Indianapolis News, Indianapolis, Marion County, 6 February 1897 — Page 4

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THE INDIANAPOLIS NEWS, SATURDAY, FEBRUARY . 6, 1897.

INDIANAPOLIS NEWS AS INDEPENDENT XEWOPAPER EVERY AFTKRMOOOX 'jti : , v f o*tcw-r atntMti |f*r »*» E»W» BOItiDlNG. X*. SE WMt U'aafciaatoa ««.

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Taiepbone Catla: Editorial rooms (N)Business o«oe..

SATt'RDAY. FBHRUARY 1897.

TWELVL PAGES The Daily Average Sale of THE INDIANAPOLIS NEWS For the’past twelve months to Feb. i, .1897, was 36,707 Tbe circulation of THE HEWS in Indiana, exclusive of Indianamore tban tbe whole issue of any other Indiana daily, over 15,000 papers are delivered by carriers dally in 400 tributary towns.;, 4 " THE HEWS guarantees to advertisers that for tbe past ten its bona-fide daily circulabas exceeded, and tbat it now exceeds, tbe combined circulation of any other four Indiana dailies. . GETTim DESPERATE. ' The Cltjgena’ Street Railroad Company 1* evidently getting desperate, as it sees the end of ita long career of Insolence approaching. The letter signed by Pres-

m '

Which was printed In The

News of last night, and which has been widely distributed through the malls, and the unsigned circular found in the cars this morning, are as impudent as they are untrue. The assumption, or rather the direct statement, that three administrations of the city of Indianapolis have been working on. this street-car problem, not for tbe benefit of the people, but for the benefit of the City company, ts an Insult which will be Indignantly resented by every right-feeling man. The bill to which Mr. Mason objects was drawn at the request of the dty authorities and is supported by them. Yet Mr. Mason, in speaking of it,

l submit that this bill Is devised, not for the interest of the people of Indianapolis. but for tfre interest of the City Railway Company. Legislation In the interests of the people, as well as a matter Of common honesty, should take an entirety different direction. The Legislature might appoint a commission to Investigate the earnings and expenses of the street-railroad business 4n this city, and might Impose by a law fair and reasonable burdens upon the company for the benefit, qf the people. But this would not help ttM^City company. This same sneer at the good faith and honesty of our city government is found in the anonymous circular. We ask our people what they think of this language: Who Is demanding that the CltUens company be wrecked and destroyed in Abie manner? Certainly not the business ipen of Ipdlanapolis; certainly not the laboring men nor the people. We ask again for whose benefit la It proposed to wipe out the Cltlsens’ Street Railroad Company by legislation unless It be for ’ tho benefit of the City Railway Company? What becomes of the interests of tho people In this struggle between two private corporations? Il.Ii strange bow sealous the Cltlsens’ company ka* recently become for ’’the interests qf, the people" of Indianapolis. The bill is criticised because it doe* not provide that the Cltlsens’ company shall **«ve between the tracks, or reduce fare, „ pay a perecentage of gross receipts into tho city treasury. Surely »o man can bo deceived by such twaddle as th!.<. Four years ago. and again two years ago, introduced In the Legislature the company to do its share of Was fought bitterly, and. os is believed, corruptly by the The purpose of tbe pending to change or modify the eonto enforce it as originally as understood by both parties the past third of a century, have been very fooUeh to load e doubtful* provisions proposed i “» be glid to make dty, but it dellbthe fair, thing when r offered. The Citlxens' rriH-= ’ *,s* nap0 U, doe. confirm the streets In any time, at the

es the people

anonymous c'rcular Insist that the bill means confiscation of the property’ of the Citlaens* company In that it does not compel Its purchase by the successor of Urat company ’’The bill,” we are told, ‘•nowhere provide* that the new company rhall give bond with surety compelling It to buy the present property at the appraisement," and that though It provides for an appraisement. It "nowhere provides for the purchase of the property at Its appraised value, unless the successor company sees fit, in its generosity, to be satisfied with the price.” This throws us back on the bill. What Is Its language on this subject? After describing the method of appraisement, which Is not criticised seriously In either of the documents we are discussing, the bill

goes or:

And when the value is so ascertained. If •A prior contract has expired, and, If not expired, then upon such expiration, such new company shall, within the time to be fixed by such court, thereafter pay Such sum into tbe office of tbe clerk of said court, on payment of which such company shall be seised, and become the owner, free and unincumbered, of all the title to, and of the property so appropriated, -and shall proceed Immediately to take possession of and operate such railway system, under Us contract, if and when such term of such prior company is expired; and upon failure to do so, the common council of such city shall have the >ower by ordinance to revoke and coned such contract. I^ere, then, w* have a proceeding which laeiies In a Judgment against the new company, a Judgment which it must pay under penalty of having Its contract revoked. Truly this does not look like confiscation. And when Mr. Mason, or the anonymous writer who presumably .sptaks for him, says that “the bill nowhere provides for the purchase of the property at Its appraised value, unless the successor company sees fit. In Us generosity, to be satisflel with the price,” he deliberately misrepresents the bill. It says that the new company “shall” pay the price fixed, or forfeit Its contract if It does not. And u« it is under bond to the city for carrying out tne terms of the contract, It would seem that the bill Is sufficiently binding. But this is not tbe real objection of the Cltlxens’ company to the bill. It would object to any method of terminating Its occupancy of the streets, or of providing for the transfer of ita property to a successor. This Is made clear by the following language: What property ever brings- Us fair value at k forced sale By the courts? Sheriffs’ sales and receivers’aalek are notoriously sacrifice sales aiW briflg loss and ruin to those who ars forced to sub-

mit to them.

