THE FATAL STAB.
A Fourth of Julr Mott.
T is Fourth of July
in San Francisco.
The clear, blue sky,
like a mammoth
bowl cut from one
great turquots and
turyned over he
town. Is a back
ground for thou
sands of flags float
ing from the roofs
• of public buiidingfs
and windows of private patriots. All
tbe flags are big. Everything 1s on a
large scale in California, the fruit that
la exposed for sale, the great rosea that
enamored youths are buying for their
adored ones. The children are playing
In the streets with mighty torpedoes,
that make an explosion calculated to
deafen one. Large men, with ample
ladies on their arms, may be seen in
Overy direction. Immense baskets are
being borne to the doors of their cus
miners oy grocers, uutcners ana con
fectioners. Immense suppers are to be
given tonight, and many happy returns
of the glorious Fourth will be drunk
to rivers of champagne. Everything
Is on a" large scale but the Chinese,
whose fmall figures and alert move
ments *are In marked contrast to the
bulk and size of everything else, on
Which the eye falls.
• Yet little Wsshy-Wfeshy balances on
bis head a clothes-basket that would
aerve him for a cradle, or in his kitchen
—for he Is a favorite cook with Cali
fornia housewives—stirs a pot In which
be might easily be boiled himself.
In the arms of San Francisco sleeps
Chinatown, the curious offspring of old
China, of which Americans think that
, - they know all that is to be known be
cause they can visit the shops fetid go
Into all the strange placea, and, If they
•re in the humor, make themselves
■lek with an opium-pipe among opium
•moklng Chinamen.
Lin Ham ia an ordinary dealer; He
fceepa no shop. He executes orders for
j; the favored few. In each he puts a
surpriso-an Invention for the day. Hla
•re the curious boats, all made of col
ored fire, moving on the water, appar
ently by means of a stream of fire at
■j the aterh, manned by little men In blue
•nd gold and crimson, and .all going
off in a wonderful flash and*whiz and
•putter at last. His are those cylinders
„ which, rising into the air, discharge
wonderful sprays and stars and jewels
■kyward. while at the same time fiery
little acrobats let themselves earth
ward by golden ropes and only vanish
as they totich the ground. Hie was the
itreat green dragon that colled' and
darted moonward. and wrote “July”
BLINKS
up at thb; face of a
J ■ tall man, -... ’ n
acroM the sky before it changed into
the fla( of our nation, which every one
‘.red last Independence Day. i ■;
lent something that amelia
•iously ia smoking and steam
ing lnqneer fashion, in what looks like'
• Uttlfc, furnace, and Lin Ham. while
sy with his hands, twists his
mt and blinks up into the face
U man In a curious, theatrical
who stands with his bare arms
An his chest, and looks down up
on him. The man wants Lin Ham to
tnyent-a fatal trick.
“Suit thing*, are costly," he says, “l
4o not nay that! have anything of the
•V . • a it
H
*h
sort, but It I had. you would not buy
them, Min Toko.”
They are speaking In Chinese, for
Min Toko, though not a child of Chin
ese parents, has been brought up by
them. You can believe ttao story that
his father was a Russian and his
mother a Tartar when you look at
him.
A little Chinese boatwoman took him
from his dying mother’s arms and
nursed him with her own, somewhere
near those quarters where there are
English warehouses and the barbarian
comes to traffic In tea and porcelain,
and he starved and played and swam
about with her own, and early In his
boyhood came to San Francisco. There
he dwelt In Chinatown, and became re
nowned amongst the showmen of San
Franclso for his acrobatic feats. To
night ho Is engaged to assist In a per
formance on the lawn before the man
sion of Benson Blashfleld, Esq. Mr.
Blashfleld will have fireworks and
a great supper, the crowning fea
ture of which will be the feats of
Min Toko, who, amongst other things,
r »•> . r.
•‘COME TO ME ALL YE BUTTER
FLIES.’*
throws a rope into the air, where it I*
caught by some unseen power, sends :>
Kitten up its length until it vanishes
from sight, sends a monkey to find it.
follows himself and draws the rope up
after him, and ten minutes after it
heard calling from the inside of a
great lacquered box to be let out, anti
there he is, indeed, colled up like n
great serpent. Oh, there la nothing
Min Toko cannot do, and no one evei
discovers how he does anything.
Now he laughs.
