Democratic Sentinel, Volume 17, Number 41, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 27 October 1893 — Page 5

“DEAR WORKINGMAN”

THE PROTECTION TO WHICH HE IS ENTITLED. A Writer Demonstrates Mathematically the Absurdity of the Elea that Protection Is for the «Dear Workingman"— The Campaign in Ohio. Does He Get It ? Mr. Walter Sanders, of Montclair, N. J., has been doing s< me figuring to learn the actual percentage of protection to which our protected workingmen are entitled, on the claim of the manufacturers that it is all for “the dear workingman. ” The problem is a simple one, and he has demonstrated mathematically the absurdity of this protectionist plea. Following is his interesting letter in the New York Post of Oct. 4: Sib: £f there were not so much humbug about It, the tender solicitude of protected industries on behalf ot their dear workingmen as expressed recently before the Ways and Means Committee would be quite pathetic. I do not suppose one in a thousand has ever considered what amount of protection is given to these various industries for the protection of labor, so I have drawn up a few tables, and I wish every workingman could read them and judge for himself whether he has been fooled long enough. Not only have the American manufacturers the duties in their favor, but also the various other expenses incident to importing, such as commissions, freight, insurance, etc. The i elation these items bear to the cost value of course varies with the character of the goods, being on coarse, bulky goods 16 to 20 per cent., ranging down to from to 10 per cent, on finer, more compact articles. It is a very conservative estimate to put the average at 10 per cent., and I will show how it works out. The amount of protection to labor that the manufacturer gets under certain rates of duty and expenses on the foreign articles depends upon the relative value between the material consumed, together with the incidental expenses of manufacturing and the labor expended in the production of said article. I will work out one example in detail and give the result of soma others. Take an article which Is made up of half materials and incidentals and half labor and subject to duty of 60 per cent., and it works out in this way upon MOO worth of foreign goods: Foreign cost material and incidentals.. .too Foreign cost labor M sloo Duty 60 per cent 60 Expenses, commission, freight, insurance, etc 1° $l6O Now the American manufacturer expends *6O in material and incidentals, and he has left *llO which he can (but does he?) pay to his workingmen as against the foreigner’s labor cost of 660; or. in other words, his labor is protected to the extent of 120 per cent, over the foreign labor. The variations of duty are so great under the McKinley bill that it would be an endless task to catalogue them all, but a few will suffice, and as the rates exceed 100 per cent, on many articles, the calculations could be carried much further towards showing how greatly favored the American manufacturers are. The following calculations are made at various rates of duty and with 10 per cent, added for expenses, and upon goods which comprise different relative values ot labor and material, etc.: PBOTBCTION THE AMEBICAN MANUFACTUBEB HAS OVEB THE FOBBIOK LABOR. Goods composed ot _ Duty- and and . and Si material. 14 material, % material. per ct. per ct. per ct. per ct. 86 180 90 60 60 •-« 120 80 76 3*o 170 110% ItO 4*o 223 I*o%

These calculations are made upon the supposition of the actual material costing alike in both places, and will in the main hold good. In the immense list of articles of every-day use there are very few where the labor is more than 60 per cent, of the total cost, so that in actual experience the higher schedules of protection prevail, but here, as in other features, the so-called protective policy is fallacious because in those very articles where more labor is expended the less piotection there is to labor, and on the contrary the less labor the more protection in corresponding ratio, all ot which goes to prove that this care for. the workmen te a magnificent hnmbug. the manufacturers appreciating that not upon any other ground could they make their claims credible or acceptable for a moment. If they were to ask outright for themselves for that which they now get under the guise of pure philanthropy, how quickly the whole protective fabric would go to pieces. One could go on with many Interesting deductions from the study of these figures, but I will only refer to one fact which has come under mv experience, viz., the very great ease with which the average American manufacturer switches off in regard to his capacity to manufacture according to the requirements of the moment. To-day he is interested in the export business, and his song is the familiar strain ot wonderfully adapted labor saving machinery, super-intelligent workpeople, improved methods, etc., which enable him to turn out many times the goods in a given time as the European maker, and with less force of men, so he can successfully compete against all creation, a great deal of which I believe to be absolutely true. To-morrow he will be heard before the Ways and Means Committee stating with equal fervor that he cannot stand up despite all his advantages, against the pauper labor of Europe, and insisting that in order to keep his factory going he must have 6> to 100 per cent, bonus to distrioute among his workmen, and fortelllng dreadtul disaster if he does not get it. A vicious policy such as I believe this to be always requires great versatility and ingenuity on the part of its advocates to support it, and I believe the intelligent portion of the people ot the United States are beginning to understand it and will condemn it; and I have faith enough in the American capability to believe that without governmental protection our manufacturers can hold their own in a free competition with anyone, and that they will in the end win in spite ot pauper labor or anything else; but it looks to me as though at the present they were exercising their brains to get as mnch the start of others as possible by outside assist noe, and br gging when it suits their purpose that they can come out ahead.

