Indianapolis Journal, Indianapolis, Marion County, 10 July 1887 — Page 7

mv, ETDIANAlPOIiT3 JOTJItNAX, SUNDAT, JtTLT

1887

11EV. J.C.FLETCIIER'S LETTER

Some Interesting Personal Recollections of the Late Mrs. Eliza Blake. How Nations Are Often Judged by Proverbs and Folk-Sarin 8 A Lot of Curious Facts TheCity Librarian of Indianapolis. gpecift! Correspondence of the IndianapolI Journal. Naplks, Italy Juan 21. Far away upon these Kupolitan shores there came to me, through the Indianapolis Jonrnal, tLe notice of the death of Mrs. Blake, the widow of the late CoL James Blake. IIow xneiaory traveled back for more than fifty-six years, and the scene that was before me was my own father's house, at the corner of Ohio and Alabama streets. The two prominent persons who appeared on that scene wers CoL James Blake and his newly-married wifr, who had just arrived from Baltimore, and the latter was certainly the most distinguishedlooking lady that had ererTisited Indianapolis op to that time. In fact, the capital ' of Indiana at that time was a "one-borse town" of not quite two thousand inhabitants. In many respects the . leading citizen was CoL James Blake, and when it was announced that be had married a "Baltimore lady" all Indianapoiiswas on the qui vive to see her and to welcome her. One of their first visits was to my fat bar and mother. I waaf a boy of eight years of age, and , I was struck with awe by the personal beauty of Mrs. Blake and by her rich garments. Gentlemen in Indianapolis, at that time, rarely indulged in broadcloth, and there were few ladies who could boast any robe beyond the ordinary calico, print. Therefore, to see a lady in silks, and with a bonnet of the newest fashion, was something perfectly dazzling. ' -Mrs. Blake was shen in the rery flower of womanly ,eanty, being twenty -five years of age, and her inarms were set off by the freshness and perfect pod taste of her wardrobe. The things that Impressed themselves noon me were her bonnet ind the immense size of her sleeves. Indianapiis was then, in regard to fashion,, about ten rears behind the Eastern cities, and, therefore, the bonnet of - vast size, and the leg-o-mutton sleeves (which had been introduced the year before from France into New York, Pniladelpbia and Baltimoie) were indeed most startling , novelties. The advent of Mrs. Biake was with the first barouche ever seen in the place. Colonel Blake had brought it all the way from Baltimore. With Mrs. Blake came the tecond or third piano that Indianapolis ever taw. I remember that the first piano a very imall concern comoared with the pianos that now abound was the property of Miss Susan . MeDugal, who afterwards became the first wife of the late Wm. II. Morrison. : I am not quite sure whether Mrs. Blake's was the second or third. I am inclined to think it was the second and that the third was that of Dr. McClore. The first portion of the bid Blake mansion, where Mra Blake lived more than a half century, and where she died, was built in a very early day, for I remember as a boy of five going thither in 1S28, and the portion that then existed beloneed to Judge B. F. Morris the father of Sanford and Sam Vance Morris. The most striking characteristics of Mrs. Blake were ber sweet calm, and her ladylike and Christian deportment under all circumstances for many were the trials which she underwent .n her long life. I never went back to Indianipolis after residing in Europe or in South America wHhout visiting Mrs. Blake, and if I am . permitted .o return again, her absence will be to me a painful one. A landmark will have been '.aken away. But I should also feel that Deaven will have one inhabitant more. I would cot boem this letter without paying my tribute Vj the friend my boyhood and of my maturer oars. Nations often judge one another by proverbs. The origin of these proverbs and folk-sayings go back into far antiquity, 'and there is no doubt that, while many proverbs were the sayings of inimical nations, others must have been founded in truth. No Christian doubts the character of the inhabitants of Crete (modern Candia) when the Apostle Paul says (Epistle to Titus, i. 12) quoting .the Cretian poet Epimenides, "The Cretians are tlways liars, evil beasts, alow bellies. This witness lEDimnnidesl is tree." The new version translates "slow beiliea". 'idle gluttons.'' The quotation and testimony of Paul are sufficient .or us, but are there other witnesses to back him up? Yes. Livy stigmatizes the avarice of Cretans and Polybius, the Greek writer and philosopher, who wrote more than two hundred . years before Paul sent his ipistle to Titus, says that - the Cretans were "frauds," and given to "frivolity." Again, this tame Polybius says that they were "mendacious" to such an extent that the term to "cretanize" is only another word for "to he." I quote this instance to show than when Paul quoted this proverb, in warning Titus how to deal with people of such a sharacter, he told the truth, though the proverb and the very witness that he quotes is "one of themselves." But there are other proverbs and quaint sayings that are not so grave in their character and yet full of s.tinging wit, which, hit off, under the guise of a witticism, the characteristics of a people. , Take, for instance, the following: According to a Bohemiam legend, "When the devil was kicked out of power he fell with such violence upon the earth that the various members of his body were widely scattered. The head Ml in Spain, the heart in Italy, the belly in (Germany, the hands in Turkey and the feet in ranee." Now these Bohemians make this ap-, plication: "Therefore, on this account the French are mad after women and are always groveling at their feet, the Turks are given to robbery, the Germans to the pleasures of the table, the Italians to love and the Spaniards to pride." The Germans give to the Bohemians the epithet of "Hard-beads," unto which the Bohemians reply: "The Bohemian has a heart of tinder aud a flint in the head. Strike one over the other and you will soon have fire. The Bohemians, alo, are rather hard upon, the German, for they tall him "Wooden-head." The Germans say of the Russian, "He will do nothing good without the knout. Scratch a Russian and the bear will soon begin to growl." I wonder if this saying did not give to Napoleon his famous "bon mot." grate a Russian and you soon come to the Cossack) In ttis line of the Russians is the English saying concerning them, "The Russians aro only bearded children." The inhabitants of Bohemia, Gallicia and Fin'.and seem to have hard savings agaiust the Germans which reveal that tber have either been overreached or conquered by the Germans. The Bohemians and Oallician designate many unattractive animals by the name of German. For instance, the rat is eaUd'" German," and the Slavacchi always call the toad "a German crab." The Fmlanders pretend that the oath of a German is worth nothing and his word is a lie. The French, who call all goods "German" which do not at once clearly show their quality, sustain tbat the German is violent and unjust, and that be .sees in every question where the motive is not apparent a motive for a Cent or a quarrel for his beloved Germany. In all of this the Frenchman's motive is very clear. But bard words hurt no one, as Herman Lie ber, Albert Gall and other German in Indianapolis well know. When my brother. Calvin Fletcher, of Spencer, was in Naples and vicinity for four or five months in 1874-73, he spoke to me of the industry at the laboring people, and observed, ''The Italians are the only people that I have ever seen tho get up in the morninc before I do." This remark makes me recall a proverb that is very common amongst the natives of Europe, v. : "If you wish to cheat an Italian youv'e got fc rise very early in the morning." Here is a Polish proverb as to the abilities of several nations: "The Italian invents a thing, the Frenchman manufactures it, tne German ?Hs it, the stupid Polander buys it, and the Rusi in stea's it from the Pole." Amongst the most Incentive people in the world, are the Italians. Our indebtedness to them in science, art and practical mechanics is immense, but the Italians themselves, owing to their former disuniteJness snd to spiritual and military despotism, could ao5 profit -by their own discoveries until within a comparatively reeent period. Take, for instance, Flavio Gioja, a sea saptain of Amalfl, who, in 1302, so arranged the magnetic needle (already used to a certain extent by the Chinese) that the resalt was the mariner's compass, which hf helped the cations. With this same invention Columbus, the Genoese, (born in the island of Corsica, then belonging to Genoa.) steered his way across the ocean under Spnnish patronage, and bis discoveries were more than duplicated by tbe Venetian liiovanna Cabotto, (in English plain John Cabot) sent out under the patronage of England's King Henry VIII, and by Ameriens Vespueius. the Florentine serving unir the Portuguese flag; nd by that other Florentine naviga'or. Verazzoni, sent out by France during the reign f.f Francis i. Italiars made tbe discoveries, but other nations profited by tbero. Italy has not to-day, and never bad. an lech cf soil oa the whole continent of America,

