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THE OLD FIREPLACE
may talk about your furnace Urea
That warm your city homer.
And tell me how the heat aspires.
And through the building roams;
Tis handy. I’ll admit, to push
A little iron wtaee',
Ami let the ghost of summer out.
About the room to steal.
But oh. I’d lore to see once more
My father’s big fireplace;
To heal- the old logs sing and roar.
And watch the dodging sparks outpour
And up the chimney chase!
’'cur modern grate's a nice affair;
dVhn fnH of anthracite.
It lends th room a pleasant air
<>n any winter’s night.
The glowing coal's a flower bed
Lilies and crimson pinks,
And 'mong them many an olfln eye
* eeps through, and winks and blinks.
But oh. I long to nee once more
My father’s old fireplace:
To watch the shadows flicker o'er
My mother's whitely sandcl floor,
And round the ceiling race I
These patent parlor stores are tine.
And charm away the chill
With windows whence the light may shins
The room with cheer to fill.
Some people love to lioast about
Our stylish modern ways.
And thank the Lord who cast their lines
tu these progressive day-.
But oh, that I might be ones more
Beside the old firepla ■■> 1
Tosetho flcel-winged flames upeoai
And watch the flashes on the flier
Entwine and interlace.
Hearty and jovial fires wera those
I loved so when a boy.
They tinted darkness like the rose
And warmed the hart with joy.
They chuckled in an undertone,
They cackled, whistled, laughed.
They burned so bright, the earas of life
Flew upward in the draught I
And oh, I'd love to be once more
Beside the old fireplace:
To drowse upon the sanded floor
And find my mother bending o’er
With love-light on her face!
" Georg* Horton, in Chicago Herald.
HIRAM’S ROMANCE.
Hiram Btillman came from the pine
woods back of New Brunswick to make
his fortune in New York. He had no
very ambitious hopes of becoming a
Vanderbilt or an alderman, but he knew
something about horses, and he thought
he might get a job as a driver.
The folks down on the farm were op
posed to his going; they would have pre
ferred to have him marry the youngest
daughter of the Methodist parson and
settle down at home. His father had
even gouc so far as to offer him two
rooms on the second floor of the old farm
house and a third interest in the farm,
with S2OO down on the day of his wed
ding, but Hiram wanted to see the city,
and his iuterest in the Methodist par
•on's youngest daughter was very slight.
He came to New York with just $lB in
silver in his pocket, and a shiny papier
mache valise. As soon as he saw the
long, unbroken line of carts and drays on
'Vest street he gave up all idea of becom
ing a driver. He could guide a horse
flown the furrow iu front of the plow,
end he could steer the hay wagon along
the country roads, but this writhing puz
r!e of heavy drays and trucks and the
ewraring drivers dazed and terrified him.
He wandered up Cortlandt street to
the City Hall pork, which struck him as
the pleasantest part of the city that he
had yet seen, and he sat down on a
bench and looked around him wonder -
iogiy with his valise shut in between his :
kuees, for bo knew what thieves and
sharpers there were prowling about iu
this big metropolis. He had a great 1
curiosity to see tiie Bowery, of which
his cousin Elijah had told him, and when
he wav rested, and a little used t > the
noise and rush, and fell a little more
confidence in himself, ho asked one of
the ‘’constables” in gray where the
Bowery was. He was much relieved to !
find it was so near a’ hand, and plunged
into the stream that flowed up Park Bow '■
with vivid interest and vet with his senses !
still alert for possible sharpers. He was j
much pleased with the Chinamen, and '
observed them cautiously at first, until
he saw they were used to being stared at,
then lie took his till and stood for half an
hour on the corner of Mott street gazing
at them aud listening with puzzled iu
terest to their queer chatter. He was
rather surprised to find that no one else ■
seemed to notice them. He was also '
much pleased with the pawnbroker's i
shops, the cheap clothing stores and the !
cheaper lodging houses which seemed to
promise such rare accommodations at
such moderate rates. He went into one
of these where tile rooms were a quarter
of a dollar a day or a dollar a week and
paid for a week iu advance. The man
in his shirt sleeves L-ehind the desk gave
him a big key with a brass tag to ii, and
he went up to his room and left his bag
there. He sauntered out with quite a
feeling of being somebody, for the owner
ship of the room gave him a sense of
vested proprietory right in the metropolis.
He felt almost like a citizen and rather
wished the .oiks at home could see him.
There was a hidden hand-organ play
ing inside of a place, the front of which
was covered with colored canvas signs
such a; Hiram had seen billowing before
the sideshows ai the circus.
