The San Francisco Call. Newspaper, April 28, 1895, Page 24

24 4/ THE SAN FRANCISCO CALL, SUNDAY, APRIL 28, 1895. N ANTELOPE VALLEY Among the Yuccas, Fruit Col- onies and Artesian Wells. CONQUERING RUSSIAN THISTLES An Immense and Long-Neglected Region Beyond the Tehachipi Attracting Capital. One of the least known portions of Cali- fornia may be found in that extensive mountain territory along the borders of Kern and Los Angeles counties which is known on the map as Antelope Valley. Although the Southern Pacific crosses it, all that the traveler sees is a level stretch dotted with sagebrush and giant yuccas. Nevertheless, the 1100 square miles in- cluded in this upland valley, 2600 feet above the sea, includes a great deal of valuable soil and has many potential re- sources. Leaving Los Angeles on the night train four hours’ northward t 1 brings one to the new station of Palmdale, the supply point for groups of colonies on the south- ern side of the valley both east and west of the railroad. Palmdale is a straggling vioneer village, with a store, hotel, school- house and a few dwelling-houses, all cheaply built, as must needs be when lum- ber costs $30 a thousand. The little hotel was so crowded on my arrival that it car- ried my recollections back to pioneer expe- riences in San Luis Obispo at the season when the sheepherders descend in force and take possession of a whole district. Two miles east of the station is another Palmdale, the old colony settlement, a little more mature, but_hardly less primi- tive. Here there are irrigated orchards and gardens, however, and quite a prosper- ous community has established itself on the edge of a yucca forest. Driving across the dusty plain, one has a realizi of the many and sharp contr: The Russian Thistle. [a mature plant. b seedling, about two weeks after germinstion, natural size. ¢ flower detached from the axil and remaining suspended by minute hairs in the ordinary in- verted position on a rolling plant, enlarged three diameters. d flower viewed from above and in front, showing the calyx lobes forming & cone-shaped body and the large membrana- ceous spreading wings, enlarged three diam- eters. e seed, with flower part removed, en- iarged five diameters. § embryo, removed from the seed, enlarged seven diameters. After L H. Dewey, United States Department of Agri culture, bulletin 15.] fornia outdonor life. South are the low, purple hills, treeless, desolate, sharply out- Jined against the sk Beyond them, to- outheast, rises the greater wilder- capped, forest-clad, of the Gov- servation, and the sources of the Water supply of San Gabriel, the Chino Valley and many of the most marvelous districts of Southern California. Eastwara the broad v lley-plain, rising a little, then sinking away again, opens at last into the Mojavs and the Colorado, and becomes more and more barren, desolate and ter- rible. Across it the yucca forestsexte nd in bejts, far more picturesque as one jour- neys through them than when seen imm the car windows. In these April days the YUsca trees are heavy with bloom—masses that weigh ten and twenty pounds, green- -white flowers, tainted with sickening Sveetness. The beautiful Yucca Whippleyiand Yucca baccata, so often seen on the desert hill- side, have a_charming fragrance, but the giant yucca is very different. Useless for timber or fuel, except as thetrunks fall to the ground, are covered with hot sand, and slowly baked and compressed into an almost petrified condition, the giant yucca seems to be hated by every pioneer, but when they have all disappeared one of the charms of the valley will be gone. Seen in great masses at twilight or sunrise they give this mountain valley a strangely tropic appearance. Perhaps the desert palm will some time be planted here in a small way, but the yucca forests are al- | ready palm-like in their dignity and artistic strength. Northward, along the rim of the valley, twenty miles away, another range of pu ple hills rises into the Tehachapi Moun- tains. If one turns west the mountain walls converge to the winding pass of the | Tejon. Lonely, desolate, unpeopled, as this mountain plain appears, it is cer- | tainly the railroad gateway for an im- | mense territory, and the strategic point | where armies, in case of future war, would | maneuver for the control of Northern or of | Bouthern California. The raintall of Antelope Valley averages | from three to eight inches—not sufficient | to insure a crop except under peculiar con- | ditions. Along the southern side of the valley, near the foothills and extending into the mountains, where the rainfall is greater, a wheat belt of 70,000 acres usually | gives profitable returns. The quality of the wheat is unsurpassed for milling pur- poses. A great deal of it is hauled out through Tejon Pass and marketed at Ba- ‘ kersfield. It is thought that a flourmill to | supply local consumption will soon be built in the valley. The irrifation districts, present and po- tential, all lie along the foothills. We: from Palmdale is the Amargosa irrigation | district—rather a dismal name, for the sink of the Amargosa is one of the most barren spots on the American continent. Eight or ten miles further west lies the famous Elizabeth Lake, a favorite camping ground of Tiburcio Vasquez, the Spanish