Washington Day by Day News Gathered Here and There at the National Capital MISS SHONTS WILL NOT WED FRENCH NOBLEMAN WASHINGTON—The departure of Theodore P. Shouts. former chairman of the Panama canai com mission, with his two daughters, for New York, where he is now head of the Metropolitan traction interests, has again revived talk concerning the j engagement of Miss Shonts to the ! Due de Chaulnes. If there ever was an engagement it is now off, as Washington society ! has the story, and the reason for this j failure of another international alii- j anca is said to be the refusal of Mr. ! Shonts to grant the ducal demand j for a settlement. It is accepted here as the correct j version of the departure of the duke j without a bride that Mr Shonts stood firmly for the American idea of mar riage settlements. He is reported to j have told De Chaulnes that he would j give his daughter a stylish wedding. ! provide her with a trousseau fit for a | princess, and a substantial wedding j allowance that would keep her in pin money for a long time, but to enter into any agreement to settle an in come on her for life before marriage. HS real reason for the estrange- { ment between Speaker Cannon, eight other members of the con gressional party and the canal zone officials was not because of the quar antine regulations but because Speak-' er Cannon and his party did not be lieve they were properly treated. When the steamship on which the Speaker and his party were arrived at Colon the men who are digging the canal and caring for the canal zone did not even send a rowboat out to meet them. The party boarded a train at Colon, going to Panama and after it had started and was nearing Culebra cut Speaker Cannon went strolling through the coach ahead. In it he found Chief Engineer Stevens, who recognized him and talked with him a few minutes. “Well, goed-by.” the chief engineer said, waving his hand, as the train i approached Culebra cut. “This is j where I get off." 1 FAIRBANKS’ AMBITION OPENS HIS POCKETBOOK WITH a presidential bee buzzing merrily in his bonnet. Vice Presi dent Fairbanks has entered on a so cial campaign that has made the whole capital rub its eyes in surprise and wonder at his extravagance. Sinc-e the Fairbanks weather eye was fixed steadily on the White House The expenses of the family, it is said, have jumped from $"0,000 to $100,000. Mrs. Fairbanks now is one of the most popular hostesses in Washing ton. and from the occasional recep tions of two years ago has developed' to two formal affairs a week. Formerly the Fairbankses lived in a modest house at Eighteenth and Mass achusetts avenues, the rent of which was $3,000 a year. Then they had only five servants in all. and they were without a carriage, hiring a ve hicle whenever needed. Now they pay $12,000 a year for the mansion of TO HAVE the proper and legitimate expenses of national campaigns paid from the national treasury for the different political parties, and to permit in presidential campaigns only a closely limited use of money other than that drawn front the public funds, is the striking project which the president has in his mind as a means of purifying national politics and preventing improper use of money drawn front improper sources. There has been much doubt wheth er the scheme of publicity, after elec tion. of campaign expenditures would be very effective. Practical politi cians have protested that it is locking the barn after the horse is stolen. It would be required, of course that all money should be carefully accounted for, vouchers should be made and carefully audited, and the purposes for which it could be used would be limited to speaking, literature and or ganization. It is understood that the amount made available from the public treas ury would be apportioned among the parties on some such basis as the rel ative votes polled at the last preced ing national election. This would let in the small parties for their share. Politicians regard the scheme as Utopian, but are not at all certain whether it could be defeated if seri ously presented to congress by the president. The president has not developed de tails of the plan, and may be con vinced yet of its practicability, but fie has talked of it with much inter est, and is thus far disposed to re tms ne woum noi: ao. Personally the head of the Shonts household wants to see his daughter happily married, and. if he had any objections to the French nobleman, was willing to put them aside if Miss Shonts was satisfied with the duke. So. according to some of the wise ones, the match will never come o2, as the duke is reported to "need the money." for while he is long on lineage anti incumbered estates, 1? is short on cash. To all appearances the two young iteople are really in love. "But what can a duke and duchess do without sufficient means to keep up their end of the social game?" asks Washington society. Still, some believe the young people may yet decide to marry with out the settlement and take t.heir chances on papa s determination not to rehabilitate the Do Chau'.nes es tates. While in New York the- Misses Shonts will help their father in select ing a home for the family, to which they will move from here some time early in June. CANAL ZONE MEN HURT PRIDE OF CONGRESSMAN The congressional party headed by the speaker believed they had been so badly treated tliar they had the steward on the steamship prepare their luncheon for them. Each mem ber of the party on the train carried a lunch box. When the train pulled into Panama Superintendent beard of the Panama Railroad company had prepared an elaborate luncheon for the members of the speaker’s party They went in the dining-room and ate the luncheon, and on leaving the table each mem ber of the party left at his plate the customary price for a luncheon. Superintendent Beard found the money on the table, and. as his guests had gone, sent it back to the steamship with a curt note th.