The pictures were serr inviting, but
Hiram knew, from his experience at the
circus, that they were not to be relied
on. He stopped to look at them,
though, and then he moved over to the
outer edge of a crowd of men who
stood gazing in through a pane of glass
at a young woman. Hiram thought she
was rather b°ld to sit there and be stared
at by so many men and ' he thought it
was all the more a pity because she was
go young and so comely. She had a red
silk bodice and a very large gold chain
around her neck, also "reddish hair and
the fair complexion that always goes
with red hair.
Hiram thought her remarkably pretty.
She looked as if she wtc. put out about
something or other and did not meet the
eyes of the men in front,but stared up over
their heads. Hiram wondered what she
could be doing and crowded up nearer to
sec. What be saw took his presence of mind
completely away, for when he came near
er he discovered that the girl waa whole
to the waist and that the lower part of
her body was cut completely away.
Hiram had seen some dozen circuses in
his time and many curious human freaks,
as they are very well called, but that
woman who was so good to look at
should have lieen horn in this way filled
him with sudden pitv and disgust.
Then he blushed and bowed bis head
in anguish at his own inexperience when
one of the men in front of him saiii: “A
very pretty trick, a very clever decep
tion. Of course it's done with the lights
and mirrors, but it's good, isn’t it?”
And then the gentleman added carelessly
to his companion as he moved away:
“And the girl's pretty, too—quite too
pretty to be wasted in these slums.”
Hiram followed them as they turned
tip the street. He recognized them as
belonging to a different class than that
of the meu lounging on the st reet arouud
him. Yet they seemed to be as strange
to the place ns himself. He rather fancied
he would like to get work from them,
and lie stopped them after a block orvwo
and asked if they knew of a job for a
young rain who was strong and willing
to work.
They answered him sharply in the
negitivc, but stopped as be turneJ awuy
at once with a startled apology.
“Doyou really want work?” one of
them asked, and then they told him there
were thousands like him, and that only
oue out of a hundred ever got the work
he eame for, but stopped looking for it
and weut to the had. They told him to
go back lo the farm and stay there; that
it took very bright men indeed to get
along in New York, and that ho might
better be a big man on his own farm than
slave fora small man in New York. They
seemed to think they ought to soften this
by some assistance, but Hiram told them
sharply that he didn't w ant any money,
aud walked away feeling very much hurt
and discouraged, though he wouldn't
own it even to himself.
He walked up and down the Bowery
all the rest of the day, and ventured into
little cross streets and into big ware
houses, where he asked for work of any
sort. He determined not to go back to
the farm with nothing to show for his
visit and have his people say: “We told
you so.” He felt very lonely and wished
lie had som<- one totalk to. He concluded
finally to go back and look at that girl
iu front of the dime museum. She was
still there, and he took a great deal of
comfort in looking at her. Once or twice
he fancied she ii iticcd him standing
there at the back of the constantly chang
ing crowd, and he turned his eyes away
because he thought it enough to shame
any girl to have a man stare at her.
When it grew dark and the electric
lights began to sputter overhead, Hiram
felt himself conspicuous aud turned away
to get supper, which he purchased for
fifteen cents in a restaurant. He was
very tired, and the hard pavements hurt
his feet after the soft country roads; but
before he went to his room he walked a
few blocks out of his way to take a look
at the red-haired girl with the pretty
complexion. She saw him this time,
surely,atd looked rather curiously at him,
but she made no sign, which rather
pleased him than otherwise; he would
not have liked it at all if she had smiled
at him.
One day followed another and no work
came to Hiram, and his money ran very
low. Each day he refreshed his home
sickness by going to look nt the young
lady, without any waist, who hung in
midair in the window of a museum. The
young lady without auv waist had grown
to look for and expect Hiram; there was
a so rething so earnest and likeable in his
honest, handsome, sunburned face, and
then he was so respectful iu his bearing
aud did not wink at her, nor laugh at
her, as the other meu did. She was very
tired of hanging in midair in the window,
but she knew no other way to keep her
self alive in that big city, to which she
had turned when her aunt died and left
her alone in the Connecticut village from
which she came.
