Evening Star Newspaper, October 22, 1898, Page 23

THE EVENING Stak, SATURDAY, OCTOBER 22, 1898-36 PAGES, CONDITIONS IN CHINA Tales of Queer Doings Now Going on in Pekin. EMPRESS STILL RULES SUPREME | The Nominal Ru'er is but Clay in Her Hands. AN INCORRUPTIBLE VICEROY © Londen Mail. ese drama seems hurrying for- final fifth act. Telegrams come and go from Pekin to England, yet who can sav whether the young emperor Is alive or dew? No foreigner is allowed to pen- étrate inte the forbidden city, and, short of som foreigner s rg him, whom could | we bel “ve His predecessor, Tung Chi, passed away uurse of a palace convulsion. Short © to the protection of of escaping in disgu: the British fleet, it is difficult to see how present emperor could possibly find fafety »ywhere. And how could we ex- ct him, palace bern and bred, to have en- a flight? On great state oc- alone, he has gone abroad > at the Temple of Heaven, rdance with the most ancient ritual ‘broken use, the roads have been ore his passage, windows bar- 1 all people bidden to keep with- that appeal the imagina these progre the Emperor of China. mendous out- lay, crews accompanying him, both before nd not ar eye to see the gor- z conceive what uid have removed? It ts th yeror of China h ed about. An Able Woman. Iso been brought up by a great- tended kim to be of has who has never us chara must have been a very alle woman to have retained power since 1851, when Hien Fung died, and she, Tsze Chi, together with t der Tsze An, it, nd this the more so be- appears ly detested by people. who accuse her of car- t ‘ and money. seem ed of having wbout the of her husband; by 1 ) empresses together are sup- sed ve brought about the death of ror T, i, when he was . and to have removed his » inconventently ni age. Th sele throne th t son of the brother. In ISS! Tsze An died, and since then Tsze Chi hes held the power alone, till no per having nomin y-three years, and at once ve ed to aby 5 at more it been found convenient to force » we do not know. He has been ans who aS en- é dignity, and yet < t of countenance as 1 who do but see him. The . disposed, but given t Some say an Wild Stories Current. Tsae Chi still rules one would leas: woman—women 2 mit to a teemed of neit ment, but merely there comfort nor evils. current about the studies boxin: w 1 h in the Way of wrong or violence has so far al- Way en di with the help of Li Hung cy and both alike have grown rich. hated: both # red. But who oO wi and them. whole Chine: people are without arms. There is no car- { arms permitted in China. Wh in the interior three y to find any means con- three guns officials to save ading that them, so end to bury rouble. wir this wan > power of as of arms, he foreign « Ss head, t with the wh this foreign cut off and th the Tai Ping rebellion ing Manchu rule w sh armed in en- stoms nderstanc Chang Chih Tang. mains for the empr Hw “d getting t tr Chang Chih ir appearan the hard- ent Chinese people will hands. Chang Chib y telegram, ts summoned to Pek was noned in June. He P 1 his authority, left his provinctal f Wuchang di even x as far Shai; by jot broke out at All foreig there had been vat of their burning houses, his Was required, and he turned w k Possibly an- wi ak oO now, or Chang ng’s always frail health will forbid is difficult to believe he will in t himself within the walls of range characters this of Chang seems the strangest. As small Li is tall and massive. his wife, and haunted by her to lie down in as his ri to ventur Kespected for His Poverty. So the gr ‘ shions a roy, but frail old man, always kept in readiness by obsequious attendants, and drops off asleep ew minutes whenever he can, sitting his attendants meanwhile s fering all th ble from the servi ted « the er. ne DOr, as held, yet province he ad- det . He e@ foreigner: even «9 most Chinamen: yet when in difficul- s wo foreigners he sends for—a for- Tin the E my when the concerns r army or navy, r othy Richard of the Baptist 1 it is about a question of nd though supposed to be an ene- » Christianity, yet he, of all the vic en large sums of terprise utiful Mterar, master unriv ple to cni- led, r i give up mutil. their wom, Bore becor Whi at drive right through elty thus favored prepare for t the Chine ie to fight. I out a carriage it—the only Chinese dt posstbly thus began he only step that can yet empire—the removal of ‘Kin, on its extreme north- ern boundary, back to Nankin, its ancient capital. Might Yet Be Saved. emperor be still alive, and could escape, as his high-minded adviser, the modern sage, has escaped, under tion of an English man-of-war, establish self once more at we might yet perhaps see China scitated. When the Ming emperors meved from Nankin to Pekin it seemed as {f they went into the very arms of their nies. The Mantchus passed over the et. encompassed them, and dashed the out of them. The Russians are acw but repeating the role of the Mantchus. For despite all peace proclamations, we do not hear of their abating one jot of their pre’ tons in the east. Like many otner people, Russia has no wish to fight at all: she only elaims to hold all she has and get all she wants. But the hearts of those who have lived in China must ache at the thought of that People without police, and almost without an army, who bave carried local self-gov- ernment further than any other nation, the most democratic and the most law- abiding, being handed over to Yhe tron despotism that has engendered nihilists. Nor can we as English people without a biush see a nation that has long trusted us, and counted upon eur_support, handed over unarmed and defenseless to a bureaur cracy possibly no more .corrupt than tts own, but that interferes a hundred times More with the details of daily life. Im- perial England has contracted certain obli- Rations toward imperial China which it must discharge or rest disgraced. ‘There are other obligations toward those of our own countrymen who have staked their lives and fortunes in the east. Mer- chants are not swift to anger, but the wrath of British merehants in the east has ren aroused, and bitterness is rankling in their heart: eg A REMARKABLE NEW PLANET. One of the Asteroids That Hi culiar Orbit. From the London Times. Of all the different departments of as- tronomical work “miner planet” discovery has seemed by far the least interesting and profitable. There seemed no end to their nembers—more than one hundred and fifty having been detected within the last ten years; they are too small for any markings to be observed on their surfaces or to af- ferd fields for delightful speculations