-t he was not authorized to collect, money for the luncheon. "The Panama commission ruay have gentlemen in its offices in Washing ton. but it certainly has none of them at work on the canal," the speaker is reported to have told Gov. Magoon. Col. Edward Morrell, of Philadelphia, and they have more than a dozen serv ants, with twice that totai several days a week. Over the Fairbanks’ kitchen now presides John Rook, d with intelligence in ad vertising the wares of the merchant. T-.ie catalogue houses employ the best talent obtainable to write their adver tisements and spend large sums of money in this way. Besides advertis ing judiciously they advertise on a large scale and consequently get the business. The old saying that "You must Sght the devil with fire" will ap ply in this case. The home merchant must advertise. He must do more than say: “Come to Smith's to trade, cheapest place on earth." He must describe his merchandise as he would in private conversation over the coun ter to a customer, and then quote the price, This will nearly always act as a clincher and will at least put him on a standing with the catalogue house. In fact it will give him an ad vantage over the catalogue house, for in almost every case he can sell the same grade of merchandise cheaper than the catalogue house can sell it. This is not mere theory but a state ment of fact, for the reason that the country merchant's business is oper ated at a very much less expense than that of the mail order merchant. Are you, Mr. Resident of This Community, feeding to the mail order hog the dollars of this community? Are you pouring the money that should stay in the home town into the trough from which the gluttonous hogs of the city feed? If so you are doing not only the town, but yourself, an irre parable injury, and one that you should stop at once. heir ambition, hence the contentment that prevailed. But in after years, when cities grew and trade expanded, the mer chants of these cities not being con tent with conditions of trade, devised plans by which they might reach out for more business. Advertising in the newspapers being a cheap way of putting the merits of their goods be fore the people, this plan appealed to them and it was adopted. At first they operated on a small scale; then, as the merchant saw the opportunity for making it pay, he added to his adver tising fund. And so it has continued until to-day millions of dollars are annually sent to mail order houses by the people of the United States. The best and most effective way to throttle the catalogue house has been a question uppermost in the minds of country merchants for several years past: some advocating one plan and some another. There are several plans which might be presented to induce the farmer to buy at home. In the first place his pride might be appealed uj. iuere ait; veiy it:** laruiem **uti own their own farms but that would be interested in building up his own locality. He realizes the fact that if his farm is to be valuable it must be farmed in the most scientific manner and all buildings, fences, etc., must be kept up in the best possible shape, and above all the farm must be lo cated not too far from some good town, for we all know that farm land brings a much better price when near to some good town or village. It is not hard to get the farmer to realize this, for if he ever sold any farm land or tried to sell any, he knows this to be a fact. Well, then, after he has realized this fact, the thing for him to do is to patronize his home mer chants and business men, so they may be able to build and maintain a good town. Public schools are much better in the towns than in the country for the reason that where the population is most dense, there is more taxable property to the amount of territory covered, hence there is more money collected for school purposes, and as a result more and better teachers are employed. All this is of the highest importance to the farmer, as most farmers who are of any importance in their profession are interested in giv ing their boys and girls a good educa tion. And right here is wnere the good town proposition comes to him with great force. He knows he can send his children to the village school at a great deal less expense than to send them away to college, and that in most cases better results are ob tained. If the farmer seriously desires all these good things he must of necessi ty help to build them. Let him under stand that he is one of the main spokes in the great wheel of com merce in his vicinity and that he can ill-afford to send abroad to