And one afternoon, after Hiram had
not turned up for a whole day, she could
not help smiling when she sew him, and
lie saw her smile, and it pleased him, for
she looked so much prettier when she
smiled. After that, Hiram came regu
larly to the window three times a day,
and though she never smiled after that
first time, ho knew she saw- him and that
she was pleased to have him there. He
often wanted to punch the heads of the
men around the window, but he consid
ered that she could not heir what they
said, and so let them alone. But one
night, when his money was quite gone,
and when he had already learned the way
to one of the big pawnshops, and while
he was standing disconsolately gazing at
the lady in midair, something happened
that made him boil with rage. Two very
unpleasant young meu in front of him
tapped on the window pane and took off
their hats aud bowed to the girl and
called her very endearing names. She
j grew as red as her hair,but she was afraid
. to move, as that would upset the mirrors
j which made her look as though she were
cut in two, but she called to the proprie
j tor and the tears cam" to hereyes. Hiram
did not wait for the proprietor,
i He just learue l over the heads of the
. laughing crowd and caught the young
inen bv the collar and shook them as
though they were dirty rags.
“You mean, cowardly pups, you,”
yelled Hiram, “insulting a lady that aiu't
got no one to take care of her. If you
dare to speak, ur look,ur even come near
that girl again I'll beat every bit of life
j out'en your mean bodies.”
Then Hiram whirled the two toughs
into the gutter and strode angrily up the
street. It was late aud there were few
people about. Hiram was much dis
turbed. His visit to the city had been a
. failure, a bitter failure, and he would
hive returned to the farm the very next
j morning if it had not been for that girl,
‘ but he felt he could not leave her to be
\ abused aDd insulted. It was really mot*
t than any one could ask. And then a
hand touched him lightly on the shoulder,
and, turning, he saw the young lady of
the dime museum standing firmly on her
feet now. and with a shawl thrown over
her red hair. “Come here, quick,” she
said, drawing him into the vestibule of a
dwelling house. “They're a piping you,
the boys arc; they've been a followin’
you ever since you knocked Casey down.
My stars, but you did do for him, didn’t
you! Those two boys are cappers for
the place, and they were a bit full, that's
ail. Well, they're after you now, and
I've run all the way to tell you. You get
away, now, quick.” Bhe looked cau
tiously out of the hallway, and pulled him
after her. “Run up to Houston street,”
she said. “Keep in the light, and take
the elevated.”
“But where to —what for?” gasped
Hiram.
“Oh, anywhere," she said ; “only get
away. They're wild as bulls, they are,
and they're the worst of the gang. II
you run up against them now they’d go
for you, sure.”
“And what about you?” asked Hiram,
who was too ignorant of the particulai
gang of which the girl spoke to be very
frightened.
“Ob, I'm all right,” said the girl.
“I’m used to taking care of myself; and
you stood by me. aud so I thought I’d
do you a turn. Look out,” she screamed,
“here they are. Police!” There was a
sudden stamping and trampling of feet,
a blocking of the entrance to the hall
way, and the gang were upon him. Hi
ram pulled the girl behiud him aud
struck out like a wild man. They were
too close to use their fists well, and he
drove them back. Then he felt the door
behind his back give way, and as it
opened he put his arm around the girl
and (lulled her with him inside the house,
and thriw his shoulder against the door
and locked it.
They were standing in the hallway of
the lodging house, which was lighted by
a single burner. Outside the men
kicked at the panels and cursed viciously,
and then a voice cried hoarsely: “Cheese
it fellers, the cops is onter us,” and they
heard them jump away, and the sound
of their footsteps growing fainter as they
ran.
Hiratn put his hand to his head, and
found that it was bleeding, but he did
not mind that, for the girl was leaning
heavily against him aud trembling with
terror.
“It don’t seem to me,” said Hiram,
meditatively, “that this sort of a life’s
just the thing for a young girl.”
“I haven't got any other,” sobbed the
young woman at liis side.
“I know of a place on a farm down in
New Jersey,"said Hiram, slowly, “where
they’ll take you and treat you well if 1
say so—and I will say so if you’ll come.
Will you?”
The young lady of midair fame looked
up and drew nearer to Hiiam and nodded
her head in assent as she blinked tear
fully.
They were all very glad to see Iliram
when he trudged up to the farmhouse a
few days later, and very much surprised
to see the pretty, slight young girl at his
side.
“This, mother,” said Hiram, simply
by way of introduction, “is my wife. 1
told you when I went away I wouldn’t
come back empty-handed, an’ she’s bet
tcr'n money.”
And this is how it came about that
Hiram got a third interest in the farm,
S2OO down anil the two rooms on
the second floor, and was eventually for
given for preferring the lady who hung
in midair to the youngest daughter of the
Methodist minister. — New York Sun.
A SIO,OOO Thermometer.
