Omaha daily bee. (Omaha [Neb.]) 187?-1922, May 22, 1898, Part III, Image 17

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    r
f K THE OMAHA SUNDAY BEE.PAGES 17 TO 24.
r JUNE 10 , 1871. OMAHA , SUNDAY MOjNTNGMAY 22 , 1808. SINGLE COl'Y FIVE CENTS.
I EXTRAORDINARY BARGAINS FOR MONDAY'S ' TRADING
16th and Douglas
* Grand Opening
Omaha ,
New Enlarged
ILNMDEISftSOIS Shoe Dept
PROPRIETORS.
BLACK AND MILLINERY Grand Special At less tlia 11
COLORED Sale RUGS HALF
Specials for Monday Bought at auction from
Washable Kai Kai blue Plaids col-
, pink , Large Fancy , good -
W. & J. Sloaue , New York. Former
and green stripes , worth loringrf for waists , as displayed price
50c , value at in window 39c One lot of beautiful One lot of trimmed
extaordinary played our , One immense stack of fine One immense counter of 3VEo- > One lot of those very largo
ful
25c yard. yard. new style , Walking Moquette and Axniiii- quette and Axuiiuster 8-3xio-o Parlor Bugs ,
Dress Ster Rugs , new and beautiful very large size , all very now and hundsnmo designs , light
nnd dark colored oriental ami modern
Shapes Hats , tiful designs , at § 1.59 ; worth now and handsome patterns , nt $2.1)8 ) effects , always sold ut $ lo.OO ! , on sale to
, * $2.98. each , would bo a bargain. nt $5.00. morrow at $15.00 each.
fancy turbans , etc. , at
worth up to $1 , Mon
SI,25 Quality Fancy Silks at49c Yard day at lOc. 98c each. $15,00
Yard wide white and black China lOc ,
Silks 4lc. ) Large Plaid Silks for
waists 49c yard. Extra wide Foulard
Another immense lot of those very largest Ono counter of the finest quality Ne Plus
Silks , large figures , 49c yard. Every 3,000 bunches of Thousands Of T housands of size , 9x12. Moquette Rugs , large enough Ultra RugfS , no finer rugs manufactured
one of the above worth § 1.00 and ,
flowers
Rumple bought ut blacK and colored grade for most handsome for in this . size and
poerinco , most of high any room , enough any country. They nre very large
$1.25 yard , choice Monday , 49c yard. n quills , worth 25c , 1C millinery or 25c .
: hem worth $1 a " . home ; regular prices selling in Omnlm nt $10.00
on sale at lo mcnte , "oc.
. .
Heavy black rustle taffetta , 24 inches juncli , on sale nt. 5 , tomorrow only 144ft cacli. Tomorrow you can . take I
SI.OO $1.00 $ your choice of the fln''st vugs
. wide , at § 1.00. . Trimmed Hats $10.00 and $15.00 as long as they last , , IvfiaU each. made in Never this country was there at$4.)8 such ! )
$2-50 exquisite plaids , choicest combinations and styles Trimmed Hats § 19.98 each. . . . a bargain
. and 86.00 trimmed
$5.00
ever shown in Omaha , so stylish for waists and trimmings ,
all the .new blues combined with white , watermelon color and liats for Monday , new ideas , reduced
at § 2.98 to $5.00 each. Immense From the
white , largo black and white checks and plaids , on special
Slonne auction
Bargains
Bale at 98c and $1.G9.
Our LADIES' READY-MADE SUITS Uoyal Wilton carpets , Wilion Velvet All the BRTJ3SELIS CAR Strictly all wool Hartford Ingrain
Special carpets. Moquuttu carpets , , PET , beautiful designs , CARPETS , no bet
JACKETS WAISTS SKIRTS Axmitibtor carpets , and in | Slouno's wholesale price ter in < ri'uin qarpots made ,
fact all of Sloune's best on thorn wa 7i"C ) yard , bollin < ; in Omaha at 75c
carpets , on enlo tomorrow tomorrow wo will yard , tomorrow your
in rich and choice colors , retail them at 49o cliolco of over Uo btylcs ,
Dress Skirts of at 83c yard yard at flOc yard
$5.98 for blouse
3 EXCEPTIONAL BARGAINS IN beautiful mixture
suit of all wool , The
cloth , nicely trim tan combinations , Biggest
med with braid , and drab combi That immense purchase from the United States Custom House of hljrh class Luce Curtains go on sale tomorrow.
