Indianapolis Journal, Indianapolis, Marion County, 6 December 1897 — Page 4

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THE DAILY JOURNAL MONDAY, DECEMBER 8, 1807. Washington Office—lso3 Pennsylvania Avenue Telephone CnllM. Buatr.caa Office 238 I Editorial Rooms...A S6 TERMS OF SUBSCRIPTION. DAILY BY MAIL. Dali.v only, one month $ .”0 Daily only, three months 2.00 Daily only, one year 8.00 Dally, including Sunday, one year 10.00 Sunday only, one year 2.00 , WHEN FURNISHED BY AGENTS. Daily, per week, by carrier 15 cts Sunday, single copy 5 cts Daily and Sunday, per week, by carrier 20 cts „ WEEKLY. Per year *IOO Reduced Hu tea to Clulm. Subscribe with any of our numerous agents or send subscriptions to THE INDIANAPOLIS JOURNAL, Indianapolis, Ind. Persons sending the Journal through the mails In the United States should put an an eight-page paper a ONE-CENT postage stamp; on a twelve or sixteen-page paper a TWO-dENT postage stamp. Foreign postage Is usually double these rates. AH communications intended for publication In this paper must, in order to receive attention, be accompanied by the name and address of the writer. If it Is desired that rejected manuscripts be returned, postage must in all cases be Inclosed for that purpose. THE INDIANAPOLIS JOURNAL Can be found at the following places: NEW YORK--Astor House. CHICAGO—PaImer House. P. O. News Cos., 217 Dearborn street, and Great Northern Hotel. CINCINNATI—J. R. Hawley .& Cos.. 154 Vine . strtet. LOUISVILLE—C. T. Leering, northwest corner of Third and Jefferson streets, and Louisville Book Cos., 256 Fourth avenue. BT. LOUlS—Union News Company, Union Depot. Washington, and. cT-rtiggs House, Ebbitt House and Willard's Hotel. By the time Spain gets ready to relieve the Cuban reconcentrados most of them will be past all relief. The immigration problem is one of the questions of pressing importance, but few of the interviewed congressmen seem to have it in mind. A man has been sent to jail for thirty Mays for cheating at a primary in Massachusetts, where primaries are protected by almost the same laws as the regular election. Bpain resents the suggestion of foreign aid or relief for the starving people of Cuba, and avers that she can and will take care of her own. Thus she tries to discount the results of Spanish barbarism by an exhibition -of Spanish pride. From this distance it looks very much as if the striking English engineers were showing more stubbornness than wisdom. Besides losing time and wages they are crippling their employers and driving trade out of England that it will take years to recover. AL a dinner a few nights ago of the natives of Illinois living in Boston a speaker said: "Illinois has had two Tanners—of one ail the great State is proud; of the other —. If that be treason, make the most of it." The company caught the allusion to Governor Tanner and roared. In considering whether the Republican party is pledged to such currency legislation as will commit it to the maintenance of the gold standard. Republican congressmen should remember that Mr. McKinley would have been defeated but for the votes of sound-money, gold-standard Democrats.

In view of the aldermanic nominations and the uproarious proceedings of the Democratic convention in Boston, the Herald, which has done much to encourage that party, sorrowfully remarks that "the Democratic party of Boston must reform itself.” In other words, the mugwump cannot reform it. An exchange proposes that the money collected by the proposed postal savings banks should be used in the construction of public buildings in the cities where it shall be deposited. It would take a long time to obtain the amount necessary for that purpose in any one city w’here a public building is really needed. Besides, the United States is paying the interest on as much debt as is desirable. Postmaster General Gary has received a long letter from a Maryland woman, asking for an appointment for a friend of hers on the ground that last fall he expended for the Republican cause S2OO which he had laid aside for the purpose of buying a tombstone in memory of his children. Now, not being able to get the tombstone, he wants an office. At present the odious civil-service law bars the way. The further improvement of our rivers and harbors can well afford to wait until the revenues of the government shall cover its expenditures. This is particularly true of the rivers, some of which that claim appropriations are only navigable in a very wet season and then only for mud-turtle steamboats. The able congressman who wants to do something for "my deestrict” should be eat down upon. Papers in-the larger cities are not speaking in complimentary terms of the Bureau Os American Republics, or, rather, of its methods. They recall the receptions given at much cost to South American visitors taken over this country, and to its recent advertising projects. One of them remarks that if we are to get trade in South America we must send men to canvass for it, as it is done at home. The Journal understands that the Ohio OH Company, which is the chief offender in the waste of natural gas in this State, is really the Standard Oil Company by another name. The greedy and conscienceless methods of this gigantic corporation are well known, and it should give fresh impetus to the movement for the preservation of the gas to know that the Standard Company is the beneficiary of the waste. A prominent business man of St. Paul, Minn., who was in this city on Saturday, had witnessed the waste of natural gas at some points in the State. "That gas would be of immense value at St Paul or Minneapolis,” lie said. "With us the fuel question is a very important one, and the lack of cheap fuel is almost an insuperable obstacle to the establishment of manufactories. Yet here I find your people are literally wasting an incalculable amount of the cheapest fuel in. the world.” Some members of Congress are opposed to trying to do unything in the way of currency reform because of the alleged impossibility of getting unything through the Bi-riate. This is a wrong view. The House should do its duty without regard to the Senate, and if the latter declines to do anything the country will know where to locate the responsibility and apply a remedy. Suppose the President should ignore the currency question or make no recommendation on the subject in his message, for the sam i.uson? He would be very severely criticised, and Justly so. The Republican party expects a Republican Present *nd

