T H E V 0 lT K I E K J " I Candy Making Wierd and witch-like is the interior of a candy factory by gas light, some thins perhaps like the domains unfold ed to the children in their dreams the nisht before or after Christmas. It is f;ir from being so, however, in the eyes of the toilers who, day after day, labor in sweets by the scores of pounds. Dimly lighted by the glare or gas gleaming through the haze of the room, the whiteclad forms of the workers move about or bend to their tasks. Long, low tables and benches, piled with all kinds, colors and conditions of candy, or standing bP.mk in wait for coining burdens of sweets, extend from end to 'end of the rooms and big brass kettles over glowing furnaces are wreathed with the thin smoke of burn ing splatterings, while a vigorous boy ttlth a strong paddle stirs as if his life depended on his activity. All through the air is the pungent odor of the steaming vats. Altogether it is truly something for the children to dream about and the dentist to think of and rub his hands with anticipated glee. This is the time of year when the candy makers must rush. Christmas demands must be supplied for it is a rare home, indeed, that does not man age to get some quantity of confec tionery. The rush has been progress ing right along, ever since early in Oc tober and more than one factory is busy quite a number of hours through out the night. One factory in Lincoln for Instance, the largest in town, that of Gillen & Honey, has been turning out 3,500 pounds a day ever since Oc tober 1st, working a night shift until 10 o'clock and still hardly keeping even. Fifteen per cent of this production goes direct to the market here and the rest is shipped out over the state and Kan sas. That means a daily consumption here of u2."i pounds of candy from one factory alone, not to mention the quan tities dealt out by the other makers in the city. That candy which is most known as the essential Christmas goods is the miscellaneous collection of colored chunks that either cost you your teeth or a whole lot of time if you wait for them to dissolve In your mouth. There is a particular charm in watching the progress of every kind of confection from the beginning and this so-called cheap candy furnishes its share. In the lirst place it may be news to some that there is not enough coloring in a hundred pounds of this to hurt the most sensitive individual. For one reason, it is ail vegetable coloring and absolutely pure; it is only the mineral that does any damage. Whoever has seen them pull taffy at the fair knows how this stick candy has its beginning. It is made In 100 pound lots: then di vided In three parts. A little is re served and tinted with coloring for the stripes. The rest is strung from hooks and pulled until it is white, while it is yet so hot as to burn lingers not callous to it from long usage. Then these three massive wads are Hung together, the unpulled. clear third in between, and the whole is kneaded into the shape of a big. narrow loaf. On both the broad sides of the loaf the colored stiipes are stuck, parallel. Meanwhile the big wad is getting cold. A row of little gas jets on the work table serves to keep it from "freezing" while one end is drawn out into a long, slender tongue and twisted and broken into the desired shapes. That's how the stripes get there, and the (lowers and other things inside, that run the length of the stried candy, over whose presence- you have racked your brain. Granulated sugar Is never used, neither is powdered sugar. Nothing but mould A. cane sugar, gains admis sion to the factory. I'nlike granulated it contains no blueing. It Is the pure goods. Corn starch is another thing constantly employed in great quanti ths. Thirty barrels a year are used, or rather wasted, for none of it enters into tlie making of candy. It goes to waste in this manner: It is blown away. Cieam bon lions must be moulded. The only thing that will serve is starch. Little, broad crates are tilled to the depth of about two inches and the moulds are pressed into it. With a many-snouted pot the candy man comes round with the viscid fluid and pours it into the moulds, a whole row at a time, as fast as one can count. Tlie crates are set away until the following day for the candy to harden. When empty, most of the starch is saved to be used over again, but some clings to the crevices and the candy must be shaken about in a sieve and blown upon with a bellows until none is left. This much of the starch Is inevitably wasted. The creams are then placed in sugar syrup for an other day. This process is called crys tallization, for it invests the candy with sparkling granules of sugar, a coating that keeps it from drying In side. Flavors may or may not be added the chocolates by the fact that they are dressed in their brown coats by the dainty fingers of a bevy of girls. The fillings come from the moulds al ready described and nothing remains but to give them their chocolate baths, dry and pack them. The material of the filling and the care that must be exercised with certain preparations is what differentiates the cost. People who have wondered how it Is that some of these contain soft fillings are not likely sxn to tlnd out the reason. It Is one of the candy man's secrets. Sutllce It to say. however, that they are neer soft at the start. The longer this hou bon remains uneaten the soft er becomes this tilling, due to Its prep aration. Water Is never used In the chocolate because It Is ruinous. The girls sit at a long bench along the cen ter of which runs the chocolate trough. Tinier the troughs are equalizing water ducts which keep the gas Jets from burning the solution. Heat of 'X, de grees Is maintained and this is sulll cient to melt the chocolate from the oil It contains, though once in a while cocoa oil Is added to the composition to facilitate liquidation. When these reams melt In warm weather, it Is a sure sign of purity. Some confection ers use a compound that wilt not melt in any kind of weather and this is spurious. The Ingredients are burnt amber, ollsterlne. St. John's bread and chocolate and the cost of this Is sel dom more than six cents a pound. Fruit Illling Is very expensive, but where it Is used It comes from Cali fornia, packed In Jars without sugar, so that It Is practically fresh. Then there are caramels and cocoa nut candles and countless other novel ties, made in vats and tubs and Hailed and flattened on stone tables, trays and what not. The cleanliness of eveiy Instrument and implement used Is closely guarded, yet no one mani fests an overweening desire to par take. Packages palls anil boxes, high and low are filled and piled tin every day and as rapidly removed. And the young man who thinks of his best girl as be goes Into the store looking for eon feet lonerv cannot bestow less thought on the orluln of the stuff