-
A REMEMBERED TUNE.
My hand went o'er the piano keya ,
And it cbancod on a song thutyouH ngmy
dear ,
When we roamed through the country utill-
Or stood by the * > cu when the moon was
clear ,
In that other year.
1 Torgot the words you were wont to ring ,
But the tune , is a Kwcet and tender one ,
And sad as the thought of autumn and
spring
To one who dreams in the tender sun
That the Bweet time's done.
As I play , the old hopes , the old Borrows
move ,
And It PCCIILS almost that your voice 1
hear ,
And my spirit baa gone thin day to rove
Down the inland way , by the far-off eca
Of that other year.
As a bird that finds its neat
When the winds are over strong ,
With quivering wings and panting breast ,
Even PO to-day this feong ,
Which your dear lips used to Hing ,
From the days long left behind
Enters now and folds its wing
In the still remembering mind.
Washington Shylooks.
Oor. Philadelphia Record.
Driving out to the Soldiers' Home it-
the evening you cannot fail to notice a
last horse driven by a fine-looking col
ored man. Ho has' the neatest light
turnout on the road. Ho is tall , broad-
shouldered , soldierly. He has bushy
gray whiskersandbo wears gold-bowed
spectacles. Strangers'take him for the
Haytian or Hawaiian minister. Ho is
neither. He is a banker , with the most
profitable customers in the United
States. He loans them money which
lie is almost certain to get back , and
they pay him 15 , 25 , yes , 30 per cent , a
month lor it. Think of 360 per cent , a
year ! No wonder he drives a blooded
horse and fattens on all the delicacies
of all the seasons. There are dozens of
* nen of the same sort in Washington.
Most of them are white. But some of the
most successful are black , or nearly so.
Starting in with a small capital , seldom
more th'au a few thousand dollars , they
soon become rich. Their customers are
the department clerks , among whose
thousands there are daily some that
must have money at any cost. They
would sell their blood drop by drop.
It is to pay for a horse , to meet the de-
tnands of a needy relative , or to satisfy
some persecuting creditor. The sleek ,
well-fed , quiet-voiced , smooth-tongued
broker , or banker as he is called here ,
is always just at hand. It is the easiest
thing in the world to get the needed
money from him. There are few formali
ties and no delays. A note binding the
borrower to repay the loanwithinterest
at 5 , 10 , or 15 per cent a month is
.signed. No collateral or real estate
security is required. It is all over in a
moment , and the relieved clerk , paying
the importunate creditor his due , turns
to his work with a lighter heart. At
the .end of the month he pays the inter
est. This is not very difficult ; and so
several months may slip by. Now the
note is due , bui he cannot pay it. Well ,
he can renew it , and he does. Pres
ently he wants more money. He can
have it on the same terms. If he takes
it he is in a tangle , and nothing short
of a superhuman effort will extricate
him before the leeches have sucked his
veins dry. The change that comes over
the manner of the banker as the cus-
4ener gets deeper and deeper in the
* nire is one of the most interesting features -
- tures in this terrible little drama. But
the path downward is so well greased
-at. the mouth that hundreds , with full
-3cnowledge of what has come to others
slide in every year. They say that the
colored bankers , who prey chiefly upon
the colored men and women in the
departments , find it much easier to
$ leed their victims than do their white
rivals. The colored men feel flattered
by the graceful way in which they are
roped in. Borrowing is made so easy
that they seem to be complimented in
the very operation. Then they care
little about the troubles of the future if' '
they are satisfied in the present , They
would as lieve pay 30 per cent , as 3 per
cent , a month , .if they can have the
money they want. Of course the bank
ers prefer the higher rates. The bank-
crs , some of tho- colored ones at least ,
justify-their exactions by claiming that
they themselves have to pay exorbitant
-rates for the money they loan again.
* 0 course they claim as welt that they
run great risks of never again seeing
the money they loan. This has not
been true. Clerks are held to the payment
ment of their just debts with rreat
-strictness by their superiors. Their
-creditors can have their money at any
time byappealinsr to the head of the
.department. Hitherto these brokers'
loans have been held to be just debts ,
.and their payment has been enforced
4 > y threatened appeals to the superior
officers of the various departments , oven
when no such appeals are contemplated.