House of Representatives to take the right position on this question, and if the Senate does not do so the Republican party will not be responsible. The House should not hide behind the Senate nor shirk its duty because of the supposed attitude of the other branch of Congress. THE MEETING OF CONGRESS. Congress will reassemble to-day. If it is so minded, there is much that it can do for the benefit of the whole country. If the correspondents accurately represent the sentiment of Congress in the interviews which have oeen given, there seems to be little disposition to consider the more important matters. True, most of the members w ho have delivered themselves to the reporters are not men who have made a mark in national legislation. Such men have ceased to give opinions to the correspondent to send to his constituents. If men in Congress could get at the minds of the large number of thoughtful and considerate voters they would talk less of Hawaii, Cuba and of the repeal of the civil-service law, and more of measures which are essential to the welfare of the whole people. The criticism upon those who have talked is that they seem to have no appreciation of the business of the government. For Instance, the expenditures of the Postal Department have been from eight to ten millions in excess of the revenues. This is not so much due to the extension of the service as to the vicious laws .and rulings which have made the mail an express to do business for one-fourth of the amount it actually taxpayers. This has been going from bad to worse for several years. The Republican House passed the Loud bill, which would have reduced the expenditures from six to eight millions a year, and benefited the service for all except a limited number of persons who make money by the abuse of the provision for second-class matter. The passage of such a bill would be equivalent to adding six or eight million dollars to the revenue of the government. Yet no congressman has spoken of the importance of such legislation. This is simply an illustration of some of the business matters which should claim the attention of Congress before Cuba, Hawaii or legislation regarding the civil service, which, if successful, could only temporarily benefit fifty thousand people and make several hundred thousand who must fail desperately angry and revengeful. There are 70,000,000 of people to whom economical and business legislation would be a benefit.

A GEORGIA MUNICIPAL ELECTION. The Atlanta Constitution of recent date gave a long account of the municipal election in Augusta, Ga„ in which ex-United States Senator Walsh was successful as a reform candidate, which is full of interest. There were three candidates for mayor, and the aspirant who received the larger part of the colored vote was said to be successful, as the white vote was divided quite evenly among the candidates. In Georgia there is a voting place for colored voters apart from that at which the whites vote. It appears that these voting places for the negroes are so few, compared with the number of voters, that not near all of those registered for the precincts can vote, because of lack of time. This being the case, the leaders had their colored voters in hand all night near the voting places, so as to be first at the polls in a solid force. The candidate whose managers were able to get their men first at the polls had it his own way until his band, which was marched to the voting place, had ail voted. The negroes were kept near the polls all night by barbecues, music, religious services and crap games. The preacher would exhort one part of the crowd, which would sing hymns with fervor, while another portion was given over to shooting craps. At four or live voting places the Walsh men succeeded in massing their men about the polls and in voting them first, to the exclusion of all others. In another precinct the opposition, white and black, flanked the Walsh men during the night, and, being in larger numbers, drove them, away. In that precinct Mr. Walsh was badly beaten. This unfair capture of the voting places was not the most deplorable feature of the contest. Money was used freely and openly. There being no secret ballot in Georgia, and evidently no law for the punishment of bribery, it was easy and safe to purchase votes, white as well as colored. Representatives of all the candidates standing near the polls could see how any man voted if he wisjied to have it known. When the vote of a hired man was deposited the man at the voting place gave him a card marked "good for two days’ work,” which meant $2. Not far distant from the voting place an agent redeemed the card. The Constitution says that at one or two voting places the representatives of candidates flourished handsful of bills and openly bid for votes or accepted the bids of those who had votes to sell. Because he received a large portion of the colored vote Mr. Walsh, the candidate of municipal reform, received nearly as many votes as both his competitors. The significant feature of the contest was that when the fight became hot and the outcome uncertain, all of the candidates or their managers turned to the colored voters. Instead of appealing to them as citizens who would be benefited by good municipal government and alfording them facilities which would enable all to vote, they simply gave them to understand that all the interest they could possibly have in an election is the money they could get for their votes. For this the white Democrats of Augusta are responsible. THE .MISTAKE OF SOCIALISM. Equality has long been a charmed word. Prophets and poets have talked and sung of it, and there is a very general, if ver> vague impression, that something in the nature of equality may be expected when mankind has made sufficient progress. It is the corner stone of socialism, whether it is the socialism of Bellamy, as set forth in his book “Equality”—to be a collective ownership and production of wealth, or the sharing of incomes upon some principle which recognizes that there is a difference in the capacity of individuals. Because there are equal rights in citizenship in this country and equality before the law, many maintain that there should be some sort of equality in the possession of pioperty and in what property insures. They frequently declare that when humanity has made greater progress in intelligence, and that when civilization is all that it should be, there will be a condition of economic and social economy based upon human rights. The world's history proves that what is called progress has gradually elevated humanity to higher and higher planes wherever the greatest advances have been made In Intelligence and in the industrial arts. No great invention has been brought to light that has not blessed mankind, wherever It has been introduced, by lessening

THE INDIANAPOLIS JOURNAL, MONDAY, DECEMBER 6, 1597.

