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NBA Pages 9 to 16 Part Two A PRICE FIVE CENTS. INDIANAPOLIS, SUNDAY MORNING, JANUARY 7, 1900. PRICE FIVE CENTS. Y JO mm A Jl JnLDd iUo Skirts "Just too stunning" are some of these new skirts. Decidedly modified in form, too. Proper thing1 now to get just as little material about the hips and just as much as possible in the ruf fles. Revelations' of ingenious building in some of them. Muslin Skirts with deep flounce, finished with lace-edged, tucked ruflles 59c Muslin Skirt?, ruffled and trimmed with embroidery, two styles, 79c and f)Sc Cambric Skirt?, with knee flounces, nine-inch embroidery ruffles and under dust ruflies OSc Two styles of Cambric Skirts; deep lawn' flounces, elaborately trimmed with tucks and hemstitching; dust ruffles SI -9 Cambric Skirts, with double flounces of India Lawn, trimmed with groups of tucks, very full..!.... 81.49 Fine Cambric Skirts, with deep flounces of lawn, trimmed with tucks and finished with dust ruffle and lace ruffle $1.49 Muslin Skirts, with lawn, knee flounces; groups of tucks, lace Insertion and a deep lace ruffle complete the decoration $1.75 Cambric Skirts, with deep flounce of tucked lawn wide embroidery rufflo and under dust ruffle $1.98 Cambric Skirts, with lawn flounces, trimmed with two rows of fine lace Insertions, headed with groups of tucks and finished with lace and dust rufflca $3-49 Cambric Skirts, with lawn flounces, em bellished with groups of narrow and wide tucks, ruffle of wide em broidery 93 98 Extra width Skirts, of Cambric, em bellished with fifteen yards of Point de Paris Lace Insertion and deep rufflo of tho same lace 84-49 Corsets Completeness in f&f brand the added advantage itiS Mi ?fl 01 exclusive V . V A , W iWi1! cral of the 1 II 1 ft II M 1 li if n 'I r ill TOMtfw-f Dranas, stamp limmi this as a corset 'II uri'ü i I section well worth patronizing. The Clas- sique and Her Majesty's are only to be found here. The Classlque Is conceded tho most perfect fitting Corset in the world; Ic comes from Franco and sells at S5-7o, SG-oO and S7-75 Her Majesty's Is a form-shaped, steel boned Corset -that has never been sur passed In wearing quality. Its strength and stylish shape make it a decided favorite with those In clined to stoutness. 82-75 and $3.50 Equipoise Waists fulfill almost every Corset requirement, without the ob jectional stiffness. A favorite with the rolf girl.. 82.1:3 and $3 00 P. D. Corsets are too well known to re quire comment. We have every quality in every slze.Sl.75 to 83 oO J. P. French Cut Corsets. In all colors 81-75 Self-reducing Kabos specially designed for heavy women $12-50 La Grecque Lattice, from manifest vir tues, has sprung Into Immedi ate popularity $3 and $3-25 POPULAR CORSETS AT $1.00. Are the R. & G.. W. B., Kabo, W. BV Thompson's Glove-fitting, C. B. and J. B. A complete assortment for spring Sell in? has been received In each brand. J I ,1 a f IUo ? Prince Albert 10c Cigar s immMM it in i i r l i t 4 vm I I fillet mm LOUIS Q. DESCHLER, Cigarist ES- GARLAND Steel Ranges and Base Burners Are the World's Best. C KOEIIRIXG & BRO, 12 K. renn. St., 8SO Virginia Are. sit Ayres Indiana's Greatest Distributers of Dry Goods V 1 1 'si THE ANNUAL SALE OF Muslim Underwear BEGINS MONDAY MORNING Perhaps an event like this, that has held out its charms to a feminine public! for so many years, scarcely needs an introduction. Still, some facts peculiar to our methods deserve reiteration. We do not strive to command attention by low prices alone. That would probably require a sacrifice of quality out of harmony with the store's policy. Yet, prices are low remarkably so. Then, again, we place no restrictions on yoflr buying; get what you want, when you want it and all yon want Best of all, we've seen to shall be perfectly satisfactory In shape, now the prices Gowns v After quality and fullness were assured our next concern in se lecting these new gowns was to choose designs that should be in a measure novel and graceful in outline and embellishment. Some real surprises for you - in both styles and trimming effects. Muslin Gowns, with square yokes, trimmed with tucks and ruffles. ...30c Muslin Gowns, with yokes of tucked material, tucks in groups of five ' 40c Cambric Gowns, with Y-shaped yokes, tucked and trimmed with narrow laco 49c , Empire Gowns, of Cambric, ' trimmed with embroidery and lace-edged ruffles : 50c Cambric Gowns, with round yokes, trimmed with lace insertion and tucks, yokes edged and sleeves headed with lace OOc Square neck Cambric Gowns, with pretty yokes of lace insertion and tucks 70c A leader this: Gowns with deep square yokes and low necks, daintily trimmed with embroidery ruffles and em broidery insertion OSc Cambric Gowns, made with Y-shaped yokes, solidly tucked and trimmed with embroidery ruffles