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hm sunny burn
Gfie SUNNY SOUTH
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THE CONSTITUTION BUILDING
ATLANTA. GEORGIA.
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LC5S T HAN A PENNY AWEEK
A Word About You and
The Sunny South
S an abstract proposition and on most
SB occasions, egotism is unpardonable.
MkMf The man or the woman who is con-
kS A stantly talking about -what he or she
is doing, what they have done, what
they expect to do, unless they be
closely connected with our own in
terests, tire us very quickly, and we
generally discover some unmistak
able hint with which to acquaint
them with the fact. Under the plea
that The Sunny South has established
a very close connection with its read
ers, in its year and a half of active
service under the new regime, and
believing that the topics to be discussed are of
as much interest to the reader as to the editor, we
find courage to make a few mutually interesting
remarks. They greatly concern the current issue
of the paper, and what it offers and means to its
readers. Though, before plunging into this phase,
we wish to say something concerning a serial story
which reached its conclusion in last week’s issue
of this periodical, as it bears materially on the
trend of our subject. We refer to the novel by Joel
Chandler Harris, “Sister Jane.” Since the first in
stallment of this story appeared in our columns,
we have received every week letters from every por
tion of the south commending our selection of this
particular novel and expressing the appreciation of
our readers.
Staged in those districts most redolent of the
gracious flavor and wholesome influences of the
old south, and bristling with the quaint characters
which are, we fear unhappily, being radically al
tered by the advancing hosts of enlightenment, the
story held a strong charm for every class of reader.
Its strain of rural philosophy and its homespun style
treatment of some of our nearest domestic prob
lems. were the attractions for the elder, more
thoughtful readers. Both old and young found a
fascination in the delicately drawn love motif and
the healthy humor which intermingled so delicate
ly with stron'A convincing pathos. We heartily
believe that ;*^Wtory has given The Sunny South
a- ‘itajjf^^r'J^^'caclcrs whoM’ft bad never before
reached^rid that it wJntTar td-rvard-accomplishing
the mission which the magazine has marked for it
self—the making of a southern periodical for south
ern people.
It has been replaced in part—and the good work
it started will be kept up—by the series of stories
now being published from the pen of James Whit
comb Riley. Mr. Riley’s delicate, soil-breathing
poems and his homely, good-natured humor have
taken the reading world of the country by storm.
He treats human frailties and human virtues with
the hand of a master, and in his inimitable short
tales with the fresh, rural tang of the open air and
God’s country in every line, he has painted pic
tures which amuse and educate the younger class
Df readers and recall hallowed memories of youth
ful days to those who have reached the summit
of the hill and are beginning to plod down its slow
descent. For those who have known Mr. Riley
through his former work there is pleasure in store
in the reading of this series; those who are unac
quainted with his masterly qualities will find them
selves in a treasure house of humor, pathos and
quaintly drawn nature, which will prove a revela
tion from the standpoint of enjoyment and real ben
efit.
A serial out of which we predict our readers will
gain an infinite amount of pleasure is started today,
"rf'he Red and the Black,” by Mr. Roberts, is a
story calculated to appeal especially to southern
people. It opens with a faithful picture of the
temptations to which young men are exposed in
mighty New York, throwing a young man from
the south into the very vortex of the whirlpool of
gambling which annually numbers its victims
among the thousands. It would be working an in
justice to the author and his reader to follow out
the thread of the story at this time. But the first
installment is an excellent indication of the swift,
stimulating action of the plot, and the graphic
style which is maintained throughout the story.
The narrative speedily works its way south of Ma
son and Dixon's line, where it involves characters
and types which are dear to southern ideals and
southern people. The denouement is skillfully han
dled and the tangled skeins set free in a manner
pleasing to the most exacting reader. Mr. Rob
erts, who is a beginner of some experience and who
is not unknown to Sunny South readers, wrote
the serial especially for this paper. It will shortly
be issued in book form.