This means that any method of transferring the property of a street-car company to a successor to to be regarded

as

DBOjr

possession fdHiyer. Yet other cities have done just what*Yt is proposed to do In this case, When a franchise expires, the city granting it must beNionceded to haye the right to make tbe bss’t bargain It can for a Hew franchise and if tbe negotiations result in the dispossession of an old for a new company there must be a transfer of the property, unlesl, indeed, tbe old company prefers to take up its tracks. But the comparison of such a sale as that contemplated in the bill with receiver and sheriff sales is most disingenuous. The whole object of the court proceedings in the former case Is to get at the real value of the property for the purposes to which it Is adapted. The sal* Is not, in any proper sense, a forced one at all. If the property were put up-at auction under a decree compelling its sale to the highest bidder, then the sale would, indeed, be forced. But that is not the case. The court is authorised to call witnesses, to Investigate the whole eubject, and to fix a price which the new company must pay. The Impertinent suggestion that the Cltlsens’ company Is fighting for the interests of the citisens of Indianapolis may be passed by with the contempt which it deserves.

ot C. A. Bennett, w’ho put (30 into the Government Building and Loan Institution and was benevolently allowed to draw out HS.3&. And to-day we are able to give another case of the last-named institution. Thomas Walsh, of Anderson, paid in AO ~ $10 monthly for eight months. He asked to withdraw and got a voucher showing him to be entitled to $51.83! The thrifty association (of which, by the way, the active and interesting Mr. Bosson Is the highly-paid treasurer) had earned for Mr. Walsh 23 cents on his deposits, and had absorbed for the benefit of whom It d!d benefit $28.(0. There is business for you! Had Mr. Walsh put his money In a home~lnstltut!on In the same way, conducted on altogether honorable principles, he oould have withdrawn $83.02 Instead of the *51.88 which the Institution whose methods Mr. Bosson aggressively defends graciously gave him back. Thus the withdrawal robbery Is a most serious evil and the committee should deal with It in the most thorough manner. It is said that the committees will regulate the membership fee. The best thing to do with that is to cut It off altogether. There is no more reason why a man should pay a membership fee for depositing his money In one of these great building and lo^n concerns than why he should pay a fee for opening an account at a bank. Just what Is meant by the proposed contingent* fund, we do not understand. If a sum Is to be set apart from earnings, well and good; if a percentage of the capital is to go into the fund, then we have the expense fund in a different form. The proposed law will also give the auditor increased power of supervision. Nothing is said of any regulation of the premium. That will probably take care of itself through the force of competition. But one thing should be looked Into carefully, and that is the sort of business which Mr. Hackedorn says his concern is doing, namely, giving agents stock with several months’ dues credited as having been paid when nothing has been paid. Either that Is robbery of the shareholders, or It is a trick to cover up expenses. Let us have a law which will eliminate the “snap” element from the ^business; which will require common honesty, even of "prominent business men of known integrity and financial responsibility”; and which will insure plain speaking and plain dealing—not false promises and tricky by-laws — from all the associations. >

‘ ^ —- . - unfair, and the result Is that a comity onefr. jn possession ftoust remain'in

foFejjsr. whatsit

BUILDING AND LOAN REFORM. The building and loan committees are understood to have agreed on the main features of a reform measure soon to be introduced in the two Houses. It la promised that the reforms which we have been insisting upon as necessary will be carried out with greater or less thoroughness. Ih the first place, everybody is said to be agreed that the expense fund evil must be done away with, root and branch. This ts well. Already many of the associations that have foreseen the inevitable, have voluntarily aboLshed the expense fund, and have put their business on a purely business basis. The prohibition of the expense fund by law will surely discourage the starting of associations for the mere purpose of making salaries for the officers. The associations already In existence which were created and are now conducted largely for the same purpose, will have to adjust themselves to business principles or go to

the wall.

In the next place it is promised that the new bill will prohibit the withdrawal fee. We trust that this prohibition will be made absolutely clear and unequivocal. The building and loan association in this Btate has absorbed the function of the savings bank. Men and women in large numbers put their small savings into these institutions, with no thought of borrowing, but simply for the purpose ot having their savings in a secure place, and where they will be earning something. Every such depositor ought to have the right to draw out his full deposit at any time. Just as from a savings bank. There should be no encroachment on this sum for any reason. Moreover. the depositor should receive Interest at some moderate percentage after six months or a year. Of course it 1* proper that due notice of withdrawal should be required. Probably no serious objection would be raised if an association Is allowed to charge a member or depositor 23 cents for a pass-book, .(not a cents for each share, but a cents for the book, no matter how many shares) but that is such a petty imposition that we should think no association would care

to have it.