”1 know you have what I want, or
can make It In a twinkling, Lin Ham,'
he answers. "As for money. I am rich
er than you think. Name your price.
I have told you what I want—to kill a
man without a knife or a blow or
poison—to kill him so that it seems to
be done by the hand of Fato; so that no
one can suspect me.”
is ne a uninaman? asks Lin Ham
“He is an American,” said Min Toko
“He has taken the woman 1 love from
me. This rich man, to whose house 1
go to-night, has a daughter. I love her
YOu grin! Why not? I am hand
some; 1 am no Chinaman; 1 am famous.
I am a favorite with the ladies, and
she smiled on me. You grin again'
Of course, the rich man would say no.
I did not mean to ask the rich man.
if she loved me, that was enough. 1
could spirit her away where they would
never find us. That is what 1 mean to
do.”
“You are mad!” says Lin Ham.
“No,” say8 the acrobat. “She could
be won. She can be still, jif 1 can kill
man.” ■.$, v, ?,,, -
"Do you mean her father?” cries
Lin Ham.
“No. To-night they celebrate her
marriage," said the acrobat. “To-mor
row the bridegroom will take her away,
to-night I must kill him. She will bo
a widow for awhile; afterward, mine."
“It 1b the dream of a madman," says
Lin Ham.
“Does It matter to you?” asks the
acrobat. “I know that It was you who
made the toy the rich tea merchaht
gave to his wife when he lound she
was false to him. The little bird that
perched on'her wrist and sang and bit
her fingers like a real bird, and of the
bite she died. I know it was you
who-"
“No more reminiscences!” cries Lin
Ham. “I admit that I have another toy
that, with a slight addition, I could
make in ten minutes w«uld wipe your
rival out of existence. But of what
avail would it be? Rich American
ladles do not marry such as you. Her
relatives would kill you if you touched
her hand.”
“I have kissed It thrice when we
were alone,” says Min Toko. “Yes, I
have kissed her hands three times.
The next time it should have been
her mouth. Let me kill this bride
groom so that she cannot suspect me,
and it shall be yet. Look!” He thrusts
his hand iqto the bosom of his tunic
and draws forth a pouch. “See!” he
whispers, piling bank notes before Lin
Ham. “How much for that toy?”
. The eyes of the old man glitter. He
gathers up the heap in his claw-like
hands, and says, slowly:
"This sum makes me have enough
with which to return to China and live
there happy for the rest of my life.
After all, what does one more dead bar
barian matter? But I will tell you
this: Unless you can make your rival
take the toy in his own hands, It is use
less.”
“I can manage that,” Min Toko re
plies.
The old Chinese goes to a little -ecess
in the room, before which hangs a
beaded screen, and comes back, nold
ing in his hand a curious kite.
“You fly it like any other kite,” he ex
plains. "When at its full length, you
begin to call: ‘Come down, butterfly!’
A butterfly descends the cord and flies
away. 'Follow rose!' you say. A rose
glides down the string and drops to
ashes. ‘Come down, pretty mouse!’ you
call next. The mouse descends and
"tins up your shoulder and is gone.
Then you call for a blue bird, for a
/hlte bird, for a red bird, for a yellow
drd, a green bird. Thus it might end,
vith the applause of the people. But!
et me work upon this kite ten mintues
longer and add one trifle more, and
:hen there will be somethihg else to see.
Then you may call aloud: ‘Come to me
>ut of the sky, bright star.’ And far
'.bove you you may see a star .htne,
oright as any in the heavens. At this
moment, he whom you wish to kill
must hold the cord, for that star brings
ieath As it touches the man’s breast
life departs from him. Mark me well,
the other things that come down the
.■ord are innocent as drops of dew.
The star is fatal.”
’T understand,” replies Min Toko.
‘Hasten with your work, Lin Ham.”
A little later the old Chinese puts in
to the hands of the younger man a pa
per box covered with shining roses, but
terflies and birds, and says to him:
"Min Toko, the great performer, you
have bought of me a pretty kite, which
brings down from heaven the birds of
the air, and the flowers the spirits
pluck. For all I know, you may coax
the stars down its cord also. It Is well
“I DIE FOR YOU."
made. If any accident happens, that
Is the fault of others, not mine. I am
not responsible.”
"I absolve you from all responsibility,
Lin Ham,” replies Min Toko.