McKinley Couldn't Walt. The Republican campaign in Ohio was to have begun at Akron on Sept. 12, but Gov. McKinley couldn't wait. He began it at South Salem on Sept. 5, not far from Chillicothe, the home of the Hon. Lawrence Talbott Neal. Fifteen hundred people from Chillicothe came to hear Gov. McKinley, presumably for the sake of enjoying better the smashing of his arguments which Mr. Neal win do when the Democratic canvass begins at Newark in a few days. Gov. McKin’ey spoke in his usual tariff-shedule manner, attributing all prosperity to protection and all adversity to the Democrats. He read from divers English newspapers, which, with a soundness of information uncommon to English newspapers discussing American politics, exulted over Mr. Cleveland's election as over the death of protection; and then he read what is much more pertinent and important, a letter written by the Hon. Lawrence Talbott Neal last fall. “We stand,” wrote Mr. Neal, “unalterably committed to the overthrow of McKinleyism in its every shape and form.”

That is where the Democratic party stood last fall and where it stands today. The only difference between the situation then and the situation now is that then the Democracy was asking the people to authorize the destruction of protection; now, the authorization having been given, the Democracy is beginning the work, which will not be completed until there is no trace of protection in the statute books of the United States. Mr. Neal and the Democratic party of Ohio and of the United States are unalterably committed to the overthrow of McKinleyism, and still mean to overthrow it; and they have the power to do so. Governor McKinley will find that Mr. Neal and the Ohio Democracy will meet him directly and without evasion. The Ohio election is to decide whether Ohio is for or against the destruction of McKinleyism.' Pulverize protection! Vindicate the Constitution!—New York Sun.

Equitable Distribution Wanted. It is useless for any intelligent man to try and deny that American manufacturers, under ths fostering care of a protective tariff, have made an enormous lit of money, There is no desire on the

part of the general public to curtail' these profits to a ruinous extent; whz is wanted is a more equitable distribution, for the benefit of wage-workers and consumers, and. when this point is reached, the meddlesome occupation of the tariff-tinker will cease. He will be completely disarmed, and manufacturing business will no longer be at the mercy of conscienceless demagogues. Upon this point all intelligent friends of protection ought to be able to agree, and now is the time for coming to a thorough understanding and permanent conclusion to this effect. —Philadelpnia Telegraph (Rep.). Some Economic Truths. Our manufacturers, especially those well shielded by tariff walls, form trusts which exact the highest possible price from the American consumer, while they continue to sell their goods at far lower prices to unprotected foreigners. This is true in regard to agricultural implements, cartridges, sewing machines, type-writers, saws, axes, and many other kinds of hardware and tools. It is plain that in such cases the tariff becomes what the New York Tribune calls “an instrument of extortion. ” The American Economist, the chief priest of high protection which swallows its Bible whole, finds sophistry thin enough to justify even this high-handed proceeding of the tariff-fondled trusts. It has a column entitled “Tariff Quiz,” in which it expounds the great economic principles underlying McKinleyism. We extract the following clear and lucid explanation of this iniquitous tariff phenomena from its issue of Sept. 29: “PROTECTION AND FOREIGN MARKETS.

“No. 4. —If you manufacture goods in this country and send them abroad and undersell foreign manufactures in foreign markets, what good, in such cases, does Protection do?—T. S. Owen, Correspondent American Protective Tariff League, Lebanon, Ohio, September 8, 1893. “It has been claimed by the party of Free Trade that Protection prevents American manufacturers from shipping American goods to foreign countries and completing with foreign manufacturers in foreign markets, but this is only theory, as our statistics of export well show. Protection does increase the price of goods, .which is checked by domestic competition, but the object of Protection is to enable our wage earners to find a good and constant employment at wages better than the average rate paid for foreign labor. Protection ‘in such cases’ as our correspondent refers to, enables us no Jonly to keep the foreign goods out of our own markets, but also enables us to enter the foreign markets and there compete with foreign goods, while at the same time affording more work for our wage earners at better rates of wages than are paid to the foreign laborers. Protection enables more industries, thus creating more demand for the products of each and enabling factories to run on full time, which cheapens the cost of product. ”