human toil and cheapening the products which are essential to human comfort. What were the luxuries of kings two centuries ago are the necessities of the poorest to-day. The raising of whole races from barbarism to civilization has been the work of human progress. That progress, however, has not secured human equality in the vague or socialistic meaning of the word. On the contrary, it has produced variety. In fact, the progress of society means an increasing variety of functions and tastes. Progress is the development incident to an increasing variety of human capacity, stimulated by the promise of individual gain. But for this stimulus there would have been little progress with the centuries. When men can no longer enjoy the fruits of their own exertions the wheels of progress will stop. No man will devote days and nights to experimenting with the elements if he is to share the fruits of his discovery with those who will not or cannot invent. No genius will burn midnight oil in writing a book when there shall be no copyright. In time, there will be no'expert workmen, if the man whose skill is worth a dollar an hour shall be forced to accept the same compensation as the dullard whose service is not worth a dollar a day. Uniformity such as underlies all socialistic themes is at war with progress. It is rather the condition of savagery, when all men were alike, and men, women and children were a horde. The equality of uniformity can be found in no other condition. The first step from savagery to the higher plane of barbarism was takeh when some savage discovered an implement which made it easier to kill game, but when he made that discovery he stepped forth from the uniformity of his state, and that variety was bom which is coincident with human progress. Barbarism was marked by some rude division of labor and interchange of ideas. Step by step specialization came to human industries, and now the highest stage of civilization is marked by the widest specialization, and the value of variety in skill and quality of service is everywhere recognized. That uniformity which would put the services of Edison upon the level of those of the man who can perform only the simplest kind of labor, and which would give the same compensation to both, has been ignored. The socialistic idea of equality would force a uniformity which would put upon the same level the man capable of managing a transcontinental railway and the section hand. Progress has cast aside that heresy and stimulated a leadership which lias organized industry and enterprise so that the least skilled are raised to a much higher plane that that occupied by the most fortunate when barbarism held the race. All who advocate socialism are on the wrong road. They are marching in the wrong direction. The uniformity which their equality demands can only be attained by reaching the condition of savagery where all men, if men they can be called, are equal in all things. The first backward step will be taken when all men are made to labor for the same compensation.

SWINDLING THROUGH THE MAILS. Readers of the Journal may have noticed in its news columns a statement that the Postoffice Department has prohibited the circulation of papers containing advertisements of so-called "missing word” and "missing letter” puzzles, but they probably know very little as to the character of the swindle and Still less of its extent. In fact, the devices for swindling the public througii the mails are so numerous and varied as almost to suggest that the American people are composed largely of knaves and fools, swindlers and dupes. The universal desire to get something for nothing, the get-rich-quick mania, is at the bottom of it all. The rascal wants to make money easily and rapidly, dupe wants to buy gold dollars for a cent apiece, so they make a pair. Many swindlers think they can use the mails with impunity, while others know there is a risk, but are willing to take it. There is law enough against the use of the mails for swindling purposes, and the postal authorities use a great deal of vigilance in •its enforcement, yet in spite of their efforts there is a good deal of that kind of swindling done. The one above referred to is of comparatively recent origin, but it had become very extensive, having been adopted by the publishers of a class of worthless and trashy papers and periodicals to extend their circulation. It consisted in offering a large prize, a valuable gold watch or a large sum in cash, for a list of correct answers to a pretended "puzzle” so plain on its face as to be readily solved by any :n----tclligent school boy or girl. By the terms of the advertisement every person sending a solution of the puzzle” must inclose twenty-five cents for three months’ subscription to the publication, or in come cases a sample copy, and if the solution is “pronounced correct by the awarding committee” the sender will receive the capital prize. A few sample words will show how simple the so-called puzzles are: L-n-l-n is "the name of a President who was assassinated.” J-p-n is "the name of a distant country.” P-n-s-l-a-v is "the name of one of the United States,” and so on. Another publisher offers a prize for a correct reading of eight popular proverbs in which one or two words are left out, as "A stitch in nine;” "It’s a long that has no “A friend in is a friend and so on. A prize of SIOO in cash is offered to the first person sending a correct answer to these eight proverbs and prizes of from $5 to SSO each to other successful contestants. One can see that the puzzles almost answer themselves. These advertisements have been scattered broadcast throughout the country. The December number of a magazine which calls itself respectable contains no less than six different advertisements of this kind, each one offering a large prize for “a correct answer” to the puzzle and requiring the answer to be accompanied with twenty-five cents. No doubt the framers of these tempting offers reaped quite a harvest before the postal authorities discovered what was going on. Tons and tons of their advertisements were sent out through the mails, and no doubt hundreds of thousands of gullible people have forwarded answers to the “puzzles,” inclosing twenty-five cents and expecting to get anywhere from $lO3 to SSOO in return. The Postoffice Department holds that these “snide” advertisements come under the law prohibiting the use of the mails to promote any scheme or artifice to defraud or any enterprise "offering prizes dependent upon lot or chance, or concerning schemes devised for the purpose of obtaining money under false pretenses.” This will put an end to that particular form of swindling, but anew one will spring up. Swindlers and dupes we have with us always, and even the United States government cannot altogether prevent them from communicating through the mails. Immediately after the last presidential election Republicans were profuse and sincere in their expression of thanks to the