But recently Secretary Folger , Acting
Secretary of the Interior Joslyn , Com
missioner of Pensions Dudley and other
officials have frowned upon such usurious -
ous contracts , and have done all that
they could to defeat them. The bank I
ers have to resort to some very odd ex
pedients to get their money. The other
day a ladylike woman , dressed in rusty
black and having a mournful manner ,
dropped in on the deputy commissioner
-of pensions. She said she was a poor
widow , and that one of his clerks owed
her $100. There were- tears in her
voice and want in her eyes. The dep
uty commissioner had the clerk up and
obliged him to pay the $100 : The
widow dried her tears. Subsequently
the hasty deputy commissioner learned
that she was the widow of a banker , a
departmentalbank.br ; v that she 'was
worth $100,000 , and that the § 100 was
the face value of a note which the clerk
had paid a dozen times in interest.
This is a sample.
Luxurious Travel.
During the present century inventive
genius has been most actively employed
in conceiving and developing plans and
machinery to simplify and lighten the
labor of man and to give liim more of
the comforts and luxuries of life , and
in no country has such marked improve
ment in this direction been made as in
the United States. Patent has followed
patent with most marvelous rapidity ,
until it would seem that , perfection
must be reached at last , and in no one
channel have such marked and impor
tant results been attained as in the ap
plication of steam and electricity to
machinery , and to the economies of
life generally.
These patent forces plant and har-
vestrpur grain , jgrind our flour , weave
pur cloh' , make' our clothes and light
and warm' our houses. They carry our
persons and our goods over land and
sea , and our thoughts from one end of
the earth to the other with incredible
rapidity , and by thus annihilating time
fiulfill the promise of Puck to
"put a girdle round about
the earth in forty minutes. ' "
Genius having thus demonstrated its
ability to contrive means to carry us
safely at a speed of forty to sixty miles
an hour , now supplements the feat by
the invention of cars that combine
within themselves not only all the com
forts and conveniences of a beautiful
home , but the luxurious appointments
of a magnificent palace as well. Sit
ting-rooms , drawing-rooms , reading-
rooms , smoking-rooms , dining-rooms ,
libraries , lavatories , bed-chambers , and ,
in fact , every possible convenience and
necessity of life "are now become a mat
ter of course while traveling at a speed
which , in one day , takes us as far as
full ten days' weary ride in the fastest
stage line of fifty years ago. It is not
miraculous ; trained -minds , trained
hands brain , ' brawn , money have
done it ; it is simply marvelous ; and a
plain statement of the crude facts is
more wonderful tlfcin the most fascina
ting fairy tale eve'r written.
We have been led into this train of
thought by reading in the Chicago
Tribune a notice of 'the opening of anew
line of railroad' , the Chicago and Atlan
tic , which in connection with , the old
and well known Erie , ' constitutes a now
route from Chicago to New York. =
This now line to use metaphor was
not incubated , but came forth "full
fledged and with a plumage that sur
passes all competitors. Accepting the
fact in its efforts for business it must be
prepared to compete with old and well
established lines , it gave an bVder to
the Pullman company to build solid
trains of cars which should surpass any
thing of the kind ihat had ever been
constructed before , .and if wo may be
lieve the Tribune , the order was faith
fully executed.
Think of it , ye smokers who while
away hours with the fragrant- weed
while traveling ! On this line you have
cars finished in cherry and niaple , inlaid
with woods of darker hue ; the panels ,
between windows of purest plate-glass ,
being richly embossed leather , and in
this room , fit for an emperor's palace ,
are twenty luxuriously upholstered
easy-chairs , with ' tables to match in
style and finish , and at one end of the
room a refreshment buffet connected
with each seat by an electric annuncia
tor , thus allowing a passenger to order
coffee and light refreshment without
leaving his seat.
The day coaches are marvels of ele
gance , inviting one to recline at ease ,
while the Pullman palace sleeping
coaches combine withiutlieniselves the
luxurious drawing-room by day and the
elegant bed chamber by night.
What money could do nay , more !