Any sample wayfaring man who believes in Protection (and such are usually simple enough to be caught on tin hooks without bait) ought surely to feel secure in his position after reading and studying this explanation. Suppose he analyzes it to extract from it as many simple truths as is possible: Protection does increase the price of goods. It also cheapens the cost of the product. It increases prices that wages may be higher. It cheapens cost to “enable more industries. ” It keeps foreign goods out of our markets. It also enables us to enter foreign markets and there compete with foreign goods. COROLLARIES TO ABOVE ARE: Protection increases prices at home to raise wages, but higher wages causes cheaper cost of production and thus it enables us to sell cheap in foreign markets. This cheapness causes more demand for our products and enables factories to run on full time. Therefore, Protection not only protects our dear labor from the cheap labor of Europe, by preventing our markets from being inundated with cheap foreign goods, but It enables dear-labor goods to undersell cheap-labor goods in their own markets. In time then, Protection will deprive foreigners of both our and their markets and leave them with nothing to do but to pay our tariff taxes and to consume our protection goods. Verily protection of the McKinley-tax-the-foreigner-brand is the greatest economic discovery on record. It will not only up-build the industries of the nation that adopts it and bring high wages, prosperity, exemption from taxation and good luck to all that abide therein, but it will strike terror into foreign industries and enemies and, at last, wipe them from off the face of the earth. O, thcu great and mighty McKinley, who hast discovered this law of the economic universe whose application brings peace and good will to all—except these unfortunates not under its protecting wings—to thee will we sing songs of praise forever and ever. B. W. H.

'fhe Paradoxes of Protection. Our protectionist friends say, put a high enough tariff on a thing, and instead of an increase of price of the corresponding thing made in this country resulting, as people ignorantly think, the price begins to go down for some mysterious reason; at the same time, the wages of the men engaged in its manufacture begin mysteriously to go up. And with lower prices for the product and higher wages for labor, the prosperity of the masters grows greater! It really does seem too good to be true, and we suspect it is.—lndianapolis News.

The McKinley Theory. The Minneapolis Tribune complaint because the builder* of that State are using an Ohio sandstone. As the Ohio sandstone is cheaper than the Minnesota article the difficulty might be overcome, did not the Constitution stand in the way, by a good stiff tariff on the product of Ohio. According to the McKinley theory the Minnesota people would not only be protected by this plan but the Ohio people would be compelled to pay their sandstone tax. —New York World.

The Largest Gold Nugget.

The largest nugget of gold ever found was dug up at the mines of Ballarat, Australia. The proprietors of a “hole” had gone away to lunch, leaving a hired man digging with a pick-ax. Suddenly he stiuck something. The workman dug around it to tee what it wai and then he fainted. Presently the owners returned and, seeing the man lying in the hole, they thought he was dead. One of them jumped in, turned him over to see what was the matter with him, and then he fainted also. Both of them were dragged out, and immediately digging wai wildly begun for the nugget, which lay partly exposed. The mass was so great that at first they supposed that they had come upon a reef of pure gold. When they got it out it weighed 180 pounds and a few ounces. Its value was $41,000. Being sent to England, it was exhibited there for a time, and was finally molted and turned into sovereigns.

AT THE FAIR.

