The San Francisco Call. Newspaper, October 18, 1896, Page 16

16 THE SAN FRANCISCO CALL, S DAY, OCTOBER 1 1896. Duchy of Brabant, Picturesque Viev\)j of an Ancient | Gity Brussels as Seen by the Quick Eye of | a Galifornia Artist BRUBSSELS, Sept. 27.—Standing in the great square in the neart of the town, un- der the shadow of the ancient and splen- did Hote! de Ville, looking at the dark and ornate facade of the ‘‘House of the King.” it is not difficult to reconstruct for oneself the scenes from & past, presenting as vivid a contrast of magnificence and cruel tragedy as can be found in the his- tory of any country. It is eminently a peaceful scene at present, however. High above the city on the summit ofa hill that is cut into and covered by close little streets that scramble up the preci- vitous sides like the streets of Chinatown in San Francisco 1s the Royal Palace, the principal hotels, the little green park that was once the pleasure-ground of the Dukes of Brabant, the museums, the most elegant shops and the residences of the Belgian aristocracy. Here, 100, the foreigners congregate —the well-to-do Englishman; the astute American, not rich enough to cut a wide swath in New York or London; the impoverished aristo- crat, too proud to economize at home. Here in the gay little capital, that is half Spanish, half Flemish, wholly t'rench, life is simple and pleasure smiles and every one may enjoy much and spend | little. The palace of the Doges in Venice, all that is sumptoous and rich in Iwalian decoration, comes back iato the recol lectioz as we wander through the silent rooms of the Hotel de Ville behind a whispering guide and a row of Baeueker- ized tourists. If you enter by the lion’s staircase you come at once into the banqueting hali, carved 1n oak, with beeutifui Gothie de- signs, and tapestry, green as a forest, set into the spaces of the walls. It is possible that you also may experience an incident not down in Baedeker. A woman in a very gorgeous bonnet, with a heavy beaded cape ahd & tailor-mude skirt, a guide- book under her arm, enters from the oppo- site door. Unconsciously the contrast between this modern woman and the women of the older regime presents 1itself. Take, for example, Margaret of Parma. There are portraits of her everywhere, this queenly half-sister of Philip of Spain, who was more weak than wicked, more sinned againstthan sinning. She is woven in tapestry and carved in wood; her face, that bas the characteristic long upper lip and the protruding lower one, can be dis- covered in the great corporation pictures, painted to commemorate some especially important occasion, and in the museums there are eny number of portraits. She must have presented a noble appearance in her black velvet, slashed with white satin, hung with gold chains and set with jewels. She carried herself with a majesty that 1s so noble it seems incomprehensi- ble that she. could have surrendered all ber gooa intentions to the people she reigned over—that she can ever have vol- untarily submitted to being the tool of ber pitiless brother, the instrument in the hands of the Inquisition. The imposing Gothic cathedral is ap- proached by the little black streets that make it seem larger—more-grandiose by contrast. What patience, what richness of detail did these old masters-develop! Every portion of the church was as patiently studied out and decorated and covered with designs as a lacemaker picks and stitches at the cobweb daintiness under her fingers. And there is some- thing like the same elegance and fineness of detail in the stone lacework with which the Flemish architect loved to cover the severity of his design. The confessional-boxes are miracles of wood-carving. Two angels, mild and grave, guard each little door, and above it garlands and ribbons and little winged heads are cut in the dark rich wood. The windows are fine, like mosaics of jewels, &s all stained giass must be; even the modern ones are not as bad as they might be. The monuments of Counts Egmont and Hoom stands before the old Egmont palace, now in the possession of the Duc d’Arenberg. A little further away, be- hind the gloomy front of the prison for female convicts, is the restored palace of the Count Kuylenburg, where the Belgian nobles met and conspired to begin the stroggle against the supremacy jof Spain. It was here that they signea the petition. begging Margaret of Parma to abolish the Inquisition. What a sceng it must have been before the palace of the Princess, Margaret, surrounded by her courtiers in all their southern richness of apparel, the four hundred knights of the aristoc- racy of Brabant, silent, fixed, stern and resolute, waiting to have their petition granted or to die in enforcing ft. The Duc of Alva had to be summoned to quell those **beggars,” and even his inso- lent and pitiless cruelty was not sufficient. Though be led twenty-five of them into the square and executed them on a scaf- folding erected so high that the peopie could not rescoe their heroes, though he set himself and his court in their palace end afterward burned it to tbe ground, still, a few years later, the Netherlands were separated from Spain. The Spaniards left their traces upon the blonde Flemish race, and it is curious even now in the faces of the people, flower venders and ‘women 1n the little shops, to see some- times