Indianapolis Journal, Indianapolis, Marion County, 2 September 1894 — Page 9

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JOURNAL.

I PAGES 9 TO 16 PART TWO. ! PRICE FIVE CENTS. PRICE FIVE CENTS. INDIANAPOLIS, SUNDAY MORNING, SEPTEMBER 2, 1891-SIXTEEN PAGES.

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XArOLEOX AT PLAY. The Emperor Found Diversion In tbe Society of "Wife and Child. From Review of Meneval's Memoirs. Thus at the outset we are told that the atmosphere of the court, and the habit which Marie Louise had of living familiarly with the Emperor, who paid her a great deal of attention, treated her In a simple and affectionate way, and often amused her with a gayety which was often animated, caused this princess to forget the strictness and reserve which she owed to her natural timidity at the time of her arrival in France. Her bearing became easy; fhe had become somewhat less stout, and her figure, which was of perfect symmetry, had very much Improved. Fine eyea, full of sweetness, and a beautifully fresh complexion pave to her face an agreeable expression, and rendered the general aspect of her person both noble and graceful. Weighed down by duties and carss on the eve of a rupture with Russia, the Emperor found his time taken up with the multifarious occupations of his cabinet and with the work of his ministers, lz was only with his wife and his son that he found relief from fatigue. Much of the little leisure which his affairs left him In the daytime was spent with his son, whose tottering steps it pleased him to guide with a womanly care. The frequent falls of the cherished child were greeted with caresses and loud shouts of laughter by his father. The Empress, who used to be present at these family scenes, . did not take so active a part In them as the Empcrur. Meneval says that these three persons, whose simplicity might have led one to forget their greatness, offered the spectacle of a middle-class family, attached to eacS other by the fondest affection. In other words. Napoleon's secretary, who, if we could credit him with equal Intelligence, would be deemed a better authority than Talne, contends that the great man whom so many prejudiced or mistaken minds have represented as being inaccessible to any tender sentiment was both a good husband and an excellent father. It is certain, he says, that the Empress never found In him a censor of her Innocent whims. The following anecdote which Marie Louise, as we are told, would often call to mind, proves the good nature of Napoleon In this respect. The remembrance of a taste which she had acquired In the homely sort of life she had led When quite a girl, Inspired one day the Empress with a desire to make an omelette herself, and she had all the necessary Implements and Ingredients brought to her apartments. While she was completely taken up with her culinary operations the Emperor chanced to enter. Somewhat upset by the unexpected visit. Marie Louise endeavored to prevent Napoleon from seeing what she was preparing. "What U going on here? asked the Emperor. "There is a singular mell, as If something was being fried." Then, stepping behind the Empress, he discovered a spirit lamp, a silver frying pan. In which the butter ."J beginning U melt, a salad bowl and tgs. "What!"

