V
NV
A
A
WASHINGTON GHOSTS
SHADES OF GREAT MEN HAUNT
THE CAPITOL
A Correspondent Says Anions Them
Are the Spirits of President John
Quincy Adam Vice President Henry
Wilson and Black Jack Logjam
Spooks in Hi eh Xrife
Washington correspondence
sm
i i iwi w uiitf i ii r
KM ff H
U you believe m
ghosts Do you
wish to collect a
rich and rare stock
o f flesh - creeping
spook stories If so
come to Washing
ton hie yourself to
that great white
building on the hill
known as the
tol give one of the
blue coated
ruides
an extra tin and he
2- will take you amid
the mazes of that
wonderful building
and regale you with
enough dark tales to
last you a lifetime
Or if they do not satisfy you pick ac
quaintance with one of the seedy hungry
looking individuals you will find at the
foot of the grand staircase who ten to
one is a professional guide also and ask
rhirn to point out to you all the haunted
houses in the city and tell you their weird
histories And either of these gentlemen
will tell you what they believe to be the
plain unvarnished truth The Capitol
police have strange things to tell about
the uncanny doings in the vaulted corri
dors after nightfall The ghosts they tell
about are not simple everyday
visitors from the land of the
unseen but the shades of distin
guished men in the nations history
The majestic spiritual ego of John Quincy
Adams once President of the United
States of Arice Fresident Henry Wilson
a Massachusetts statesman and of Gen
John A Logan famous in field and
forum are said to haunt by night the
echoing halls where legislators tread by
day
When the redoubtable Andrew Tack
son was inaugurated March 4 1S29
rAdams retired for a short while to private
life It was not until Feb 21 1S4S that
le died He was at that time a repre
sentative and his passing away was
tragic During a session of the House he
jsuddenly slipped from his seat to the floor
Apoplexy the doctors said He was
borne to a room near by where not many
hours later he died with but a few mur
mured words
It was not long after the unhappy
ovcnt that there was whispering among
the officials who took care of the Capitol
Building after dark that someone like
-unto the dead Adams was seen nightly to
pass out of the speakers room in which
-the ox Fresident had died into the House
chamber which is now statuary hall and
wander about among the seats It would
pause beside the chair occupied by Adams
then gradually fade away into nothing
X
ness Atter tne seats were removea ana
statues places in the hall the change ap
parently -disconcerted the distinguished
ghost for according to the best authori
ties those who claimed to have seen the
whole proceeding the shade of the states
man wandered around and around the
chamber and finally passed out without
apparently having found his former place
of daily occupation But later a small
bronze tablet was inserted in the floor
through the good offices of somebody who
rfelt sorry for the ghost upon the spot
where John Quincy Adams chair used to
stand and then it is said the ghost walk
ed as before with every evidence of be
in once again at peace This particular
shade was seen on Feb 21 last and is not
expected again until that date
What purported to be the ghost of the
beloved Vice President is said to move
and have its ethereal being in the Vice
Presidents room the marble room where
the Senators receive their callers and in
the corridors thereabouts It was while
in the first named apartment that Mr
Wilson was also suddenly visited by the
angel of death Nov 10 1S75 who re
mained with him until Nov 22 when he
died after three severe shocks of apo
plexy
The apparition supposed to represent
this poor man is occasionally declared to
manifest itself suddenly as if evoluted
out of the thin air and as quickly vanish
upon the approach of a mortal
The spirit of Black Jack Logan is said
to make its appearance at exactly twenty
minutes after 12 oclock midnight The
general was at one time chairman of the
Committee on Military Affairs and out
of this committee room he emerges tak
ing care to close the door after him and
glides swiftly down the corridor to dis
appear without trace or sound This is
perhaps the most substantial of all the
Capitol ghosts for there are numbers of
persons ready to attest having witnessed
his mysterious passage through the
gloomy halls
But it decs not take the actual appear
ance of these shades to make the Capitol
a place of grewsomeness and awe at
night In the stillness that pervades a
door shutting at one end of the long
building may be faintly hearu at the
other and a step in the rotunda will
come back from all sides with startling
echoing It is one of the stories that
every night there is a sound in the portico
of the Senate wing as of some one scrub
bing the marble floor and the noise of
water being thrown down on it is plainly
audible Capitol officials tell of an aged