William Hurd Hillyer, a young Atlanta writer of
poems and fiction, is winning an enviable name at
home and in the northern magazines by his strong
poems and his clever, unique fiction. He has con
tributed to the current issue of The Sunny South a
story—“The Lead Coins”—-which is an almost per
fect type of the unusual, condensed short story
of the day. He has been engaged for further work
for the paper, and it is expected to make his work
a feature of our fiction department.
By this time we believe our readers will have dis
covered why we make no apology in discussing the
features of today and of recent date. The man
agement merely wishes to emphasize the efforts it
is making for the benefit of its subscribers, and t<f
6tress the fact that new writers and southern in
tents are being constantly and carefully nur
tured.
Are We on Verge of False
Prophet Epidemic?
NGLAND is just now plagued with a
very picturesque, self-made “Mes-
Aj siah.” Unfortunately, there is noth-
A S ing original in his antics to excite
comment or entertainment, and there
is not even the pathos of poverty to
lend a subdued highlight to his piti
ful assumptions of divinity. It is re
ported that his wife is plentifully en
dowed with this world’s goods, and
that she and her husband live in af
fluence. He occupies a profitable “liv
ing” in a well-to-do section of the
English metropolis, and has among
his adherents, strange to say, some
of the most respectable citizens of that portion of
London. To large and enthusiastic congregations
he has on several occasions made the announce
ment that he was the Messiah, reincarnated. Each
one of these declarations produced profound en
thusiasm and religious ecstasy among the faith
ful. Men, women and children, regardless of age
and standing in life, fell prone on their faces and
acknowledged his power and omnipotence. It
happened, unfortunately, that this especial Messiah
promised his subjects that on a certain day and at
a certain hour they would be translated, in Elijah-
fashion, to realms infinite. Three times the confid-
ing apostles of Mr. Pigott hied themselves to an
extensive common on the outskirts of London, but
each time they were disappointed and returned home
to await more auspicious conditions.
The great London public, however—that vast
mass of poly-phased humanity which Dickens has
taught us may be cruel or humorous, pathetic or
serious in lightning-change order—has displayed
unwonted incredulity regarding the claims of Mr.
Pigott. More than this, they have been enraged to
the riot point by his amazing egotism, and on more
than one occasion his meetings have been rudely
broken up by the irruption of a mob of angry,
one-ideaed English workmen and loafers, who,
with characteristic British hard sense, did not pro
pose to stand sponsor for the conceit of a man who
imagined himself to be on a par with the Deity.
The mention of Pigott’s name is sufficient to col
lect a mob in that section of the city where he holds
forth, and it has been twice necessary to call out
the metropolitan police to subdue what bore every
symptom of being ugly and gory outbreaks. Pig
ott’s life has even been in danger, and he has
wisely compromised his heavenly dignity by de
ciding to remain quiescent until the storm of popu
lar resentment has somewhat abated. At the same
time his personal followers are still devoted in
their allegiance and fully expect that in duly ap
pointed season their leader will steer them into re
gions ’where “the wicked cease from troubling,”
etc. Only those more aggressive believers who
sold out their personal possessions in order to be
ready for the fateful day have begun to regard his
cause with doubt.
These amusing stories from London recall the
numerous and lurid experiences which America has
undergone with this peculiar species of fakir. We
have also been infested with the genus “divine
healer” and the “asostle” who, in the guise of pre
ceding the real. Aj|^ter,JLyied financial tributi on
thos«i sufficierfirj o become u’lbciplesffc At
different times these aft/rtments have attained* for
midable dimensions—especially with the supersti
tious class of southern negroes, easily swayed by
religious excitement and ready to believe any as
sertion, provided it were made in a mysterious, ob
scure fashion, and held out remarkable promises
of good to come to obedient followers of the faith.
A great many Americans can recall the time when,
swayed by the excitement of the moment, they dis
posed of their household and personal goods at a
loss in order to be prepared for the apostheosis,
which the wily, glib-talking leader always an
nounced “just ahead.”