He throws about him a cloak that
covers his theatrical costume, and
carries the box downstairs, where a
carriage containing the parapher
nalia used in his exhibition awaits
him. and is driven to Mr. Blashfieid's
residence. There they celebrate not
only the glorious Fourth but a wed
ding.
Early In the evening, the rich man’s
daughter, Rosabel Blashfield, had
been married to Mr. Arthur Ware, the
son of another California magnate.
There lias been the usual reception, the
usual display of gorgeous presents, a
fine band has been playing, professional
dancers have done their part; now they
are ready for Min Toko and his per
formances.
The whole lawn is flooded with elec
tric light, and, In mighty tents, all
decorated with roses, they are setting
forth a feast. The bride and bridegroom
sit upon a sort of throne that" seems
made of orange blossoms. Tiers of
seats, occupied by peorle in evening
dress, surround the lawn, leaving an
archway through which the performers
enter. It is opposite the bridal-throne;
and, as Min Toko passes through, bow
ing and smiling, his eyes meet those
of the bride, and he seems to give her
special greeting.
Standing in the midst ot the circle,
he begins to gather, from heaven
knows where, white roses, of which he
makes a mighty ball, how, no one can
guess. This he throws toward the
throne. As it floats in the air it opens
and forth flies a little pink Cupid, who
flings kisses abroad and flies skyward
and is gone. Thunders of applause fol
low this compliment to the bride, and
then the little boy-in-waiting on Min
Toko brings in the chairs, the tables,
the fans, the wands, the boxes, and the
show begins. It is sufficient to say
that the man seems to be pMt to over
come the laws of gravitation, to stand
upon nothing, to fold himself up like a
foot-rule, to put himself away in spaces
that seem impossible; and to do all this
gracefully, with beautiful accessories.
The bride’s eyes never leave him.
Min Toko did not boast falsely. Though
his position and residence in China
town seem to her to place him as far
beneath her as though she were an
empress and he a serf, she has always
admired him intensely, and she know3
that he is in love with her. She has
often wished that he were of her race
and kind. He has been made a sort
of pet amongst the Californians be
fore whom he has performed, and he has
had opportunities to speak a few words
to her and. as he said, to kiss her hand
thrice. To-night she feels that she
bids him adieu and to-night he fascin
ates her strangely.
When at last, as usual, he inquires
if any two of the audience will assist
him in some closing performances,
she whispers to her bridegroom:
i^unie, Arinur, lei us go.
And the young man replies.
"Awfully bad form; but if you wish
it, of course.”
It Is a look that Min Toko has given
her that makes her do this thing, and
the bridegroom hands her down into
the center of the lawn, and they three
stand together there.
“Will you be pleased to help me fly
this kite, sir?” says Min Toko to the
bridegroom, as he flings Into the air the
thing we know of. "See, this is how!”
The kite darts upward swiftly In a
moment. Its brilliant breast is no
longer visible. Only a long copper
colored cord shimmers in the air from
Min Toko’s hand moonward.
"Come to mo all ye butterflies!” ho
cries. “Come! Come!" And down the
cord sweep a myriad butterflies and
cover the performer’s bosom and van
ish. “Little mouse!” he cries. “Come,
little mouse!” and whistles exquisitely.
And the little gray mouse creeps down,
sits on his shoulder and is gone. “And
now, sir,” Min Toko says, with a bow
to the groom and a smile to the bride,
"if you like you may call a blue bird
and a white bird, a red bird, a yellow
| bird, a green bird, and after that one of
the stars from heaven." And he puts
the cord into the bridegroom's hand..
who calls loudly:
“Here, you blue bird, come if you
can!” And there is a blue bird and
amidst shouts of merriment, and while
the bride claps her little palms and
showers smiles about her, the birds of
all colors come down.
The green bird has arrived and dis
appeared, when suddenly the bride puts
lorth her hand playfully and snatches
the cord from the bridegroom’s hand.
“You shan’t have all the fun,” she
says, with a pretty pout. “I intend to
call the star down myself. Ah, how the
cord pulls! No, you shan’t touch it. 1
will do it alone. What do you say, Min
Toko? ’Brightest star of heaven come
to me!’ Is that right?”
She beams on him and lifts her sweet,
shrill voice and calls aloud, and far up
in the sky appears a great diamond
star, that shimmers and glows as it
comes earthward. And, with one wild
spring, Min Toko snatches the cord
from the bride's hand, saying some
thing that she only hears as he does so,
and pushing her fiercely from him so
that she falls into her bridegroom’s
arms.