How serious the withdrawal robbery is now the instances we have recently cited clearly prove. There was the case of Mrs. Buchanan, of this dty, who was mulcted by "prominent business men of known tmegrity and financial responsibility," directors of the United States Building and Loan Institution, In the sum of $41.00 out of tbe $130 of her "hardearned savings” on which the said •'prominent.” etc., had promised her “handsome profits.” There was the case

A WOMANS PRISON. Senator Holler offers to give 180 acres of land near South Bend as a site for a woman’s prison. This offer does credit to Senator Holler, who is greatly Interested In prison reform. However, the Btate already has land near this city* which would answer every purpose, and as the woman’s prison and the reform school are under the same board of managers, it would be more economical and more convenient for the two Institutions to be near each other. The legislative committees that vjslted the woman’s prison the other day were deeply Impressed with the methods of control, the discipline, the material condition of the buildings and the whole management. It Would have been strange if they had not been Impressed, for In all these respects the Institution Is a model. They recognised the urgent need, also, of more room. The simplest and best way to get more room would be to build a separate prison. The board of managers ask for $00,900. But we believe they could provide for the prisoners they now have, and all they are likely to have for the next ten years, for something less than that. Half the money proposed for the wholly-unnecessary intermediate or reform prison for men would build a suitable woman's prison. Mrs. Walker, president of tbe board, intimated In her remarks last n^ght before the ways and means committee of the Hoqse and the finance committee of the Senate that the board could get on for the present with less than the full amount asked for. But surely the need of some change Is urgent, and we trust the Legislature will recognise It. In this connection we wish to say that the proposal to cut off the merely nominal salary now paid to the women of the board of managers strikes us as a rather petty performance. The women are devoting their time, strength and seal to the work in a way which should be recognized by tbe State w!th something more than thanks. These services are worth indefinitely more to the State than the few hundred dollars they receive. The State should not be niggardly. .

OUR CITY SCHOOL SYSTEM. We trust our readers did not fall to note that President Eliot, of Harvard College, urges the Massachusetts Legislature to model Boston’s school system on the Cleveland plan. That Legislature is considering some changes in the Boston system, and, among other things, has provided for a board of seven experts to be appointed by the mayor. President Eliot, in his address to the Legislature, which brought forward many of the points that have been urged by the friends of reform for our Indianapolis school system, summed up hte advocacy by saying that the system desired had been in most successful operation In the city of Cleveland, and that Cleveland was the only large city that he knew that

had advanced so far.

We ought to have such a system In our city school management The system that we have had "and Us adoption tried” has proved to be most faulty. Why. we even prerent the anomaly of a school election under the old, hurly-burly, wtgonhiring, ticket-peddling, personal pulling and hauling methods of election that prevailed before the adoption of the Australian ballot law! In the choice of our school commlasloiters we can not have the dignity and safeguards that we have in choosing justices o' me peace. We can not have the Australian ballot system. Our school system, as at present managed, is a personal matter In the Interest of cliques, without proper safeguards from the law from the time the commissioner is elected until the clique gets too weak to keep him in office. Our school body combines the three funcUons that every instinct of government has taught us to separate. It Is an Irresponsible body which levies its own taxes, spends the money and Is sole judge of the manner of expenditure. It is irresponsible in a double sense, for there la not even party responsibility

satisfactory doings no one can be held for punishment So far as politics go. Republicans may consort with Democrats, and Democrats with Republicans in the Interest of whatever clique may prove to be the common bond. Tbe only way In which our system has been successful Is that in the past the cliques have satisfied themselves with extracting the financial benefit from the situation, and have left Mr. Jones and Miss Cropsey pretty much alone to build up the educational system. Members of the Legislature should understand distinctly that a reputation for an efficient school system is a separate and distinct thing from a system wisely and honestly managed in the financial sense. The Cleveland system Is one which proposes to bring school management under the proper system of checks and balances, such as we use in all other of our public affairs. Our present system has proved to be unsatisfactory. It Is time to end it.