PARK

Central avenue.) TVTO c Sept. 8, "United States cried Napoleon, "so you are making an omelette! Hah! You don't know how to do it at all. I will show you how it Is to be done." He then set .to work, the Empress acting as his assistant; but, according to Meneval, he was trying to teach a subordinate who knew more about It than he did, and whose education "had been obtained in a school of experts. The Empress's parents were passionately fond of rustic occupations, loving to withdraw into some rural home, and there, disguised as farmers, to attend to household duties with their children. The omelette having been finished somehow or other, there remained the important task of tossing it. Napoleon wanted to do this himself; but he had thought hinself cleverer than he was. Just as he was trying to toss the omelette, there happened to him what befell the great Conde, who, according to Gourville, wished to make an omelette at an inn where he had stopped, and pitched it into the fire when trying to turn it. Napoleon did not succeed any better, and let the omelette fall on the ground. Obliged to confess his want of experience, he left the Empress to go on with her cooking alone. ' SEVEN WONDERS OF COREA. Marvels of Xnlure Which Exist In the Hermit Kingdom. Corea. like the world of the ancients, has its 'seven wonders." Briefly stated, they are as follows: First, a hot mlnera. spring near Kin-Shantao. the healing properties of which are believed by the people to be miraculous. No matter what disease may afflict the patient, a dip in the water proves efficacious. The second wonder Is two springs, situated a considerable distance from each other; In fact, they have the breadth of the entire peninsula between them. They have two peculiarities when one is full the other is always empty, and, notwithstanding the fact thet they are connected by a subterranean passage, one Is bitter and the other pure and sweet. The third wonder is a cold-wave cave a cavern from which a wintry wind perpetually blows. The force of the wind from the cave is such that a strong man cannot stand before it. A forest that cannot be eradicated is the fourth wonder. No matter what InJury is done to the roots of the trees, which are large pines, they will sprout up again directly, like the phoenix from her ashes. The fifth is the most wonderful of all. It is the famous "floating stone." It stands, or seems to stand, in front of the palace erected in its honor. It is an irregular cube of great bulk. It appears to be resting on the ground, free from support on all sides; but, strange to say, two men at opposite ends of a rope may pass it under the stone without encountering any obstacle whatever. The sixth wonder is the "hot stone," which from remote ages has lain glowing with heat on the top of a high hill. The seventh and last Corean wonder is a drop of the sweat of Buddha. For thirty paces around the temple in which it Is enshrined not a blade of grass will grow. There are no trees or flowers inside the sacred square. Even the animals decline to profane a spot so holy.

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EXTORTION H COREA

Min Yung Jnn, the Premier, lias Made Jiillions by "Squeezing." The First Officer of the Government Is One of the Greatest Political Strikers in the World. ALL TIIE PEOPLE OPPRESSED Terrible Outrages Perpetrated in Order to Extort Money. Punishment Extends to Relatives of the Chief Victims Land of BarbariansAmerican Colony. (Copyrighted, 1S94, by Frank G. Carpenter.) The man who has had more to do with the oppression of the Corean people, and who was to a large extent the cause of the rebellion, is going about Seoul ' to-day with hundreds of followers. lie rides In a chair, seated on a leopard skin, and he has a house containing scores of rooms. He Is said to be a millionaire. A few years ago he was worth practically nothing. He has made his Immense fortune by squeezing the people, and by hia relationship to the Queen. His name is Mln Yung Jun. He is now about forty years old, but foe la one of the greatest political strikers of the world, and he Is an adept in the selling of offices and In getting money out of the people. A part of his receipts have gone to the King, but a large amount has stuck to his own clothes. He first showed his effi ciency In this line as governor of Ping Yang, a city of perhaps 150,000 inhabitants. Which lies within a hundred miles of SeouL Here he was nicknamed by the people as "Stove Mln," because he burned up everything he touched, and he is now called Buddha Mln, probably for his supreme cheek of absorbing everything about him into his own nirvana. I have secured a photograph of tim, with a lot of his dancing girls behind him and his son at his side. His feet rest upon a leopard skin. and he is by no means a