as to their climates and inhabitants; they are just wandering bowlders, as numerous as the pebbles on the seashore, and with, for the most part, searcely more individuality a Pe- {> repay the astronomer for the toil of keeping a watch on their motions, and of computing their orbits, so that it was with a decided feeling of satisfaction that most astronomers saw the first half of the pres ent year go by without a single fresh di. covery. The last two months, however, have each brought a new capture; the first, discovered by M. Chariots of the Nice observatory, on July 16, having no special claims to at- tention, but the second, discovered by Herr Witt of the Urania observatory, Berlin, on Avgust 14, seems to nave so remarkable an orbit that astronomers will think the labor spent on the discovery and observation of the other 430 or so of these little hod well bestorved, since It has led to the discovery of this one. The chief interest of “minor planet” as- tronomy has lain in the suitability of some of them for use in the determination of the fundamental unit of astronomy, the dis- tance of the earth from the sun. Some of them come sufficiently near the earth ever now and then for their distance to be de termined with considerable precision. And as the relative distarces of the various planets can easily be ascertained, to know the ¢ nee accurate! of one to know the distance of all. But the “minor planets,” as a body, lie the orbits of Jupiter and Mars, ly one or two ever come nearer to the sun than the mean distance of Mars. The new planet, unlike all its brethren, if the first attempts at the calculation of its orbit are to be received, has its mean dis- tance from the sun within that of Mars, and, traveling in a very eccentric orbit, will appreach the earth, when it is at its near- est approach to both earth and sun at the same time—within fourteen™ millions of miles. Tt wili be at such times our nearest neighbor in space, after the moon herself, but such close oppositions will only occur about once in thirty years. The time of revolution of the rew planet is 645 lays. Like the other “pocket planets,” it is of y small size, say twenty to twenty-five miles in diameter, but on the occasion of a very close oppc it will shine as a sixth magnitude star, and, therefore, be ble to the naked eye. Even at its most stant oppositions it will be of the eleventh magnitude, five or slx times as bright—that is, as most of the more recently discovered ts. This fact makes it most ple that it has not been discovere and creates the hope that other nearer than Mars may be detected. y rate, it will revive th est in rch for small celestial wanderers, of which it is at present by far the most use- ful and interesting. ——— see A SUMATRA PARASITE. It is a Flower of Prodigious Size and Repulsive Odor. From the Providence Journal. Among the marvelcus plants that the last century has made known none {is more markable than the huge parasite Rafford it derives its name from Sir d Raffles, who, in 1818,was governor of Benecieen, in Sumatra. He was at one on a tour of the island, accompanied Lady Raffles,Dr. Arnold and quite a party uropeans and natives. Suddenly they ted upon the flower of prodigious size repulsive odor, more than a and weighing fifteen pound: s nge, mottled with yel- the whole thing livid and by carrion insects. t gations showed the plant to coi er alone, directly parasitic on time by cissus. It never has stem or leaves o own. The famous Robert Brown bestowed the name on the plant Rafflesia-Arnold, commemorating thus the titles of both ¢ coverers, Several ies are now Known, differing much in size, but little in essen- tials. Their growth occupies but a few months. They first appear as knob-like tuberances protruding from the bark of ious species of ¢ us. The flowers remain expanded only a few ys, then becoming a disgusting mass of in the sim! rrion flower, the insects, odor, also assist in the poll ar case of one te putrition. As nation. parasites flower at a diff: ent time from the host plants, thus mak- ing their own blossoms more prominent ‘They have been cultivated in various bo- 4S, especially in the east. is plant is among the giant flowers, ranking in size with the great water Illy of s, and with some of the huge A peaflower in Trinidad Is several feet in length, its ban- rer, or upper petal, being alone a foot long. The range from these titans to the almost invisible flower of starwort is tr mendous, but the little is fashioned as ca fully as the great. Nature leaves no cor- ner unfinished for the reason that it is minute. oe The Flying Fox. m the Philadelphia Press. The flying fox is a very curious inhabit- ant of the forests near Moreton Bay in Australia. It lives in flocks and generaliy toward the dusk of the evening, and the noise produced by the vy Napping of the so-called wings is lar. The flocks like quiet places, are large Araucarian pine n underwood of scrub and creep The foxes hang in vast numbers from horizontal branches of the pine trees. When there is a clear space among the an enormous number of the animals may en, and ther noise can be heard, for directly they see anything unusual they utter a Short bark, something like the sound made by young rooks. Often every branch is crowded and the flying foxes are seen either flapping their wings and hold- ing on with their hind feet, and with their head downward, or snarling and fighting for plac Suddenly the whole take to flight and flap their furry, wing-like sides and wheel around like heavy birds. Many fly with their young holding onto them. The creature is not a true fox and there a fold of skin which reaches from the ‘ore to the hind legs. This is called the wing, and it enables the pteropus, as the animal is called, to float and turn in the air. tre ——— His Strange Resemblance. From Tit-Bits. A certain farmer, who is by no means noted for his resemblance to Apollo, has a son of seven, who possesses more wit than pedigree. One day a stranger came to the farm. and, seeing the lad, asked: ‘Sonny, where's your father “In the pig pen,” was the reply. “In the pig pen? ‘Thanks! And. as the man moved in the direction indicated, the boy shouted: “I say! You'll know him, ‘cause he’s zot a hat on! ——re-—______ mts Quickly Filled. At this season, when so many are seek- ing situations, and, on the other hand, so many seeking employes, ft {s of interest to know that advertisements under t classifications Wanted Help and Wanted Situations are inserted in The Star at a charge of 15 cents for fifteen words, IN THE ROYAL ACADEMY Why Membership is the Ambition of