EXHIBITS MADE BY THE NATIONAL GOVERNMENT. Remarkable Displays Made by the Various Departments-Big Trees of California—Colonial Relics. Certainly the Government has done what it could to make the World’s Columbian Exposition a success. The appropriation of the souvenir coins was an item of consideration made to those who manage the Fair. But the exhibit made by each department of the General Government is for the people. It is a magnificent display. Money was no object in its preparation. A very large building and a war ship model built in Lake Michigan on the same measurements as the war ship Illinois, a smaller structure erected to display the hospital service of the army, a system of electric buoys just off shore, the presence of one of the coast life-saving crews, giving daily exhibitions of their work constitute the general compass of the wonderful exhibit. As soon as a person enteis the Government Building he is at once attracted to the Central Court. This court is octagonal in shape. Its covering is a magnificent dome 150 ft. high. The decorations of this couit are beautiful. The double columns at each side of each of the four entrances to the court arc in imitation of rare marble. The capitals are Corinthian and are gilded. Each of these eight sides of the court is ornamented by a very large fresco symbolical of some of the arts that have made special progress among our people. In the centre of this court or rotunda stands a unique object. It proves of interest to everyone. It comes from the Sequoia Natural Park and is a part of one of the big trees of California. These mastodons of the vegetable kingdom are among some of nature’s marvels, not yet mementoes of an unknown period. The rude hand of man was fast destioying them until the Government took them under its protection, preferring to leave them to the fate kindly nature should decree. They are found only in small groves on the mountain. Their foliage closely resembles the cedar and the wood when green is very heavy. Indeed the parts of it nearest the ground will, when first cut, sink in water. But ouco seasoned it is quite light and dry and is suspectible of a very fine polish.. The tree from which was cut the part standing in the Government building was about 26 feet in diameter, 81 or 82 feet in circumference and fully 300 feet high.. This was not selected because it was a very large one, but rather because of its regularity. Others near it were higher and wider. The section exhibited consists of 40 separate pieces. It had to be thus cut before it could be transported. It took eleven cars to bring it to Chicago. It was hauled from its mountain home on specially built trucks by teams of 15 mules each. It had to be thus drawn some 60 miles before shipping. Hollowed, a winding stair mounts to the top of the section up which visitors are allowed to pass. Within the rotunda a display is made that would admit of many a letter. In cases set at each of the eight sides of the court the Board of Lady Managers make an exhibition of Colonial relics that is positively fascinating to anyone with the least bit of knowledge of our country’s history. One case is devoted to a collection of Washington relics. Such articles as his sword, his comtnis slon from Congress signed by John Hancock, various diaries, etc., etc., may be seen. One of the last named articles is opened where the hand of Washington traced the last words his pen ever wrote. The second’last item is dated Dee. 12th. It tells of “a circle around the moon” and notes that it ‘ ‘started to snow at ten o’clock.” Dec. 13th. Then tells of the continuance of the snow—its stopping during the morning—the visit of a friend. Then pomes those last words: “Mercury 28 degrees at night.” Verily, it was growing colder. The next day George Washington passed from earth. In another case I happened upon a lock of his hair which had been given by Mrs. Washington to Mrs. Asheton Bayard in December, 1799 —probably cut from the head of the dead man on the 14th day of that eventful December. The scarf with which the Marquis de la Fayette had bound up hie wound at the battle of Brandywine; a white silk vest from whose pockets flowers and grass seemed to grow and over whose front bees and June bugs were daintily scattered by the needle of the ill-fated Queen, poor Marie Antoinette, assisted ly Madame Genet, a Lady of the Bedchamber; a drum that had been beaten nt Bunker Hill; a gun, the property of a negro named John Salem, w o carried it at Lexington, Concord and Bunker Hill, and with which he shot Major Pitcairn; a scarf that came over in the Mayflower—these were a few among hundreds of other objects equally interesting. I had to hasten. Then were a thousand other things to be seee and I went to the Treasury Department. Its history may lie read in the display it makes of the various issues of coins and paper money. The collection of coins, however, is by far the most unique part of all it shows. Some of these are from the dim long agp. One dainty bit not quite as large as a grain of corn is a counterpart of the little piece of money that has become famous liecause Our Lord commended the genuine charity of her who gave it. The Widow’s Mite is prominently placed and the sight-seer cannot miss it. Some coins shown are from the days of Seleucus I. He was Syria's first king and lived from 354 to 281 B. C. Indeed, these coins are a chronological history that reaches from such an early period to the latest bright bits the mints are turning out to-day. A splendid and very interesting display is made by the Postal Department. It began with an old mail coach. This particular coach has a history. It once carried the mail in Montana, from Helena to Bozeman. This was in 1863. Then it made the trip but once a week. Now, in these times, that same mail route is covered four times a day; the coach had the honor of carrying such distinguished people as President Garfield and President Arthur in 1883, and General Sherman in 1877. In contrast to the old mail coach is the model of a modern railway postal car. The model is open, and an idea of the interior of arrangement is readily obtained. Then this department presents a model of the “Pony Express,” and by its side a later day “special delivery” boy on a bicycle and dressed in the regulation uniform. Another life size model near, an Esquimaux, with his sled and dog team, carrying the mail in the snowy desert of the distant north. The Government has secured models of the mail carriers; methods of sorting the mails, etc., etc., from nearly all the nations of the World. I presume there is not a similar exhibit to be seen in any museum in the world. But one case in the postal department inevitably catches and holds the crowd. It is a collection of some of the curios that arc an-

chored In the Dead Letter Office and were never claimed. A person who stands before this case has many strange thoughts. It is a place where a poet might muse and a wit be in paradise. Think of a human ear being sent through the mail, or a skull, doll babies, relics of hair, mourning cards, whole cakes, axes, cartridges, boxes of candy, etc., etc. A shirt cuff that was left by some traveler who failed to pay his bill has been written on and rhymed on, and sent after the absconder. But he never got it; I wonder if some of tb« people who mailed some of the objects in that case have as yet seen and reoognited what they have lost and never knew whence it had gone? There, arc sad things, too—objects that meant ever so much to some poor heart or another. Verily, it is a strange collection. From here I went to the exhibit made by the Coast Geodetic Survey.