bad-looking Co rean. He has evidently great organizing powers, and he has brought office broker age down to a system. Corea, like China, is a land of squeezers. Officials who are paid something like $500 a year are expected to squeeze about 15,000 annually from the people. There is no se curity of property in Corea. and hence no incentive for the people to accumulate. If a man lays up money and the magistrates find it out, they have one of their under strappers accuse him of some crime. False witnesses are plenty, and they can whip the man or torture him until he pays something to be let go. Sometimes poor men are arrested on such charges. When tortured they say they have nothing and can give nothing. The reply often is, "You have a rich uncle, or a rich cousin, and he must pay this amount for you." As to the ofilcials, they must get their money out ofthe people, and if they pay high '.prices'; ,ior xneir ornces tney nave got to oppress their subjects. Until within the last year or so the magistrates were allowed to have terms of from two to three years. The prices of the offices were high. By Judi cially apportioning their oppressions over this time-.' they could squeeze enough to make a profit and still let the people live. The wants of the court and of the officials, however, have -increased within late years. The debt to China has eaten up a great part of the revenue, and Min Yung Jun has supplied the deficit by cutting down the terms for which the magistrates are appointed. At the same time he has not decreased the price of their offices, and they have had to squeeze all the money they could possibly get out of the people in order to come out even at the end of nine months instead of three years. The result is that in some parts of Corea star vation practically stares the people in the face, and this was the cause of the rebell ion. The rebellion was not against the King, but against his officials, and had the King not foolishly sent his troop3 against the rebels he might have escaped his present troubles and the war between China and Japan deferred. THEY "SQUEEZE" STRANGERS. This squeezing, which exists among the magistrates, runs. In fact, through the whole of Corean society. You remember the doggerel which runs something like this: The biggest fleas have smaller fleas Upon their backs to bite 'em, And those small flea have other fleas. And so ad infinitum. Well, the Corean capital flea Is of all sizes, from this great Prime Minister, Min Yung Jun, down to the kesos who trot along Desiae your cnair wnen ycu go through the city of Seoul. I had four chairbearers to carry me, and part of the time there was a soldier on each side of us. In addition, there was "General" Pak, and 1 doubt not that every one of them got his percentage out of everything I bought. 1 had to have the money paid over in my presence to be sure that it would be paid at all, and when Pak bought a cigar for me I venture he always received a cigar ette as his commission on the purchase. The Chinaman who kept house for Mr. Power, the electrician to the King, with whom I stopped, got his percentage on the price of every mouthful of food we ate ard of everything we bought. I could not hire a horse that the man who ran behind it and acted as my groom did not get his percentage of the hire. Such things are perfectly legitimate in Seoul. The man who keeps the gate of your house is given 10 per cent, of the amount of ail purchases made. This, of course, comes , out of the landlord, who is charged an additional price. If the percentage is not paid the seller wni get no more business, and he will be boycotted by all the gatemen of the town. The Illegitimate squeezing is awful. You have to watch all the time for fear some one else is being cheated or oppressed through you. The servants of foreigners are not subject to the ordinary Corean laws, and our legation to Corea found not long ago that the kesos connected with the establishment had been selling certificates to men about Seoul, stating that they wera employed by the legation, and they had re ceived from one thousand to twenty thousand cash apiece for these. Each of the foreign legations has a numbar of these keso soldiers, which are detailed to it from the service of the King, and my soldiers were of this character. An outrageous instance of squeezing occurred not long ago In connection with the Russian legation, and It was carried on a long time before the Russian minister found it out. These kesos went out Into the country and found men who were in debt to people in Seoul. They told them that the Russian minister had bought the claims against them, and that they must be paid with high interest. They put them In chains and brought them right to the legation and kept them in the outhouses, which are reserved for the ke