Every Young. Artist. _—_—_ Au Immeusely Wealthy Institution— How Eléctions Are Held—Pen- sions for the Needy. From Pearson's Weekly. To become a Royal Academician, or, at all events, an associate, is the ambition of every yeung artist, for membership of the academy means much more than the mere right to put the letters R. A. after one’s name, and to exhibit pictures in the fine galleries at Burlington House. In the first place,an academician is an esquire by right, and not merely by courtesy, and, further, he is entitled, should he ever come on hard times, to a substantial pension of between 4350 and £400 a year. If he dies leaving his widow unprovided for the academy allows her a liberal sum for her maintenance. The assoctates and the associates’ widows are also entitled to pensions, on a some- what smaller scale, so that there are many 1easons, apart from the honor and glory, why the painter, sculptor or architect should wish to become a member of the powerful and wealthy body which has its headquarters in Piccadilly. - When. therefore, a young artist begins to get on, when he has his pictures weil hung, year after year, when they find ready buy- ers, and are talked about in society, he takes the first step toward election by sug- gesting to one of the academicians that he should put his name down on the list of candidates. Once down, his name stops on the list, either until he dies or ts elected or voluntarily removes it, and this explains why one finds on the roll of candidates the names of many artists once popular, but long since forgotten by the public. When a vacaney occurs among the asso- ciates, printed copies of this list, on blue fogiscap paper, are sent to all the ‘members, together with a request that they shall at- tend at the academy on a certain evening, when un election will take place. The elec- tions themselves are conducted in a singu- jar and somewhat complex fashion, pecu- Nar to the academy—a method which took the place, about twenty years ago, of the rough and ready system formerly in vogue. Both academicians and associates are al- lowed to take part in the election, and when the members are gathered together each scores out with a pencil the name of the artist for whom he wishes to vote, and hands the paper so marked to the secre- tary. These scorings-out are known as “scratches” at the academy, and the secre- tary, after examining all the papers, duly announces how many “scratches” have been given to each candidate. The election is then advanced another stage. The President, who, by virtue of his office, occupies the chair, directs that the names of all those candidates who have received more than four “scratch: shall be irseribed in chalk upon the black board, while those to whom only one, two, or three votes have been given have no further chance of being elected. ademicians and associates then vote again for the candidates whose names are on th> board. The two leading men in this contest are now selected for a final ballot, the winner in which becomes an associate of the Royal Academy. e academicians are elected in precisely ne manner, except that the associates are the candidates, instead of the outsiders. All this system of “scratches” and ‘“‘black- boards’ mms cumbrous and unnecessary, but ft is said to work extremely well in practice. Sometimes, though very rarely, a_ tie occurs, and in this case the President, or in his absence the academician who tem- porarily takes his place, h casting vote. When Mr. Ernest Cr the battle painter, was elected recently, he tied in the final ballot with Mr. Jackson, the architect, and to Mr. Calderon (who in the absence f the late Sir John Millais occupied the chair) fell the difficult task of making the final selection. The a:sociates have no voice in the elec- tion of a President, the power of voting resting entirely. with the academicians. John Milla the late president, was e the unanimous vote of the mem- bers, a fuct which must have been extreme- atifying to that great artist; but on ether occasions the fight for the entship has been very severe indeed. pust is well worth a struggle, for it with it substantial remuneration, great social and artistic distinction. The late Sir Francis Chantrey left £100,000 to the academy, out of the interest of which lary of some £800 or £900 a year is pro- l for the president. ucademy is immensely wealthy. The receipts from the annual exhibitions aver- age from £20,000 to £25,000, and it is be- lieved that the money invested in the hands the trustees does not fall far short of £50,000, Out of this money the schools (in which 200 or 300 students are Instructed gratuitously) are supported, and a great many penstons and doaations to decayed artis are given. Little is heard of these charities by the public, but/they are very consiaerable, and the declining years of many old painters and sculptors are made easier by them. eee ESTIMATE OF MR. GLADSTONE. An August Personality Characterized by Great Courage. From Harper's Magazine. In most of the eulogies there is agreement on the main points. Courage first; it is a trait of character in which Mr. Gladstone aS never surpasses it is visible in his whole career and in every great act of his life, and in his death, and the long suffer- ing which preceded it. His was an august personality. He had not only elevation of character, but the power of elevating oth- '3-not merely those with whom he came in contact, but the public Hfe in which he bore so great a part. The house of com- mons, which yielded to him as to no other, the audiences he addressed, the nation, the empire he ruled—all rose ‘with him to a higher level. He had a sustained dignity of character and conduct in all circumstances. His nature was a profoundly religious na- ture, and with his religious convictions mingled a chivalry which was perhaps rarer still. Passion he had—an intensity of passion when he was roused or opposed which burned and consumed what stood in his way. It was this passionate and emo- ttonal quality which stood him in such stead an orator. But he was greater than his oratory, greater than his deeds. it is*not what he did, but what he was, which was felt most deeply and will be longest remembered. Gladstone the man, the extraordinary being who, for more than sixty years, fascinated the world in which he lived, overmastered it, compelled other men to do his will because he was a.great- er force than they, because he had qualities they had not, because he was of other fiber, of other mold, of loftier, broader, nobler nature than almost any of his time—that is the Gladstone before whom