DRESS - - GOODS in desirable nations , actually No\or were there such bargain * before and never will there bo such drapery bargains again.
: shades , $9.98 worth $2.50 , at $2,00 Lace Curtains at 50c pair $3,50 Lace Curtains at $1,98 pair All the $7,50 Lace Curtains $3,50
'
value , at $5.98 98c' . f All the low priced Nottingham Lnco Over 500 styles to select from , All the high class Nottingham'
Summer colorings Bicyle Suitings .
75c of Curtains that fW.50
quality trunorally soil ut , we '
all those soft curtains imitation 'Brussells Fish
. lacey , ,
.r 0ccach
place on ono big counter at > _ ;
Etamine and openwork in pure silk and and tailor made you can buy thorn by the all the heavy cur Not. Guipure and
work lloral design piece or by the pair. They tains , many novelty Irish 1'olnt that
coverts all the '
wool high class , curtains before sell to'
are full size in white and. never generally up $3.50
grenadines , black ecru , and always sell at fore shown , and worth $7.M $ ) ; mlr , uro on tale
dress goods , cost new combinations . $3.r > 0 pair , go in ono tomorrow , over SO *
goods in a large $2.50 a pair , your choice Inuiioiiho lot at felf " stylw tofcoletM from , .
variety of patterns $1,25 to import , on of colors , special . for silk brocaded TatfeU at 50o ctich H.USpalr Hllut J3.M jrilr
and choice $3.98 pure " $12.50 Lace Curtains at $5 One immense assorted lot of high class
styles , special sale at 49c. at 75c yard. ' . pair portieres
at 25c yard. Dress Skirts * Silk Waists All the finest quality real Brus tieres , worth § 15. There are
small and large designs , in all the new shades , with sels , heavy Irish Point and many $5 some with all over patterns ,
Yard 49G Yard 75G Yard lined with corded fronts and plaited novelty curtain" , none worth less than $12.60. some with heavy frin [ > oothcr rich deep
25C over 50 styled to select from your choice dado , all of thorn worth$15your choice
percaline , $3.98. ed , also cuffs , a bargain at 5.00 pair tomorrow , us long as they last at , pair
QUAINT CAPITAL OF PERU
A Oity Made of Mud and Pish Poles Contain
ing One Hundred Thousand People , i
HOW THE HOUSES OF LIMA ARE BUILT
Flreitroof Conntrnctlon , lint Il ln Doc
More Ilnninur Thnii nn KnrtliI I
quake Hellcn of a South j
American City. |
_ . > I
" \ { Copyrighted , 1808 , by Frank O. Carpenter. )
J > LIMA , Peru. April 17.-Spe".l ( l Corre-
, " epomlenco of The Bee. ) Take a walk with
' mo this morning through the quaintest city of
X this hemisphere. Wo are In Lima , the capi
tal of Peru. The streets on which we stand
were laid out more than three hundred years
go. Lima was a city when Boston was
In Its swaddling clothes , when Philadelphia
was a baby , and all to the west and south
. I show
of It an unbroken wilderness. can
you houses hero which arc two hundred
years older than Chicago or Cincinnati , and
of the oldest
I can oven Introduce you to one
est citizens , the founder of the town , who ,
dried and pickled by this puio Peruvian air ,
bas for over three centuries stayed here with
his property. I reter to the Spanish free
booter , Indian robber and butcher , Plzarro ,
who laid out Limn In 1035. He was ns-
asslnatrd on the spot where the president
of Peru now lives , and his skeleton ar.d his
brains corked up In a bottle are kept In a
glass cnse In the cathedral across the way.
The skin Is dried and It sticks to the bones.
but with the "exception of a patch which has
been cut oft hero and there for relic hunt
ers the hide Is Intact , though decidedly
leathery and worse for the wear.
A City of Mud.
Everything but money lasts long In Lima.