sos, and which surround every large Co

rean establishment Here they whipped them from time to time with paddles. They would strip them half naked, sus pend them by their elbows, and torture them by touching their bare legs with redhot pokers. Now and then they would let them out In the yard, and if the minister came in sight would warn them that they had better keep quiet, for he was a dangerous man, and was already inclined to cut their heads off for the nonpayment of the money. Think of such a tning actually go ing on for weeks without the minister knowing it, and I am told that a somewhat similar state of affairs prevailed for a short time In connection with the quarters of one of the missionaries. In another case, a teacher of one of the government schools found that his popular ity was waning. The people did not seem to like him, and he could not tell what was the matter until he found that his servants had been borrowing money of the people of the neighborhood, and that under compul sion, In his name. He believes that one of the chief officers of the school had a hand In the scheme, and It was only stopped upon his threatening that the imposition would be reported to the King, unless a change was Immediately made and the money returned. I did not buy anything in the Seoul shops unless I saw the money banded over for my purchases. Otherwise, my soldiers might say that I had just taken it, and inasmuch as I was a foreigner, and of presumably high rank, they would, to a certain extent, have to grin and bear it. The greatest squeezers in Corea are the Chinese, and the Chinese minister, Yuan, is supposed to make a great deal of money in this way. The Chi nese consul at Chemulpo made something like $3,000 out of a squeeze, which he ma nipulated In some way, on the shipments of rice from Corea, Just before the present trouble, and the whole of the social and governmental structure of this country and of China seems to me to be honey combed with corruption and bribery. ' MONEY OR BLOOD. There is nowhere in the world that the almighty dollar Is worth more to a man than it Is In Corea. He can often save his skin by plating the palm of his enemy with silver, and persons sentenced to flogging can ransom their punishment with money. They have, in fact, a fixed rate for this in Corea. Ten blows of the bamboo will be omitted on the payment of about $5; twenty blows for $10, and so on upward. There are few men who would not give all they have rather than have their thighs reduced to a Jelly, and the bamboo 13 a great persuader. At the same time, officials are sometimes punished for their cruelty, and those who cause the death of persons by torture receive 100 blows and are dismissed from the public service. I am told that the present dynasty has much less terrible punishments than were common In the past, and that within the last 250 years kneecrushing and branding have been abolished and there Is no cutting off of the noses and feet cf men, as was done in the middle ages. Still, the punishments are bad enough. 1 will devote my next letter to describing them. They are far worse than anything that is known outside of China, and the wives and families of rebels and criminals, even to the third and fourth generation, are Included In the sentences of their hus bands and fathers. Here is a curious method, which, I am told, prevails in Seoul, of executing the fathers of rebels. It is almost necessary to understand the structure. oft a Corean house to appreciate it. The rooms are heated, you know, by fires which are built under the house, and the flame3 of which run througn flues, covering every part of the floors of the rooms. These floors are of brick or mortar, and they are covered with a thick, white paper, well oiled. With a good fire, they turn the rooms Into ovens, and a small room soon becomes a furnace if a big fire Is built under it. Among the lowest classes in Corea are the butchers, and It is in a butcher's house outside the west gate of the city that the fathers of rebels are sometimes poisoned. The poison is mixed with rice water, which has been left over night In order that its taste may be bitter. The officer of the law takes Che man to this house. He wears wooden clogs, and thus keeps his feet from the red-hot floor upon which he puts the man, and where he forces him to drink the poisoned water. In the back of this room there is a great jar of Corean pottery which holds almost as much as a hogshead. This Is filled with water. After the official has given the poison he breaks this Jar and the water flows out upon the floor. If the man does not die of the poison the steam and heat soon finish him, and the body Is parboiled before it is taken out. It is carried through one of the dishonorable gates and cast out of the city. It must be left there for a certain time, and then, if its relatives do not take it away, the birds grow fat over Its cooked meat. " These punishments will give you some Idea of the horrors which are bound to attend any protracted war In this part of the vorld. The Japanese will carry on their struggle on Western methods, but the Coreans and the Chinese will do as they have done in the past, and aroe be to the prisoners who fall into their hands. During the war between the Chinese and English about a generation ago the foreign prisoners were carried about in iron cages, and I met an English consul at Canton a few years since who had his whiskers pulled out one at a time while he was being shown as a curiosity to the people in an iron pen, the roof of which 'was so low that he could, neither sit nor stand within It. This man said at the time that China should give up a life for every hair he lost from his beard, and his position, I am told, was such that he was able to carry out his threat. The father of the present King, who Is now at the head of the government, murdered the French missionaries and the Corean Christians in the most barbarous ways. The heads of some of them were cut off, and their topknots being tied together they ijrere hung high on poles, like so many onions. The bodies of the dead were brought to Seoul In straw bags, and were cast on the ground outside the southeast gat. Such things are hardly possible to-dav. The Coreans are afraid of the foreigner, and the officials have too much sense to llow the people to massacre them. Still, this was only a few years ago, and when war comes in at the door common sense flies out at the window. TIIE AMERICAN COLONY IN COREA. And this brings me to the American colony in Corea, Some of the best men that the United States has ever produced are now laboring there. Dr. H. N. Allen, the secretary of the American legation, will go down into history as one of the greatest of our diplomats. He has done more for Corea than any man ever connected with the United States legation and if our diplomatic service was ' ranlzed on any other than a political basr ... would to-day be the American minister to Corea, He has his wife and his children, two bright boys, with him, and his house Is inside the legation compound.' He comes from Ohio, and he is a thoroughly able man in every respect. He practically saved the life of one of the princes of the royal family, and his value to America and Europe is inestimable. The American minister, Mr. Sill, has been in Corea only a short time. I will write more concerning him in a future letter. He has been c professcr and an educator all his life and he is & cultured gentleman. He comes from Michigan and was appointed largely through the influence of Don Dickinson. He is a