bandit. Harry Morse and his men when pursning Vasquez twice visited this little mountain lake, which is a mile and a half long and about a mile wide. Itisnow proposed to tunnel under the mountain rim and use the lake, which is fed by springs, as the source of supply for another irrigation dis- trict. Still further west and northwest Kings Canyon and Lake Katrina furnish water for the land of the Manzana colony, the Almendro colony and the Fruit-Growers’ Society, about seven sections. At the extreme west a much more exten- siveirrigation scheme, known as the An- telope Valley Company, under the auspices * of some of the large owners in the Santa Fe Railroad, is based upon the use of an- other old lake basin. and the accumnlation of winter waters from two large mountain secured a means an nections. 5 The only irrigation possibilities of any consequence on the north side of the val- ley are from Cottonwood Creek, which is expected to develop an irrigation district covering about twelve sections, and Oak Creek of eight or ten sections. The most interesting irrigation develo ment in the valley, however, is on Little good deal of land, have abundant evidently plan for railroad con- of Palmdale. A description of the former will serve for both groups as the soil is similar and the prospects of both groups seem very satisfactory. The Little Rock colonies begin seven miles southeast of Palmdale station. The entire group is known as the Tierra Bonita Colonies of the Little Rock Creek irrigation district. An for present needs, and with good sites for larger future reservoirs, is supplied first to Little Rock colony, then to AY ine Springs colony, Vallecitos' colony. < Alvisorcslony and Hermosillo colony. Tn Little Rock is the present town center, the postoffice and hotel, known as the Guest House. This Guest House is a very attractive building of rubble and cement. The channel of Little Rock Creek could furnish bowlders enough to construct all the houses in the colony. Rock and Big Rock creeks which lie east | abundant water supply, well reservoired | flowing water and will irrigate more than 100 acres. The soil in many places is al- ways moist and varies from sandy loam to heavy loam. Analyses here and in other parts of the valley show good, strong soil, rich in potash,lime and phosphoric acid. Every farmer in California has a direct interest in preventing the Russian thistle from securing any further foothold. This notorious weed, which eost the people of South Dakota $2,000,000 last year, is a near relative of the California greasewood, the | desert atrinex, the pigwt and our com- mon tumbleweed. Botanically, it is Salsola | kali tragus, a European form of a common | and not especially dangerous weed of the Atlantic States. ‘Itisnota thistle at all. It is an annual plant, very easily destroyed when young, but very difficult to_control | when fairly established in waste places, in extensive wheat fields, or by the roadsides. | The United States Department of Agri- | culture and many of the experiment sta- | tions have published pamphlets about this | noxious weed. It first n(!:peared in Amer- | ica in 1873, in Scotland County, South Da- | kota, but caused little alarm until 1880. | Investigations last year showed that it had | extended over almost the whole of North | and of South Dakota and was rapidly push- |ing along railroad lines and irrigation canals into Minnesota, Iowa, Nebraska and A CANYON VIEW-L ITTLE ROCK CREEK. [From a photograph.] The main townsite, Tierra Bonita, is abont four miles northeast in the heart of the colony lands. A very large part of the district has been sold to the better class of Eastern people and is being planted to orchards, about 1300 acres of which sur- round this center. One of the railroad surveys extends across the site. It is, of course, too early for any definite statement about the comparative value of these fruit lands. The soil appears deep, rich and easily worked. The great eleva- tion makes the district especially valuable for deciduous fruit. and will greatly lessen difficulties with 1njurious insects. Many almond trees and olives have been planted; the real test of these orchards can only come when they begin to bear. A great future is predicted for the district in the line of winter apples and winter pears. At present the most interesting district within the limits of the valley is probably the artesian belt of Lancaster. This arises from two facts—one permanent, the other, let us hope, temporary. The artesian dis- | Colorado. It had even appeared in Wis- consin and Oregon. In the Lancaster Valley the thistle is found over an area about four miles in | diameter, and has also appeared in a smail | area in the wheat district. Fortunately the native growth around Lancaster is of such a character as to greatly limit the rapidity of the spread of the Russian | thistle. The peculiarity of this plant is | that when dry it breaks loose at the sur- | face and is blown over the country in every | direction, distributing seeds over miles of | territory and for three or four monthsat a | time. If this habit of perambulation can be checked, the plant is otherwise no | greater a menace than our ordinary annual weeds of field and orchard. | Nearly all the old plants about Lancas- ter have been piied