and in sertions, two styles .at $1.25 Cambric Gowns, with square yokes of narrow tucks and insertion, finished with embroidery ruffling and ribbon trimming $2 40 Advance Wash Fabrics FOR THE SUfiriER OF 1900 Our east aisle will be brightened this week by a beautiful dis play of the world's finest cotton textiles. Let us introduce them to you SWISSES, from Switzerland and France DIMITIES, from Ireland DIMITIES, from American looms FOULARDETTE, the new fabric, in a wondrous, pretty variety of designs Four hundred fresh new bolts, in as many different patterns, will be on exhibition . . AYMB Swell Clubmen .... Usually know what a good cigar means, and the PRINCE ALBERT 10c Cigar is a pop ular favorite with them. For quality, exquisite flavor and general excellence! at the price, they can't be beaten. Try it! MAOUSHCO IUG2 Highen irad cf excellence. From our FAC TOIUES to jour HOME. D. II. BALDWIN A CO.. 1'3 IV. l'euu. Manufacturers. ialöBiin ! it that every garment, however simple, style, workmanship and material. And ! , Drawers Any attribute rather than scanti ness of material may better be endured in the newer forms of these necessary garments. These we announce are amply full and in every case of standard grade muslins and cambrics. Their virtues are manifest at sight. Stern's make of Muslin Drawers, a simple style, with finish of two groups of tucks 25c Another style, with wide lace ruffles, headed by a group of narrow tucks 25c Umbrella Drawers, of Cambric, with deep ruffles, four rows 'of tuck ing ;v..... 30c Cambric Drawers, in two styles, deep India Lawn ruffles, hemstitched or tucked finish 40c A ine Muslin Drawers, In umbrella style, with deep ruffles, trimmed with two rows of lace insertion and edged with lace 40c Cambric Drawers, finished with rows of narrow tucks and edged with deep lace ruffle 50c Umbrella Drawers, with deep lawn ruffles, finished with embroidery and daintily tucked ...80c Cambric Drawers, umbrella style, with ruffles finished in deep Medici lace 08c Umbrella Drawers, wrlth ruffles, embel lished by Point de Paris lace and Insertion $1-10 SUwowira AMERICAN" SINGERS' FAULT. Said that They Lack the Artistic Sense and Concentration. New York Telegraph. Mme MarchesI, the famous singer and teacher, said, during a recent Interview: "What has my experience taught me about woman? That she is too variable and not energetic enough. She should unite force with the gentleness which makes life bearable. What are the best voices? There are beautiful voices in all countries. Amer ican women are admirable, and I am de voted to them. I have but one reproach to make concerning them, and that is not of their character, but of their education, which little fits them for an artistic career. The majority come to me knowing no lan guage but English, with a keen under standing of business and the practical side of life, but a complete Ignorance of art. They are somewhat fickle and not extreme ly serious In their work: they like variety in professors as well as in everything else; they have not the application of girls who have received classic and artistic training, and one more influence which determines their professional caliber is their Puritan heritage. Inherent suppression of all emo tion, constant effort at self-control, are the enemies of sentiment, poetry and theatrical abandon to which the Latin nations lend themselves so naturally. It results that Americans make light opera singers more often than dramatic artists. They are not accustomed to intellectual labor as we un derstand it over here; they seldom finish their studies." IV ot a Dictionary Word. Kansas City Journal. A somewhat remarkable suit has Just come to a finish in Smith Center. A young woman had sued tne Western Union Tel egraph Company for a large sum In dam ages, alleging that It had delivered to her a telegram containing a word which im plied that she had been guilty of Immoral practices. The word was an unusual one, evidently having been coined by the gend er of the telegram, but tho plaintiff argued v Corset Covers Dainty creations of dainty fab rics, most of them sheer cam brics fashioned to an almost glove-fitting form, then embel lished with delicate embroideries and laces in a way most pleasing. Less to pay than youM think. Plain Corset Covers, of Stern's Cam bric, low or high neck; tucks for finish 25c French Corset Covers of embroidery-trimmed cambric 40c Nainsook Corset Covers, French style, trimmings of lace 50c Embroidery and lace-trimmed Corset Covers of Nainsook 80c Newest style Corset Covers, trimmed in ribbon and lace; beauties OSc Models of excellence and ele gance are others at 1.25 and $1.40 Corset Covers, fashioned entirely of bands of lace insertion, em broidery and ribbon, 108. $2 40 and $2 75 Hemstitched Linens .... Nothing on which we would rather rest our reputation as a linen store than on this splendid showing of hemstitched linens and the low prices at which we are selling them. TABLE SETS Each set consists of a hemstitched Cloth and one dozen matched Napkins. The size of cloth is given, as is also the listed value and the January sale price. $8 sets. Cloth 2 by V yards 05-08 $1!) sets, Cloth 2 by 3 yards $S-25 $10.50 sets. Cloth 2 by 2 yards.. -08-45 $12 sets, Cloth 2 by 4 yards $9-50 $15 sets, Cloth Vh by V& yards.. $11-08 $16 sets. Cloth 2V& by 3 yard3...