Indianapolis Journal, Volume 54, Number 73, Indianapolis, Marion County, 13 March 1904 — Page 30

PART THRESH in

THE INDIANAPOLIS JOURNAL, SUNDAY, MARCH 13, 1904.

Emperor o Korea a Man o Constant Fears; First Dread Being -Assassination How Three Americans Once Stood Guard Over Him and the Crown Prince Cviring an Uprising'.... -A. 'Weird Figure at the Burial of the Empress...His Personal Side

Stop Leading to the

HenpecKed Jonas Naggin's SpooK

By George Randolph Chester

HKRE probably never was a meanr ghost than the spook of Jnnxs Naggin. He had been so meok in life and took henpecking so naturally that there wasn't a man. woman or child in Dozeville he didn't owe a grudg . Now that he was b a.fl. it is safe to say that a more aggravating specter never wore a shr ud or clanked a chain. The very night after the funeral Mrs. Naggin wu sitting by the kitcnen fire, going over what a grand, good man Jonas had been and thinking how h- would have a little peace and be able to keep the house clean now, at yhw, when all at once she beard the bucket go down in the well, lickty split. tmmpiiiK nn tinst th- stoms all the way down, like Jonas always did it if she didn't watch him. "Jona!" she yelled. "Air you bound and determined to bust that there well bucket?" The bucket went tumbling down again, with more noise than ever, as Mrs. Naggin caught her breath and realized that Jonas was no more. She would have sat down to weep a little over this, maybe, if she hadn't been so much put out over the abuse of the well bucket. "It's them dratted Benson younguns!" he exclaimed, and threw open the kitchen door. Not a soul was In sight! The well stood out In the open, and there was no pla I for any one to hide. The moon was shining brightly, so she went out to the curb, expecting to find Freckles Benson hidden en the other side of It. He was not there. She went slowly back into the house, rubbing her nose. She had no more than closed the door wheu. with a clang and a Clftt.er, a succession of bumps and a loud splash. she heard the bucket go down ajcaln. She ran back out and peered into the bUck depths of the well. "I see you down there, you Freckles Benson!" she cried. "You come right out o there or you'll ketch your death o' cold an you'H fall down an' break your neck n drownd yourself, an' I'll tell yer mother OD ye an' she'll 'most skin ye alive!" There was no answer. She hurried into. the Douse and came out with a candle. 8he held it over the mouth of the well to peer down in, when puff, out it went! There was not so much as a breath of air stirring. She went into the house, relit the candlt and came back out. Puff! It was out again! Three times she tried it. "Dratted If I don't see dowu in that there Well or know th" reason why," she exclaimed. This time she brought out a lantern on the end of a string and let It down into the black dripping hole without hindrame. It was as clear as a whistle all the way down. "Mebby I been worrited so t' day that 1 kind of imagine things. ' she finally concluded I -i. ss I better go to bed." She went back to the kitchen fire and began to prepare for bed. Bump! Bump! Splash! The bucket was tumbling down the well again. She serenely went on plaiting up her hair. Bump! Bump! Splish! Mrs. Naggin paid no attention. The din became something territie. but Mrs. Naggin never let on, until after one final crash something heavy came rolling and rattling and banging againpt the kitchen door. Mrs. Naggin got down Jonas s id ride and went Out. The well bucket lay on the sill, but she strode 'over it and made a circle of the house "I seen ye. whoever ye air." she called, "an I'll have the law on ye t'morry! I know ye pesky well, an don't you think 1 don't!" With this thr at she took the backet back to the well. The rope swayed idly there, bat the chain that had connected the rope to the bucket was gone. It was a problem too deep to solve just then, so she rubbed her nose, locked all the doors and went to bed. Clank! Clank! ( lank! There was the sound of a heavy chain out in the kitchen, rattling and pounding away at the floor. Mrs Naggin sat up in bed with her rifle in lier hands and tried to peer through the gloom. Through the sitting room and straight to the bedroom door came the (Flunking and stomping noise, with all the din and clatter of a dozen invaders. "Who's there?" she demanded, her finger on the trigger. There was no answer. The noise stopped, but a light, fllmy cloud gathered on the Inside of the door. It slowly assume,! form nd shape until at last Jonas himself stood luminously revealed to her astonished and Indignant eyes. He UMiberately unlocked the. door from the inside, stooped down and got his chain from the other side of the threshold, came over close to the bed and stood there clanking his chain up and down with all his miKht. "You Jonas!" she screamed, above the racket. "You git rinht out an let a body go to sleep. Th' Idea o' you actin' up like a passel o fool younguns at your time o' "I'm s-goin' to do as I dum please!" answered the ghost of Jonas. "I took yore sass. Mary Jan. Naggin. fer ngh on to thirty year, an' I hain't a-goin f take no more of It!" Here he slammed his chain on the floor by way of emphasis. "Did I scrape my boots before I come in th' house? No, I didn't scrape my boots before I come In th' house! What's more. I hain't a-goin' to no more. I ll leave tracks, from th' kitchen to th' spare Ndroom. all I blame please!" More clanking of the chain. "Was It me that socked that bucket down in th' Well? Yes, It was me that socked that bucket down In the well! I'm a-goin' t come aroun' an' do It ev ry time I dadborned feel like it. too!" Slam. bang. w nl the chain. "Did I sliet th kitchen door when I oine in? No. I didn't shet th kitchen door when I come in! Am I burnln'. busttn'. bilin". rarin'. tearin', cusslr". pawin. roarln', rlp-snorttn mad? Mary June Naggin, I be! I'm a-goin' f hant you till I git fieud an' even .f u ukn Mut, a buudx'd