Where else In the world will you find a
city built of mud 300 years old ! Lima has
more than 100,000 people , and It is built of
mud. It Is about six miles around It and
two miles from one side of It to the other.
It has a network of narrow streets , which
cross one another' at right angles , with
spaces clipped out here nnd there for parks
or plazas. The houses nre all of ono or
two stories , Hush with the sidewalks , nnd
in the business section rape-llku balconies
tang out from the second stories , so that
you nro shielded from the sun HS you puss
through the city. Limn looks wonderfully
substantial , and you would Imagine It to bo
made of mntslve stone , which here nnd
there Is wonderfully carved. Some of the
walls look like marble , others Imitate gran
ite , nnd tbo houses of all the colors of the
rainbow line tbo streets like substantial
walls. About the chief square there arc
Inclosed balconies from the second story
walled with glass , nnd under these are what
look like massive stont pillars forming nn
arcade or cloister around two sides of the
square In front of the stores. These pillars
Are of mud. the polished walls of tu
bouses are made of sun-dried brick coated
with plaster of parts , and the second stories
are a combination of mud and bamboo cane.
Think of a great city built of mud and
fishing poles ! That la Lima. There are
omo of the finest churches here on the
continent made of mud. The great cathedral
V of Lima , which cost millions , Is a mud
" " * structure , and could you take a sharpened
rail and ibove It against one of Its mas
towers It would go through the wall
like a bird cage.
Limit from the IIouneto i.
But let us get up on the roof of our hotel
and take a bird's-eye view of the city be
fore wo begin to explore 1 { . We nre now In
a vast Held of flat roofs , above which here
nnd there rise , the mnsalve towers of Iho
great churches for which Lima Is noted.
At the back of us , at the edge of this Held ,
are the bleak foothills of the Andes , gray
and forbidding , their tops In a smoky sky
and with white clouds rushing hero and
there on their sides. On the edges of the
city wo sec the green crops of the valley
of the lllmnc river , and over there are the
three bridges which cross this stream as It
flows through Lima. Look down upon the
roofs all about you. They are more like
garden beds than the coverings of houses.
Don't stamp your feet or walk heavily as
you move about. The roof trembles under
us and with Httlo effort we could push our
feet through. The supports of many of the
roofs are merely cano poles , on which dirt
Is spread. On some matting Is first put
and then a layer of earth , sand , or ashes.
It Is supposed to never rain here , and from
year's end to year's end Lima has not a
shower. Waterproofs are unknown and
the umbrella mender's cry Is never heard.
It Is on this account that these mud walls
stand throughout the generations , and It Is ,
Indeed , through lack of rain that Lima ex
ists. A big shower would reduce the town
to a mud heap , while a two weeks' , pour
would wipe It out of existence. Even here ,
however , nature sometimes varies her
course. Lnst year the people were horrltlcd
by hearing the raindrops pattering on the
roofs. The water which fell would have
hardly been called a sprinkle In some parts
rot the world , but It did more damage here
than an earthquake.
ClilfkritH ItooHt IllKh.
Much of the light of the Lima houses
comes from the roofs. Each house has a
court In the center , and many of. the larger
buildings are cut up by courts , around
which the rooms run. When there Is a
double row of rooms the Inner ones are
lighted by little dormers which extend up
through the flat roofs , and which look like
chicken coops from where we are standing.
It Is dlfllcult , In fact , to tell the dormers
from the chicken coops. There are thou
sands of chickens which are born , lay their
eggs arid grow fat on the roofs of this city.
There Is a hen cackling on the opposite roof
now. I am awakened every night by tbo
crowing of the roosters above me , and the
noise of the early morning In the middle of
Lima makes me Imagine myself In a barn-
ynnl. There Is ono asthmatic old rooster
which crows me awake regularly at 5 a. in.
and another that sometimes makes the air
shako at midnight. I have not yet seen a
cow on the roofs , though I am told that
some families have their stables so located ,
the cattle not being taken down until they
are ready for killing.
Prom such buildings you might think the
houses of Lima would be always tumbling
down and. that the city would be In constant
danger from fires. This Is not the case.
The houses are almost earthquake proof ,
the larger buildings often having their first
story walls from four to six feet thick ,
though those of the. second story are thin.