the world has bowed. It is the Gladstone whose memory his countrymen and ours in all time to come will treasure as a possession like none other. ———_—_ e+ Origin of Blind Man’s Bum. 1 the Philade!phia Press. This favorite sport of childhood and youth is of French origin and very high antiquity, having been introduced into England in the train of the Norman conquerors. Its French name, “Colin Maillard,” was that of a brave warrior, the memory of whose ex- ploits still live in the chronicies of the .nid- dle ages. In the year 999 Liege reckoned among its valiant chiefs one Jean Colin. He acquired the name Maillard from his chosen weapon being a mallet, wherewith in fight he used literally to crush his opponents. In one of the feuds which were of perpetual ree ir- rence in those times he encountered the Count de Lourain in a pitched battle, and, so runs the story, in the first onset Colin Maillard lost both his eyes. He ordered his esquire to take him into the thickest cf the fight, and, furiously brandishing his mallet, did such fearful execution that vic- tory soon declared itself for him. When Robert of France heard of ‘hese feats of arms he lavished favors and hon- ors upon Colin, and so great was the fame of the exploit that it was commemorated in the pantomimic representations that formed part of the rude dramatic perform- ances of the age. By degrees the children learned to act it for themselves, and tt took the form of the familiar sport. The blindfolded pursuer, as, with bana- aged eyes and extended hands, he gropes for @ victim to pounce upon, seems in some degree to repeat the action of Colin Mail- lard, the tradition of which ts aiso trace- able in the name—blind man’s buff. =S== RANDOM. VERSE. Jligo—— oF 10 74m Epitaph. From the LondogAchdemy, Here do T ie~ fn, te fot that Gow’ Not that I regi Foses Wee dear to mes books, oad saidy “I see eyes are holden yet within py soul pd the vorlds, It guides the Let it this part dpmefnber or forget! But ‘The W . een iy foot from sin Not that I Sree wish, to enter in Where aurcoled ‘gains with’ new-born children rest; But that no fellow man caa say of m “T fell, aad it wag!pleasing unto th Thine eyes bebeMéspair, and acquiesced Here do I Nie—and’steep! Sleep was the gift filched at my birth from me, But [ inherit it eternaily; LT close my hand of it, and now shall keep. Embracee of the flesh awakened ‘me Stripped of the flesh ence wore—and willingly— In the embraces ‘of the gods I sleep! e+ —__—_ Three Prayers, Kate Tuck»r Goode, in the Alkahest. An infant in its cradle slept, ‘And in fts sleey It-smfled— And one by one thiee women knelt To kiss the fairthatred child; And each thought of the days to b® And breathed 9 prayer, half-silently One poured her Ie¥e on many lives, But knew love's toll and care; Its burdens oft had been to her ‘A heavy welght to hear; She stooped and murmured lovingly, “Not burdened hands, dear chfld, for’ thee.” One had not knowh the burdened hands, But knew the ewpty heart; At life’s rich berduet she bad set ‘An unfed guest, apart; “Oh, not,” she whispered tenderly, “‘An’ cmpty heart, dear child, for thee."” And one ws ol he Tad known Ioneliners: s knew God leads us by no path His presence cannot bless; She smiled. and marmured trustfully, “God's will, dear child, God's will for thee too At the Fall of the Curtain. he had known care, SI ‘The curtain’s falling, and the lights barn low, So, with God's help, I'm ready now to go. Uve seen life's melodrama, paid the price, Huve kncwn its loves and ‘losses, hopes end fears, ‘The luvghter and the tears, And now, Goi knows, I would yot see it twice. I've crossed life’s.ocean, faced its blinding foam, But now heaven whispers, Lam nearing home. And though a storm-teseed hull [ reach the shore, A thing of tattered sheets and broker spars, Naked against the stars, T soon shall be at peace for evermore. For if again I pass these waters through, L_know the kingdom [am sailing to. What boots it where I lie? beneath the sod, Or down the dark impetetrable deep, Where wayworn seamen slee} All gates are good threugh which we pass to God. + 0+ Making a Poor Exchange. From the Denver Post. Comin’ home -rom a yacation Is a purty rank af- fair, An’ it takes a Christian effort fur to subjugate the wea Fur the seul is yet a Jinglin’ with the music of the woods, An’ the stomach yet a-grabbin’ for the culinary goods At the desk we squat a-thinkin’ of the heaven we have seen. We kin hear the birds a-singin’ an’ kin see the Uyin’ green Of the ever-siilfm® valleys an’ the mountains bold an? rough, * =" An’ we look of? ou? Imprisonment as right down tough. Try to put onr-thougits on paper, but they canter far a’ “i fe Speckled beauties in their Hie spothin’ fragrance of the timid finetie t beauty all the shaded spin, y If aApecuilatin’ if the trout or us will ; he cry fur copy from the chief In accents grait— m what, #he\rude awakenin’ is right down tough. Tell see The Minister Plays Golf. re ers From Puck. “It’s a nob’ grme,..qn elegant game ‘The Minis Jv me. As he took his stand with his club In hand, While be smiled, trost cheerfully. “Just sateh tie drive, And he moulded a t But he missed it elean—“That's awfally mean,’* The Minister said to me y fivet”? “The greatest thin, Anda carry throt ‘Then he slammed the ‘ground— “Well, PM be bound!” ‘The Minister sald to me. “Tl is soft, so I think I'll loft," ‘The Minister safd to ux But he struck the wall and he lost bis ball— “That's very bard luck!" said he. He reached the green in about sixtee “But tt might be worse,” said hy he bit his foot in a six-inch put— Provoking!” said be to me. Now, I've beard strange talk in that three-mile walk, And I've heard men foozle and miss; But not reached my ears A coll this. + 202 ‘The Red Cross Nurse. J. EB. V. Cooke in tne Youth's ‘ompanion, The praises of the admirals gre ringing every- whe The plaudits of the generals are singing in the air; The men who sailed to sink their lives within the Merrimac So dauntless they that even death was fearfal to attack!) ‘The bard marines-whose tactics knew no signal for retreat In the rat trople heat, The rongh and Peady ride vane All mike WwW Mauser bullets und the drench of in their resolute ad- our daily records a contiauous romance. cry them fn our stories; we chant them in our verse, But let us sing a stanza for the Red Cross anny nurse. She 1s In the foremost battle, she Is In the rear- most tents, © She wears no weapon of attack, no armor of de- fense She is braver than the bravest, she is truer than the true, She asks not if the soldier struck for red and white and blue. She asks not if he fell beneath the yellow and the red; She is mother to-the wounded, she ts sister to the dead. ‘The victors’ cheers ring in her ears, but these she does not heed: ‘The victims’ moans and dying groans are given as her meed, And many a suffering hero chokes bis blind and sullen curse ‘To smouth It to a, blessing for the Red Cross army nurse. 