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LIFE IN A WARDROOM THE OFFICERS' QUARTERS ON BOARD * MAH-OF-WAR. Where All Bxcept the CommeeAer Ksfc Ur, Md Bare Their Social Bota<—MawU Btiqastto netalei the Mm Whom All OOten on Board. Must Ota*. The wardroom ona man-of-war la the living place of all the older officers of the shift with one exception, the com manding officer. He lives by himself, has his own cabins, his oWn mesa, his own servants. Naval etiqttette and cus tom have established this habit of isola tion for the man on the ship who has Command of all the rest. The reason is undoubtedly to be found in the very fact that he represents extraordinary power. Under these circumstances any attempt to forget the superiority of his rank by means of a common cabin or messroom for him and his subordinates would only result in embarrassment on both, sides. . This does not mean that he may ndt be sociable, for much.depends upgn the man, Built is safe to say that any show I of effusiveness among those who live abaft the mast must come from his side, 11 he wishes it to be general. Thesitua tlon is a delicate one. In the freer air of the wardroom W 0 find from 10 to 20 officers living togeth er, the number varying with the size of the ship. Their aged may range from 25 to 50, and they are of all ranks above that of naval cadet, and of all corps. Engineer officers, line officers, medical officers, marine officers, one pay officer and one chaplain, may all be included "in the wardroom of a large ship. These men live in staterooms arranged about a common space, which is known as the “wardroom country. ” This assumption of a space of prairielike dimensions is' comparatively truthful in the cramped quarters of a ship. In this “country” exists the social life of the wardroom. Here these men of varied callings, yet all of the sea’s following, live, move and have their social being. A day spent in a wardroom by a land lubber would reveal many interesting differences between naval officers and their brethren on shore. To begin with, they are more cosmopolitan in their speech. The men in our wardrooms are gathered together from all parts of the Union. Local discussions find but an uninterested audience, or even a derisive one, so that a naval officer gets accus tomed to speak and think of all the 45 states as belonging equally to him. Out side of his own country he is so great a traveler that very few civilians can keep up with the way he skips in conversa tion from China to Peru or to Tasma nia. Other characteristics that are quickly noticeable are his simplicity, his cheerfulness and his heartiness. The wardroom is constantly resounding with laughter. The men in it are healthier than men who live in houses. They up earlier In the morning and go to bpd earlier at night. Most of our wardroom! are bustling with officers at 7 o’clock in the morning. A glance at the breakfast table shows the senior line officer presiding, and the other officers placed near him according to rank. At the other end of the table is the man who has been elected by hit messmates to direct the catering of the mesa. Between this early meal and the breakfast proper, which comes at half past 11 or 12 o’clock, there is not much life in the wardroom, for the daily mil itary routine is full of drills and exer cises which keep most of the officers on deck. There are drills with great guns and with small arms, drills in clearing ship for action, drills in handling am munition and many others—all of them rooted in the one idea that you must preserve your own life by destroying that of your enemy. As soon as an officer returns to the wardroom from one drill and begins a conversation or perhaps hums a song he is interrupted by the bugles on deck and must buckle on his sword and return to another drill. At every call to quarters all officers must report themselves ready for duty. The chaplain and paymaster, having much less to do with drills than the other officers, are usually the first to be back in the wardroom, where there is other work for them. The medical offi cer has gone forward to the sick bay tc look after his patients. Whoa the midday breakfast comes, there is the first breathing space for a little leisure and relaxation. But the drills for the day are not yet over, and at 1 o’clock the bustle is resumed throughout the ship. A sudden call may come for collision drill, or fire drill, or battalion drill. If at sea, a floating tar get may be dropped overboard, and for an