“The finest thermometer in this coun
try, and I suppose in the world, is at
Johns Hopkins Uuiversity,” remarked
Lieutenant Finley, the Oovernmeut Sig
nal Service Inspector. Lieutenant Fin
ley inspects a great many thermometers
every year aud he knows something about
them. “This remarkable instrument,’
he continued, “is known as Professor
Rowland’* thermometer, and it is valued
at the enormous sum of SIO,OOO. It is
absolutely perfect, and so fine are the
graduations on the glass that it requires a
telescope to read them. There are a
number of fine instruments that are
rigged with telescopes. But an instru
ment, like that would be of no possible
use to an ordinary individual. It re
quires a scientific education in order to
read them. The United States Govern
ment don’t go in for expensive thermome
j ters,” said Lieutenant Fiuley. “1 don’t
j suppose the finest one at the headquarters
; of the weather bureau in Washington is
I worth over SIOO. The thermometers
1 used at, the signal stations cost $5. A
' thoroughly reliable instrument can be
purchased for that amount. These ther
mometers are about twelve inches long.
Each station has several of them. It is
necessary to have two kinds, the spirit
thermometer to measure minimum tem
perature and the mercurial thermometer
to measure the maximum temperature.
There are three famous makers in the
1 nited State?, two of whom are in New
York. A thermometer is like wine,”
Lieutenant Finley remarked; “it im
proves with age. The older it gets the
better it is. It is absolutely necessary
! for the tube to season. It, must be sev
i eral years old before it becomes reliable."
| —Timet Democrat.
A Famous Old Mantel.
Most of the tomb-like fireplaces and
mantels erected in New York houses
twenty-five or thirty years ago are hor
rible to contemplate, but uow and then a
beautiful antique of this sort is found.
A decorator bought for $5 some years
ago a beautiful marble mantel that was
being taken out of an house in Greene
street. He interfered just iu time tc
pievent its destruction, and could prob
ably have bought it for half the sum he
paid. It was of statuary maible deli
cately carved in relief. The purcliasei
sold it to a rich suburban resident foi
SSOO, aud would gladly have it back at
that price, for since the second sale there
has been discovered upon the marble the
same of a famous sculptor. The piece
was brought over from Holland by an
! early Knickerbocker.— Picayune.
THE TURQUOISE.
an account of the different
VARIETIES OF THE STONE.
Different Places Where Turquoises
Have Been Found—The Color
Most Highly Prized—How
the Stone is Cut.
Within the past month daily papers
have given a brief account of the tur
[|UoUes in New Mexico, as though they
only recently had been discovered there.
This may, indeed, be news to some per
sons, but not to those who know some
thing about the history o." these precious
-tones. As long ago as 1858 Professor
W. P. Blake called attention to the
presence of turquoise at Los Cerillos,
about twenty-two miles southwest of
Santa Fe, where ancient mining opera
tions undoubtedly had been carried on.
Since then flue specimens of turquoise
have been found in several States—for
example, in California, in Arizona and in
Nevada.
There are many interesting facts con
nected with turquoise which it is well
sometimes to remember. To begin with
the name itself, a curious fact is to be
noted. Turquoise was formerly regarded
as coming from Turkey, and hence the
old Engish name of the gem was turkise
or Turkey-stone. But the home of the
stone was in Persia. From Persia it made
its way westward to the Turks, who
bartered with the European peoples. The
French naturally named it turquoise, and
this is now our name for this stone of
delicate blue shading to a green.
Persia is still the home, or chief center,
of turquoise. About all the finest tur
quoises come from one or two mines which
are situated near Nishapur. in Khurasan,
on the road from Teheran to Herat. These
mines have been worked for the last
eight centuries at least, and are now very
deep, one shaft reaching down 160 feet.
home interesting particulars concerning
the turquoise trade can be gleaned from
the reports of Mr. 8. W. Benjamin, late
United .States Minister to Persia. Ac
cording to Mr. Benjamin, all Khorasan
mines are farmed by a few officials who
pay the Slutl- an annual rental of about
$30,000 for the privilege.
The turquoise occurs, imbedded in its
matrix, usually in seams or veins, some
times in nodules and in stalactitic masses.
It is never found in crystalized form. It
is said that the process for extracting it
is much like that pursued m mining for
salt iu the same region, except that in
stead of using a ball of clay the native
miners burn a branch of dry grass in the
bole, being careful, however, as soon as
cracks appear, not to damage the gems
which may be incased in the block. The
stones are generally associated together;
that is, they occur in groups of twenty
or thirty. The Persian miners divide
turquoises into two kinds—those in
crusted witii rock aud those free from
foreign matter.