gold-standard 'Democrats for the services they had rendered in the cause of sound money and good government It was generally conceded that th e McKinley administration ought to dd something: in the way of acknowledging and recognizing this service, and it was even suggested that a soundmoney Democrat should be offered a Cabinet position. The suggestion did not "materialize,” and so far as known nothing has been done on the line indicated. As the obligation of the Republican party and administration to the sound-money Democrats is still uncanceled, why not meet their expectations by inaugurating a plan of currency reform based on the recognition and maintenance of the gold standard? That would have the double advantage of gratifying sound-money Democrats and strengthening the Republican party. President McKinley said ifa his inaugural address: A deficiency is inevitable as long as the expenditures of the government exceed its receipts. It can only fie met by-ioans or increased revenue. While a large annual surplus of revenue may invite waste or extravagance, inadequate revenue creates distrust and undermines public and private credit. Neither should be encouraged. Between more loans and more revenue there ought to be but one opinion. We should have more revenue, and that without delay, hindrance or postponement. This was true in last, and it is true now. It shows that the President realized then, as he must now, this fatally weak point in the government finances, namely, the insufficiency of the revenues to meet expenditures. That is the first point to be protected and strengthened. But the President also said in his inaugural address: The several forms of our paper money offer, in my judgment, a constant embarrassment to the government in its efforts to maintain a safe balance in the treasury. Therefore, I believe it necessary to devise a system which, without diminishing the circulating medium or offering a premium for its contraction, will present a remedy for those arrangements which, temporary in their nature, might well, in the years of our prosperity, have been displaced by wiser provisions. With adequate revenue secured, but not until then, we can enter on such changes in our fiscal laws as will, while insuring safety to our money, no longer impose upon the government the necessity of maintaining so large a gold reserve, with its attendant and inevitable temptations to speculation. This shows that in Masch last the President was of opinion that currency reform should follow as soon as the receipts of the government should equal its expenditures, and no doubt he is still of that opinion. It is probable he will take substantially this position in his message to-day. A suit was recently begun in New York which has brought to light the fact that the secrets of the Supreme £ourt of the United States are sometimes divulged. One of the recent important suits was that sustaining the Bell telephone patents. A speculator named McMurren Informed a. broker in New York that he had a valuable secret, out of which much money could be made. Negotiations followed* and as a result the broker purchased a large block of Bell stock. Two days later the decision was announced and the stock went skyward. The broker refused to pay over to the informer the $30,000 due I)im‘,qnder the agreement. It appears that "Phil” Thompson, who is an ex-representative from Kentucky, and now a lobbyist in Washington, told the plaintiff that he had read the opipion of the Supreme Court, and that it was in favor of Bell. Doubtless he made the plaintiff a partner in selling the valuable secrets of the court. But how did Phil Thompson *' < .fit/ iIL come by his gave him a copy of the dectsioh tSF-Vead?

The self-gratulation with which Great Britain recently reviewed the heroism and invincible courage of the Sikhs and the Ghurkas in her Majesty’s service is changing to uneasiness for fear the aforesaid native soldiers will come to realize their own importance and go into the fighting business on their owu hook. f ■ ■i ■ e * ■ The Ohio asyiunf superintendent who had an inmate put into a padded cell because he was found reading a “comic supplement” e,nd laughing may have acted hastily, but the publio will see ample excuse for his action. If the man t pa4't been laughing his terrible mental condition might never have been suspected. The proverbial last- straw, to disarrange the vertebrae of the spinal column of the Luetgert camel, is the refusal of the experts to give any further impersonations of the animal that spoke to Baalam. Absolutely no more sensation in it. Woe is Chicago! Patriotism. Kentucky folks aye take the cake For wholesouled loyalty, you know. They even made a little war Because the State has tolled them so. A Kansas woman is bound to establish her right to do something that men take as fen unpleasant duty. She declares she will sit on a jury, even if the case has to be taken to the highest tribunal in the land. The term "lak” is used as a measure of money in India. The term “lack” is used in connection with the finances of civilized nations to a degree that is at times intensely embarrassing. Be it known, that, if there be any national convention that Indianapolis did not have last year, the year before or this year, she will have it next year. It is not so easy to "scour the desert” in the American wild West as it is in the Sahara, where there is plenty of sand Instead of borax. BUBULES IN THE AIR. It All Depends. v "I like a man who is not afraid to say what he thinks. Don’t ypu?” "Why, no; not particularly. I don’t think a big man is any more likable than a little one.” And Then? He—Oh, I’m a sleeper from away back, as it were. I fall asleep the minute my head touches the pillow, and don’t know' a thing until I wake. She—And thenThe Uheertul Idiot, "One,” said the Cheerful Idiot, before any one else could start a conversation, “one is Booth-Tucker, and the other is a tooth bucker, though I don’t know' what the answer is. Perhaps my young friend, the dental student, may be able to elucidate.” Same Here. The Tourist—Politics is purer here than it is back home. We are afflicted with an epidemic of thieves in high places. Rubberneck Bill—Same pardner. We got a dozen er so* of ’em hangin’ purty high right this minute. Jist step ’round the corner an’ you can see the tree. THE STATE PRESS. The Germans demand a coaling station in China because they want to make it hot for the Chinese.—Terre Haute Mail. The silver party has given away its secret in saying it is to win in 1900. This gives the public ample training time for knocking it out.—Lafay tte Courier. It is very gratifying to see the people of the gas belt even at this late hour rising in force and adopting measures to prevent the reckless waste of natural gas. There has been exhibited in this matter a species