$13-50 $13 sets, Cloth 2 by 3 yards. .15-75 $22.50 sets, Cloth IVz by 4 yards. 817-50 $30 sets, Cloth 2i by 4 yards. .$25-00 A small lot of odd Hemstitched Table Cloths, 2 b' 3 yards, in three different designs, $5.50 Cloths.. $4-20 SCARFS AND TRAY CLOTHS Hemstitched Damask Sideboard Scarfs, IS by 72 Inches, eight different patterns, $1.S3 quahty 81-35 Fringed DamAsk Scarf, 16 by 54 inches, embellished with one row 'of open work, CDc values ......25c Others, in white or colors, 16 by 63 inches, similar ornamentation, 50c quality 35c Hemstitched Tray Cloths, eight designs for selection, 50c kind 33c 50 sampio Lunch Cloths that are slightly soiled, range in size from 22 to 54 inches square. They will be closed out at 30c, 40c, 5Sc, 5c, 75c aid up ward. Dress Hats Half A Many inquiries have been made concerning this) periodical clear- fiYWl inS ol tne hand somer trimmed hats. One is so prone to tire of a hat after wear- incr it oart of a season that these tempting sales come as a happy relief. Choose now new beauty in headwear at half its earlier cost. The assortment consists of every Hat and Bonnet in wal and center cases .almost one hundred altogether of fine carriage and Dress Hats. As an added incentive to present shopping we also include at the same half-price offer any remaining Street Felts and Novelty Walking Hats. Like wise some forty-odd Children's Hats and Cloth Tarns. CO that there was no Dosslble means nf mfa taking its slanderous intent. On the other hand the telegraph company set up that as tnere was no sucn word in the English language the defendant could not be held resDonsible for its alleged vulerar mpnninir or for damages. Judge Pickler took the defendant's view of the case and practic ally threw the case out of court, thus es tablishing the Drlnclnie that if nn vant to abuse his enemy through the postal or teiegrapn service ne need only steer clear oi me uiciionary ana spelling book. A Line-Engrnving. New York Evening Tost.' The last line engraving produced by Mr. G. F. C. Smlllle, of the Washington Bureau of Engraving and Printing, is a portrait of President McKinley, of a size so con siderable that it is clearly not intended for Immediate use upon a currency note. The whole picture, head and bust, is four and three-fourth inches high. It is a straightforward and simple piece of line engraving, and In that way commands re epect and even admiration from a com munity which is beginning to believe that the noble art in question hardly exists for it any more. Praise and thanks to those who maintain for us a vanishing tradition. and remind the world that we of this sren eration could still do what our fathers did were wo a little less eager to take up new processes and new methods of expressing our artistic tnougnis. Learn In ff-. Detroit Journal. "Chicago." observed the nervous party. with a strong provincial accent, "Is get ting to be a real center of learning." The reposeful person tossed her head, as to Indicate disdain. "Ye.," persisted the nervous party, "a real center of learning! Why, you may now often see in the streets of Chicago young men acting as much llks donkeys as any younjr men you ever see in Boston or New Haven!" Of course, it was not worth while to ea gage in any controversy ith tho fellow. THE LAST OF THE MIAMIS GABRIEL GODFROY, ONC OF THC LAST OF A VANISHING RACE, The Indian of To-Day na Found In Indiana Ontwltted by Whites and Unfitted for Civilization. Some Ave miles east of Peru, within rifle shot of the Wabash, stanas the home of Gabriel Godfroy, not the "last of the Mohicans," but almost the last of tho Miamis, and the son of Francis Godfroy, who was the last war chief in this State of that once powerful tribe. Francis Godfroy half French, half Indian, was a man of might and fame in the Wabash valley in his day, and both whites and In dians paid him deference. Gabriel, the 6on, showing the two strains of blood, but with that of the red race dominant. Is to-day, perhaps, the most notable and In teresting Indian in Indiana. I had long been curious to visit this scion of a vanishing race, as well as sundry of his brethren who are scattered through the Misslsslnewa region, and so in the course of a recent wheel trip along the Wabash I sought him out, not know ing how I would be received, but trusting partly to my