, four classes ef queens in history; and in speaking of them we are speaking of actual queens Fegnant, not of th who were the mere eensorts of kings. There is the weak and somewhat characterless woman, of whom Queen Anne is a type; a puppet of stronger natu than her own, dominated by Vorites, neither capable of ruling nor of forbe s to interfere with those who do Tuie. There is, next, ic Ww tuler, a ph ly that we usual- To this women ulers, it tentimes in 1 prowess 4 admir- their poi women pr. trong a et women, 1 of energy, ho can be tender nd whose greatest errors b: dictated tion. Such a wom olic, whose persona s so deeply stamped ory of Spain. The fourth of comprise those who, without being moral convic- deep s Isabella the Cath- are yet womanly, who are well versed in po affairs, and yet who have no irresistible desire for actual and con- Stant government, who recognize that the will of the people must be supreme and the statesmen of the popular choice must rule, but who yet are not inclined to forego the f 1 persuasion at commonly known as the ycho- logical moment.” is of this fe class of queens that the true stitutionai ereign is made. and there can be little doubt a writer Mr. Freeman is as ¢ right In his contention that such a woman Is best fitted by nature for the i i though Position of c¢ we m crown sion. I constit tity tages of the of woman, sint of view and from er whose concerns she swa own ati such de ive in State. xim that the sover- Ss. but does not govern $ hat the sovereign is a mere au- quantite negligeable. If jue to defects of ne sities of the tual tasks of gov- to the ands of it does not fe! ne sovercign ot ive in s Th in the moderr direct means in overnment, but un- rt infiuence in subtle ways. Now, while iy could contend for one moment women can administer or control by direct and outward means with the power ess of men, they are able ¢ urce of the power sield ) exert pressure by 1 a much higher degree Therefor uming the constituti: : have the good of the stat ean work for th Bood by m means than 2 king could. Fe try a point, might easily come into too obvious coili alcitrant statesmen around him. Id find ways known only to women r tial point could be car- ring to set her will any of the statesmen this is pure gain to her, appe of Now, trengthens her position without offending any nd thus, while never for a ng to act in a purely gonstit vay, she yet acquir-s some- thing powerful influence of the Actual ri If she is wise and prudent, @he will come fn time to occupy a poidit of immense dignity, her -o.-isel heede by her min all which she deems essential, and ye" s never b youd nd p ed not it Hoth Raler and Rated But if the s« have indicated, he overeign to begin with, far 1 likely, if a wom ttempt any nee stions of potic less restless and am- 1 of a man. Not- rines Eliza- 1 products of to wo- id conse- love of di A strong King might, even t+ if not rreck, the pre rnment. The of which one praises Porfirio I would become, if not erous potenc osition, jectual . renders the Austriay the strongest ruler in wiedge that he is in h in Vienna, but in London 1 we havoc of the British constt fion. Therefore, on the whole, a constitu- Yional monarchy will march ‘much more with a ou head than ng; and there S restless nd_ bitter izue among the s of the © machinery of will etter ofled, tt will 1 groan less th intrigue nfluence e I was only at king b he cared more for Hanover than ; in the n of ree II we to- the the ful advice, * . during the any kind ys been by . as in the je toward the in the civil w No man . With so little friction, have corrected e tendencies of Palmerston as en Victoria at that crisis. Force Makers, dition to a political there is also a oral gain In the fact that the con- stitutional throne fs filled by a woman. It 23 AS RULERS| be doubted that the court of a more obviously for humanity ality than does that of a*king. not At the present time, it is true, most of the European monarchs have a singularly good record, and some of them are clearly on a el than the average of their sub- are humane men, some are even = , and the pres- idents of the tw republics of the world are embodimemts of the homely vir- tues which are the buiwarks of national strength. But we cannot forget that it has always been: ay, that It was not so but a few years ago; the world has not for- gotten the orgies of Louis Napoleon or_ of great galantuomo of the house of Sa- . and it knows that what has been may ly be again. But it is impossible today for the “first lady” of any land not to be a force making for morality, it is impossible for her to be other than a woman of purity of life, and so an example to the nation. We pardon Victor Emmanuel’s amours (or at least We overlook them) for the sake of his courage and devotion; but no pardon could or would be extended to a woman on the throne who had lapsed from virtue or had even given reasonable occasion tor the tongue of scandal. Who will deny-that this is a great gain for the female sovereignty of a “crowned republic? ee IN AMERICA. ART This Country Promises to Become the Louvre of Nations. Frem the Ninetecnth Century. It does not seem to be commonly realized that America—that is, the United States— is on the way to become the Louvre of the nations. From year to year its public gal- leries have been enriched with master- pieces of all the modern schools, and by purchase, bequest or gift many valuable and some great pictures by the older Ital- ian, Flemish and Spanish masters have been added to the already imposing store of national art wealth. In New York pre-eminently, but also in Boston, Washington, Philadelphia and in other large cities from New Orleans in the south to Chicago in the north, and from Baltimore in the east to San Francisco in the west, there is now so numerous, and, in the main, so distinguished a congrega- tion of pictures, of all schools and periods, the day is not only at hand, but has ved. when the native student of art no longer needs to go abroad in order to learn the tidal reach and high-water mark in this or that nation's achievement, in this that school’s accomplishment, in this or that individual painter's work. In time, and probably before long, the great desid- um will be attained—the atmosphere wherein the creative imagination is sus d and nourish At present the most brilliant American painters must follow the trade flag of art, and that banner flat nowhere steadily but in Paris and London. There are now in America more training schools, more opportunities for instruction, a more chances for the individual young painter to arrive at self-knowledge than were enjoyed of old by the eager