while . Spain, England. Portugal and France founded empires in the new world. It is very ... easy to count up many great scientific inventors and discoverers, like Galileo (to say nothing of his other discoveries, tbat of measuring time by the pendulum), Galvaoi, Volt a, etc; but how much do we owe in more recent days to practical invention by Italians, like that of stearine caudles made from lard the invention of one of Garibaldi's exiled companions who accompanied the hero to America, and while others profited by it he died a poor man. I might multiply hundreds of instances which verify the proverb, but to return to our subject. While the proverbial opinions of various nations are, aa a general thing, rather hard upon one another, there are some which are rather flattering. For instance, in regard to England, among the French and Germans "the word English is synonymous with honesty and probity, and with certainty of payment of debts." Tbe Russian says, "An Englishman's soul is upon the ends of his fingers, a Frenchman's at the end of his tongue." In other language, one is a man of deeds, the other only of words. I have often heard Frenchmen say that Paris waa "a paradise for women and dogs, but a bell for men and horses." I have, however, come across a similar saying in Italian, but not applicable to France. It is this: "The English speak of their country thus: Great Britain is a paradise for women, a hell for horses and a purgatory for domestics.'' The Servian says: "Three Turks and three Greeks, and you have eix knaves." The Greek proverb pays the Servian back in his own coin, for it says, "Suspect an old Turk and distrust a young Servian." The Russian pretends that "the Greek cannot tell the truth only once in a year," and adds: "The gypsy is cheated by the Jew. tbe Jew is cheated by the Greek, and the Greek is only cheated by the devil himself." Rather rough ou the Greek; but it must admit that the Greek is a smart fellow, and has just as entire satisfaction in himself, and as much contempt for others and for straightforward measures as Sim Coy, of Indianapolis, has at election time. The Poles say, "The Italian reflects before he does a piece of foolishness, the German when he does it, and the Polander after be does it." According to the Pole's idea, various languages were known long before the confusion at the Tower of Babel, as may be seen by the last of these sayings, which I quote from this collection: "Tbe serpent deceived Eve in the Italian. Eve took Adam in by using Bohemian, God cursed them both in German, and the angel chased them out of paradise shouting at them in pure Hungarian." This is very good, but it doesn't begin to come up in egotistical sub limity tn the assumption of the pompous old Spaniards as to tbe Castilian language. Charles V, said that in that tongue "God ought alone to be addressed in prayer." One eminent Spanish prelate has assured us that Spanish was undoubtedly the language of Paradise, while another equally eminent and equally autborative ecclesiastic, with no doubt whatever about it, sars that "The hallelujahs chanted by the angels and the just made perfect around the throne of heaven are in no other language than the purest Caatilian!" I began this letter by referring to one whose career had been in Indianapolis for more than a half a century,- and now 1 wish, in closing, to refer to one who has comparatively recently become a citizen of Indiana's capitaL In a recent number of tbe Journal I noticed a-brief sketch of your city librarian, and rejoiced that you had one so capable at the head of that important institution. I think it was in 1879 or 1880 that, one morning, I visited the High-school in Peru, Ind. After the opening of the school, but before any. lessons were begun, I saw Mr. Hooper, . to whom I had been previously introduced, go to a blackboard upon which he had written the telegraphio dispatches from England, France, Germany, Russia and Turkey, as well as the chief telegraphio items of news from various parts of our oountry. Mr. Hooper (he was at the head of tbe high-school) briefly called attention to the news at home and abroad, and by questions, and by intelligent comments put the scholars "au conrant" with the world. It may have . been, for anght I know, a custom in some other schools, but it was the first time that I had witnessed; either in Europe or America, such sensible and such interesting instruction, and it immediately nailed to my memory the man who inaugurated it in Pern. I afterwards met Mr. Hooper at Rensselaer, on the coldest day in the winter of 1881, and I felt that the schools of that little city had -the right superintendent. And now that he enters upon his fifth year as librarian in Indianapolis I foel that you have "the right man in the right place." J. C. Fletcher.