These mud walls never take fire. The
furniture may go up In smoke , but as soon
as the roof Is ablaze It falls In , and the mud
which covers It puts out the fire. There
are , Indeed , but few losses from fires here ,
and even out In the country , away from the
fire companies , bouses like these are Insured
for one-half of 1 per cent. Such a thing
as a block or square building burning down
Is unknown In Lima.
Tlie Street * nnil Ilouncn.
From tbo hotel roof we get some Idea of
how compactly the city Is built , and wo
sco moro of this during our walk. There
nre no gardens and very few back yards.
The larger houses cover a great deal of
space , as they are confined to one , or at
most , two floors. The smaller ones arc
In many cases so small that It Is hard to
Imagine they nro houses nt all. There are
hundreds of Httlo blind alleys which are
reached through doors In the walls along
the main streets , which have cell-like
rooms , not over ten feet square. Each of
these rooms Is a house , and In ono such
alley which I visited today I was told
that the average was' about eight people
to each tenement. Such houses have back
yards about six feet square , surrounded
by high walls. They have no windows ,
and the light comes In through tbo front
nnd back door. None of the houses of
Lima have chimneys. The most of the
cooking Is done over charcoal fires. Even
the best houses have few windows on the
ground floor , and as a rule the light comes
from the Interior courts or the roof. In
the two-story houses of the better class
galleries run around the courts , and the
rooms opening out Into these are very
largo and airy. All outside windows and
doors are barred with Iron , and the better
parts of the city make you think of a
long row of prisons. There are many fine
homes , which nre entered through Iron-
barred gates , and the doors going Into
what seem to you blank walls lead Into
palatial mansions , surrounding courts filled
with flowers.
In the business sections the people live
In the second stories , which are divided up
Into flats or apartments. There are many
floors rented out , and only the rich have
large houses. The ground floors are stores
and shops open to the street. The stores
have no windows and the doors run the full
width of the store , so that the whole front
Is shoved back or taken away during busi
ness hours. The light Is usually from the
front , though the larger establishments have
courts and extend a long distance to the
rear. Many of the shops are more like
caves than anything else. They nro cells ,
' separated only by thin walls , and a walk
along the Mercadores Is more like a journey
, through a museum or an American depart
ment store than along the chief business
street of a city. The business streets are
from twenty to thirty feet wide , moro often
the former , and the sidewalks are not over
four feet In width. Four people cannot well
walk abreast , and a party crowds you off
the pavement. A donkey with panniers took
tbo right of way from me this morning ,
nnd I stepped out Into the road to let him
go by.I.iiry
I.iiry Men find Pretty Women.
The street scenes of Lima are Interesting.
Let us stop under the arcade , which runs
about the plaza , and watch the crowds.
Hero are some of the best shops of the city.
They are full of fine goods , nnd here be
tween 4 and 5 o'clock every afternoon the
people como to buy nnd do business. These
hours are the gayest of the day , and the
crowd la now as thick as that of lower
Broadway at noon. It Is a far different
crowd , however. No one hurries. The men
saunter along or stand on the street and
chat with their friends. We sea Httlo knots
of men every few yards , and the messen
gers , the merchants and clerks seem to
have time and to spare. Nearly every one
Is well dressed. There are many plug hats
and kid glovej , and nearly every man , old
and young , carries a cane. They nre very
polite. They bow , smile , shake hands nnd
lift their hats when they meet , and bow ,
smile and tip their haU when about to de
part. They are the plnX of perfection as
far as form goes , and you would Imagine
them gentlemen of IclBureTrolllng In/ivealth.
The truth Is .most of them are poor. Peru
has been playing a losing game with for
tune for years , and the day of her enor
mous riches has long since gone by. If you
will look closely you will sco that many
a coat Is shiny at the scams and that many
of the silk hats are fast losing their nap.