4 and the crown of crowns Work on, O noble army be yours, Not always shall destruction be the glory which endures, — It is coming, it 4¢ coming; you are helping on the da; When we learn the’nobler action ts to succor, not to slay; It is coming, it 1 cpming; you are aiding It along, When we know the#feeblest uation is as potent us the strong; It is coming, {t4e‘coming; you are bringing It to When the ahiad bile: shed thetr armor and the fortresses nom zines: But in thes. 3° Suiting till the armaments dis- perse 1 Our blessings «the Uower of war—the Red Cross army tur Raltwte &f Thistledowns. Ernest MeGaffey sim; Peterson's Magazine. Lighter and whiter than a flying flake Of winter sncwa;threngh wan air winnowing, ‘The thistledowng. thejr sudden journeys take O'er meadow in vagrant wandering. ‘o more shall ghey p earth reluctant cling As a moss-lined-and-slowly sinking stone Left tying in a joutes waste alone, Bexide the edge of gme remote morass, But high they we the fields new’ mown, Like disembodied Spfrits of the grass. Below, a striped and timid garter snake Glides through the morning mist lace glistening On trailing vines that tremble, half awake, ‘Then disappears, in mist enveloping; From weed to weed the agile spiders swing, ‘Their ropes of pearl in filmy tether shown; The crickets lie, Ip utter silence, prone, And west and south the tall cloud phaptoms mass, While here and there dim thistledowns are thrown, Like disembodied spirits of the grass. The drowsy atmosphere In lines opaque Leans to the sun, that fast is gathering ‘The last faint dews, his flery thirst to slake, While swallows dip, on ever-restless wing. Across a dusty road the robins sh And bumble Hees apon the clover drone, While thistledowns in airy spaces lone Along the skies in bappy freedom pass, Yoyaging afar ic climes unknown, Like ul rite of the grass. . EXVOL Prince, so shall_we, in patient monotone Know life's dull ways, Uli, very weary grown, We fall asleep as.death Inverts the glass; ‘The while our souls through jess ‘time blown, Like disembodied spirits of the grass. PORTO RICAN SITUATION What.an English Correspondent Has to Say of the Island. Obstacles to Be Overcome During the Transition Stage — Feeling of the Natives. Porto Rican Comespondence in London Times. There is no room for doubt that the more educated portion of the population who are possessors of real estate or other property in Porto Rico appreciate that the change of ownership of the island is to their ma- terial benefit. It ie also necessary to bear ir. mind that the Porto Rican has always Leen treated by the Spaniard as belonging to an inferior caste, and the knowledge of this fact has been most galling to the in- habitants here. Moreover, such treatment has not been. justified by circumstances, a corsid:rable number of the more wealthy families of the island being fully equal in refinement, culture and gencral intelligence to the most aristocratic representatives and eMicials sent to this country from Madrid. In so far as the Spaniards engaged in commerce are concerned, I think they re- gard the change of government with equa- nimity. Spanish merchants in-these coun- trics are generally keen business men, who do not allow their patriotism to interfere with their pockets, and they quite realize that in the present instance their interests and rights will be fully protected. An in- crease in the volume of business to be transacted will go far toward palliating any harsh feelings that may exist today as the result of recent occurrences, and the United States government need have smail reason to fear that the Spaniards who re- main tn the {sland will prove other than law-abiding and industrious citizens, As regards foreign residents generally, there can be no qucstion that they will he better off under United States than under Spanish rule. They will security for life and property than hitherto been the case; they will hav legal remedy {n disputes connected 1 transactions or other matter ere they are unjustly tr which the intricacies of the h courts have debarred the great majority of injur- ed persons from appealing to in the past. But with the mass of the native inhab- has itants other considerations crop up, and trouble may occur in consequence. Among the 7,00 pecple comprising the lower fclass of the population of Porto Rico the code of morality #s of a very low order. Respect for law and order has never been rigidly enforced by the Spanish author- ities, and this leniency has resulted in a license as to all moral obligations becom- ing almost an ingrained part of the native character. From the observations I have made in the island I am inclined to think that the ectntry people are averse to steady work, and have strall respect for individual or property. All this will have to suffer alteration urder the new regime. 7 rural population will have to work to tive, i the amount of the contributions they will be called upon to pay in the shape of taxation will assuredly be heavier ¢ itherto. Crime of all kinds will meet with speedy and severe punishment, and the peo- ple will have to learn and fully appreciate the fact that the justice meted out to them is no easy mistress to serve unde: The transition stage while th being inculeated will, in all hum | bility, be productive of many elements cf and the United States author- it exr t to encounter some un- pleasant difficulties when dealing wich these sources of mischief. In time ihe ef- fect of just administration will solve t blem, but during the process of sotu- n the Americans must not forget that bey are dealing with a foreign race, alien alike in language, religion and sentiment to the dominant features of their own great republic, and they will do well sometimes to call to mind the oid Italian “He who goes slowly goes far The pepulation of Porto Ric: mixed a character as to make it to classify. Of the 900,000 inhabitants the island, fully one-third are negroes, other third are mulatto many cases show marke ture of African blood in their veins. I deed, to draw a hard-and-fast line whe the pure white families end and the antrece of the negro begin is almost in le, The number of foreigners in the island 1s very limited. Of British subjects th is stated not to exceed 