Bloomington Courier, Volume 2, Bloomington, Monroe County, 30 April 1895 — Page 2

OPPORTUNITY. iire me tao hour for doing this or thatOne hour among all hours that fate might choose

And I will do it; we may gain or lose, Rise nobly or beat blindly like the bat, Sink in the mire or climb an Ararat. Live with strong hearts, or let our courage ooze As coward soldiers do, and thus refuse To grasp the goal which we are aiming at. Man and his opportunity are one Failure or triumph lies deep sown in this And he that stoops to crawl when he might run Robs his own soul of a perennial bliss, And, faltering in some pathway to the sun, Weep for the hope that he has chanced to miss. G. E. Montgomery, in New York Herald. Miss S.tratton's Portrait BT SUSAN AJJGHKR WEISS. T'S of no use. Delphine," said Miss Stratton, turning round from the glass before whioh she had been crimping her dyed frizzes "no use whatever ! I'll never give my, consent to y o n r throwing yourself away upon a man who can't

earn enouoh to support himself, much less a family !" "But, aunt, he is clever, and will get a good practice in time. "In time !" repeated Miss Stratton. contemptuously. "Yes, in about twenty years or so, perhaps. And, meanwhile, what do yoa and he propose to live on?" "The the money that grandma left me would help us to begin with," said - Delphine, timidly. "Five thousand dollars! How far would that go? And besides, you forget that it was left to you only conditionally. I should be false to the trust reposed in me," said Miss Stratton, erecting her thin form with an air of moral dignity, "if I gave my consent to your wedding yourself to a life of poverty, and the wretchedness which poverty always . entails. You can marry George Irving if you choose ' -mind, I don't say that I forbid it but with my consent, no hard-earned money of my deceased mother shall ever go into the pockets of an Irving." In the last sentence Miss Stratton

betrayed herself. The high, moral tone vanished before the self-interested motive, which was the real basis of her persistent opposition to Delphine's marriage. She had not forgotten that young

JJootor irnng s father had jilted her in her youth and married her bosomfriend Mary Lane ; nor that this course had been brought about by Doctor living's Aunt Dorothea, who had been her special rival from their very babyhood, and who had warned her favorite brother that he would not be happy with Millicent Stratton as his wife. - As to the doctor himself who had as yet barely become accustomed to his new professional title it was true that he was very poor, but Delphine had been right it saying that he was clever, and would probably win a good practice. And if the girl often thought wistfully if only she could bring him that five thousand dollars to begin with to set up a horse and buggy, ifor instance, and rent that desirablylocated, brand-new office how much it might do for him, and how happy they might be ! ; And it all rested upon a word from iAunt Millicent, which she refused to .speak. Most people said that that was a very unjust condition of old Madam Stratton's will, by which the live thousand dollars was to be hers only upon the express stipulation that she did not marry against her aunt's consent. The young folks, one and all, pronounced it "horrid" and "cruel," though there were some among the elders who remembered how the old lady herself had made a most unhappy marriage, against the will of her family ; and how her favorite daughter, Delphine's mother, had followed her example and been equally wretched. And, as she expressed her belief that such things "ran in families," she had in Delphine's instance guarded against a similar recurrence by . making it a condition that her grandSiy4aughter should marry with the full consent and approval of her shrewd, sharp and scrupulously correct Aunt Millident, who had been always very severe in condemnation of her sister's imprudent match. Miss Stratton loved money, and though very unwilling that the five thousand dollars should go to the various charities' to which it had been bequeathed in case of Delphine's forfeiture of it, she would, in her own heart, rather have seen it cast into the ocean than in any way benefiting the son of John Irving and Mary Lane, and the nephew of Dorothea Irving, who had recently averred that, despite Mtllicent's airs, none of the Strattons could hold a candle to the Irvings. Delphine's eyesWere full of tears as she reported to her lover the conversation with her aunt, and that lady's declared unalterable decision in regard to her marriage. He tried to soothe her. "Let the money go 2" he said, impatiently. "It is a comfort to think that she cannot forbid our marriage, though she may keep us apart for awhile. But we are young and can afford to wait can't we, darling?" "I will wait for you all my life, George, if it is necessary," said Delphine, trustingly. Yet, though they both tried to look cheerful, their hearts sank at the thought of the slow-rolling weeks and

