Omaha Daily Bee Newspaper, March 20, 1887, Page 9

THE OMAHA DAILY BEE: GIN PALACES OF CGOTHAM, 01d-Time Places For Liquid Encourage- ment Vividly Oalled to Mind, DRINKING AT THE DELMONICOS The Hoffman House and Ned Stokes— An Art Gallery in a Cocktail Headquarters—Broad« way Boozing. New Yonrk, March 17, 1887.—The open- ing of a magnificently furnished cafe on the ground floor_of the_Cusino, and the public attention drawn thereto, suggests the oddity of there being a fashion even in the eating and drinking of the metrop- olis, No need to discuss the morale. ‘That is fought both sides the line, and victory will ultimately perch on the proper banner during the millennial period, 1 doubt not. We take things as we find them, and we tind them in a period of ten years like the drinks dispensed, very much mixed. The gandiness and ostentatious display of to-day is in marked contrast to the affec- tation of simplicity a few years ago,when the English chop-house and the English tap-room were models for metropolitaa caterers. It would be folly to imagine for an instant, and would insure derisive laughter if it were made the subject for serious argument, that the liquors sold in palatial cafes are necessarily of better quality than those sold in less preten- tious bar-rooms, NEAR FULTON FERRY, on South street, are several bar-rooms, with sanded fldors, plain oak counters and massive spittoons, where plain glass bottles and thick tumblers are utilized by between the hours of 12 at nightand 2 in the morning, who know what good liquor is. These places are utilized by such men because they have found by ex- verience that the whisky and the brandy and the gin are the best that can be pro- cured for money, while on a conspicuous corner of Broadway in a saloon that is ornamented and decorated at enormous cost, dudes and other idiots driuk liquor that burns from the moment it passes the lips until it loses its virility by wrestling with the stomachic coat. In the lower part of the city—that is, along theariver fronts—are innumerable places known, in the slung of the day, as gin-mills, where longshoreinen, sailors, stevedores and others who prefer their fluids, hot and biting, drink alleged whisky and brandy by the tumblerful at a gulp, and pay from three to five cents therefor, and there are otner pluces, worse than these, where liquors and beers of various make are intentionally drugged thai their drinkers may be made stupid and fall easily o ‘)ru_v to the abandoned of both sexes who live there and there- abouts. In some sections fashion changed for many years. The same dirt, the same squalor, the same uncanny look, the same dust, the same grade of infamous surroundings have been there as long as the memory of the present man can touch, TWENTY YEARS AGO_ everything was as plain as a pikestaff. 1 mean that twenty years ago the fashion- able drinking saloous of New York were without tessilated pavements. No pi tures hung upon the walls; the ceiling was a plain white; they were lighted by ordinary chandeliers, “One or two tables ,)ossibly stood about the place, a very 'ew plain chairs, a file or so ot papers, but no fancy work, no gewgaws. Men walked in, stood at the counter, ordeved, drank, paid, left. Others sat at the little tables, read the paper, discussed with their friends, but there was nothing there to attract attention except the bottles be- hind the bar and the appetito beneath the waistcoat. 3 Delmonico was the first to introduce anything like spaciousness down town, Vhen Bowen & Macname, the cele- brated anti-slavery house, moved from their store opposite Trinity church yard, on the ground of which now stands the new portions of the Equitable’s magnifi- cent edifice, Delmonico moved from the corner of Chambers street and Broadway to that location. Ho took the entire building, put his kitehen on the top fioor, transformed the various lofts into dining- rooms, and utilized the lower floor asa cafe, lunch counter and barroom. But even there there wasn't the faintest ap- pearance of decoration nor the slight- est pretence of elaborate show. It was, as all Delmonico’s places are, large, con- venient, accessible, with an affectation of simplicity indeed. BUT IT WAS A DEPARTURE, a step leadingupto a yery significant change in the Astor house, where the vast space known as the rotunda, which, in olden times was used for various pur- poses, was divided into a series of lunch counters, two 1p the, so to speak, center, two at the north, twoat the south, with an enormous bar, stretching along the wostern side. One speaks of the Astor house us he would of the sun, or the moon or the stars, There is no such thing as advertising it. It exists, unique. Itis the common center, between the hours of 11 and 3 where all sorts and con- ditions of humanity meet, where trans- nactions, running from the purchase of a doughnut, to the sale of a railroad are ns common as peas napod. Itsold time managers adhered to the old-time form, but Allen & Dam changed all that and introduced a superbly frescoed ceiling, tinted walls, and o bar, the elahorate furnishing of which was long atheme for paragraphs in the news- papers and conversation among its putrons. ‘Tho next gront stop was taken by Reed & Stokes in the Hoftman house, That