hour the ship be shaken from stem to stern by the discharge of guns. From 8 to 5 o’clock in the afternoon there is generally a respite from wort, and the wardroom begins to show signs of be ing a hosne. Some inti are reading ox writing, others are smoking or playing games or loafing. Still others are in their rooms fairing the seaxxum’s noon nap But at 5 o’clock the drills and exercises come again. ' By 0:80 o’clock there is a feeling that one can sit down and dine without feat of interruption. The mess as a whole is now gathered together, and the meal so generally a thoroughly enjoyable and delightful affair. After it is over there are cigars, games, music, or the right to withdraw within oneself without ex citing remark. By 10 o’clock most of these sailors are in bed, but even now the drills may not be over. At midnight the bugles may sound, and in two min ->tes all the ta&’a company be rapidly making ready for an enesny.—New York Post. It is strange to notice how many old classical exprearioM still survive in Tuscany. The people still SWear “By Bacchus!” and “By Diana!” just as we do “By Jove t” but when they talk of “Torn, Dick and Harry” they say “Ti tas, Cains and Sempronius. ” .'..■■l,. ' • . - ■ THE ROMAN WALL PICTURE Mew Thought X«rt to B. » ItoprMUteUM of the CrneiMxioa. The now famous graffitte, or wall I scratching, recently discovered in Rome wmM first thought by archaeologists to be possibly a rode contemporary repre sentation of the crucifixion. According to an article by Dr. Albert Battandier in Cosmos, experts have now quite abandon ed this view of the meaning of the picture, though they ase not yet agreed about what it does represent After quoting the earlier theory of the Italian antiquarian Marucchi, the article to which reference has been made, Dr. Battandier goes on to say: F “We must confess that the impressions received at first sight have begun quickly to disappear. Other arehnologists see quite differently, and M. Marucchi him self has become less positive, as the char acters, having been washed repeatedly, come out more clearly. It is now impos sible to defend the earliest and We are obliged to mourn the loss of a discovery that would have been valuable for many reasons, but useless for our Christian faith. The gospels ought to suffice us. ■„ “Let us speak first of theecene repre sented at the bottom of this series of graf fitte. There are, in fact, a large number of inscriptions, one above the other, and we should be foolish to suppose that all must necessarily be on the same subject. We should observe first that the design is vary rough. The part of it that is dearest represents perpendicular posts united by a transverse bar and fanning a sort of por tico, with ladders fbr mounting. Several of the persons represented have names written over their heads, for the most part illegible ones. Thus we have Nostu lus, Eulogius, Secundus, or, better, Joeun -dUB, and finally Pilatus, of which there remain Oqly the syllables’ll* and‘tus.’ Higher up vre find numerical signs. “Now, thp explanations of this scene are as numerous as they are hypothetical. “First pt all, on account of a name that was thought to be ‘Crestus,’ at the begin ning of the graffitte, it was regarded as a vfowof the crucifixion. This is what has glvqn to the drawing its great notoriety and has already caused floods of ink to be shed on tho question. Others have seen in it a naval maneuver. The posts are masts, only unfortunately there is neither ship nor sea. For others it is a mason’s scaf folding, traced here as a kind at rough preliminary plan of the proposed manner of doing some piece of work, but this does not account for the drawings of people and still fess for the names Written over their heads. Some archaeologists find here the preparations for an exhibition of rope walkers or acrobats, and In this case the figures would represent the principal ac tors with their names written over their heads. It is probable also that it may be a representation of some imaginary scene traced by soldiers with plenty of leisure and not strong on perspective, who occu pied an idle hour in drawing a picture that had nothing real to correspond to It Fi nally, to close this Berths of interptatatlsns With a note es humor, some have thought this to represent the preparations for an exhibition of fireworks, as if powder had been invented at this epoch I “Above the scene there are numerous inscriptions, and it has been noted already that these do not relate necessarily to the design placed below them. An attentive examination shows that most of the In scriptions vre not fit for ears pplite. Os the words supposed to be‘Christ’ there remain only the letters ORE——S. A hols in the wall has caused the Intermediate letters to disappear. “We see how the discovery of these fa mous graffitti that have created such ex citement both at Borne and abroad appears at the present time. It would doubtless have been very interesting if the first ver sion had been oorrest, but historical troth obliges us to confess that it was not.”