Iyung-poh Palace

A Shivery Tale of Ghostly Revenge, Compiled from the Almost Veracious Memoirs of Oliver Thumra year! Now you go to sleep ere do whatever ye durn please, fer I'm a-goin' t' hant aroun' here till daylight!" Clank! Clank! Clank! With a rattle and a bang the ghost of Jonas slammed out of the room and left her gasping with aggravation. The idea! The very idea! Jonas! Jonas, that had never dared to open his head to her in all these years! And he to come and sass her like this. Oh. it was past bearing! She would but what would she do. after all? Down In the celler a pandemonium broke loose. Barrels and boxes and crocks and broken glassware and old tin cans and worn-out stovepipes were flying around in wild confusion and making enough noise to nearly deafen her. She opened the cellar door and called down to Jonas in her old tone, the tone that had always frozen him solid as a cake of Ice. "You Jonas!" she threatened. "Ef you don't quit a cuttin' up them high Jinks I'll -111 " "Shet up!" roared the voice of the spook An old tin pail whizzed up out of the darkness by way of emphasis, and Mary Jane Jumped Just in time. She slammed the door shut, lit the light and sat down in the kitchen to think it over. It was nearly killing her to be beaten like this. While she brooded the rumpus broke out in the attic and she groaned as she thought of all the tine material there was up there to make a noise. "Drat his ornery hide!" snapped Mary Jane, at last. "There's only one thing I kin do to spite him. an' that's to go an' sleep in spite o' his pesteration." It was easier said than done, however. Jonas seemed to know just how to make a noise monotonous, then break it with a smash that nearly made her Jump out of her skin. At last she did doze, but awoke with a shiver to find that the covers had ! been suddenly jerked off of her. A diabolical chuckle explaiued the matter. "How d'ye like it, Mary Jane?" he taunted her. "Dang it all, fer nigh on to thirty winters you hogged all th klvers an' lef me t' shiver on th' edge o' th bed, an' now I'm .-goin' t' give ye a taste o' yer own medicine. How d'ye like it, hey. Mary Jane Naggin?" Mary Jane made no answer. She Just lay and sizzled within while she shivered without. The spook of Jonas stood there before her very eyes and tied up the covers in hard knots, then turned to go. "Excuse me a minute or sich, Mary Jane," he remarked. "I got to do a mite o' hantin' over t' Squire Gassy's an Hen Worley's an' Dad Cooper's an' a few more thet used t' browbeat me aroun.' But don't worry, Mary Jane, I won't be gone long at a time." She never missed him. A dozen times that night she had just managed to drop into a nap when the clank of that everlasting chain woke her up to some new devilment. The last time was when the clock started In and struck eighty-seven without a pause. At the eighty-seventh stroke there was