resources and partly to a letter of introduction I bore irom Mr. James F. Stutesman, of Peru. Tho letter auspiciously paved the way, and the re sources did the rest. A hall-fellow-well-met policy, a gallant deference to Madam Godfroy and an interest in the children captured them all, and within less than half an hour I was taken to the bosom of the family with the guileless confidence that belongs to the red man's nature. I was shown all the rare ana interesting relics around by Godfroy, among them the carefully preserved clothing and finery of Frances Slocum, the famous white captive; a multiplicity of guns were also exhibited; we went out and shot at a mark with bow and arrows, and along with it all went numerous narratives that savored of the wild, aboriginal life. Gabriel Godfroy, picturesque in appear ance and llteratesque in character, is worth going a distance to see. He is a powerfully built man. in the sixties, with a massive, strong face made leonihe by a heavy growth of yellowish-white hair which falls to the shoulders or is worn in a knot behind. His nature is utterly trans parent, and one who converses with him and takes note shrewdly may get a key to the Indian question and guess why the fates have dealt hardly with him and his people in their intercourse with the whites. After his more than threescore years spent cheek by Jowl with the invaders of his heritage, the modification is but super ficial; their ways are not his ways, and his conformity to them is, at best, but awkward and unnatural. For example, the Indian's natural domicile Is a wigwam, or something akin, and Godfroy and his family arc strikingly out of place in the great, barren, many-roomed house where they find shelter. The rules of living, the orderly arrangement, the convenience and ornamentation which make a house a home in any sense of the word, Is here missing entirely. The place Is simply a refuge from outdoors, when outdoors proves un pleasant. INCONGRUOUS CONDITIONS. Again, the Indian's natural activity is to tread the wild places with moccasined foot, the preying instinct hot in his blood; and the spectacle of him in cowhide brogans caring In his slip-shod way, for plow, horses and cattle is so palpably forced and incongruous as to be grotesque. We read encouraging reports here and there of the civilized Indian taking to hus bandry, and Godfroy himself has been cited as a thrifty, prosperous citizen. The statements are not purposely false, but they are a decided perversion of the real fact. Thrift, providence, anything like in dustrial application and business sagacity is utterly foreign to the Indian's charac ter, and the fact that he may be seemingly well-to-do at any given time signifies lit tle. A better illustration of this could not be found than the case of Godfroy. When, more than a half century ago, the Miamis sold to the United States government the last great tract of land which they held as a tribe, there were reserved to Francis Godfroy many hundreds of acres of the finest Wabash bottom. To part of this do main the son Gabriel succeeded, and at one time owned more than 300 acres of that rich tongue of land formed by the confluence of the Wabash and the Misslsslnewa. Here, as I was told by Mr. Stutesman, he lived In the- open- handed style of a manorial lord, his house the stopping place of all his fellow-Indians, who looked to him as their friend and su perior, and for whose debts he was surety. All that Is over now. Just how the land went it would be useless to inquire suffice to say it has changed hands. Part of it Is owned by the Wallace circus people, who have their winter quarters there; the rest Is in possession of white farmers, and the original owner has left of his father's am ple reserves but forty-eight acres, part of them hilly and sterile. As one inquires further among the Indians of this locality he find3 the same story repeated, and there Is revealed the pathetic spectacle of these one-time lords of the soli now in a class with our poorest, least successful white farmers, floundering along in a helpless, inefficient sort of way, and pushed to the wall by the conditions of civilized life. One of the most notable cases is that of Wil liam Peco'nga. whose former home stood on the Me-shin-go-me-slo reserve, In the southern part of Wabash county. Pe conga is the grandson of old Chief Me-shln-go-me-slo, to whom and his band was re served ten sections or ten square miles of land. .In an evil hour they had this com mon property divided and apportioned among the several members of the band. Few of them now have anything left, and Peconga, the chief heir, recently left his last strip of land, and is living with a friend. The explanation is two-fold. In the first place the Indian, along with his lack of foresight, has but little sense of values; what he