— Literary Digest. Spanish Pool.' “Until we began to get into hot water with Spain,” said a naval officer, “the fa vorite game of men forward on American warships was Spanish pool, which Is a game of checkers of a peculiarly intricate sort—so intricate that, after 12 years in the service and much careful watching of the game while officer of the deck, I couldn’t play a game of it now to save my soul. The enlisted men all played it, however, and greatly preferred it to the ordinary geffie of cheafew, for it stems that Spanish pool is a game wherein you get quicker action for your brains in ma neuvering titan you do in checkers. But I will venture to say that there has not been a single game of Spanish pool played in the United States navy since the Maine disaster. I was attached to a ship on the Pacific home station when the news was received aboard that the Maine had gone up in the air. After knock off work had been piped that day the Spanish pool fiends ’broke out* their oilcloth Spanish pool boards and robber Checkers as usual, and I watched them curiously to see if they would play Spanish pool. They didn’t. Without saying a word as to their reason for the switch, titey all plunged into the game of ordinary checkers. This struck me as being pretty significant at the time, as evidencing the opinion of the men for ward in our navy as to the cause of the Maine disaster.’’—Washington Star. , 1 ■ 1 Luxury In the Wildarneaa. A press dispatch from London states that the Russian government has provided > for the Siberian line a train de lUXB, qom posed of four splendid can, built at Mos cow. There are an open saloon oar, a din ing ear, a bathroom, a library, telephone, electric lighting, refrigerators and venti lating apparatus, piano, chessboards and means for gymnastic exercise. This Will make the Pennsylvania and the New York Central and the other American origina tors of luxurious trains hide their heads in confusion. .... American passengers have perhaps all the luxury that they have been taught to appreciate, but we must admit that Rus sia has beaten us. The first half tarn features of the Siberian train are familiar matters here, even telephones being at our command if we want them. Moreover, pianos have been used in American ears, and something even better than a chess board may be found in most smoking can, even those used by the plebeian ’ classes, but when it comes to gymnastics we give up. We have no better expedient than to stop 80 minutes and let the passengers walk up and down the station platform. Whether the Russian apparatus consists at a pair of 50 cent dumbbells or of only a 88 inch cane is not stated.—Railroad Gazette. Patriotic. There was a remarkable instance o< pa triotic action in City Hall park yesterday afternoon. The tramps who frequent the park held a meeting and unanimously re solved that while the war continued they would use no castile soap.—New York Tribune. A KINGDOM FOR A JEST. Mow William Fa Fool Got Urn Title eg Klug of Yvetot. Gerald Btonan writes for St. Nicholas an article on “Tbs Kingdom of Ytetot.” After telling of the bare facts of history to bo gathered from legal papers Mr. Branan Now for tradition as unearthed by M. d’Hauterlve from many a musty tome or taken down by the good cure of the viltage from the lips of old parishioners. This “Ansfred, styled *le drole,’ or‘ths humor ous,* ” was, it seems, none other than Wil liam I’s court Jester, and his stone Image, in cap s»d bells arrayed, stood In tho din ing hall of the Chateau d’Yvetot until those terrible fellows, the revolutionary soldiers, pulled down both house and statue. Those who love to stray In history’s by ways Will remember that when William tho Conqueror landed on the English coast ho tripped and fell with extended arms ujfon the strand. Moot of his followers would have regarded this as a bad omen had not the monarch, with rare presence of mind, quieted their fears by exclaiming