up and destroyed. If the young plants can be harrowed under as fast as they appear, the worst will be | over with inside of jthree years. The this- tle is liable to receive a wide distribution | in hay and grain through shipments made THE TUNNEL-LITT . P4 AN ¥ K7 \k"‘mflumfl“ n:‘.a ; S 4. === ,M_““;??FSQ\\‘{M 2N e, R T - LE ROCK DISTRICT. [From a photograph.] trict, already known to extend over an area six miles wide and twelve miles long, contains eighty - three flowing artesian wells, and may at any time be enlarged by later discoveries. This forms a great and permanent resource, which will eventually make Lancaster a large town. But at the present time the dangerous Russian thistle, which has proved so injurious to the farmers of the Northwest, has secured a foothold in and around Lancaster. It is being destroyed, and there is every pros- pect of its ultimate obliteration from the map agricultural. Taking up the permanent resource—arte- sian water—it is important to note that the supply seems very abundant and is easily obtained at slight cost. There is surface water from 12 to 18 feet down; there is by rail or carried by emigrant wagons or in mnng similar ways. It will probably be first heard of in the Bakerstield district, | being taken through Tejon Pass, or it will appear at some point along the Southern Pacific line north of Lancaster Valley and along the San Joaquin; or the San” Fer- nando Valley, now becoming so noted for i i_tsl:)live orchards’ will have to take up the ight. = A warning at this season is, therefore, timely, and if heeded may save many thousands of dollars. The plant is easily distingunished, because whenever it has room for full development it makes a round, compact bush with stiff stems crowded with thorny bracts and narrow purplish leaves which wither in early autumn. It can be identified by any one who will take /7//'////,/// :%. Z" e e b A 'YUCCA PALM. [From a photograph.] artesian water at from 200 to 400 feet. The settlers prefer small wells of 2 or 3 inches bore and one of these wells easily irrigates ten acres of alfalfa, often much more. Some portions show alkali, but the stands of alfalfa are most excellent. It is really surprising that so much of this land is un- improved, and the local demand for aifalfa hay is much greater than the supply. Tpon Dr. Barber’s east-side ranch, an valleys. The significance of this enterprise ies the fact that its projectors have experimental artesian well, sunk to the denth of 539 feet. develoved six strata of | the trouble to obtain the illustrations sent jout by the Agricultural Department and the experiment stations. The station at | Berkeley will answer ar‘Af questions and | also identify plants; or, i necessary, will send an observer to the locality. There has been a feeling in the Lancas- ter district that it was decidedl{ better to keep the matter quiet for fear of influenc- ing the steady growth of the colonies, This is a mistaken view, because, in the first vlace. the thistle is not particularly dan- gzrous in highly cultivated districts and cause suppression of actual facts gener- ally leads in the end to exaggerated reports whxcth do far more harm than a frank state- ment. A letter received from Mr. George F. Weeks, the well-known editor and man- ager of the Bakersfield Californian, says that it has appeared in that section, and adds: ‘‘The thistle matter is a serious one and no time should be lost in taking hold of it. t is growing here from seed evidently scattered from cars that have come from Nebraska or some other in- fected section, as at present it is only found along the railroad tracks.” It is undoubt- edly ‘necessary for land-owners along the whole length of the San Joaquin Valley to study the nature of this new pest and ascertain whether it is on their farms. The Antelope Valley is_peculiarly for- tunate in possessing in the Lancaster Gaz- ette a very progressive and indeed typical country journal, thoroughly alive to the needs of every locality and foremost in the development of the coloni»s. Its proprie- tor, W. 8. Melick, owns land in several dif- ferent districts, and, having long been a resident of the valley, is one of the best posted men upon the agricultural and hor- ticultural resources of thisimmense ter- ritory. 8o many promising regions linger for i;es.rs in a comatose condition for lack of skilled newspaper enterprise that this paragraph about the GGazette seems neces- sary to explain the general hopefulness of CHARLES the situation. . SHINN. , WoxEN AND WHEEL- n¢.