What educated tastes , coupled with
skilled hands could do with ! the costly
woods of the tropics and the temperate
zones and with the ravishing tapestries
and upholstcrings of all Europe , have
been made to pay tribute to this royal
road , to enable it to give us , while
traveling , a home simply perfect in
every detail.
Travel used 'to be the epitome of
weariness and discomfort ; a journey
of a thousand miles meant nightmares
before starting and sickness at its close.
Now , the same journey over such a
road as this Chicago and Atlantic is
looked forward to as a holiday , as a
rest , as an educator , for eye and mind
and nerve are to oe impressed with
nothing that is not restful and enjoy
able ; and when the journey is ended
one is loth to leave the charming rooms
where everything has been conducive to
joyous ease.
A thousand miles from Lake Michi
gan to New York Bay from the fresh
to the salted sea in thirty hours , and no
necessity to set your foot upon the
ground eat , drink , sleep all while
the paper wheels are revolving be
neath you at a rate of speed that would
in the same time have carried Julius
Cajsar from one end to the other of the
land it took him so many years to con
quer.
i
Bricks Impregnated. With Asphalt.
Bricks impregnated at a high temper
ature with asphalt are being success
fully used in Berlin for street pavement.
By driving out the air and water the
bricks wiU take up 15 or 20" per cent , of
bitumen , and the porous , brittle mate
rial becomes durable and elastic under
pressure. The bricks are then put end
ways on beton bed and with hot tar.
The pavement has been laid down in a
part of a thoroughfare where neither
granite nor compressed asphalt had
hitherto withstood the wear.
Pretty Tales Devoid of Truth.
lx > idon limes.
The good people of Coventry , who
to-day celebrate the festive .ceremony
connected with , the name of Lady Go-
diva , ought to be a Jittle disturbed by a
bombshell'cast into their midst in. the
shape of a letter which wo publish ,
mercilessly assailing their favorite tra
dition. The legend of Lady Godiva
has already received some severe treat
ment at the hands of Mr. Freeman ;
and now "A Lineal Descendant of
Leofric and Godiva" selects the occa
sion of tke Coventry procession as an
opportunity for demolishing the story.
The good people of Coventry , by way
of keeping green the memory of their
benefactress , employ a' lady to ride
through their town attired "in flesh
ings. " Whether this attire is decent or
such as "would not be tolerated upon
the English stage" is alien to the ques
tion of historical accuracy , although a
lineal descendant of Lady Godiva may
be-pardoned for referring even to the
subject of decorum with some warmth.
Our correspondent goes through the
agonizing process of showing in detail
that the procession which is to take
place to-day has no origin in fact , but
only in the fertile brains of chroniclers.
The earliest chronicles , he says , are
silent about the fabulous ride"ai\d ; it'
makes its first appearance in quite a
different form from that which it has
assumed in later times. The populace
of Coventry , so far from being notified
to keep house , as Mr. Tennyson sings
and tradition now relates , were assem
bled to view the spectacle : so that the
"low churl , compact of chankless
earth , " who paid for his treachery by
the loss of his eyesight , must be
accounted mythical.
But even "these early version ? , it
seems , are fabulous. Our correspond
ent admits a Lady Godiva ; but he disal
lows a Coventry in those days.- There
was no town which Lady Godiva could
have ridden , of anything pertaining tea
a town , save , perhaps- , the cluster of
houses which may have grown up
around the abbey completed in 1042 by
her devoted husband , Earl L'eofric.
The beautiful and virtuous Godiva endowed
dewed this abbey .with all her wealth ,
in such wise that she fairly "denuded
herself of all her personal property. "
If these last words are to be taken as
indicating the origin of the modern tale
of Lady Godiva and the "grim Earl , "
her husband , a number of instances
suggest themselves in which metaphor
has been the parent of myth. Leaving
aside familiar examples" drawn from
classical mythology , we may recall the
story of the yacht-owning peer who was
reported to have been so enraged with
a presumptuous aspirant to the hand-
of his pretty daughter that he threw
him out of his yacht ; a report which
proved to be a development of the per
fectly true statement that he "threw
him over. " At all events , the legend
does not appear able to stand the ponderous
derous criticism of our correspondent ,
who breaks his historical butterfly upon
the wheel in tb.3 true spirit of a Niebuhr
flaying Livy , or a Bentley demolishing
the Epistles of Phalaris.