youth of Flanders, of France, of Spain, even of 3ut the e ntial is still wanting without which all these advantages are merely as stars among the branches. There is no atmosphere of art in America at large. In the great majority of towns through- out the states there is no atmosphere at all. But every few years the radical in- fluences at work are transmuting these conditions, and though neither Boston, nor Washington, nor even New York, is yet an art center in any way comparable to Lon- don, or Paris, or Munich, the time is not far distant when the inevitable must happen. In actual respect of art treasures the great cities of the states are already he yond our own provincial cities and towns among which only Liverpool and Glasgow stand out pre-eminent. New York, naturally, has become the art Metropolis of the states. Already the art ith of this great city is almost incaleu- Bi then Washing- notwithstanding the gen the finest not in } al * private collec w York. There is no ion in New York or Boston agton to compare for a moment with that of Mr. W. T. Walters at Bal more. Of all the “homes of art” to be se in America, Mr. W "is. pre. bi » house beau n minently Within the years the Meiropoli- Museum of New York has be- one of th intere. of all national art collections. —+e+—__ A CHINESE LAW CouRT. It Very Often Presents a Scene of Wild Confusion, From the North China Herald. For a peac2ful people the Chinese appear to be a most litigious race. The moment that a quarrel begins to become serious, one or the other of the parties is likely to shout excitedly: “I will go to the city that is to pressnt his formal accus ion at the yamen. The other side threatens the seme, and while in a large percentage of cases outsiders contrive to suppress the im- mediate execution of the menace, every one recegnizes that the trouble is only tem- porarily patched up, and may break out in an aggravated form at any time. If the accusations presented in Chinese court were confined to anything like the facts in th case, there would be no case at all for nine-tenths of them. Therefore, it is con- ‘d indispensable to blend with the real grievance from 70 to 95 per cent of fiction. The plaintiff does this as routine practic. So does the defendant. When the magis- trate happens to feel in a good humor he calls up the case, or quite as likely he does so when he is in a very bad humor, which bedes ill for one side, and not infrequently for both. ‘The first part of a Chinese trial is likely to be something like the proceed- ings in one of our own courts, a great deal of formality, and an apparent resp2ct for the majesty of the | and especially for its representative, the district magistrate, who is the Chinese unit of government. But it is not long before all resemblance to cidental procedure fades into thin air. are no lawyers to protect the clients. » really ig any law bearing on the case in hand, no one but 2xperts such as the yamen secretaries knows what it is. the magistrate is himself civil and criminal » ju: practically the appeliate court. here 1s no manner of restraint upon him in his mode of asking questions, in tha subject of his inquiries or in his treat ent of the principals or witnesses. ater part of the matter brought a Chinese lawsuit would be entirely d out of any British court as totally vant to the main issue. But in a Chinese case there often is no main is or issue of any kind, except the impatie shout of the official: “Get out with you (bsia-ch’u la), whereupon all the parties re- tire and not improbably not one of them has the smallest idea where th> case has w got to. Neither, perhaps, has the tgistrate, but for the time he has had enough of it, and wants to smoke a pipe or two of opium, and will hear them again when he has a mor? convenient season. But before the case hag been dismissed the respective parties have by no means been fdle. Each of them has told fals2- hoods enough to shock a company pros- pectus-maker, and as each party delivers of these fabrications the other impossible to restrain himself, and i oe is a lie!” To this it ry to reply, which is done with a greatly in contrast to the quiet of the preliminary stages, when each re- plied in a few monosyllables only. From ejaculatory interruptions giving the other party the liz, it is but a stage to angry loquies of som3 length, in which each party struggles to be heard, each reviles the cther vociferously, and neither party is interrupted or reproved by the magistrate, who is now engaged in th? process of mak- ing up his mind on the basis of what he ba sees and hears as to which side has the most of li, or reason. In the worst stages of a case it often happens that the ma: trate himself does the r2viling, and, Chinese ature being what it it 0 mes occurs that the worsted party the suit reviles the magistrate, although is is rash, for he may beat them se y so doi! and then decide the inst them. case —t0e Divorce by Candles, om the Amrita Bazar Patrika. When a Burmese husband and wife de- cide to separate the woman goes out and o little candles of equal length, are made especially for this use. She brings them home. She and her husband sit dewn on the floor, placing the candles between them, and light them simulta- neou One candle stands for her, the other for him. The one whose candle goes out first rises and goes out of the house forever, with nothing but what he or she may have on. The one whose can- dle s survived the longer time, even by a sccond, takes everything. So the di- vorce and division of the property, if one can call that a division, are settled, ENGLISH PARCEL, POST Millions of Packages Carried Every Year. Thirty Cents Will Send a Box of Flowers From London. From the Boston Transcript. ~ At the present time, while our own postal arrangements are receiving special atten- tion, it is interesting to turn to the system in force in Great Britain for the convey- ance of packages as mail matter, a busi- ness that in this country is entirely in the hands of the express companies. The En- glish “inland parcel post’? has now been established for about fifteen years, and is consequently no experiment. Statistics for the last few years show that at a minimum of cost to the public the post office is carry- ing over sixty million packages annually with regularity and dispatch, as well as at a substantial profit to the department. The regulations of the English parcel post are simple. The parcel to be sent must be handed in at the counter of a post office and not mailed in the usual way, although in country districts rural postmen on their rounds are authorized to receive packages for transmission. Parcels must be