—Dr. Graeme Hammond has recent- 1y told his countrymen how to get the most. healthful results out of bicycie riding, and now Dr. Just Champonniere, the celebrated French physician, discusses the bearing of the bicycle on the female physique. The question he seeks to solve is: Are women to be encouraged in the use of the wheel or warned to leave it alone? After enu- merating the various modes of exercise available to women, who take almost in- variably far too little exercise, Dr. Cham- ponniere pronounces the bicycle the ideal instrument for the purpose. It entails lit- tle exertion; the effort is gentle, and the muscles are at no time in a state of great | tension. All the muscles of the body are brought into play; the legs, and especially the thighs, are employed in propelling, while the arms and shoulders aré braced | against the handle-bar, and the muscles of | the back and loins have their share of the work. The respiratory muscles and those of the thorax are forced into action in order to keep pace with the quickened movements of inspira- tion and expiration. Finally, all the mus- cles of the trunk are brought into play in maintaining the equilibrium of the wheel, and herein ?ir‘s the great superiority of the | bicycle over the tricycle. Vith the latter there is infinitely more muscular effort | and less harmony in movement. Although Dr. Champonniere says that women will | find the wheel a_perfect means of exercise he sternly condemns the idea of bicycle racing for women. ‘‘Scorching” by women, he maintains, cannot be too severely de- nounced, as it may lead to serious evils | and irretrievably injure the health instead of building it up. If wheeling is kept within wise limits it will give to women a muscular development, which many of them sadly need; it will improve the gen- eral health and radically modify many forms of malaise engendered by a too se- dentary life. It gives, besides, S:J)Jblenes! to the figure and precision and ress to the movements and cultivates courage and quickness of eye. st A Rusr-Resistine WaEAT.—Piscicultur- 1sts, who look forward hopefully to the evolution of the boneless shad, will proba- bly derive some encouragement from the fact thata new rust-resisting variety of wheat is being eagarly sought for as seed by Australian farmers. 1t was noticed by a'farmer in South Australia several years ago, while reaping a badly rusted field of wheat, that among it were some heads wholly unaffected. He picked and care- fully saved them and sowed the grain the next year. It yielded well and showed no sign of rust. From that beginning the stock hasincreased until twenty acres were raised last year, the crop of which was taken at a good price. CLEANBING STREETCARS.—Compressed air, which has been used successfully, in con- junction with the sand spray, for cleaning the outside of buildings of brick or stone that have been begrimed by the smoke of cities, is now employed for the cleaning of cars. The hose containing the compressed air is run through a window or door,and a woman, handling it as she would a garden hose, turns it upon the woodwork, the ceil- ings and every part of the car. It is found twice as effective as any whiskbroom, beater or duster ever invented. The irre- sistible blast of air drives the dust from every chink, and the cleaning is doneat but little expenditure of time or labor. EpisLe Axp Porsoxous MusHrooMs.—It is not generally known that there are some seventy or eighty common species of mushrooms which may be eaten with safety. Dr. M. C. Cooke states the cLief features exhibited by poisonous mush- rooms are: Disagreeable odor, change of color, especially to a dark blue, when cut or bruised, distinctly unpleasant taste when_a fragment is eaten raw, and fungi containing a milky juice. To DeteryiNe tHE TRUE PosiTioN or THE Pore.—Camille Flammarion claims that it is possible to determine the true position of the pole by photography. He suggests thata camera be exposed to the night sky so that the circumpolar stars can describe their movements on the fixed plate. At the pole the stars will describe circles around the celestial pole or imagin- ary p}l;olougation of the earth’s axis to the zenith, - —— WITHOUT A NAVY. The Kingdom of Belgium Has No Ships of War. No invitation has been extended to the naval authorities of one neighboring coun- try to participate in the festivities at the opening of the ship canal between the North Sea and the Baltic, which are to at- tract the armed ships of various European and American Governments. That coun- try is Belgium, and it is peculiar among European countries having a water front from the fact that it has no navy. Thisis the more remarkable when it is considered that Belgium includes within its borders one of the oldest harbors in Europe—Ant- werp—which, at the zenith of its commer- cial success, had as many as 2000 ships. The commerce of Antwerp is still consid- erable, and a fair share of it is done with the United States, says the New York Sun. ‘When the war of 1830 culminated in the independence of Belgium from the rule of the Netherlands, the two countries were so divided that Holland had the larger share of the seacoast line, and Belgium had a larger measure of the inland country. Most readers of the CALL will remember a much-talked-of novel thata decade or more ago appeared in one of the leading American magazines and afterward in book form under the title of “The Bread- winners.” The book had great popularity for a season. It was for a time what “Trilby” is to-day, the talk of the reading world. 