One of the most interesting objects here is a relief map of the United States and Alaska made on a one-millionth scale. It is consequently a section of a huge globe to view which the visitor is obliged to mount a platform about 10 feet high. In this relief the Rocky Mountains arc no higher than the thickness of the jiencil with which I write. In connection with the exhibit a globe is shown illustrating the distribution of the earth’s magnetism. When Columbus crossed the Atlantic he and his sailors were alike puzzled at the odd variations of the needle. Nowadays the earth is bo well known that a mariner at sea may know just at what point his needle will be due north, where it varies eastward, where westward. This is elucidated in the Government display by a large globe. Broad bands of buff and blue moving in curves and separated by a red line are painted over thia miuiature earth. These bands are unequal in size. The buff shows those parts of the earth where the needle is so acted on as to vary westward. The blue parts indicate an eastward variation. Where the strange powers producing these effects meet, they seem to neutralizs and the needle pointe directly north. The red lines indicate these places and are known as agonic lines. One place in eastern Asia has an odd oval spot in which the needle varies westward. Why or wherefore, who can tell?

Then come the light houses. The variety of lenses is very pleasing. Some revolve and thus produce flashing effects. Others are steady and so large that at a sufficient elevation they may be seen twenty miles away. It would astonish one who has never seen such an object to note the power to which a common lamp flame can be intensified by one of these lenses or rather system of lenses. No reflecting substance is used. A center lense is surrounded by a series of triangular prisms so arranged that they bend the rays of I'ght parallel to those that pass through the center lenr. Thus condensing the rays of the light, astonishing brilliancy may be given a common lamp. I next passed to tfie Hospital exhibit. Herein the cultivation of disease germs is being carried on. Quite a number are labeled, described and classified. An attendant is ready and willing to give all the necessary explanations one may wish. Indeed, this is one of the features of the Government exhibit—the even temper of its employees end their willingness to explain all connected with whatever they have in charge. The exhibit made by the War Department is particularly interesting. The process of the manufacture of firearms as well as the making of cartridges are illustrated by a set of the machines which are used in actual operation. Models of the various uniforms of the past and of today are displayed on life-size figures. The methods pursued by the army engineering corps are beautifully illustrated by means of the most perfect models, relief maps, etc. In one corner of this department a display of Greely’s Expedition is made. The moment selected is that of Lieut. Rockwood’s return from the farthest north. Greely is welcoming them home amidst the snow that glistens about. Upon a hill the fort is seen, the men apparently shouting their welcome to those that have just returned. It is a very realistic representation. But I could go on forever describing the splendid showing made by the Government. lean only refer to the Smithsonian Institute, and the National museum- It is worthy of the nation. The agricultural department makes a display worthy of the name. The naval exhibit on the battle ship Illinois has an educational value that to be appreciated must be seen. The Life Saving Station, the United States Weather Bureau, can only be mentioned. Indeed, it would be a happy thing if this exhibit alone could remain intact. It certainly is a museum of instruction as to the care with which all matters connected with the Government are regulated. Uncle Sam has done himself proud at the World’s Columbian Exposition.

Refining Salt.

Refining salt is a simple process. The raw product of the boiling method which is in vogue generally in New York, Michigan and Kansas is in the form of n flake, and the impurities are chiefly lime, gypsum and an occasional trace of soda. Here it is in the form of hailstones. The salt from the beds is first partially ground and then transferred to a large, revolving drum about 40 feet long and 6 feet in diameter, resting on an incline. The drum carries the salt by me ms of ribs or flights, dropping it at the bottom to be carried up again and again, the salt gravitating to the lower end. Air heated to 240 degrees is drawn through the machine by suction fans, the beat absorbing the moisture and the fans removing any dust attached to the crystal, the friction wearing off any powder left by the fans and hot air. The salt is then reduced to the required size by the roller and bolting processes, such as are used in making flour. After each reduction the crystals are subjected to a blast, expelling the dust,, which dust, compressed with rook salt in which a percentage of sulphur is introduced, makes a sulphurized salt lick for stock, which is extensively shipped to the great Western cattle ranges.—[St. Louis Republic.

Will a Tree Live Forever?