There are good reasons for believing
that the turquoise mines at Mt. Chal
chuitl, in New Mexico, may be almost as
old as the celebrated mines of Khorasan,
in Persia. We know that the early in
habitants of Mexico used turquoise in
their mosaic work and for inlaying ob
sidian ornaments. Some race of early
American people must have 'expended an
immense amount of labor extracting tur
quoises from the rocks. Thus, one shaft
at Mt. Chalchuitl is 104 feet deep, from
ancient working to the commencement of
new work. Another shaft is 83 feet deep,
and at right angles a tuunel runs into the
mountain 110 feet.
As already has been intimated, the.
turquoise occurs, imbedded in its matrix,
usually in seams or veins. In New Mexico,
it is often found in thin veinlets and lit
tle balls called “nuggets, 7 ' covered with
a crust of the nearly white tuff. Some
times the specimens are seamed or
streaked with limonite, derived from the
accompanying pyrite. In Southern Nev
ada turquoises occur to .small extent,
There the stone is found in blue grains
running through sandstone.
Two kinds of turquoise are distin
guished in mineralogy—the real stone, or
ealarte and the osseous stone or odonto
lite. The last named is considered a
false turquoise, and is supposed to be
composed of bone covered with phos
phate of iron. According to Professor
Sillimnu, of Yale College, the. turquoise,
under the microscope, is a non-crvstal
line material and consists of very minute
scales, nearly colorless, having an aggre
gate polarization and showing a few par
ticles of iron oxide.
In chemical language turquoise is a
hydrated phosphate of aluminium, asso
ciated with a variable portion of hydrated
phosphate of copper. The beautiful blue
color of the stone is due to this variable
quantity of copper oxide, while the green
tints of certain varieties are doubtless
due to admixture with salts of iron.
Turquoises vary in color from sky blue
to apple green. Now, the commercial
value of a turquoise has always depended
on its tint. The color most highly prized
is that delicate blue which faintly in
clines to a green. A streak of green
lessons the value of a turquoise.
Again, some specimens with exposure
and age grow green. Hence, all first
class stones are of good and fast color.
\A Hat makes Khorassan turquoises so
valuable is that, they not only have the
delicate blue tint, but that "they retain
it. Persian miners say that stones from
the oldest pits have a better and a more
constant color than those from newly
opened pits. Thus, in trade, the finely
tinted turquoises are said to be from
“old rock,” while those that are pale are
from “new rock.” Not infrequently it
takes an expert to detect a small speck
of off-color in the stone.
Turquoises are cut in three ways—the
flat, the truncated cone, aud en cab ochon,
or with a low convex surface. The higher
the conical and convex surfaces in the
two latter the more such stones are prized.
For, be it remembered, only a fine, deep
colored stone can be cut into a cone, since
one of pale color would appear almost
white at the apex.
Again, the turquoise takes a fair polish
and saves a feeblg Juster. Like the
“water” of the diamond or the lustre of
tho pearl, a turquoise has what the Per
sians call the zat. Only a stone with the
zat has any great commercial value; those
that have this prized property always
bring a good price. Large turquoises are
not rare, but as a rule they have little val
ue. They are generally pale or discolored,
and are used principally for the decora
tion of furniture and of the saddles and
bridles of rich Persians. Two large tur
quoises are on record—one out of which
a drinking cup was made for the Shah,
and another in which the treasure of
Venice was kept, and which weighed
several pounds.
Once more, turquoises are quite com
monly imitated by enamels. They are
also produced artificially by chemical
compositions. One reason the delicate
sky-blue stones are so highly prized is
that they cannot be imitated. The other
shades may be imitated without serious
trouble. Thus, pieces of bone are capa
ble of being colored with phosphate of
iron so as to resemble the real gem.
These artificial stones, so extensively
worn by ladies, are known in the trade
as Occidental turquoises, in order to dis
tinguish them from the genuine or Ori
ental stones.— New York Star.
An Eccentric Author.
One of the few books, says an ex
change, that were read with pleasure by
youth 100 years ago. was “Sandford
and Merton.” Its author, Thomas Day,
was a devoted friend of the colonies dur
ing the American war, and espoused their
cause in his poems. He was an “original,”
distinguished by that inconsistency be
tween theory and practice which gener
ally marks an eccentric person.
He went into society, but disregarded
the “minor morals,” such as combing his
hair and making himself presentable.
Professing to think that love had been
the curse of mankind, he continually an
nounced his determination never to
marry. And yet—in spite of this re
solution—he offered his hand to three
ladies, each of whom declined the honor.