under the straight, lignt hair a pair of dark, soft Spanish eyes. All Americans in Brussels go at once to the Wiertz Museum to see the horrors which that hali-insane artist Joved to por- tray. They shiver delighifuily before the painted terrors of a decapitated head, glue their eyes-to a hole in the wall in which they may perceive a subterranean vault in which s human being, ghastiy as death, is struggling to escape from a coffin. Or a nude figure rewards them for the humili- ating necessity of bending down to a little cuitured is his every cunvas. Outside of Paris there are no better examples than those in the Modern Musenm, the figure of a woman holding a Japanese ornament, the fashionable woman in a dress that isso charmingly painted that we forget to notice that the fashion is already an old one. Van Dyck Browx. Margaret of Parma, Life in a Big Gity A Jumping Bean and a Furless Kitten The Burly Tramp Who Failed to Bluff the Small Girl The extent to which 8an Francisco streets are devoid of trees cannot.well be realized irom any pointof observation less commanding than the Twin Peaks. Once up on the Peaks, the City 10o0ks nearly all gray. The business sireets are absolutely devoid of bright color, and if there are oc~ casional trees on such thoroughiares they are s0 few and are so much scatter>d, that they cut no figure in the landscape. The great bulk of residence streets bave the same general appearance of gray, the distance and the average tone blending them so that any slight variation of colors is imperceptible. The only wooded section on the entire peninsula, apart from the parks and Presidio areas,is all west of the Peaks, and the green tops of the tree plantations toward the ocean are a grateful sight. San Francisco, as a whole, is garbed in gray, but in other respects is not particu- larly suggestive of the Quakers, ¥ % % % » Nothing develops the precocity of chil- dren in a certain part of the City more than to put them in actual contact with adults. There are small girl cashiers in cheap restaurants who are able to bluff the most burly and threatening rounder on the Barbary Coast, Clear above the clatter of the dishes and the general din of a cheap restaurant on Clay street two voices rang out. One was a bass voice velonging to the genus tramp, and he wasas Jarge and burly a man as could be found in many a day. The other voice proceeded from the voc-al apparatus of a thin, white-faced child whose age could not have exceeded 11 or 12 years. “I gave yer two bits,” said the bass voice, “and I want me change,” “Two bits nawthin’; yer gave me 10 cents and yer hain’t got no change a com- in’.” “Gur-rgh!” fierceness. “Ha, ba! ho, ho!” laughed the 11-year- older, mockinely., “Dat’s all right, but yer don’t bluff worth a nickel.” “I'll have yer pulled.” Around the tables sat groups of listen- ing men who might be waitingto “‘try on”’ this game themselves, They scraped bairy chins meditatively and looked on with an appearance of a grim sort of amusement. The small girl was mistress of the situa- tion. “Now git,” she said, ‘for I won't have no fuss about here! Now mosey!"” The bluff would not go. The bigtramp went out. The little girl spranted up like a bantam chicken as another tramp offered familiarity on the strength of this episode. Business then resamed its usnally dull round. - e ow % w The craze of jumping beans is appar- ently large this year. Asa means of di- version they are becoming more popular in families, and thousands are exported East, where their mysterious motions ex- cite astonishment among the uninitiated, Wwho are not aware ot the source of their eccentric powers, They are getting to be This was a growl of much quite a fad among the sporting fraternity, < who place a couple of beans within a small circle and the one that jumps outside the boundary first is the declared winner and takes the stakes. The amusement isan absorbing one and has supplanted the dice in several of the Kearny-street resorts; and the practice is spreading to others. black hole in the wall. If thisis artit is & very revolting form of 1t. What a contrast is the workof that greatest of Belgian artists, Alfred Stevens. How delicate and refined -and thoroughly The beans are imported from Mexico, and their motions are imparted by a small worm in the .interior. They are more active in the sunshine than otherwise, The fruitman ai 121 Washiogwon street is proudly displaying to admiring crowds what is certainly one of the most extraor- dinary freaks of nature that has ever been seen in San Francisco. It is a harmless cat, as guiltless of fur as the common Mexican dog and as grotesque an ohject as can be imagined. The cat is about a year old and was born on the premises. From an Qld Portrait st . ) 11 11¢ wAsianes Excepting for little tufts of hair on each foot ana at the end of the tail thero 1s not a hair on her whole body. With this ex- ception there is nothing different from | other cats. She is affectionate in disposi- tion and an excellent ratter and playful in the extreme. Other cats all avoid her and express their astonishment at the singular aspect of their gifted sister in the most comical manner. An extreme | sensitiveness to the | cold 1s a marked pe- | culiarity. Large sums have been offered the owner of the hairless cit by dealers in freaks and many ate tempts bhave been | made