500, includin negro immigrants from Jamaica provern of of West Indian coloni France is more rongly représented, some 2,000 persons claiming French citizenship, Ponce being ir | ‘incipal center. In most of the chief towns Franchn.en cre established ia beth wholesale and retail business, more espe- cially in the latter branch of trade. The German colon: although not very numer- ant interests both in finan- I and in the import and export trade of the island. The number of Americans resident in Perto Rico before the war was very smail, but here, as in Cuba, many of the natives have taken out naturalization papers the United States for the purpose of ciaim- ing protection whenever they get into trou- ble. This abuse of the naturalization laws of the United States not, however, curried on to the same extent by the Vor Ri¢ans as by the Cubans. _ soe A DIPLOMATIC How Bismarck Insared (he Safe Pass- age of His Correspondence. From the Cornbill, Stepping to the counter, Herr von Bis- marck asked a grinning young shop boy, in shirt sleeves, a blue linen apron, not of maiden freshness and ble with a pair of large, red, greasy paws, engaged in weighing some Dutch cheese, to oblige him with a sheet of writing paper, some sealing Wax and pen, to direct a letter. On the boy rroducing the needful with the traditional “What else, sir?” Bismarck said, “My hands are rather cold; you had better do it fer me,” and he handed the boy a couple of letters wrapped in the sheet of bluish paper forming an envelope, for in TRICK. those days made-up envelopes were still unknown ii Germany. Evidently flattered by the request of such an imposing-looking ent, for Herr von Bismarck’s tall hat was almcst touching the ceiling of the squalid little shop, the greasy-handed youth took the parcel, and, having closed it skillfully with some brown sealing wax and indorsed it with the initials of the firm, he returned it to its owner to write the address. “Sorry, my friend, to give you more trouble,” said the future chancellor, in his jovial way, “but I can’t manage to write with my gloves on, so just address it for me,” and he handed him a penciled slip with the name of Herr Fritz Piepenbrink or some such name, oil and colonial ware- pouberi aD: No. 000 Friedrichs strasse, Ber- in. “Thank you, young man, that'll do capi- tally,” and paying for the paper, &c., with a small tip to the oily boy with the stereo- typed grin, he pocketed bis letter, and we left the place to continue our walk. “I dare say you are wondering why 1 treat my correspondents to such greasy, evil-smelling missives?” and he showed me the cheesy fingermarks of the boy on both sides o1 the improvised envelope. “I'll tell you a secret, and teach you a useful lesson for future times. You may some day thank me for the hint,” exclaimed Herr von Bis- marck, laughing heartily. “You know we re blessed here in Frankfort, as through- out all south Germany, with the Thurn and Taxis Postal Administration, a mine of wealth to that fortunate family, but the most wretchedly managed concern under the sun. As ycu may imagine, it is under the thumb of Austria, hence slow, and the triumph of red tape, with a pronounced weakness for diving into other people’s bus- iness and skimming, of course, the corre- spondence of all German and foreign en- voys, accredited to the diet, with a prefer- ence for mine, the ever-suspected Prussian culprit and traitor. They have established a regular Black Cabinet in the princely post office, where specially trained imperial and royal wiseacres peruse our prose with critical eye, transmitting copies of extracts of all ‘treasonable’ matter, or particularly interesting reports, to the august Ballplatz, where Gentand, and after him Klindworth, have established a lynx-eyed system of po- litical espoinage (politisches Schnuffeln) ex- tending all over Europe, and comprising eo ipso all German courts and chancelleries. Not being particularly avxious to gratify the morbid curiosity of our Austrian ally, I have thought it advisable to send im- portant reports to the Berlin F. O., as as all my letters to the king, to Herr Manteufel, and to my sister and some ticular friends, under cover to some mercan- tile firm in Ber!iv, changing and well von par- usuatly asking a counter jumper in a chees- monger’s or oilman’s shop to address them for me—and you can easily understand that the imperial and royal sniffers (Schnuftler) don’t manage to guess the correspondent of the Prussian representative under a greasy, ill-smelting cover, such as you have seen. It stands to reason that the smell-of cheese or herring and the mercantile scribbling of a shop boy must deceive sharper men than the Thurn and Taxis post officials, and the specially delegated Austrian post office clerks. ‘The only precaution I have to take is to go to different shops in quarters of the town where I am not known, and to vary the Berlin address from time to time—thus I'm perfectly safe, 2 tour est joue! und I snap my fingers at the Ballplatz. It is sim- ple enough, as you have seen, vet it wouldn't do to send everything through that channel. as they would otherwise get suspicious, so I treat my Austrian friends at least once a week to some of my diplo- matic prose—-ynimportant stuff, and oce: sionally something I want them to know— or to believe;” and he indulged in a bois- terous laugh. —_—_—_~+ e+ _____ EVERY INCH A KING. Kalakaua Was When It Came Much Miaing of Drinks. From the San Francisco Daily Report. David Belenberg spent $2,000 on a grand military drunk at St. Michael. Belenberg, a returning Klondiker, conceived the happy idea of having the artillery drink against the infantry, and, haying more money than brains, carried this idea into effect. Un- fortunately for those interested in the statistics of science the results of this mil- itary debauch were not carefully and con- scientiously noted, and the world will nev: know which branch of the service develop- ed the greater carrying capacit The St. Michael incident reminds us of an episode in the career of the late King Kalakaua. During one of his visits to this city he was taken to Mare Island on a naval vessel, and the guests on this occa- sion included a dozen or two army officers, some of whom were young, Iively and out for fun. The navy officers and the army officers had a quiet little talk, and it was agreed that, as the navy officers had their regular work to do, they could not take a scelal glass, and therefore it was the duty of the army officers to see that his majesty was properly corned, and if possible, laid cut on the trip to the island. The