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THE STORY OF LAST ISLAND.
A Lovely Southern Resort Destroyed
By a Tidal Wave.
The Recent Terriblo Cyclone Recalls a
Disaster Back in the Fifties in Which
Hundreds of Lives Were Lost—The
Summer Home of Many Prominent
Families Swept Out of Existence.
Strange Atmospheric Conditions
Preceding: the Storm—Death Stopped
the Dance.
From the New wbrk Times.
Bay St. Louis, La., Oct. 14.—-The terri
ble cyclone of Oct. 1, which destroyed so
many lives, vividly recalls aa incident
that will ever live in the memory of the
Gulf State residents, the destruction of
Last Island, off the Louisiana coast, by a
cyclone and tidal wave, Sept. 12, 1856.
Last Island was a long:, low streak of
green, bounded around the edge with a
line of dazzlingly white sand. Seen in
those days from the Louisiana mainland
—lifteen miles away, the lower end of the
parish of Lafourche—it seemed but a
slender bit of green floating upon the
bosom of the summer sea.
As one drew nearer, the land displayed
its charm. Propinquity brought out as
In a delicate photograph all its lines of
radiant beauty. Of forest, so deep and
dense in the far south, there was none.
But a few enormous live-oak trees had
grown upon the island, and, in the weird
light of the semi-tropic moon, covered
from crown to lowest bough with the
long gray moss of the latitude, they
seemed like great giants wrapped in
funereal robes, waving their arms aloft as
they tied from a coming Dies Ira*.
The island, though one long sand spit,
(only a few feet above the highest of tide
level of the sea), was a very Eden of flow
ers. The falling leaves of the live-oaks
for centuries had created in their decay a
bed of rich alluvium, which artificial
means had greatly increased. The ever
warm air from the further south seas had
given to the shrub growth an extraordi
nary richness of verdure. The orange
and lemon trees, the olive, the oleander,
which in Louisiana is a tree thirty feet
high ; all of the tribe of japonioas, that
scented summer flower the Jasmine, yel
low and cape, and hundreds of others un
known to the north, made the island
eoruscent with brilliant-colored blooms.
It seemed that ail that was rich and lovely
and beautiful in the vegetation of the
semi-tropics here found its most congenial
home.
In the evening, when the sun went
down and the warm south wind blew in
from the sea, the air would be heavy
with sweet, unfamiliar flower odors. One
would be enveloped in the fragrance of
the cape jasmine and surrounded in a
very caress of perfume direct from the
heart of the great white Persian jasmine.
Ah, the dreamy, harpy life of that won
derful isle. It was a watering place,
with the most splendid surf-bathing on
the side next to the open sea that ever
was. But it had none of the garishness
of the seacoast places of later days. It
could never have been like Long Branch
or Cape May. To gamblers nnd the dames
of the half-world. Lust Island was as dif
ficult as Paradise. It was as impossible
to pass the argus eyes of the dozen who
watched the gangway of the boat, as the
passengers came on board for the en
chanted isle, as for Adam to have re
turned to Eden when it was guarded by
the angel with the flaming sword.
The men who gathered there were not
strangers to each other, for in Louisiana
then everybody who was anybody knewof
his social equal, if he was not a personal
acquaintance, no matter in what region
he lived. So here was a spot, not very
much known to the outer world, where
.could gather, when summer days became
(long ami the dog-star raged, the great
'cotton-planting maeuates of Louisiana,
Mississippi, Arkansas and Alabama, or
tho rich, courtly creole sugar growers
from the Bayou Lafourche country or the
Cote d'Or, on the Mississippi river, and
ttieir congeners, the American sugar
growers from the Feliciauas and wealthy,
aristocratic Kapides.
Once a year the cream of the country
side gentry from the states named, with a
sprinkling of wealthy "city men”—mer
chants and factors from New Orleans, a
few bankers, popular clergymen from rich
citv parishes—who enjoyed good living and
believed St. Paul was right when he ex
horted Timothy to take a little wine for
his stomach's sake. All these people
with their wives and daughters would
congregate at Last Islaud and eat of the
divinest combinations of the French
cuisine produced by cordons blou, drink,
sparingly generally, of the good red wines
of France, for your old-time planter, es
pecially if he was of creole blood, never
abused "God’s good things”—take daily
plunges into the warm surf, and thus
decorously enjoy a month of the dolce far
niente.
Never were men more courtly. Never
were women more lovelier. It was the
very Paradise of gentle, graceful, courte
ous attention to beautiful women. Here
Cupid was enshrined, for who could re
sist the witchery of the perfumed sum
mer night, of dark-eyed creole women?
How often was the sweet old story told
there—that story old, but ever new—
which Adam first whispered amid the
roses that bloomod supernal in Eden!
And sometimes, but not often, the scene
varied. Men were young then, and the
blood of youth ever runs hot.
A quirk word ou the promenade, a
jealous look, and early next morning on
tlie sands there might be seen the flash
and gleam of the lone, slender, tricorn-red
dueling swords, or a pair of dueling pis
tols a part of every gentleman’s personal
belongings in those days—would be taken
from their mahogany case. A few passes
with tho steel, and one of the men would
lie prone, ns his blood reddened the
sands, run through the body, or the
sharp crack of the deadly dueling pistol,
and a pale, white-faced body, forever
still, would bo silently carried back to
the hotel. But this was not often. It
was the gentle, kindly, harmless, courte
ous life of the Master of the Monks of
Thelma, whose sole injunction was, ‘ 'Fay
qui vouldras.”