doesn’t bring us down to the presont period by any manner of means, it it was the lirst step in a direction which seems to have turned TITE WHOLE TOWN MAD. Without absolute knowledge on the suh; there is reason to believe that the Hoffman house cafe, which is a combina- has not , lion of restaurant, bar-room, picture gal- “ lory and museum, cost, with its adorn- ments, bewilderments and oddities, not far from §100,000, Its pictures are known throughout the world of art. In fact, they constitute a gallery of itself worth “ tho study and careful, patient investiga- tion of tho most ardent lover of brush and pencil, of chisel and of mallet. Its tables, many of them 1 should say, quite forty or lifty, of solid mahogauy. Its bar is a triumph of architectural beauty. The hangings upon the wall, the tapes- tries, the collection of eurious armors,the models of boats, the strange medley that confronts one on every band, together constitute one of the sights of the city, where men take ladies on tours of inspee- tion, a8 lhefi)° would to the “Statue of Liberty,’ to Trinity church, or to ligh bridge. 'The success of Delmonico's down town found an em- hasized paraliel In that of the Astor house, as it finds a worthy combination in the success of the Hoffman, As in the Astor house, one can meet journalists, udges, lawyers, ministers, pricsts, rabbis, cachers, trokers, bankers, politicians, so, circhng from the Broadway entrance, along ‘the marble hall, und into the cafe wnd out upon Twenty-fourth umll dofiles from four in the ‘afternoon until four in the following lnoruln". in_the Hoffman house, a procession including THR NOTED MEN OF TIE COUNTRY 1 well as of the city. Mon whose classes perhavs are somewhat more varied than those in the Astor house, inasmuc! the the Hoffman is ntilized by theatrical roo- ple of various grades, “of sports of all sorts and name, in addition to the ordi. nary ranges of humanity of whom [ spoke above, ‘The conveniences. In olden times, twenty years ago, if a Zuest in any r urant, cafe, or barroom of the city wanted to send a telegram, it was necessary for him to earry it himself, or secure, haphazard, the seryices of an wn[xlu\ How is it to-day? Why, in every hotel ot consequence, in every bar-room of any pretension what- ever, you find messenger boxes by which you can summon service-at mode '3, while in the Astor, Hoffman and noted rendezvous the continuous click of the telegraph key and the fre- quent hello! hello! of the telephone an- swer for themselyes this question. W hat are the conveniences? You call your ear- riage, you send your letter, you wire your dispateh, you do a multitude of tritling acts which, crowded together, give so much more Tife, 50 muc! shieve- ment to one's existence, than was enjoved or could by any possibility have bedn en- joyed by the generation pr ling VISITING THE DA Just for the fun of it rome with me to the Hoffman house. At the left as you enter is the telegraph office, where pretty- faced girls nat intelligent Is and nim- ble fingers at work at your direction, where instant communication with cables that stretch from shore to shore can be had, where messenger boys can be sum- moned at the instant. On the right a cigar stand, beyond it what is virtually a book store, for” you can get there any periodical published on the face of the carth, with card writer, stenographer and type writer at your hand. Passing the office, turning to the left, you scent the sweet perfume from a display un- equaled of choice flowers. Bootblacks in uniform await your order. A weigh- ing machine stands ready to take your nickel and give your avoirdupois. A nickel-plated mollufu(u Fall River steam- boat will puff its smoke and whirl its wheels in response to a nickel deposited. Oysters at the left, a free lunch at the right, amaze of bewilderments, produced by the happily combined efforts of art and science, confront you. Fictures that have cost from a thousand to twenty thousand hang upon the walls, and there, as I'said, are this hundred thou- sand dollars’ worth of eye-attracting, soul-satistying, BODY RESTING BEAUTIES, You wish to see the governor, There he sits. You want to meet the speaker. There ne stands. Senators and assem- blymen, judges and sheriffs, aldermen and boodlers, representatives of every newspapers in the metropolis and of every great newspaper the country round apbout are there. Maurice Bern- hardt, son of the famous Sarah, stands before me. Tail, slender, black-haired, black-eyed, something like his mother in appearance, probably more e his father. A group of managers—Henry E. Abbey, of Patti and Bernhardt fame, sits at a table, where are with him John Stet- son, the millionaire proprietor of the Globe theatre in Boston and the Fifth Avenue theatre 1n New York; John McCaull, well known upon the circuit; Maurice Grau, courtly nephew of his courtly uncle, Jacob; John B. Schoeffel, Abbey’s partner in the manage- ment of the Park theatre, Boston; Nat Goodwin, who is as anxious to get away from the Bijou opera house managers are to hold him; Al Hayman, manager from San Francisco; the white haired Nestor from Chicago, Mr. McVicker, and his near neighbor, Uncle Dick Hooley. Night after night, from 10 until 2, there can be found in that place men of