months, and rears perhaps, in which

they must live apart, scarcely meeting except by accident, since Miss btrat ton objected to her niece s receiving the doctor's visits at her own house. it was abont this time that a sensation was created by the arrival of an artist no third or fourth-rate profes sor, but a genuine artist, with a name and a fame who, having come hither for his health, allowed it to be under stood that he would condesoend to the light recreation of painting a few por traits of the aristocracy ; and the aris tocracy, for the most part eager to se cure this proof of their being such. hastened at once to secure his services. Among the first to call upon Mr. Blender was Miss Stratton. To-be-sure, his charges were enor mous quite ruinous, indeed but, then, as Mrs. Goldsby, the former jeweler's wife, superciliously re marked, there was "the same differ ence in high and low art as in real and imitation diamonds. If one would have the genuine, ono must expect to pay accordingly ; and everybody knew what incredible prices were paid for oil paintings nowadays." And Mrs. Oldboroucb. who had no diamonds, but boasted of pedigree, ob served that "of course it was neces sary for everv old family to Keep up its family portrait gallery. So she meant to have her own likeness taken and hung beside that of her grand" father, the judge. It required a long time for Miss Stratton to consider in what style she would have her portrait taken. finally she decided upon a fulllength figure in the midst of a garden, the face shaded and softened by a pink parasol, and her hands full of roses. This woud serve to display her height and the dignity of her carriage, and also allow of considerable picturesqueness in her dress, falling grace fully about. She gave the artist several sittings, and being then assured that he could complete the portrait with the assist ance of a photograph left with him for the purpose, she waited in pleased anticipation of the result. On the day appointed by Mr. Blen der, Miss Stratton repaired to the studio, and the completed portrait was unveiled before her eyes. She surveyed it for some moments in silence. "You don't call this a likeness?" she at length demanded, very abruptly. "An excellent likeness, madam, re turned Mr. Blender, composedly. "But but" surveying it first from one side and then another "it looks ten years older than it should do. And it's too thin and sallow. And the smile is not at all like me. I'm sure the corners of my mouth don't turn up like that. Why, it's a positive smirs: i JNo one would ever that it was intended for me.' "I beg your pardon, madam, but I have faithfully represented both the feature and expression, and consider the coloring unusually good and true to nature!" said Mr. Blender, politely, but firmly. "It's a perfect fright!" said Mis3 Stratton. Mr. Blender shrugged his shoulders in a deprecating manner, and the lady's face became very red. "You promised me a good likeness, sir," she said, "for which I agreed to pay you one hundred dollars. Mr. Blender bowed. "I do not consider this a likeness at all. It must be altered." To alter it would be to destroy the likeness." "You decline to make any change, such as I might suggest?'" Mr. Blender replied that he was not accustomed to paint portraits after the suggestions of the sitter, but according to his own judgment : that he allowed none but perfect likenesses to go forth from his hand and under his name, though he made a point of adding whatever softening touches could be judiciously introduced. He had done eo in this instance. Miss Stratton glared at him indignantly. Here was insult added to injury. "All that I have to say is, that I do not consider the picture a likeness, and must decline to take it," she said, resolutely. "Do you mean, madam, that decline to pay for it?" yon "Certainly, sir! I cannot be expected to throw away a hundred dollars on a caricature such as this J" she replied, indignantly. Mr. Blender then proposed to refer the question of the likeness to any person whom she might select ; and Miss Stratton immediately sent across the street for the grocer and his wife with whom sh3 had dealt for a score of years. "Now. Mr. Green," said she, as soon as they entered, "just look at this picture and tell me if you could ever have imagined that it was intended for me?" Mr. Green smiled with a recognizing smile, but receiving an admonitory nudge from his wife, looked solemn and doubtful, and shook his head. "Lor' !" said Mrs. Green. "Why, you don't mean to say. Miss Stratton, as it was ever intended for yon?" "Mr. Blender calls it a likeness," said Miss Stratton, with sarcastic bitterness, "and expects me to pay one hundred dollars for it as such. I cull it a caricature. Look at the smirk, and the head thrown back, and the long nose and hard, black eyes, with no shade about them. No, Mr. Blender, I will not take this picture. You have heard what these good people say, and I am certain that my most intimate friends would not recognize it.'' "Very good, madam!" said Mr. Blender, with yreat politeness. "You are perfectly sure that no one would recognize the portrait as your own?" "Perfectly." "I am satisfied," said the artist, stepping back and bowing, as the lady,

followed by the grocer and his wife, passed out.