BITS OF FASHION. Cashmeres are among the most graceffjl of allwool fabrics. ' , Some of the new oxidized silver girdles look more iike galvanized iron ox chains than anything else. Moire or cheap surah skirts are covered with draperies of net or point d'esprit that entirely conceal the skirt. Ulsters of English homespun, with cap to match, are worn by young ladies on long journeys by steamer or rait Slenderness is desired nowadays, and to be thin is the one thing desired by ladies who live strictly up to fashion. Pique is in favor again for small girls' dresses, and is used in plain thick reps, or with colored printed figures, or else embroidered in white cr in colors. Big black hats, with quantities of overshadowing black feathers, appeared in great numbers at the English and at tbe French races. The brilliancy of the fashionable frock is responsible for this. The face needs a sombre background in order not to be outshone by the bright colors of the rest of the costume. , '. The old-fashioned challie goods, now so popular, are kept company by the antique mohair fabrics, these time-honored stuffs being once again welcomed to favoritism. Tbe wear of these goods is admirable; their lustrous surface resists the contact of dust in a manner that rejoices the heart of a tourist, be that person man or woman, for tbe goods are used alike ror gowns, ulsters, long coats, vests, and jackets and caps for the smoking-car. The combination of velvet with all species of tissues will be a" feature of costumes the summer through. Ribbon and piece velvet will be used in conjunction with grenadine, veiling, lace, nets, crepons, monsseline de laine. gauze, tulle, and batiste as runners in plain skirts, to hold d rapines, as straps and bands across kilted dresses, panels and vests, aud as tabliers, peplams and gnimpes. or forming a narrow pleatlog at tbe foot of the dress skirt. New York Post: Young ladies are again wearing pleated blouse waists of crigged or striped linen, percale, or French lawn, over skirts of woolen or other materiaL This is a very desirable revival, as it enables one to wear a dress the bodice of which may be too warm for the summer, or perhaps be no longer of use. These dainty and cool-looking substitutes give a neat and fresh appearance to the wearer. Some elect for the full pleated blouse, with a belt and buckle, there being no basque. Others prefer the Norfolk style, with the pleats extending below the waistband. Skirt Steels. The Delineator. With the present style of dress, steels in the back of the skirt are a necessity, and upon their proper adjustment the stylish effect of the touruure depends. Tbere are various methods of arranging these steels, and from two to five are used, according to the height of the person and the amount of protuberansy desired, and the lengths vary as much as the numbers. In some imported dresses the lower steel measures one yard in length and is placed about twelve or fifteen inehes from the bottom of the skirt, and there are either three or four above; in others there are only two, of medium length. For those desiring only a moderate toornure the latest and most effective arrangement is a follows: Two steels are required, one measuring twenty-seven and the other thirty inches in length. To accommodate these, two easings are sewed across the back breadths and side gores, commencing twelve inehes' back on each side from the middle of the front; the upper casing seven inches ielow the belt in the middle of the back, and eigi. incbes at tbe ends, and the lower casing ust the same distance below the upper one. After tbe steels are inserted, the fullness on them is to be pushed back five inches from each end, and secured so that it cannot slip forward: and on the inside of the skirt, where the fullness is secured, tapes are to be sewed those on one side elastic to be tied behind the figure to retain the steels at tbe desired sue. In order to have the skirt bang properly with this arrangement, it is necessary that it should be eut two and one-half inches longer in back than in front. .The increased leneth of the steels does not necessarily give an increaoed size to the tjurnure: but by sewing the inner tapes back from the ends, the ends of the steels are allowed to rest flatly against the stdes of the 'figure, instead of being curved in and presenting the unsightly appearance with which we had become only too familiar. Above the steels a pad of horsehair can be added to the skirt, or a separate bast! may be worn. Something very novel in cushions is a step pad. These are made of eimllar materials as the hammock cushions, tufted with worsteds of different colors, and laid on the piazza to make the seat comfortable.