There nre , perhaps , moro reduced gentle
men hero than In any other city of the
world. The Chilians looted the country
some years ago and took away Us chief
sources' 'revenue. Tha Peruvians have
*
been losing from .that day to this. They
have been patronizing'tho pawnbrokers and
the foreign bond buyers until the people
nationally and Individually are compara
tively poor. They are not a business people ,
and having fallen do not know , how to get
up. The business of the'country'is , In fact ,
In tbo hands of foreigners , and there are
not two big Peruvian1 business houses In
this Peruvian capital. { The young Peruvians
are clerks In the storrte or the government
offices , whllo their fathers , as a rule , arc
skimping along on the remains of their once
great estates. . *
Pretty GlrU of Mum.
But wo must not fin-got where wo are.
Wo are In ono of the main streets of Lima
at 4:30 : p. in. , "and some of the prettiest
women south of the equator are going to
'
and fro past us. If you could drop this
street down In nn American city , how our
young men -would stop and open their eyes.
How their mouths would water as they saw
the luscious lips all about us , and how they
would drink In the .beauty of the Lima girls'
eyes. The young ladles , of Lima ! They
are a class nearer perfection In beauty of
form than any girls I have ever seen. They
are straight and well rounded , and their
KOft , round , beautiful fncej , wjlh their luxu
riant black hair combed high up from the
foreheads , are lighted up with eyes which
fairly shine with tha souls of their owners.
It you could drop Lima down In Now York
the men would think the city had been
taken by young wldqwu or female orphans
who had Just gone Into mourning. All of
the women of Lima dress in black when
they go out to walk. TKey do not wear
bonnets , but wrap fine1 shawls of black
goods about their heads , .pinning them fasten
on their backs , so that the face alone shows.
The background adds to their beauty , and
the costume , , on the whole , Is a good one.
It saves- the buying of new hats and bon
nets , nud , ls easy . 'to put on or take off.
Many a seedy waist and } frowsy head are ,
I doubt not , hidden under those black
shawls , and the wearers are never bothered
by the-question which one of our girls
asked her mother , when preparing for an
evening function , calling over the banisters ,
"Ma , shall I wash for a high or low-neck
dress ? " The Peruvian woman needs to wash
only her face for the street * , for the rest
of her person Is hidden. A a rule , I am
told , she often dispenses with washing her
face , for In Peru they say that coldwater ,
brings fevers and that frequent bathing Is
productive of all kinds of diseases. There
Is much powder used , and , , Lima has as
many perfumery shops osjany city of Ua
size In the world. Both njn and women
are fond of sweet smells , t nd at carnival
time they go about with squirt guns and
atomizers with which they 'drench their
fellows of the opposite MX. 'The girls throw
I powder upon the boyi and men , and women
1 daah water into each other's fac * . Some
times a crowd of Lima belles will catch
hold of one of the beaux and souse him In
a bath tub full of water. I met yesterday
a young man who was suffering with fever
on account of a cold gotten from such a
ducking not long ago.
They < to Church.
The Lima-women are very devout. Every
other one wo meet curries a prayer book nnd
you can seldom enter a church without find
ing a score or BO on their knees. No woman
can go Into a church wearing a hat or a
bonnet , nnd those who attempt to do so are
touched with a long stick by the sexton and
told to take their hats off. Ono of the
queer sights of Lima Is a church congrega
tion. The people , you know , nre all
Catholics and the ceremonies are Impressive ,
the costumes of the priests being resplend
ent with gold and silver braid. The men
sit by themselves and the women and girls
all wearing these black clothes on their
heads make you think of a congregation of
nuns who are dead to the world. At their
own homes , however , they are , I am told ,
quite as much alive as their sex anywhere.
They arc vivacious and charming and able
to hold their own In their talk with the
men. They are Interested In politics nnd
those of the better classes are well educated ,
many of them speaking French. They are
very fond of music and many play on the
piano , the mandolin and the guitar exceed
ingly well. As In all Spanish countries ,
girls are never left alone with the men until
they are married , and the courting Is done
with the whole family looking on at the
billing and cooing. They are fond of even
ing parties , or tertullas , as they are called ,
and arc noted for their sensuous dancing of
the voluptuous waltz. At homo they dress
much like their sisters of the rest of Chris
tendom and are as fond of gay clothes and
the latest styles as our own American girls.