COLLEGE ORATORY. In Tbe News of Friday last was an article by Mr. Henry Lee Prescott, Instructor In English at the State University, on the subject of college oratory, which Is deserving of the most respectful consideration ot all who are In any way Interested in the educational work of the State. The young gentlemen and ladies who come up to Indianapolis every year to the oratorical contest, either as active participants or as interested auditors, have been treated with very great klndne9s _ a kindness, it may be admitted, which they deserve. But the performances themselves have never been properly criticised, so far as we can remember, until the publication of Mr. Prescott’s article. Now that one who Is so competent a critic, and at the same time so sympathetic an Observer, has spoken on the subject, it would be a pity if his words should fail to awaken appreciative interest. ... Mr. Prescott ts clearly right in saying that the orations with rare exceptions aie wholly without value. In almost every Instance the ambition of the speaker seems to lead him to strive for grandiloquence of expression rather than for simplicity, dearness and directness of thought. Great, swelling themes are chosen, not because the speaker can hope, in the brief time at his disposal, to say anything of importance or Interest about them, but because they afford him the best opportunity for so-cklled "oratorical effects.” The whole performance is conventional, artificial and lacking in sincerity from beginning to end. It Is very unusual when one ot these orations contains a glimmer of Independent or original thought. No one expects anything startling from these young men and womin. But surely, as Mr. Prescott says, it is not unreasonable to demand that college-bred men, who are presumed to know something about ordinary subjects, and who are trained to think and to express their thoughts In good English, shall give some slight evidence that their education has not been thrown away upon them. So he advises that they choose subjects about which they have some information; that they limit their discussion to one branch of that subject; and that they think more about what they are going to say than about how they are going to say it. AH of which Is most excellent. But It seems »o us that the advice does not go far enough. May It not be that this whole Idea of an oratorical contest Is pernicious In Its effect upon the minds of our college students? For many years grave doubt has existed as to the value even of college prizes awarded for excellence In study. The theory !* that they give a wrong motive to the student, and lead him to exert Himself, not because he enjoys study, but because he desires to win the prize. Upon this branch of the question it Is not necessary now tp say anything further than that If there is doubt about the Wisdom of such prizes, the doubt about the wisdom of oratorical contests is very grave indeed. It Is easy to adopt false standards of excellence and extremely difficult to get rid of them. Therefore, those who have charge of our colleges and universities should be careful about the ideals which they set up before those under their care. What is the effect of these oratorical contests liv this way? In the first place, they are a mere show. The excitement growing out of the unusual surroundings, the excessive stimulus always given by rivalry, and the Intense longing for victory, all contribute to the development of that apread-eagle and empty style to which Mr. Prescott so rightfully objects. Really, there can be no such thing as a contest in oratory in any proper sense. The aim of oratory, if it be true oratory, la not to win a prize, but to convince a mind or to promv.e a cause. There could have been no such thing as an oratorical contest between Webster and Hayne. In the nature of the case, these college shows must be artificial. Necessarily, they create an artificial and bombastic style. And this brings us to a brief consideration of the eubject of oratory Itself. No man, no matter how splendid his diction or dramatic and graceful his manner, can be an orator who has not something to say. To be sure we have our “spouters” and “word-painters,” and we have come to look upon them as orators. So the word has a bad sense. It ought not to have a bad sense. Demosthenes, Pericles, Cicero, Cato, Boesuet. Massillon, Mira beau, Burke. Pitt, Fox, Macaulay, Webster, Calhoun, Clay, Bishop Simpson and Bishop Brooks — tnese men were orators, and they were orators because they were thinkers. Their language, which was often severly plain, grew directly out of their thought, each word seeming to be the inevitable word for which no other could be substituted. No other oratory than this can be anything else than pernicious. It was of the bastard' type that Prince Bismarck was thinking when he said: The gift of eloquence has done a great deal of mischief in parliamentary life. Oratory Is only a waste of time. Eloquent speakers are like a good many gentlemen with small feet, who always wear shoes too small for them, and stick out their feet to be looked at. This is the sober judgment of one of the greatest statesmen of the century, the man who has probably had more influence on the political life of h fas'day than any other man in the world. It Is a aound judgment. Oratory can not be made to order. It does not consist in stringing ogetiler a number of big and fine-sounding

reference to the subject. One con not write a true oration merely for the sake of winning a prise. Such s production must grow out of a great occasion acting upon an earnest mind and a sympathetic soul. Thus an oratorical contest Is, from a sane point of view, an impassibility. While such an Institution exists, we may continue to look for the same sort of performances which we have always had and which Mr. Prescott criticises. Every prize won will be anything but a blessing to the winner, and the effect of each contest will be to foster the so-called oratorical style—a style from which one may well pray to be delivered.

General Weyler is going to construct a new trocha. He is simply determined to keep the Insurgents out of Havana.

The prating of the Hon. Augustus L. Mason about the willingness of h!a company to lower fares ought to deceive no one. His company has never Intimated any willingness to lower fares except to the possible extent of selling six tickets for 25 cents without right of transfer.

This Legislature ought not to fail to do something to set the State forward In the way of adopting machine voting. That is the way of Improvement. Voting by machine is just as certain to come as a few years ago the Australian ballot system was certain to come. Any one who fought through those times for that measure of reform will remember how year after year its advocacy seemed to fall on deaf ears, and then all at once, comparatively, the system was adopted In State after State, until now there Is hardly a State in the Union without It. The reason was plain. The Australian system was the only system that commended itself for fairness and honesty. Now in the same sort of way, machine voting commends itself as errorless, exact to a degree not possible by any other method, and with the perfecting of the. machinery it is certain to obme. The Legislaturse ought not to fall to provide a way that it may come. It is coming already In other States. Indiana should not be behind.

The Pennsylvania grange has taken up the idea of a bounty for farm products. Let’s build a wall around ourselves, prey upon each other, afid become happy and rich!

A bill has been introduced In the Kansas Legislature to stop profanity. The law might not be so oppressive m some States, but in Kansas v/ith its Populistic legislation, the temptatlop to relieve your Indignation in emphatic remarks, occasionally, must be very great.

“It is not our own interest we seek, but think what will become of Indianapolis If we take up our tracks”! - The Cltlxens’ Street Railroad Company.

The people who hung on to the straps In the trailerless motor cars, while they read the Cltlxens’ company's appeal didn’t seem to warm to It very enthusiastically. Every one should bear this is mind. The people of Indianapolis do not care a fig what company conducts the street-car business of this city. What they do care for and what they propose to insist on having, Is good service and a fair return to the city for the immensely valuable privileges It grants. All the people want is fair rental for the use of the streets, whoever the tenant may be. All the lying statements of the present Insolent corporation should not obscure that one simple and right demand.