fun wax- ed fast and furious in the officers’ quarters and the flowing bowl was kept in constant motion, toast after toast was offered, and on every occasion Kalakaua drank to the full limit, accepting every challenge from an my man. By time the vessel rounded Mare Island light most of the army officers were resting on the couches of the navy officers, but Kalakaua, steady as a rock, bright, smiling and genial, still the center of a group in the ward room, was ready, willing, and even eager to drink lo every sentiment his hosts might offer. Arrived at Mare Island, he walked ashore as dignified as ever, bowing graciously to the right and left, and in the reception hall he met the officers and ladies in his easy, affable way, and charmed one and all with bis courtly manners and happy style. It was a glass of champagne with Mrs. So- and-So, a glass of punch with Mrs. So-and- 80, champagne with the admiral, punch with the other officers, and at the close. of the day he returned to the ship, came back to the city. had his dinner at the palace as usual, and in the evening receiv visitors and social gatherin da few the honored guest at a to this day, whenever any e says this man or that man can carry off a large amount of hot and fiery liquors with e and comfort, there is almost al- Ww: some one to say: “Oh, yes, he is a pretty hard-headed man, but you should ena seen Kalakaua on the Mare Island rip. a CLEVER RUSSIAN COUNT. He Found a Way of Beating a Persian Creditor’s Unique Method. From the Pall Mall Gazette. In Persia, when a creditor fails to get his money in any other way, he appears in th and sits dawn. Then he does not move away till the delinquent p: up. He enters the debtor's sleeping apart ments, if possible, and has his brought in. A few held an unsatistied cli me m agai ish government, and he presented himself t the Brit- before the British minister one day and camped out in his private office. The min- ister did not gee the joke, and sent for a policeman. ‘That mad trouble, and the Russian represent Teheran ¢ de ly learned a lesson from for he managed a case of the s much differently a few w ago. The Persian who demanded money from the Russian (Count Kolomeisow) was a holy man, a dervish, and when he sat cown in the Russian’s ante room to wait till the latter paid his disputed claim, Count Kolo meisow knew that he could not get rid of him without much fuss and explanation. It is against the laws, or at least the cu tom, which is just as firm, to touch a cred- itor who takes this means of collecting ey, So the count did not throw him out. He thought over the matter, and one morning he sent for a lot of masons. ‘Then he ordered them to build a wall around the dervish, who was sitting in the middle of the room. The der h watched them placidly at first. but when the wall grew, and it became apparent that it would he completed soon, he jumped over it, ran a and has not been seen since. "The say that the count is the first man in T. heran who has beaten a creditor of this Kind without recourse to the police. To Abate the Encore Nuisance. From the Chicago Tribune. The trustees of the Orchestral Associa- tion in this city have instituted a reform which has long been needed not only in these concerts, but in all others. They hay> officially announced in the new program book that only one encore will be permitted during each concert. This is a wise st for various reasons, and it is to b> hoped it will be strictly adhered to. It has been a not uncommon practice, when solo artists have appeared with the orchestra, for un thinking people in the audience to clamor for thre? or four encores to each one of his or her numbers, thus prolonging the con- cert to a late hour and not only tasking the artist severely, but imposing upon him. One reason assigned by the trustees is import- ant from the musical point of view. Th> program at these concerts is arranged with a definite educational and logical pur- pose. Where it is broken up with six or eight extra numbers, as not infrequently happens, it loses all its proportion and its dignity and entirely fails in its purpose. From the business point of view also the trustees are correct. Looking at the mat- ter commercially, they agree to sell the per- formance of a certain number of pieces on the program for a certain price, and no one will contend that the program is not worth the money. They have a right to take the position that they ar2 not to be called upon to furnish any more, at least beyond a reasonable concession, such as is set forth in their announcement. As a mutter of fact, there is not a valid argu- meat which can be made for th2 practice which has obtained so long. It is an impo- sition and a nuisance and the trustees have done well in taking a step which will bring it within the bounds of reason. Other 7on- cert managers would do well to imitate their action and rslegate the encore nuis- ance to the vaudeville business. a ee Phil May's Clever Work. From the New Orleans Times-Democrat. Then the artist took the bat. “It's pretty hard to draw anything off-hand,” he said, “and the very sketchy magazin? illustra- tions you see occasionally are really work- ed up carefully, to begin with, in lead pen- cil. Then the salient lines are inked and the others ar2 rubbed out. This produces a dashing, breezy, impromptu effect that as a matter of fact is the result of the most elaborate and painstaking care. Some- times the artist makes his preliminary study with a blue pencil, and then he doesn't have to go to the trouble of rubbing out the superfious lines, because the draw- ings are all reproduced by the photographic process, blue doesn’t photograph. Phil May, the” English artist, who took Du Mavrier’s place on Punch, won a great deal of fame for his very expressive sketches. He would draw a woman in a couple of dozen strokes, yet somehow would bring out the very texiure of her gown. He came across during th world's fair and brought along some of his original drawings. y were perfect webs of blue pencil study, and every detail had been worked out with an elaboration that was simply incredible. ‘Then he had szlected the lines that really told the story and inked them over. It was simple enough after you once know how, but trick was to make the first drawing. That was where the sure-enough artist was required.” 