negro Avho used to be one of the sweeps
and who died a number of years ago and
who they say performs his early morn
ing duties of washing up just a few hours
before daybreak each day This ghostly
individual is the unseen terror of all the
negro laborers who clean up around the
Capitol and they will not work without
plenty of light on the subject
It would give a timid person the fright
of his life to walk across statuary hall at
midnight and in the dark In no place
in the vast building are the echoes so
strange or so ghostly There are a num
ber of what are called echo stones by
stepping upon which and speaking one is
astounded to hear his voice coming up
-apparently beneath nis feet It is a trick
the guides have of startling their custom
ers by stepping up behind some pillar and
just at the moment when the unwary
tourist stands on a certain stone giving
voice to a harsh and sepulchral whisper
that will reverberate hi ghostly accent
dose in his ear
IOWA POPULISTS
The State Convention in Des Moines
Was the Largest in Several Years
The Iowa Populist State convention
held in Des Moines was the largest in
several years All but seven counties
were represented and about GOO delegates
were present In addition to the State
leaders National Chairman H E Tau
beneck and Gen J S Coxey of Ohio were
present and made speeches The temper
of the convention was conciliatory and
radical action was avoided the conven
tion falling in line with the wishes of
Gen J B Weaver There was a consid
erable undercurrent of Boies talk among
the delegates and the hope was freely
expressed that the Democratic convention
at Chicago would split on the silver ques
tion and both wings nominate candidates
If this is done the Iowa Populist delega
tion at St Louis will undoubtedly seek
to have the silver Democratic nominee
for President indorsed especially if Boies
should be the man Gen Weaver who
acted as temporary chairman said
If we lose the fight this fall it will be
death to our cause this side of revolution
If the gold men win they will refund
500000000 of treasury notes into interest-bearing
bonds That is the issue We
are in the crisis and must win
After his address at the opening of the
afternoon session Gen Weaver chairman
of the committee on resolutions submit
ted the following majority report
Resolved That the delegates to the St
Louis convention be instructed to do all in
their power to secure a union of all the re
form forces on a common ticket and a
platform embodying the fundamental
principles of the Omaha platform with a
further resolution favoring the initiative
and referendum
The minorily report was
We recommend the adoption of the
Omaha platform in full with initiative
and referendum added
After a brief but exciting discussion the
majority report was adopted by an over
whelming vote
The following delegates to the St Louis
convention were selected by the districts
named
First district G W Davis of Louisa
and J M Holland of Henry second Dr
C W Wirth of Jackson and T A J
Gray of Muscatine third Justin Welis
of Hardin and C G Colvin of Black
hawk fourth L H Woller of Chicka
saw and M H Daly of Floyd fifth W
H Calhoun of Marshall and L S Wood
of Linn sixth S W Brunt of Keokuk
and John It Clarke of Monroe seventh
Ivlem Wheeler of Warren and P F Rog
ers of Dallas eighth J N McClanahan
of Wayne and E u Willets of rage
ninth A M Hutchinson of Pottawata
mie and L H Hull of Guthrie tenth
J C Baker of Palo Alto and Benjamin
Spear of Green eleventh John Bevins
of Woodbury and M D Baumer of
OBrien
Gen Weaver was chosen to head the
list of delegates at large to St Louis by
acclamation
BROAD GAUGE PLATFORM
Ohio Prohibitionists Abandon Their
Fifjlit on the Single Issue
the Ohio -Prohibition State
jn conven
tion at - indlay there was a spirited con
test over the money plank the majority
of the committee favoring the free coin
age of silver at the ratio of 1G to 1 and
the minority advocating free coinage at a
ratio to be fixed by law The majority
report was adopted The platform de
clares in brief
Favors woman suffrage opposes alien
ownership of land favors government
control of railroads and telegraphs advo
cates the raising of revenues by taxation
on property and incomes import duties
to be levied only as a means of securing
equitable commercial relations declares
for Sunday rest opposes public appropria
tions for sectarian purposes favors the
election of President Vice President and
Senators by direct vote favors liberal
pensions asks for a revision of the immi
gration laws favors letting aliens vote
after one year from the time of full nat
uralization favors the initiative and ref
erendum and declares for free coinage
at 10 to 1
After the platform had been adopted
the following State ticket was nominated
For Secretary of State Alvin Crabtree
of Springfield for Supreme Judge M B