wants he will have at any cost, if it lies within his means, and he will give his promise to pay or a mortgage with very little thought as to results. Hence, assailed by a multiplicity of wants that he never knew in his savage condition, and without the check of prudence, hlsy possessions must, in the nature of things, slip aVay from him. OUTWITTED BY WHITES. Again, the Indian is utterly unqualified to take care ct himself In tho midst of our civilization, with Its unscrupulous measur ing of wits. There Is no gainsaying that a very dominant trait wththe white man is avarice; there is very little mercy for the unsophisticated, and this avarice preying off the Indian makes an ancient tale of wrong, the half of which has never been told. From the early days of the traders they have paid exorbitantly for every com modity they bought, and have been encour aged to revel In credit wherever their lands or annuities would secure their debts. To the present day the whites sustain this at titude toward them, and sharks operating from the shady side of the law have left them all but penniless. The remnants of the Me-shln-go-me-slo band are now mak ing an effort through the courts to regain possession of their reserve, advancing the argument that said land, never having been possessed by the United States gov ernment, was not subject to tho law as applicable to estates deriving their title from the government, and further citing a clause in the original treaty which exempts these lands from standing for debts. This statement of it was made to me by William Peconga, Litigation of one sort or another has been pending for years in the courts at Marion and one does not have to inquire far to hear of lawyers who have grown richer as the In dians have grown poorer. Among the lat ter exists the feeling generally that they have been overreacned in every way; that they have no chance against the white man. Even history, they say, is but the white man's perversion of truth, and the legends preserved among them, as I got them from Godfroy, breathe bitterly of wrongs dono them in the early wars- wrongs that have never been chronicled. Along the beautiful Misslsslnewa, from its union with the W'abash to the Missls slnewa battle ground, linger the sorry rem nants of a tribe that once ranked among the noblest of the North American sav ages. As one makes his way up this ro mantic stream, so long beloved of the red men, he finds them here and there, often with a skin more or less Caucasian, but always with the unmistakable, fine, dark Indian eye, which has in it something of the eagle. One notable thing is the per sistence of the Indian instincts despite this liberal admixture of white man's blood. Gabriel Godrroy's boys are as ab original in their proclivities as the Miami striplings of a century ago. They are skilled in the use of the bow, and, perched in some tree top overhanging the river, kill many a fish with their deadly arrows. The mellifluous Miami language is not suffered to die out, nor the Indian custom of naming children for some natural ob ject or quality, and not the least interest ing recollection of my visit to Godfrey's is that of him and sundry of his young sters going through their weird, curious dance formy delectation. SCENE OF INDIAN ROMANCE. One with the disposition, tlmo and pa tience might make an interesting study in this region of the Indian as he is after long contact with the civilized life, and pick up much lore cherished by them which reveals the nature of these people. No stream In our State is pkasanter to loiter along than this one where such student would go to seek his material. No stream more stimulates the imagination with romantic associations, for it was a favorite abiding place with the Miami, and up and down Its beautiful, winding. narrow valley stood his picturesque wig wam, a part of the sylvan solitudes. Here slumbers forgotten the dust "of many a chief and warrior once famous among his people. Here lived and now rests Frances Slocum, who, stolen from her Pennsylvania home when a child, spent a long life among her captors, so content with their cus toms that, when discovered and identified in her old age by her own people, she could not be prevailed upon to go to them. A movement, headed by Mr. Stutesman, of Peru, is now afoot to erect over her grave a modest monument commemorative of her romantic story. Here, also, overlooking beautiful bend and stretch of the river, about a mile from the little town of Jalapa, Pleasant township. Grant county, is one of the most famous Indiana battle grounds in the State, known as the . Misslsslnewa. It is now a stretch of tilled fieldf, owned and farmed by one Jacob Lugar, unmarked in any way, and only known vaguely to the surrounding countryside as the spot where some sort of battle once took place. It