The women's rights woman has , I am told ,
not yet made her way hero , though there Is
a movement toward giving women employ
ment In places which were formerly ex
clusively held by the men. There are , for
Instance , women clerks In the city postoflico ,
nnd the stamps which I shall put oh this
letter will bo bought of a Peruvian girl
who will bother her brains to understand
my poor Spanish when I ask her to weigh
It nnd have it properly registered.
I.liim on Ilornetinuk.
Lima on horseback Is quite as Interesting
as Lima afoot. There are few private car
riages here , and I am told that there Is not
a livery stable In the whole city. The
streets are paved with cobblestones and
the cabs Jolt your bones so that most people
prefer \o \ ride In the street cars or on horses.
The horses here have the easiest gait of
any I have ever ridden. It Is one peculiar
to Chill and Peru , a sort of a cross between
a pace and the action of a high-stepping
hackney , which carries the rider along with
less Jolting than that of a rubber-tired car
riage. . 'he horses are small , but very spir
ited. There comes one down the street now.
Its rider Is In full riding costume , and he
would not be out of place In Hyde park were
It not for the big silver spurs on both of his
boots. Notice how magnificently the horse
Is appareled. The bridle Is trimmed with
silver and the stirrups are plated with the
same shining white metal. He has a heavy
saddle blanket of fur and the reins have a
Jong braided strap attached to them , which
he uses now and then as a whip. How the
horse prances as be tickles him with the
spurs and boyr the demure maidens who pass
steal sly glances nt him out of the tails of
their eyes. There he has stopped and dis
mounted. He Is stooping at the horse's front
feet. See ! Ho Is buckling a short strap
about them just over the ankles , thus hob
bling the horso. He leaves him thus with
out tying nnd goes on Into the store. This
wo learn Is the way that all Peruvian
horses , those In carriages as well as those
without , are tied. There are no hitching
posts , tlo rings or horse weights In Lima ,
and it Is a police regulation that every horse
left alone on the street must bo hobbled.
The straps used are BO short that they can
bo easily carried In the pocket , and the
drivers of carts hobble their mules by tying
the lines about their front feet.
Women Who Illdc Antrlile.
Much of the peddling of Lima Is done
upon horseback , and In many cases the
peddlers are Indian women. Nearly all
of the milk of the city Is carried about in
cans tied to the two sides of a horse , upon
the back of which ; with her legs straddling
the horse's neck , sits a bronze-faced
woman , dressed in bright calico and wearIng -
Ing a broad-brimmed Panama hat. When
the milk woman reaches a house where she
has a customer she slides down over the
horse's neck and lifts one of her cans out
of the pocket In which It Is fastened and
carries It Into the house. The bread wagon
of Lima Is a horse with two panniers full
of loaves , and many of the vegetables are
peddled by women who ride astride. The
street cars nro drawn by horses , but where
there la a slight grade an extra horse or
helper Is hitched to the side of the team.
The horse is not driven as In the United
States , but ridden by a boy In a saddle ,
who has long spurs with which ho keeps
the horse up to his work. All sorts of things
are peddled on donkeys ridden by men or
boys , who sit just In front of the tails of
the beasts with their backs against the loads
of goods they are peddling. There are no
huckbtcr wagons or carts , and the drays
of the city are long two-wheeled affairs ,
each pulled by three mules abreast.
FUANK a. CARPENTER.
LAUOU A.\U 1XIIUSTUY.
The banks of Kansas have $20,000,000
more in deposits than they had two years
ago.
ago.Tho
The highest paid railroad employes In
China are the telegraphers. They get $17.80
In gold per month.
At tbo present time the annual produc
tion of flaxseed and straw of the United
States Is approximately 12.000,000 bushels
of sced , and 300,000 tons of fiber.
Mayor Harrison of Chicago has appointed
a committee of aldermen to draw up an
enabling act to be presented at the next
session of the Illinois legislature by which
the city may own Its electric lighting anil
gas plants ,
A Manchester ( N. II. ) hosiery company U
now engaged In running off 100,000 pairs
of boso for the War department. They are
all wool , heavy and rather long In fact ,
the tegulatlon gray hose known to all old
soldiers , and made strictly In accordance
with the specifications.