1t was crude, it was vulgar, it was trivial, but partly, perhaps, because of its anony- mous authorship, it held public attention for a year and a day, ran through a fabu- lous number of editions and was solemnly welcomed by certain of the heavy English periodicals as the long-expected ‘‘typical American novel.” This was ten years ago, and the other day the present writer, who in the days of its vogue penned columns of comment anent it, just as, to-day, hundreds of writers are penning columns of Trilby- phobia, actually bought a stray copy of this literary derelict in absolute forgetful- ness of the ink expended in threshing out its demerits ten years agone. The incident is of passing interest as illustrating the fragile nature of the bubble reputation, as applied to novels. The list could be extended indefinitely of books that have sprung into similar prominence during the past twenty years to be an- nounced as the long-looked-for American novel. They have sunk again into oblivion and the great American novel is yet un- written and likely to remain so. There is no reason to suppose that if it is ever written it will lay claim to what foreign critics will consider a character- istic American flavor, To have that it must have a cosmopolitan flayor. The American people are a composite people, | and those things that are most character- istic of us are also characteristic of many | other peoples. We are, moreover, of widely varying types. We may know the English, the %-‘rench, the Russian people comparatively well through their fiction, but ‘at most a ‘‘characteristic’’ novel in this country can only be characteristic of one section, We have a New England type. Another type, especially character- istic, prevails in the South, while the Middle West, the Far West and the Pacific | the minister of the United States at Peking, has written an account of the Chinese which does not need the adventitious aid of the Oriental war to render it interesting. Mr. Holcombe is thoroughly familiar with the Chinese of to-day and confines his book mainly to what he has learned by his | own experience in the country. There is no attempt to reconstruct the history of China—to account for its barbarisms and superstitions, to explain_all the complex conditions of its swarming population, or to enter upon any speculations concerning its future. In place of these things, which are so common in works on China, and which serve generally only to confuse th. reader with a multitude of unclassifie | facts and ill-digested theories, Mr. Hol- combe gives us a well-defined account of the principal phases of Chinese life as he has himself seen it, and illustrates each phase with one or more anecdotes of actual oceurrences, which assist materially in giving a clear idea of the subject. & The account given by Mr. Holcombe is | much more favorable to the Chinamen than that_generally entertained i this country. He warns the reader in a brief reface that it is far easier to criticize the hinese than to understand them, for the points of contact are too few and too re- cent, and claims they are emphatically a race well worthy of serious study. The claim is fully justified in the course of the work, as every chapter in it contains more or less information tending to show that while the Chinese have an antiquity reach- ing back to the days when ypt and Assyria were great empires, they bave still enough of the vitality of youth to make it certain they are yet to play a large part in the destinies of the world. One of the principal characteristics of the Chinese as a people is their satisfac- tion with their system of Government and of society. This gives stability to the em- vations and reforms even when they are most needed. According to Mr. Holcombe overning powers of the country would ;z]il(fi if they had dared do so; but while nomi- nally an absolute despotism, the Govern- public opinion, and cannot act with any effect against the will of the people. While in its main outlines the account given in the work confirms the statements slo} present characteristics wholly unlike either of these. Moreover, what our | critics are wont to style characteristic of | any one section are often types that fill the | geop]e of that section with astonishment. | ake for instance that amazing tale of San | Francisco life, “*Golden Beak,” the people | of which so undoubted an authority as | The Bookman declares are ‘‘drawn to| life.” There is a ‘‘characteristic’’ nine- teen - year - old divorcee from San Francisco who gives a ‘‘characteristic’’ de- | scription of San Francisco society which | The Bookman writer pronounces ‘‘deli- | cious.” Here, for instance, is her account | of a society leader who is in the insurance | business and divides his time at social functions between leading the german and | taking “risks: When a young lady first goes into society in | San Francisco, fl he isn’t on her side she can’t | do anything at all. He is asked out to dine | every night, and of course it all helps his busi ness, because he s agent for both lifeand fire | companies, and lots of people who are trying | 10 get into society do their insuring through | him. Well, everybody thinks he has such a | Jovely time, but heisn’t so very happy aiter all. | He is nearly 40 now; and last tall he began to get so fat that it was awful for him fo have to dance; so he had to go without eating lots of things he likes. * * * After the theater we would go up on the car together to my flat and eat pickled limes and lady-fingers; that'sabout the only thing he can eat for supper. There is a Japanese servant who isin love with his mistress, the divorcee, and doesn’t like the socie’tly ieagler. whose name is Charley Hart. To his mistress this characteristic S8an Francisco domestic dis- courses as