at her abduc- | $lon, but so far with- out success. As a means of drawing trade the cat excels, | She is guarded very carefully, and her owner declares that no inducement will lead him to part with her. . % ow A new sort of dead- beat bas appeared. | He is a musical sharp | who for a month or six weeks, according to different accounts, has succeeded in keeping up his piano practice very well and tree of cost, using only the best pianos in town for his pur- pose. His system is very easy when it is explained. All need- ed is a prepossessing exterior, a good ad- dressand nerve. This operator is well equipped in all these particulars. He is of about medium height, well dressed and a very good musician. He uni- formly represents that he is a musie teacher and is looking for a piano for one of his pupils, a lady of wealth, who wishes none but the best and who may either rent or purchase. There are many music-stores wiere such an introduction of a business oppor- So tunity will secure prompt response. oven to him. He plays piece after piece, does some t-chnical work involving digita d fliculties, tests the touch of vurious makes of pianos and finally de- parts with a promise to call again. Taking ir two or threestores per diem the musician get &1 he racti e thathe needs 10 keep | b lrom gelung rusty, as the pianists say. Up-to-Date Science Wonderful Tale of a Liar from ~ Ohio The Ungrateful Gon- gregation and a ~ Peculiar Dry Plate Professor Laurence Abbott of Chilli- cothe, Ohid, is a guestat a downtown he- tel. Last night he appeared to be an in- tensely disgusted man. He has just re- turned to S8an Francisco from Japan, where be dailied for a time after having accom- panied Professor Todd on Mr. James’ beautiful yacht Coronet. Professor Abbott is not an astronomer, but, according to his own relation of his accomplishments, is a photograpker from whom the scientific expedition mizht safely have looked for the most remark- able results, He said: “For years I be- longed 1o the ministry, and attained a cer- tain amount of celebrity, not confined to the immediate vicinity of my labors. The salary attached to the church wherein I labored was not as large as it might well have been, taking into consideration the wealth and size of my congregation, coupled with my indefatigable researches into every field of science and branch of religion, which I prosecuted for their en- lightenment. “At many sessions of the council the matter of an increass came up, but never materialized. Ere long my growing family made it incumbent on me todevise other means for increasing the domestic exchequer, and I finally hit upon the plan of having my eldest son, a bright lad of 18 years, pursue the study of photography. I also beeame thoroughly interested with him, which later on proved a most fortu- nate circumstance. As he became profi- cient I, without intending to do so, as you may readily imagine, gradually incor- porated into my sermons the idea of the nearness of death to us all, and this naturally suggested the desirability of the sorrowing relatives having portraits of the dear departed' to aid in alieviating their hours of loneliness and grief. As busi- ness was a little slow in picking up, I later Albert Neuhuys® Famous Picture, A Dutch the operator finds the best instruments adopted the plan of haviug printed on the back of the ‘contribution cards’ which were left in the pews for subscriptions to home and foreign missions, the following: ‘Go to Abbott's ground floor gallery for finest photographs, Groups at r(duced rates.’ 2 **Much to my surpnse, this cansed quite an unwarranted amount of discussion A Confessional Box in the Gathedral of Ste. Gudule, Brussels among the old fogxy members of the con~ gregation, who could not appreciate an up-to-date clergyman, and as some of them intimated that at times I drew upon my imagination for . the events of history I decided to throw up the ministry and give my attention to business pursuits. Natnrally I took up photography and i | therein have made a pronounced success, “Yes, I have made a considerable study of the Roentgen ray phenomena, but iet me tell you of an incident which has con- vinced me that there is much to be learned about photography. “Ishall give you the name and address of the party, so the truth of my narrative cannot be called into question. “Anna Morey Cowles of 1762 An- napolis avenue, Chil- licothe, was the 12- year-old child of wells to-do parents, and has always been un- usually healthy. Her skin was marvelously clear, almost to trans- parency. You know when you open a sardine-can nowa- days a key is used which twists the cover into a close coil, a greatimprove- ment over the old can-opener method. “Well, Anna was very fond of the oil used in putting up the fish, and while her mother was one day preparing some sardines for sand- wiches she sucked at the tin coil, when something startled her and the thing slipped down her throat, “Her mother,scared out of her senses, rushed into a closet to get a powerful emetic, and by mis- take took up a botile of Beed's dry plate developer, of which she gave the child about half a goblet. Anna died in hor- rible convulsions shortly thereafter. “The doctors called in did not deem it possible that so delicate a throat could have accommodated so large an object, and a post-mortem examination was made to determine the cause of death, “Gentlemen, you will find this statement on file in the records of the Coroner’s office at Chillicothe: ‘Firmly embedded in the folds of the umbilicus was an oval-shaped piece of glass about the length of an ordi- i i R S e ] Pl IS % B Interior. ‘ nary bean. When the child’s stomach was opened, instead of a coil, the doctors found that the tin had unwound, and on the flat surface of the sardine can was a perfect photograph of the autopsy pny- sicians bending ever their work, The—""’ Professor Abbott looked around in a startled manner and exclaimed: *There 7 breath! 