MATRIMONY'S' LEGAL PHASE

Human Katurc as It Appears Before the Marriase License Window How People of Tarioas Kinds Conduct Themselves in Procuring the Law's Sanction to 1 heir Marital Alliances. There are few better places to study human nature than at the "marriage-license window" in the county clerk's often. Everybody may not know that there is a window devoted exclusively to the matrimonially inclined, but there is. It is an unpretentious arch, just large enough to frame the faces f a half-dozen persons the usual number accompanying an applicant and is located in the front room of the clerk's apartments, near the door. It has numerous visitors daily, except on Friday and Sunday. There is a widespread superstition that Friday, is an un-, lucky day, and few are willing to risk tbe misfortunes it is expected to bring upon them. When or jahere the idea originated is not known, but such a superstition was abroad long before the oldest inhabitant came into existence, and the clerk that ever issued a half dozen licenses on Friday cannot be found. Between 1,500 and 2,000 people. carrying out the divine injnnetion, come up to this window every year. While the fall brings the most, June is a favorite month. The window is open to all who are matrimonially inclined the rich, the poor, the high and low all stand on an equality before it. - ' The man whose wedding is to cost him $2,000 has to go through the same process to secure his license as the humble day-laborer who climbs the rickety stairway and pays a grasping justice of the peace $2 to tie him up for life. Besides the clerk who issues the license, no one has a better chance to witness all phases of life at this centering point than the reporters of the newspapers, who daily record the names of all those licensed. Tbe to-be bride doesn't always accompany the prospective husband, but she does sometimes. When she is along, she is accompanied by a brother, if she has one, and, if not, some particular friend. She seldom comes to the window, but, with her friends, sits down upon a seat near by prepared for her kind. She thinks the proceedings very funny until the clerk begins to ask the customary questions about her. and then she becomes very nervous. She wonders if, after all. there is somering wrong, and a license can't be granted. She is in suspense, but it doesn't last long, for the rulesof license are very lenient, and only a very small per cent, ot the applicants are refused. She is perhaps never happier than when the clerk hands over the ornamented license-sheet and the coming husband planks down the $2 for the five minutes' work. Quite frequently parties who are not of legal age come in and want licenses, and because the clerk will not issne the certificate some of them get very indignant To marry nnder age, the consent of the parents of the contracting parties must be obtained, or else a false affidavit that they are both of proper age must be secured. The latter is often done where the "old folks" are known to be averse to the -union. It is said that there are persons who are always ready to make such affidavits, and who, in times past, have made not a little money out of it Whether this be true or not, it is noticeable that whenever a couple eoneludes to marry, no matter what the obstructions may be, they usually succeed in procuring a license. There is but one safe way to head them off, and tbat is to give the clerk written notice that they are ineligible. Such notices are frequently received, by the license clerk, and they are kept pasted inside the window. There is a variety of thsm. Some state that the persons named are supposed to-be contemplating marriage, and that they are not of age; others that the expected applicants already have wives or husbands living, or that one or both are of unsound mind and are not capable of performing tbe duties devolving npon a husband or wife. Often the clerk is asked to refuse license to young people because of some per sonal objection of the relatives on one side or the other, and bocause be refuses tq observe the requests makes bitter enemies. The middle-aged man who comes after a license is tbe easiest customer to handle, especially if he has been "through the mill" once. He looks npon the preliminary step as a .purely business one, and conducts himself accordingly. A friend generally accompanies him to make the necessary aradavit tbat he is eligible and his wife of age and without a busband. He has little to say, and the expression on his face would indicate that he was buying some everyday article of merchandise. There are two sorts of license blanks in stock at the window. One is without ornamentation, the other highly adorned and is intended to' be framed. Tbe first is furnished without extra cost; for the latter a half dollar extra is charged. The middle-aged man always tafces the free and unornamented one. The young men invariably select the framable one. It is surprising to see tbe large number of men tottering into tbe grave tbat come to the window. In their actions they are more ridiculous than the young and giddy. Nowhere do the characteristics of the different nationalities crop out more plainly than before this window. An experienced clerk can tell the nationality of every man before tbe license is half ready for delivery. The characteristics of the American are, perhaps, most striking. There is that air of independence and self-confidence about him that is not seen in any of the other applicants. And then be is always in a hurry. He doesn't like to be bothered with crowds, and if he is a man of business he is hardly ever accompanied, except by a personal friend. This July weaher he rushes into the room like he was after a physician for a dying relative, and the first thing he does is to ask if this is tbe place to get i license. although the label "Marriage-license window" in big letters stares him In the face. He asks in the next breath what steps are necessary to procure a license and how long it will take to make it oat. His bustle does not disturb the clerk, and he goes slowlv to making out the "papers," as though he had a week in which to do it. When he is ready for the signature the bustling young American grabs the pen, and drops the first dip of ink on the license and spoils it. With the second dash of the pen he is as likely to sign the name of his firm. In half the instances the typical American spoils three sheets before he gets one with his own name in good shape in the proper place. After he has received the license he generally starts out without paying for it, or leaves bis change, cane, umbrella, or something that causes him to rush back at break-neck speed, and complain that "marrying is a mighty expensive business." The native-born Irishman is one of the most interesting personages that stands before the window. The wedding of an Irishman calls for a great deal of demonstration, and, from the time it is announced until the after-wake is ended, he is the subject of much attention. He nsuauy comes for the Papers." as he termn them, with not less than a half-dozen of his jolliest friends, who lead the way and form a hollow square around the applicant in front of the window. He approaches the clerk in a very shy manner, and is introduced as the "victim" who "has been warned against the step he is about to take, but can't be influenced to live single and be happy." The victim smiles and remarks that he guesses he can take care of a "mate," and, with the help of his comrades, answers carefully all the questions propounded, to him. He is always ready for a witty answer to any of the questions, and no class of applicants are so conscientious about swearing to the exact truth. Unlike some applicants, the Irishman is never at a loss to know how his adored one's name is spelled. Tbe records show tbat more Irish applicants are unable to write than of any nationality. To those who have to call upon their friends to witness their mark it is very humiliating, and the act is usually accompanied by a lengthy explanation of how their poor fathers wouldn't give them the education thev had always wanted. The Irish-American is a trifle different from the original He is more talkative, and in every respect is fashioned after the genuine American. t , The traits of the native-born German attract attention. There is less mirth about him than any of the others. He approaches tbe window looking like be had a life-time undertaking before him. If he has not been long in this country be has his army discbarge, his certificate of vaccination, and a dozen other notes of record that are required in Germany before a license can be obtained. He comes from a country where strict discipline is observed in all things, and he is prepared for tbe same here. He is surprised when he learns that the Americans care nothing to know all about these matters. Much can be done to change various undesirable lights m rooms by the choice of curtains. In a room that has no exposure for sunlight the fleet of dullness may be changed by golden , ,Wn. r THow hangings, which, if very thin, will admit the ligot and vet thoroughlv change the tone of the room. When the light is naturally too glaring, it may be softened by pale blue or pale green han;ings. When warmer effect