The founder of the New England Manu
facturers' association read a paper before
that body in Boston the other day , In which
he suggested that the cotton spinners of
New England turn their attention toward
the railing and manufacture of linen to
make good that portion of the cotton In
dustry absorbed by the south.
The cottonseed Industry of the United
States amounts to 4,000,000 tons annually
valued at $120,000.000. In 1867 there were
four mills , In 1897 over 300 mills , with an
Invested capital of $10.400,000 and employIng -
Ing 10,000 people. The exports In 1S96
amounted to 800,000 barrels , and there are
now crushed annually In the south about
l.f'OO.ooo tons of cottonseed , which gives a
product of 700,000 tons of hulls alone.
According to the Railway Age the rail
roads of the United States carried 13,000-
000,000 passengers one mlle and 93,000,000-
000 tons of freight ono mile In 1E)7. ! ) Of the
total earnings of the railways about 70 per
cent came from freight service nnd 30 per
cent from passengers. The railroads had
to carry a passenger COO miles to earn $1
of profit , or say live miles to earn 1 cent.
They had also to handle n ton of freight
( besides loading and unloading It ) 1,030 miles
lo make $1 profit , or over fifteen miles to
make 1 cent.
All of the straw hats bold In New York
are Imported or made In New England ,
mostly In Massachusetts. There are n great
many hat factories In the small towns of
that atato. Of course , the most Ignorant
person knows that every straw hat , from
the cheapest to the highest , is made of straw
braid. Well , this straw braid is Imported
from Europe. No straw braid for hats I *
made in America. Switzerland leads the
countries of Europe In the manufacture of
this braid.
The Importance attached to the new In
dustry of beet sugar manufacturing and re
fining In some parts of California may be
judged of by the following remarkable di
mensions , as published , of the new estab
lishment now being constructed nt Salinas ,
In that state : Main building , r > 82 feet long.
102 feet wide and five stories high ; water
required to keep mill running , 13,000.000
gallons per day ; will consume about 1,200
gallons of oil dully that Is , In twenty-four
hours or Its equivalent In wood or coal ,
nnd will cut 3,000 tons of beets per day of
twenty-four hours. The expected dally
sugar product of this vast establishment U
In the neighborhood of 450 tons.
The question of federating with other or
ganizations of railroad operatives has been
brought squarely before the convention of
the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers ,
now lu session nt St. Louis. The committee
to which the question was referred pre
sented a favorable report lust Tuesday , but
final action was not taken. The convention
will remain In session for two more weeks.
The basis on which thu national federation
Is proposed to be miido Is somewhat similar
to that ou which the present system of fed
erations nre constructed. U Is proposed
that the grand president of each ot the flvo
national railroad labor organizations shall
constitute an executive committee. This
committee will not ho culled upon to act
until the local or system federation com
mittee on the railroad on which trouble cx-
ist reports that it Is unuble to honorably
adjust the differences. The national federa
tion executive tommlttre would then bo
called upon to Inyeulgate. This committee
would not have power to order n strike.
Its duty would simply bo to investigate the
1
particular CUEO In question unrt to decide
whether It was serious enough to Justify
n strike. In order to make the conclusion !
assume any validity whatever all five mem
bers would hnvo to agree that u strike wa
justifiable. If any ono member of the cx-
ecutlvo committee disagreed with his fellow
members no further steps could bo taken.
In case the entire committee ngrccd that
drastic measures were Justifiable or neces
sary they would have only the power to BO
report. They could not order the strike ,
but each member of the executive committee
would draft a circular letter to each local
body of his organization , elating In It the
conclusions arrived ut by the executive com
mittee , and requesting a vote from each In
dividual member of his organization on tbo
question of whether the strike should be
ordered or not. On the votes being taken ,
two-thirds of the membcishlp of each ot
the five organizations have to vote for the
strike before It can be ordered. It will bo
* ct-n from this that , whllo the measure un
der consideration for n national federation
Is fur-reaching In ita Influence If it U
adopted. It U still so guarded by the neccs-
Hary delay In arriving at a decision that It
would be almost Impossible to take any ac
tion without giving every member of the
i flvo organizations lime for deliberate cou-
J side-ration. A > two-thirds vote of the dele
gates at the convention Is necessary to an *
. prove the plan of federation.