And when the uoor was closed on them he smiled to himself in a very peculiar and sisnineant manner. Some days after tbi. Miss Stratton was passing down the main street, when her attention was attracted by a group of passers-by, who had stopped in front of a fashionable book store Glancing at the window, her footstops were instautly ..arrested,, and she stood still, breathless with surprise and dismay. There was her portrait the identical portrait which she had pronounced a caricature only that while the figure remained intact, the rest of the picture bad undergone a complete metamorphosis. The garden was ohanged to a sunny glade in a wood ; the fountain in the background had given place to a gipsy tent,, and before .the thin, smirking,

uuz,iieu ugure in ioe ituii veivet . more rapid or more stood a beautiful, dark-eyed young ! complete than in Tonga, a beautiful ialgirl, in6imple, graceful gipsy costume, and group in the Western Pacific, formintently studying the palm of the j erly known as the Friendly Islands, and lady's hand, while two roguish faces i lying some distance south of the Fijian

peeped at them from behind a tree. The picture was labeled, "Telling Past Fortune." "Why, it's the image of Miss Millicent Stratton !" said one and another of the beholders. "Did yon ever see such a likeness? He, he, he!" And in the midst-of - the exclamations and the laughter, Miss Stratton beheld the new minister coming up the street, evidently bent upon seeing what had attracted the crowd. Not for worlds would she have had him behold her painted m this character ; and she instantly rushed into the store and confronted the proprietor. 'Take it down at once instantly J" she exclaimed. "I I will buy it!" The man obeyed. The piciure disappeared from the window just as the clergyman came up, and seeing him pass the door, Miss Stratton, reflecting upon the narrow escape, felt like fainting. Howsoever, she recovered herself, and in a state of the utmost excitement, made her way to Mr. Blender's studio. "Sir," she indignantly demanded, "how dared you exhibit my portrait as you have done, and without asking my permission. It is an insult and an outrage, for which I will have legal satisfaction !" And she Bat down, trembling and breathlesss. "I beg your pardon, madam!'' said Mr. Blender, with perfect composure. "But did you not assure me that it was no likeness, and that your best menus would not recognize it as such?" Miss Stratton was silent. What re ply, indeed, could she make to this? 'I shall insist upon the picture be ing destroyed !" she said at length. "By no means! I nave bestowed much labor and pains upon it, and have succeeded in converting it into quite an . original and striking design one which will be sure to please the public taste." "I I will give the hundred dol lars," said Miss Stratton, desperately. Mr. .Blender smiled a superior smile. "As the picture now is, I shall charge ten times that sum for it. " "A thousand dollars ! ' gasped Miss Stratton. "A thousand dollars," he replied calmly. Her face flushed, and tears started to her eyes. "I could never afford to give that sum ; and yet to have my likeness exposed in this way to the jeers and ridicule of the public. Oh, Mr. Blender, have you no consideration for the feelings of a lady?" The artist took a meditative turn up and down the floor, then seated him self opposite his distressed visitor. "Perhaps," he said, mildly "perhaps we can come to terms. " "'What terms?" she inquired eag erly. "I will destroy the picture, madam, upon one condition that you will have some consideration for the feelings of one who should be very dear to you your niece, Miss Delphine, and by consenting to her marriage with my esteemed young friend and relative, Doctor Irving, make two deserving young people very happy." "They they aie too poor," said Miss Stratton, taken very much by surprise. "Your mother's legacy will enable them to make a fair beginning, and I know of an opening for a young phy sician which will do the rest." Miss Stratton hesitated nervously and wrung her hands. "Give me a day or two to to think it over," she said. At the end of the day or two, she called Delphine to her, and told her that she had been considering the matter of her marriage with Doctor Irving, and concluded to let her have her own way, and that should she in the future suffer for it, not to lay the blame upon her shoulders. And that same day Mr. Blender presented her with the picture of '.'Telling Past Fortune," which sha with b.8r own hands cnt to pieces and burned in the privacy of her own room. And as to Delphine and her husband, they have never allowed Miss Stratton to suspect that they knew by what means her gracious consent to their marriage was brought about.Saturday Night. Most Remarkable Book in the World. The most remarkable book in the world, so far an mechanical appearance goes, is neither written nor printed. It is in the Imperial Library in Paris, and the letters are cnt out of tissue paper with a pair of scissors. A sheet of blue tissue, in which the letters were cut, is placed between twa pages of white, and so the matter is read, Courier-Journal,