Chase of Marion for Dairy and Food
Commissioner Joseph Love of Coshoc
ton for member Board of Public Works
Charles E lleff of Cincinnati for
Rev W Ball of Mount
Vernon and 1 W Benfield of Dayton
Nine delegates to the national conven
tion were chosen as follows
G P Dayton H A Thomp
son Springfield Henrietta G Monroe
Springfield R S Thompson Springfield
L B uogan uance G T Stewart
Norwalk Seth H Ellis Springboro F
H Jones Wellsville Florence Richards
Ottawa
ALABAMA DEMOCRATS
Indorse President Cleveland and the
Free Coinaste of Silver
The Alabama Democratic State conven
tion nominated a full ticket headed by J
T Johnston for Governor The resolu
tions adopted advocate free coinage of
silver at 10 to 1 instruct the twenty two
delegates from the State to vote as a unit
oh all questions at the Chicago conven
tion auvocate the repeal of the 10 per
cent State bank tax favor honest elec
tions and the legalizing of primary elec
tions The convention enthusiastically
applauded the mention of President Cleve
lands name and adopted a resolution in
dorsing his foreign policy and the appoint
ment of Southern men to cabinet posi
tions but disapproving his financial pol
icy The votes in the various stages of
the conventions proceedings showed the
relative strength of the two factions to be
about o33 to 101 in favor of Captain
Johnston and the free silver men and
against the Democrats who under the
leadership of Congressman Clark hold
to the financial policy of the national ad
ministration
Political Pot
Populists of Nebraska will meet in
Grand Island July 15 to select State del
egates A nominating convention will be
held in Hastings at some date in August
to be fixed by the executive committee
The Connecticut Republican State con
vention met in New Haven and selected
delegates to the national convention The
platform opens with a declaration in
favor of a protective tariff and the recip
rocity plan advocated by the late James
G Blaine Upon the currency question
the convention says We are unalterably
opposed to the issue of unsecured paper
money either by the Government or the
banks the free coinage of silver at any
ratio and favor a single standard of
value and that standard gold
NATIONAL S0L0NS
REVIEW OF THEIR WORK AT
WASHINGTON
Detailed Proceedings of Senate and
House Bills Passed or Introduced
in Either Branch Questions of Mo
ment to the Country at Lurge
The Legislative Grind
The Senate continued debate of tha
bond bill Friday and incidentally Mr
Allen called Mr Gear a liar He was
compelled to subside and his words were
taken down The net result of five
hours work on the private calendar in
the House was the passage of four pen
sion bills one to pension the widow of
Rear Admiral Foote at 50 a month the
rejection of a bill to retire a hospital
steward as a second lieutenant of cavalry
and the passage of a war claim less than
G00 The latter was the first war claim
brought before the House for consider
ation and naturally provoked a general
debate on the policy of paying war claims
The Senate Committee on Military Af
fairs acted favorably Saturday upon the
list of managers for the soldiers homes
as agreed to by the House The House
paid tribute to the memory of the late
Representative Cogswell of Massachu
setts Gen Cogswell was one of the most
popular members of the House His ca
reer as a soldier and statesman and the
nobility of his character were eloquently
and warmly portrayed Before the eulo
gies began Mr Cannon reported the gen
eral deficiency the last appropriation bill
Mr Talbert Dem of South Carolina ob
jected to a pension bill presented by Mr
Cannon Rep of Illinois Mr Cannon
made a personal appeal to Mr Talbert
He said it was the first time in twenty
years that he had asked for unanimous
consent He reviewed the pathetic his
tory of the soldier who was a constituent
of his shot to pieces and almost totally
blind Mr Talbert withdrew his objec
tion
The Senate Monday discussed sectarian
schools in debating the Indian appropria
tion bill but no action was taken The
House was entertained by a hot tariff dis
cussion Several items in the general de
ficiency bill were finally settled
The House Tuesday put in the time
with several contested election cases but
only one was decided Mr Goodwin of
Alabama was unseated in favor of Mr
Cobb In the Senate the bill was passed
granting the abandoned Fort Marey mil
itary reservation New Mexico to the
American Invalid Society for the purpose
of establishing a sanitarium for the treat
ment of pulmonary diseases Mr Can
non Rep Utah was recognized for a
speech -supporting his resolution for a
huge ground map covering 025 acres lo
cated near Washington showing the en
tire topography and geography of the
United States He explained that the
map would give an object lesson of the
extent of our country The Indian bill
was then taken up and Mr Pettigrew in