To one of them he sent a long letter,in
which he expressed his affection, asked
her to marry him and detailed to her the
duties of a wife. As Mrs. Day she was
to be satisfied with her husband’s society
and to exclude herself from the company
of men and women. The woman re
plied that the details were too numerous
and onerous.
In three weeks’ time he offered him
self again—to the sister of the woman
who had rejected him. She imposed
conditions before she would auswer
“yes” or “no.” She would marry no
man who could not fence, dance nor
ride. As Mr. Day had none of these
accomplishments and had derided them
as unbecoming manliness, he was in a
strait betwixt consistency and the lady's
hand.
He sacrificed his consistency, went to
Paris, took lessons in the three accom
plishments and returned to England.
The lady laughed at his fencing, dancing
: and horsemanship, and told him that she
1 liked him best as he was before.
But Day's spirit, was up; he deter
mined to marry some one. He therefore
selected two orphan girls from an asylum,
with the view of educating them both
1 and then selecting tha fittest one for his
wife.
In order to cultivate their fortitude, ha
used to drop hot sealing wax on their
bare arms, and fire off pistols, loaded
only with gunpowder, at their petticoats.
One of the two girls would cry with pain
or alarm, and she, therefore, was ruled
out of the competition. The other,
though she showed fortitude by her
' silence, would wear a certain kind of
sleeve and handkerchief then in fashion,
but which Mr. Day disliked. She also
was dismissed.
At last he found a wife, a lady of large
| fortune, who conformed to his whims
i and believed him to be a great man. He
; appropriated her fortune, a thing so
| despised in theory, and lived happily
with her, until he was killed by being
I thrown from a colt he was training ac
j cording to a method of his own. His
1 widow took to her bed and died two
1 vears later.— Kansas City Star.
—— .
The Smallest of Twins.
Mrs. Charles Orton, wife, of the cough
! drop man who is known by nearly every
! person in the two cities, has given birth
to two of the smallest babies that there is
any authentic record of. The babies
! weigh three-quarters of a pound and one
I pound respectively, and are well de
, veloped and apparently in perfect health.
The news soon spread over the neighbor
hood of the arrival of the tiny strangers,
and the house was thronged with curious
women until at last it was necessary for
Mrs. Orton’s health to exclude visitors
from the house. Four days after birth
a dozen or more gathered in the house,
and scales were procured from a grocery
store near by. The babies were weighed,
andthe boy tipped the beam at one
pound, while the gill’s weight was oue
quarter of a pound short of this. Mrs.
Sadie Gray, the nurse in charge of the
midgets, was present at the weighing,
and she said that both babies had gained
at least three ounces since their birth.
She was sure that when born the weight
of the two was not more than three
fourths of a pound and a half pound re
spectively. Either child could be hidden
under a quait measure, or both could be
stowed away comfortably in an ordinary
overcoat pocket. Both have black hair
and have very pretty faces.— Pittsburg
Commercial Gazette.
Expenses at the White House.
The bulk of the expenses of the White
House are paid by the President out of
his salary. Congress, however, annually
appropriates a contingent fund which
meets a part of them, This is understood
to cover all repairs and furnishings of the
mansion, the care of the grounds, green
houses, etc., and the salaries of employes
and nightwatchmen, doorkeepers, jani
tors and policemen, also the President’s
private secretary and assistant clerks, and
finally such expenses as stationery and
postage stamps. But it depends some
what on the President's wish what shall
b# included under this contingent fund.
—Star Sai/inos. '
A TORPEDO BOAT.
A WONDERFUL. LITTLE VESSEL
ADDED TO OUR NAVY.
She Runs From Washington to New
York in Fast Time—A Descrip
tion of the Craft—How She
Will Be Used.
A recent issue of the Washington Star
says: A long, low, narrow little boat,
painted a dirty gray, with two flat smoke
stacks and a couple of warty-looking tur
rets protruding from her round back, lie!
tied to a wharf at the navy yard, the
centre of admiration and comment. Hei
crew, consisting of sixteen brawny-look
ing fellows, with their wide trouser!
rolled up to their knees, were splashing
around on the wharves this morning with
water buckets and cleaning a lot ol
wooden gratings. The little vessel was
the new torpedo boat Cushing, recently
built bv Herresehoff, the blind inventor,
for the United States navy, and she ar
rived at the yard last evening at about 6
o'clock, after a twenty-eight-hour run
from New York in a heavy sea. This
vessel is probably one of the swiftestevei
put into the water, her record last week
of running from Newport to New York
in six hours and fifty-seven minutes
being the best on record by seven min
utes.