The pretty tale of Godiva , we fear ,
must be added to the list of those which
have fallen victims to the modern spirit
of skepticism and critical investigation.
One by one the romantic chapters of
history , those which used to enchain
childish fancy , and form the landmarks
of childish knowledge , are * being lost to
us forever , except as by-words of cred
ulous ignorance. Once they werelong -
established beliefs which no one
dreamed of assailing ; they were en-
shnned in the pages of Mangnall and
revered accordingly. To those persons ,
be they of Coventry or any other
place , who bewail an assault upon : t
favorite legend , the only consolation to
be offered is that , in Homeric phrase ,
many and better traditions have died
ere this one. The kings of Home per
ished , a long time ago by the -'pen of
Niebuhr , ana they have been killed over
and over again since the great his
torian's time. Homer has not exactly
forfeited all claim to an individual ex
istence under the attacks of Wolf and
his followers , but he has been sadly
compromised.Esop has not escaped--
for it is now the fashion to maintain
that there never was such person , but
that he only afforded a convenient
name under which to group the com
posers of ancient fable1 in general ,
although , by a curious piece of irony ,
Sir George Cronewall Lewis , one of
the greatest of historical skeptics , edi
ted a spurious collection of lEsopic
fables , palmed off on the world by an
impudent modern Greek , as if JEsop
were a genuine personage , and these
fables were the genuine production of
-32sop. To come to-more modern times ,
the current storyj of Joan of Arc has
been a dozen times refuted and as often
reasserted. The historical career of
William Tell is indeed melancholy , for
he has been found out by the critics , in
stead of a patriot peasant , to have been
an innkeeper , and a horse dealer ; but
perlups these critics may be suspected
of Austrian leanings. The romantic
attachment of the Princess Pocahontas
to Captain John Smith is demonstrated
by recent historians to be indebted for
much of its romance to the imagina
tion of Captain Smith himself. What
need is there to allude to the story of
the Vengeur.orto the abundant parallels
of that tale which are found in the an
nals of everr country , and which have
been found not altogether proof against
critical investigation ? Even the ten
commandments themselves , thanks to
the enterprise of M. Shapira , are await
ing the verdict of the learned. No
wonder that a poor liftle local'tradition
should have shown itself unable to
withstand the penetrating fire of mod
ern critical artillery. _ _
Conversation on a journey is equal tea
a conveyance. [ Tamul.
Outrunning Death.
Philadelphia Ttmc. .
"Think of a man getting seasick from
riding on a locomotive engine , " said
Counselor Farley , who last week shot
down from Philadelphia to Atlantic City
a't the rate of more than-u mile a min
ute to reach the bedside of his dying
child.
" 'Seasickness' is , of course , not the
term to apply to the disorder , but that
expresses it better than any other name
that I can think of. My ride created
the same feeling of wretchedness that a
few hours on the ocean always gives
mo , only instead of its being caused by
the rolling of a vessel it was brought on
by the pitching and tossing of a loco
motive.
"I received a telegram telling me of
my child's- condition about two o'clock
in the afternoon. Every moment after
that seemed an hour. I realized how
extreme was the danger , for I had been
up several nights with the little one.
There was nothing but the locomotive ,
and I sat in with the engineer. Dis
patches were sent ahead ordering all
regular trains to run for sidings and re
main until the engine passed. We
were about a minnto getting out of the
built-up part of Camden. Then we
flow ; but no rate of speed could bo
too fast for me. As we wildly rushed
along we enveloped ourselves in
a cloud of dust that was so thick at
times that I eould not see half a dozen
yards ahead. The whistle screamed a
note of warning almost every second.