packed in a reasonably strong and secure way to prevent injury to themselves and also to protect their contents from damaging other parcels in transit. They must be conspicu- ously marked “Parcel Post’ and be plainly and fully addressed, and they should also bear the name and address of the sender. They must be prepaid in postage stamps, the rate being up to one pound in weight, 6 cents; two pounds, 8 cents; three pounds, 10 cents; four pounds, 12 cents, and so on up to eleven pounds, 24 cents, which is the maximum weight allowed to be carried. To this, however, an exception may be made for bundles of newspapers when sent immediately on publication direct from the publishing house to newsdealers. ‘The above-rates, which include free delivery, will take parcels to any point in the United Kingdom at which there is a post office. A receipt can be obtained, i. desired, for each parcel, which can also be registered if the sender wishes, and the post office will pay moderate and reasonable compen- sation in case of loss or damage caused by the fault of its employes. Liquids, glass, china, crockery, eggs, fruit, fish, meat, but- ter, vegetables and all sorts of similar ar- Ucles which may not be sent by letter post may be forwarded by the parcel post, if properly packed and marked conspicuously with some such warning for the carrier a ugile—with care,” “Eggs” or “Perish The average time taken in the transmission and delivery of parcels is only a little longer than that of the ordinary letter mail service. The operations of the inland parcel post proved so successful that two years after its inception the English authorities in 1885 inaugurated the “foreign and colonial par- cel post,” which now carries small pack- ages at cheap rates to nearly all parts of the world except this country, with which it has no reciprocal relation. People living in the country find the par- cel post particularly useful. It 1s found that baskets are the lightest and most con- venient means for carrying small parcels, and at country houses In many cases sup: plies of these baskeis are Kept, having metal plates, with the name and address of the owner engrayed on them. They may be padlocked as well, dupi e keys being kept at either end of the journo In this books aFfe obtained from the libraries, sorts of household requirements from n fact, almost any of the hings that can be ac- that mysterious word covereth a multitude of— t People living in London and owning country s which they have to keep up al ear round get from tkem daily supplies through the par- cel post of cut flo all the stores, and, thousand and one qui that pleas ers, fresh butter, vege- tables, and, in fact, nearly all that the farm or rden can supp Sportsmen ewning shootings rarely sell the game they Kill, It goes to frien in the city, who appreciate the compl nent, and it goes ugh the parcel yx On August 12 shooting begins in Scotland, and will carry during the next few thereafter thousands of specially pre- little w boxes, each containing or two bi of grouse from the Scotch or Yorkshire moors to the friends of the sportsmen. ‘The week preceding Christmas day is the hardest strain that » parcel post has to coniend with, and a large extra force has met ‘all re- quirements, but each Christmas makes the strain greater. Many English people go to the south of France during the winter months, At that Season flowers are scarce and dear in Lon- don, but just when they are most unobtain- able there they aro freshest and most plentiful on the sunny shores of the Med- iterranean. It has now become a common sccial courtesy for gentlemen to send boxes of flowers from Nice, Hyeres and other towns in the south to their hostesses of the season before in London. For five franes (31) a boxful of cut flowers suffi- cient for dining and drawing room decora- tion can be bought, and 30 cents In postage will secure {ts delivery in London fresh and uninjured witkin twenty-four hours. There are times, when flowers go a-beg- xing in Florida, New Orleans and Savan- nah, when Boston hostesses would welcome a similar parcel post service in this coun- try. ———__+ e+_____ Back of the Moon. From the Windsor Magazine. Speaking with strict accuracy, instead of presenting an unchanging face toward us, the moon appears to be never still, but al- ways rocking backward or forward, falling toward us or away from us, and by the amount’ of these varlations—small, it is very true—regions of the hemisphere turn- ed away from us are disclosed. They are placed, unhappily, in the situation best cal- culated to defeat curiosity. We are per- mitted to take just a glimpse of “the other side,” but to bring away only the minimum of information as to its condition. Perhaps it is rash to say we shall never know more of the “other side” of the moon, so mar- velous have been the recent advances in astronomy. Some day, perhaps, new dis- coveries after the manner of Roentgen rays may enable us to get a photograph through the moon. Short of that, we must needs wait for some stray visitor from outer Space to come into collision with the moon and turn it round, in order to enable us to satisfy our curlosity; and patience may well be stimulated by the knowledge that the results of such a collision, should it ever occur, would in all probability be not less disastrous to the earth than to the moon itself. e+ —___ Seed of Corn 3,000 Years Old. From the Harrodsburg (Ky.) Sayings, Three or four years since an Indian mound in Arkansas was being excavated, when an earthen jar was found, hermet- ically sealed, that contained a small quan- tity of grains of Indian corn. Some of the grains were the next year planted in Mis- sourl, and several bushels raised. On the top of the round from which the jar was dug out @ large tree four feet in diameter Was growing, and it is ought the corn lay buried “about 3,000 years. "Squire James 1. Neal, one of our most prosperous and progressive farmers, sent and pro- cured a small quantity of the corn, paying over two cents a grain. This he planted last year, but the yield was small on ac- count of the drought. He saved enough, however, to get in a good patch this year. He has used it for roasting ears, and s: ys it is the best he ever had. The ears are not large, but grow two to three on a sin- gle stalk. The one. thing peculiar about this corn is its color, or rather colors. On the same cob are grains of different colors, and in the row you can find an ear that is white, another blood red, one Jmon col- ored, and another perfectly black ———— In Cyprus the first article of gold of an- cient workmanship discovered on the island has been just found. It is a plate of