! WOMEN OF TONGA, j

DARK EYED BEAUTIES FAR PACIFIC. OF THE The Seductive Impression of Their ICyes Kival ill SoftneHU ami Siguiiicaucn Thone of the Amtaluxiau Belles European Simmers Prevail (Special Correspondence.) N none of the countless Islands of the Western Pacific the "Coral Edens" of poor R. L. Stevenson has the transition from a condition of ferocious savagery to at least the appearance of fln-dc-seicle civilization been ! ana amoan archipelagoes. The Tongans were long known as a restless, ambitions and unscrupulous people, always at war with neighboring islanders, and of cannibal propensities, acquired from frequent intercourse with the "long pig" eaters of Fiji. Now the Tongans possess all the machinery of a monarchial government based upon European models,' including a king, parliament and a long train of public officials, many of whom are well educated, dress and live In European fashion and have their meals prepared for them by Chinese cooks. There is a regular code of laws, with a governor for each of the larger islands, judges, magistrates, police constables, customs officers, and so forth, together i A SMALL GIRL OF TONGA. with an elaborate system of public instruction. This remarkable change in the manners and habits of a whole people is largely the result of missionary influence. There is, however, some reason to doubt whether it is real or merely superficial. It has certainly been accompanied by a marked improvement in the status of the Tongan women, who are, for the first time, placed upon terms of equality, in many respects, with the native men, and enjoy an amount of freedom unknown in most of the island communities. The bene ficial influence of a settled government and a regular system of laws is shown in the generally prosperous condition of the islands, the larger ones being intersected by well made roads and cov ered with highly cultivated farms, luxuriant orchards and beautiful gardens; want and beggary are unknown; and if the conditions of earthly happiness are to be found anywhere, surely it must be in Tonga. It is the ial land of the lotus-eater a country of sunshine and flowers. Unlike most of the Polynesian peoples, the Tongans are of a delicate light brown color, the men having a muscular, well-fed apearance, while the women are famous far and wide for the seductive expression of their beautiful eyes, rivaling in softness and significance those of the Andalusian belles, especially when accompanied by a coquettish use of the palm leaf fan. The skin of the Tongan woman generally has a silky appearance, the result of a plentiful application of palm oil, well rubbed in after a preliminary dip in some shady lagoon. This treatment leaves a highly polished surface, free from the least trace of greasiness. Their dress is not picturesque. It generally consists of a cloth fastened round the waist, ornamented at times with long hanging tufts of dried grasses; the head, shoulders, bust, arms, knees and feet remaining uncovered, although a kind of ribbon . is sometimes worn round the neck and across the breasts. One of their greatest grievances is that the native costume finds no favor with "the powers that be," and is not allowed to be worn in public, being considered immodest, although it is a decided improvement on the narrow circlet which, in the early days of Polynesian exploration, constituted the sole attire of the female portion of the population. Most of the Tongan women prefer to go about bare-headed, or, like their Samoa n sisters, bedecked with flowers: but the authorities, with grandmotherA MOTHER OF TONGA, ly rare, condemn this practice, ;ind proiii'oit a woman from entering h church or chapel unless wearing the orthodox European hat or bonnet. The attempts to evade this unpopular edict frequently lead to amusing incidents. The principal occupation of the women, when not

v fit f L

engaged with their domestic duties, consists in the manufacture of a kind of cloth from the inner bark of the white mulberry, the bark being1 soaked in water and beaten into shape with a rude' wooden mallet. The process is long and laborious, but the women generally enliven it by incessant chatter or laughing. They are wonderfully expert in catching fish.