Then the star is upon Min Toko's
breast and he lies upon the ground, and
the gaudy kite flutters.down and lies
beside him; and those who gather about
him see that he is dead, with the tear
ful burn of electricity upon his bosom.
The kite must have attracted it, they
say. Plainly, when he snatched it from
the bride's hand, he saw that there was
danger. Poor fellow! How brave! How
noble!
There are no more festivities that
night, of course—no feast, no fireworks.
All night the bride weeps bitterly,
and when, in the morning, her bride
groom bears her away, she is still
broken-hearted.
The words that Min Toko whispered
as he' snatched the fatal cord from her
are still ringing in her ears. She will
never repeat them to any one, but she
can never forget them. They were:
“Adieu, my love! I die for you!”
Look Out for Your Boy*.
Giant firecrackers this year are four
teen inches long, and contain powder
enough to break a plate-glass window
when exploded on the curb. Small boys
will not only have to look for their
fingers on the Fourth, but parents will
have to look for their boys.—Kansas
City Journal. ,
REPUBLICAN PARTY.
FOUR OF THE TARIFF PLAT
FORMS OF 1892.
Th. Republican Platform a. Adopted bp
the Rational Convention at Min*
neapollfi, Jane 9. 1892—Democrat,
and PopnlU*~ for Free Trade.
Republican: We reaffirm the Ameri
can doctrine of Protection. We call at
tention to its growth abroad. We
maintain that the prosperous condi
tion of our country is, largely due to
the wise revenue legislation of the Re
publican Congr^sji,
We believd that all articles which
cannot be produced in the United
States, except lnxuries, should be ad
mitted free of duty, and that on all im
ports coming into competition with the
products of American labor there
should be levied duties equal to the
difference between wages abroad and
at home.
We assert that the prices of manu
factured articles of general competi
tion have been reduced under the
operations of the Tariff act of 189k
We denounce the efforts of the
Democratic majority of the House of
Representatives to destroy our Tariff
laws piecemeal, as is manifested by
their attacks upon wool, lead and lead
ores, the chief products of a number
of States, and we ask the people for
their judgment thereon.
We point to the success of the Re
publican policy of reciprocity, under
which our export trade has vastly in
creased, and new and enlarged mar
kets have been opened for the pro
ducts of our farms and workshops.
We remind the people of the bitter
opposition of the Democratic party
to this practical business measure, and
claim that, executed by a Republican
Administration, our present laws will
eventually give us control of the trade
of the world.
The Democratic Platform.
Section 3. We denounce the Re
publican policy of protection as a
fraud on the labor of the great ma
jority of the American people for the
benefit of the few. We declare It to be
a fundamental principle of the'Demo
cratic party that the Federal Govern
ment has no constitutional power to
Impose and collect Tariff duties except
for the purposes of revenue only, and
we demand that the collection of such
taxes shall be limited to the necessities
of the Government when honestly and
economically administered.
We denounce the McKinley Tariff
law enacted by the Fifty-first congress
as the culminating atrocity of class
legislation; we indorse the efforts made
by the Democrats of the present Con
gress to modify its most oppressive
features in the direction of free raw
materials and cheaper manufactured
goods that enter into general con
sumption, and we promise its repeal as
one of the beneficent results that will
follow the action of the people in in
trusting power to the Democratic
party. Since the McKinley Tariff went
into operation, there have been ten re
ductions of the wages of laboring men
to one increase. We deny that there
has been any increase of prosperity
to the country since that Tariff went
into operation, and we point to the
dullness and distress, the wages re
ductions and strikes in the iron trade
as the best possible evidence that no
such prosperity has resulted from the
McKinley act. We call the attention
of thoughtful Americans to the fact
that after thirty years of restrictive
taxes against the importation of for
eign wealth, in exchange for our ag
ricultural surplus, the homes and
farms of the country have become bur
dened with a real estate mortgage debt
of over $2,500,000,000, exclusive of all
other forms of indebtedness; that in
one of the chief agricultural states of
the West there appears a real estate
mortgage debt averaging $165 per
capita of the total population, and
that similar conditions and tendencies
are shown to exist in the other agri
cultural exporting states. We de
nounce a policy which fosters no in
dustry so much as it does that of the
Sheriff.