follows: “You see, Golden Beak, I sweep your floor, I | clean the mat when dog-Charley wipes his feet—and you laugh. You laugh, all of you. You say, ‘Oh, very clean; oh, very gcod boy.” | When Charley-dog have dinner here, I spit in his soup. You think I am a broom; you think Iam an iron to stir the fire with; but all the whileI am a man, Golden Beak, and ail the while you are & woman. AndI love you, bad woman!” Of course any San Franciscan will recog- nize this character as being, to quote The Bookman, ‘“drawn to the life,” and it will cause us no surprise to learn that this characteristic Japanese servant follows the object of his admiration all over Eu- rope, and finally strangles her, on the bank of an English river, with her friends close at hand. Joaquin Miller When He Was a Girl. The current number of the Chapbook gives, but incorrectly, a good story about Joaquin Miller. As this incorrect version of the occurrence has been published sev- eral times of late a veracious narrative of the event may be of interest. The Poet of | the Sierras hasa penchant for writing his autobiography. There are said to be sev- | eral of these in circulation, each detailing a pleasing variety of events and none | of them tracing any special relation to the others. When Joaquin came down from the north some score of years ago he brought with him a little Indian halibreed girl, his daughter, whom he put in charge of a friend. Between the poet and this daughter there has never been any love lost. The child, who is now a woman grown, inherited much of her father’'s shrewdness and not a little wit. When she was about 12 years old Miller issued through a Chicago house one of his peri- odic autobiographies. A copy of this he sent to the Indian girl, who went by the name of Carrie Shasta. The book was profusely-illustrated with pictures of the oetz There was “Joaquin Miller at ome,” *“Joaquin Miller as a Scout,” “Joaquin_Miller in London,” “Joaquin Miller in Indian Costume,” ete. The only | icture in the book that did not represent Mr. Miller was one of an Indian girl, with flowing hair, tearing over the plainson a pony, tollowed by two greyhounds. This picture was labeled ‘*Carrie Shasta,” and was supposed to illustrate a romantic ver- sibn of Joaquin’s Indian marriage. The child was not pleased, either with the narrative or the picture, and erasing her own name, which was printed beneath it, she wrote, irreverently, ‘“Joaquin Miller, ‘When He Was a Girl.” Carrie Shasta, who has since married, was, as a girl, quite a character in her way. At one time there came to visit at the house where she was staying a lady and her small son. The boy was un enfant terrible, and in a couple ‘of days had re- duced the whole neighborhood to a state of anarchy. Peace fled the district, and his hostess was in a state of distraction. One day, when the latter had planned to take her guest for a drive, Carrie prevailed upon the boy to remain at home with her, There is no knowing what visions of good times she promised him, but he remained. When his mother and her friend re- turned the boy was a reformed character. Dunni the rest of their visit he never left his mother's side a moment, and he was docility itself on all occasions. Distracted and alarmed the mother short- ened her visit, taking the boy home to consult the family physician. He never Holland retained ail the colonial posses- sions of the two countries, and, in order to keep up' connection with them and pro- tect them. from hostile assault, the navy was_maintained by Holland. Belgium, having no foreign colonies to protect, was under no_obligation to maintain a nayy. Holland has now a considerable navy, in- cluding 100 ships and 7500 sailors, but Bel- gium is able to get along without any navy at all, though the Belgium army, on a peace footing, is 2000 men stronger than the Dutch army, and,on a war footing, has 100,000 men more. e ———— Boiled alliga tor flesh tastes’very much like veal. Itis much eaten in India. told what had wrought his change of heart, and not until years after could his hostess ever prevail upon Carrie to exglnin the mystery. It was very simple. “I let my hair down,” she said, ‘‘sent him under the house to get his ball, and then crawled after him on my hands and knees, with the butcher-knife, and told him if he went out of his mother’s sight again while he was here or told anybody what I'd said to him, T woula cut his throat from ear to ear.” The Real Chinaman. Under the title of “The Real Chinaman,” Chester Holcombe, for many years inter- preter, secretary of legation and acting of others concerning the Chinese, it con- tains many anecdotes and_incidents which throw a new light, as it were, upon the customs of the country, and by showing them in under a different aspect givea ifferent impression of their character rom that which bas been hitherto ac- cepted as accurate. In this way the cus- tom of Chinese officials exacting money from the people, which has been generally regarded as extortion and described as official corruption, is made to appear more like a well understood system of official fees than anything in the way of oppres- sion or dishonesty. Other practices, usually depicted as evil, are presented in equally favorable lights,'and in this way the general conception of the