that he was “grasping the soil of England in his arms.” Now, tradition in Yvetot has it that the person who whispered this cunning reply Into the ear of the prostrate William w« our witty acquaintance, thq, court Jester Ansfred. . When England had been won, the story goes that the king remembered his hum ble Jester's timely whisper and, calling to him to the foot of the throne, bade him ask a boon byway of reward. Ansfred jestingly replied, “Ah, my good king, I have an ambition too lofty far you to gratify!” Greatly piqued at this speech, even from such a privileged Joker as his “court fool,” William insisted upon knowing what the ambition was which the sovereign of Eng land and Normandy could not make good, whereupon, Jingling his golden bells gay ly, Ansfred said: “In sooth, friend Wil liam, I desire to become a king, like your self. Nothing less can satisfy ma ** At this the nobles of the court set up a mighty shout of laughter, looking upon the affair as another of Ansfred’s sallies, but the king laughed louder than them all Recovering from his mirth, he cried out: “Ansfred shall have his wish. When wte get back to Normand* we will give him a kingdom of his own/’ Then, sum moning his chancellor, he demanded the name of “ths very last place in all his do minions, the most barren and waterless waste In his possession. ” The chancellor consulted his great books and found that the last place mentloned'was the hamlet of Yvetot Moreover, this hamlet stood in the treeless, springless plain of Caux and was an extraordinarily desolate spot, little thought of by the abbey of St. Wandrille, to whoso monks it belonged. William laughed again when he heard of Yvetot, and In pursuance of his pledge when he returned to Normandy he took Yvetot away from the abbey and gave it to Ansfred, the jester. In the nearby vil lage of Bolbec, amid great merriment, Ansfred'was formally crowned "king of Yvetot.” Everybody looked on tM'core nation as a Joko— everybody but Ansfred himself As was often the caao with these jesters, the folly of tills “fool” was only on tiie exterior. No sooner had he acquir ed possession of his small kingdom than be built himself a tower there and set about planting the wastes around. The trees grew, but King Ansfrod could think of no plan that would supply Yvetot with water. Always, till he died, Ansfred re tained the title of “king,” and, William the Conqueror's sons being busy with their wars, none tried to take it from him. Ansfred’s son and heir, Richard, second king of Yvetot, went to tho crusades in 1096 and fought-with great bravery. Mexloo*s New Capitol Building. The city of Mexico is to have a national capitol building worthy of the great re public. It is to be built pt stone and ac cording to a Chicago architect’s design. The dimensions are to be 880 by 880 feet— that is to say. a perfect square on the ground plan. The height will be one-third the breadth, with central porticos on each face, supported by four columns and hav ing heavily ornamented architraves and gables. Colonnades extend'rlght and left from each portico, resting upon the base ment and extending to the top of the building. The four corners present solid faces, except where pierced by windows. To add to the imposing appearance of the building a square tower, composed of 88-columns, rises above‘the roof in the center, bearing a heavy cornice and equal ly heavy parapet, with statues placed oh pedestals at each upper corner. Equestrian statues ornament tho base of this tower at the four corners, and at each angle of the low sloping roof of the main building there are to be placed bronze ornaments, griffins and the like. The style is Roman, modified by the introduction of Italian renaissance effects. Prominent architects say the building will be obe of the finest architectural efforts of modern times. It wfll cost about 85,000,000. Baltimore Sun. BrigMsdaga In Italy. Brigandage still flourishes in Italy. As Signor Romanin-lacur, a well known dep uty, and a dozen other men were going toward Grossetto the other day for the purpose of inspecting a newly constructed aqueduct they suddenly meta man, dress ed like a huntsman, who leveled his rifle at them and ordered them to halt They obeyed,’whereupon the brigand command ed them to empty their pockets. Strange to say, not one of them made the least re sistanoe, and as a result the brigand ob tained a few thousand francs, Deputy Ro manin-lacur’s involuntary contribution being five bank notes of 100 francs each. Having secured this booty, the fearless robber disappeared, and no trace of him has since been found. On the following day a wealthy landed proprietor was stab bed and robbed by a brigand within a few miles of Rome, but fortunately the police were near at hand, and they arrested the miscreant before he could escape. As his victim Is saM to be mortally wounded the ehans— are that the criminal’s enweer <■ practically ended.