gold three inches long by one and one- half inches broad, and on it are the fig- ures of a sphinx and two beardless war- riors. In the time of Charles V Spain had 180,000 monks and priests and 60,000 nuns. ‘No fewer than 102 days out of the 365 were holidays, and the 300,000 nobles would have considered it a disgrece to do any useful work to make a living, RANDOM VERSE. Pen Eight Long miles to sivoney. Caroline Duer in ‘Caflier's: Weekly. It's eight long miles te Siboney— You've got to walk of le; For, there's thenrthat’S wounded worse'n you In the carts that’s jolting by— ‘The carts that's jolting by-good Lord! Packed full of battered men. And I guess thetr girs won't know them If they see thgm hyme again. It's eight long mitt And the read, tH Siboney— t,of the best. ‘That's far cnough, Gog knows, between A strong man und ‘his rest! But when you've Yought through hell all day, ‘And your wot is] stiff and sore, Why, you've had: your fll of hardships, And you don’t wantj any more. imunftien, We're buman And we're spett Ike shot or shell— But we're winntg for the Government, And they'd ought tottreat us well. But maybe they gets reckless, And they goes it kind of blind, For they knows there's plenty ‘more like us ‘That's pressing up, behind. Oh, Uncle Sam! we take your pay, And we'd better work than. talk But it's elght long miles to Siboney, And wounded has to walk. You needn’t spare us fighting, Beene ain't afratd to die ut take care of those that’s hurted now, And they'll serve yeu by and by. —_+e- The Last Dance of the Leaves. John Vance Cheney in the Dial. 1 Still playing, playing, faithful Pleasure Keeps a blithe, beguiling measure: The flowers fallen, the thrushes gon Pleasure still is playing on, Softly calling back the day Glory by plory slipt away. ‘The shed leaves, with the rabbits’ feet, Move to the music; light and fleet They hold once more the happy air, With memory hold pale revel there. IL ‘Che wind of Autumn wakes and blo It whistles in the withered clase; Now it laughs, and now it grieves: Weird the measure that it weaves For the dances of the yellow leaves, ‘The sad grass pale and paler grows, Gray Death, from vale to hill he goes; Still the wihd, it halt deceives Weird the measure that it -veayes For the dances of the lying leaves, From the Pall Mall Gazette. Iam of many moods and many shapes, I strip the chestnut and I tread the grapes. ‘The pulse of life runs high within my veins, My hands and lps are red with berry stains. I bid the leaves from all their dances cease And die a golden death, and T release ‘The spell of summer, so that all remember Winter and death at beck of me, September, The Reg‘lar Army Man, Joe Lincoln in the L. A. W. Bulletin. He ain’t no gold-lace “Belvidere,” : ‘Ter sparkle in the sun, He don’t parade with gay cockade, And posies in bis gun; He ain't no “pretty suldier boy,”” So lovely, spick and span, He wears a crust of tan and dust, ‘The Reg'lar Army man; The marchin’. parchin’, Pipe-clay starchin’, Reg'lar Army wan. He ain't at home in Sunday School, Nor yet a social tea, And on the day he gets his pay Hie’s apt ter spend it free; He ain't no temp'rance advocate, He Hkes ter il the can, He's kinder rough an, maybe, tough, ‘The Reg'lar Army man; ‘The rarin’, tearin’ Sometimes swearii Reg'lar Army mkn. | No state ‘ll call kim “noble son," He ain't no ladies" pet, But, let a row start anyhow, Tl ll send fer him, you bet! He don’t cut any ice ap all In Fash’n's socigl plan, He gits the Job tes face a mob The Reg lar Army man; ‘The millin’, deillin’s Made fer kill’, uy ' Reg'lar Army mad, They ain't no teags shed over him When be goes off ter war, He gits ho specck: nor yiayerful “preach’? From mayor or govertwr; He packs his lite knaps: And trots off in ahe v Ter start the fighiy and st The Keg'lur Army mau; he rattlin’, batulin’, Colt or Gating r Reg'lar Army man. a up rt it right, He makes no fuss abont the Job, He don't talk big or pave, He kuows he's in ter fght and win, Or help fll up # grave; He ain't no “iuama's carlin’, but He does the beat he «an, And he's the chap that wing the scrap, ‘The Reg'lar Army mud; ‘The dandy, handy, Cool and ‘sandy, Reg'lar Army ian. ——- +0 + —___ “Dum Spiro Spero.” Alice A. Pitman in the Pall Mall Magazine, ‘Thou art so fair, dear Hope, I would not see What depths lie hidden In thy smiles benign; Nay, rather let me drink the sparkling wine ‘Thou pourest freely with a girlish glee. The Present’s nursling climbing on thy knee, Around thy form his fulsome arms entwine, To hide thy charms frota such sad eyes as mine, And grasp the riches of Futurity! I can but love, coquettish though thon art, And from thee would some precious token takes A word, a touch, a sigh for my poor sake, Let me hear from'thee in iny heart of heart! If life from thee be but a thing apart, ‘Then must I sleeping dream: but never wake! ——_+ 2+ ___ The Sexton of the Sea. Ichn James Meehan in LesHe’s Weekly. You scatter flowers on the grassy mound That marks the spot where your loved ones bes You bring them emblems with never a thought For the dead beneath the sea. For every ship that the hands of men Have builded with chart and wheel, ‘The bones of men in a bundred-fold Are laid beneath its keel. A canvas shroud and an fron bar At the weary head and the wasted feet, And lo! from ‘the deck they move away, From the hearts that throb and beat! Soldiers and sailors and captains grand, Babes with a mother's breast Wet with the lips that will touch no more, Come down in my arms to rest. And I lay them gent! Where the bed of the sand is clear; And none may wander, and none shall stray, For I keep them, ob, so dear! And hark! When the bell-buoy tolls at night, Above-the wave where the fishes swim, You may know that 1 keep my /ather’s wate, For the day I shall give them back to Him! Ee A Ghost’s Soliloquy. Martha Jordan Fishel in the Criterion. I shall return from Ged’s amazing dawn, Where my soul pauses questioning and free, I shall go back to earth—a guardian shade— A spirit strayed— And love thee—live with thee. ulone to sleep, But worse than Death's cold fingers on my heart, Which stilled its life aud took my soul in fee, Is this dread trath—this desolating thought So dearly bought— I'm now a ghost to thee. ———- + e+ -—___ Democracy. William Prsecctt Foster in the Atlantic Monthly. Our mighty bark, with masta that rake the stars, Has lagged too long in port, and we have drowsed An Idle crew or with wit inates caronced, Forgetinl of our part din Weedom’s wars. But now, at last, wit sail-taut to the spacs, For het whose riglttal cerse our sires expouse Again our aiip miaceretserinelere niow crpetaed) The winds of God, heroudithe