affairs trom the country to the sea—Buffulo Bill, with his long hair; Steel Mackaye, with his rave tace; Tody Hamilton, Barnum’s ertilo eulogizer; correspondents repre- senting the great journals of the east and west; actors who have hurried from the theatres; newspaper writers on their way home; politicians just in from Albany; congressmen at home or visitors from abroa ery man of distinction who is stopping in the city for a day or s0. The whole metropolitan panorama passes that way eyery day. Andit isa type. As it is the largest and most pensive, it is the best known; but th are others in the city which, following the lead set by NED STOKES and his partner, are in their ways quite as attractive and more cosy, where the procession is not so lone, where the pan- orama is less dh'crsinud, where there is not so much of the ongoing of the world’s exterior. There is one immediately op- posite Wallack's theatre—white outside, white inside, with a curiously mosaicized floor, looking like a pudding stone and congregation of little pieces of marble, ana so one, where a new style of buflet bar isin vogue, and, by the way, this may be said to be the latest wrinkle. There is one in A.'T. Stewart’s marble building, corner of Chambers street and Broadway, and another in the Potter building, corner of Park Row ana Beek- man street, where there is no opportu- nity, where there is no bar against which to lean or over which to stand and argue. One side of the room 18 occuvied by a buffet ~with a sort of bellied con- ter. In front of this, not be- hind it, stand the bar-kecpers, and the guests or customers give their orders, without opportunity fo: conver- sation or discussion, and where you are expected to order what you want, take it, pay for it and leave; but in addition to this of which I speak, opposite W Inck’s there are half dozen, variously uated on Brondway and adjacent strects, where the elaborate ornamentation intro- duced in the Hoffman house is followed, to a greater or less degree, RUNNING UP IN COST to several thousand dollars ench. And this at a time when the legislature of the state is in the very throes of dis- putation as to a hgh lic law, and when the temperance orators are burn- ishing up their honors, and the prohil tion phalanx is preparing to carry war into the very heart of their enemy. Is drinking on the decline? On the contrary there never was atime in my experience when daily drinking was 0 universally it as now. Old men and young men ¢ boys of tender years follow their exam- ple. Brokers drink because they arve ex- cited; n|r{ goods dealers drink beeause trade is dull; all manuner of excuses are made by people who need make none, und fortunes are coined b{ men whose meutal faculty is shurpened to the point of appreciation of the fact that appetite is stronger than principle, and some of the most palatiil residences in this city are owned by individuals who, twenty years ago, were barkeepers in other peo- ple's saloons, but upon whom the tide of fortune flooded as soon as they opeaed places of their own. Our chief strects are lined with saloons of the gorgeoustype I have referred to, und certain localities, which a fow brief years ago were recog- mized as our choicest strects for residen- dences, are now transformed 1nto thor- oughfares lined on either side by aileged restaurants, which are in nmm{ simply a style of private bar-room, with supper room attached.” ‘T'wenty-third streot is a couspicucus illustration of this. From Broadway over to Scventh aveaue almost every house, forn: oceupied by well- knowu citizens, is transtormed into a more or less respectable resort, where drinking by both sexes is the order of the day and revelry the disurder of the night. " Howaun, —— e l.ondon tell of a saved the | u’:rn cat, ' A Ay Lo R, thy Tl 3 L rese! v AN ki, il tio. the spaniel threw her in again, {00k the cat t0 the otber shore, spaniel which owner of both nd threw it into a k, and, worse, | FARM TALKING IN FRANCE. American Asriculture Made a Prominent Bubjeot of Debate. POLITICAL AND PERSONAL PARIS Henri Rochefort's Pen of Gall—War Rumors and Specalation—A Ball Without a “Fainte ing Spell” Panis, March 4.—[Correspondence of the Bee.]—Free-thinking Henri Roche- fort has not let the Riviera earthquake go by without finding in this disaster ma- terials for an attack on his bete noire, the church. He entitles his [ntransigeant editorial “The Finger of Providence,” and asks at the start how it happens that the clergy do not attribute this natural catastrophe to aivine wrath, He, of course, answers his own question in the next paragraph, ‘‘Because the churches have saffered move than other editices The first person to reccive a fatal blow in this eataclysmn was a sister, who, like the unfortun woman of the bible, was stoned to death.” Ina post seriptum the merciless priest-hater calls attention to the chapel at Bajardo, whose roof fell in and buried beneath its ruins 800 wors| pers, and adds: *What a lugubrious cor- roboration of what I have just written."” Itis only in the midst of a bitter con- test between church and state like that now waging in France that such arms are used. But it must pe said in tairness to the fiery editor of the Intransigeant that 1tis not he who throws the first stone. Take for istancesthis silly tirad. against modern science that appeared 1n a recent number of the Ultramontaine Uni; whieh holds the same position ious press that the In- transigeant does in the republican press, namely, at one of th‘;extrcmus. w*e ‘The other day in the chamber of depu- ties, M.Pelletan showed conclusively that the crisis through which French agri- culture is now passing is due, not to the competition of foreigners, but to the old- fashioned modes of cultivation and to the imperfect means of transportation that prevail in_this country. *Look at what they are doing on the other side of the Atlantic,” excluims M. Pelletan; I take one of the old western states, lllinois .