purchase even the smallest item of merchan dise, though it may seem to him that he it saving a few cents by doing so. There are a thousand and one items of expense which the city merchant has to meet that are entirely unknown to the country merchant. The time is rapidly approaching when people who patronize mail order houses will be looked upon as “soon ers” by the solid and influential citi zens of all commonwealths and will suffer ostracism at their hands. Cities and towns are built by com bined efforts of the residents thereof; not by foreign capital. So too are our churches and schoolhouses built. It may be true that in many instances eastern capital has been employed to make improvements in the west, but always with good round interest to the lender of the money. Xo one ever heard of a case where an eastern man or firm contributed to western enter prise for the fun of the thing. Xor did you ever hear of a case where any mail order or catalogue house ever contributed to any church building fund. Nor yet did they ever build or help to build any of our schoolhouses. You never heard of a case of this kind and you never will. All these, eastern sharks care for is your dollar, and you know it, and when they have got ten that they have no more use for you. Then why should you patronize them? You can go to your home mer chant any day in the year and if you are short of change, he will extend you credit. If you are sick and un able to work the home merchant will see that your family is provisioned until you get on your feet again. He will do all of this and at the same time furnish the same grade of goods at the same or even at a less price. Will the catalogue merchant do this? a society could be organized and designated as the “People’s Protec tive Association.1’ An organization of this kind could be perfected in every town and hamlet in the coun try. Merchants and business men would push these organizations for the reason that it would be to their interest to do so. After the organiza tion is formed and things are running smoothly questions of the day may be discussed and also matters pertaining to the welfare of the immediate local ity may be brought up which will in clude the important question of trad ing at home. Of course it will be ad mitted that this question will have to be handled with gloves on. But there are men in business in every town who are equal to the emergency and no trouble is anticipated in getting the farmers and others who buy of mail order houses to listen to reason. Teach the farmer to love his coun try, his town and his people; make him realise that they are his; that they are a part of his being, his life. Teach him that it is to his moral and social interest to bay his goods in his home town, and if be be a man he will do it _J. P. BELL. ■urdein We Would All Assume. Kidi may be a harden, hat few of iu are willing to kick at a harden of that kind. ---- -ii AT ONCE AN INFANT AND GROWN WOMAN PERPLEXITY IN WHICH MISS MABEL MERCER OF PITTS BURG IS INVOLVED FIGHTS FOR HER FREEDOM Laws of Pennsylvania Place Her Under Father’s Con trol, But in New York She Is Her Own Mistress— Daring Escape from Insti tution in Which She Had Been Confined—Ward of H. C. Frick Involved in Romantic Story. New York.—Grown woman in New York, infant in Pennsylvania. Miss Mabel Mercer has decided that she wants to stay in the metropolis. She thinks that the laws of the Em pire state give her a better chance than those of William Penn's old state. As long as she stays in New York she is perfectly safe from cap ture by her father, who put her in the Country home, at Germantown, Pa., the other day. because she wants to be independent. Miss Mercer is just turned IS. Here the law says that a woman of 18 is of age. In Pennsylvania a father is a child's guardian until she is 21, and until then she is an infant. Of Prominent Pittsburg Family. The Mercers are among the best known people in Pittsburg. The fa ther is Capt. George S. Mercer, super intendent of buildings in Allegheny county. Now. Miss Mercer had fin ished school, and was about to take her place in society, when she met young Carl Borntraeger, a ward of Henry C. Frick. He was young, good looking, and he stands to inherit a for tune. He proposed; she accepted. But Mr. Frick couldn't see it in the light that the young people did, and for that matter, neither did Capt. Mercer. There was a stormy scene, some hot words, and Miss Mercer stalked out of the house. "All right,” she said, "you don’t have to support me. I can get a po sition on the stage if I have to." Her father laughed at this, but the girl made good her threat. She did get a place in "The Earl and the Girl" company, and she came to New York to rehearse for her part. It looked as if she would succeed. She was dainty, winsome, extremely pretty and chic.. But along came Papa Mercer. "Your mother is very ill, ’ he said “and you must come home to see her." Of course the girl gave in. Tear fully she took the train for Pittsburg, as she supposed, hoping to see her dear mother before she died and to beg forgiveness for running away from home. There was a stop at Philadel phia. we get out nere. said the father. | sternly, and suddenly a detective ap peared—he had been coached for his part “You've got to come along," said the man, “and it’ll be better if you don't make a scene." Then Miss Mercer realized that it had all been a trap. Her mother was not ill and she wasn't going to Pitts burg at all. Instead she found herself on the way to the Country Home, an institution conducted by the Protest ant Episcopal church at Germantown, a suburb of Philadelphia. Before the girl could recover from her surprise and indignation she was in uniform and under restraint. That was on March 25 last. Right then and there she made up her mind to escape. And escape she did. Now she can snap her fingers at the laws of Penn sylvania and her father, too. She is of age in New York and an infant no longer. Here she’s a woman: there she’s a child. So here she proposes to remain. Planning Her Escape. All this took wits and pluck. Miss Mercer realized that she was being watched every minute. She was made to scrub floors and wash dishes, wait at the table and make beds—things she had never done before in her life. She scrubbed and washed and ironed until her white little hands were all red and sore. But all the time she was waiting her chance. She found herself practically a pris oner. Matrons watched her ali the time. Even her clothing was taken away from her and she had to wear the uniform of a prisoner; if she es caped it would teil all the world that she was under restraint. Miss Mercer's native wit overcame ail the obstacles. She heard the honk honk of the automobile out in the road, she hastily made a rope of sheets, she forced upon the window and squeezed her trim little body be tween the iron bars of her window and slid In safety to the ground. The j automobile did the rest, j But let Miss Mercer tell the story herself: “I have broken with my fath er forever," she said, emphatically, with a toss of her shapely little' head, "and no power on earth can ever get in': under his control again. I'm a woman here in New York, even if the law say’s I’m an infant in Pennsyl vania. “I did run away from home—I want ed to go on the stage. My reasons for leaving home are my own secret. I won’t tell them to anybody. “At once my father made a search for me, and finally found me in the Plymouth hotel. I was about to se cure an engagement to go on the stage when he appeared with another man I and forcibly took me away. My father I told me that my mother was sick in Pittsburg and wanted me home. Inveigled Into an Institution. “We took a train for Pittsburg. I However, after the first stop, when we got over the Pennsylvania line, the | strange man. who proved to be a New York detective, left us. I became sus picious at this, and my suspicions were confirmed when we got off at North Philadelphia. "When we stopped at a restaurant to eat I tried to get away. I found that I could not do this, but I had a chance to write a telegram and send it out by a boy. It was to my New York hotel, directing that no one be allowed to remove my effects without my consent. From th£ restaurant we went to an Episcopal mission on East Walnut lane, Germantown. “My father left me after I heard him tell the matron that I was to be put at hard work. “I had never worked before in my life. I had to scrub, wash, iron and do other menial tasks. I made my escape last Saturday. The day before I had j noticed a wfindow on the third floor j front which I thought I could squeeze I through. That morning I pretended * !J Philadelphia where I had stopped with my father the Monday previous. This he did. “Who was he? Don’t ask me.” It was young Mr. Borntraeger, Mr. Frick’s ward, however. "There at the restaurant,” went on Miss Mercer. “I told the proprietor’s wife of my escape and she was kind enough to help me. “I know that I am right in what I have done. A lawyer whom I have consulted has assured me that my father has no right to force me to go with him, home or any other place. I am fully capable of earning my own living and of living my own life, and I am going to do so.” Family Is Divided. “I am going to make every effort to get my daughter back.” declared Captain Mercer. "She is incorrigible." "And 1 am going to help my sister keep out of the hands of her father,” said her brother, George A. Mercer, a deputy coroner in Pittsburg, when he heard of this. Miss Mercer has two other brothers, one a clergyman and the other is stilt at school. As for young Borntraeger. he isn’t saying anything, but some thing may happen any day. At any rate, when he’s 21 and comes into the $2,000,000 which Mr. Frick is husband ing for him, there may be a wedding. This is the letter Miss Mercer wrote to her brother when she arrived here in free New York, where girls of 18 are no longer infants. "Suppose you have heard about dad putting me in some kind of a convent, and also of my escape. Monday he put me there. Saturday, about 12 o'clock, daytime, I escaped by un screwing iron bars, crawling over two roofs and falling. By mere good luck I reached New York in a half-living condition. 1 had not a cent when I ran away in a calico custome of blue and white check. These roofs were covered with barbed wire, and my arms are all covered with bandages. Soon as I could I communicated with a Mr. O’Reilly, the Thaw attorney, aud kw ims/tEscm escaped szxxrm 'COCWTFT rrOiTE* CA/5C 3QE>N7&4£GB? I that I was sick and they locked me in ' my room. .