There have also been furores in this country and
Europe over the doings of various divine healers,
operating under attractive pseudonyms and by
mysterious, fascinating methods. Common sense
people have traveled miles to be treated for real or
fancied ailments, and the most wonderful part of it
is that many of them have actually been cured, per
manently. Sober-minded people, those who follow
closely the doctrine of cause and effect, give us a
reason for this in the display of personal magnet
ism and semi-hypnotism. But the great bulk of
the uneducated did not think of these rational ex
planations, and straightway became believers. Of
ten the craze has reached a ridiculous period, when
handkerchiefs and other articles blessed by tRe
healer were sold at prices far beyond their intrinsic,
value.
There is some subtle unnameable quality in ex|
ample which leads us to believe that the perform)
ances of the English Pigott will suggest similal
actions to designing or weak-minded people in thi"
country, and it will not be surprising to find our
selves invaded by another army of religious pm
tenders and alleged“heaiers”who ascribe their seem
ingly marvelous cures and their equally ludicrou
failures to divine agency.. There is nothing discouC
aging in this fact, and it does not injure genuii i>
religion. Such frenzies, as has been proven tim
without number, are short-lived, and their victir >/,
are hardly ever caught twice. The epidemics r
cur, just like any other human folly, at irregul j
intervals and prove the belief that susceptible h n
manity is still prone to belief in anything which
shrouded in fascinating mystery, or which h '
about it the glamour of false or perverted religior
tl
Vhe Prize Story Contest
The announcement of the prize winners, wit! ri i
list of special mention stories which will be pi t j
chased by The Sunny South for subsequent pi
lication, will be printed in the issue of October
Already the work of selecting the winners is Y
advanced. The lesser prize winners have practic;
been settled upon and only the winners of the ma
prizes are in doubt. The quality of the winning s'
ries is excellent, and it is extremely difficult (to
make distinctions.
Already nearly half of the rejected prize stor |s
have been returned to their writers. Others ;rc
each day being prepared for mailing in batches, aid
ere long only the prize winning and the spqal
mention stories will remain in the office. The <id-
itor wishes to apologize for the error which has
been made in a few instances of returning to tie
writers letters received with the original manuscript.
The letters were preservd to insure proper ad
dresses, and in mailing a few of them were acci
dentally included with the manuscript.
Qir Future Citizens ^
F, as the poet is sung,
"the child's th^tather of
the man," thj a great
many of us wilpe might
ily Impressed wlJ)i the
solemn fact t»t during
the years tocome our
country is de3ned to be
filled up with t very in
ferior citixenafe).
The child • jt today-I
make no whoUale charge,
of course—is, fs compared
with the chlldkf a genera
tion or two ago, a most ui>vely thing.
There are beautiful childrl today, as
there have always been; at-age young
American of this year of lice of 1902
is, as compared with the jin; Ameri
can of earlier times, pert, akicy, coarse,
conceited and vulgar.
The children used to be [HILDREN,
but it would puzzle the de I himself to
tell just what the "KIES" re.
And we see and hear the . “kids,” as
the,r dirty anti • and listen
to their dirty speech, it i/?afe to say
hat our hope of the perj& iity cf the
great republic is by no m« s strength
ened. On the other hand j t makes us
tremble for our country Aien we stop
to think of the sort of timfrr our future
citizens are to be made of
The other day I was resfr.? myself on
one of the seats along it* Midway In
Chicago. A few yards awar on the grass
several little girls were^laying, their
ages ranging from eight t-> twelve years.
It was clear that they ^longed to the
respectable, well-to-do middle class, for
while they wefe not arrayti in the finery
of the rich, they yet bor^ none of the
dilapidated appearance tint almost in
variably marks the children of the poor.
By REV. THOMA8 GREGORY.
Well, these little girls were at play on
the grass, when presently along came a
“gang” of boys, all little fellows, corre
sponding in age, I should say, with the
girls. I am sure the eldest of the boys
was not over twelve.
And the little men entered Into a con
versation with the little women—ana
such a conversation!—carried on for the
most part by the little men.
It was enough to make a wooden Indian
blush all over! It was enough to make
one ashamed of his species.
In the performance of my duty as a
newspaper man, I have before now been
obliged to go into places where vice
reigned, and where the sanctities of life
were but little respected; but upon my
honor I declare that nowhere did I ever
listen to viler, filthier talk than that
which was used by these little boys on
the Midway.