man of no experience In diplomatic life, but he Is well liked and he is making a very good minister. There is only one American firm in Corea, and this is that of Morse & Townsend, which has Its chief house at the port of Chemulpo. James R. Morse, the senior partner, lives In New York. He has spent some years In Corea and Japan and he Is a very able man. W. D. Townsend, the other member of the firm, is a well-educated Bostonian. who does a big business in shipping all sorts of things out of the country and in importing supplies for the King, the court and the people. The missionary force In Corea is large, and It has done a great deal of good work. I don't believe there are more earnest, active and intelligent missionaries anywhere than you will find in thl3 country. They have a strong hold upon the people, and they are thoroughly respected by the King.

The headquarters of the missions are in Seoul. The work is chiefly done by the Presbyterians and Methodists "as far as the Americans are concerned. The French Catholics have a large Xorce at work among the people, and there is also a mission of the Church of England, which Is. I think, managed from London. The American Presbyterian mission consists of something like twenty people, and most of the missionaries have wives and families. The Methodist mission is equally as large, and both have hospitals and schools. The Corean College, under the Methodist Episcopal mission, is in charge of the Rev. H. G. Appenzeller, who Is also treasurer of the mission, and a most efficient man. I spent some time with him at his home in Seoul, and I can certify that he is thoroughly well posted upon the country and that his organization Is doing a great deal of good. The missionaries of Seoul live inside of walled compounds or yards. Their gates are usually guarded by keepers, and in case of trouble like the present these; walls would be a slight protection from a mob. CONNECTED WITH THE KING. " In addition to these, there are a number of foreigners connected with the court and the King. Gen. Wm. McE. Dye was, for years, In the employ of the late Khedive of Esrypt. He Is a graduate of West Point, and he is one of the Instructors and officers of the Corean army. He has been of great value to the King during the present rebellion, and in case there is a protracted war between Japan and China upon Corean soil, his brains, will have much to do with the direction of the struggle. I visited him a few weeks ago. His red beard and hair have turned white since he left America, but his form Is as straight as when he commanded his soldiers during the war of the rebellion, and his eye is as bright as it was during his wonderful career in Egypt. Gen. Clarence Greathouse, the foreign adviser to- the King, Is a Kentucklan by birth, and a Californlan by adoption. He came from. California to be consul-general at Yokohama, and from there was called to Seoul as a foreign adviser to the King at a salary of 512.000 a year. He has a fine establishment here, and his mother,' who is one of the sweetest old ladies out of Kentucky, is with him. Then there Is General Le Gendre, who Is also one of the vice presidents of the home office, and who is connected with General Greathouse as forein adviser, and Col.(F. J. H. Nien3tead, who is In charge of the government schools. Last, but not least among the Americans, there Is a bright young Washington man named Power, who came to Corea to put the electric light plant In the palace, and who has the position of electrician to the King. IJe is only twenty-six .years of age, but he has put up one of the finest electric light plants that you will find on the other side of the globe, and when the country Is aain settled he will probably build an electric railroad which is projected from Seoul to ChemulDO. It Is very unfortunate that this