The season of 1850 at Last Island was
one of the most charming ever known
since the famous watering place had been
established. Never did bravo men and
charming women congregate at this de
lightful rendezvous in greater numbers,
er in a fuller, finer spirit of happiness and
hopeful expectation. .The season was at
i ts hight. For not only was the hotel proper
hliti but tho dozen or so of cot tages gen -
• rally known as "the bachelors' quarters"
were all occupied by as high-bred, as
gallant, and as gay a eouipun.v of gentle
men as the entire south could show. It
was agreed that a greater number of rep
resentative Louisiana. Alabama, and
Mississippi men and women never had
been gathered together at any southern
w atering place before.
I he season had been fortunate in other
respects. Thus far uoue of those morning
{•''mlczvuus upon the sands which huve
bi-en mentioned had occurred. The cool,
white beach had not known the flash of
tho eoliehemanl or re-echoud the crack of
pistol all that season. Tho southern
women, particularly, hated those things.
Hut what could they dof Thus far they
bad escaped any of those horrors, and for
*nat. gentle hearts, full of kindly hap
and good-will to ail the world,
‘■tanked <4od.
I he morning of Knpt. 10, 1830, was one
almost unearthly loveliness Theses
*'T times as smooth as translucent
► ‘■‘•■m. now as green as an emunild, then
‘apphlrc hueu. its surface was covered
with a famtish misty haze. Its loveli
ness was supernal. The fishing boats in
sight seemed like great white sea birds
trailing their wings as they basked in the
morning sunbeams. They were softened
in the summer mist, delicately evap
orated to an ethereal beauty. Toward the
mainland the forest visible seemed gray
and veiled in semi-diaphanous half-nebu
lous vapor. But it was early then, and
the sun scarcely had had time to drive
away the ghostly gray fog, blended with
that of the sea from tho great Lafourche
marshes lying along the nearest shoro.
As the sun rose higher the sea mist
vanished. But such a day as it was! The
thermometric measurement of September
in Louisiana is not greatly different in its
altitude of heat from that of Washington
or Baltimore. This day, however, there
was such a downpour of solar warmth
that the island was almost burning.
Gentle puffs of wind blew and rippled the
sea water, and turned it to an opalescent
green. But the fresh, cooling sea breeze,
reviving and refreshing all living things,
did not come. Men wandered about list
lessly. Politics—it was the great know
nothing year—even eeased to be of in
terest. In the air there was a stillness as
though nature were watchingand waiting
in baleful mysterious omen. The sunset
that evening frightened the timid souls.
It went down in the west in a sky red as
vermeil, an angry sun, and left the Occi
dent blazing across the t waves as though a
world was in flames.
All that night the Dago fishermen, a
curious, superstitious class, half Spanish-
Italiau and half Creole, taking to the
wave like sea gulls, declared that they
heard out at sea strange sounds, moans—
as though some supernatural being was in
awful agony. The morning of the lltli
was like that of the pzfevious day. To
ward night thece came up a dreadful
thunder storm. The thunder was as un
like that of the northern dash of storm as
a firecracker is to the crash end roar of
a six-inch gun. The dweller on the main
land—the Teche and Lafourche planters
—had never before seen such lightning. It
flashed from the zenith to the eastern and
western horizon, in great broad, green,
purple and fiame-eolored bands of electric
blaze, a decree in width, and after each
awful crash that almost rent the ear
drums there would be a distinctly sul
phurous tinge perceptible in the air. To
ward the morning of the 13th, the thun
der and lightning ceased, but the rain
continued and the wind blew stronger
from the southxvast. The sailboats of the
frightened fishermen could be seen in the
early morning darkness flying before the
wind for secure landings in the safe
streams gnd waters of the Cheniere
Caminoda. *
There was to be that evening the grand
ball of the season, for it was the last. The
band of the French opera house was
there, then unequaled for its music in
America. There were no wind instru
ments in it. except a cornet, some flutes,
and similar sweet sound-producers. The
others were strings. Tho ballroom was
distant from tho main hotel perhaps
twenty yards, and was reached by a cov
ered way elovatod to the level of both
buildings. It was built very near the sea,
and set upon brick pillars six feet above
the surface of the earth. The hotel was
constructed in the same fashion, so that
the breezes could blow under both edifices
and produce better ventilation.
Broad piazzas surrounded the ballroom
on three sides, upon whieh doors opened,
so that after each dance one might take a
turn in the promenade on the gallery and
enjoy the coolness of the fresh night
brec’e from the sea. It was about 100
feet long by 80 wide. Around the room
were two rows of chairs, and the usual
dressing rooms were at the rear. The mu
sicians occupied a high dais that extended
across the end of the ballroom. The
buildings were lighted with gas. So much
of'description.
Toward noon of the 13th the sun shone
out for an hour, but it was a dull orange
hued orb surrounded by a yellow, misty
haze that changed constantly. As night
came on the sky was covered with a cloud
of the deepest blackness. There waa a
renewal of the vivid sheet lightning, but
no thunder. The sea was in such agita
tation as the oldest had never before seen.