of inconsiderate recklessness that has no parallel anywhere in the history of business ejcpcrier.ee.—Pendleton Republican. The Senate may not meet President McKinley’s washes by the adoption of financial legislation, but the country will know where ts olace the blame.—Elkhart Review. We have too many statesmen like that Pomiiist who, after making the welkin roar in behalf of the referendum, wrote to a newspaper to ask what the referendum meant.—Clay City Reporter. These frequent announcements of increase of wages must be ai noying to some people. Were we in the rnidst of a campaign they could, of course, be charged to that account, but now it seems that there is no other reasonable excuse except that business is improving.—New Castle Courier. A bimetallic circulation can only be secured by adopting and maintaining the better metal as the standard and by :oining on government account and so limiting the coinage of the cheaper, as that its parity may be maintained by the pledge and guarantee of the government.—Middletown Ncw r s. . If it be true that the old adage "wilful waste makes woeful want” applies to use of natural gas then in some future day some o£ the towns and cities in the Indiana gas belt will suffer on account of their extravagant use and in many instances reckless waste of this fuel of nature.—Gas City Jouinal. The whole Indiana gas belt is stirred up over the alarming waste of natural gas, r.nd public meetings are being held to adopt measures to put a stop to it—not by the folly of convening the Legislature in a special session, but by creating a public sentiment that, will demand and secure the enforcement of the laws. That is the right course. —Rushville Republican. Michigan City has grown rapidly within the pas\two or three years, notwithstanding the nhrrt times, and what is the most gratifying is the fact that it is a steady* substantial growth and not a boom whose bubble is in danger of being pricked, to be followed by a reaction. The prospects of the coming year are more promising than ever.—Michigan City News. The reason that the Indiana congressmen and many other congressmen believe that there is a demand for the repeal of the civilservice law is that they mistake the clamor of the officeseekers for the clamor of the people. The officeseekers are not all the population of the country and the fact that they sometimes seem to be is an optical illusion for political effect for the time only. —Martinsville Republican. It is an interesting fact that the first year of the presidential term of President McKinley is signalized by the exportation to Europe of American tin plate, whose manufacture in the United States was brought about by the high protection given to that industry by the law bearing his name and framed under his management as chairman of the House committee on ways and moans.— Washington Gazette. Every business man in the United States is grateful that Congress, which will convene Monday, is not a menace to the business of the country. There will be no revolution threatened or talked of along tariff lines. Whatever may be said or done with the money question will be in the direction of sound money, and no patent scheme for making everybody rich or money cheap will disturb public confidence in the integrity of the Nation.—Fort Wayne Gazette. Mr. Billheimer, the Indiana man recently named as consul at Zanzibar, has concluded to accept the place. The controlling reason is said to be the fact that the fishing is good there, that gentleman being an expert angler. But as the place pays $2,700 per year and gives him a chance to make a great deal more as agent for commercial houses; and as the cost of living there is small, and the only clothing required is to be clothed in one’s right mind, it is possible something else beside the fishing influenced Mr. Billheimer’s decision.—Richmond Item. If the people of the Indiana gas belt had, months ago, realized the importance of stopping the criminal waste of natural gas by undertaking, personally, the enforcement of the act of 1893, the existence of the supply of fuel would have been protracted several years. The supine indifference of the men the value of whose property, and whose livelihood, to some extent, depends upon the gas deposit, is simply incomprehensible. The gas, biown into the air, is like “the water that is past,” but there yet remains a vast amount of natural gas which should be scrupulously husbanded. Wabash Plain Dealer.

ABOUT PEOPLE AND THINGS. In the State of Nuevo Leon, Mexico, the government has ordered that the pupils in all the official schools shall be taught to write and perform all manual tasks as well with the left hand as with the right. A Methodist convention in northern Illinois recently listened to the report of a ministerial brother who had been investigating the condition of the churches in the country districts. It was to the effect that religion was on the wane. He attributed this loss of religious zeal to the growth of the creamery business. Ex-Senator Carlisle, when a friend just before the recent elections asked him if he were going to speak in Kentucky, answered that he would if he could leave his practice, but he added: “I must have a living, and, you see. I have got through with that $lO,000,000 I made out of the bond sales, and I must hustle.” The late Mr. George Palmer, of Reading, England, the head of the well-known biscuit firm, left a personal estate worth a million sterling. The whole of this was accumulated by his own industry in legitimate trade, for he started in business as a biscuit baker practically without any capital, and he is not known to have indulged in financial speculation of any kind. The gold watch of Edgar A'lan Poe is now in the possession of R. W. Albright, of Fort Madison, la., and its history is characteristic of the checkered career of the poet. He had been in debt to Mr. Albright's brother, a merchant tailor, and gave several notes in settlement, together with the watch in trust. “Edgar A. Poe” is engraved on the gold cap inside. Mixing white Indian corn meal with flour and selling it as pure flour has become so general in the South that the Georgia Legislature has passed a bill requiring the words “mixed flour” to be branded on each package containing a blending of wheat and the cheaper corn flour, imd show what proportion of the contents is wheat and what is flour. Steps are also being taken towards similar protective legislative action in South Carolina. Princess Mary of Teck w j as fat, and thereby hang3 a tale. A candid young woman once a friend that she could not play tennis because Fat Mary had not invited her to the party. The letter fell into the princess's hands some way, and she wrote the young woman this letter: “My dear girl, I know I am stout, but I cannot help it. You should be more careful in posting your letters, and do not forget that you never know who will read them. Don't appologize, for I have forgotten you.” In Glasgow the other afternoon Miss Ellen Terry was to be seen leisurely carrying through the streets a picture which she had under her arm, without any wrapping. 1 he sight naturally attracted attention on the part of passers-by, the streets being busy with promenaders at the time. The picture was one by Orchardson .which she bad lifted from the picture dealer’s gallery, telling him she would return it at the end of the week, but that she must have something in her rooms as an antidote to “your horrid Glasgow gloom.” Legrand Larow, of Lamar, Mo., has a beard long enough to make Peffer turn green with envy, and which any self-re-specting middle-of-the-road Populist would pawn his socks to possess. It is now seven feet in length and trails two feet on the ground. Mr. Larow has not shaved for twenty years. The wind is so fond of toying with his hirsute appendage that the owner braids it and winds it around his body, giving him the appearance of being in the toils of a boa constrictor. Sometimes he changes the style by wrapping it in curl papers and storing it in his pockets. During the progress of a society dance in Ceredo, W. Va., Rev. James H. Rigg, a Baptist minister, entered the ballroom, and, walking to the center of the hall, knelt down and began praying fervently for those present. The orchestra ceased playing and dancers on bended knees listened patiently to the minister. This ended the ball, and as the guests were departing for their homes the divine commanded the orchestra to play “Nearer, My God, to Thee." which it did in a low but forcible manner. Mr. Rigg’s action is causing much comment in all circles. Folks marry on bicycles, steamboats and trains, On the top of a dangerous peak; But most foolish of all are the couples who wed On only $lO a week. —Puck.