I tried to talk with them. They laughed
at me. I caught ‘ the ringleaders and
looked about for an officer, thinking that
I would take them to their homes and
report to their parents the character of
the language they* used; but no officer
was in sight, and I let them go.
They- went away*, bombarding me with
terms beside which billingsgate would
have been as clean as the waters of
Paradise.
Future is not promising.
“My God!” I found myself involuntarily
exclaiming, “are these the boys who are
to make the laws of the future? What
sort of laws will they’ make, If their
minds are as foul when they are men
as they are now? What kind of Ideal of
marriage, of home, of womanhood, of
manhood will these boys have when
they get to be citizens and legislators?
Is the child the father of the man? and
is it true that as the twig is bent the
tree's inclined? If so. then God pltT us.
But where lies the responsibility for
this terrible, this alarming degradation or
our children? In my soul I believe It
lies, primarily, with the parents of the
children. They don't take the interest
in the children they should; they leave
them to wander abroad and grow UP llfce
wild asses of the mountain; they are so
busy with other things that they hav»
forgotten all about the home life—and be
hold the result!
The home is the heart of the world,
and If the heart fails to do Its duty the
direful effects are felt throughout the
world. The abominable "New Woman
idea has frozen out the beautiful domes
ticities, destroyed the old-time sense of
the home duties, and transformed the
mother into a careless, vain, giddy thing
who, if she can only be sufficiently
amused, carts not what becomes of the
rest.
I claim to have a little sense, and
therefore I here and now disfavor any
Intention of applying this charge to all
mothers. It does not apply to all of
them, but It does apply to a great many
of them.
And the fathers—are they guiltless? No!
Th?y are as guilty as the mothers, only
their guilt takes another direction. They
are after the "almighty dollar,” and the
chase Is so absorbing they have but little
time to think of such a trilling matter as
the moral status cf the children.
Parents! Love your children! And !n
speaking to them or of them call them
children, not “kids." They are not young
goats, they are young human beings, to
whom you owe the highest, most sacred
and most solemn duties of life; and unless
you are faithful to those duties the home
will utterly perish and with that the
country.
(Copyright, 1902.)
^Sentimental Nonsense
P animals hav' souls,, and
if they are able to con
ceive and understand what
happens around them, it is
a great pity that they are
not able tr read newspa
pers, so that they might
get an idea of what is be
ing done to protect them
' from cruelty in almost
"every country of the
"globe.
In Belgium the whole
acfifnaf Press on th© warpath
axtUnst abuse., of , he horse ln ^ £ m “
tary service, and more especially certain
cruelties committed by army officers at
Ostende, and a national committee Is
being formed to have them severely pun-
sn I r1nm USS,a JJ re,lglous s «:t Is rapidly
nfi, J' rhlch has resolved not to per-
b0r t0 be P^tomed by horses,
the ° ther dome * ,i c animal, and
he peasants everywhere are turning
goats aU th6lr C0WS ' hor9es - sheep and
«na *!! e future fhe then alone will work,
and of course they will not eat any kind
buttTo’ dr K lnk 3ny ml,k or make any
. Vw cheese and think with horror
or the time when they were cruel enough
to rob the poor, defenseless sheep of their
wool.
Our own “anlmalis
Russian peasants,
the Belgian off]
English feic hu
Ha
rtiay smile at the
condemn
‘' 1 *mh the
I
• 'and j
Hmi:s, bui\
tion, nicSc’ limit;
and our modern time,
ious to deftind the right.V of animals, is
absolutely unable to define a general
doctrine of these rights.
We have. In Prance, a magazine solely
devoted to the interests of animals, and
I hav% even with some surprise had the
honor to see my own name Inscribed
among the founders of this magazine.
We have a powerful International so
ciety, In which every state in Europe
has its chosen representatives, always
watching, locking for and severely pun
ishing cruelties committed by men
against animals.
And this is not all, even after their
death the animals are looked after. We
have in Paris, as In sev^-al other Euro
pean cities, a beaujdful cemetery for
dogs.