Great brilliant lights burst from the
waves as they were rolled in by the tre
mendous southwest wind. Deep phos
phorescent fires, incandescent, in ser
pentine forms, were seen writhing like
shadows of monsters, far out at sea. And
most terrible of all, there was/distinctly
audible at intervals, in the blackness and
gloom, an unearthly moan from the depths
of the sea.
The women became seriously fright
ened. and the men realized that nature
was in one of her most unusual and mar
velous moods. Still no one anticipated
any real danger. There had been great
storms before. This was but the begin
ning of the equinoctial blow. The ball
room was lighted. There was nothing
else to do but go to the dance. Women
clothed themselves, aided by deft-handed
maids, with hearts ill at ease. Other
thoughts than those of conquest were
filling their souls with dread of what
might come. But they would go; per
haps the gay dresses, the brilliant lights,
the soft, sweet music, might drive away
the fears that oppressed their souls.
At 10 o’clock the dance was at its h'ght.
Outside the storm was raging. The in
tense blackness of darkness was broken
only by the constant broad flashes of
lightning and the phosphorescent blaze of
the sea. A terrible wind blew, with tor
rents of slanting rain, that was as warm
as newly-drawn blood. The band was
playing one of Gottschalk’s sweetest
dreamy waltzes, [he was a Louisianian]
“Creole Eyes,” when a girl screamed.
Her white satin bottine had been wetted
by water coming up through the floor.
Terror then beset all. A rush was made
for the hotel, but the covered way was
gone. It had been carried away by a tre
mendous wave from the raging sea!
Mothers had left their litttle children
asleep in the other house. How should
they get to them! It was utterly impos
sible, unless one had wings, to pass
through the tossing, boiling flood of mad-
dened sea that rolled between.
Of the horrors that followed no living
tongue could ever tell. But about mid
night the strange sea moan became a roar
that grew nearer and louder until it was
like the ten thousand thundering Nia
garas. It was a tidal waw. 1,000 miles
long, 10 miles wide, and 00 feet high.
Anil as it • rolled resistless, hotel, ball
room, all. were swallowed up in the
maw of the pitiless sea. Men. women,
and little ones were parted never again
to meet until that final day “when the
sea shall give up its dead.”
Such a tragedy had never before been
known iu the nation’s history. Nothing
was left of the lovly isle but a few broken
brick pillars to mark where life and
beauty had died so awful a death. For
weeks patrol boats along the mainland
shore found nothing but dead bodies. In
one instance the corpse of a lady was
identified by nearly s.'>o,ooo worth of di
amonds she had worn that fateful night.
The only two survivors were a powerful
negress, who blindly caught on to a door
floating bv that was carried to the main
land. The other was a tiny girl-baby
not more than 18 months old. She had
been placed upon a billiard table, which
floated, and there she was found on the
Lafourche shore fort.v-eight hours after
tbo storm. Nearly every household in
Southern Louisiana was in mourning, >for
4UU adults, besides children, were lost.
“Is that story true that Blowerly tells
aliout his having the scars of no less than
twimtv-flve wounds received in the war”’
••Yep He was making a raid on a hen
roost down In South Carolina, and the
owner filled him full of buckshot.”—lu
diaoapolis Journal.
“Have you any idea why she frowned
on vour suit!”
Lighttop—l suppose because my .trous
ers were not turned up at the bottom.—
Chicago Tribune.
THE MORNING NEWS: SUNDAY OCTOBER 22, 1893.
GEMS FROM ALL LANDS.
SomelMns oi the Beautiful Exhihits
at the World's Fair.
The Work of American Artisans in
Precious Stones Deserving Most
Praise, Lapidaries from
Elsewhere Are Represented—The
Cutting of Diamonds.
From the Chicago Herald.
The collection of precious and semi
precious stones, curios, antiques and min
erals shown by various nations of tho
world in Jackson park are not only artis
tic and beautiful but instructive. For
tho first time there can be seen a com
plete exhibit of the precious stones found
in America. The best work and designs
of the artisans of many different coun
tries fire exposed. Competition is always
stimulating, and the meeting of the
craftsmen from alien countries can but
result in anew ora in jewelers’ arts. The
largest, and certainly the oue most de
serving of commendation, is that made
by a firm of American artisans.
They have evidenced a deep interest
in the finding and setting of na
tive stones and minerals. They
have shown that .even the
earthy and stony substance in which
metallic ores and crystalliues are found is
susceptible of being converted into useful
and decorative objects. Tiie turquoise
found in the matrix of the mountains of
New Mexico is shown and pronounced to
be, in color, the most lasting of all tur
quoise. It is less porous and equal in bril
liancy to any stone of the same character
found in Persia. This exhibit contains
the most exquisite examples of American
pearls. They vary in shape and size aud
many of them are remarkable, not only
for their variety of tint, out for
the great beauty of their sheen. Red,
green, blue and white tourmalines, pos
sessed of lovely transparent qualities,have
been found in the state of Maine and
placed in the most attractive articles of
jewelry. Colorado yields flaming red gar
nets of great purity, also opals of translu
cent and varied prismatic colorings.