BOOKS OF THE TIME. Prof. Henry Alexander White’* Life of Robert E. Lee. "Calm, dignified and commanding in bearing, a countenance strikingly benevolent and self-possessed, a clear, honest eye, that could look friend or enemy in the face; clean-shaven, except a closely trimmed mustache which gave a touch of firmness to the well-shaped mouth; simply and neatly dressed in the uniform of his rank; felt hat and top boots reaching to the knee; sitting his horse as if his home was in the saddle.” Such was Robert E. Lee as he appeared to an eyewitness when he assumed command of the Army of Northern Virginia. General Lee is an interesting character. Descended from a long line ol educated and patriotic ancestors, he was almost certain to make his mark in American history, in some way. He made a highly honorable record in the Mexican war. As captain of engineers and member of General Scott’s staff he became distinguished for intelligence and bravery, and he made a good record as commandant at West Point. Personally he was a man of the highest character, strictest purity of life and most amiable qualities. The only phase of his career concerning which judges may differ is his taking up arms against the government in the war of secession. For that some have called him a traitor and rebel, others a patriot and hero. Impartial history will give him the benefit of his education and environment, and will say that after a hard struggle he pursued the only course he thought open for him. He deprecated sectional strife and was op-

posed to secession and disunion. Writing in January, 1861, he said: "I can anticipate no greater calamity for the country than a dissolution of the Union. * * * Secession is nothing but revolution. * * ♦ still, a union that can only be maintained by swords and bayonets, and In which strite and civil war are to take the place of brotherly love and kindness, has no charms f° r me. I shall mourn fdr my country add e T 7' ,elfarc and progress of mankind, if the Union is dissolved and the government disrupted I shall return to my native ® r ate and share the miseries of my people, and, save in defense, will draw my sword on none. But Lee was a Virginian of Virginians, and when his State joined the secession movement he felt obliged to go with his State. His conception of state rights made him regard this as a duty. On the 20th of April. 1861, he sent to Gen®f a ‘. Scott his resignation as colonel in the United States army. Writing to a sister ti J ri ? re on the sa me day, he said; The whole South is in a state of revolution, into which Virginia, after a long struggle, has been drawn; and though 1 recognize no necessity for this state of things, and would have forborne and pleaded, to the end, for redress of grievances, real or supposed, yet in my own pers°n * to meet the question whether I K* 1110 lmrt a £dinst my native State. With all my devotion to the Union, and the feeling of loyalty and duty as an American citizen, I have not been t be to U P my mind to ™*se my hand against my relatives, my children, my home. I have therefore returned my commission in the army." In a letter to his brother, Sidney Smith Lee, on the same day, he said: "I am now a piivate citizen and have no other ambition than to remain at home. Save in the defense of my native State, I have no desire ever again to draw my sword.” No doubt Colonel Lee was sincere when he wrote this, yet three days later he had accepted the command of the Confederate forces in Virginia. In publicly accepting this command he said: “Trusting to Almighty God, an approving conscience, and the aid of my fellow-citizens, I will devote myself to the defense and service of my native State, in whose behalf alone would I have ever drawn my sword.” This was the key to Lee s action and to his military policy. He had persuaded himself that he was pursuing the line of duty and acting in detense of his native State. In accepting the command of the Virginia troops and later of the Army of Northern Virginia, he probably intended and thought he would act only in defense of his native State, but it was inevitable that he should be drawn by the current of events into a policy of general warfare against the government, which he regarded as an invading power. At this distance of time due allowance can be made for these considerations. They are clearly set forth from a Southern point of view, •which was that of Lee, in anew “Life of Robert E. Lee.” by Prof. Henry A. White, of the Washington and Lee University. The work does not add much to the political or military history of the country, but it presents an interesting portraiture of Lee’s personal and private character. The chapters on “Secession and Slavery” and the “Crisis of 1861” traverse ground that has been thoroughly worked. They do not contribute any new information, even from the Southern point of view from which they are written. Lee’s military campaigns are described with considerable detail, but the information regarding them is evidently gleaned from extraneous sources and the author does not write like a military man. He seems to have used painstaking care in consulting such authorities as were accessible to him, but the military part of the narrative is nothing more than a summary of other histories and official reports. It is, however, a good summary and is presented in good form. To go bade a little the author relates one incident which seems to be new. He says: “April 18. 1861, Francis P. Blair, at the suggestion of Mr. Lincoln, came to offer Lee the command of the proposed army of invasion,” meaning the Union army, which was about to be formed. “Afterwards, Feb. 25, 1868, Lee thus described the interview: ‘After listening to his remarks I declined the offer he made me to take command of the army that was to be brought into the field, stating, as candidly and courteously as I could, that though opposed to secession and deprecating war I could take no part in an invasion of the Southern States. I went directly from the interview with Mr. Blair to the office of Gerieral Scctt and told him of the proposition that had been made to me, and my decision. Upon reflection, after returning home, I concluded that I ought no longer to retain any commission I held in the United States army, and on the second morning thereafter I forwarded my resignation to General Scott.’ ” This incident is not related nor the main fact stated in any other account that has been consulted. This author does not give any authority for it except an alleged statement by General Lee, made three years after the close of the war, and he does not state under what circumstances or to whom the statement was made. In the absence of any contemporary or historical corroborative evidence the statement that Lee was offered the command of the Union army at the suggestion of Mr. Lincoln is open to doubt. The most distinctive feature of the entire work is the clear picture it presents of Lee s private character, of his unostentations piety, his devotion to his wife, family and 'home, and to what he regarded as his duty and his fine qualities of mind and heart. The record of his life after the close of the war shows him to be a truly law-abiding citizen and patriot from the Southern point of view. The book is published P. Putnam’s Sons’ "Heroes of the Nation series.