What do you think of the idea advanced by some prominent botanist that a tree, providing it meets with no accident, will live forever? De Candolle, an eminent French authority, says: “Trees are not subject to death, and, barring accidents and ravages of insects, will continue to live on indefinitely.” Gray, the noted botanist, also indorses the theory that, inasmuch as trees annually renew their youth, they are virtually immoral. His exact language is as follows: “The old central part of the trunk may decay, but this is of little moment so long ns new layers are regularly formed at the circumference. The tree survives, and it would be difficult for science to show that it is liable to death from old age in any proper sense of the term. —[St. Louis Republic.

FANCIES OF FASHION.

GREAT VARIETY IN THE STYLES FOR THIS SEASON. Tailor-made Gowns Are Still In Vo<ue— Bodices Made Double-breasted Over a Shirt Front—The Jaunty Eton Jacket Will Not Go. Gotham Fashion Gossip. New York correspondence:

MANY tailor-made gowns of severely plain cut are now seen, and the favorite cut for bodx ice seems to be a r buttoned-up Eton ) affair. By Eton, * is meant, not the ugly,popular modification of that jaunty little jacket, but the Eton . proper that fits I close at the back, A a little point setnX ting in at the Wt\ waist line to a litHaA tie below that line and buttons snugly to the high collar in front. Bod-

ices are made double-breasted over a shirt front, six sham buttons being used, and each so big that the front of the bodice is hardly seen. Skirts are fitted over the hips and set out close in front and at the sides, At the knee a quilling of ribbon is used or a band of Hercules braid, and below this comes a flaring round skirt. This is a favorite pattern, and since the round part may contrast with the fitted part of the skirt, it is a fashion that lends itself willingly to the remodeling of old skirts. The initial illustration depicts an afternoon dress in old rose flowered crepon, trimmed with old rose silk. The four-gored skirt has a slight train, and is trimmed at the hem with a ruche of the silk. The round waist tits tightly and is belted in at the waist by a narrow gold girdle. It is set off with epaulettes which extend to the middle of both back and front. Down the front there is a pleated silk ruffle which conceals the hooks and eyes used for fastening. The sleeves are a plain Empire puff and deep cuff, ana are without trimming. This is a very stylish and pretty dross, and particularly suitable for a young matron. Silk homespun is not attaining the instant popularity expected, prooably because it is a genuinely fine goods. Every thread is silk and the weave is the popular sacking-llke effect. It will wear forever and is sold cheap enough to make one consider using it for curtains. It lacks the wiry crispness of

IN PINK AND BLACK.

the wool homespun and cannot be fitted as closely as the usual silk can because of the loose weave. But it makes lovely skirts, and as for petticoats, what could be warmer and more serviceable? But there! that is rank nonsense. Who wants a petticoat either warm or serviceable! What is wanted is a little light silk and lace affair that will wear about twice, or so it seems. We are told that long waists are again in fashion. Does patient woman change her corset every time fashion thus changes, and do her lungs, liver and things all get boosted up and down like an elevator all the time! Nature is long suffering, and that's a fact. An exquisite out-door toilet is depicted ia the next sketch. It is made of anemone crepon and trimmed with insertions of black lace. The ruched collarette is of mousseline de sole with a narrow edging of white lace, and the hat is of fine black felt, covered with ostrich feathers of the same shade as the dress. Revere are as popular as ever and their modifications are without number. They turn loosely back from the very edge of the skirts of a long coat in front, widen to great epaulettes at the shoulder, and narrow away again at the back, lying all the way in loose folds, as if really the edge of the coat were merely turr.el back and no more thought taken. Another style is set trimly about the neck and shoulders at the back, is cut away in coat fashion in front, and lies in well regulated and tailor style against the sleeves on the breast. Again they are battlemented and mathematically calculated to lie

MOTHER AND DAUGHTER PROMENADING

without a wrinkle or a fold. Others are little more than frills. They are Often faced in Continental fashion, with a contrasting color and material. White satin is used on black, and black satin on every color and all materials. Watered silks, black and white, too, are much in favor, black watered silk being a favorite combination with Havana brown. It is used for the lining of coats, the lining making the facing of the revers, too.