Smoky quartz, which is a kind of topaz,
Is found in abundance in sections of the
Rocky mountains. On the bars ou tho
Missouri river, not many miles from
Helena, Mont., is found a matrix which
contains blue, yellow and green sapphires
of great depth anil lovely coloring. In a
belt of the Pueblos a stratum of stone
called serpentine, a supposed jade, is
found. In color it is less beautiful than
the jade (or ,vu) of China, and that found
in Russia. The minerals of America are
susceptible of high polish and are endless
in their tonality. Chalcedonyx of tho
Yellowstone National Park, Wyo., is
especially attractive.
CLEARING AND CUTTING DIAMONDS.
The exhibits of jewelry in plain and or
namental settings; the display of orna
mental gems; the cutting and polishing of
diamonds by the artistic goldsmiths of
this country, are superb examples of
what it is possible to do with the precious
gems that the earth yields. A most in
structive opportunity is afforded the vis
itors at the fair in the showing of the pro
cesses employed to make a diamond ready
to be placed in an ornament. First the
clearing process, which consists in first
making a nick in that part of the crystal
below the part to be removed. The nick
must always be parallel to an octagon,
which forms the face of the stone. A
quick blow is given a knife, which has
been placed in this almost microscopic
nick. If this blow has been successfully
dealt tho piece drops off and shows a
smooth face on both sides. This clearing
process is used only for gems containing
flaws and it is only necessary to a small
percentage of gems.
The cutting of diamonds is most inter
esting. They are cut by the rubbing of
two diamonds together. To do this they
are cemented on the outting stick with
shellac. The dust obtained in the cutting
is used afterward in the polishing. When
shaped for polishing the gem is given to
the setter. The setter secures the dia
mond in a cone-shaped, fusible metal,
which has been fastened to the end of a
stick. The point to be polished is always
exposed aud points sharply outward. A
diamond when brilliantly cut often re
quires to be set at least twenty or thirty
times. The process of polishing requires
mathematical correctness in order that it
may as nearly as possible reflect the light
that enters the center ot the stone. Dia
monds are polished on horizontal circular
disks or wheels of iron. The wheels are
covered with oil and diamond dust. The
light, life, brilliancy and even color of a
diamond is almost entirely insured by its
scientific polishing.
BEAUTIES OF THE MYSTERIOUS PEARL.
The oriental pearls shown by an Ameri
can house suggests the charming allusion
made to them by the poet Moore:
And precious the tear as that rain from the
sky
Which turns into pearls as it falls in the
sea.
This opinion was also the belief of
Pliny, who thought the pearl to be a drop
of dew or rain which fell into the shells
when opened by the molluscous animal
for air. Tho exact nature of the secre
tion which helps to form pearls has never
been satisfactorily determined; it is. how
ever, ascertained that it is a deposit in
their films, which overlie each other,
forming irregular, edges. The
thought is not without sadness, that it is
undoubtedly true that the molluscs have
been caused physical discomfort by the
formation on the beautiful iridescent li
ning of their shells, of pearls. It is sup
posed that the pearl is a result of acci
dental causes, such as the intrusion of a
grain of sand which by irritating the
tender body of the animal, obliges it in
self-defence, to cover the cause of offence,
whieh it has no power to re
move; and as the secretion goes on regu
larly to supply the growth of the shell,
the foreign substance constantly gets its
share and increases in size until it be
comes a pearl.
A proof of the knowledge of which the
Chinese availed themselves is shown in
the exposure of a fresh-water mussel con
taining figures of Buddha, made a tinfoil
coated with nacre. After making a close
study of the habits of molluscous animals
Chinese transplanted a species of fresh
water mussels to tanks, and inserted be
tween the shell and tho mouth of the
animal cither small lead shot or pieces of
mother of pearl. They also inserted fig
ures of Buddha made of metal and tinfoil,
which soon became coated with the jiearl
secretion. To the ignorant this trick was
a phenomenon; it suggested supernatural
testimony to the truth of Buddhism.
This is without doubt the most remark
able and exquisitely lovely collection of
pearls ever exposed m America. In tho
same showing is an East India smelling
bottle, which evinces not only perfection
of the jeweler's skill, but is a miniature
master piece of carved jade. This stone
has not quite the beauty of Russian Jade;
its green is less clear and has a tendency
to a milky hue; it was found in New
Zealand. The carving of this bottle is
very deep aud is inlaid with caboohon
rubies of great beauty. It is mounted
with gold aud enamel, also, a circle of re
volving ornaments of emerald wheels
studded with sapphires, tourmalines aud
diamonds.
SPECIMENS or THE LAPIDARY’* ART.
There are also aquamarines, set in con
ventional shells and seaweeds, which are
charming examples of tho expert work of
a lapidary. A Cupid and a dove have
been carved from a uiooustouu. This de
vice is on au opeufaoe watch. Couspicu-
ous among the antiques is an engraved
diamond. It is a portrait of William 11..
late king of Holland, engraved by the
late De Vrees, of Amsterdam. An en
tirely new creation is in a brooch in the
form of a miniature reproduction of an
empire bonnet. The bonnet is richly set
with diamonds ; the trimmings, bows and
feathers aro csimuluted in precious stones
of various colors. In North Carolina is
found a rock crystal pf great clearness,
and it is found to bo most useful in tho man
ufacturing of mirrors. A piece of this crys
tal has been converted into the face of a
band-mirror, which has been placed in a
frame of rich sea-green gold. Studded in
the back of the frame are seven different
colored scarabeis. the lucky stone of
Egypt. The handle is composed of silver
cobra, inlaid with gold, tho upper part
producing a charming color effect as it
rests on the green gold of the frame.