a sharp exclamation from the ghost, a swift rattle of the chain, a clank of it out in the yard and across the side fence and she looked out of the window to see a faint streak of approaching dawn in the sky. Then she slept till 7 o'clock. Soon after breakfast Mrs. Jessap came over, bursting with news. "Daw. Mis' Naggin, hev ye heard what all hapiened las' night?" she began. "Dave Benson's pigs run a-squealin' aroun' an aroun' his house fer nigh onto a hour! An' that ain't all! Somebody dragged rails down oyer th' weatherboardin' o' Squire Grassy's house till th' fambly was nigh about crazy! An' that ain't all! Somethin' er ruther got Into Hen Worley's chimbley an' roared an' bellered like a steer an' blowed soot all over th' carpets an' fixins! An' that ain't all! Over t' Lafe Sproggle's they was a noise like th' shingles bein' ripped off'n th' roof, till young Dude Sproggles had four fits, one right after th' other. An that ain't all! Every winder pane in Dad Cooper's house was broke! An' that ain't all! Every livin place where these doin's was a-goin' on, they heard th' rattle of a chain, an' they do say it was heard a-clankin' aroun' your house!" "Well, fer th lands sake!" ejaculated Mrs. Naggin, in polite but conservative surprise. Mrs. Jessap looked hard at her. but Mary Jane Naggin never batted an evewinker. "You ain't a looking right pert. Mis' Naggin " went on the caller. "I b'iieve you're gittin' th' yeller Janders. Aunt Marthy Peabody tole me a fine cure for th' yeller janders, las' time I was out to her place. You git lrfne sheep let an' cook 'em up in your eutin' mashed pertaters is a good way-an' thutaway you swaller 'em down. h-n they git down in your stomach they come out o' th' pertaters an' crawl outo yore liver. They eat th coating off'u th' liver it's that coatin'. ye know, that gives th' body th' yeller Janders an' then th y die an' your yeller Janders is all gone. But ye must have Jes" nine. It takes Jes' nine t' cover a liver." "It sounds mighty sensible." said Mrs. Naggin. rocking complacently, "but then I hain't got th' yeller janders. "I'm Jes' run d wn an' feelln' peaked like, havin' so much sickness in th' house." "It's more than that. Mary Jane. It's more than that!" said Mrs. Jessap. shaking her head. "You look worrited. Ef you git in any trouble let me know, ef it'll relieve your feelln's some." "Thanky!" said Mrs. Naggin. rocking comfortably. "Ef I git In ary trouble too hefty fer me t' shoulder 1 11 let ye know." Mrs. Jessap looked hard at Mary Jane Naggin once more, but seeing no signs of weakening she went home "Snooptn ole cat!" said Mrs. Naggin as Mrs. Jessap went away. it was true, however, that Mrs. Naggin did look worried and yellow and nervous.

ISTORY tells of a Korean general who had so many enemies that he was afraid to sleep like other people at night, and was also afraid to sleep naturally in the