Two additional clerks were added to the copying force by the House yesterday. Their duties, probably, will be to fill the Ink bottles and clean the pens. The massacres in the Island of. Crete call for another promise from the Sultan.

The solicitude of the Cltlxens’ Railway Company lest the people of Indianapolis should be Imposed on by the New bill ts one of the most touching things In contemporaneous history. It Is only equaled by the ways that are dark and the tricks that are vain which this company has been employing to retain its grip on the throat of Indianapolis.

If the gutters had been cleared so tbe melting snow could have run off, instead of forming pools to freeze at night, and thaw again In the day time, there would be much less slush in the streets.

Mr. Hanna will get in somewhere, even if there has to be a revision of the slate.

Chicago's street railways are said to be watered to the extent of $80,000,000. And yet people will sometimes object to the way corporations do business! One would think from the Ingenuous plea of the Hon. Augustus L. Mason that the Citizens’ company is Just longing and boning for a chance to pave and to lower the fares. Well, no one Is preventing It from doing these things. Really tbe zeal of this company for the dear people's Interest is touching—when the Legislature is In session and legislation Is pending which seeks to compel It to live up to Rs agreement. It will be just as hard to make Cuba accept those "reforms” as' it would be to put down the rebellion outright. Verity, it would seam that now and then Lieutenant-Governor Haggard gets th| notion that he is the majority of the Senate. He Is a mighty important man, to be sure, but there are others. There are too many "riders” to permit the minority report on the street-car bill to meet with popular approval.

back of K. In the case of shady or un- words, which may or not have any

My Hnshund’s Pipe. When lights are Ut sad evening blazes dance. And daytime cares forgotten for the nonce. My husband lights his pipe. No protear do I make of “curtains” rare. Or that old plaint, "tobacco In the hair.” My husband’s soul is ripe And mellow as a pippin that has hung. Sun-kissed, where happy honeybees have sung Wbent-’er he lights his pipe. With slippered feet and home-made dressing-

gown

He strides along; ofttlmes a smile s frown. Perchance may cross his face. His thoughts on things of moment sometime turning. He nothing says, but with his pipe arburning Keeps up bis measured pace Through hall and dining-room and library And back again, where he can smile at me Whene’er be lights his pipe. Sometimes he whiffs and sings “Lead, Kindly Light.” Fine taste has he—he wants no ballads trite. No Bow ry mlrutrelay. He clears his throat and sings another verse.

And then calls oat to me in accents terse.

“That's pretty goad for me.

And then mayhap he catches me a-soniling

Over that way he has of care beguiling - Whene'er he lights his pipe.

Sometimes he looks through half-closed lids at

me

Until l lay my eewing down, while he

Blows the blue smoke about.

And on the arm of hU great chair I sit And in his hand my own I gently knit. ' And then old Time we flout And live again in young love’s paradise. Silent witn joy, until he sudden cries,

“By Jove, my pipe is out.”

mesrseh.iu-m' and oh. happy man I

h. happy meerschaum! and oh. happy man! Tie soother and the soothed. I envy you: For tho’ I am that woman called the “new, et naught in my horizon do I scan That promises the comfort and the cheer

Such as he finds when twilight rentes drear

And husband lights his pipe. —Sarah S. Pratt la Judge.

tea ga

make his mean mg plain.

Coaifort.

Be not disheartened, brother.

Though weary the task you try: Btreogth will come with the tolling—

You will finish It by and by.

Then eweet in your ear at sunset. When the day’s long course is run. Will sound tbe voice of the Master. ’■ And Hts word of praise. “Well done!’*

Be not disheartened, brother.

Though you teee your precious things— Though tbe gold you gained so slowly

Fly as on swifter! wings.

There are better than earthly riche*.

And loss la sometimes gain; Wait far the Lord’s good hour.

When he’11 i

Be not disheartened, brother.

In the dark and lonesome day, When the dearest and the truest From your arms is caught aWay. The earth may be bare and allent.

But heaven 1* Just before;

And your path lead# up to the splendor

And tbe love in Ita open door.

Be not disheartened, brother. However you may fare;

For here ’tie the pilgrim’r portion. But the tong and feat* are there. There in the dear Lord’s presence.

There in the halls of home.

You will one day hear Him call you.

And cry with Joy, “I come!” Be not disheartened, brother. For every step of the road

Is un<‘

Who

He cares And how m) Look up, and never doubt Him— His promise? all are true. _ -Margaret E. Songster In Congregationalist “ SCRAPS. ”

r every step of the road nder the eye of the Father,

to measures the weight of the load.