—New York Herald. At Geveener Atkinson's Bxponso. Governor Atkinson of Georgia tells this story at his own exptase: "“It was during my recent inspection <rf the convict camps. Among other planes I visited were the coal mines, and in order to make a thor ough inspeetlon it was necessary to go down into the mines and see the convicts at work. Two guards aceorapanied me down Into the mines. They showed me i everything of interest and finally took me where the convicts were at wort. As we approaehed them one at tho convicts rush-* ed over to me,dying: ’Good Lord! Bill Atkinson, as sure as I Kve! I never ex pected to see you here. What on earth, BUI. did they convict you of doing!’ I readily recognized the man as one whom I had known since my Irayhood.” THE VICIOUS JAGUAK HE FINDS A DEADLY ENEMY IN THE PLUCKY PUMA. XhsM Fierce South Aaxerieaa Brutea Fight Bach Other to the Death ea Might—Twe Battlee'That Siow the Characteristics of the Animals. “Ott the Apure river, near its head, lives—or did live there five years ago— a woman of mixed Spanish and Indian race named Maria Padilla, the wife of tiie mayordoma, or foreman, of a cattle ranch. I have talked with her and heard from her lips the account of the strange adventure she had when a child of 7 years. “Her parents with their children were ranking a jeunu y over a trail that led along the foothills of the Maritime Andes. They bad encamped for the night, and this child, while her parents' attention was occupied, started into the forest to gather firewood as she had of ten seen her mother do. Her absence was not noticed until she had been gone ' some time from tiie camp. As she gath ered dry sticks into a bundle she saw a large, spotted animal stealing swiftly toward her., “Every South American country girl of 7 knows a jaguar when she sees him, whether she has ever seen one before or not, for the dread of these animals is an instinct among the' inhabitants of regions which they frequent Overcome by fear the girl could only stand still and await her fate. With her eyes riv eted on the jaguar she did not see where they came from, but of a sudden she perceived that he .was savagely fighting with two huge, tawny animals that had sprung upon him. “ ThoUght seemed to her to last a long time* and once the brutes in their strug gles came very near to where she stood. The pumas that had attacked him kill ed the jaguar at last, and after standing over the body a few minutes as if to as sure themselves that he would not re vive they for the first time turned their t gaze toward the child, who had been too , much terrified to improve her chance to ; run away while the beasts were fight < ing. “They favored her with a long stare, and then, not offering to approach or ' harm her, turned deliberately away and trotted into the depths of the for est. They scarcely had disappeared i when her father, having missed tho ; child and guided by the sounds of the > fight, came running to the place with - gun and machete and found her safe. , He got a jaguar skin as a trophy, though ' it was cut too nearly into ribbons by j the pumas’ claws to be of value. ( “In Ihe Gdhrico oountiy, at a village > called Paraya, near-the Merida trail, I . saw an Indian named Jose Lobado whose face and head were deeply scar- S red and whose body was a network of J similar scars from wounds received : through being carried away by a jaguar ' when an infant in arms. Os course he j opuld not remember the occurrence, bat . bls mother, who had rescued him, de scribed it to me. 1 “She had gone to a mate, or wooded 1 spot, on the pampas for firewood, carry ing her child, after the fashion of Ven emelan women of humble station, in a shawl looped from her shoulder. This . shawl, with the small boy in it, she slung - to a low tree branch while she gathered ■ her bundle of sticks, and she did not perceive the approach of a jaguar until i he had seized the child and was carry t ing it away. L “The mother grasped her maohote and ran after the jaguar, shrieking. I She managed to keep the beast in sight, > but he was rapidly getting