charge of the bill said an immediate
abandonment of the contract schools
would leave a number of children without
schools Mr Kyle Pop S D spoke of
the schools now in operation and the jus
tice of allowing them to surrender their
work gradually Mr Thurston Rep
Neb expressed his respect for every
church of Christianity yet he regarded it
as a fundamental principle that the pub
lic money of the people should be expend
ed only for public purposes and only by
public officers and instrumentalities Mr
Gray said he never learned that the foun
dations of this Government were not
broad enough for equal justice and toler
ation to all Protestantism was not big
otry he said and Christianity was not
fanaticism Mr Pettigrew asked that
a time for a vote on the sectarian school
amendment be fixed but there was objec
tion to fixing any time
The Senate Wednesday disposed of the
sectarian school question by adopting a
compromise framed by Senator Cockrell
of Missouri The Indian bill as it came
from the Senate provided that no money
therein appropriated shall be paid for
education in sectarian schools This pro
vision is struck out by the Cockrell
amendment as adopted and it is declared
to be the settled policy of the Government
to make no appropriations for sectarian
schools after July 1 1S9S thus giving
two years for the abandonment of sec
tarian schools instead of an immediate
abandonment The amendment was
adopted by the decisive vote of 3S to 24
The Indian bill was not completed when
the Senate adjourned The House enter
ed upon the consideration of the general
pension bill reported from the invalid
pension committee It amends the exist
ing pension laws in some very important
respects It makes presumption of death
of an enlisted man exist if no tidings have
been heard from him for seven years It
provides that desertion or dishonorable
discharge shall not be a bar to a pension
under the act of 1890 if the enlisted man
has served ninety days subsequent to such
discharge It provides that pensions al
lowed shall date from their first applica
tion It fixes the maximum income of a
widow entitled to a pension under the act
of 1890 at 300 per annum It provides
that no pension shall be reduced or dis
continued except for fraud or recovery
from disability and that discontinued pen
sions when reconsidered and reallowed
shall date from their discontinuance
Several minor bill were passed at the
opening of the Senate Thursday includ
ing the bill authorizing a bridge across
the Missouri river at Boonville Mo The
Indian appropriation bill was freely dis
cussed The Piatt amendment extending
the services of the Dawes commission so
as to terminate the tribal relations of the
Indians ana dividing their lands in sever
alty was ruled out of order as general
legislation after Senators Jones of Ar
kansas Bate and Piatt had denounced
the prevalence of lawlessness in Indian
territory The bill was then passed after
the item of 1000000 for payment of the
CheroKee outlet fund stricken out by
the committee had been restored It will
now go to conference Bills were passed
for an additional circuit judge in the
Sixth judicial circuit and appropriating
500000 for a public building at Salt
Lake City consideration of the Pickler
general pension bill was resumed in the
House Mr Hepburn Rep of Iowa
gave notice of an amendment instructing
the pension office to construe the pension
laws liberally Mr Stewart Rep of
New Jersey closed the debate for the day
and the House adjourned
Not to Be Believed
If you put a funny uniform on a man
and let 2000 people pay 50 cents lie
will saw wood as hard as he will play
basebalLTexas Sittings
EFFORTLESS SPEECH
The Effect of Small Talk Upon Cere
bral Deterioration
How much actual cerebral deteriora
tion is the result of effortless speech
must be a matter of speculation of
course mere loquacity is attended by
proper cerebral exercise or intellectual
effort and even if a variety of words
be used such are not the product of
healthy cerebration Those who see
much of the insane recognize under cer
tain conditions the significance of such
volubility for it is often the precursor
of mania or other mental disturbances
It is rather the province of the writer
to show the actual involution that ac
companies an improper or careless use
of the speech centers in the apparently
healthy person than as an expression
of brain disease
A number of polysyllabic words are
used to express the disturbances of
speech that follow the misuse of the
mental and mechanical apparatus con
cerned in its production These in
clude the transposition of words or syl
lables the grammatical vices or the
exaggeration of emotional speech
Under some circumstances the result
ing disorders may closely resemble
those due to actual structural disease
of the brain attended by disorganiza
tion of the speech centers but usually