THE MIDDLE-AGED MAN. He Buys 3 ents' Worth of Cocoanut Cake and Renews His i'outh. "When I was a boy," said a middleaged man to the New York Sun reporter, "I used to be very fond of cocoanut cakes, as they vlere called, small disks of candied cocoanut, which cost 1 cent each. They were colored white and red, and finally they got some chocolate colored, and it seema to me they had some other colors. If I had oniy 1 cent I bought usually a white r.ne, though sometimes I took a red one; if I had 2 cents I bought a red and-e, white, to have a variety. I have seen the time when I had 3 cents, and bought ail three colors at once. I had not bought any cocoanut cakes for I don't know how many years, though I had seen them along year after year, particularly in summer, when the dust blows and the white ones get all covered with dirt, but the other day I bought two of the new-fashioned kind that seem just now to be having a run; you see them on all the push-carts. The new cocoanut cakes are all one color a sort of molasses color and they are not round and flat Mke-the old, ones.. but thicker and bunchier. like the little broken-off masses of the prepared cocoanut. I found them very good. They differ somewhat from the old-fashioned cocoanut cake in taste and texture, as well as In build and color; the ofd cocoanut cake, while not brittle, exactly, was what you might call crumbly and sugary; it dissolved quickly In the mouth; while the contemporaneous cocoanut cake, after you get below the light frostwork of Us exterior, has decidedly more consistence; It Is what the modern child calls chewy; but the cocoanut taste is there all right, and as I eat them they carry me back to the days of my youth." NEW WOMAN LAWYER. Florence Dangerfleld Recently Admitted lii New York City. (New York Correspondence.) Miss Florence Holllster Dangerfleld. who was ihe second woman to be admitted to practice of law In New York city, and was sworn in before Judge Van Brunt at the meeting of the general term of the Supreme court last Friday afternoon, was the only woman in a class of forty applicants. She is young, has a slight, willowy figure and a face full of character and expression. Her eyes are blue, the kind of eyes that kindle and darken, with varying emotion, and she possesses a quantity of light brown hair. A reporter called on her at her residence about two hours after she had been admitted to the bar, and found her enjoying the floral offerings of interested friends, congratulations having taken the form of American Beauty roses. "Were you embarrassed when sworn in, the only woman among many men?" she was asked. "No," replied Miss Dangerfleld, "it was a very short ceremony, and, to tell the truth, I never thought of the men at all. I look upon such matters in a business light. I think that the sooner the women get over such self-consciousness the better. Not that I am bold," she added, deprecatlngly. "I think," she went on, "that the majority of the best men are conservative in their opinions regarding women worklngamong them; they would rather the old relations be preserved. But when they see that a MISS FLORENCE woman is earnest in DANGERFIELD. her efforts to ob tain a foothold among them, when they see that she makes her work her most serious consideration and Indulges In no foolishness, that sort of woman wins their respect and they turn in and help her all they can. Chancellor Henry M. McCracken, for whom I was private secretary for two years, says that he is convinced of woman's ability to work side by side with men. "Tl e men f.re n it going to take down the bars of the professions," she went on, " and say to us women, 'Come in and walk over us," but if the women take down the bars themselves, and prove their right to do so, the men will applaud their perseverance and spirit. 'When Judge Hughitt of Auburn, N. Y., was first approached about my entering his law office to study he hesitated long before he decided to consent. j They had never had ;i woman in the of- : lice, and he didn't know how it would do. Finally he granted my request, i Last week when 1 visited Auburn he congratulated me heartily on my success, told me that I was plucky, that he would aid me in any way he could, and, moreover, admitted that he had changed his opinion somewhat relative to the advisability of women working with men." "Knock Out." That most deadly and insidious of drugs, chloral, seems to be steadily tncreasing Its ravages, particularly in the j large cities. So many eases have been reported in New York of men found j senseless in the streets from the effects of what the police call "knockout" drops that special orders-- have been given to investigate the drug stores in certain districts and put a stop to the sale of the poison without the precautions required i.y lav.