| How has its prodigious agricultural wenlth been acquired? Not through emigration, since there are only 400,000 farmers for 275,000 farms in that state. Nor are the highways so fine as ours,or the railronds so con- tiguous. You will say that it is attributable to the fecundity of the soil, But this 18 only “R al explanation of the phenomenon, No; the real reason is that while we cling to antiquated cus- toms, antiquated laws and antiquated implements; while our scientific agricul- turists teach us that for a farm of ive acres five hands a and extra ones besides du time, in America two men cultivate a much_larger area of ground, steam and machinery have been bent to the work. Sowing and reaping have been revolu- tionized, and mechanical contrivauces that we know nothing about have been brought into ]vlug for the handling and transportation of gram. “And just think of the distances that American corn is carried. Although raised in the center of the continent, it issold on the seanboard. What would say our farmers in the neighborhood of Dunkirk, if their market were at Barce- lona, Spain? And yet Chicago is about as fur us that from the Atlantic. “Here then are the advautages that the United States have over us in this matter of agriculture; they enjoy genuine democratic institutions, they have per- fected their mechanical methods and they have forced the railroads to serve public interests, and not exclusively those of the stockholders. Why caunot we imitate America in some of these re- spects? There will be found the remedy for the present evil and not in & resort to protection.” 2 M. Pelletan’s speech reminds me of a discussion that I once listened to on the top of a stage coach in the south of Frince. The driver was defending the reaping methods practised in his region against the attacks of a farmer from the neighborhood of Toulouse. It appeared that, in the first instance, the custom was to seize the standing grain with the left hand and cut it with a sickle, while the Toulousene improvement thereon was the employment of the eradle! What a reyelation will M. Pelletan’s speech be to these men, if they chance to read it, and how their cenversation shows the cor- rectness of his views. Although the French may have some- thing to learn from us in the depart- ment of agricultural machinery, they are unquestionably our masters in the culinary art. The truth of this assertion must be admitted after a moment's glance around the tables in the pavilion of the city of Paris where is now being held the fifth annual exhibition of the Sdeiety of French cooks. This exhibition evidences in many ways the hifih esteem in which gastro- nomy is held in France. Its honorary president is no less a personage than the ministery of commerce and industry. Imagine n member of President Cleve- land’s cabinet patronizing such an enter- yrise! Why, he would surely be im- peached, if not by the senate, at least by public opinion. 37, In the catalogue of the exhibition the cooks often give the name of their mas- ter, especially if he is known in public or is & member of the nobility, And they, of course, do this with the tacit consent of these same masters, for in France a zood Kitchen counts for more than a tine house. So we find M. Scheinbenbagen announcing that he p fes over the kettles and saucepans of the Baron Tos- sivza, while M. Avalard fills the same of- ficeat the Count de Grammont’'s. M. Achille Ozanne, the editor of the organ of the society,a bi-monthly entitled L’Art Culinaire, isulways ready to inform you that he was once the chef of his majesty the king of Greece. M. Ozanne is also famous, by the way, as the author of a receipt for American lobster salad, writ- ten in verse, with a prologue. But 1 am told that the rhyme of the rscal&)t 18 far inferior to the flavor of the sulad. The society does its utmost to encour- age excelience. The eatalogue of this exhibition gives a long list of *‘laureates’ who have carried off grand prizes and medals of honor, second prizes and third prizes. ‘The rules governing the admis- sion of exposers are as precise and strin- ent as those of a world’s fair. Some of them may, however, provoke a smile, This one, for example: “Every inedited dish must be accompunied by the receipt thereof.” ‘I'he marked attention paid to the ap- prentices—for in France cooking is even a more serious study than medicine with us—is very signilicant and goes far to ex- vlain why the French chet 'is facile vrin- ceps the world over. Thus, these bud- ding cordons bleus have & whole table to themselves, and if, turning from the mag- nificent rrmluclions of their elders, you find a falling off in_imagination and'ex- ecution in these maiden efforts, still you are easily convinced that you see before ou the handiwork of more than one uture Vatel, . - At the Elyseo ball tne other night, the cooks were kept busy, for, alinough M. Grevey sent out only balf as many invi- SUNDAY, MARCH 20, 1887.