the perversion is functional though
obstinate and bears the same relation
to organic speech defects that hysteria
or other functional nervous conditions
do to real disease Some of this mor
bid derangement when there is hyper
automatism resembles certain well
known forms of cramp due to the
repetition of such acts as writing or
those of a limited kind among artisans
or musicians where a small group of
muscles is the seat of spasm and these
forms are designated as writers
cramp telegraphers cramp violinists
cramp etc Under such circumstances
there is usually little participation of
thought in the oft repeated act which
becomes habitual and the directing
power is of an unconscious kind
The so called baby talk of silly peo
ple the form of trivial conversation
which consists in the use of diminutives
and is employed especially by young
lovers or by those who for the first time
stray into the devious and flowery
paths of matrimony are examples of
this defect which supplants the vigor
ous and wholesome expression of gen
uine feeling This condition of af
fairs may sometimes amount to more
than a mere eccentricity and indicates
a real failure upon the part of the indi
vidual to keep his word symbols well
in mind and in order
Unique
America does not monopolize all the
novelties Pesth in Hungary has a
telephone newspaper the only one of
the kind in the world It costs two
cents and as valuable to persons who
are unable or too lazy to use their eyes
or who cannot read It has six thou
sand subscribers who receive the news
as they would ordinary telephone mes
sages A special wire one hundred and
sixty eight miles long runs along the
windows of the houses of subscribers
which are connected with the main line
by separate wires and special appara
tus which prevents the blocking of the
system by an accident at one of the
stations Within the houses long flex
ible wires make it possible to cany the
receiver ito the bed or any other part of
the room The news is not delivered
as it happens to come in but is careful
ly edited and arranged according to a
printed schedule so that a subscriber
at any time knows what part of the
paper he is going to hear The staff
is organized like that of any other
newspaper After the copy has passed
through the hands of the editor who is
liable for its communications it is
given to the speakers ten men with
strong voices and clear enunciation
who work in shifts of two at a time
and talk the news through a telephone
There are twenty eight editions uttered
a day Additions to the first edition
are announced as news items To fill
up the time when no news is coming
in the subscribers are entertained with
vocal and instrumental concents the
wire being in communication- with the
churches opera house and music halls
This unique newspaper has been in ex
istence two years
Women from the Turkish Harems
And there were other days without
Mahmond at Stenia a few miles from
Therapia to which place I once took
ship the daintiest little ship all cush
ions and rugs manned by two boatmen
in white balloon truosers with yards
and yards of stuff to each leg and
Greek jackets embroidered with gold
And from Stenia to the Sweet Waters
of Asia an Arabian Nights sort of place
with an exquisite Moorish fountain of
marble and great trees shading flocks
and bunches of houris in white yash
maks and embroidered feredjes of
mauve yellow and pink out for an air
ing from their harems all on mats and
rugs spread on the grass attended by
black eunuchs as black as terrapins
paws and as wrinkled and leathery
They chattered and laughed and
munched bonbons and partook of rose
leaf jelly sitting with their tiny feet
tucked under them Turkish fashion
their cigarettes perfuming the still air
until their caiques gathered them in
again and they all floated away like
so many colored swans You must not
wander too near Even a faithful Turk
turns his head away when he passes a
woman a Christian dog might lose his
for forgetting the courtesy Century
Agitated young bridegroom imme
diately after the ceremony Serena
shall shall I shall we shall we kiss
Self possessed bride it being her third
experience It is my r mal custom
William Bel Air Democrat
When a woman is pleased with a
man she never thinks that all men are
I alike v
tto -
V
Whales are never found in the Gulf
stream
Over twenty boys under 18 years of
age have won the Victoria cross
The roof of the Crystal Palace Lon
don contains fourteen acres of glass
The deer parks in England exceed
300 The largest in the kingdom is
Windsor
Mascagnis new opera Vestilla
will include a gladiatorial scene in a
Roman amphitheater
The utility of shedding tears is to
keep the eyes cool though the balance
of the head may be hot
At the Transvaal gold fields whisky
brings 1550 a bottle champagne
1250 and beer 1 a bottle
A Coventry England firm is execu
ting an order for 150 bicycles for the