H daytime. Accordingly, he trained himself to sic. p sitting bolt upright at a table with his eyes wide open, and a sword in each hand. The present Emperor of Korea. Yi Hiung. does not sleep with his eyes open, sitting upright at a table, hut he comes pretty near it. Since his accession to the Korean throne in 164. he has had many desperate onmhs. indeed, after the murder of his Queen in 1X35, he did turn day into night by sleeping then and holding his Cabinet meetings at night. For some weeks, when rumors of assassination were ripe at a certain time a few years ago, all the food which passed his Majesty's lips was prepared by an American missionary and sent secretly to the Palace. Thus, taking the years through, the old Korean general asleep at his table, with his straining eyes staring straight ahead, is a very fair picture of the state of mind in which the Korean Emperor has lived these many years. One night, seven years ago, it was rumored in Seoul that a mob was to attack the palace on a certain night. Lacking, all confidence In the staying qualities of his soldiers and guards, the Emperor sent post haste for three Americans to stay with him during the night. He and the crown prince remained in their sleeping rooms, while the "three musketeers" played chess in the anteroom. The moving shadows, cast on the paper walls which divided the rooms, told the guards that his Majesty and son were anything but restful. The night wore on until at last, with a promptness that would have done credit to a South American revolution, the noise of the erneute without the palace walls could be heard. Instantly the Americans entered the royal bedroom and surrounded the Empörer and prince, and the number of sixshooters in evidence in their hands and their belts would have excited the envy of a Mexican cowboy. The uprising was quelled, because the authorities had been warned and prepared, but as the tumult resounded in the streets and along the walls and gates, the lntensest excitement reigned in the palace. The Emperor and prince posted themselves between the Americans, and in their agony seized their guardians hands. Their terror and their attitude brought home to the foreigners, in an ocean wave ot pity, a closer appreciation of the continual strain under which the Emperor lives, and his ever-present fear of an untimely end. Figuratively speaking, the poor roan is like that general who never slept except with his eyes open wide. DOUBLT TERRIFIED. At the present crisis this impotent potentate attracts the attention of the world, and to give any fair picture of him it is just to hint at the start of the haunted life which he has led in order to show what his mental attitude has been to all around him. If his greatest fear has been that of the assassin the return of exiled Korean noblemen in Japan has been the second greatest, and In a way the two are one In substance, for the return of pretenders to the Korean throne would mean assassination. Thus he has feared that friends about him were traitors in disguise and would make away with him. and he has feared that traitors, known to be desperate men, who have been exiled would return and kill him. And friends and enemies have played these fears off one against the other on his Majesty through many years to gain many ends. The government of Korea Is an unlimited monarchy; the present dynasty has existed since the founding of Seoul, in 1392. It is an interesting fact in Korea that each new dynasty found a new Seoul, which means "capital." The kings have been despots, and the present Emperor has ordered the beheading of many men. even unto recent days, though It Is not legal to do so to-day. With Korea the raising of the finances has been a difficult task, and the dispensing of money the root of vast evil. Everything has been for sale in Korea, even the good will of royalty; offices, such as governorships, are purchased, the incumbents being compelled first to get back their outlay and then a salary. The taxation laws are extremely heavy on the poor, the rich often escaping. Owning two bulls Is considered a misfortune among the common people, since the owner will be judged to have accumulated money, and as likely as not will be asked and it grew on her as the days wore on. And no wonder! This was the first time In her life anyone had ever continuously got the better of her. It was well known after the first day or two what made all the hubbub in Dozeville, for Jonas had appeared vigorously to a dozen or more of his pet enemies. As for Jonas, he never in all his life had so much fun as he did after he was dead. It was one protracted halloween celebration for him. Night after night he would howl and clatter and bang and rattle until he had Dozeville half out of its wits and nearly dead for sleep. Night after night he made life miserable for Mary Jane and all his old-time enemies, and day after day Mrs. Naggin schemed and schemed till her head ached trying to think up a way to turn the tables on the ghost. She never gave a hint or sign to the neighbors, though, until one lay she surprised them all by driving into town from the country early one morning, with all her household goods packed up In the big wagon. There was no way to avoid explaining this to the crowd that stopped her in front of Hen. Worley's store, "I reckon ye all know so dratted much about It that they's no use o' beatln' aroun' th' bush!'" she ejaculated. "I'm a-tryin' t fool Jonas. Ole Granny McGee tole me how, an' th' abldin' wonder t' me is thet Granny hain't tole everybody, yit. that I come to her. Th' idear Is V pack up all your belongin's at night when th' hant Is aroun' an' start out aiong th' road most anywheres an' drive till daylight. O' course th' ghost follers along C find out where you're a-goin . but when daylight comes he nachelly has C go back t' his grave. Then you turn aroun' an' drive back home, but th' hant thinks you've moved away .-..mmers an' don't come back no more. Jes' goes a-nosln' an' pokin' aroun' all over th' country fer th' res' o' his days tryln' C find out wherever you've moved to.' " "Well, I vum!" said Old Man Higgs "That certainly does soun' like a right smart notion." i don't know." observed Mrs Naggin. wearily. "I've most give up. You-all don't know what I've done f keep that man's dratted spook from pesterln' me an' th' rest o' th town. I burned three hairs from a black cat on his grave. I set spook traps o' thr. ry straws an' a toad skin all over th' place. I hung mule's ankle bones up over both doors o' th' house with gray horuu hair. 1 said charm words over his

BS!