ODDITIES. So much has the art of dressing and

! dyeing feathers been developed that numbers of seemingly rare feather boas worn have simply been made from the plumage of the ordinary fowl. A German professor recently took a series of photographs of the mover ments of the Hps of a rapid talker. The words thus formed by the Hps could be readily deciphered by deaf mutes. Tire-Arctic "fox shows -the greatest c-hange in the color of its coat throughout the year. In summer Its coat is dark blue, and gradually lightens until snow begins to fall, when it is pure white. Male corpses float on their faces, and female corpses on their backs on account of the different dispositions of fatty tissues. In the case of a lean woman and a fat man the positions would be reversed. Some of the tops with which Chinamen amuse themselves are as large as barrels. It takes three men to spin one, and while spinning it gives off a sound that may be heard several hundred yards 'away. The skull of a man who has died from delirium tremens contains an alcoholic gas. A small opening in the skull soon after death permits this gas to escape, and it can be ignited and burns with a bluish flame. The ancient Chinese and Japanese jsed to draw pictures with their thumb nails. The nails were allowed to grow to a length of some eighteen inches, and were pared to a point and dipped in vermilion or sky blue ink the only colors ..." used in these thumb-nail sketches. " When the pope dies the cardinal oamerlengo, or chamberlain, takes a small hammer and strikes three times on the dead man's forehead, at each stroke calling him by name, and, receiving no reply, draws from the finger the of the deceased the ring of the Fisher, and retires. Most of the colossal pastures in Texas are inclosed by wire fencing. One estate, known as the Goodnight ranch, has Its southern boundary protected by a straight string of fences over eighty miles long. It is scarcely necessary to add that this is the longest of the kind In the world. A law has just passed into force In Washington prohibiting any building over 110 feet high on business streets or over ninety feet on other streets. This action was taken when it was found that the upper stories of a new building to be let In flats, 160 feet high, could not be ljeached-.by any engine or series of ladders in the city. The British museum has an ancient weight, a unique object in the shape of a bit of green dlorlte, about four inches high, carved in Mesopotamia, in the year 605 B. C. It has a long inscription In Assyrian, which sets forth that It was made in the time of Nebuchadnezzar II.. and the exact copy of the legal weight. It is somewhat conical, with a flat bottom. FLOTSAM. The steamship City of Paris keeps up steam with the aid of fifty-four furnace fires. The women of Morrocco never celebrate their birthdays, and few of them know their ages. When flying at its highest speed the housefly makes 600 strokes of its wings per second, and the dragoon fly 1,500. Powdered glass is now used to make sandpaper. The glass is pulverized by heating it red hot and throwing it into water. The condor is the largest bird in existence. Some of these shot in the Andes had a spread of wing of eighteen or twenty feet. The "complexion brush" is the latest addition to the toilet. It Is said to give a healthy glow to the face and remove wrinkles. Most of the Japanese women in the rural districts are skilled agriculturists. This outdoor work accounts for their health and strength. It is said that dew will not form on some colors. While a yellow board will be covered with dew, a red or black one beside It will be perfectly dry. The sound of a bell can be heard through the water at a distance of 45,200 feet. Through the air It can be heard at a distance of only 456 feet. The observance of Lent is one of the old customs among Christian nations. It is, in fact, a custom of such antiquity that its beginning is involved In obscurity. "As blind as a mole" is not a sensible comparison, as the mole is possessed of good eyesight, although its eyes are very small about the size of a mustard seed. The Japanese begin building their houses, at the top.. The roof ls first built and elevated on a skeleton frame. Then it affords shelter to the workmen from storms. Abraham Atwood, a poulterer of LewIston, Me., sold a turkey to a patron, and the latter found in the fowl's crop a gold bosom pin worth twice the price of the turkey. WORTH KNOWING. In New York City the annual average of homicides is 90; of suicide., 250; and of accidental deaths, 1,200. The harvesting of grain by ants is confined to a small number of kinds, and to tropical and warm climates. A typewriter for making entries in books of record has been invented. It is chiefly designed for the use of bookkeepers. Scientists are now getting excellent direct photographs from the moon, which show mountains and craters with exactness. There are forty-eight different materials used in constructing a piano, from no fewer than sixteen different countries, employing forty-five different hands. Tarring and feathering was once a legal punishment for theft. It Is said to be found in the statutes of both England and France about the time of the Crusades. Dews arc less abundant on Islands than on ships in mid-ocean. Seamen can therefore tell when they are nearlng land by reason of the smaller deposit of dew on the vessel. The Introduction of mahogany into England and the commerce of the world was caused by the repairing with a plank of that wood of one of Sir Walter Raleigh's vessels In 1595. Three hundred years ago. when the Japanese were at war with Corea, they cut off the ears of 300,000 Coreans, and sent them back to Japan, where the ear monument still stands as a trophy.