This lb a sam
ple of a cam
paign button,
that we respect
fully submit to
the Democratic
party, fittingly
expressive o f
their Free-Trade
ideas.
Siamese Twine.
The Tariff became a tiresome sub
ject a few years ago, but the blighting
effects of the Wilson law have fresh
ened the country’s interest in it. The
people have learned through sore ex
perience that Protection and prosperity
are indissolubly connected.—Journal,
Kansas City, Mo.
"Buck Number" in Demand.
Major McKinley’s favorite subject is
a back number.—N. Y. Sun, September
20, 1892.
Is that so? There seems to be a pop
ular and universal demand for this
"back number’’ subject all the same,
even four years later.
Senator Mantle's Prediction.
There are those who affect to be
lieve that the industrial situation in
Japan involves no serious menace to
the labor and industries of this nation.
Those who take this position are fool
ishly and fatuously blind to the reU
conditions. The Japanese nation num
bers 40,000,000 of people, who, in point
of skill and ingenuity, and in the pow
er of adaptability and imitation, have
no superiors among any of the nations.
It is stated on good authority that a
Japanese workman can make anything
he has ever seen, and that his ingenu
ity is such that he can reproduce and
put in operation without instruction
the most difficult and complicated mod
ern machinery of every character. It
is this astonishing faculty which en
ables the Japanese to avail themselves
of all the latest inventions of this and
other countries, and it is this marvel
ous power of imitation and adaptation
which has not only enabled them in a
few short years to become a dangerous
rival of our own at this moment, but
is destined in a very short time to
place Japan among the great manu
facturing nations of the world.—Hon.
Lee Mantle, U. S. Senator, of Montana.
.■ • —--- -•
H« Didn't Know It All.
President Galloway of the Mer-'
chants’ bank, said: “I guess this coun
try is big enough to stand all that
comes along. I cannot undertake to
define the policy of the Democratic
party upon the tariff, hut I do not
think that it will be changed so as
to affect the business interests of the
country.”—N. Y. Sun, November 11,
1892.
As bank presidents have again, quite
recently, been called upon by Demo
cratic papers to sustain their anti
American arguments, we would ask
President Galloway whether a de
crease of $3,874,365,178 in bank clear
ings during the first four months of
this year, as compared with the cor
responding months of 1892, has not
affected “the busiiless interests of the
country”—also whether a decrease of
$200,000,000 in the amount of money
loaned within the four years has not
affected the business interests of the
national banks?
Trade for Farmers—POTATOES
v~
y iJlcKinleif fforman )
OneBonel qj Potatoes .Would Buy Hau touch Suyar?
Senator Mitchell’s Sentiment. .
In its general characteristics the
Wilson hill reminds one of the linys of
Wordsworth:
The swan on still St. Mary’s Lake,
Float double swan and shadow.
The bill is sectional in the extreme
in its general make-up, giving protec
tion to the products and industries of
one section and denying that protec
tion to another. In a word, the Wilson
bill is a legislative monstrosity, with
the head of a man, the arms of a
dragon, the tail of a fish and the claws
of a bear. It is un-American, un
democratic, un-republican. It is a
dangerous menace to the prosperity
and general welfare of the people of
the United States.—Hon. John H.
Mitchell, U. S. Senator, of Oregon.
tabor In Fotterle*.
The price paid to labor is 100 per
cent more than is paid in the English
potteries, and 90 per cent of the cost
of the product is labor. With labor
equal, or made equivalent by the duty,
they can successfully compete with the
best potteries of the world. We have
good raw material, skilled labor, new
and valuable improvements. Our deco
rated ware is not excelled anywhere.
All that is needed is a just and fair
protection, and we will fail in our duty
if it is not accorded. Forty per cent ad
valorem is wholly insufficient.—Hon.
Wm. McKinley.
Sprung; on Springer.
It is evidently not intended to build
up a bona fide tin plate industry in this
country.—Hon. Wm. M. Springer, in the
N. Y. Times, Sept. 21,1892.
Yet its production amounted to 193,
801,073 pounds during the fiscal year
ending June 30, 1895, and there are 172
mills completed to engage in the in
dustry. It seems a pity that so much
money should have been wasted in what
was not "intended to build up a bona
fide tin plate industry.”
Wool Enough For England.
There is a shortage in the Austral
ian wool clip. But this can be offset
by the surplus in the United States
which can be shipped to Europe tc
I supply their deficiency.