Two well-dressed promenaders are the mother and daughter of the third picture. The former’s costume is in almond-green foulard strewn with small white spots. The corselet and tiny vest are of white guipure and the sash of almond-green ribbon is knotted at the side. The black felt hat is trimmed with a large satin bow of a shade to match the dress. Red cashmere with narrow stripes running through it is the fabric or the little girl’s dress. The yoke is cream guipure and the epaulettes are red siuah. The big hut is of fancy felt lined with almond-green (to match mamma's dress, perhaps) and trimmed with a large bow of fancy red and green ribbon. Black silk petticoats have eight or ten ruffles about the edge, each ruffle finished with one or two rows of narrow white satin or silk ribbon in the very narrowest widths. Others and more dressy have each ruffle edged with narrow white or cream lace. Tnis fancy for finishing black frills with white lace is displayed in all directions. Black silk underwear takes a new lease of popularity because it affords an opportunity for the addition of yards and yard's of narrow white lace. Really coarse lace is much used, and, I am bound to say, with better effect than is usually attainable with it, but that does not prevent real lace from making a sensation when it is used. No matter how popular this idea in black and white becomes, thread lace is al-

DOTTED AND PLAIDED.

ways going to be exclusive. Little shoulder capes of black net are shown, each of the four or five knife-pleated frills edged with thread lace, and the women stand seven deep about it, too. The material used in the next costume shown has a white ground strewn with small black dots and plaided with thin red lines. The skirt has a bellshaped upper part and a circular lower portion, which measures five yards in width at the bottom, but the top is just wide enough to fit the other. The seam is covered by two rows of red ribbon, the lower one covered with white lace. The skirt is lined with foulardine and has a frill of the same inside. The bcdice has a fitted separate lining over which the back and fronts are draped, the fabric being joined to the lining by the side seams. The fullness in back is laid in pleats at the waist, while the stuff is taken bias for the fronts and is drawn to the figure without any seams. It hooks In front, the opening being concealed by the full blouse front, which gathered to the neck has an elastic at the waist and is sewed firmly to one side while the other loops over and hooks under the bretelle collar. The blouse front Is taken on the bias and threaded by three red ribbons each covered with lace. The collar narrows toward the front and is divided In the center of the back where both ends are held in place by a ribbon rosette. The belt is composed of two rows of ribbon, the lower one covered with luce. It hooks over like the blouse front and la adorned with a rosette on both sides. The balloon sleeves have fitted linings and are finished by a ribbon which also composes the standing collar. The stuff of theglee ves has only one seam and is alrout one yard in width at the top. The material is taken on the bias and

TWO SKIRTS HAVING FIVE ROWS OF TRIMMING.

pleated into the armhole. The top is stiffened, or the fabric, being too soft, would sag. The deep bretelle collar is edged with a narrow frill of lace put on without any tullness. The last two toilets portrayed are both dresses capable of varied use, and both are at once handsome and in touch with present acceptances. That at the left hand is in black wool brocaded in oval-shaped silk designs. It has the skirt in three flounces, each edged with black lace. The bodice is of palegreen surah ornamented with two rows of lace insertion. The other gown is in gray cashmere and the skirt is enhanced by two flounces of gathered gray silk. The waist is of white surah, the front covered with rows upon rows of pearl beads. Overskirts grow in elaboration. The edges are cut into battlements and curves, and in loss than no time loop effects will be upon us. Then farewell to grace and beauty, and hail to yards and yards of bulk and weight. Braiding is much used. Capes are covered with it; likewise skirts. Bodices are made over vests covered with rows of braid. Black is the usual color, although on black red is often u»ed. Hatbrinnarc covered with braid set close in rows. A changeable effect is produced by braiding plaid goods closely with rows of black braid. Already material comes braided, the braid being part of the weave and set on edge slightly, but it is very expensive. Copyright. 1893.

Experiments were recently made at Toulon for illuminating the bottom of the sea with electric lamp-. The apparatus employed was sunk six fathoms deep and it illuminated the bottom to a radius of 100 feet. It is thought that the lamp will be of the greatest value for surveying wrecks or reconnoitering for concealed torpedoes

DEATH IS RARELY PAINFUL.