23 [POPULAR IN HAWAII age “ But Poi Does Not Appeal to Every Palate, EACH KIND WORSE THAN THE OTHER ee One Writer's Opinion of This Famous Native Dish. — A DISCOURAGING DELICACY >—-—_ Mabel Loomis in the Independent As rice is the national dish of Japan, so & certain vegetable called poi has that high honor in the Hawaitan Islands. Prepared in a variety of ways, each, to the average foreign visitor, is jess appetizing than the last. When 2 native family is seen happily clustered about a large central bowl, dip- Kirg therefrom with two fingers a sub- Stance of nondescript color which seems largely composed of an indifferent quailty of mucilage, one may be more than - ably sure they are indulging in the delights of this delicacy. Leprosy is said to be largely transmitted through this custom, when all the members of a family, clean end unclean, thrust common receptacie. A trip of sometfing over 250 miles last summer on one of the native inter-island steamers from Honolulu to Hawaii was the occasion of my first memorable experi- ence with the delectable poi. ly tasted it before. and without Satisfaction, I noticed a friend seated 1 me on the k, herself an old resident the Islands, engaged in drinking from glass something evidently cold and p good. Wishing always to experien: Sensations whenever avatlat similar beverage from the obliging jtttle Japanese steward. When the glass arr it was found to contain a gray and elas Waterial, indescribably sour and alarming in flavor. their fingers into the Having mere- marked ar of Has Its Drawbacks. I had eaten black bread in ¢ rmany with accessories unnamed, raw fish in Japan With unclassified crustaceans and shoots of bamboo, and national dishes in a variety of regions; but it required every kind of cosmopolitanism I could summon to re- frain from unseemly demonstration after one draft of this liquid or fluid or viscous | Poi. IC is a discouraging delicacy. Renewed interest arose in the scenery Which happily at this point offered as chief attraction the monument to Capt Cook, surrounded by a fence of chains and old cannon. Cliffs over 50) here straight up from the sea a the bay, where the water is clear and green as an emerald, nestles the little town of Kaawaloa. The site of the astronom: established by Captain ¢ not seen, but it was an i that instruments had onc observations made in waiian harbor. + Ushered in a New EB His disco} of the islands in 1 certainly the turning point in their ht ushering in a new era of progress 4 perity. The second visit of the great nav gator was in the and in January of 177 Kealakeakua ba’ 1 observatory, kK near by, was eresting thought 1 8et up and Ha- t this far-away anchored His murder in Feb flected the world at large that seven years no foreign y attemp anchor there. And now, nearly a wary 80 rover mtu and a quarter later, a few Americans wer looking curiously toward the little villa from the deck of a modern steamer, pre ing to go ashore and telephone across large istand. I wonder if the unfortunate mariner was given poi to eat, in addition to his ot disasters. The monument itself w by Lord Byron, comm Blonde, in the name countrymen, on land p: cess Likelike. Poi Once More. A day or two later a delightful opportunt- ty to take poi again, and perchance the sad judgment against a nation’s s ti occurred at a lovely ranch—an oasis of verdure in the midst of voleanic desola- tion on the slopes of Mauna Loa est volcano in the world. When its oute esented the gre te was pa: bri green grass and a fe ld trees gre wearied with endless mass: rahoe. hoe, ing lava, now cold and stiffened in crawl- as the native ¢all the smooth ing curves. The house nestled in its gar- dens like some great tropical flawer. Puc sias hung their brilliant blossoms many feet above our heads, avenues bordered by tall coleus not less than six feet high led into a labyrinth of bloom and beauty where hearty welcomes waited in i For the benefit of the unaccus- tomed to Hawaiian customs, everything this “poi lunche s done as entir after the native sistent with comf - Native Cooking. Beyond the garden young pigs ens were still roasting in an up oven (umu), where for three they had lain, delicately wrapped in ki (or ti) leaves against red-hot st layers of vegetables between, and the whole coycred with earth and stones. ne Native servanis, experts in an art now dying ont, were engaged in removing the various edibles from the pit. so daintil cooked that they hardly held in shape while being carried to the house Later this most delicious luncheon was served cn the wi » or lanai, each aped with wreaths and garlands of flowers, which were thrown over the shoul- ders of the guests at the conclusion of the fei Roses were everywhere, for that un ble insect by which the Honoiulu roses are destroyed had not, last summer, reached Hawaii, the largest island. Poetic ©: Retrospect. To be thoroughly native the company should have had no chairs, but a conces- sion was made to American backs, and sit- ting on the floor omitted from the pol ceremonies. The luncheon was so lavish, irrespective of this vegetable, that I thought of it more kindly, and learned to manipulate it in the true “two-fingered” method. Siill, I could not but regard pol with lingering suspicion. Its color is against it. Granite gray is not an attractive tint in an article of diet. Tales of old court life filled the pleasant afternoon, as the shadows grew long across the grass, and at last the kindly host and his family gathered at the gate, when alohas drifted out to us far down the read, as the uncertain stage bore us once more to the outer barren. Surrounded by friends and flowers, a deep-blue tropical sea, vast volcante moun- tain slones and the soft, sweet atmosphere of enchanted Hawaii, even poi has become poetic in retrospect. + ______ The Cherche Midi Prison. From the London News. The Cherche Midi prison, in which Col. Picquart is now so closely confined that even his counsel is not allowed to visit him, has many Distorical associations. It was built in the seventeenth century by the architect Victor Dailly for the Countess de Verue, whcse salon was famous in the days of Louis XIV. At a later pertod it was the residence or Mme. Recamier, when it became the rendezvous of the most fu- mous French men and women—Lucien Bon- ee Lecce Tag aed a of Swe_ den; Mme. de 3 Queen the | Duchess @’Abrantes" and ‘a. host af others. Nowacays the building te much changed internally. It is a military prison, fitted up with cells, from the cell of bare plaster without furniture to the of- ficers’ cons, Sate as gd Present eccu- ied by Col, Picquart, is only with a rush-bottowed chair: a dea! tae ble and a little, narrow fron bedstead wich bedding. The famous pictures collected by the original owner were go dispersed, and the walls are bare anything ike ornament, save official regulations apd no-