>ll nk Stein's “One Way to the Woods.” Through her contributions to the Journal and other periodicals Miss Evaleen Stein has long been known to dio_riminating readers as a true interpreter of nature’s charms, a sympathetic student of nature’s moods, which it is given only to the elect to appreciate and comprehend. With the heart of a poet she feels the enchantment of earth and sky and singing bird; with the eye of an artist she sees the grace of tree and flower and vagrant weed, and with this twofold power of insight added to a remarkable gift of versification she becomes nature's expounder indeed. With happy ease of expression she describes the ever-varying phenomena of out of door life with so sure a touch that each poem is a verbal etching, and impressions of the same scenes and objects that have been but vague in duller minds are suddenly quickened into life by this clearer vision. But it is not only the outer aspect of the world beautiful that she depicts; she enters into its spirit—its inner mysteries. It can easily be believed that she speaks her true feeling when in impulsive outburst she says: “O gracious world! I seem to feel A kinship with the trees; I am first-cousin to the marsh, A sister to the breeze! My heartstrings tremble to its touch, In throbs supremely sweet. And through my pulses light and life And love divinely meet.” Until now Miss Stein’s poems have appeared only in newspapers and magazines, but at last a number of them have been collected into a volume which is issued by Copeland & Day, of Boston, in their dainty "Oaten Stop” series. It is a modes l little book containing but thirty-seven poems, and readers who have followed her work will miss sorai of their favorites. Nevertheless, the selrtlon is made with good judgment and represents well her scope and characteristics. The opening poem. “One Way to the Woods,” gives the title to the volume.

That way to the woeds was taken along the river and over the hill on an April day when the sun shone and orchards were in bloom, but sunshine and flowers are not alone her theme. She sings 7:he charms of January, of the March frosts, of midsummer. of a November morning. The time of frost and snow is not sad to her, but joyous. “What matter that the truant sun Slips southward day by day. And that, hardby. the winter waits To hood the sky in gray! I’ll find but deeper joy in this. The autumn's pageantry; And sumac houghs are brighter far Than dark forebodings be.” The charm of the Kankakee marshes especially appeals to her, and no one has portrayed the!r many phases in such loving spirit. “The Marshes.” “The Bayou," "The Long Drift,” “Flood Time,” each sounds the praise of that reedy wilderness: but the tribute is more than a mere recapitulation of its beauties. Through her love for the solitude she enters into the soul of things. "And like the free reed-birds that fly From those green tangles to the skv Yet seek the bayou by and by. So, on u nobler, higher quest Ncw-fledging from its body nest. My eager souj soars up and sees More of God's gracious mysteries; Wherefrom a larger love it learns. And then, with humble mein returns. Divines, more near, the perfect rest Os Nature’s breast, And so, touched tenderly through these, Feels more of true humanities. In addition to the nature poems are several of a different character. “The Feast of Palms,” “The Exiles,” “Conscience,” and a stately Christmas “Chant Royal"—showing that she is not limited to one line of thought. The little book is a genuine addition to real literature, and will not fail to give the author high rank among the younger American poets. The hook is dedicated to the memory of her father, John A. Stein. Tlie Kcntueklnn*. Although the nane of John Fox, jr., had become known to the public through a number of striking short stories, It was his story, "The Kentuckians,” published as a magazine serial, that first attracted the serious attention to him of that class of readers whs are on the lookout for anew note In Action and are quick to recognize originality and power. Mr. Fox shows both of these qualities In this dramatic tale of Kentucky life. He has seized upon the two contrasting and opposing elements among the natives of the State—the mountaineers and the people of the b'ue grass region—and out of the material has wrought a narrative as full of romance and tragedy as if the setting were in the middle ages instead of in the nineteenth century, and the personages mailed knights in a tournament instead of rival members of a state legislature. Out of the mountains comes a young giant who by sheer natural force of mind and will has raised himself, unaided, above the level of his family and associates. He is loyal to his own. however, and his only purpose in public life is to work for their benefit. He comes into immediate conflict on the legislative floor with a representative of the blue grass- aristocracy—a man also with natural gifts and with the additional advantage of fine ancestry. "It was the old fight—patrician against plebeian, crude force against culture.” Later the mountaineer becomes the patrician’s rival in love. It would be unjust to the author to give even the outline of the tale. It is enough to say that the characters are well handled and that the story as a whole conveys the impress of being; a chapter out of life—not the realism which consists In pettv detail, but that which depicts the forces of human nature as they exist in every creature however modified by environment or heredity. The rather abrupt ending of the story seems at first reading a fault, but since the conditions made but one ending possible, it is perhaps better that the underlying sadness of It should not be too strongly dwelt upon. “The Kentuckians” is one of the most notable novels of the season. Published by Harper & Brothers.