shoals and bars. For still our orders hbld asvin the past,— ‘That glorious day wo shopk our banner free, And broke from outctheldine and took the van, With linstocks iit, ad bade them follow fast, Who held with tis, fo sali and search the sea Until we find a better world for man. so icotine. From London Punch.” it T haye sung in many. places Qe Ma, etd litrtiy nd races. Y or I have frequently deggt G-gdh her as’ my Queen; But new in poetic ara I intend to chant the pra‘ses Of another love, the nymph called Nicotine, ‘Tho’ I trust my deayest Fady Will not think m Rite shady, And with envy ‘and with Jealousy turn gveens For the notion is distréssing, Yet I cannot help confessing An attachment to the nymph called Nicotine, I am not “he only lover Of the nymph, for reund ber hover * Worshipers too nunercas to count, I ween, Young and old adoring gaily, Whilst they offer ineense daily At the altar of the nympb called Nicotine. ‘Tho’ her charms are great and many, Of the fair sex searcély any In the ranks of her admirers will be seen, But the simple end the gentle Have a more than sentimental Adoration of the nymph called Nicotine: ‘Then her worship is a pleasure, For she speeds the bones of leisure, And she muxes our appetite for work more keen; Xf you-are not pio enopclonn . She is paver a it gra Bweetly soothing is the Sneer called Nicotine, LITTLE KING ALFONSO Takes Great Delight in Watching Military Maneuvers, Bat Goes in for All Sorts of Fun Like Other Lads—Prudent in Speech. Madrid Correspondence of the Londun Telegrap. I have just had a conversation with a well-known Spanish courtier concerning the health, amusements and general way of living of the little King Alfonso XIII, the gist of which I shall endeavor to repro- duce, as nearly as possible, as it occurred: “What are the usual amusements of King Alfonso XIII?" I inquired. “Like those of most lads of his age, they are legion, and any change of place, per- sons or circumstances may suggest new ones. Among the perennial pleasures which seem to keep their charms forever, watch- ing military maneuvers, evolutions and ceremonies is his favorite. He once de- clared that one and the same officer had taken part in the ceremony two days run- ning, a circumstance which ought never to occur, and although he was assured that he must be mistaken he insisted that he was right, and ‘commanded’ an inquiry to be made, just to ascertain whether or not he was in error. The investigation showed that the child was right, and that the of- ficer was guilty of a misdemeanor, which he had committed in order to extricate a comrade from trouble. “He and his comrade, the watchmaa’s son, who shares the king’s amusements, work together, if we can call the amaieur gardening of the boys anything more than play. It is interesting to watch the two running about with little spades or rakes, wheelbarrows or shovels, garden scissors or flower baskets, and it would be both amusing and instructive to listen to the conversation carried on by the pair. One day some trees in the royal garden were being pruned, and the king’s humple corm- panion having gone off for a few minutes on an errand of his comrade and monarch, reappeared wearing a leafy crown over his head, which he had tmprovised out of a somewhat gnarled bough. ‘What's around your hat? asked the king. ‘Th: My crown,’ replied the boy commone: “it nearly tore the ribbon around my hat as 1 pinned it. There are plenty moré up there, where they are pruning the trees. Would you like me to get you one? the Little King’s’ tongue is quite as sharp as his eyesight; but he is made to be very careful how he employs it whenever grown-up people are present. Possibly a considerable part of what he says is a mere modification of what he hears from people much older than himself. Some of the caustic epithets he applies to certain of the eminent politicians of the cortes are of this category; but they are daily becoming less and less frequent. One day his playmate, instead of doing something which the king desired, endeavored to show that it was either very difficult or wholly impossible, aif in order to prove it he spoke on and on till the royal boy lost patience, and, stamp- ing his foot, said, ‘Shut up, X.' (calling him by the name of a celebrated deputy, famous for his long and eloquent discourses), ‘or else you may leave me and the garden and take yourself off to parliament.’ “One day, during his history lesson, the king asked his professor to tell him how Spain scame to lose Chile, Mexico and the other Spanish-American colonies. The story was narrated so thrillingly and artistically that the royal boy listened spellbound, and continued, after it had ended, to sit ab- sorbed in meditation. At last, a thought having struck him, he looked up to his professor and inquired, ‘What must I do in order to get back those countries for Spain?’ he first and most important thing of all,’ replied the cautious and diplo- matic pedagogue, ‘is that your majesty should—should—grow up te be a man. When you are a man ‘Hm!’ muttered the lad, disenchanted, ‘when I’m a man it is not a history professor's advice that I shall be asking. I shall have a prime min- ister to tell me then.” The restraint of court life would be a source of exquisite suffering to a vivacious yeuth like Alfonso XIH, were he obliged to submit to it. Fortunately the existence he leads is that of a boy in an aristocratic private family, with some extra restrictions thrown in, All his hours, or nearly all, are filled up with some occupation or other, according to a program which is observed with German minuteness, and this is galling to the independent Spanish spirit of the lad. He cannot, or will not, understand why he must do this thing which he hates, or refrain from that which his heart yearns for, simply because ‘this is absolutely necessary for a king,’ ‘that is unbecoming @ monarch,’ ‘the other thing is harmless in itself, but for the King of Spain at the present moment it is impossible.” ‘Why impossible?’ he has often asked, and nearly always the reply elicited was, ‘You will un- derstand all this better when you are older.” “Why does young So-and-So do it, then?’ ‘Oh, he is only the son of a deputy.’ ‘Well, I only wish I were a deputy’s son, too!’ ” RATS IN PLAGUE CITIES. Experiences in Bombay and Other Stricken Places in India. From tho Times of India. Domestic rats do not burrow and live un- derground, or make their domiciles in drains or sewers, into which they can se- cure a ready entrance. As their name in- dicates, they live in houses, and bring up their young in the least disturbed and most inaccessible corners. Their powers of lo- comotion give them the entire free@om of the house. That Bombay should always be filled with rats is explained by the clr- cumstance that the city is the center of a very large grain trade, and that this grain is stored mostly on the ground floors of houses for convenience of handling. The “grain godowns” of Bombay are not only numerous, but are scattered all over the city. The large ‘“‘godowns,” which are used chiefly by the large dealers, are ncstly in Mandvie, to be near the Cocks. The numerous smaller godowns are scat- tered about in the most populous districts of the native town. As the grain in all these godowns, large and small, is stored in tiers on the ground floor of the godowns in piles or tiers of tens and twenties, with or without planks, beams or other wooden dunnage beneath, the arrangement encour- ages colonies of rats to use the grain g9o- downs as domiciles for their tribe. There they feed and live and thrive; there they breed and rear their young, and there they are secure from attack alike from men, as trom dogs and cats and all their other ene- mies. The grain godowns of Bombay have been forever increasing, and the rats have eae with the number of the gocowns. he godowns, it ehou!d be mentioned, have been the domiciles, the feeding ground and the strongholds of the rats, and it is not easy to conceive ary more effective plan of successful rat-breeding than that which has been established in our godowns by the grain dealers of Bombay. At the time of the first visitation of plague in Bombay, in August or Septem- ber, 1886, the city must have been filled with an unusual superabundance of rats, seeing that every ingenuity which the hu- man mind might devise for the most com- plete and. extensive breeding of domestic rats had been in actual operation in Bom- bay for half a century. To this complete system of rat-breeding has to be added the facts that grain dealers and Hindocs gen- erally keep neither cats nor dogs in the houses, and that the destruction of rats is regarded by these classes as a religious profanation and a dire sin. This peculiar- ity of the masses of the people gives the finishing touch to the apparent mystery of rat-breeding and rat vreservation. There is 0 mystery in the matter at all. The facts connected with rat-breeding and rat preservation are evident to the meanest comprehension. When our plague first came Bombay must have been “Urbs pri- mus” in rats, if in nothing else, and in those early days of the plague numerous houses in the Mandvie district exhibited every morning large numbers of dead rats thrown out of the rooms and from the staircases of houses, awaiting remcval by the seavengers of all that the crows had not previously feasted on. From the beginning of the plague until now dead rats have been found in houses and in the streets as regular antececen of plague among the people in the nesr vi- cinity. Dead rats have been discovered first and plague cases such a close secand as to give rise to the popular belief that the rats caused the plague. This belief was stregthened by the very numerous dis- sections and observations which have been made by competent observers. from time to time, all of which went to prove that the great rat mortality was caused by : and by nothing else. The dis Was said, infected one another, the disease amung themselves. and Fo great was the susceptibility of the rat to Plague that nearly the wholo tribe per- ished in each of our epide " The first batch died off wih r demic, but the city was such a good »re ing ground for rats that In a year a new generation-was ready to herald in a second Visitation. In the second epidemic. as in the first, dead rats showed the direction and force of the visitation among the peo- ple, and gave the warning. So certain was this warning that the belief is now s*rongl: and generally enteriained that the city owes all its plague troubles to rats, and to tats alone. Calcutta experience fs closely following the experience of Bombay—dead rats first and human plague immediately afterward. Other factors may be instru- mental in fostering and spreading plague infection. If there are any such factors they require investigation, for, up to the present, little or nothing 1s known about them. If it be resolved to destroy the rats at ence, the question arises, What are the best and most successful means of making this riddance? The free use of polson has its dangers, and the municipal commission- er does not approve of this mode of ex- tinction. What remains, then, but to offer sufficient reward to ingenious and willing persons to carry out the measure without using poison? Objectors may rise up to point out that the riddance cannot he per- manent. and that among the public will be found many defenders and preservers of tats. But ‘hese objectors can all be met and answered in due course. Commenting on this letter, the editor says: “It is interesting to note, with refer- ence to our correspondent’s closing sugges- tion, that the offer of a reward for dead rats was the one remedial measure adopted by the Chinese officials during the terrible outbreak of plague in Canton in 1894. The reward was paid at the city gates, and the Tats were buried outside the walls. Over twenty thousand dead rats were brought to cne gate alone within a little more than a month after the epidemic broke out. The reward paid was ten cash per head. Ten cash may be taken, roughly, to be the equivalent of half an anna.” ———_ -+0- THE ALPINE TUNNELS. New One to Supersede the Simplon and Mont Cenis. From the Paris Messenger. All visitors to Italy, passing through Switzerland, have seen with wonder and delight the St. Gothard railway, which ex- tends from Lucerne to Chiasso. Travers- ing, as it does, the Alps in its passage, and embracing nearly 100 tunnels, of which that at the summit is nine and a half miles in length, it has justly been considered one of the greatest engineering feats in the world. As it forms the direct line of com- munication between Italy and Germany, its traffic has not only grown to very large Proportions, but the return to the share- holders fs equally large and satisfactory. The other great tunnel through the Alps, which was constructed at an earlier date, is the Mont Cen! This tunnel, at an alti- tude of 4,247 feet above the sea, is nearly eight miles in length, and was also, in its day, considered a marvelous undertaking; but, unfortunately, although most solidly constructed and capable of carrying a large traffic, it is, owing to the war of tariffs ex- isting between France and Italy, but little used. But now a third tunnel—that under the Simplon—is not only proposed, but its