to loan money or his second bull to the Governor. The custom house brings in considerable income. What proportion of Korea's ass. ts gets into the Imperial treasury it is difficult to say. From all sources the total receipts is small, and foreign intriguer? with money to their hand have. In the past, had an influence with the Kort an Emperor. It has been rumored that the recent Russian concession in the timber lands of the Yalu and Teumen was obtained by means of a liberal ; bribe. An l so, next to the Emperor's fear of his per-

BODal enemies :ne his flniliclaj worries. which are perennial, and at times of most serious Character. The government has been urged into spending considerable sums for useful purposes, such as internal improvements and education. A number of schools. English. French. Japanese and a normal college are maintained, professors and students, by the government. The Emperor is personally pleasant to meet, and we have It under the hand of our American minister that he is a clever, sensible man. desirous of helping his land. Mrs. Isabella Bird Bishop, in recounting her interview with the Emperor, noted his attention to and consideration for his son, the crown prince. I have seen his Majesty on two occasions. Once he appeared at one of the side gates of the new palace when a game of tennis was in progress on the courts of the Seoul Union, the foreigners' club. When he appeared the players stopped the game a moment, but proceeded when they learned that the object of his visit was to "see the game." For some time he watched the play, soon beginning to understand its leading features and applauded good plays by smiling. A STRANGE FUNERAL. When again I saw him it was under marvelously altered conditions. It was on the occasion of the burial of his murdered Empress Min in November. 1S95. The marvelous funeral pageant, which no pen could describe, had occurred in the early morning, before sunrise; the glittering sarcophagus had been borne three miles out of Seoul, where, at 3 o'clock the next morning, the interment was to take place. Ten thousand dollars had been spent by the Emperor in erecting buildings in which to house for one night the foreigners who were to be present at the burial. In the evening preceding the ceremony banquets were spread for the official and the unofficial guests, after which all retired to rooms in the temporary buildings. These were overcrowded, but, as we were all to be aroused at 2:30 a. m.. those of us who found no cots lay down patiently on the floors in blankets. Having some sweep Emperor of Korea las' restin' place at midnight, an e't a clod from his mound three nights hand runnin. I burned all his ole shoes an' scattered th' ashes. I've done every mortal thing that could be done, but it don't seem no use. Ef I could jes' git aholt o' th' ornery wiffet I reckon I'd about yank out them chin whiskers o' his'n and stuff 'em down his throat. "Mis' Naggin." said Martha Green, solerinly. "They's jes' one thing, an' th' surest one, thet $-e hain't done yit. You want to turn your house around on the foundation, so the back's at th' front an' th' front's at the back, an' Jonas's hant will never know it's the same place. I give you my word that ef ye do that he'll never bother ye no more." But she never had the chance to try it. That night Jonas came back, in spite of the moving, and taunted her so much that she burst a blood vessel In a fit of rage. Then Dozeville was treated to a real noise. Bedlam broke loose in earnest. The air was full of shrieks and howls and angry jabbe ring and the clank of a swiftly flying chain. Around and around houses and

r a i ' 1 j tf&SltL aai Eat t m wk 18

REVERSED. He When he proposed he threw himself at her feet. She And now that they married, she throws bric-a-brac, at his head.

on a wide floor myself. I rolled around until I was comfortably lodged fairly against wh.it I found out l iter was a door to an adjoining room, which was occupied by the RttsaSan minister. All this was made plain to me when th ceremony was announced and his Excellency fell over me in the attempt to get out. The sarcophagus was raised to the summit of the high mound, which contained the mausoleum, on an inclined plane. Beside this plane stood the royal marquee, and in the doorway, as the car moved slow-