—~TWELVE PAGES. SPRING OPHRNING- The attention of the people of Omaha and v icinity is calledro our select astortment of WALL, PAPERS; A line we are confident will be found larger and better than any before offered in the city. On Monday, we will offer for sale the following: 20,000 Rolls at 10 Cents Rer Roll. 30,000 Rolls at 12 1-2 Cenfs Per Roll 50,000 Rolis at 15 Cents Per Roll. This last lot comprises some beautiful patterns. 650,000 Rolls at 25 Cents a Roll. This assortment is the finest put on exhibition; all new and latest designs. 10,000 Rolls at 30c Per Roll. Half of this lot are “ Hand Prints,” which we propose toclose out. They sold last year at 75¢ and £1 per roll. 4,00010lls at 65¢ per roll Ingrains are the Latest Novelty in II),ecoRrafiing. Sold Last Year at 50c and 6oc er Roll. We have Reduced the Price on Lincrusta to almost that of Pressed Papers. 5000 Rolls Come and select first, at S0c Per Roll. 5,000 rolls Ingrain at 40c per roll Those Wishing to D:corate their Residences with this Beautiful Article will find it to their Interest to Call Those who cannot afford the expense of a paper hanger, we ask to examine our stock and prices before buying. HENRY LEHMAN, - - - tations this y as last, the parlors were crowded, und especially the refreshment room, where scenes are often witnessed that remind you of what occurred at a recent party at the Chinese minister’s in_Washington. Nobody fainted this season in the pres- idential ball room, but it was im!xussih]o, as of yore, to dance *‘the ghide,’’ for lack of space, and the ‘‘hop waltz”’ was ren- dered diflicult hecause the couples were glued to the floor by side pressure. ‘1 never saw such squeezing,” remarked an ancient maiden lady to her charge. *‘But 1t wasn't my partner's fault,” answered the young girl naively. The venerable host” seemed mo: fied with his entertainment than ny of his erumpled and panting guests. Pres- 1dent Grevy appeared strong and well, although his gait is hv‘iinmng to show the advance of years. venture to pre- diet, however, that he will live out his term. So Messrs Jules Ferry, de Frey- cinet, Henri Brisson, et al., must be phil- osophically patient until 1803, or aban- don the désire to suceeed the present in- cumbent, M. Grevy may even survive them ali, a pleasant prospect for M, Danicl Wilson, the president’s shrewd son-in-law, who not only resides at the Elysee Palace, but—if we believe the quidnunes—rules llu;re. too. atis- At One of M. Grevy’s ministers, M. Flour- ens, who presides over the foreign of- fice, is just now the object of a good deal of politicai criticism, for the Blowitz- Flourens-Boulanger imbroglio is still the alk of the cafes and newspaper offices, at the nes corregpondent and min- ister of war should bé in hot water again 18 not surprising, . for it 1s their normal conditions But, that the minister of foreign affairs, whom nobody had ever heard of until M. Goblet unearthed him n few weeks ago, and whom nobody will probably ever hear of again when this morbund cabinet finally expires, as it must very soon—that M. Flourens should have done anything worth talking about, astonishes even his friends, And now that M de Blowitz has told the whole story, it appears in- deed that not monsieur but madame, not the minister but his wife, is the cause of the present tempest in a tea-pot. Here is the tale briefly told: De Blowitz graphs the Times that Boulanger, with- out consulting his colleagucs, sent a let- ter to the Russian minister of war, Thereupon the government and General Boulanger deny the allegation of the Times correspondent, and de Blowitz, driven into a corner, boldly declares, to the consternation of the Flourens home- cirele, that the wife of the minister ot foreign affairs told the daughter of the German ambassador at Haris, the statement which appeared in the London Times. Cherchez la femme, say the French, But who would have imagined to find in this instance that the marplot was the wife of Boulanger’s col- league! The Intransigeant is terribly severe on poor Mme. Flourens, calling her “a Catherine IIL.,” Catherine II., it will be remembered, having conspired a; st her husband, There is some talk of making M. Flourers a senator. **The only danger is,” says Henri Rochefort, whose piquant comments in current events seem to be at the head as well as at tne tail ot this rambling letter, “‘that the voters may be captivate by the cunning Mme. Flour nd send the wite up to the Luxembourg instead of the husband.” But this would not be so grave a blunder as might be imaged, for what would be the husband’s loss would be the senate’s gain, PLAISANCE, e BLOOD_AND IRON, Wallace P. Reed in the Atlanta Constitution, 1. John Blair came to a sudden haltin the middle of the road. “Shall T go on to Bethel church?’’ ne asked, or loaf about in the sunshine?