con- struction has already commenced. This railway will form the most direct com- munication between Berne, Lausanne and Geneva to Domo 4’Assola, Milan, and the north of Italy, and it has the great advan- tage of being on a low level. While the altitude of the St. Gothard is above the sea, and that of the Mont Cenis is 4,247 feet, the Simplon is only 2. In other words, the heavy traffic through the Alps at a lower level, by some 1,477 feet, than in the case of the St. Goth- ard. Another great advantage it will pos sess is that the approach on the Swiss side will be of the simplest character. The Jura-Simplon railway has its terminus at Brieg in the Rhone valley, and the tunnel mouth will be on the present level of. and at a short distance from, the end of the ex- isting sidings of Brieg station. The length of the tunnel will be twelve and a miles, the Italian end being at Iselle. maximum gradient will be 1 in 140, and the work wili consist of two parallel tunnels each for one pair of rails—at a distanc apart of about fifty feet. This tunnel has been proposed for some years, but it was for a long time considered impracticable. The great advance, within the last few years, of engineering science has, however, convinced thinking men not only that ft is feasible, but that it wil possess very considerable advantages over the other tunnels. The profitable results of the St. Gothard no doubt stimulated its promoters to proceed, and the great rail- way company of Switzerland—the Jura- Simplon Company—has. taken the matter in hand. Many and great were the objec- tions raised by its opponents, and the Swiss government wisely decided that, before committing themselves in any way to its execution, they would obtain the opinions of a commission of experts on tunnel con- struction and ventilation. They had al- ready the reports of their own able and ex- perienced engineers, but they decided to seek advice from sources which would be absolutely disinterested and impartial. They applied to the governments of Eng- land, Italy and Austria to nominate an en- gineer, one from each country. Mr. Glusep- pe Colombo, member of the Italian parlia- ment, for some time minister of the treas- ury of Milan, was chosen by that country. Mr. Francis Fox, member of the Institu- tion of Civil Engineers, was nominated by the board of trade, while Herr Wagner, one of the government inspectors, and also an engineer of the Great Arlberg tunnel, was the Austrian representative. These three gentlemen sat in Berne for two or three weeks, and, having visited the site and route of the proposed tunnel and rail- way, presented a report unanimously in- dorsing the views of the Jura-Simplon rail- way Company and their able advisers. res RAILROAD CARS. What Some of Them Cost and What They Weigh. From the Indianapolis Journal. An ordinary passenger car on a steam railroad costs from $4,000 to $5,000, and weighs 38,000 pounds, or nineteen tons. mail car, which costs from $2,000 to &: and is shorter by about one-quarter than the ordinary passenger coach, weighs 32,- 000 pounds, or sixteen tons. A baggage car, without the baggage in :it, weighs 25,- 000 pounds, fourteen tons, and costs about as much as a mail car. A sleeping car, with observatory attachments, literary an- mex and culinary department, costs any- where from $10,000 to $20,000. The average weight of a sleeping car is from twenty to twenty-two tons. A full train in motion, as a little figuring will show, is no light affair. The ordinary weight of the railroad locomotive, for pas- er service, inclusive of tender, but not of fuel in the tender, is forty tons. One car weighs fourteen tons, and one mail car sixteen tons, bringing up the weight of the locomotive and the baggage and mail cars to seventy tons. Six pas- senger cars at an average of ninetecn tons, weight of baggage, of fuel carried, weight of @ train made up wf a locomotive and eight cars would be 184 tons, or 365,000 pounds, exclusive of the passengers and mail matter. Pulling 184 tons along rails at the rate of fifty miles an hour or more is an achieve- ment which has not been easily brought about, and the more the problem is studied the more clearly it is understood how far the mechanical work on railroads has been pushed. There were by the last figures re- ported 36,000 locomotives in use on the American railroads, 26,000 passenger cars and 8,000 mail and baggage cars. These figures seem large until compared with the number of freight cars on American rail- roads, and then they seem insignificant, for the number of freight cars in use is 1,250- 000. Freight cars among the railroad men are divided into four classes—flat cars, such aa are used for the transportation of stone, machinery and lumber; box cars, such as are used for the transportation of grain. fruit and ordinary merchandise; stock cars. such as are used for the transporiation of live stock, and cars such as are used for coal and oil—those used for ofl being sup- plied with tanks. The average weight of a flat or gondola car is seven tons. The car costs from $300 to $400. Box cars weigh a ton more and cost $10 more each. Stock cars weigh eight tons each on the average; coal cars weigh three tons-each. It costs about $200 to build coal or ofl cars, and they are designed to carry five tons apiece. ‘The weight of fifty coal cars is 150 tons, and of their contents. if al! filled, 250 tons, which, with locomotive and caboose added, makes 420 tons as the weight of a train. It-may be added, roughly, that the weight of loaded trains. passenger, coal or freight, ranges from 200 to 550 tons. The lighter the train os Regia the speed; that’s the railroad = [FEATS IN SIGNALING pias How Messages Are Carried by Use of Little Flags. | BY SEMAPHORE AND FLASH LIGHTS lias The Heliograph Surpasses All Other Land Methods. BUT NOT SO GOOD aT SEA George J. Varney in The Independent ‘The means and methods of signaling are in a large degree the same in naval use as in campaigns we have carried on aguinst hestile tribes in the wild west, and in ter- ritorial and coast surveys; so that the sys- tem may be equally well jilustrated either cf these fields. The regular signal flag of these servi can be used effectively on land, in cleat weather, at stations as far as twenty-five miles apart, if sufficiently elevated The Yorm of the flag is square, and either black or red with a white square in the center, or white with a central square of red. They are made in three sizes, and two, four and six feet square, to fit differ- ent distances, In use, the flag is first elevated dtrec’ above the signalman’s head; motion consists of swing!ng the flag to the ri and quite