ly upward, stood the King and crown prince watching its progress. The darkness of the night, the vast crowds and flaming torches. UM long lines of soldiers and a squad of Russian Cossacks, the corps diplomatique In their full dress, the crowds of Korean noblemen, all united to make the occasion one f the most singular that an Occidental could ever witness in the East. Little is known of the family life of the Emperor of Korea and his wives. In the days of the Empress Min the Empress was a political factor of great consequence. This is not true to-day. Nor is the marvouslyridiculous story which had large circulation in the Northwest recently, to the erTect that a Wisconsin girl is Empress of Korea. The story affirmed that a Miss Brown, a missionary, had been married to the Korean Emperor. There was never a missionary by the name of Miss Brown In Korea, and no American woman has married Em peror Yi Hiung. A little piece of Seoul gossip a short time ago was to the effect that the King had purchased a foreigner's home in Seoul in which to house one of his quarrelsome Wives; the house was of two stories, the ttrst stone and the second of brick; the wife began her career by having the second story pulled down, as it made the house "so high." Korean houses are all of one story only A POLITICAL JI'MBLE. The subject of the Korean Emperor's relation to th. wider affairs of his little empire is a tangled problem which no man can fathom. Korea has been a seething cauldron of polities and her Emperor has bean be staged in the past decade by various emissaries, from various courts, some of them with arguments that no Oriental could withstand. After the Japan-China war he found himself in the midst of a proJapanese Cabinet and soon bolted to th Russian legation. After a year, during which Russia secured the ascendency in Korea, he returned to his paiace. The situation at the present moment is most Interesting; Japan is again occupying Korea and is slowly securing political influence commensurate with her commercial interests. She is the only real political friend Korea ever had, though when in control of Korea in 1895 she hurt her influence by administering too great doses of reform. She once more has the ear of the Emperor; her experience has taught her many lessons. The foreigners (American and English) feel that the present war will bring bright days for Korea If Japanese influence remains paramount in Seoul; and they are certain that his Majesty would follow out Japanese plans for the development of Korea if he was made sure he would have protection against physical harm from Russian intriguers, the claimants to the Korean throne now exiled to Japan, and certain desperate Korean "statesmen" who hang upon his skirts and threaten him when they are balked in their money-sucking game of government. Back again to the inevjtable underlying fear which possesses the Emperor of Korea! He has had no 'power, while being allpowerful. In a figurative sense he has sat for years, as he did between the American missionaries on the night of the attempted erneute seven years ago, but when, in fear, he has reached out for firm nanus to support him he has found hands that were strong, but which would not direct him or his country to freedom and happiness. From any standpoint Japan's occupation of Korea now and after securing the Emperor's ear is of momentous interest. For Korea, the events of the war will have a tremendous significance, and no onlooker will be more anxious than this King upon whose head a crown has rested forty years as restlessly us ever crown lay on mortal head. Saved from those who have hovered about him and sapped his strength lest it turn against and slay them, YI Hiung might become a strong ruler. If he has been weak it was through lack of confidence In bis supporters, whose most puerile whims have often been obeyed. ARCHER BUTLER HULBERT. I Copy right, 1904 barns and sheds, down in the mill and up in the church belfry, down chimneys and out at broken windows, through streets and alleys and across back lots, up trees and down wells and through cellars and attics, groaning and scolding and yelling, pounding and banging and rattling, went the most terrific cWtter that ever made youngsters scream nd old folks cower under bedclothes. Above and through it all rose the voices of Jonas and Mary Jane Naggin. "O-w-w-w wow, don't, Mary Jane!" One voice would say. "I'll teach ye, drat ye!" the other voice would exclaim. Then would come a louder howl than ever. "O-w-w-w-w-, wow, wow!" Jonas would yell. "I ll go back to my grave an' stay there. I swan I will!" "I'll teach ye, drat ye!" Mary Jane would reply. Then would come another howl. "O-w-w-w-w-w, wow, wow! Don't Mary Jane! O-w-w-w ." That howl, dying away over the hill toward the cemetery, was the last sound that was e ver heard from the jhost of Jonas Naggin. They do say that Mary Jane made a beautiful corpus and wore a calm peaceful smile- as she lay in the eoffln next day.