Indeed , it seemed to my excited mind
that it was all one wild shriek , extend
ing from the Delaware to the sea. After
we had gone a few miles the engine be
gan to pitch and toss , and as the speed
increased the motion became more vie
lent. Now we seemed to drop into a
gulf , then to rear into the air , and again ,
as quick as thought , to be in the act of
leaping into a creek. The trees and
fields and houses were like a long , black ,
waving streak. I began to feel faint
and dizzy , and if it had not been for the
rushing wind I fear I must have swoon
ed in that terrible cat ) . The engineer
was perfectly cool. He afterward de
clared that never before had ho gone at
so high a rate of speed for so great a
distance. I told him of niy feeling of
sickness. 'Yes , ' he said , 'I have heard
of old railroad men tell how passengers
had been made seasick by fast riding ,
but I never saw it before. ' When we
struck the meadows and I got a whiff of
salt air I braced up a bit , but I felt
queer and unsteady on my legs , even
after we reached the station and I had
alighted. I felt as if I had just come in j
on a rough sea voyage. But I was in !
time. I once'more saw the light of my
child's eyes , fading fast , indeed , but
still instinct with life , and in that every
thing else was forgotten. " ,
The Blue Grass country.
Harper's Magazine.
The blue grass country i = iv.iehed by
traversing central Virginia and Ken
tucky along the line of the picturesque
Chesapeake & Ohio railway , unless , in
deed , one prefers the swift and iolid
Pennsylvania route to Cincinnati , and
drops down to it from the north. On
this particular journey , at any rate , it
was reached past the battlefields and
springs of Virginia , and up and down
the long slopes of the Blue Kidge and
gorges of the Greeiibrier and Kanuwha ,
in the wilder Alleghenies. Jt is found
to be a little cluster of peculiarly favored
counties in the center of tlie state.
Marked out on the .map , it is like the
kernel , of which Kentucky is the nut ;
orjike one of those "pockets' " of pre
cious metals happened upon by miners
in their researches. ' The soil is of a
rich fertility , the surface charmingly
undulating. Poverty seems abolished.
On every hand are evidences of thrift
corresponding with the genial bounty of
nature. A leading crop in times past
has been hemp , and land that will grow
hemp will grow anything. This is
being more and more withdrawn in
favor of stock-r.iising5 exclusively , but
the tall stacks of hemp , in shape like
Zulu wigwams , still plentifully dot the
landscape.
One drops into horse talk immediate
ly on alighting from the train at Lex
ington , and does not emerge from it
again till he takes his departure. It is
the one subject always in order. Each
successive proprietor , as he tucks you
into his wagon , if you will go with him
and.if . you will go with Turn there is
no limit to the courtesy ho will show
you declares that now , after having
seen animals more jor less well in their
way , he proposes to show you a HORSE.
Fortunately there are many kinds of
perfection. He may have the best
horse or colt of a certain age , the one
which has made the best single heat , or
fourth heat , or quarter of a mile , or
average at all distances.or the best
stallion , or brood-mare , ort the one
t
which has done some of these'things at
private if not public trials. Each one
has , at any rate , the colt which is going
to be the great horse of the world.
This is an amiable vanity easily par
doned , and the enthusiasm is rather
catching. A man's stock is greatly to
his credit and standing in this section
while he lives , and when he dies is
printed prominently among the li of
his virtues.
*
Clumsy Farming in England.
A correspondent of the Boston Com
mercial Bulletin thinks that English
farming is decidedly shiftier. He
says :
But let the times and seasons be ever
so good in England her tenant fanners
will not successfully compete with our
own farmers , unless they adopt a style
ef farming different from that which I
often observed there. The farmer maybe
bo the leaser of but a small farm , and
yet leave the work entirely in the hands
of the slow , dull hands I have else
where described , who do everything
clumsily and most moderately , and de
vote -his- own 'jtime ' simply to overseeing ,
idleness and country1sports. .
But a little farming illustration from
real English Hfe will best illustrate the
point Lhave.in.mind. Lingeringat an
old English inn , I talked of tno neigh-
borhoou farming with my intelligent
landlord. A couple of sturdy looking
young men in hunting suits , riding
whips in hand , came into the inn at 10
o'clock in the morning t * guzzle bucr
awhile. Landlord said they leased an
80-acre farm near by , on which were 40
sheep , 15 cows , and which
grow more or less hay , wheat , etc.