is desired in a sittingToom, for instance red

hangings suggestive of a clear sunset are pleasins AT THK PISTOL'S .MUZZLE. ISelner Forced to m fruet' by a Bully, I Make n Choice of Method. New York Sun. ' "L I was a participant In the hardest fighting at Gettysburg, and I was at Fredericksburg, the Wilderness, and second Bull Run, but I am telling you honestly, that I would take my chances over again in ail or. those ngms ramer man stand up to be shot at by a single man in what is called a duel. It has been my misfortune to ba forced into two affairs of the kind, and I speak by the card, j r Two years previous to the war easiness or a legal nature called me to Charleston. There was litigation over a leeacy, and the feeling between the heirs was anvthine but pleasant. The leader of those seeking to break the will was a middle aged Sonth Carolinian of fiery temper, while the leader of those inheriting was a man from Ohio. It was made plain to me before I had been in Charleston two days that the contestants were determined to eo to any length. The judge of the court was an old man who could be brow-beaten and bluffed. their two lawyers were noted for the number of duels they had fought, and the heirs had no friends in or' out ot court. I was at once ap proached with a direct offer to sell out. A person was sent to my room at the hotel to make me the offer, and within an hour after he was kicked out tli enetny tried another move. The following note was sent to me through the office of the hotel: . m ii air. Blank: I bee ron to ceea tne warning t a friend. Withdraw from the case of Crane agt. Coo, and save your life. Xou will surely be killed if you don't. I laughed at the idea, iiaa i . arrived in Charleston to stir up trouble among the slaves I should have expected to take my chances of being knifed, shot or lynched, but if the contest ants in a will case could drive me off by threats. or dared attempt mv life, the times had come to a pretty pass. As i am not iti- aw woo naa sent th note I could not reply to it, nor did I let its contents bother my mind. It, might have come from a friend, or it might be a, ruse on the part oftheenemy. I had about four days to prepare for the openingof my case. It was oa call for Tuesday. On Monday afternoon I had occasion to goto the public library to hunt up some dates and. to look through the files of the Mercury. I was engaged in this work when a tall, : slim representative Southerner entered the room. - He had long black hair, black eyes. uarK complexion, and a nervous movement. " After making a turn or two around the room be ' approached the table at whifth I stood and said: "You have taken an unwarranted liberty, sir." - . . "In what respect?" "I always come here at this hour to consult those files, and you have thrust : yourself in to insult me." ; , . . . "My dear sir, I was never in this room before to-day, and so far from being aware of your habit I did not even know of your ; existence. I am .through with the file, and ' am also about ready to vacate the room, which I suppose is public." - j ; - , "There is my card, sir," he exclaimed, as he jerked a pasteboard from his vest-pocket and extended it. ' " ' ' ' The card bore the address: "A. McKnight, New Orleans." It wasn't a bit singular that he had it handy to throw at me, for he had come prepared. r 8. "Glad to meet you, sir," I said, as I read the address. V . "You have insulted me . and I demand satisfaction. A friend of mine will wait on you this afternoon." - With that he turned and walked off, leaving me completely upset. I sat down to think it over, and it did not take me long to come to the conclusion that it was the work of the contestants. They had imported man, probably a professional duelist, to force me into a duel and have me killed off. He had entered the library for no other purpose than to force a quarrel, and a flimsier pretext for a duel was never heard of. I was a man of peace, and would have sacrificed znuoh to keep out of trouble, but this thing fired my blood,- .and I seized my hat and ran out oh tbe street, determined, if I could find McKnight, to give him a better excuse for calling me out. As luck would have it, I encountered him within a hundred steps. He was coming toward me, and as we mat I gave him a vigorous slap across tbe mouth with my open hand. He reached for bis pistol to shoot me down then and there, .but I seized him by the shoulders and flung him against a dead wall with such force that he was stunned. I walked offiaaeUef t .him lying there ina heapj and although. I now realized that it was impossible for roe to refuse a challenge, I was much better satisfied than before. If I must fight there was some excuse for it In about two hours tbe leader of the contestants called upon me as the friend and second of McKnight He was in an exultant mood. McKnight was a professional duelist, and I must fight at great odds or sneak out of the city and abandon ' the . case. I think he counted on my making an abject apology and agreeing to leave the city, for he was greatly east down when I said: - ' "I believe that dueling is but another name for murder, but, under present circumstances I shall sink my scruples and accept tbe challenge. Under the rules of the code I have the choice of weapons. Return here at 9 o'clock in the morning and I will name the weapons, and will also be ready to proceed to the field." He argued that no true gentleman would ask for anything more than pistols at ten paces, but I was firm. The meeting was settled for the secor-" norning, at 8 o'clock, and the second went way to wait for my decision. Was Is upse; v Yes. " Did I have a cowardly fearf No. it was a nightmare. My feelings were something like those of the man who knows that he is to be led out to death at a certain date. I. was just as firmly resolved to fight that man as I could resolve on anything, but the burden on my mind was enough to unstring everv nerve. 1 was no shot with pistol or rifle, and I had never handled a sword. He had every advantage in that respect Two-thirds of the day had passed before I made up my mind how .we should fight It would be certain death to both, but it was the only way to even up our chances. We should stand foot to foot, with the muzzles of the pistols at each other's hearts. When McKmeht's second came for the decision, and I gave it to him, he turned whiter than snow. He offered to accept any sort of apology, and he finally offered to let tbe matter drop, but I refused in each and every instance. It was my turn to force things. The matter got out somehow, as those things will. I had arranged the affair without a second, which was irregular, and gave them a loophole of escape. Then half a dozen different parties came forward with offers to act. and the duel had to go on, though it was thirty-srr. hourslater than the time originally agreed upon. 'While I was forcing tbe issue all this time, I r was suffering in a mental way as a man would ' who saw a cannon being loaded to send a shell; at him. I drew up my will, wrote farewell !etters, and said good-bye to the world, and when ' I at last stood face to face' with my adversary 1 . had been tortured into a determination to kill and be killed. Nothing he could have offered me would have induced me to change my mind. McKnight had fought seven duels and killed five of his m n, but the terms of this one shook t bis nerves, lie toed the mark on brandy instead . of courage. His seconds had to fairly push him : to the mark, and it was only at the last moment; that he showed anything like grit We stood foot to foot, each pistol held against the other man, and then the seconds stepped back and we ' waited for the word. It came in a few seconds, ' but during that brief interval I suffered more than any soldier did in half a dozen battles. It was good bye to the world forever. It was death as soon as a trigger wss pulled. 'Gentlemen, areyou readvl" exclaimed the ' man who was to give the word, but the word did; not come. McKnight suddenly dropped his pistol, threw up his hacdi, and then fell down in a '"hich kept him unconscious for three hours and in bed for a month. The torture had been too great Within ten seconds of death he broke Tn' Dot to 8aTe his ife bat because the limit of human endurance had been reached. Ideals. There is but one bird sinps like that! From paradise it flew. Opt to the world, with wavering plumage gay, ra ei,eation' glad, awakening day The morning wore the dew. It is not nfarlitinjtrale or lack. Oh, a diviner bird! In rooon-totiched forests, sweet with night and dew, in dawn-stirred meadows, whoa the soring goes through, " Its voice was never heard. Its nest? Ia boughs ef fadeless bloom. Nowhere that we can see. The winds have never found it, and the rain UE westing autumns beat the leaves fa vain On that immortal tree. Its ape its country! No man kaows. v- ?OPn,for the world's delight Jo bird tuat goes through splendors of the dawn, ytt homeward eotnes, down oniet twilights drawn. Has wings for such far flight Can no one find it? All the world I seeking it afar. . tact i in his tarn has cried: "Lo, it is mine!" KJh, bitter-sweet! Still is the jov divine Further than flower from star, Jnl'fltC. Marsh, In the Century. Egg-shell crushed and shaken in glass bottles lialf-fliio4 with water will clean them o mealy.

SUMMER GOSSIP.