Corner of Deserted Roy il Palace

TKe Formal Dinner Not Now A Very Elaborate Function Tendency Is to Limit Time Spent at Table and to Serve Fewer Courses. ..Eastern vs. Western Taste

IHE nerves of frequent dine rs-out T are now taken into consideration. Next to being good it is thought most important that a dinner should be short. For the last two years courses have been dropping off, until where a banquet of twelve courses was formerly served, it has now decreased to eight. The menus of the old-fashioned dinners look like gorges through which nobody woulet find it possible to sit to-day. Oysters, soup, fish and roasts and a few vegetables, with the proper desert, are all that is served at the dinners given by persons who are in the habit of going to aud giving the best in the city. Banquets, of course, are a little more elaborate, but they are not the "feeds" they were. Where it used to take two hours and more to serve the menu now it takes much less, so that more time can be given to speaking. As banquets formerly were it was Impossible to get any enjoyment out of the menu, because the courses were so numerous that a guest would only get one or two mouthfuls out of the dishes of each course. If he tried to eat from every dish, as he was supposed to do, he could not have gone through a quarter of the meal before he had reached the limit of his capacity. Even with the abbreviated.lists of dishes society folk find dinner too long, and may keep on shortening It until it will be as bad in the one extreme as it was in the other, and a man attending a dinner will have to eat a luncheon before he goes so as to be sure not to get up from the table hungry. The reason for abbreviating the dinners is no doubt due to the fact that people cannot endure sitting in a room, which Is generally overheated, for two hours or more. There are often social functions, waiting, too, such as a dance or a game of whist. In the latter case too much dinner makes it impossible to play. When a dance is to come after It is injudicious for the guests to eat a very hearty meal beforehand, for It Is injurious to them and they do not enjoy themselves. In the case of either a game or a dance the dinner is the least Important function of the evnirg. so far as the practical side Is concerned, and it is the first to be cut down. The idea of shortening the dinners originated in the East, but the people of the West, seeing the advantage of it. were not sleiw in adopting the plan. Dinners this year have also been shortened by serving the courses more promptly. There is scarcely time time to eat the food with deliberation, which is necessary to good digestion. The portions are small and the waiters numerous. Superintendent Hurley, of the Columbia Club, bears out the statement that the dinners are getting shorter and he contends that it is better for every one. He says that a reputable hotel or club does not lose and that the person giving the dinner knows exactly what he is getting; also that there is much difference between the

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dinners and banquets given in the East and those In the West. The tastes are very different in the two parts of the country, he thinks. The people of the West like plainer food and they are also much fonder of meats than the Easterners. "I remember." he said, "when I came to this city I brought a French cook with me who had been cooking in the East, and while he was a perfect artist in his line he could not please the people of this town for the reason that the food he pre pared was too fancy. People here do not like an entree of sweetbreads or anything of that kind, and in the majority of dinners we are asked not to serve them. Now, in the East, all dinners have sn entree and would not be considered complete without It. "The Easterners also like fish, oysters and game," he went on. "while in the West where game and fish are both plentiful, especially game, they don't care anything about them for dinner. The only reason I can give for this is that there is a difference in taste ss in everything else. I hvo spent much time In both the East and West and have noticed quite frequently that th food eaten in thie part of the country is of a heavier nature, even to the vegetables." At the dinners given now there are more waiters so that there will be no dehiy. 8hortly before Lent began one of the beet known hosts in the city gave a dinner to a party of men to which quite a large number of guests was invited. There were eight waiters to serve the dinner. In less than an hour the men were smoking in tha dining room. Twenty minutes later half of the guests were gone. The host had through another dinner and social progress was advanced by the Incident, which had occupied less than two hours for the majority of the persons present. Dinners of twelve now should be served by at least three waiters. And the rule is to keep things moving. There Is none of the old-time dwadling through the dinners in these days. As If to compensate for this rather perfunctory way of entertaining guests, which always has the air of getting them to assemble and then doing one's duty and turning them out as quickly as possible, there has come some additional formality in the manner of dining. Men have occasionally been at a loss this year after dinner, when the women were about to leave the room, in seeing the host rise and offer his arm to the woman he happened to take out. They have quickly learned that it Is a new fashion, and has only been adopted this last winter, for the men to escort the women back to the drawing room, afterward returning to the dining room to smoke and leave the women with their coffee. The custom originated also In the East, and there are not many Indianapolis men who have "got on" to It. but it will doubtless soon be the common fashion for the men after a dinner to escort the women from the room. This little attention does something to counterac the growing Informality of the dinner a a means of entertainment.

New Case Designs Add to the Distinction of this HighGrade Piano 128-130 North Pennsylvania Street HAND LAUNDERED but always (it and are comfortable. only laundfy ln ,hc ct,y th1 d hn bring one of our s.igo