Thejj paid 8 an acre rent. Did
nothing themselves. Hired help at 15
shillings the week , and were always
ready to join the hounds , if there was a
meet anywhere near them. A hard
"
morning"'s work for them was a walk to
the pasture , to see if the sheep were all
right. In -afternoon they might
take a glance at the growing wheat ,
turnips , etc. In New England , two
young farmers running a farm of eighty
acres would do about ml the work them
selves. I have only time to hint at the
clumsiness of English farming methods
and machinery , as often , though of
course not always exhibited. I have
stopped by the roadside and looked
with astomsh'nieut and amusement at
the sight of three horses dragging a
heavy iron plow , one man driving , an
other man holding plows moving at a
snail's pace , turning the furrows in a
field where a New England farmer
would have done the same work alone
with a single stout horse holding plow ,
and driving with reins over his neck.
So it was all round two or three
men to do a single man's work , and
teams of horses out of proportion to th
labor required of them.
* i
The Missing Link Outdone.
Jacksonville ( Flo. ) Times.
Perhaps the greatest living curiosities
now in existence in this country will
pass through this city on their way to
Cincinnati and Louisville next Tuesday.
About two years ago Mr. Charles Lewis ,
ot the Lewis Bros. ' "Bloody Kmfo
Combination Company , " in passing
through the state , discovered , about fif
teen miles below St. Augustine , a fam
ily of white persons , consisting of John
McDonald , his wife and five children.
Two of the children he found to be half
human and half alligator. lit * at once
contracted with the parent * to give him
the management of th children , and
agreed to pay them $ 2Z per month to
care for tin-in until such time as he saw
lit to lake tlirin away. A fe.w weeks
ago Mr. Lewi-s ivlunnl to the state for
the purpose of taking the children north ,
and on Wedne-ihiy rirnvcil in this city
to arrange lor their transportation , lie
will go to St. Auguntine Monday after
the children : : ml arrive in this city with
them perhaps on Tuesday morning and
will remain here about five hours before
leaving for Louisville. Mr. Lewis does
not intend to exhibit them hero except
perhaps to a few friends and acquaint
ances.
These children are now nine years of
age and have never been to exceed tun
miles from their home , and consequently
quently have never been placed on ex
hibition. Their bodies , arms and heads
from the hips up are perfectly formed ,
while from the hips down they present
the identical appearance of an alligator ,
having a perfectly formed tail about
five feet in length , together with the
hind feet and le.jrof the 'gator. They
crawl around on their humis and feet ,
converse intelligently , and aeeiu to un-
joy life very much. They live p.-irt of
the- time in the water , which they en
joy very much , using their tails while
swimming , the same as the alligator ,
to propel their bodies. They are
healthy , good-looking and well-de
veloped children , and outeide of their
love for the water their general mode
of living : is the same as that of other
human laeings.
A Thrilling Hide.
A party on the Rocky Mountain di
vision of the Northern Pacific railroad
a few days ago had a thrilling adventure
which they would not care to repeat.
They were on an open car which was
standing still on an exceedingly steep
grade. Suddenly one of the gentlemen
saw that a train of cars was dashing
down upon them at frightful speed. It
consisted of an engine weighing 80,000
pounds and eight cars heavily laden
with iron. There wad no time to get
the party off the car , and to remain still
was almost certain death. With great
presence of mind one of the gentlemen
loosened the brake of the car , which at
once began to run down the hill. It
was now a race for life , and the ladiea
of the party were almost wild with
fright. Soon the freight train caught
up with the car , but the velocity of both
being almost the same little damage
was done , and at last all reached the
bottom of the" decline in safety.
Shorthand to be Superseded.
The act of shorthand Is , it appears ,
to be superseded by one of the queerest
inventions on record. The revolution
is to be effected by means of a machine
called a "glossograpb , " which consist * ,
of six levers , forming u sort of caps ,
each communicating with a tracing peii-
cil. The use to be made of the "rnosso-
graph" is rather curious. While the
orator or lecturer is holding forth , the
reporter is to repeat the words of the
speaker with his tongue in the cage.
Thus the quickest conversation , seine
London journals tell us , may be taken
down with ease. The ludicrous
which this new invention assumes
be an. obstacle to its adoption.
When a young man kisses : i girl and
calls it heaven , it shows plainly that he
doesn't know any more about heaven
than a gosling knows about Beethoven's
sonatas.