This is all very well, but it seems
By MARCEL PREVOST.
to me that we are doing too much for a
few favored kinds of animals, while
right before our eyes hundreds, yes thou
sands, of others are killed without any
necessity and even tortured before they
die.
I should like to know If every mem
ber of the Society for Prevention of
Cruelty to Animals, or all those whose
names are inscribed in the list of patrons
of the above mentioned magazine, ab
stain from the cruel sport, the most cruel
of all sports—hunting. And still, what
do I say? Hunting! No, fishing Is still
more cruel. The bullet Or shot of the
hunter generally kills Its victim on the
spot, but the fish hook does not. And I
doubt If there are very many fishermen
who, when they have drawn their vic
tims from their natural element, are
charitable enough to put an end to their
sufferings. No, the longer the poor fish
lives, the slower It bleeds to death, the
better, as it might lose some of Its
flavor by dying before It is skinned and
cooked.
And our cooks, do they think even
for a second of the sufferings that they
Inflict on poor defenseless animals In or
der to satisfy the refined tastes of their
masters?
Whose Ox Is Gored?
How many of the members of our S.
P. C. A. who are ever ready to have a
poor man’s worn cut horse shot down
In the street, who think that whenever
they sit down to eat a live broiled lob
ster, far greater cruelty has been done
for their* sake? Do thev know that
. n t *hf»ir Rumntuous) dinner
table, arc/delighted at the taste pf duck
”au sang 1 ' the poor duck has been slow
ly tortured to death suspAided by its
legs for many hours?
It would be no harm if all our animal
ists would use a little less often mis
placed indignation' and a little more
common sense.
I- know very well that they will object
to my view of the question, that they
will say that horses, dogs and cats aro
infinitely more ‘interesting” than lob
sters or poultry; but this objection is not
very convincing, and, after all, is not
the animal that gives up its life to sup
port us just as interesting or useful as
any of those that carry, guard or amuse
us? And besides, true pity does not ask
whether its objects deserve to be pitied
or not—it knows no distinction.
It is the sufferings that call for pity,
no matter who is the sufferer, and the
degree of pity might well vary accord
ing to the quantity of suffering, but not
according to the quality of the sufferer.
But. after all, most of the people who
pretend to love animals so dearly that
their indignation knows no bounds when
they see whip or spur used, only love
their own egotism. They can only feel
for certain kinds of animals that are
useful or amusing to themselves.
I do not say that the pity that they
feel at times is bad, but there Is noth
ing particularly noble In it, nothing that
they deserve to be praised for, nothing
that proves their sou-1 to be tender or
good.
This love for horses, cats, dogs or
caged birds Is often accompanied by
heartlessness to the sufferings of other
animals. Many an old maid who has
spent sleepless nights beside her sick
pug dog will unfeelingly pass a poor
young bird, fallen from Its nest, and
many a family will enjoy and laugh at
the sufferings of a poor mouse that is
being cruelly played with by the favor
ite cat, the pet of the family, who every
night sleeps on down and silk in its pret
ty basket.
We ought to give up all our sentimen
tal nonsense and try to arrive at a just
appreciation of the rights of all animals,
and all psychologists who have taken
any interest in this question agree that
these rights are very easily defined.
No animal has any duties toward man
any more than it has toward any other
animal. There is an endless war between
the different species of animals; the
stronger kill and devour the weaker,
and man has, according to the law of
nature, unquestionable right to utilize
kind of animal to any real purpose
even justified in " m 'ig when neo-
but r can nev^^rdiit tnht it
'should be necessary tp eat ll% r e broiled
lobster,
I can understand that it may be useful
to know how fast or iiow long a horse
may run, but I canndt understand the
pleasure that some people find in seeing
a deer torn to pieces by dogs or a for
run to earth by hounds.
But our S. P. C. A. seems to see noth
ing of this kind, or at least It has not
succeeded In abolishing any of these
fashionable sports, while it mercifully
punishes all kinds of petty offenders.