use of officers of the Salvation Army
The onion is an historic vegetable
having been used since the dawn of
history by the Greeks the Romans and
the Egyptians
An orange sixteen inches in circum
ference was taken from a tree at Po
mona Cal It is to be sent to Europe as
ta specimen of California fruit
It is the custom of ships lying at the
Brooklyn navy yard to discharge their
powder before entering the docks as
a precaution against accidents
Of the eighteen people who died at
Norwich Vt during 1895 ten were
more than 73 years old and of these
ten five were more than 80 years old
The Alaskans often have eating
matches at which great numbers of the
villagers compete The man who eats
the most is considered the finest man
The Irish mail boats receive 455000
a year subsidy This is only 20000
less than is paid for all the North Amer
dcan mails from Queenstown to New
York
Paris fantastic fashion has now de
veloped itself in the direction of lamp
shades They are made like ball dress
es of lace and ribbons with trails of
flowers
In 1S30 the whole tonnage of the
British empire reached but 2000000
To day the tonnage register is over
6000000 of steam and nearly 5000000
of sailing
The Italian beggar must receive a
license to escape a challenge from the
police There are 12743 licensed mem
bers of the confraternity in King Hum
berts realm
Vermont has made a new move in the
attempt to enforce prohibition Per
sons who rent places where liquor is
sold are to be fined as well as those
who actually sell the contraband
In London on an average one per
son in every three carries a watch of
these two thirds pay from G25 to 15
for them -while the prices given by the
rest vary from the latter sum to 250
and 300
There is a crazy man in Philadelphia
Who wants the doctors to cure him of X
rays in his eyes He says he sees the
skeletons of all who come within the
line of his vision and the sight gives
Irim great annoyance
A few years ago the number of sui
cides among the rank and file of the
Prussian army became a public scan
dal The latest statistics show that
while in 1892 the proportion was 523
per 1000 men in 1S95 it was 422
Messrs De Morgar and Meir during
their excavations in the neighborhood
of Gizeh discovered an almost perfect
yacht or pleasure vessel which has
been ascribed by experts to the elev
enth or twelfth dynasty or about 3000
B C
Traveling churches are to be estab
lished on the Trans Siberian Railway
rwhich passes through many desert
tracts where neither village nor church
can be met with for miles Cars fitted
up for divine service will be attached
to the trains for the benefit of the offi
cials
Lemons are considered healthful be
cause the acid they contain acts as a
diuretic having power to excite the
secretions and thus regulating the sys
tem They must of course be used
in moderation or they will pall on the
appetite and cease to have any medic
inal effect
The ways of auctioneers in different
parts of the world vary greatly In
England and America the seller bears
the expense of the sale but in France
the purchaser bears the cost 5 per cent
being added to his purchase In Hol
land it is still worse the buyer being
required to pay 10 per cent additional
for the expenses of the sale
The average number of working days
in a year in various countries is as fol
lows In Russia 2G7 in Britain 278
in Spain 290 in Austria 295 in Italy
29S in Bavaria and Belgium 300 in
Saxony and France 302 in Denmark
Norway and Switzerland 303 in Prus
sia 305 in Holland and North Amer
ica 30S and in Hungary 312
The lost article room of the elevated
road system in New York receives
about 30000 miscellaneous deposits a
year Nearly 10 per cent are umbrel
las and ranking second are the satch
els About half the articles are called
for and the remainder after beins
held for six months or a year according
to the value are sold at auction
It is asserted that a Kentish gentle
man is in possession of the head of
Oliver Cromwell preserved in a box
Documentary evidence does not fully
substantiate the claim but there are
traditions which give it some show of
reasonableness Furthermore the
head strikingly resembles portraits
busts and the deathmask of Cromwell
The second oldest sailing craft in
tfte world is the so called Gokstad ship
6 viking craft which was discovered in
a sepulchral mound on the shores ofi
Christiania fjord and is now exhibited
in a wonderfully perfect state of pres
ervation in Ohristiania It is a craft of
the ninth century A D and is there
fore nearly 1000 years old
Rats according to a showman who
exhibits a tame troupe of the little
beasts are more easily taught than
dogs they have a more retentive ear
for language and greater adaptability
than any other animal Louise Michel
who is also fond of rats has discov
ered many virtues in them They havo
respect for the aged family feeling