“At about two o'clock one of the ma trons came into my room. I sprang out into the hail and turned the key in the door, locking her in. "I had nothing but the ugly uniform of the institution on, and I knew that if I did get out the chances were that j j I could not get very far away. How- ; , ever, I was desperate. The window J ’ I got out of opened upon the roof of a I | porch. It was protected by a sash of ! | interwoven iron, bat I managed to lift ! I up one end far enough to squeeze my ; I body through. Fredom at Last. "It was a hard task, and left black | j and bine marks on me that I have yet. ; But once on the roof 1 slid down on ! a rope of sheets I made from my bed ding, to the porch below, and then I I lost my balance and fell to the ground. | “The only person who had seen my | escape was a young man who was ; standing by his automobile across the street. I appealed to him for protec tion. I explained as quickly as possi ble. that I had been placed in tie con vent against my will. I asked him to take me to the restaurant in North received advice and help from him. The detective dad had with him is in all kinds of trouble. Even a mur derer cannot be taken from one state to another without a warrant from the governor, and, too, I am of age in this state. Would Have Gone Crazy. “I am too ill to do any law fighting, but have a good attorney to fight for me. I should have been crazy had I stayed in the convent much longer. As it is now. I have nervous prostration. “I look terribly battered and ill. I have |25 to last me until I start to re ceive my wages. This 1 borrowed from a girl I met in the other company. Strangers have all been so good to me. "In that convent, while kneeling for hours in their worship, I thought they were fools to think a God existed or also that no hell but here on earth ex isted. I fee] ashamed for their relig ion. I tell you I would have commit ted murder had I stayed there much longer. “My thoughts were terrible in that six by ten room. Lovingly, “MABEL.” Does the pluck of this sound like an infant’s?—New York World. AND THE BEAR FELL DEAD. Remarkable Hand Held Against Own- 1 er’s Four Aces the Cause. r _ ‘‘Had a pet b ar cub once." said j Zebekiah Hagin, the most venerable j landlord in Kansas. “Didn't git it j ’doptin’ it out uv pity, 'cause t'wuz an 1 orphan—me havin' shot its motner in | the wilds uv Arizony—but I took up a claim on it rite here in my hotel on ' the unly an’ main stret uv Dodge City. “Took a wond'ful liking to me, did that b’ar. Bein’ a moughty observin’ cretur, it Boon com to learn all ’bout the game uv draw poker. It mouglit have bin ’cause it wuz bora in Arizony or count ov keepin’ sech a close watc h on me that it got wise to all ins an’ outs uv poker, an’ cam to know the value nv cards as nat’ral as if t’wuz born in Arkansas. It couldn’t deal, seein’ its fingers wuz all toes. “It used to help me out tho’ con sidbul by stand In' behln’ the t'other man’s chair an’ puttin’ me wise to the strength uv his cards. At Bight tiv a full hand. It would wiggle its left ear to and fro, and times when It stared at four aces t'would lay both its j ears close down to its head. T'want I like stackin' the cards or ringin' in a cold deck fur the b'ar to do this, so I didn't make no objecshuns. Anyhow, t'wus the b'ar cub that played crook ed, not me. "Whenever those two ears dropp'd close to the b'ar's head I laid down , four kings without seein' the raze. If only one ear wiggled I bet my four kings fui* all they wuz worth. I soon becum known to the bunch as the mos’ skillful card player on the cattle ranges. I made a bar’l uv munny— ’til Eph 8cott nv Glairsfield, Neb., cum to take a band in the game. "Cards didn’t run very int’rustin' in the fust ha'f hour uv the game. The bizzy lettle slit in the green cloth got mos’ dv the munny that had bin in acshun. Then there cum a jackpot fur ten dollars. Being the dealer, I had dealt myself four aces. It wuz Eph’s fus say, an’ he didn’t do a thing but pass. I opened it tor $25. Eph staid, an’ ask’cl fur tour cards. I dealt myself one card, not that my tour aces could be helped, but that Eph mought think I was only boldin’ rsvo pairs. I picked up the card an’ made believe I was studyin' rite hard, so's Eph mought think I wuz bluff ing. Being as I wuz the opener, I finally bet $50. I thought it like findin’ munny when Eph put in the 50, but I fell diffrunt when he razed It $200 more. "I had sech confidence in them four aces that I hadn’t even thunk of look in’ at the b'ar. It ’peared to me such a lead pipe cinch that I didn't need any outside assistance. When the $200 raze was made I took a squint fur th b'ar. I had seen him stanin' be hin’ Eph’s chair a momunt befo’, but the cub was nowhere to be seen. Raisin’ myself a leetie in my seat, I saw th b'ar lyin' stiff an’ stark on the wooden floor. Its shaggy fnr wuz streamin' with cold moisture an’ ita forefeet were stretch’d out at full length as if in agony uv death. It cost me $200 more to call Eph's raze, but I found ont what had killed the cub. He bad dropped dead when he saw Eph make a straight flush with hia four-card draw. * “Knowin’ draw poker as well as I do, I can’t ezact*ly blame that b’ar.”