Of the six voters of Mariba, Ky., three are Democrats and three RepubHcans. The taxable wealth of this colored population of the United States la over $300,• 000,000. Sam Jones says that Boston's slums are vastly cleaner than any be hat visited elsewhere. The Massachusetts game commission 1* ra'alng and distributing Mongolian pheasants. A vocal solo by a lady eighty-nine years of age was a feature of a recent social at Chester, N. H. A HiHsrtoro (N. H.) young lady has completed a piece of fancy work in which, ty actual count, there were 310,835 stitches. There are now seven oatl-trust bills before the Legislature of Massachusetts, one in the Senate and six in the House. The gold (production of the United States was greatest in 1863. when .t aggregated $66,000,000. The greatest silver year was 1882. During the past session 410,500 letters were posted at the House of Commons, which gives an average of over 000 per member. The average daily attendance of children In the public schools Is highest In Pennsylvania, being 779,000, while In New York it is 75?,000. A business firm In Stanford, Ky., always opens the day’s business with prayer—propr.eiors, clerks, messengers and porters all kneeling together. The most dangerous waters In the world for the passage of ships He off the east coast of England, Cape Ushant, In France, and Cape Flnizterre, In Spain. "Everybody says my daughter got her beauty from me. What do you say to that?” “That it was unkind of her to take It from you.”—‘Fllegende Blatter. Hubby—Yes, dear, you look nice In that dress; but It cost me a heap of money Wife—Freddie, dear, what do I care for money when It Is a question of pleasing yout-London Tit-Bits. Winemakers in Sonoma county, California, sold 343,500 gallons of wine to the Winemakers’ Corporation of Ban Francisco in one day recently, at a cona.derable advance over last year’s prices. Calais, Me, has been visited by some birds, the names of which local ornithologists appear not to have determined. The birds are about the else of sparrows, but the sparrows don’t like them and kill them. A member of the Common Council of New Orleans wants to solve one question of street-car traffic by making passengers enter at the rear and leave by the front door. He thinks his plan would lessen the dangers to human P.fe. . A few days ago Mrs. J. H. Brown, of Haynesvllle,, Me., ripped open a needle cushion which was filled with bran, and had been In use fifteen years. On emptying out the contents she found 340 needles, all but twenty-eight being good ones. A French naval engineer, D’Humy, has devised a method of converting petroleum tntd a hard, fibrous, solid compound, so that it may be used for fuel more conveniently and can not escape if the tank whtch holds It is punctured by a cannon shot. In Austria the man who loses both his hands In an accident can claim the whole of his life Insurance money, on the ground that he has lost the means of maintaining h mself. Loss of the right hand reduces the claim from 70 to 80 per cent, of the total. A Scotch clergyman In Melbourne, Australia, they say, has arrayed his male choristers in Highland dreas, while the women are attired in the costumes of the “Lady of the Lake." The hymns are sung to the strains of the bagpipe, and the church is crowded. The manufacture or artificial honey has reached such huge proportions that much attention is being given to Its analysis. The Germans suggest the use of acetone, baryta, iodine and ethyl alcohol In very satisfactory tests for honey* made from, or adulterated with, starch sirup, commercial dextrine, molasses or cone sugar. The efficiency of the postal service, not only In the United States, but of the whole world, was exemplified recently In a funny way.. A gentleman living in New York addressed a letter to “Mark Twain. God Knowe Where.” and the epistle was In due time delivered to the famous humorist at his lodg.ngs in London.—New York Tribune. Prince Alexander Imeretlnskjr, the newly-appo«nted governor-general at Warsaw, la the son of the last Independent prince of the Caucasus, and was formerly regarded os the Russian candidate for the Bulgarian throne. He took a distinguished part In suppressing the Polish rebellion of 1863, and in the Russo-Turkish war of 1877. Tbe unimaginative man had picked up a dialect story. Turning Its pages, he remarked: “This author has Just begun to follow a custom which, I understand, has become quite common.” “What is that?” “He composes with a typewriter. I can tell by the confused way In which tbe letters jumble together every now and then. ”—Washington Star.. Aunt—What! sitting up writing at this hour? Niece—Yes, auntie; it’s only a little notf to Harry. Aunt—Why, Harry left you only five minutes ago. NieceYes; but there is something I forgot to ask him, and It’s very important. AuntYes? Niece—I asked him If he loved me, and he said “Yes,” but I forgot to ask him if he would love me always.—Answers. • So many Oriental rugs are made In this country that representatives of the Industry recently had a hearing before Congress to call attention to the prevalent practice of undervaluing Imported ruga at the custom-houses and to ask for * higher duty. Several Chicago firms are not only making Oriental rugs right along, but 'they are also wi^ng out time as well ae space. "Do you make

work. "Oh. yes” he aaid, showing his ivories still further; “dees rug. when he finished, la two hundret year olt."—Chicago Timea-Herald. A specialist in nervous diseases says: “Did you ever hear of a person affl.cted with the 'dropsr No? WelCit'a a most remarkable complaint. Of course. It has its technical name, but It is commonly known as the ‘drops.’ The patient's nerves may be all right n every other respect, but should he be carrying a bundle

drop 1

could no more help It than he could fly. Cases of this kind are very rare In the Kaat, but throughout the West there U someth.ng in the dlmatlc conditions which make* the disease comparatively

cenunon."—Philadelphia Record.

There was a funny incident at the session of the Board of Aldermen Tuesday afternoon. Two visitors were seated just outside the rail who looked aa If they m ght be English tourists. One wore eyeglasses. While a debate was going on the young man with eye-glasses pulled out a pocket mirror and surveyed himself. The reflection evidently did not please him, for he said something in a low tone to his 'omponlon. The latter promptly drew a comb from his pocket and with much exactness parted the other’s hair In the middle. Then he arranged two cunning little curls on the side. The proceedings had been watched with some interest, but the young man returned the comb to his poexet os If It were an everyday occurrence

a public fashion.—

to dross hair In such

New York World.

m--.