A Star reporter visited the wharl
where the Cushing lies this morning
shortly after 10 o’clock and found every
thing in a bustle, ship cleaning. Lieu
tenant Herbert Winslow, the commandei
of the brisk little vessel, had gone to the
Na-y Department to report his arrival,
and Ensign William Truxtun, the execu
tive, was in charge.
“We passed under the Brooklyn
Bridge Saturday afternoon at 2 o’clock
precisely,” said Ensign Truxtun, “head
ed for sea, and when we struck the out
side weather we found it very rough.
The seas were quite high, and we were
almost completely covered with spray.
We ran along easily, however, with only
me boiler working, and after a steady
passage reached here at 6 p. si. yester
iav, making the trip in twenty-eight
hours. Our speed averaged over fifteen
knots, and sometimes we ran as high as
seventeen knots an hour. We are all torn
jp down below, trying to get the vessel
clean, for we have not had a chain* to
make her look at all decent since we took
her from the hands of the contractors.
Sverything is very dirty, and we want to
Jrighten up a bit.
The Cushing is a torpedo boat of the
irst class, built entirely of iron and steel,
ibout 135 feet in length and 10 feel
Deam. She carries two Thonnycroft boil
jrs, fore and aft, with an engine room in
;he middle, and can make, on spurts ol
m hour or more, about 22 knots an hour.
Dn her trial trip, when she made hei
fastest speed, she ran for four consecu
tive hours without a break of any de
icription.
At present she has no armament what
sver, but when completed by the Govern
ment she will be provided with two tor
pedo tubes amidships and one in the
i>ew.
The ordnance department of the navy
s now waiting, before putting in the
tubes, to find out whether or not the
Howell auto-mobile torpedo is a success.
It is now being tried by a board, and ii
found to come up to the. claims of the
inventor, will be used on the Cushing.
A Qumber of rapid-fire guns will be
mounted on the deck of the vessel “en
eschelon,” and this will complete the
biting powers of the boat.
She is designed to run up on an enemy
under cover of a heavy fire from her own
fleet, to surprise the antagonist, if pos
sible, and shoot out a torpedo before she
is discovered. If a shot should strike
her, good bye! Her sides and deck are
covered with quarter-inch steel, which is
the heaviest material used on her, and
the only protection she has from an
enemy's lire comes from her coal bunkers
on each side, extending from one boiler
to the other. She carries about 30 tons
of coal.
Near her sharp prow, on the highest
part of her curved deck, is a pilot house
or conning tower of iron, round, with
sides slanting slightly and a turtle-back
roof that screws up and down, thus allow
ing a ventilating space of several inches
all around. Glass ports are fixed in the
sides for sighting. From this tower the
vessel is run and fought, her steering
apparatus being controled by steam
worked by hand gear in the tower. Here'
is also the firing gear of the torpedo tube,
which comes up from near the water line
to within a foot or two of the tower.
Abaft the smokestacks is a second tower,
to be used in case the forward one is shot
away, and here is a hand steering appar
atus.
The vessel is very low and sharp and
cuts long waves very easily. She rolls
slightly, but not unpleasantly, recover
ing herself without a jerk. She is ex
tremely steady in a sea way, her dis
proportionate length keeping her from
pitching.
The Cushing will probably be here for
a month or six weeks and may be fitted
with her armament while here. It is
quite possible that Secretary Tracy may
send her down the river on a test run,
and in this case she will open the eyes ol
the river boatmen.
Abnnl Hotel Registers.
Probably very few travelers, as they
affix their signatures to the register,
notice the effect that nine-tenths of the
best hotels in the country are supplied
with such books by the same firm. Such
is the case, however, and, what is more
to the point, the registers don't cost the
hotels a cent. They are supplied gratis
by a firm in Chicago, who makes its
money and lots of it, too—from the
advertising printed in the books. All
that is asked of the hotels is a contract
that they will use no otner registers than
those supplied by the firm mentioned,
and it furnishes good books, with a fine
quality of paper.— lndianapolis Journal.
Parisians boast that their city is the
leanest in the world.
y MY PICTURE.
JDo you want to see my picture,
The one I love the best?
It comes when dying sunbeams
Lead nature to her rest
The background to my picture
Is a mountain towering high,
Whose rugged peaks are softened
In outline ’gainst the sky.
The stars look brightly downward
I see them in the lake,
And of its silvery whiteness
A magic mirror make.
With giant limbs extending,
Behold my noble trees.
Their branches gently bending
To softest perfumed breeze.
The flowers have closed their dainty cupf
And try to hide from sight,
The moonbeams touch the tree-tops
And paint them glistening white.