Another interesting American stone lias
been used in a smelling bottle. The de
vice is a honeysuckle vine covered with
bees testing the sweetness of the blossom.
The agate of which tho bottle is made is
found in tho Yellowstone Park. The top
is formed of yellow sapphire and doman
toids set in agate.
There is in the Liberal Arts building, the
most wonderful display of unmounted
precious stones. It shows every stone
from its crude original state to tho per
fect state in which it came from tho
hands of experienced lapidaries. There
aro in this case rubies of pigeon-blood red
found in Ceylon, in which country is
found the most matchless of these gems.
Transparent blue beryls are shown from
the mountains of Ireland, and violet-pink
amethysts from the same country. There
are turquoises in the matrix from Persia;
unusual green garnets and emeralds from
near Takowaja, Ural mountains, in
Asiatic Russia. Wine yellow, sherry col
ored, hyacinth, blue, green, white and
pink topazes make a lovely massing of
color, and these stones arc irom every
quarter of the civilized and uncivilized
world.
The many cases in tho French section
containing' spurious gems are vastly
more attractive than the contents of tho
one large case in which has been ar
ranged tho collection of genuine jewels.
One necklace of sapphires, however,
equals if it does not surpass any cut sap
phires shown at the exposition. Our ar
tisans can learn little from the French in
either the designs of settings, or in the
execution of stone cutting. There is a
constant demand made by the ignorant
visitors at the fair for the crown jewels
of France. The fact that Fra nee is a re
public seems to be forgotten by them, it
would be quite as reasonable to ask for
the crown Jewels of America.
The Russian exhibit of the goldsmith's
arts is a little disappointing, it is less al
luring than many had expected it would
lx?. In fact, there Is no display of precious
stones, but a most uninteresting massing
of lapis lazuli, nephrite rhodonito. jasper,
porphyry, malachite and tiger-eye
stones set in gold. There are writing
desk sets, toilet articles of all kinds,
cigarette cases, clocks, ornamental pieces
and cups and saucers; many are studded
with designs in rose diamonds. The most
exquisitely lovely example of work from
the hand of a lapidary is exposed in Rus
sia. It is an imperial possession. A
beautiful boat-shaped dish of large di
mensions has been carved out of a price
less piece of Russian jade. The color of
the Jade is perfect, the design faultless
and the carving of the stone, which is tho
most difficult of all stones to carve, evin
ces master workmanship.
RUSSIA. RICH IN MINERALS.
Russia is famous for the minerals found
in her mountains. Lapis lazuli is found
in the granite of the Altai mountains in
Siberia. Tho ultramarine pigment is
made from it and is the source of almost
a priceless industry. Rhodonite is a spar,
in color reddish pink, jasper and mala
chite aro also found there in abundance.
All these stones have been converted into
tables, mantels and vases. Those of mal
achite and lapis lazuli are especially bad;
their notes of color are too strong; they
quarrel with everything. Even if the
color of such stones did happen to harmo
nize with tho furnishings of a room, there
is no possible excuse for their use. They
are rigid, chilling and all in all the most
hideous useful, or supposedly useful, piece
of furniture ever constructed.
The finest cameos at the Columbian ex
position are in the Italian and English
divisions. The most interesting is oue in
old Wedgwood of George Washington. It
is over a century old, and of exquisite
workmanship. In the same collection are
a number of lovely examples of sculptured
or cameo glass. One piece represents
female figures in various attitudes—
nymphs flying from Cupid’s darts, and
vanishing apparitions floating into fleecy
white clouds. The cameos of Italy are on
shell, with the white objects in relief on
a background resembling tho dark red of
the sardonyx. Others have been cut
from the dainty pink shells. The carving
of coral by the Italians is very pretty.
The showing of precious stones and
work in gold in the German section does
not in any way equal their work in silver;
it lacks buoyancy. Its handicraftsmen
produce only massive effects in tho larger
articles, and in the smaller objects, with
the exception of their gold wire work, are
wanting in originality and style of com
position.
IN UNCLE SAM’S DEBT.
People Who Are Sorry For Having
Cheated the Government.
Money Sent to the Conscience Fund.
Some of the Queer Letters Which
Accompany Contributions- Many
Kinds of Cheats.
From the Washington Star.
Tho $2,500 contribution sent to the con
science fund of the treasury the other
day was the largest, save oue, that has
been receivtd in seven years. Just about
that long ago the halves of eight SI,OOO
bills came by mail with an anonymous
note, saying that the other halves would
be forwarded if acknowledgement of the
first batch was made in the newspapers.
This was done, and Uncle Sam was
richer by ss,ijoo. No explanation was
offered, and the affair remains a mystery.
The exception above noted was a “wad”
of $4,095, simply folded in a sheet of
paner, with tho word “conscience”
scrawled on it. On one occasion
Postmaster General \Vanamaker got a
letter with SI,OOO in it, and the written
words:
“This is the balance of interest I owe
on a sum of money 1 stole from tho gov
ernment in 1885. 1 have now paid princi
pal and interest—in all $17,500. No man
has suffered for his crime more than I,
and now I pray the Lord’s forgiveness for
my sin.”