But, after all, is it not sentimental
and fooiish to do so much to prevent
cruelty to animals as long' as *we still
cling to settling International questions
by wars in which the most heart-rending
cruelties are committed to fellow-men,
wars in which thousands of human lives
are sacrificed In almost exactly the same
way as the lives of birds at a pigeon
shooting?
Philosophy o/ Content
Lb Jeff Howerson, up in
Lake county, always said
that things might be worse.
While a young fellow he
was engaged to a beautiful
girl, but she married' an
other man, and Jeff sat
down on the bank of the
creek, gazing at the water
and the dark shadows that
seemed to float down the
fc.*ream. A friend came to
sympathize with him, think
ing that his spirit was
•broken, but Jeff looked up and said:
“Oh, It could be worse.”
It was a philosophy that no one wished
to argue against; it always has been and
doubtless will be until the end of human
disappointment, which means the end of
time.
Well, Jeff went about his business—
what little he had—and after a time mar
ried a girl who turned out to be a scold-
worst scold that anybody 1 had ever seen.
On£ day she scolded because there wasn’t
anything in the house fit to ‘eat Jeff
went to the crossroads grocery and re
turned with a market basket full of pro
visions. He put the basket on the floor
and, turning to her with a philosophical
smile, began with:
“My dear—** but there he halted, for she
flew at him.
“Oh, how dare you make a slave of
me!” she cried. “Oh, you heartless thing,
loading me down with all that stuff to
cook,” and she heaved the basket out into
the ro«»d.
Jeff scratched his head, and a neighbor
who had seen the performance halted and
By OPIE READ.
began to sympathize with him, but Jeff
smiled and remarked:
“Oh, it might have been worse.”
The creek arose and washed his crop
away, and because he dropped off to
sleep as usual that night his wife railed
at him.
“Oh, you haven’t a particle of sense,”
she fumed. “Everything gone, and here
you are asleep.”
‘Well, I can bring everything back
being asleep about as well as being awake.
Gone, you know.”
“And I suppose it could have been
worse.”
“Yes, we might have had more to lose.”
“I do think you’ve got less sense than
any man I ever saw.”
“Well,” he drawled, “might have been
worse.”
“I don’t see how. Wish you’d tell me.”
“I might have had a twin brother—
migfyt -be two of us Instead of one, you
know.”
The next season there came a cyclone
and everything on the farm but the mort
gage was swept away, and Jeff ’lowed
that it might have been worse. His wife
snapped at him. “Well, I can’t see how.”
"Why, It might have blown the well
away. As it is, you see, we’ve got plenty
of good water, and if there should come
a water famine throughout the country
our supply would be worth thousands of
dollars.”
About the time the philosopher got
back into shape a couple of fellows came
along and sold him a gold brick for the
price of his wheat crop. His wife had
been delighted at the deal, but when
the truth fell cold upon her she flew at
him with a spurt of reproaches. He
pointed to the fact that hog cholera was
raging in the neighborhood.
“But what difference does that make?”
she snorted, and he replied:
“Good deal. Makes it all the better
for us.”
“I don’t see how.”
“Why, we haven’t any hogs to lose.”
To the neighborhood he was a great
comfort. Discontent stopped at h’s gate
to receive encouragement, and once when
an old man had been made to believe that
down the road there was for him a bet
ter day lying bright In the sun, the wife
came out and scolded him away, but
Jeff caught up with him, climbed up in
his buggy and said:
“Old friend, it might have been worse;
she might have kept you from stopping.”
“Ah,” the old man replied, “you help
me, but where is your encouragement?”
"Mine? Oh, I have it. I might have
married my wife sooner.”
One day while the wife was walking
In the woods a tree fell and knocked her
senseless. Some one went after Jeff,
found him talking to some gloomy
neighbors, and when he arrived at home
the doctor was getting ready to leave,
having given his patient up. The woman
called Jeff to the bedside and with the
last gleam of reason said to him:
“Now, you see what has happened. I
am dying. Can you say it could have
been worse?”
Jeff scratched his head.
"Yes, Jane, it could have been worse.”
"But 1 don’t see how,” she feebly re
plied.