rebellion occurred just at this time, and if the Chinese are allowed to control affairs they will put the country in a worse state than ever. The King himself is more progressive than any of his nobles and he is anxious to see his country improved and his peo ple bettered. It was only a few months ago that he undertook to establish a pos tal service, and to do thi3 he called from Washington Mr. Ye Cha Yun, who for years was the secretary of the Corean le gation, and who acted for a time as Corean minister. Ye went to Corea very enthusiastic as to his work, and he was doing all he could to push modern progress there when the present rebellion broke out. He 13 one of the brightest of the younger Corean statesmen, and if his prominence doe3 not result In his losing his head through the jealousy of those above him he will yet make himself felt in the administration of the government. I called upon him one day at his resi dence in Seoul. He lives within a stone's throw of the palace, and the pirlor in which he received me was furnished half In American and half in Corean style. He wore a gown of white silk, and on his head was a many-cornered black hat of "horse hair net. The desk before him was full of papers, and ne was working as hard as he did at Washington. Ho has, I am told, a good fat position in the provinces where the rebellion has occurred, and it is probably a lucky thing for his head that he is using it in Seoul rather than In southern Corea. FRANK G. CARPENTER. RECALL THE SENATE. A Cry Out of the Depths from nn t'nhn;py Orgran. New York World (Dem.) The sugar ring has dispersed the Senate. At the nod of Mr. Gorman, the ring's general and the boss of the Senate, the members deserted the capital, leaving the Senate without a quorum for business or for adjournment. The trust's power was so complete and merciless that It would not even permit a speech to be made or a vote taken on the taxes which it had forced Congress to levy for Its benefit. Such a defiance of the popular will Is not to be endured. Such a degradation of the Senate should not be submitted to. President Cleveland would be justified In calling the Senate back Into extra session, exclusively for the consideration of the free sugar bill demanded by the country and unanimously passed by the House. A large majority of the Senators are opposed to the sugar ring and will vote for free sugar whenever they can vote on that clear Issue. The President should give them the opportunity. The Collefre-nred Sinter. She has just returned from college, where she studied each improvement which haj been achieved in learning and in scientific lore: She has stored her mind with knowledge vast enough to start a college but she cannot carve a chicken without mussing up the floor. She writes philippics and stories, and In thoughts poetic glories, and talks "universal suffrage" in a way that strikes one dumb With undisguised admiration at her learned inspiration but she cannot darn her stockings without boring through her thumb. She's a crank on household neatness, and will frown with routing sweetness should my shoes mud splashes scatter on the polished hallway floor; But she thinks not of demurring when her pet cat comes a-purring. and. with arched back, rubs the varnish off the panels of the door. Sha will frown if I say "ain't he and on grammar lecture to me until my poor head is swimming with the strict rules of syntax; But she'll listen with great relish when her beau talks "baby English." and gets mad should I hint gently that his Ferris wheel Is lax. Ob, she is a xearl, a treasure, this sweet Sis. with eyes of azure, and I'm sure she'll make a record as a happy mortal's wife; But I warn the swain aspiring that she'll bo.?S with swav , untirlnc anl will rr.ikc h'nti walk a chalk lin for the balance of his life --New Orleans Picayune.