down to the ground; in me “two,” the flag is swung from above the head down to the ground on the left. The first motion signifies the and the sec- ond the dash of the Morse telegraphic al- phabet. In the night the wavin in by torches, wit torch being p t man, so that those at the other station can perceive more certainly the direction of the movement of the “flying torch.” The flash light ts another form of night visible to an equal distance with the The main features of this are a hid- cht, as a lamp in a box, and Its ex- s removal of a curtain or a slide for nger or shorter time, to signif: dashes and dots. This method has, prot ably, larger use on sea than land. As will be understecd, any kind of light may be used for the purpose, from a tallow candle to inean) 1 are ele Nehts. In a clear night a candie flame can be seen nearly a mile and a half; a Nght of ter. candle power, ut four miles; and one of thirty-three candle power, five miles, A power of 10) candles—which is the strength generally used in the search- lights of English warships—will, with the aid of its refi or, throw its beams per- heps eight mil in clear weather, with readable distin Talking Over High Hills. There was published about two years ago the exploit of two English war vessels, which, lying on opposite sides of a high prcmontory nine miles in width, held com- munication with each other by means of their searchlights, beams from which were thrown upon the y and read on the oppose inet site side of the heights. ith a search- light the message may be sent by sweeping the beam across the sky, like ths move- ment cf the torch, or by an intermitted beam in a fixed direction. Spakowsky’s flashing lantern, Danish army end navy, is used by the n interesting and dash closed box con- Jamp, which im use form of signa’ light on the dot system t Tt consists of a ring a small spirit continues lighted. When signals to be ade a stream of petroleum, spray vapor, is driven by a small bellows tar a hole in the side of the box into the 1 flame, when this instantly blazes up or more above the box through an opening, remainin sible as long as the petroleum blast continues. Sig is by this light are said to be readable at thirteen miles tant, and it has been successfully used for a distance of four miles in a heavy rain, Another method of signaling, invented by ude Chappe of Angers, France, just t the first French revolution, is the naphere. As made by its originator, It sted of a long beam pivoted at the middle to the side of a post near its top. The beam had a wing-like attachment at each end. All these be placed in different angles to « r, making 196 different combinations, representing as many numbers, read by means of a code of numbered diagrams. A Mne of these mount- ed on towers not so far apart as to render the angles interminable was constructed from Lille to Paris, and served te bring the gocd news of the recapture oY the Conde from the Austrians in the same forenoon of the surrender. The instrument was adopted and used throughout Europe until superseded by the telegraph—which was introduced into - France by King Louis Philippe soon after its successful use in America—in 1844. A system of night signaling which fur- n'shes more variety than any other ts that by colored lights. The incandescent electric Iamp is very convenient for this ure, as green, red or colorless light can be shown for dots and daches, and other signs, by means of a key board on deck. Codes Are Safely Guarde on has one or more codes of its own, which also have to be changed at ine tervals, so that if it has become too much known through the impudence or treachery of those using it, or by the skill of an e pert enemy, harm may not result by the E eapos ¢ conditions or of plans. In Spanish war both colored Nghts and ations of flags have been sent s attached to flys ptive balloons. method of signa up t ards or pull ing kites or anchored ¢ There is one othe ng which surpasses all others in the dis 8 to which it can sometimes be used. It is the heliograph or sun-writer. This in its simplest form is sometimes used by mis- chievous lads or lasses when they catch the sunlight ir. a pocket mirror, or one set in a fan, and throw a beam of light on a dis- ant wall. “in our territorial surveys and in the mill- tery campaigns against hostile Indians In the wesc communication has been held be- tween places very far apart by the hello- graph. ‘This apparatus consists of a square mirror with an unsilvered spot at the cen- ter. The smallest mirror in general use by our signal corps is four inches square; but these of three and a half, eight and twelve inches have been applied in experimental work, the larger ones for great distances isty atmospher, *Somumunication by hellograph has been held between two peaks in the Rocky moun- tains, 183 miles apart. The twelve-inch mirror was used on this occasion, the heli- graph flash appearing lke « bright star to the eye. Sometimes a screen is erected to receive the signal, as with a magic le tern. The circle within which a fash mile away can be seen is sixteen or seven- teen yards in diemeter, the area becoming about twice as large at two miles, and thus it continues doubling in extent wit each mile. The signais are read in dots and dashes, as with the flash light. Long Wait for Good Day. At the time this great distance was span- ned by a mirror flash the atmosphere was of unusual clearness. On another occasion of long-distance signaling while surveying the corps had watched for the opportunity nearly three months before it came, and they met with success—though the distance between the points this time was but little over one hundred miles. The moisture of the sea atmosphere near the water renders the heliographic method too inefficient and uncertain for use on ships, though it is sometimes tried. The most successful feat reported by this sys- tem at sea was performed in 1883 be awreon mn the Islands of Mauritius and the Indian ocean, east of Madax: stations were on peaks having the tions of 2,503 and 3,783 feet, respectivel above the surface of the sea. The flas! the receiving station was dazzling, “like another sun,” though the distance was slightly over one hundred and thirty-three miles; but the mirror had the enormous size of about ten and three-quarters feet. The quickest work which has been re- ported by the government was done in Arizona in August, 1886, by Lieut. A. M. Fuller, U. 8. A., where a message of twen- ty-seven words was sent by telegraph through six stations over a distance of three hundred miles, and a reply of twen- ty-five words received within a period of two hours and twenty minutes. union,