®” Although there was no one in sight, he spoke aloud. “What do I care for old Parson Dry- man?" he continued, ‘‘He has frightened all these timid fools so that they have turned hypocrites to eseape the wrath to come. Well, I'll take my chances.” Sturdy, broad-shouldered, with a bullet head, ' square face, massive jaws, a res- olute mouth and cold gray eyes, John Blair looked the very incarnation of strength and courage. He stood still a moment and glanced up and down the narrow country road as it meandered through the brown and barren fields and rocky woodlunds until it Jost itself in the red hills. The dilapidated rail' fence by the way- side attracted his attention. ‘'Just like neighibor Morris,” he said with a grim smile. *‘Dick is a fool, of course, and with such land as that he couldn’t do much, but he could dobetter. Look at my place. It was almost as h.di but 1 have turned it into » garden spot,” John Blair leaned’ over the rottlnf fence and critically nurv«-{yud the land- scape. The patehes of half cleared land visible in the stunted forests on the rocky hillside did not promise much, *'As [ am not going to old Bethel," said Biair, “I'll do u httle exploring.” He cautiously elimbed the fence and started with n swinging stride in the di- rection of the hills. Two hours later John Blair struggled up out of a ravine with a brown lump in his hand. His face was white as a sheet, and his cyes blazed with excitement. He swung his hat around his head. “'Gold!” Gold! Gold!" he shouted. Then with a scared look he crouched down in the grass, still holding the brown lump in hi® hand. *‘What a fool I am!” he wlhispered. “But nobody heard me. It is Sunday, and my good neighbor Merris is at church.” He pulled out his knife, and with the stout blade chipped off a few pieces from is mysterious lump. These he examined ely. “T was right,” he almost gasped, with a sigh of relief. “This is iron and noth- ing else. My mining days in Pennsyl- vama taught me something. I know good ore when 1 see it.”” Taking the specimens in both hands he threw it with all his force against a rock and broke it. He scratinized the frag- ments, “It is iron,”’ he repeated, ‘‘and that menns gold. Yes, gold!" he exclaimed, :ufiuin giving away to his excitement. Blair svrang to his feet and looked about him. There. was no one to be seen. Gathering up the [yiucas of his specimen ho walked rapidly down toa little creck at the foot of the hill and threw them into Lhu"wutcr. Dick Morris thought that his luck had changed when John Blair made him an ofter for his farm. There was very little haggling over terms. Morris was glid to get anything, and when he cnrrimf' home ‘a_thousand dollars in twenty dollar gold pieces, Mrs. Morris and the three tow-headed child- ren were so much agitated that their first impulse was to sit up all night. They finally compromised by going to bed and remaining wide awake until daylight. The Morrises pucked up their house- hold goods and lost no time in _transfer- ring themselves to the west. They were f!k\d to leave the old red hills where they had known nothing but poverty and toil. Honest Dick Morris felt some compune- tions of conseience, although he could not see where he was to blame, and be- {;)l o his departure he hunted up John pw, John,” said he, apologetically, hope vou are satistied with the trade *Oh, it will do,”” answered Blair, puff- ing away at his cob pive, *You know 1 never bragged about the Hluco, but then you know 1t as well as | o or better.” ‘‘Just s0," assented Blair, shortly, “I know it as well as you do or better.”” “Then I am satistied,” said Morris. “Good-bye, old fellow, and m: good Lord prosper you and yours."” The other took his hand, and looking down at the ground, said: . ‘“'Good-bye, Morris. Take my advice, and stick to the west. There is a chance there for you, There is noune here, as you know. As for myself, L am a good worker, and can make a living where you would fail.” They parted good friends, and the Morrises started on thoir western trip. “I can’t help feeling sorry for Blair,”’ said Dick to his wife. *‘He was always 50 oflish that [ never knew what a good fellow he was until we got to trading. When we get settled and. begin to pros- per, I shall try to persuade him to come out and join us.” And Dick felt the weighty money belt around his waist, and beamed all’ over with good nature and gratitude. 1. The growth ot Ironboro was almost magical. In the region around it nothing like it had ever been known. When Blair found that big brown lump he had found a fortune, Blair was no ordinary farmer. He had a head for affairs. He organized a com- pany and controlled it. Capital was ob- tained, and he controlted that tco. He was 8o strong-willed and clear-headed that few men were his match. They re- cognized s gift of leadership, and yielded to him. So Ironboro was laid out. A rmlroad was built from it to one of the main transportation lines. Furnaces, rolling mills, steel works and kindred industries were soon in full blast. Statefy struc- tures of granite and brick were erect In five years Ironboro was a flourishing little city. In ten years it was an impor- tant industrial center. In fifteen years it was generally spoken of as a me- tropolis. So much prosperity had its natur effect upon John Bl The iron King, as he was called, had always