Letters with inclosures Intended for
the conscience fund are usually addressed
to the Secretary of the Treasury. Bv
him they are sent to the public moneys
division, which makes note of the amounts
and deposits them with the treasurer of
the United States The sums received
are almost always in cash, with now- unrl
then a draft. They are never accompa
nied by the names of the senders, except
once in a while in the cases of persons
who have made mistakes as to payments
of customs duties The written commu
nications relating to them are? viry brief,
as a rule, if otherwise, they contain elab
orate apologies and appeals.
SOME ARE FUNNY.
Some of them are funny. For example,
one conscience-stricken (/croon wrote not
long ago from Suspension Bridge, saying:
“Since the emancipation of negroes I
have taken two pairs of shoes of a ship
that the gunboats captured. 1 tuck tho
shoes while she lay at Key West.”
The letter was signed “An Irish Man,”
and with it was inclosed $2.50. Another
correspondent soudss6oo, "in settlement
incom tox." His note, addressed to tho
“Coneiauco Burough" of the treasury,
explains that when tho tax referred to
was levied he was not able to state his
income without injuring his business.
Only the other day a remittance of $3.40
was received from a man who felt sorry
for “having beaten his passage on a gov
ernment train during tho war.” Another
sum of SIOO came from un individual who
regretted having been a party to certain
undervaluations in tno matter of customs
duties, it was post-marked “London”
and was signed, "One who is suffering.”
Wrapping two postage stamps was a
scrap of paper with the words, “Money
that belongs to the government.”
The great majority of such contribu
tions arc small amounts. To "Konclenee”
is credited $5 ami to "Conshions” $3.
Another person sends $3 to the “Con
shions fund.” One old soldier is a re
gular customer. He forwards $5 from
time to time “on account of SIOO which I
obtained by unfairness seventeen or eigh
teen years ago, and which i hope to liqui
date. I gave my God tho benefit of the
doubt.” A draft for f 107 on New York,
received from St. Louis the other day,
and addressed to “Mr. B. Carlisle,” was
folded in a sheet of paper which bore
simply tho word "Delinquent.” It was
handed over to the “Conscience” account.
A correspondent writes,' ‘Please credit
the, inclosed 25 cents to C. F., and oblige.”
Iu a neat feminine hand is an anonymous
missive which says: “A lady who re
cently sworo to n statement which she
now finds to be wrong sends to you $37.”
On several occasions it has happened
that people have cut bills in two. sending
one-half to the Secretary of the Treasury
nnd the other half to the treasurer of the
United States for the sake of safety.
There are persons who do not entertain
absolute faith in the integrity of govern
ment officials. One man forwarded $lO
to the conscience fund a while ago, saying,
"Pay this money where it belongs and
keep your record clear.” A repentant
Hoosier writes: “Inclosed find S4O, which
I return to tho government, having beaten
her out of that amount in minor ways
from time to time.” It is a Frenchwo
man, sorry for smuggling, probably, who
remits $1.26, with the words, “C’est
pour le tresorio” scribbled ou a scrap of
paper.
VERT CAREFUL ABOUT IT.
The person who sent, $3,500 to the con
science fund the other day was very care
ful about it Ho mailed at the same time
$1,500 to the Secretary of tho Treasury,
S6OO to tho United States treasurer and
S4OO to the assistant treasurer at New
York. He claimed that tho sum men
tioned completed a payment of $20,000
made by him as double restitution for
SIO,OOO, of which he had defrauded the
government during the war. Whether
this statement was true or not cannot
possibly be ascertained, owing to the
fact that no separate account has over
been kept of contributions to this fund.
This is unfortunate, because it loaves an
opening through which dishonest individ
uals might asoerse the integrity of gov
ernment officials.
In forwarding money to the conscience
fund the senders frequently request that
acknowledgment shall be made by publi
cation iu the newspapers. To do this the
treasury department is not obliged to ad
vertise, inasmuch as the reporters gather
items of the sort every day and print
them as news. Very many of the contri
butions are in sums of only a few* cents
each. Some people are morbidly consci
entious and undergo tortures of mind in
consequence of such peccadilloes as using
a few sheets of government paper for
private purposes. By remitting a few
pennies to the jiropcr quarter they can
save themselves many agonies. Some
times the inclosuro is only two cents.
Probably that signifies repentance for a
postage stamp used twice. Now and
then it happens that a stamp does not get
rauceled on its way through the mulls.
Being still perfectly good, there is a
temptation to stick it upon another let
ter.
It is a melancholy thing to be obliged to
say that the swindles against tho govern
ment which bear such fruit of repentance
seem to be a sadly small percentage of the
multifarious cheats that are practiced un
detected and apparently unregretted by
those who perpetrate them. People every
where are continually trying to got ahead
of Uncle Sain in one way or another.
Chief Special Agent Tingle of the Treas
ury Department said yesterday that, if
certain New York importers would hand
over to the conscience fund what they
have withheld by fraud in customs du
ties, tho depicted coffers of tho nation
would be now filled to overflowing. It is
likely that nearly half of the anonymous
contributions referred to are from indi
viduals who have been tempted to smug
gle in a small way. This method of rob
bing the government is by far the most
popular.