“Why, dear, the tree fell this week,
didn’t it? Well, it might not have fallen
till week after next—and, besides, it might
have fallen on me.” And the neighbors
all said it could have been worse.
ONE WHALE WORTH A FORTUNE
Pacific Commercial Advertiser: More
than HOJ.OOO is what Captain James Earle,
a New Bedford whaler now visiting in
Honolulu, realized in 1883 from one sperm
whale. In fact, the whaie was one of the
most valuable ever caught in any ocean.
It was not the ninety barrels of oil which
gave tie leviathan its extraordinary
value, for that was sold for something
like 14 ou, but within the whale s vast
interior there was found a solid piece of
ambergris weighing 780 pounds. This was
the largest eingle piece of ambergis ever
found, «*cording to the records, and that
it came from one lone whale made the
rich dis overy the more interesting to
the scler.uflc world.
This 7' -pound piece of ambe r £ris was
sold in chunks in all markets of. tn € world
for abou; £5.000 sterling, and the
foundation of wealth for
man interested in the whalinS expedition,
which originated in New Zealand.
Captain £arle came here ifl 1867 on the
whaling Phip Europa as a cabin boy, his
father th*n being the first mate. He
later went to New Zealand to Join the
I whaler Splendid, which he fitted out, ob-
l taining thereby a bounty of $10,000 offered
j by the New Zealand government for the
J first whaler fitted out for service. He
i went as second mate and rose by promo
tion until he became master and part
owner. It was in October, 1S82, that the
Splendid, while cruiPing about the Chat
ham islands, east of New Zealand, came
upon the sperm whale w’hich was the
biggest bonanza of the sea on record.
Ninety barrels of oil were taken from it
and while delving into the carcass the
huge piece of ambergris was found.
Ambergris is a concretion formed only
in the intestines of the sperm whale and
is sometimes found floating on the sur
face of the sea like pumice stone, near
where this animal cruises. In it e.re often
found imbedded the horny beaks of the
squids on which the whale feeds. 7t
was formerly used in medicine, but is
now dissolved in alcohol and used as a
base in perfumes, rendering them more
lasting. It affords about 85 per cent of
a peculiar fatty and crystalline substance
called emfcrein.
The voyage of the Splendid in that sea
son was a fortunate one in every respect,
for she came Into Littleton port, New Zea-
i land, with the big piece of ambergris
I worth its weight in gold and 1,100 barrels
of sperm oil.
"When we arrived in port,” said Cap
tain Earle. “I telegraphed to the agent
of the Otago Whaling Company to come
up. He came, the ambergris was taken
ashore, loaded into a car, which was
locked and the key stowed away in th<-
agent's pocket, and he stood guard there,
too. until the stuff was safely placed. The
first year that I had brought any am
bergris in port we got £25 a pound for
21 pounds, but when this big piece came
. in the news so astonished everybody that
I cablegrams were pent all over the world.
' and the result was that the price dropped.
Some went to London, but as for my own
share I took it in bulk and carried It
home with me. I wasn’t In a hurry to
sell it, but thought by waiting the mar
ket would rise. T got $18 an ounce for
the gray and $8 for the black, while in
London it had only brought $12 and f4.
The last of my share was sold ln 1891.
I remained with this company until 1886.
when I went home. I have taken more
than a thousand sperm whales since then
and have never found in any of them a
piece of ambergris.”
©** Week in a Busy
& World ^
MILE ZOLA, tfca
great French nov
elist, whose won-
derfully r ! r i 1 e
work gained for
him the title of
“master of real-i
ism,” is dead. His
wife and he had
Just returned to
Paris from their
country home.
They spent the
night in their prl-
JCmffe Zmta vate apartments,
and the next morning Zola was found
dead, and his wife is hovering between
life ahd death. Asphyxiation from car
bonic acid gas is supposed to hare
caused his death. Irrespective of clique
and prejudice, Paris is pouring its
tribute of respect and regret over his
bier. Among Zola’s better known works
are “L’Assomoir,” “Rome,” “Lourdes,”
“Paris,” “Germinal,” and others not so
well known in this country. His recent
vigorous defense of Dreyfus had won
him friends in every portion of the civ
ilized world.