But Sensations of Approaching Dissolution Are Little Known to Physicians. Descriptions of the sensations of those who thought they were about to die, but who passed into a more or less profound state of unconsciousness and afterward recovered, though intense and realistio, cannot be accepted as authentic portrayals of the sensations of the dying, since these persons did not die. The temporary suspension of all the physical signs of life, as in a trance or lethargy, may so exactly simulate death that all may agree that the person is dead, while yet that indefinable something which holds the soul to the body remains and is capable of reinstating the common phenomena of life. We have no reason to assume that the sensations experienced in passing into this state of unconsciousness resemble the sensations of those who have actually felt the earthly house of this tabernacle dissolved. Unconsciousness is not death. It only objectively resembles it. Physicians at the bedside of the dying, while holding the flickering, weakening pulse beneath the finger, eagerly watch for some word or sign expressive of the sensations of approaching dissolution. Nothing, however, of value ever comes to us. Indeed many a life goes out, leaving be- . hind clear indications that there is no appreciation whatever of the great overshadowing change that is upon it, even though the mind remains clear and active to the last. A mother, hearing me whisper at her bedside, “She is dying," opened her eyes and replied, “I’ll be better in a minute,’’ though when the minute had elapsed she had given hor last sigh—her last heartthrob. A little girl clinging to her father's hand one sunny morning, said: “Papa, light the lamp; It is getting so dark," and immediately expired. A young man asked, “Why do you all cryT 1 shall get well soon,” and fell back on his pillow, dead. These expressions show clearly that the putting on of immortality was unaccompanied by sensations indicative of the change. In the groat majority of cases death is preceded oy a period of unconsciousness, more or lees profound, and of greater or less duration. In this state the vital spark goes out painlessly and without any evidence of the mind being illumined for a single instant by returning consciousness. Deathbeds are rarely painful.—[Kate Field’s Wsshington.

A Woman Electrician.

The first woman electrician in the world hails from the Buckeye State. Her name is Bertha La mine. Her birthplace is Springfield, -0., aud her alma mater the Ohio State University, in whoso class of ’93 she took her degree in “electrical engineering." Miss Lamme will enter shortly the Westinghouse Electrical works at Pittsburg, where aha will exercise her skill ns a practical electrician on an equal footing with the trained corps employed there. Despite Edison's advocating woman’s adaptability for this branch of science, it remained for Miss Lamme to establish the precedent. Edison employs more than a thousand women in his various electrical works. Untrained, unskilled girls were taken Into his service, and their natural delicacy of touch and quickness of perception have developed surprising mechanical results. Whether » practical electrician, however, will ever develop from this anqy of uueducated. women remains to lie seen. Nevertheless it was the mechanical dexterity of. his women employees that led the wizard to proclaim his faith in the possibilities awaiting woman in the electrical world.

Previous to entecring the university Miss Lsmme was a country schoolteacher. A country high school prepared her tor college. A phenomenal love for mathematics, together with a desire, perhaps, to open a new field for women, urged her to follow the electrical course, which includes civil engineering. The latter embraces practical work in a blacksmith With an energy, skill and enthusiasm unequaled by auy man in the class, Miss Lsmme experimented in the handling and testing of steam and gas'engines, dynamos, motors, storage batteries, circuits, instruments, etc. She completed the course in three years, making up ■ year in which typhoid fever kept her from college by extra work. Her record as a r.tudent is unsurpassed at the university, whose electrical course ranks deservedly high. in her brother, a practical electrician, Miss Lam me found encouragement and stimulation to her unique work. It is refreshing to record that tide brilliant girl is a physical Juno with brilliant brunette coloring. Her roguish brown eyes are indicative of abounding animal spirits, as she was the pivot of every mirth provoking frolic at the university, and her amiability made her equally popular with men and women. Indeed so rich in womanliness is this fair young electrician that the greatest obstacle te the pursuance of her new calling lies in the importunities of importunate suitors.

AN ALL ROUND WOMAN.

Astronomer, Greek Scholar, Magazlnlst and Essayist. Miss Agnes Mary Clerke, .the woman astronomer, who recently won the prize offered by the Royal Institution ol England for the best work “illustrative of the wisdom and bepeficence of the Almighty in any department of science” is a most symmetrical whmftn mentally. Beside her “Popular History of Astronomy in the Nineteenth Century,” of which a third edition has /just been issued and “The System of the Stars,” she is the author of a charming book called “Familiar Stories from Homer." She is especially fond of Greece and Greek literature, is a constant contributor to scientific magazines and is one of the regular staff of the "Encyclopaedia Brittanica.” She is said never to have received any scientific training. All that %!he knows she has obtained from personal observations and private study. She is a devout Catholic.

The Decimal Point.

In both France and Germany onefourth (1-4) reduced to a decimal is written as 0,25; in England it is written 0 25 (always with the period at the top of the line), and in the United States in this way, 0.25. France and Germany always use the comma (,), England and tho United States the period (.), the only difference being the manner in which it is placed upon the line. Sir T snac Newton is given the credit of originating the present English method of using the decimal point, his reason being that by placing it at the top of the line it could be distinguished at a glance from the “full stop” punctuation mark All English mathematicians use the mark in the way proposed by Newton, and the period as a sign of multiplication. -[Scientific Amentan.