Oh, artist! can’st thoii paint me
A scene like this of mine.
Can’st make the dewdrops glisten,
The silvery moon to shine?
Oh, paint me little flower-cups,
Whose perfume fills the air,
Bedew their lovely petals—
Display their beauty rare.
The stars—my living diamonds-
Those brilliant eyes of night—
Can’st draw their shape, oh, artist 1
Their colors, too—their light?
The brush divine that painted tbit
Is not to mortals given—
The colors and the Master Hand
Are only found in Heaven.
—San Francisco News-Letter.
PITH ANB POINT.
“Every dog has his day, CynicUs.' l
“And every crank has his turn.” —Nets
York Sun.
It improves your memory to lend t
friend $5, but it destroys the memory of
your friend.—-Picayune.
Cholly Peachblotv—-“Ow! I say, bah
bah, that razor pulls.” Barber (con
temptuously)— ‘ ‘Pulls what?”— Nev> York
Sun.
The incandescent electric lights have
a bad habit; they want to go out too of
ten during business hours. —New York
News.
At 12 o’clock—George—“Well, I de
clare, Sally, the fire ha? gone out!” Sally
—“Well, George, you may go after it.”
— Light.
She—“You tell your sister I meant to
write her a note, but didn’t.” He—
“ Thanks. She’ll be glad to hear it.”—
West Shore.
Briggs—“l did not see you at church
last Sunday.” Braggs—“No; I didn’t
get in'until you had gone to sleep.”—
Terre Haute Exrress.
“Are these handkerchiefs all pure
linen?” Salesman—“Fes, on my hon
or.” “So I see; half cotton, I suppose
then.” —Flieqende Blaetter.
“Always pay cash as you go. That’s
my principle,” said Seedle. “Humpl
That accounts for your slowness, I pre
sume,” remarked a friend.— Munsey’s.
“I come,” the lecturer began.
And then came a gentle cough.
For in the audience a man
Irreverently said: “Come off!”
—New York Herald.
The Conductor (to train robbers) —
“Boys, there's no money in this job;
the Pullman porter has just jumped off
the train and escaped.”— Scribner's Mag
azine.
Proprietor (firmly)—“Your account,
Mr. Weeks, has now been running foi
six months.” Weeks (blandly)—“Well,
suppose we let it rest for a year or two 1”
— Mercury.
“And now, Professor, what do you
think of my voice?” “Well, It all de
pends. You haven't told me yet. Do
you intend becoming an auctioneer or a
huckster?” —Philadelphia Times.
Gamin (to street peddler)—“Say, mis
ter, are you really blind?” Peddler—
“No; I sell these cough drops for my
blind brother, who stays around the cor
ner to look out for cops.”— Society.
“Bibleurre, why don’t you stop drink
ing?” “I have often tried to, but it
seems I can't.” “O, pshaw! All it re
quires is strong will power.” “Well, it
requires strong water power, too, and that
I haven’t got.” —New York Herald.
See how small investments pay. A
man, poor but enterprising, paid $6 for
a revolver. That same evening he earned
SIOOO by simply pointing his $6 revolver
at a man who happened to have the
amount specified in his inside pocket.—.
Mnnsey’s.
Mrs. Caller—“ There’s a horrid dog
running across your garden.” Mrs. At
home—“lt’s our puppy, Jack. We hiru
one of the neighbors’ boj-s to tie a wet
spoDge on his tail and chase him an hour
every day. It waters the garden nicely.”
—Frank Leslie's.
“Confound it, anyhow,” said the
mother-in-law joke when the Angel Ga
briel blew his horn. “This is the seven
teen million, five hundred and twenty
one thousand, four hundred and sixty
seventh time I have been resurrected.”—
Washington Post.
Old Grump (to his son) —“No,I shan’t
give you fifty dollars or fifty cents! In
stead of wasting your money for nothing
you ought to keep it to pay your debts.”
Young Grump—“ Wasting it for noth
ing! Why, what do I get back for it,
father, when I pay a debt?” —Texas Sift
ings.
This is the happy time of year when
the tenant asks for anew roof, a larger
cellar, a hundred dollars’ worth of wall
paper.a more commodious kitchen range,
an acre more of ground and a diuing
rooin extension, in the hope of getting a
reduction of five dollars a month on his
rent.— Pack.
“So that fellow Brown married tha
popular Miss Jones and she had a dozen
better men at her feet?” “Yes, and he
calls her ‘E pluribus unum.’ ” “‘E
pluribus unum?’ What does he mean by
that?” “Won from many. Brown is a
great Latin scholar, don't you know.
Washington Star.