■A

. i.

Brass and Iron bedsteads Wm. L. Elder.

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ESTABLISHED iSgj. AGENTS FOR BUTTERICK PATTERNS.

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A STUDY OF IBSEN-

Kpriscr or a cm- park.

London Spectator. That some of Ibsen’s {days are In a high degree interesting and exciting, ft Is Impossible tp doubt. We may hat* their morbid frenxy, we may despise their absence of all heroic feeling, we may be disgusted by their squalid and unholy pessimism, and we may even feel a certain sense of contempt for the "dance of sundry sorts df mod men” which revolves In their scenes and arts, but we can not defy the fascination that tfrey occasionally exert In a sense they are Intolerable, but In another sense some of them are exceedingly attractive. Whence comes this attraction? It comes from two facts. In the first place, Ibsen la a great story-teller under dramatic forms. Next, he la keenly interested hi the great problems of life—not interested, it may be, In try«ng to solve them or even hi trying to understand them, but In putting them before us In a striking form—m tickling our fancies, that Is, with all the thoughts that crowd around those problems. Milton makes the devils in his hell debate of “fafe and free will in wandering mazes lost.” Doubtless they found the discussion exceedingly fascinating, and so do men and women of all sorts and kinds, good, bad and Indifferent. Ibsen knows this fact, and rightly makes fuU use of K. But this, 15, may be s&ld, is elementary. All tragic—nay, all serious dramatic—writers find their material In the problems of existence. The cleverness of Ibsen consists in being at the same time a most accomplished story-teller. He first construct* for us a most thrilling and exciting tale, and then, as It were, Impregnates the whole with allusions and suggestions that ra*se the great problems of which we speak. Yet the story is never lost In, or overloaded by, the problems, but is quite capable of standing alone. A man of an earlier generation almost problem-blind—O fortunate SenexI— might read an Ibsen play, miss all the Inner meanings, and yet be delighted. The plays are thus like a piece of silk which, looked at In one way, seems a plain blue. Looked at in another, you eee that It Is shot through with crimson. To Obtain this result Ibsen often ha* recourse to symbolism. If the suggestion of the great problem is nbt to be obtained in sufficient quantities by other means, It to secured by a system of symbolical action*, characters and speeches. But this does not. exhaust the artifices by means of wffifch Ibsen fascinates us. If hto plays a/e shot through with problems, they are sometimes shot through wnh poetry as well. Phrases such as the "harps In the air” of tho "Master Builder,” or the "gold and the green fbrests’’ of “UfUe Eyolf,” make the surroundings of the dreary and demented inhabitants ot suburban Norway glow with ihe authentic fire of the Edda. Unless it be Shakespeare himself, there Is no port who can bo suddenly and so inevltabiy—nay, even ao irrelevantly—call down Apollo’s fire from heaven. Most poets can not work the spell unless they take us into the woods and fields, or place us among heroic souls. Ibsen can filch the fire and set It blazing In the patent Iron stove of some m.ddle-class gentleman ln*a sorry modern villa. Wc have said enough to explain Ibien’e occasional power of fascinating and attracting. Whence comes the equally potent power of repulsion which he exercises? Why does he depress us and make us angry and disgusted even while he interests us so keenly? Why do we rise even from his ablest days mfith the feeling that we have seen or read a story of despicable people in a despicable world, told by an art which, in spite of Its subtlety and cleverness. Is hardly less despicable? Why, in a word, does he make us feel, .as long as we are under the spell, that man Is a shameful animal, the world a madhouse or worse, and all human endeavor but the painful and Ineffectual desire of a parasitical Insect to feed a little better and He a little snugger or scramble about a little more wildly and more freely before it returns to the offal from which It sprung? A pedantic disciple of Aristotle would tell us it was -because Ibsen raises, and raises violently, the emotions of pity and terror without contriving to satisfy them. Hence these emotions tear and rend us till exhausted we are bettayed Into the hell of pessimism. Perhaps the pedant would be right. Modern leaders will not, however, be satisfied with that answer. In our opinion Ibsen's plays are so intolerable because they are human)} deformed. They entirely leave out some of the greatest factors in existence. Practically the serse of duty is unknown to them. Ihe men and women who command our attention act from love, from bate, from pity, from the wit. of destiny, from hereditary Impulses, from the desire to feel and live more keenly, never from the aense of duty. Poor, half-witted Mrs. Solneas says that It is her simple duty to buy a supply of clothes for the female cuckoo who has entered her house, but of that sense of duty which in life stands, God bo thanked, above creeds and forms, and moves even strong and selfish and evil men, we hear nothing. An a motive force lb the world, it is Ignored. Faith, hope and charity are equally left outside. They have clearly no place In the universe as reflected In Ibsen’s plays. Watery and perverse reflections of them no doubt sometimes cross the stage, but only for an Instant. Of faith that the world, in spite of appearances. Is not an ant-heap, and that what is right and true must win at lost, there la none. Hope is a contradiction in terms in a realm peopled by Solness, Hedda Gabler, Rebecca West, or the Borkman family. Charity, the love which Is not inspired by instincts such as those of parentage —Instincts which, however noble in themselves, are still only instlncts-is without meaning for old people whost first desire Is to enthral the young, and for young people whost determination Is at all hazards to live their own lives. What have we as a substitute for these great forces, and for the sense of duty? Nothing but “headlong fate.” Destiny, destiny, and again destiny, is Ibsen’s final word. Men and women are all immersed In a swift river, which ts hurrying them to the waterfall beyond whose edge no eye can pierce. They play. It Is true, some fantastic antics as they struggle In the water and seem to mean much by their struggles: but In reality they are only obeying the eddies in the stream. Some st>lash In one direction and some in anot&r? Sit for each and all there is but one end. -11 ■■ 1 0 1 Wealth of This Coaatry. It is estimated that the present Wealth ot the United States exceeds the wealth of the whole world at any period prior to the middle of the eighteenth century.