merits more explicit celebrity, for here. in the early dawn of Dec. 18, 1S12, occurred a fierce and bloody conflict, akin to that of Tippecanoe, between about 600 whites un der Lieutenant Colonel John B. Campbell, and an uncertain number of Miami and Munsee Indians. About all the records that exist of the fight are based on Colonel Campbell's oöclal report, which gives the victory to the whites, but the Miami tradi tion, as told by Godfrey, varies from the received account, and glows with Indigna tion at the violence previously committed on a Munsee village, which led the Mi- amis to side with the Munsees and make the early morning attack. GEORGE S. COTTMAN. The Cnlt of Dirt. Nineteenth Century. Dirt is a eiant hard to fight In beautiful Ireland. The woman who had never heard of "washin a live wan" is, I think. equaled by another who came to me lately about her sore leg. " 'They tell me, doctor darllnt, that washin' might scotch the heat out of it! But I wouldn't adventure to do it without askln' your advice. Not for the worlds. I'm an ould woman, now, doctor dear, an a drop of water has never gone near my bodv.' "I advised a goodly supply of aqueous fluid, preceded by a thorough application of alkali and potash in the form of soap. and the old woman hobbled orr quite satis fled with my scientific words. "In Sallyboggln for years a certain old woman levied a weekly tribute on charit ably disposed folk. All at once a "nevvy" from America turned up, called on her pattrons,' and, after thanking them for their kindness, carried orr nis motner s sis ter to end her days in comfort. But the widow Hooligan pronounced 'Hooirhan' did not lay her bones across the water. She soon reappeared. I couldn't stop in it. misthress dear, she explained to a lady. Me sister's son's a good bhoy, but. between ourselves, they would ha washed me to death.' " England's Geography. New York Tribune. "I am well satisfied with the American method of education," said an English man residing in New York. "In fact, for girls, especially, I consider that it is bet ter In many ways than the English system. I do. however, object to some of the geographical ideas that they have in re gard to England. Last winter my little girl started to learn about the States. From October until May she drew maps of each one. learned about their towns, river. mountains and commercial products until she had them all at her fingers' ends.l "That was all well enough, and I greatly admired the thoroughness of the teaching; so this year, when she told me that they were beginning on England. Scotland and Ireland, I felt quit pleased that she should learn all about the dear old country, and promised myself a good deal of pleasure in talking to her of my old haunts. Well, if you will believe it, in about a week she announced that they had finished up with Great Britain and that the class had start ed to study up the divisions of the con tlnent. Six months for the United States and a week tor England. Scotland and Ire land I Then 1 folt- indeed, that xay chlldrea wero Anacricanuea." BEYOND THE RIO GRANDE CALVIN FLETCHER'S SOTES OF A WIXTEIt JOl'RXCY TO MEXICO. Scenes Witnessed on tbe AVay and In tcrestlncr Experiences In the Cp ital of the Republic. Occasional Corretpondcnce of the Journal. CITY OF MEXICO, Dec. 24. I have been to church twice to-day; have heard two fine concerts by tho Mexican National Band of World's fair fame; have gazed up on the dress parade of the bon ton of this city along the plaza; have almost held my breath in traversing the wonders of Chepultepec; have resisted the attractions of the crowning bull fight of the year, and now that I rest and awakened conscience whispers: "Fulfill your rromiso to the Journal write a letter." The snow of Dec. 14 at your city chilled the zeal of my departure. I can still see the frozen tears and red noses that I left behind. The depot and sheds at St. Louis wero a welcome to an out-of-doors man. I took off my hat to the fina hall over the station and did not say a word about the grand view of the Union Station at In dianapolis. The moonlight upon the snow made an ideal night for St. Nicholas and I confess that the dreary outlook suggest ed that the unknown landing place of Andre must be near. At Toplar Bluff snow failed, but sleet-covered trees accompanied us to White river. Scarcely an evidence of enjoyable life was to be seen until Lit tle Rock loomed up amidst beautiful plney woods. Soon there was a relapse to that degraded swamp and soli that no one can utilize. Gradually the pine fought its way into the foreground of the landscape and the cotton fields here and there gave evi dence of thriiu yet beside the same were the billowy furrows of former fields fast being overgrown by forests of pine telling" of the soli's poverty. Texarkana shows vigor, but a poor