When WomenlReach Their Prime Childhood an Dress At the Summer Resorts, - The Ae of Women. Special to tie Indianasvlin Journal. . - New York, July 9. The age of women is what they call this last quarter of the nineteenth century sometimes. Of a certainty whatever 'else It may or may not be, nobody could pronounce it the age of the girL The girl has had her day. A long day it was, and a sunny one, but she does not seem at present likely to get another..' . .':.'''-- . No change wrought in the last hundred years is more marked than the steady advance in tbe period of life at which the feminine part of humanity is thought to reach its prime. When the novel originated its first heroine was the fourteen-year-old. Richardson's Pamelas, Clarissas and their,k4n might better be thirteen than very many years above it Sweet sixteen and bloomnv seventeen reigned in the pages of Irving and 'Cooperdominating the sentiment of a half to a third of a century ago. Twenty, twenty-one and. twenty-two -were the next favorites springing up with the women's colleges, as the better education of girl kept them in the schoolroom and out of society longer, while the mature woman of twenty-seven or thirty-three quite as frequently nowadays finds herself brought to the Tore in the modern novel which is a fairly, truthful reflex of the civilization it tries to represent History and society chronicles tell the same tale as the noveL. When the French Revolution was hatching, the wild sayings and gay doings of Marie Antoinette fed the discontent, and yet she whom tbe folk of Paris judged so harshly and took so seriously was a girl of fourteen when she was taken out of the ' nursery and lifted to the throne. . Benedic Arnold's wife was under bowed her to the ground, and pretty Dolly Payne, before she became Dolly Madison, at twenty-four, had been a Quaker belle, had kept house as Mrs. John Tod, had sorrowed as a widow and bloomed out through several years of belledom again. Our granddames, not so many generations removed, on whom we look back with tbe awe and reverence that hedge an ancestor, were very youthful dignitaries indeed when they took the responsibilthm As thn hnv went to COliwge at fourteen, so tbe girl took her place in society, married at sixteen, naa a orooa oi cuu-A-ivn hiU trat nnil kcta nA WAR relegated tO knitting work and caps while hardly mature. ending ail active career unuer ioriy, u whAn Lhn mndnrn woman feels that she is just coming to the full command of her powers. From being passeeat twenty to o.ir.g on arm ing at thirty tells in itseir tne waoie laie oi woman's growth for the past century, t That peculiar combination of angel and idiot which was the ideal woman was untbinKaoie except in tne teens. Idioov cannot be angelic attertne nrst score of years. Tbe rosebud is delightful and everybody loves it,' but there is not a woman left wbo would care to be always eighteen. Up to thirty-five a woman is not now at all abashed at owning her age. ' She knows she has Put gained in charm; she knows that the man who fought shy of taking her out to din aer during her first season, and who was mute and bored during tbe whole time tbat be sat- oy her side, ;n aAv V. nnt in .tmnn.nv . now. and will resTV til OCV " w-w .m - I" w " . ognize her added experience and maturity by giving her credit ior common sense in iuo vbik . W . Vs A VtAivina with ha1 ht A VnAVI t.Vi At vhurA LUOb IXV wfciuo " " her crudeness used to drive off pjecput worth knowing, she can at her will call them about her now. Fran Von Stien was past thirty when she car--im.A .ff flmhi Mntin a.ff.ar tiA Viad weathered the , (VU . u v -"- dangers of tbe younger Lillis Charlo ttes and the rest And in New York or any or the country's great centres to day it is not tbe younger women whose position in the only society that is worth tbe name is happiest or best established. The woman who marries is twenty-fire when she used to be fifteen; The woman 'who gathers .kn 1 ,nvAtn1it tKkt litaitrTM tli a name of u v . mj w. - . salon is Mary L. Booth at fifty; Mrs. Martha J. Lamb, with tbe gray hairs coming; Mrs. Frank Leslie; Jennie June, with a third of a century of active work in tbe eity a na ner; or at tne oa. on tViA hordeline of the thirties; women who are often better looking and always better worth seeing than when they were younger. It is a tribute to tne common sense of the day that things should be thev are. The world will alwavs feeVand ac knowledge a girl's fresh charm. There is nothiog else anite like it But the mature woman, whose face has thought and knowledge in it, is the woman who is crowned Queen after all. Children's Right. fpeclal to the IsdianaDolia Journal. New York, July 9. A small boy flat on his face in a puddle, in confidential intercourse with a half dozen sociable ducks, a bare-footed girl toddling beside him and emulating her brother in his overtures to their gossipy playmates. these were Rosini Yoke's two children, enjoying what comparatively few urchins know anything about nowadays, a genuine frolic down by the seashore the other day. - They were estatically happy. Every square inch of clothing upon them was a condidate for the washtub. They knew it They did not care. Their mother never received a more genuine and thorough-going compliment that was implied in their utter oblivion of eonsequenees in the natter of dress. Healthy ehildren love dirt axiom sso. x. White gowns and embroideries hate dirt axiom No. 2. The child and its clothes are and, as things go, ought , to be sworn enemies. It is one of the important decisions of the summer campaign with which of the two contending forces the mother will join alliance. Daintily immaculate and unhappy, or dirty, comfortable and rosy? It is a rare mother who can rise to the situation. Children who are slaves to tneir clothes are of all tiny wretches the most to be pitied. See them standing about a sunny lawn of a summer morning, their ears filled with cautions about soiling or. tearing, the fear of this petty disaster or that repressing every natural instinct toward the most innocent of childish romps. ' The folly of it is equaled only by the cruelty of it "Ladylike" children you may call them; unchildlike, robbed of their birthright, they look to me. There is one essential principle only thatonght to be remembered in fitting the little people out for country, or seashore, or mountain pleasuring-. The dress for the wee girl must be one that she can be utterly unconscious of. It should not restrict the action of tbe limbs in any manoeuvre tbat the urchin sees fit to undertake. and it should be so simple tbat the child's mother will not care nor make ber small daughter care how many pieces go to the laun dry. To be "brown as a berry" is a small thing; to improve tbe digestion, to increase tbe endur ance, to harden the muscles, to learn something of nature by free observation and investigation or every conceivable if unconventional sort, tnese things are worth while and might easily be part of every child's vacation harvest A boy -will usually conquer his rights for him self. For a girl, if I had the choice between fitting her for Vassar and seeing her a brilliant scholar in corsets on the one side, and rescuing her from her shoes, liberating ber from her bustle (they come in six-year-old sizes now, you know), saving her from her gown and breaking the fetters that bind her , to ber complexion on the other, it would not be hard to say which way reason would incline even if I wanted to make a Mary Summerville or a Maria Mitchell of ber in the end.. Let a girl run through the dewy grass, let her play ball and ride the horses to water bare-back. and when you have kept it up for a generation or two you will have fewer little graves out on tbe hillside, and more hearty, nealtby, happy women in the land. "I saw you in the top of the walnut tree in the long meadow, yesterday," said a neighborly passer to one of the New York newspaper women a year or two only before she became a member of the craft "How did you know it was II" "Because you are the only woman in town who could get there," and the tribute to her climbing ability pleased the lis tener more that aav ah is ever likely to win by climbing in other directions. Dress tyranny begins soon enough for girls. Let them be happy in Holland linens, in ginghams, in sailor dresses of flannel, in jersey suits as comfortable as their brothers' kilts or trousers, while they can. The Summer Resorts. Special to the Indianapolis Journal New York, July 9. There is no marked change in the distribution of favor among the summer resorts this season, unless it be that Bar Harbor, which last year got folly its share, is likely this month and cxt to get a little more. Bar Harbor's star is decidedly in the ascendant The Catekills have filled up earlier than usual the actors' colony at Long Branch is alive and jliy; tfcere is an unusual amount of cottage building going on in the hill towns among tbe Berkshires for the late August and September festivities. Narragansett is gay, but bids fair to keep its reputation as a place devoid of men, an "Adamless Eden." where the white gown and the jaunty sailor bat are unaccompanied by the wonderful wardrobe of the vacation young man; tha dancing at the White Sulphur is iircicss as rsr, and the queer little. jimerack, Japanese cot