and compassion for the unfortunate
The Amazon ds in every respect but
length the greatest river in the world
At many points in its lower course so
vast is its width that one shore is in
visible from the other the observer
seeming to look out into a rolling sea
of turbid water It has over 400 tribu
taries great and small which rise in so
many different climates that when ons
set is at flood height the others are n
ebb and vice versa so that the bulk oi
the great river remains unchanged tho
whole year round
There is no record of the costumes or
the Syrian Arabs having changed
ang the period covered by human his
tory either as regards male or female
dress or adornment Saving only foi
his firearms there is no reason to be
lieve that the Bedouin of the desert
does not clothe and adorn himself ex
actly as he did in the days of the patri
archs Arabs in the desert have con
tracted a strange prejudice against
running water and they will only drink
-what they find an some stagnant pool
So much has this become a matter of
habit with them that while the most
poisonous looking water agrees with
them admirably pure running watei
will make them violently sick
TRUE SOLDIER OF FORTUNE
Enrique Morgan Traveled Far and
Died a Major General
In Girardot a little village on tho
eastern bank of the Magdalcna River
in Colombia South America there died
on December 2 last a true soldier of
fortune Enrique Morgan a major gen
eral in the Colombian army but a na
tive of West Virginia
During the war of secession in the
United States he had been a favorite
orderly with the Confederate General
Loring one armed Loring as he was
called and when the latter subse
quently went to Egypt Morgan follow
ed him there and became a captain in
the Khedives army Tiring of mili
tary inaction he joined a party of
Greek surveyors in the Soudan with
whom he learned something of practi
cal engineering but contracting small
pox and supposed to be dying he was
abandoned by his companions
Upon his recovery he found that tho
natives had robbed him of everything
and he became a tramp in Northern
Africa and Southern Europe Too
proud to apply to diplomatic or con
sular officials for assistance he walked
to the coast worked his way across
the Mediterranean Sea and thence
through Italy and France to the port
of St Nazaire
Seeing a ship advertised to sail for
America he offered to work his pas
sage across the Atlantic which offer
was accepted The vessel landed him
penniless in Barranquilla Colombia
where he enlisted as a soldier By dint
of hard work and close attention to his
duties he was successively promoted
through all the grades of corporal ser
geant lieutenant captain major and
colonel and finally was appointed brig
adier general and chief of engineers
In this capacity he constructed with
the labor of troops the greater part of
the railway between Girardot and Jun
tas de Apulo as well as the difficult
cart road through the cordillcra of
Quindio
During the revolution of 18S5 he caj
tured the important place of Tunja
with its extensive armory for which
service he was made a major general
To a very great degree he possessed
the confidence of the government Hs
took no part in its political affairs and
this lack of party affiliation his un
swerving loyalty and his well knowc
disposition to obey all orders were
qualities which endeared him to his su
periors New York Herald
Objectionable Epitaphs
Spite and venom are not always bur
ied with the dead and for this reason
a censor of gravestones is employed in
a big London cemetery He has had
to stop many gross libels on the liv
ing that people proposed to put on th
stones Not long since the wife and
friends of a tolerably well known jock
ey wanted to have the dead mans sad
dle whip and cap laid in a cover over
his grave and on the grave of a man
killed in an accident the relations
gravely contested his right to stop ai
inscription which said Murdered by
His Masters Sometimes at their
own wish of course those who pay
for gravestones and monuments induce
the stone cutter they employ to en
deavor to smuggle - inscriptions
through but he exercises the most rigid
scrutiny Cases have been known
where sunk letters have been filled
with putty or cement with a view to
this being quietly picked out after
ward when the letters would of
course show One of the coolest pro
posals was that made by the heir of
a manufacturer of sweets The de
ceased man it seemed made a spe
cial kind of butter scotch and tlio
heir proposed that small packets of this
should be placed on the grave daily -for
the refection of visitors to the-
cemetery
What He Thought
Do you think the bicycle is wicked
asked the earnest young woman
My dear sister answered the min
ister who had only taken three lessons -the
thing is positively depraved
How long should a man smile while
being bored before beginning to shoot3