Chinese de- rived from the book is much higher than that usually accepted from the same state- ment of facts. The descriptive value of the book is en- hanced by numerous illustrations, which being photographed give accurate presenta- tions of the subjects they represent and materially assist in conveying a clear idea of the peo;.le. [New York: Dodd, Mead & Co. For sale by William Doxey.] Neighbor Jackwood. Thisis a revision of J. T. Trowbridge’s famous anti-slavery noyel, from new plates, the printing of many editions having worn the old ones beyond the point of service. It is not likely that American people will soon tire of stories that go back to that interesting period—*‘before the war” —and | one of the best of all these is the power- ful tale that more than anything else of hishelped to make the author’s repu- ation. In revising it he has added con- siderably to the concluding chapters. What will greatly increase the interest of the general reader, however, is the autobio- raphical preface which Mr, Trowbridge fias written to the book. It is somewhat surprising to read in this the author’s confession of having had, in his _early manhood, a strong prejudice against any agitation of the slave question. T%]is he imbibed from his father, whom he quotes as saying of the one abolitionist Ercncher in his native town: “I wish I ad some sort of patent, long-action, quick- Eressure gag to spring on him the instant e uses the word slavery.” It was the en- actment, in 1850, of the ‘‘fugitive slave law,” turning the North into a hunting- ground for escaping human chattels, that made an anti-slavery fanatic of Trowbridge. He was then at work on_ the Sentinel, Ben Perley Poore’s paper. The latter went to Washington on business, leaving young Trowbridge in charge of the paper. It was then the latter, quite innocent of offense, wrote the famous editorial that placed the Sentinel on the anti-slavery side, called down storms of wrath from every direction and even caused threats from South Carolina of secession. It ru- ined the paper, but from that day Mr. Trowbridge was a pronounced abolitionist. The story of ‘‘Neighbor Jackwood” turns on the struggles of a New England neigh- borhood to hide from the slave-hunters a young fugitive slave girl, nearly white, eautiful and lovable. " 1t is a powerful tale, told in a highly dramatic and interesting fashion. ior ton: Lee & Shepard. For sale by William Duxe_\i and the Whitaker & Ray Com- vany. Simplified Elocution. To the student of anatomy, this book, by Edward Gordon Lawrence, who announces himself as director of “The Lawrence School of Acting,” New York, seems deli- ciously funny. Mr. Lawrence has much to say regarding the “‘organs of breath, sound and speech,” and declares that “It is not, as some teachers assert, natural for women to breathe by using the costal and intercostal muscles, while men use those of the waist.” Elsewhere he tells the reader that in whispering “the epiglottis must be kept nicely raised and the whisper thrown di- rectly on the lips, and on no account held in the throat or mouth.” The author's grammar, like his anatomical knowledge, seems to be entirely his own. : There is added to the book what the teacher calls ““A complete speaker,’ bein, a collection of pieces, taken, apparently, a §a:dom,dfé%m_ tgel ltiteramre of “One ousan oice Selections.” [N : Published by the author] L C" YK Jewish Literature and Other Essays. The Jewish Publication Society of Amer- pire, but has a tendency to prevent inno- | y have made many reforms years ago | ment of China is really under control of | jca has issued, under this title, a handsome volume of addresses by the eminent Jew- ish scholar, Gustav Karpeles of Berlin. A surprise awaits the average rende; who turns the leaves of this book. We are wont to think of purely rabbinical writings when the subject of Jewish literature comes up. The Talmud, the Pentateuch and a few obscure works in European libraries, known, as a rule, only to the faithful and a few bibliographers—these, to most readers, sum up the literary treas- ures of the ““peculiar people.” It is, there- fore, interesting, as well as surprising, to note the author’s statement that in the neighborhood of 22,000 Jewish works are now known where, fifty years ago, biblio- rthers were ignorant of the existence of | alf these. FiE The Talmud is, of course, the beginning and the foundation of Jewish literature. 1t has been the chief conservator of Juda- ism—“the most hated and persecuted, the most prized and honored, above all the most imperfectly understood of all books.” The author contends that the meager achievements of the Jews in the depart- ments of history and history of literature donot justify the conclusion that they are wanting in historic perception. The lack of writings on these sabjects is_traceable to the sufferings and persecutions that have marked their pathway. ‘‘The Orient ‘dwells an exile in the Occident, and its tears of longing for home aré the fountain- head of Jewish poetry.” The poetry reached its perfection in the works of the celebrated trio, Solomon Gab- irol, Yehuda Halevi and Moses ben Ezra. As ancient Hebrew poetry flowed in two streams of prophecy and psalmody, so the | Jewish poetry of the middle ages were | divided into Piut and Selicha, songs