tages at the Vineyard " are running over with a

miscellaneous population. Newport s season promises to be unusually brilliant and when Newport is satisfied the rest of the world ought not to complain. Of people whom New Yorkers will miss from their Sunday's editions, General Sherman and wife are at Atlantic City, Miss Dodge, tbe school commissioner, with Mr. and Mrs. William E.. Dodge, is at Riverdale, within easy reach of tbe pavements, Mrs. Burton N. Harrison has gone to Bar Harbor, Gen. Alexander S. Webb andhis wife are at Sharon Springs, Mrs. William Astor is at Rhinebeok, Theodore Roosevelt and his wife are at Hyde PavsvMr. and Mra Wilbur Bloodgood are at Narragansett Pier, Mr. and Mrs. William Alien Butler are at Saratoga. Mrs. S. S. Cox is at Manhattan Beach, Mra William K. Vanderbilt, with ber children, has started with her husband in the Alva's round -tbe world trip, Miss Catherine Wolfe Bunce is at Newport Mr, and Mrs. Julian Hawthorne are on Long Island. Mr. and Mrs. Ogden Goelet are cruising on their yacht, and the world of society is far more scattered than it used to be before tbe big hotel passed its prime and the cottage rose in favor. Some of tbe best-known New York women will return to tbe eity in a very few weeks, bowever, for it resolved to give the American Association for the Advancement of Science, which holds its session in August, a warm welcome in one sense, perhaps , in two. and many hospitable houses which have had bars up and shutters closed from June to October in years past, will be aired and dusted for receptions to tbe scientists. Mrs. Hewitt the president of the ladies' committee, will take an active part in the festivities, and Mrs. Nicholas Fish, Mrs. Sylvanus Reed. Miss Edgerton, tbe remaining officers, with Mrs. Martha J. Lamb, Mra Mary Manes Dodge and some dozens of other members, have pledged themselves to brave a week or more of summer in town to do justice to the occasion. Fashion and Fancy. Special to the Indianapolis Journal. New York, July 9. A London paper remarks that a Presidentess who dines In her gloves would if she were a quees go to bed in ber Crown. Well-a-day, there is nobody wbo has not a soft spot in his or her heart for Mra Cleveland, but it is undeniably a dreary thing as the weather grows warm to cast about you furtively, at even the most informal of morning lunches, to see if a sufficient number of the women present are braving the White House decree to. warrant you in drawing off your hand coverings also. And, oh, tbe misery of discovering that they are not Grace Howard, the well-known journalist's oldest daughter, writes home from the Crow Creek mission, Dakota, where she has comfortably established herself, tbat her plans for tbe betterment of the industrial condition of the Indian women are already well under way. She has not gone West as a teacher, as the papers have reported. - but ber scheme, which is an original one, is to open on a small scale aa establishment for tbe cutting, fitting ' and manufacture ' of clothing and other household articles which the Indians now beg from the missionaries or buy whn, as does not often happen, the agents have any for sale. Her work is for her own sex. "Indian girls," she said to me jnst before her departure, "are like white American girls in one respect at least; they will not go out to service. Tbey do not make good servants, and aside from the housework in the families of the officers on the frontier posts there has been absolutely nothing for them to do. No wonder they sometimes drop back into barbarism. I want to give them a cbanee industrially.'' Miss Howard is in her early twenties, a fine-looking girl very xnaoh in earnest' Mrs. Tbnrber points a rioral and adorns a tale. Don't, again' I say to yon don't, go into business without acquiring a business edneation. Mrs. Tbnrber has hers now, but it cost her dear. So will it you, whether you can sink as much money as she without drowning with it or whether you are like the Polish woman who, in her broken English, wrote to me tbe other day proposing tbat I take a patent for a life-preserver off ber hands and "make a paper with her to give her two-thirds of' the profits from its sale." The return of eroqnet to favor seems assured. There is reason enough for it, too. Women ean't play tennis. . Tbat is. they have to choose between bustles and waists, fitted tight as a ball room bodice and an armory of steels on tbe one hand, and a blouse waist, undraped skirt freedom of motion and success at the game on the otber. Most women don't hesitate; hence the revival of croquet which is a complaisant game, requiring no sacrifices. Tight shoes are making money for the chirop odists in town. The Newport set for once. bless 'em are so .bngnsn as to wear sensible boots. May be the world will follow them in time. ' The babies, who can't help themselves, poor souls, are being put into low-necked and shortsleeved gowns again. . Barbarie young ladies, that is. young ladies of barbaric tastes, wear three or four necklaces at once. E. P. H. Planting Lare Trees. Tick's Magazine. With the desire to produce a fine effect as soon as possible, people want large trees, and are often willing to pay a much larger price for them than for those of ordinary size. This, for the most part is a mistake. It may be tbat a large tree can be moved and transplanted, and tbat it will then go on in its growth apparently unchecked, but as a rule, this is not tbe case. With the usual management in tbe removal and shipping of nursery trees there is seldom any gain by employing large trees, and often it is a decided disadvantage. This is true both of deciduous and evergreen trees. Medium-sized trees can usually be lifted with most of their roots, and will start vigorously into growth when transplanted, whereas when they have remained six or eight years in the nnrsery row, where they were first transplanted, they will have roots extending so tar that they must of necessity be much reduced in removing, and this will give them a check which will require a long time to overcome. - Beside the River. I sit and watch by the wonderful river - That flows so darkly 'twixt thee and me; The river that bore through its rushing torrent Tenderest, tenderest rest for thee. But J am so lonely, mother, 'mother! As I watch cheerlessly day by day Beside the river, the mystical river. Upon whose borders I kneel and pray. The whole wide world is of bitterness only. And dross is mixed with the shimmering gold; And the waters flow in a ceaseless measure; And life is dreary when love is cold. Bnt perhaps somewhere in the great hereafter, The preat hereafter to which we go, I shall And awaiting a wonderful loving That here on earth I can never know. I sit and watch by the magieal river Tbat flows so darkly 'twixt me and thee; It will bear, some time, in its rushing torrent, Wonderful, wonderful peace for me. nna B. BenseL A. Franco-American Iait. A maiden quite sweet and an fait. Was admired by all. 'till one dait - She made a faux pas, By 6a ing, tas. tas" To Algernon over the wait. Now Algernon's reverend pare Bad instructed his soion and heir, Tbat to flirt on the strite With a maiden petite . Was no pleasure for which he should cere. So Algernon raised his ehapeao. ' And straight on bis way did be geau; While the maiden so chic, Grew suddenly mich, - For her pride bad received a sad blau. -Life. Lora'i Season. The fee of lovers is brief: Frr.m the fair first joy to the grief Tbat tells when love i grown old, i From tbe warm, wild kiss to tbe cold, From the red to the white rose leaf, Tbey have but a season to seem As rose-leaves lost on a stream, That part not and rass not apart. As a spirit from dream to dream, As a sorrow from heart to heart Swinburne. A Summer Stayer. 'Mid sylvan scenes and kidney beans The farmer sweats around: In home-made clothts and sun-burned nose He spends his days in trying to raise . The mortgage that covers his ground. . The Aurora. How is it? It seems so strange; Only a month ago We were such friends! Now Caere's a change, Why. I scarcely know: I thought we were friends enough to say, We differ in this or the other way. What matter?" It was not so. ' - w. Btory, Hammock pillows and slumber cushions are favorite summer work. They are made of Turkey red, worked with white, denim embroidered with white, drilling and ether suitable materials. The slumber cushions are made usually of India silk embroidered with applied work. A new lamp-shade is formed of a pretty silk handkerchief, a hole being cut in its center to fit tbe globe. Edge with light lace or with loops of daisy ribbon. ' A square cf China silk or of cambric may be used in. place ot the handkerchief.