beyond her ' view when suddenly the jaguar stopped, ’ put the child down and bristling for fight stood with his farepaws resting > upon it “Then the mother saw that a puma i WM fronting the jaguar. She hurried on toward where the two beasts faced each other, growling and snarling. Be fore she got to them the puma "Sprang, ’ and at once the two were fighting fierce . iy above the child. In the struggle the child wae rolled to one side, but before the mother could get to it the jaguar i broke away from the puma and spring i ing to the boy again crouched with his [ paws above him as before. “The puma leaped again and the fight ’ wm renewed, but again the jaguar got clear and jumped to guard his prey be fore the mother could get a chance to i snatch her child. Once more the puma attacked his foe, and this time as the ! beasts struggled and tore each other an 1 accidental kick from one of them sent ‘ the boy 20 feet away, almost to the i mother’s feet “Catching him up she ran for home . and got safe to the house. The boy, ! though covered with claw weunds from head to foot and bearing deep marks of - the jaguar’s teeth in the back, where ' the beast had seized him to carry him ' away, recovered completely from his in ! juries, although bearing the scars for L his lifetime. The puma and the jaguar . were found, both dead, at the place ■ where they had fought ” —Philadelphia • Times. i A Qolek Witted B»ptlst. i One of the candidatee for the state * senate down in Jefferson county, Ala., 1 was a prominent Baptist, and he ex „ pected his fellow churchmen to help push him akmg. The story goes that he was campaigning on a country beat and 1 had the good fortune to fall in with a ’ of Baptists. WhSth t era prayer meeting* had just been held or what the occaainn <jf the gathering , was is not known. About this time a i light shower came ftp, and the candi- > date at once raised a\ largo umbrella 1 which he was carryimt \ “You are notjfraid of this little shower, are you, Brother ?” re- marked one good Baptist standing near. “Not at all, ” responded the quick witted candidate, “but you know I am : opposed to all forms of ‘sprinkling.’” He carried that beat solidly.—New Or leans Times-Democrat w \wl Ibsmi I w Isaßimanß ■ ■ Baßla To MOTHERS. WE ARE ASSERTING IN THE COURTS OUR RIGHT TO THE EXCLUSIVE USE OF THE WORD “CASTORIA,” AND . “PITCHER’S CASTOBIA,” AS OUR TRADE MARK. DR. SAMUEL PITCHER, qf Hyannis, MassachusstU, was the originator of “PITCHER’S CASTORIA,” the same that has borne and does now on eosry bear the facsimile signature of wrapper. This is the original “ PITCHER’S CASTORIA, ’ which has been usedin the homes of the Mothers of America for over thirty yean. LOOK CAREFULLY ai the wrapper and see that it is ttetajd always bauM m and has the signature of wrap- per. • to one has authority from me to use my name ex cept The Centaur Company of which Chas. H. Fletcher is March 8,1897. Do Not Be Deceived. Do not endanger the life of your child by accepting a cheap substitute which some druggut ia«/ .offer yo** (because he makes a few more pennies on it), the in gredients of which even he docs not know. “lie Kind Yon Have Always Bought” BEARS THE FAC-SIMILE SjCNATUHE GF . ; Insist on Having The Kind That Never Failed You. «h« acaravn «•««>•■». tt bvmav •▼oerr. «bw v»«* «rr. =/ . =■■!.. ' .:!•■• '■?■» -."'T— TJM > SHOES, - SHdES I IN MENS SHOES WE HAVE THE LATEST .STYLES—COIN TOES, GENUINE RUSSIA LEATHER CALF TANS, CHOCOLATES AND GREEN AT |2 TO 88AO PER PAIR. IN LADIES OXFORDS WE IIAVE COMPLETE LINE IN TAN, BLACK AND CHOCOLATE, ALSO TAN AND BLACK SANDALS RANGING IN PRICE FROM 75c TO |2. ALSO TAN, CHOCOLATE AND BLACK SANDALS AND OXFORDS IN CHILDREN AND MISSES SIZES, AND CHILDREN AND MISSES TAN LACE SHOES AND BLACK. XAz - -E3.OJcxJ-N-E. WE HAVE IN A LINE OF SAMPLE STRAW HATS. i...i ' .. J YOTTH — JOB PRINTING 4» DONE A.T The Morning Call Office. • ■' Wig ll We have just supplied our Job Office with a complete line of Slatioaetv kinds and can get up, on short notice, anything wanted ia the way Os * LETTER HEADS, BILL HEADS STATEMENTS, IRCULARB, ENVELOPES, NOTES, MORTGAGES, PROGRAMS JARDS, POSTERS’ DODGERS, MJ., ETV We carry toe iue of ENVELOfEfI tm : thietrada. Aa atlratdvt POSTER of asy size can be issued on short notice. Our prices for work of all kinds will compare favorably with those obtained ras any office iq the state. When you want fob printing ofSany {description give call Satisfhction guaranteeu. .A.LL WORK DONE With Neatness and Dispatch.