been col and unsympathetie, and his success did not change him for the better, *“The proudest man that ever stepped,” said one of his acquaintAnces 1n speak- iug of him, and his appearance justitied t. If John Blair loved anybody it was hisdaughter, a beautiful girl just bloom- ing into bellehood. Snhe was motherless, and perhaps this had something to do with her father's tenderness. It was to dream of his daughter and plan a birthday surprise for her that the millionaire took a stroll on a quict Sab- bath morning in the suburbs of Ironboro. He unswered the salutations of his fel- 1508 DOUGLAS STREET low-townsmen with a curt nod and pro- ceeded on his wa He could not afford to shake hands with any human creature unless he represented a cool million at the very least, On and still onward the rich man walked, until he was out of sight of tow- ers and steeples and mansard roofs. But the unusual excrcise fatigued him and finally he threw himself upon a moss- | covered rock in a shady covert and gave himself up to his thoughts, “Jennie would like this,”’ he said, “I must bring her out here, The very place | for a summer resort.”” Then he thought of his daughter's birthday, and his hard face softened. What was that? It scemed like a stealthy step in the bushes. Blair glanced around him. His keen gray eyes had their old eagle like range, and they took in everything. ‘1t was something,’” he said as he re- clined on his elbow, and proceeded to build more air-castles for Jennie and himself. Another rustle among the dead lea ve Was it somebody or was it an animal. ‘The loneliness of the place put Blair on his guard. He was absolutely fearless, but as the fron King, he felt that it was his duty to take care of himself. His ap- prehensions however./if he had an}'. van- ished when he saw a gray-haired, fecble- looking man, in tattered garments, emerge from the depths of the forest and stand before him, The newcomer paused and looked Blair steadily in the face. ‘‘Move on!"’ commanded the latter. The tramp aid not stir. His thin, yel- low face bore the lines of care and suf- fering, and his garb showed that he had traveled far, and had been exposed to all sorts of weather, *“This is no place for tramps,"’ said Blair coldly, *‘you must move on,"” “John Blai “What do you mean by addressing me in that way? " he shouted. “Leave at ouce."” “John Blair, have you forgotten me?"" The other looked steadily at the man a moment, **I do not know you,” was his reply. “I am Dick Morris.” Blair assumed a si(linfi grasved his walking stick grin. “Well,” he remarked carclessly, ‘‘you seem to have had a rough tussle with the world. Such is hfe. Some go up and some go down. I have gone up.” Morris remained silent, and his im- passive face expressed no emotion, “But you should have stuck to the west, Dick, Ha! ha! A great country is the west. There was room for you out there. I am surprised to see you bhack here.” “John Blair,” replied Morris, ‘‘if my appearance surprises you, what do you think my surprise must be? 1 leit this placea wilderness. I find ita greatcity.” ‘‘Just so, Dick. It is a great city. And 1 have made it. [own most of it.” Lown most of the men and women in it. Why, Dick, those hirelings over there, whether they wear broadcloth or jeans, are my slaves, ‘Lhey run at my beck and eall, ‘They bask in my smile, and are wretched when 1 frown. The Lord has been good to me, old fellow.” “And wh asked Mor posture and with a firm obbery?” Dick Morris, you ofl, growlea the must ke yourself Iron " was the answer, now the whole story. You toe" ad- vantage of my ignorance and stupidity. You prowled about on my land, and red iron. Then you stufted me with n fubles, bought my property for song, and IM sunded me to try my luek ond the sissippi. I toox your ad- . Iwent. The land swindlers got most of my moncy, I toiled hopelessly with my ‘wife wnid children year after year, but to no purpose. ‘The dendly swamp fever carried oftf my family one by one, and left me the wreek of my former self. L tramped it all the way here. and what have I found? Happiness and wealth that should have tecn mine I tind centered in you.” Blair rose to his feet. His fuco had re- its every day hard look. 1, what are you going to do about ol *The law is on my side.” 1" sneered Moris, “{\'qu. 15 an utterly What He perate man to deal with? e millionuire turned pale. was the iuw worth in such a case? grasped his stick wore firmly. “IlJtil ou foilow me heret” he asked. ol did!” “And your object 4" o kill you! Blawir raised his stick. Morris stepped back and drew a pistol. “Hold, my fricnd," gaid the threatened mun, “‘you 4o not meun to suy that be- cause I'got the best of you in a trade you ure going to murder me? The iron is mine." - ,;5 > **And your blood'is wine,” eried Mor T8, cocking his pistol. For God sake, Morris, stop! We ecan make some airangemcut. Think of my danghter!”’ ‘Your daughter, you robls=t was my duughter’s fatet” Wiay .tesa cat that is twenty-two vea With the desperate fury of a brave man at bay, Blair rushed forward with uplifted stick. A sparp report rang out, and the iron king fell heavily to the ground ,with a bullet through his brain. L Moo JROE MR T AR Blair's fate had a mystery connected with it that the Ironboro detective could not unr: . A pistol was found by the dead man's side. Was it murder or sui- cide? The disappearance of an unknown tramp gave color to the murder theory, but the fact that the dead had not been robbed made it doubtful. The truth was not known till months later, when a dy- mi.r tramp in a hospital in_a distant city told the story of the crime. He ex- Iu‘usned no regrets, und with his last breath exclaimed: “I had to take his life to get even, It took his blood to pay tor my iron!" et SO SOME ANIMAL STORIES' W, H. Dalton, of Palatka, Fl h;l';l Ml‘-ll- old. Th cat is too deaf to be a successful mouser, bul Isn’t slow in getting around when a ratis near by, The Miles City Journal gives currency to A rumor that a band of sheep recently snowed In survived two weeks and grew hl feeding on one another’s fleece, In a great storm of snow and sieet recentl; in Engfi\nd the wings of ro!bkn froze fast nz their bodies, and hundreds of the birds were killed by falling trees, being unable to fly, . The janitor of the court house at (}ullmoro, Ga., has o pet in a big white rat. 'I'he other day a large common rat was turned into the room with the white one, and they got into & desperate fight. The white one finally gained the victory. Deer are abundant in Calaveras county, Cal. A herd of twenty-six came down to yl settler’s cabin the other day, and he shot five of them without going twenty feet from his door. Two miners on snow shoes, going through the woods, came upon a tine doe and ran her down in thedeep snow. Jacob Smith, of Perrysville, Ky., missed his horse one day recently, and was highly incensed against the aniinal, which had ® propensity for straying, Mr. Smith was pro- pitiated, however, when the horse returned after an absence of twelve hours, carrying in his mouth a pocketbook containing $5, As Aaron True, of Clark, was golng through the woods the other day, accompan= ied by his dog, which is part r-al?e, art New- foundland, he came suddenly upon s big firuy wolf, The dog at once tackled the cast and for half an hour the battle but finally the dog eot a throat-hold an strangled the wolf. A year ago Charles Johnson, of Griffin,G bought a ot black kitten and gave it o hig children for a pet. ~ One day it disappeared, and when Mr. Johnson found it, weeks afterwards, it had turned perfectly gray. The change in the color of the eat's hair is sup- posed to have been caused by grief at its sepe aration from the children. C. P, Marshall, of Perry, Ga., shut up nis cat in the (Ilnlnlg room ono afternoon last week and went into the library totake a na) Half an hour afterward he was surprised g find Tom purring away on the sofa beside him. The cat had climbed up the dining- room chimney, walked across the roof and descended through the other chimney into the library. The great tir, the enemy of the beekeeper, not only picks up the doad bees in winter, but invites live ones out by pecking at the mouths of the hives. flo secures many by this ruse, but in an Enelish town a trap was set for the great tit, and caught him by the lez, when atonce a number of bees rushed out and stung him round the beak and eyes, and in exactly four minutes he was dead, y, of Ripley, Pa., went nilk her cow, a very horougnbred, and was gone so long that her husband went to see what was the matter. 1le found the cow standing over the dead body of his wife, whom she had gored to death, and when he undertook to remove the body the mad animal attacked him, and but for the arrival of neighbors woua ld have killed him also, Forly-nine years ago the father of Harvison Gilborf, of Chili, 111, bought a two-year-oid lmny from the Indians. When the ‘war of he rebellion bexan the pony was twenty-five Vi old, but Mr.Gilbert rode hiw afl throuzh the war, and neither was hurt, The old fel- low still lives, tenderly cared for. Ho hasn't A tooth in his head, lives on corn-bread and bran mash, and is probably the oldest horse in Ameriea, if not in the world. Mrs. Lemuel Clute, of lonia, Mich.. was at- tacked last week by a large Plymouth Rock rooster, which flew at her, kno¢kéd her down, and followed up his unexpected at- tack with bill and claws, Her screams alarmed the hired help, who caine to the res- cue with u pail of water ana stove-hook, and, after thoronghly souking the bird with the water and beating his head toa jelly with the stove hook, Mrs, Clute was reseued, bug ner injuries will confine her to the house for severa! weeks, On a pedestal near the gate ot the l‘hm nati zoolo ical zardens there recently st the stuffed ficure ot n donkev whieli, whe) alive, withstood the attacks of a lion an beat Him off. ‘I'he lion, 1t seems, had broken out of his care and es to n wood near by, On a erassy hill ljoininz a donkey aly stretehed in placid slumber—a shmbeg that was rudely disturhed by the lion, who, ina few bounds wasupon hin, When th donkey felt the ereat mass of flesh descen upon him as if from the clouds he was stuns ned and indignant, but not frightened, per« liaps, bueause he had never read” any of ‘the wanderful stories about the lon. e quiel recovered from the blow, aund, rising, sh out both hind fect at the same tine, ani can htthe Hon squarely In the foreh Badly hurt. the hon skulked off, and luter tha died of the wound hie recoived at the