agricultural outlook stared in my Hoosier eyes on all tides. Night closed on np better prospect. The next morning the chaparal growth around San Antonio greeted me and I received consolation In the oft-repeated statement that I had passed the heart of Texas, In cluding its arrogant capital, in the niguL At the ideal Spanish-American city I met Mr. Frank Smith and family, who had but a light task to convince me that the exact center of the world was wrapped up and. twisted and turned just there where the San Antonio river sets wild the camera fiend. The style, beauty and finish of the north side In your city must modestly yield the palm to the castles of tho cattle klr&s eo plentiful hereabout. They and other able men have Judiciously utilized the re sources of the locality in lovely tinted lime stone and beautiful colored bricks. The tasteful combinations are very pleaxlns. An hour spent at the post gives evidence of the wisdom of our government In selecting thlj salubrious tlte. The wrecked heroes of our Spanish and Philippine wars should be here to recuperate. I only add that, should people in tho Northern States desire a speedy transit to a 'more -propitious clime, look toward San Antonio rather than to the pine woods of the South. ACROSS THE BORDER. Texas ranches and towns mark the way to Eagle pass, where the Rio Grande di vides the two republics. The Mexican cus toms officers greet you with fairness and desperate Spanish and give you a good send-off to wear your cye,s out peering at the thousands of pictursque groups of na tives that embarrass the entire railway line to this city. Of the country, what shall I say? Well, there is plenty of it to give the world a backyard full of scenery. Climate does wonders here for the laziest, poorest, dirtiest, greasiest, most Ignorant people on earth, and yet there is a concealed vertebra of thrift in those little peep-holes up the mountain sides whence the silver has con tinued to flow into the channels of business for hundreds of years. A stop at Zacatecas would satisfy the distinguished figurehead of the silver ba rons that plenty of silver does not make a people rich. The inextricable street sys tem of Zacatecas is congested with the poorest of humanity. The markets swarm with the hungry bartering of finely split up vegetables, fruits and merchandise to suit limited ability to pay. One redeeming feature I recall of the city, which smacks of energy. 'What is It? Nothing but the rush of one line of street cars that can't help but run away with its cars and pas sengers, because it is down hllL But, aiast the recoil is great when the slavish mules are lashed to foam In hauling you back up grade. There is, however, a great compensation to those who make the trip, for wonderful Gaudalupe Cathedral re wards the effort. Leon has developed great manufacturing in leather, and its 0,000 people are well supplied from the rich plains that sur round it. Silao, in .the same fertile belt, where land is worth 3 100 per acre, is where the side trip to Guanajuato is made. Twenty miles up into the mountains the engine slowly pulls you until steel and steam falls man. Then the savior of this land brings relief. Yes, Baalam's ass can do greater service than talk; he can walk, and lope, and carry the merchandise in and the ore out cf this eyrie of the moun tains, and his relative, the mule, can draw street cars of Philadelphia make up, up, up, winding and crossing no that from a bird's-eye view the track resembles a double hyphenated monogram of the great Sultan of Turkey. The city seems to me like beautiful Naples couden?ed into a tenth of itself in elze, retaining its ac centuated slopes and diminished villas, churches, cathedrals, theaters, and thop, all of which show thrift beyond any place t have seen. The noted Pantheon I visited, of course, and I consider the plan t sepulcher far in advance of ancient Egypt, while the specimens of mummies are equally repugnant. Please cremate me rather than preserve me for tourists to gaze upon after life is extinct. IN THE MEXICAN CAPITAL. Again upon the main road, the tables en route are graced with the finest strawber ries, of such flavor as I have not met in southern climes. A bright morning fhow3 the outlying gardens now gracing the former wet lands in the suburbs of this capital of Mexico, and in a few momenta we feel that the grip cf the native Is upon us not to be released until we turn again toward home. One day spent in hopeless search for the way to accomplish two hours' buslnesa next day Is only endurable because you hear on the- treets every where good, wholesome English s jkcn. Business attended to laboriously makes a good hotel and cafe desirable. I found both. This morning I began to achieve what the opening fentenco of my letter Indicate!', but I am frets to confess that a month 1