ENRYK SIEN-
KIEWICZ, the
famous Polish au
thor, who has Just
issued an appeal to
the Prussian Poles
begging them to
permit no phases
of the agitation
against them to
drive them Into ex
treme acts or
words, has for
years been recog-
Henryk SlenkiawicM nized as a staunch
defender of his countrymen, their ambi
tions and their religious faith. An ar
dent Pole and a no less ardent Roman
Catholic, Sienkiewicz’s whole nature has
been influenced by love of religion and
love of country. His present appeaT
for moderation is by no means his first
effort to keep his fellow-countrymen
within bounds. He always discoun
tenances violence, and believes that the
hatred of the Poles in Germany Is work
ing out results valuable to his people in
steadily taking away the possibility of
their Germanization.
OHN J. HANNA-
HAN, who was
last week elected
grand master of
the Brotherhood of
Locomotive Fire
men at the Chatta
nooga convention,
is a well known
Chicagoan. He has
acted as first vice
grand master of
the locomotive fire
men for nearly
John J. Hannahcn twenty years, and
when Frank P. Sargent was appointed
commissioner general of Immigration,
last July, Mr. Hannahan assumed th»
duties of grand master. He had no op-
position for the office of grand master
at the convention. The Brotherhood of
Locomotive Firemen Is in a prosperous
condition, having over six hundred lodges
and about fifty thousand members.
Frank W. Arnold, of Peoria, was re
elected grand secretary-treasurer with
out opposition.
fR Mict TS-i
HENRY HER
BERT, the new
British ambassa
dor to the United
States, who has
Just sailed for his
post, and who said
before boarding
the steamer that;
“it seems like go- 1
lng home," has
good reason to
feel pleasure in an
Sir Henry Herbert assignment t O
Washington. After the recall of Lord
Sackvllle-West ln 18S8 the new ambas
sador became charge d’affaires ln the j
British embassy, and during his Incum
bency of that office was married to Miss
Leila Wilson, daughter of Richard T.
Wilson, of New York, and sister Of Mrs.
Ogden Goelet and Mrs. Cornelius Van
derbilt, Jr. The Herberts have main
tained close relations socially ln the
United States, and will naturally be
most welcome. Sir Michael has held va
rious posts ln Europe since his retire
ment from Washington, the last and
most Important, from which he now
comes, being that of secretary and min
ister plenipotentiary at Paris, a unique
title in diplomatic service.
E N E R A L RUS
SELL A. ALG1EH,
who becomes the
unopposed candi
date of the re
publicans of Michi
gan for the United
States senate by
the withdrawal of
D. M. Ferry and
the previous decli
nation of Wllllnm
C. McMillan, and i»
thereby assured of
Gen. k. Jl. JHzer election, has been a
conspicuous figure ln American af
fairs for many years. Born in
1838 and left an orphan at 11 years
of age, he acquired an education whllo
working on a farm. At the outbreak of
the war he enlisted ln a Michigan regi
ment, having migrated to that state
from Ohio, and rose grade by grade to be
major general of volunteers. At the close
of hostilities he resigned and went into
the lumber business ln Michigan, ln which
he accumulated a large fortune. He was
governor of Michigan ln 1885-86, and ln
the national convention of 1888 was a
prominent candidate for the presidency.
He enter.-d President McKinley's cabinet
as secretary of war ln 1897, and two
years later resigned, owing to questions
Involved ln the conduct of the Spantsh-
American war.
IETRO MASCAG
NI, the great Ital
ian composer who
is now on his
way to America. !s
noted for the com
position of only one
grand opera, "Ca-
vallerla Rustlcana."
which discloses
musical genius of a
high order. Mas
cagni is a very
young man, and his
fieiro jnuMc<.yni critics believe that
he will pioduce yet greater work as a
composer. His advent ln America Is eag
erly anticipated by the musical world,
and he will be feted and entertained ex
tensively.
u
INSTINCT PRINT