History of Methodism. Dr. James M. Buckley, editor of the New York Christian Advocate and widely known as a writer and speaker, has written “A History of Method'sm” which will command wide attention in church circles. Dr. Buckley is an acknowledged authority on everything relating to Methodism, and this work is an exhaustive history' of the Methodist Church in this country. Its object is to distinguish Methodism from other forms of Protestant Christianity in the United States and to portray the development and ~rowth of the church on its own distinctive lines. The first chapter traces in rapid review the history of morals and religion in England from the time of Henry VIII to the progenitors of Wesley, and then Mosley himself comes to the front with the growth of Methodism In England and its establishment and progress in America. Very interesting are the chapters relating to Methodism and slavery, and describing the split in the church at the General Conference held in New York in 1844. which Henry Clay, writing at the time, held to be "perilous and alarming” to the stability of the Union. It was undoubtedly the entering wedge of the civil war. The direct cause was the suspension of Bishop Andrew, of Georgia, from the office of bishop because his wife was a slaveholder, and he held property in slaves, bequeathed to him by will. On this the Southern delegates seceded, and a few months later organized the Methodist Church South. Dr. Buckley tells the story Impartially, and his clearcut statement of the debates In the General conference is a model in the way of striking the pivotal points. Some of the speeches were prophetic of the war that came seventeen years later. This is only one feature of the work, which, as a whole, embraces the entire history of Methodism in this country and of its various societies and enterprises, ieligious, educational and philanthropic. It makes two volumes of liberal size, and is copiously Illustrated. New York: Harper Jfc Brothers. Colonial Homesteads. The history of English civilization In the United States shows that its first shoot, set at Jamestown, Va., in 1607, follow'd the course of the James, once called the Powhatan river, to the head of navigation at Richmond, very rapidly, considering the difficult circumstances of the times. As is generally the case in new settlements, the tide of population follovred a water course. The result was the establishment at a very early day of many colonial hor es and manorial mansions in Virginia along that river. Other local causes led to the establishment of similar homes in other colonies, as Massachusetts. New York, etc., many of which, became historic by reason of their owners and of events connected with them. In time they became centers and distributing points of colonial hospitality, culture anil social influence. Some of these houses and their owners, occupants and influence are ( described in a work by Marion Harlund, entitled “Some Colonial Homesteads and their Stories.” The author sa>s in her preface that the materials for the work ’’were collected during visits, paid by mya -If to those historical shrines.” One can believe this, for the reader gets that impression from the narrative which describes nearly a score of these old colonial homes in different parts of the country in a way that .makes one feel acquainted with them and with, the people who once occupied thefh. The WQfk abounds with personal anecdote and Is a valuable contribution to early colonial history. It is freely illustrated and published in handsome style by G. P. Putnam's Sons. Mntlaine Marcheal. All vocalists who are at all versed in the recent history of the musical profession know who Mme. Marchesl is. For many years past she has been the most celebrated teacher of singing in Europe, having numbered among her pupils such artists as Mme. Melba, Mme. Gerster, Mme. Emma Eames, Mme. Emma Nevada and many others conspicuously before the public in recent years. Since childhood Mme. Marchesi has lived in the atmosphere of music, and she has been associated with neurly all the great representatives of its various branches—with composers, critics, managers and teachers as well srs performers. This book contains the record of a busy and successful career, including, as it does, reminiscences of Liszt, Mendelssohn, Manuel Garcia. Meyerbeer. Rossini. Auber, Berlioz, liubensteln and Verdi. The celebrated composer. Massanet. says, in his preface, that Mme. Marchesl ”is sufficiently important to introduce herself without any one’s assistance.” She tells the story of her Ufa in “Marehesi and Music” (Harper’s.) The book is one of the interesting autobiographies of the time. Inequality of ProgrreM*. In a volume of 164 pages. Professor George Harris, of Andover Theological Seminary, has tried, by history and experience, the theories of those who, whether they call themselves socialists or not, which se4 forth human equality as the aim and the end of human progress, to find them baseless and misleading. Men may have equal political rights, may be equal before the law and possess a certain equality ai