1 have never before had m'y audi- ence leave me in the midst of a narra- tive!” i The sheep is the only animal thatis made vicious by petiing. A young ram that is raised by hand in the house be- comes bold and soon learns to attack cat- tle and persons. Alfred Steven's Woman With dJapanese Idol The Wild Cariboo With Spoon-Like Horns and Big Feet. Enormous Bands of the Queer Brutes on the Yukon River. “When I left Circle City early in August, and from which I have just now arrived,” said William Dalton, the Cali- fornia gold digger, yesterday, who has been for three years mining on the Yukon, “large bands of cariboo were coming over the mountains from the north and run- ning south. “In some of these bands there were as many as from 3000 to 5000 cariboo at a time, They were moving in immense masses. I bad frequently seen them be- fore, for every fall and spring the cariboo start on their regular pilgrimages. In the spring they go north and in the fall they move soath again. It is a beautiful sight to see them. They are huge animals, and when you get a few thousands of them together, the great horns make them in the distance look like a moving forest. “I bave seen them make a path two miles wide in the snow. I was mining on Hogham Creek, and when the cariboo be- gan to cross the divide north of the camp there were so many that it took between three and four days for them to get over. “The cariboo usually string along very leisurely, but as soon as the boys in camp see them they begin to shoot, and then the cariboo start to running. They don’t gallop—they trot, and they trot a good deal faster than a horse. “Beyond the divide, and between the Yukon and the Tanana River, is the Tanana divide, and there at these two seasons may also be seen large bands of cariboo, The cariboo come from every directton, so that wherever you go you see moving masses of them. 3 “It was thus that they were pouring over the hills when I left. The Tananaisa big river, navigable for steamboats for 500 miles, and’ everybody knows more or less of the great size of the Yukon. Ther many other rivers besides the Tanana which empty 1nto the Yukon. “When the cariboo come to any of these they simply plunge in and swim. Nothing impedes them. However, when they have thetr choice they keep up on the hiils. “1t is said that many of these cariboo spend a good part of the year among some almost bare mountains north of the Tanana., The crests of the mountains are granite, and it is as smooth as the tiles in a floor. “The cariboo there and elsewhere live on the moss that grows in parts of these mountains. They have a spoonlike horn, that is wide and flat, and with this they scrape away the snow and get at the moss. It acts as a sort of shovel and answers the purpose admirably. *The cariboo have very big feet, which spread out and keep them on top of the soft snow, There is a big deerclaw on each foot, and this helps them, so that the foot as a whole spreads out like a fan, In the fall the cariboo will dress from 300 to 400 pouads each, when full grown, but in the spring they are so poor they don’t weigh more than half that much. In the fall and winter the bulls and cows go in different communities, but always kee ping near together. ““I never expect to see a more inspirin: sight than these cariboo as they move back and forth 1n their migrations. It is worth a lot of money, and 'when one has seen it he will never forget it. ‘‘There are some moose there, buf they are by no means so plentiful as the cari- boo. I saw five once, but that was the most I ever saw at any one time. There are no mountain sheep or goats there, so far as I have observed, but down on the Hoo Talinka you find both sheep and must be samething the matter with my | goata They Have Ngfir@@d’ A Novel Church in the Southern Gity Politics and Religion Gombined by a Strange New Sect There is in Los Angeles a church move- ment so extraordinary in the character of its creed as to be without parallel or an- ticipation by the creed of any ecclesiasti- cal idea ever before brought into the world. In point of fact the only semblance of ecclesiasticism which this movement bears abides in its name of ‘‘churca” and in the fact that it expresses itself to be a form of the worship of God. Other than this there is nothing about its officers, its meetings, or any ceremonies thereof which might suggest it to embody a phase of religious thought as religious thought comes to us to-day through articles of faith, psalters and edifices. This newly originated institution is called New Era church, and it was brought into being through a State charter granted upon the filing of articles of incorpora- tion in 1894, Dr. W. C. Bowman was the originator of the idea of such a church and