W. C. P. BRECKINRIDGE

And His Remarkable Contest in the Seventh Kentucky District. A Potent Personality and Brilliant Oratory That Would Have Won Success in the Ministry. INCIDENTS OP TIIE CANVASS Characteristics of Others Who Are Seeking the Nomination. Breckinridge May Win in the Primaries, but It Will Simply Mark the Beginning: of the Struggle. Special to the Indianapolis Journal. LEXINGTON, Ky.. Sept. 1. The first murder has occurred over the Breckinridge canvass for renominatlon, and one having knowledge of these people and the situa tion can hardly dare hope that the ISta of September, primary voting day, will see the last, on Wednesday two men met on the pike near Boonesboro. They had been good neighbors for years. One was a Breckin ridge man, the other anti-Breckinridge. A slignting word was spoken, and promptly resented. The men dismounted, knives were drawn and one was stabbed to death. A stranger Irom the North tinds difficul ty at first in grasping the real relations of things down here. At the same time his is the advantage of an ability to exercise an uniinpassioned, unprejudiced judgment. The character of the contest In this Seventh congressional district for the next nomination of the Democratic party is unique in the country's history. The merits of the Breckinridge case are of general knowledge, but there are some features I the canvass, pertaining principally to the personalities of the candidates, which arc both interesting in themselves and elucidative of many otherwise Inexplicable happenings in the course of the contest. That contest is now at blood heat, anl partisan animosities are already dangerously acute. Nominally there are three men in the light, practically but two Breckinridge and Owens. One Is a self-confessed adulterer, another has admitted he was a drunkard who neglected his wife and family, and the third does not deny that he is an intimate of professional gamblers and "tickles the tiger" whenever he feels like it. Nymphomaniac, dipsomaniac and caderomanlac, they are an interesting trio, and each has something more ; than average ability, though none reaches the level of distinctive greatness. Your correspondent has met all three, and would sum them up thus: Colonel Breckinridge would have shone, scintillated even, as the "popular" pastor of a fashionable city church, had he followed the profession of his truly admirable father. That is the sphere for which nature seems to have especially molded him. His oratory, which is so much lauded, has tho distinctive flavor of the pulpit, while Intellectually he is a dilettant, and to the consideration of all economic or political questions he brings the feelings and the judgment of the dealer in mental bric-a-brac. And this quality of Breckinridge's is one to which, afer his patronymic, he owes most of his popularity in Kentucky for he is popular here, immensely popular, and when the votes are polled on the 15th the measure of his popularity, albeit he wears the scarlet letter in the sight of all, will surprise the people without the boundaries of Kentucky. Breckinridge has a most persuasive personality. His picture, familiar to all, gives little idea of the man. When he leans forward in his chair, In which he lolls rather than sits, to greet a man or boy for the first time, his mouth and eyes smile beautifully, and the almost caressingly sibilant quality of his voice conquers the newcomer, while the affectionate pressure of his soft, plump, censuous hand seems to have a mesmeric power hard to neutralize. Al young men who come under his personal, bodily influence are his. The Breckinridge button is most prevalent on the coat lapels of youths In Lexington. But the man has grit, too; he is a fighter, and whatever the strain on him he flaunts the appearance of the indomitable. Your cor. respondent has rnet him in a situation fitted to test a strong man. On the 20th of August the Breckinridge forces had a great rally fit Georgetown, Scott county, the home of Hon. W. C. Owens, Colonel Breckinridge's opponent. Free excursion trains were run from all corners of the district, and some eight thousand of the Breckinridge clan invaded the pretty little country town. It was court day, the streets were thronged with Scott county folks, and on the breast of every lady, the coat lapel of every man, was an Owens badge. On every house in town, excepting not more than half a score, was tacked a large card that bore the legend, "Our Choice for Congress, Hon. W. C. Owens." It was Owen3, Oxens everywhere. Colonel Breckinridge sat In a small bedroom. No. 22, designated the "Breckinridge headquarters," in the Lancaster Hotel, to receive his friends. Few came. When he greeted your correspondent it was bravely done, but he could not. quite hlie the true state of his feelings. "Breckinridge can't make much of a speech to-day," was my mental comment. Yet the opposition, which was only silently visible, not audible anywhere, nerved him, and he made one of the best speeches of the campaign. And fully onethird of the six hundred who listened to him bore the Owens badge. A thought has come to me here that few people of the Ashland district would care to consider warranted. I think CoL Breckinridge hao a certain contempt for the very people arhose suffrages he soUcit. though his Is not by any means the Conoianus bearing. Mr. Settle has the Kentucky habit of using the old English participle "gotten," and it is -amusing to hear the fine scornful stress Breckinridge lays on the word as he quotes Settle, and on several occasions the Colonel has gone out of his way to speak of the Kentucky vernacular. He himself has a fine aptitude in phrase formation and he possesses the dlletrant's scorn of the commonplace La epeech and the simple In thought. STATUS OF THE CONTEST. But what chance does he stand of bein renominated? His chances are very good. True, the best people of the district are against him, but the voting power of "popular sentiment" Is an indefinite quantity, and, in the phrase of the wise George Meredith, "In action virtue goes by majort ties." Had the question come to a vott two months ago Colonel Breckinrldg would have been beiten badly, but every day has added to his chances of success. Yet, let me say here that it may be that an ebb of the tide is beginning, and that the anti-Brecklnridge forces are getting second wind. The greatest demonstration of the whole campaign occurred here on the 221, when over 20,000 run, women &cj