Voyagers returning from across the
seas fetch gems ebneealed in cakes of
soap, in the hollowed heels of boots, be
neath porous plasters and even in rifle
cartridges, the powder behind each bul
let being removed. The device of folding
diamonds in a slico of meat, feeding the
latter to a dog just before reaching port,
and killing the animal a few hours later,
is a familiar one. It is actually said that
a pet pelican was landed on one occasion
with a necklace of rubies in its pouch.
Dolls carried by the children have been
used as hiding places for such treasures,
and customs officers have been obliged to
administer emetics to steamer passengers
and sit down to wait for swallowed
precious stones to reappear. The govern
ment only exacts a duty of 10 per cent,
ou cut diamonds, because if it were
higher, they would all be smuggled and
Uncle Bam would get nothing. Havana
cigars are thrown overboard at quaran
tine in rubber bags with floats attached,
to be picked up by boats. The same thing
is done with cans of opium on the Pacific
coast. The canned juice of the poppy is
hidden In the coal on trans-Paeilie steam
ers, or inclosed in hollowed logs shipped
from Canada to the United States in car
goes of timber.
COUNTERFEITERS NEVER REPENT.
It is believed that counterfeiters,
whose business is to swindle the gove'-u
--ment, never repent. At all ovents, no
contributions from them ever reach the
conscience fund Asa rule, they keep at
the business until they die. save when in
prison, Lven while in durance vile they
have tieen known to produce false money
and put it in circulation through confeder
ates outside. Within three years a luna
tic in an Indiana asylum has uttered
forgeries on the United States currency.
It is a form of crime most difficult to sup
press. However, owing to the efforts of
the secret service and to the high artis
tic quality of the engraving of treasury
and bank notes, this kind of fraud has
almost been put an end to. The great
counterfeiters of former days are passed
away, in Jail, or closely watched.
In the last category is the
celebrated Charles Smith, great
est of all forgers, who, after keep
ing tho treasury in alarm for twenty
years, was caught, escaped prison
hv turning slate s evidence, and is now
working for a bunk note company in New
York. His former colleague. Bnx’kway,
is living in Brooklyn ou a fortune ac
quired in the nefarious occupation, hav
iug served his sentence. Pete McCartney,
who invented the plan of washing the ink
from real $1 bill* to get fiber paper to
print SSUU bills on, is dead. Dead likewise
is One-eyed Thompson, wbo was the first
man to send an explosive box for the pur
pose of blowing up an enemy. Hi* fad
was for turning $2 notes into fifties.
With the arrest of the greatest living ex
pert in that line last year the industry of
DRY GOODS.
ECKSTEIN’S
The Past Week We Had an Immense Rush.
Our Low Prices Did It. The Ladies Appreciate Merit.
The Great Sale Is now going on and continues this week.
We Must Unload t!ie Stock.
Still Greater Efforts This Week to Reduce the Stock.
Large Reductions in Prices of the Fntire Winter Stock.
Prices So Low to Enable Everybody to Buy Now.
Great Sale of Our Sis.
/
The Finest and Largest Stock of Silks in Savannah.
The Best Black Dress Goods in the city at Lowest Prices.
The Largest Variety Novelty Dress Goods Sold With
out Reserve.
GUR CLOAKS AT HALF PRICE.
Infants’, Children’s, Misses’ and Ladies’ Cloaks '/ 2 Price.
Balmoral Skirts in Felt, Satine, Flannel and Silk.
Balance of Wool Blazers Sold This Week at Any Price.
Rattling Bargains in Blankets.
The Largest, Finest and Best Blankets Ever Sold for $5.
The Regular $5 Wool Blankets Go This Week at $3.
The Full Size Blankets Selling at $3, Our Price $2.
Big Move in Warm Underwear.
Child’s Vests 15c, Men’s Merino Vests 25c, Ladies'
Special 44c.
Scarlet Wool Underwear and Ladies’ Nice Ribbed Goods.
Fast Black Hose, the Best at 10c, at 15c, at 25c.
DOWN COMES THE PRICE.
Black and White Veilings, Black and White Ruching
and Handkerchiefs.
Elegant Pocket Books, Shopping Bags, Silk & Jet Braids.
EiderdownComfortables,Crib Blankets,Carriageßlankets
SOME LEADERS THIS WEEK.
New Dark Prints sc, Heavy Checks sc, Best Shirtings sc.
15c Satines at 10c; 15c Whip Cords 8c; 15c Cotton Flan
nels 11c.
Best Linen Doilies sc; 50c Towels 25c; 10c Lace Scrims 6c.
And a Big Raft of Splendid Bargains in Every Line.
GUSTATE ECKSTEIN SCO
raising notes to higher denominations has
been brought practically to an end. The
mysterious pen-and-ink bills, executed by
an imitativo genius, still turn up from
time to time, to the annoyance of tho au
thorities; but they seem to be produced
only at the rate of about two a year,
rather for the amusement of their author
than for profit.
Uncle Sain losses a considerable sum
every year by the dishonesty of postmas
ters, who help themselves from the funds
obtained by the sale of money orders and
stamps. They get into financial difilultics
and “borrow” the cash, expecting to re
place it. Such occurrences aro particu
larly likely to happen at a period of finan
cial stringency like the present. In most
instances of the sort, however, the gov
ernment is made whole by tho bonds of
the delinquent officials. It is quite differ
ent in the case of burglarized postofilces.