stood at the helm while it was getting into shape. He calls it a “civic church,” and as such it has spread until the Los Angeles body now numbers about 700 members,and there arechurches at Comp- ton, Azusa and Clearwater, each of them having as great a membership as any of the “‘old line’’ churches which are in those towns. Altogether it might be said that the membership of the church is about 1000, but from this nucleus the church offi- cers declare the faith will spread, as the present activities show, until it becomes the most conspicuous church movement in the State. The idea is recognized by some as about the same sort of breaking off from the or- thodox faith ‘as Protestantism was from Catholicism. Itis bared upon the claim that the churches of to-day assert that their only purpose is to care for the souls of individuals, and bave no concern for their earthly well-being farther than ob- tains to morality and charity, the last of which graces the New Eras declare is, *in its church acceptation and practice, simply a fraud.” In short, thi§ New Era church mingles politics with retigion, and of the two runs mostly to politics. There is no regular preacher, and the sermons bear no flavor of theology. Twice on Sunday the memse bers gather to nhear discourses. A brother or sister will rise and deliver a prepared or extemporaneous address. He may take come Bible theme for his base of argument, but if he does he will use it only as a wall from behind which shots will be taken at political questions of the day. After this 1s finished some member willf arise and comment upon the words just spoken; this will continue until a dozen others have spoken. All sorts ot subjects will be talked on. Socialism comes in for a large partof the speechmaking, for many of the members are socialists; then thers are protectionists, ardent and excitable free-traders, sinzle-taxers, goldites, silver- ites, those who want the railroads owned by the Government, those who want only the roadbeds owned and the traffic man- agement thrown open to competition, those who wish Government ownership of the telegraph and who are otherwise op- posed to socialism. One of the sections of the constitution of this church reads: In matters of belief and opinion there will be absolute liberty of mind to accept whatever 1s proved or seems probable and to reject whatever is disproved or seems improbabl and that its range of investigation and in- struction will be unlimited, drawing freely from sll sources—scientific, literary, historic, ancient and modern, sacred and profane, Christian, Jewish and pagan—drawing most largely from those sources which seem in- structive aud helpful, freely handling every question in the problem of human life and aspiration, whether relating to this life or the life to come, or whether concerniug the body or the soul of man. The expressions of its founder, Dr. Bow- man, as to the beliefs of the church are much in line with the above. He says: “We believe that the surest way to take care of another life is to make the best possible success out of this one; to. make earth 1itself as much like heaven as possi- ble; a place of equal rights to all and spe- cial privileges to noue.” The absolute lack of theological doctrine in the structure of this church appears, however, in what is specifically declared to be its creed, which reads as follows: Ibelieve in the eternal principles of justice and righteousness, embosomed in the infinite soul of the universe, revealed in the face of nature and the expert essences of human life. I believe in the betterment of the world by endless progress. I believe in the triumph of light over darkness, good over evil and life overdeath. Ibelieve that the earth, with its stored resources, its bouaties, and civilization with its blessings are the rightiul heritage of the people, and that all should have fair play and an equal showing for plenty gnd comiort, I believe it is wrong for the few, whether by inberitance, shrewdness or unjust laws, to have more of life’s substance than they can earn or need while the multitude have less than they can earn or meed; wrong for the few to have contro! of the means and necessi- ties of life so that the many are compelled to beg at their feet for the privilege of working for something to eat and wear; wrong for the public necessities to be in private bands, I believe it is wrong for a part of the people to be licensed by law to make criminals, paupers, vagabonds and suicides while the rest pray, plead and bear burdens. I believe itis wrong for the teachers and preachers ot the world to be silent about these great wrongs for fear somebody will think they are meddling with politics. The literature of this new church does not seem as yet to have narrowed to any particolar sacred book. It has neither Bible, Book of Mormon, or Talmud; in fact, the whole range of written words which the past has produced is fecog- nized as being its stock of publications, its reservoir of food for thought. The church has nc pastor, but is goy. erned by a president. Tais office is nowy‘ held by A. M. Salyer. The vice-president is Martha T. Hinckley, with W. D. Hinok- ley, secretary; Jullan McRue, finanoial secretary, and Paul Palmed), treasurer. The board of trustees comprise the above with the addition of Mrs. M. A, Green, Martha Salyer and W. L. Wolfe,