of hope and despair. But secular poetry has also flourished. Its first votary was Solo- mon Gabirol, who was a distinguished hilosopher as well. By his side stands gla]evi, probably the only Jewish poet known to the general reader, to whom Heine has familiarized the name. But from | these on the writer gives a long and re- doubtable list of names of Jewish writersand their works. JHe follows up the course of a literary development, beginning in gray antiquity, with biblical narratives, assimi- lating Persian doctrines, Greek wisdom and Roman law; later Arabic poetry and | philosophy, and finally the whole of Euro- | pean science in all its ramifications, while | contributing its share to every spiritual re- sult achieved by humanity. This litera- ture is still an unexplored treasury of Eoetrv and philosophy, of experience and nowledge. Not the least interesting chapteris that on women in Jewish literature, which tells of women—the number reaching into the hundreds—who have been leaders, teach- ers, scholars, poets and seers of the Jew- | ish people. A long list and an honorable record is here given of famous Hebrew women. | _ Other addresses are on Jewish Trouba- dorsand Minnesingers, the Jewish Stage, Moses Maimonides, Humor and Love in Jewish Poetry, Heinrich Heine and Juda- | ism, etc., etc.” [Philadelphia: The Jewish Publication Society of America.] Alison’s Adventures. A story for girls by Lucy C. Lillie, who has written a number of bright and whole- | some books for young readers. This is the | story of a young girl who is thrown upon | her own resources, and_sets out to make the best of her life in a simple, courageous way. She finds a wealthy grandmotirer whom she never known, and who | gives her grudgingly a meager home. The rest of the girl’s fortune comes through her own honest endeavor and loyalty of Porter & Coates.] | purpose. [Philadelphi A Country Sweetheart. To end with a wedding is quite the | proper thing for the orthodox light novel, | but the author of **A Country Sweetheart,” | Dora Russell, really leaves too little to be desired in this regard. Not only do all the people in her story get married, but most of them, those at least who did not kill some one or get themselves killed, marry two or_three times. [New York and Chi- cago: Rand, McNally & Co.] ON A GERMAN RATILROAD. Ten Minutes for Watercress Refresh- ments for Travelers. “We fellows over here,”” said a New Yorker, ‘‘are given to growling if a train don’t make the schedule time to a minute or if there’s a moment’s delay at any point along the line, but a little travel on some of the European continental lines would, T think, make us a little more reconciled to our own conditions. I know it has that chastening effect on me. - “On my last trip to Germany I had to run down from Hanover to Cassel. After we had been jogging along at a sedate rate of three minutes to the mile for a couple of hours or so we_came to a stop. I looked out of the window and saw that we were in the midst of a very pretty country scene, meadows and gardens, but with nothing in the shape of a village to be seen except some scattered farm- bouses. So I concluded that either it was a_ wayside station for some district or else that an accident had hap- pened. The only other passenger in the coach, a Lutheran clergyman I put him up to be, knew of no stopping place there, 80 I lowered the door sash to hunt up the conductor or guard. “As I poked my head out I saw a man that I took to be the engineer or fireman coming across the meadows with a big bun- dle done up in a blue handkerchief swing- ing from his hand, while his mate was leaning out of the cab window smoking a big pipe. The conductor was sitting ie— side the track examining a belated wild flower through his gold-rimmed spectacles, the escape steam was gently whistlin thrgngh the valve, a few passengers hag their heads poked out of the other carriage windows like mine, all apparently watch- ing the approach of the man with the blue family interest. Altogether it wasa very })retty, restful pastoral picture. I hesitated or a minute to break in upon it, but when Ilooked at my watch and found we had been standing there for more than a quar- ter of an hour, I yelled to the professor- like guard and asked what was the matter. “He arose and came smiling pleasantly to the carriage window. ““What's the matter?’ I repeated. ‘Is there an accident?’ He smiled still more pleasantly. 5 A .*‘Oh, mno, Mein Herr,’ he said, ‘only there is a famous quality of die bachtresse, or watercress, in the brook at the bottom of that field over there, and the good Wil- helm Schwartz, the engineer, generally makes it a point to get a bunch of it for his Sunday salad when he comes along on the Saturday afternoon train. L ¢ +By the time the guard had finished his ‘delightful little story the engineer had reached the engine. Then the guard climbed into his coupe, there was a shrill toot of the whistle and we were jogging along again.” w York Sun. e —————— There are 832 convicts to every 1,000,000 inhabitants of the North Atlantic States, 739 in the South Atlantic, 491 in the North Central, 842 in the South Central and 1341 in the Western. Best Made in the World. 1845 0“ BBlLfiass All Others Are Imitations. handkerchief with a sort of good-natured - -