than the atctial maker does on Its destina tion. Alas for voting digestive organs on or about Christmas da v. MEN WHO HAVE BEEN MAYORS Second Chief Executive of Lincoln Contrasts Conditions Now and Then In the Days When Life was Real Strenuous J J C J ERASTl'S E. BROWN Hearty and robust at the age of sixty-three, Erastus E. Brown, second mayor of Lincoln, can still be found outlining briefs and planning cases in i law office in the Richards block. There a reporter found him and asked concerning the halcyon days of l.sTi'. "With the exception of tlie difference n the size of the city, tilings were pretty much the same twenty-nine Yars aim :i ttioi !iro trwliiv A hoard 1 a town triistuos ;iiliiiniutoreil affairs a 1S70. Of this body C. H. Here was chairman. W. F. Chapin was the first mayor of Lincoln. He was elected in April. JS71. I was chosen a year later :ind by tnat time the municipal ma chinery was in smooth running order. "In the council we had three repub licans and three democrats. William McLaughlin was at that time a meiii ner or the council and was one of the most industrious workers for the in terests of the city. The sessions never fa"ed to be interesting. Oratory was at premium and there was always Sfmething to evoke it." Mr. Brown was born in Onandaga county. New York, in lSrS. He came '" Lincoln in 1870. He received his M-eliminary education in the district schools and studied law in a legal firm at A"urn. N. Y. He also attended a Iaw hool In Poughkeepsie. He was Emitted to the bar in 1861. He first began the practice of law In Moravia. New York. Soon lie came Mest and has since been a resident of Lincoln. He p-acticed law here until IJ'S. when failing health compelled him to deny his services to his clients. He became interested in the State National bank and was selected as its president in 1SS.". Air. Brown served two terms in the state senate, representing Lan caster county. He was chosen in 1S77 and elected to a second term in ISM. He labored earnestly to secure the appropriation for tlie state cap itol. The measure was passed anil f aided much in stimulating the growth of Lincoln. In politics Mr. Brown has generally affiliated with the republican party. During his term as mayor the Lin coln Gas company was organized with a capital stock of $60,000. Business in terests of the city were just recovering from the blow caused by the legisla ture of 1871 which impeached Governor Butler and led the public to believe that the tapitol had been illegally lo cated here. So sudden hail been the growth of the town that wild animals could not accustom themselves to the change. Deer, wolves and other wild animals were frequently killed within the city limits during the term of Mayor Brown. From 1S73 to 1876 the locusts and grasshoppers destroyed everything in the shape of crops and the administra tion of Mr. Brown proved to be a pe riod of prosperity bridging epochs of calamity. Mr. Brown served a single term of one year. He was not a candidate for re-election, but in 1"W he accepted the fusion nomination for mayor, but was defeated by F. A. Graham, although lie ran far ahead of his ticket. .. . - Carlos Burr served one term as mayor of Lincoln. He was elected in the spring of lS."i and was two years in office. During his official tenuie came the first pulsations of the up heaval in real estate values which eight years later created dire . onstcr nation in financial circles Values were in the primary stages of inflation when .Mr. Burr began his duties. Real estate was steadily lising in value. Crop were good and increased earnings were re ported in every branch of indus try. The city dealt largely In im provements as a result of the spirit of the times. Various sections of the streets were paved and the waterworks system was improved. During the two years the buildings, street repairs and private structures amounted to nearly $3,f00.000. Mr. Burr is a native of Illinois. where he was born in 1SI6. His parents obtained their living by farm ing and young Burr was limited in his educational advantages to the com mon schools of Kane County. Illinois. However, he was determined to study law and entered the office of the Hon. James I. Edsall. formerly attorney general of Illinois. While wrestling with Biackstone he also sawed cord wood and undertook jobs of carpenter ing. He made good progress in his studies and had mastered the basic legal principles when the country was plunged into civil war. Mr. Burr tried several times to enlist but he was too small and failed to elude the vigilance of the recruiting officers. Finally he was accepted as a PK) day man and served until October. IMil. In the following May he re-enlisted and served until the trouble was over and the army disbanded. He was admitted to the bar in 1SK7 and in the following year married Miss Mary E. Smith and moved to Lincoln. While endeavoring to get a start in the legal profession he worked as a car-H-nter. A position in the land office helped him out for a year and then his practice improved. From the first lie was active in city politics. In 1S71 he was the first coun cilman elected from the First ward. Three years later he was elected to the state senate from the Eleventh district and was returned for another term in I SSL When an attempt was made to re move the ctpitol from Lincoln Mr Burr labcred to prevent the change StM Jcb' fe CARLOS C BI'RR He was the author and champion of the saline land bill, a measure for the development of certain salt springs near the city. He also aided in secur ing a liberal appropriation for the es tablishment anil maintenance of slate buildings and institutions. In 188.". he was a candidate for mayor. His competitor was John Fitzgerald, then at the zenith of his career as a business man. The contest for the place was fierce and the canvass searching. In the end Mr. Burr was chosen by a majority of thirty votes over Mr. Fitzgerald. The next night after the votes were counted the city council met to consider a notice or a contest tiled by Mr. Fitzgerald. After a short discussion, the councilmeu granted a certificate of election to the candidate receiving the largest num ber of votes. Attorney C. O. Whedon. who repre sented Mr. Fitzgerald, declared that he would apply to the supreme court for a perpetual injunction to keep the officials of the city from issuing the certificate, but the matter was finally dropped. Mr. Burr is now a resident of New York city. Together with his brother. I. C. Burr, he erected the block at Twelfth and O streets, which ln-ars bis name. He also built and owned a number of other business blocks. Years ago he dropped th law for real estate, and his time was devoted to caring for his holdings and in p'acing loans for eastern parties anxious to invest in western mortgages. At one time he owned th finest house in the city l"4r. I, street