Several hundred of them are robbed
every year. There was one instance in
Minneapolis, seven years ago, where
thieves got into tho postoffico at
night and cracked the safe. Directly
in front of the safe was a
big plate glass window, but it was
covered with frost, so that nobody
could see through it from the outside.
The robbers got away with 600,000 2-eent
stamps and 200,000 1-oent stamps. Only
about one-third of the booty was recov
ered. All postage stumps spoiled in the
printing aro now reduced to a pulp lil(e.
the redeemed paper money. Formerly
they were burned, but the person in
charge of the work eight years ago saved
out several thousand .dollars’ worth of
them at a discount for his own emolument.
Because the postotfice department has
been unable to procure an indelible ink
for cancellation, some stamps are doubt
less washed and reused, but not very
many. .
REUSING INTERNAL REVENUE STAMPS.
Another fashion in which the treasury
is swindled is by using internal revenue
stamps more than once. The distiller
may attach a stamp to the top of a whisky
barrel with poor mucilage or very short
tacks, so that it can bo readily removed
afterwards. The government gauger can
cols it a series of black lines across
it. Til" shows that the tax has been
paid. The barrel goes to a wholesale
dealer and is emptied. He is obliged by
law to destroy tho stamp. Instead of
doing so he removes it intact and returns
it to the distiller to be placed upon an
other barrel. Or he may take out the
head of the oarrel with the stamp on it,
drop it into the empty receptacle, put a
fresh head in, and ship the barrel back to
the distiller. The latter refills the bar
rel and puts the stambedhead on it again,
thus .making it appear that the contents
have paid the tax.
From the fact that tho government
spend $500,000 a year in running down il
lict distillers in the mountain regions of
the south alone it may be imagined what
enormous loss tlioir operations cause to
Lucie Sam. The moonshiner apparently
never gets conscious stricken. At all
events, he does not exhibit such feelings
in any way more palpable than by shoot
ing revenue agents. Licensed manufac
turers of spirits swindle the treasury out
of a vast sum annually by producing more
liquor than they acknowledge and selling
it secretly. The makers and sellers of to
ns cco in various forms are so strictly
watched that it is very hard for them to
succeed in any dishonest trick. Now and
then a dealer in cigars, who runs a facto
ry of one man power, will keep filling bis
boxes os they are emptied, so as to avoid
paying the tax, but the stealing is on a
petty scale.
A fraud on the governmentof a compar
atively innocent sort is often practiced in,
the army. A quartermaster finds hisi
stores short by 100 tent pins, five anvils)
and fourteen sledge-hammers. Very)
likely it is not his fault; such things will)
happen. Presently a soldier deserts from
the troop and disappears. Incidentally
to the report of the desertion sent to
Washington mention is made of 100 tent
pins, five anvils and fourteen sledgeham
mers as having disappeared with the de
linquent. The latter is supposed to be walk-,
ing fifty milos across the country witivj
those articles. This squares the quarter-!
master, who would otherwise be obliged!
to pay for the missing things.
The gold coins of the realm ar
“sweated” by means of a simple appa
ratus consisting of an electric battery,*
solution of cyanide of potash, and a cop
per wire. The wire, both ends of which
are immersed in the solution, has a lump
of zinc at one end and a WO piece fastened
to the other. It is connected with the
battery, and, the current being turned on,
the gold from the coin is deposited upon
the zinc. After as much of the metal has
been removed as is considered prudent
the gold piece is restored to circulation.
The same process can ite applied to silver
dollars, though it hardly pays. However,
this fraud does not in the end rob Undo
Sam, because such coins on reaching the
Ucasury are stamped “light,” and thrown
out.
While the recipient of so many contri
bution* due to conscience. Unde Sam is
frequently appealed to for sums of money
which he is supposed to owe to individu
als. People often put in claims for great
amounts which they Imagine to have been
deposited in the treasury by their ances
tors. These deposits they believe to have
grown to fabulous size with accumulated
interest. It is as difficult to persuade
such persons that they are deceived as it
is to upset the delusions of those who
have faith in gigantic inheritances await
ihg them in the bank of England^
No End of Game In the Strip.
From the St. Louis Globe-Democrat.
Guthrie, Oklahoma, Oct. 13.—The set
tlers on the Cherokee Strip will at least
have an abundance of meat this winter,
for tho prairie is literally covered with
quail, prairie chickens and pheasants, and
in tho timbered portions many
deer have already been killed by the
boomers. The streams are stocked with
abundance of fish, those of the bulTalo
and cat varieties often weighing fifty
pounds and over, and myriads of ducks
and geese are beginning to settle upon the
lagoons Within the past few days it has
developed that there is other game about,
wtiose presence is not so pleasant to con
template, and for which the people should
be on the lookout. Just east of Perry a
large wildcat has been killed; near Ponca
horses and cattle have been slaughtered
by some ferocious animal, and yesterday
afternoon near Enid a couple of hunters
encountered a cougar, which attacked
them, and the possession of Winchesters
alone saved their lives, as it took fifteen
balls to kill the brute, which measured
over 7 feet and weighed 175 pouuda.
Teacher—ls tne noun kiss proper or
common!
Maud—(who has her first admirer)—
Both, please.—Hallo.
Abbas Pasha, the Kbeillve of Egypt. In
lead* to vliiit Enjrlatnd iu tbe ipriog of 1
{provided tlial ifcuj KugllitU wart ftitukii 0# WiUr
CMC-
11