v . New York Son.

A man who lives up town, on the East Side, in the neighborhood of the East River Park said to a reporter recently: “The best Illustration I know of the effect of changed surroundings in changing the character of people ts In my own neighborhood. I have lived In my present house for many ypars. There grew up all around me a great tenement district. The people who Inhabited the houses were of a character that We describe as typical tenement dwellers. The greater number of them Mere brawlers. They frequented the saloons In the neighborhood. AfKt passed the nlghu In carousing sndidlsturblng the peace of tbe

home at lt!H$ pllli

If Ives out of bed and beat thesB. The women were not much better than the men. 'and the children wore dirty and Ill-smelling. It became a most undesirable place to live In, and many times I was determined to tftove. I don t know

why I didn’t, but 1 do know that T am glad I dldnfe. ■ ■■

•* A

A few years ago the • Jity acquired possession of about twelve and a half acres of land between Bast Eightyfourth streen East End avenue and the river, and turned It into a park, Increaeing Its natural beputy in much the same way as the beauty of Morntngslde Park on the West Side has been Improved. It Is hardly exaggerating to say that you could see the Improvement from day to day. The more money the city spent

upon the park*. ao9 ‘

became, the gre

the

Meed . fully lacking betore. The houses were fixed up; tbe dack, halls that had been filthy were kept clean. The mon gradually stopped patronising the saloons to

the more beautiful It

ame. the greater tho Improvement In people. Almost tne first thing noli was cleanliness, that bad been woey lacking betore. The houses were d up; the dark, halls that had been iy were kept clean. The man gradually stopped patronising the saloons to excess. In the warm weather. Instead of going to the saloons, they preferred to sit out in the park with their families

and smoke.

"They went to bed at roaannable hours, and from brawlers they grew Into industrious citizens and desirable neighbors. The women took care of themselves and

tho children.”

V -

Mrs. Cleveland's Last Reception. Washington Letter Chicago Record. Mrs. eievrland gave her last oard re-

ception recently, which was attended by about 1,800 led'.es. many of whom were not Invited. With the impertinent aksursnee that 'a regularly displayed py women who viat Washington, Several hundred crowded past the ushers and made themselves at home In the reeideno? of their Presldeftt. At the sttne time thOre was a fumble by the clerk who handled the Invitations. which caused a great 'deal of dlsappo ntment and heartburning, and will make many% explanation* necessary. When Colonel Lament was

rivatc secretary such tkftgs never ppened, but it seems Impossible

private secretary auch tta.rtg* happened, but it seems frn

for Thurber to do anything* right, and yesterday’s exp riencs shows how

n wsAary i• »#. *mi#**

Pres‘dent

!t U that the wife of the

to arrange. The wives of several Senators, Representatives, army and navy officers. members of tbe diplomatic corps and others socially promnent in Washington reeMved no invitations to‘the re-

tainments and call there regularly. It is probable that the clerks who addressed the envelop.-s lost a sheet or else skipped a page or two of Mrs. Cleveland’a list.

The Brysaite of Germany.

The Prussian “Junker”

LndJord .H 1 l* ysu*lly

Harper’s Weekly.

an "

the Bryanite of (Jermany. He

In debt, find when he can not find money for his needs he begs the governtrtrtit to paw some law which shall favor him at the expense of all h.a fellows. 'He 1* willing to see all the Industrial forces ot Germany criptled if ha can tout make something out ot it for himself; and now tbat this party has become eo strong at the court of Berlin, respectable L.ber*to In the German ParHamou are beginning to raise ominoas questions, auch as, for Instance; “How long la it safe for us to Bnbmlt to the domination of these man’’ How long can we tolerate a govmnperfc which nulllfte* the spirit of the constitution and builds up a privileged class, living at tho expense of those who pay

the taxre aJMl fight in the ranks?”

— ■* q~"T "**-!- An Impresslonlatg / Pittsburg Dispatch.

Wonnat, the artist, sitting next to M. Mospero at a great dinner one night, ss.d

to him:

’’Maepero, you who are so ijeanrt$;htfd. tell me how doe* M—. away down there at the foot of the table, appear tt> you?" "Weil,” said M. Maspero, *T see a white spot, which I know is hts shirt front, and a flesh-colored spot, which I ki ow s We face." , «, “Ah!” cried Ronnat, “how I wish my pur Us could see things In that way!”

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If your hlfod !■ cloggtd with poisons

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