TROY STEAM LAUNDRY, 160 N. Delaware St. ECTZBEX.Y HxTITTtO XSTO dVe IHATJXEP. Lace Curtains a Specialty. Satisfaction Gtabaxtxkp.

Refrigerators Come and 6ee our new stock of Refrigerators and Ice-Chests We have the best line in the city. Also, the "PEERLESS'' and CROWN JEWEL Gr-A-SOlllKTIC STOVES. T. M. 3? TJ R S E: JL, L 9 Tlie Leading Stove Man, 84 fast Washington Street. PEARSON'S MUSIC HOUSE The cheapest place in the city to Bay .- or Bent PIANOS and ORGANS NEW PIANOS $15 cash and $3 par month. , NEW OKGANS $5 cash and $5 per month. , ' Pianos and Organs for rent at $1.50 to $5 per month. PEARSON'SMUSIG HOUSE 19 North Pennsylvania St. Hazelton & GablerPianoa. Tuning and Repairing. Excelsior Cooking ' - For oatmr . rice, f eral use it ensmpf For sale by all, le& Wholesale: iER & CO., SEVERIN, Otfi MEYER & CO., CONDUITT & bONS. F. P. SMITH & CO., SO and S2 N. Illinois St. For best Oils and Gasoline tele phone 707. See that tne TATISI STAMP Is or inside oi Corset ; THE FIUST TIME WORN. Moy toraeJ by oeller after w.a dT wear, If not (bond the most PFH FCTBoia bt all nnumi dealer. CROTTY BROS.. CHICAGO, ILL. If You Want a Buggy. Carriage. Phaeton, . Surrey, Spring. Delirnry or Farm Wason, call and examine the stock carried br us tha largest in the eity or State, at prices to aait the most fastidious. We are manufacturer of all kinds of Plows, Cora and Cotton Planters and Cultivators, Hay Rakes, Horse-powers, etc., and jobbers of a larg assortment of Afrrieultural Implement, -uch as Feed Mills, Grinders. Cutters Cookers and Corn Snellen. Write us for any information ia our line. BRADLEY, H0LT0N & CO. 177 East Washington St., Indianapolis. INDIANAFOLIS WATER CO 23 South Pennsylvania St, INDIANAPOLIS, IND., Is prepared to furnish excellent water for drinking, cooking:, laundry, bathing and steam boiWs at a coat very trifling for suoh a necessity, eavtrutsuoa and luxury. '' ".''.', "i wsammmatmmmmmmmmam riUSTAnOHU! ft A I t E he bft: ot rm-j-tn-uuilr, Protncinr t woxt naturaUh t jf or Brown; doea uat uius e i k.in and ia uil njU,L r'rice, S.. t Kis r .irmuo's h A t t Hill SE ttV.VM V E AVO BEAUTirialtt U the umb. dr4saintar teatir. try s. II I Filial . txeet. 21. V. latereetta pampulot seat fr J. airioK. WUUa-a TlTAVTElvTT the Wee One dollar par SST NEWSPAPER :N"

, , jsw u.Bigrr.j , i?i -

ralij to KYert mmi & wearer. Owing to th diuotwOXASTIClIV of to cloth (whl faoi alOBB cover oxclntvalyi tho Coratt roqaiiw no breaking hu FITS PERFECTLY