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12 THE INDIANAPOLIS JOURNAL, SUNDAY, MAY 26, 1901. THE SUN DAY J 0 UK N AL SUNDAY. MAY 2J, 10OI. Telephone Calls (Old nnd ew.) Euiinesj OfT.ee.... lias Editorial Itoom....8(l terms of siiisciuption. Fty CA HR I Kit INDIANAPOLIS an I SLT.t'RDS. Lal)y. Sun lay included, 'i cents J er month. Dally. wUh.fit tv.iiil.iy, 4- otnts ler mnth. fcur.il.iy. without rially, J2 ir year. bir.Kle -oj.i-f : Daily, 2 ivnt?; Sunday, w cents. i:v At; lints i:vi-:iiyvhi:i:e: Dally. jr v.'k. 1) cent Daily. Sunday ir.cluot.l. j er unk, IS cents, fcunday, r jyu-, i cents. LY MAIL. I'llIIPAID: . Dally edition, one year J.fO Dally and Sur.-iay, per year ''J bucuay only, one y-ar i:educi;u ilvtks to clubs. Weekly Edition. On cor-y. one year CO cents Five cnts per muth fur rwlods les than a year. No subscription taken for lss tl,an tfcxte month. REDUCED KATES TO CLUES. jtncrlbe with any 'A our numerous agents or end subscription U the JOURNAL NEWSPAPER COMPANY Inflinmiiiolin, Intl. Pesons enllnK tre Journal through the malls In the United Mate shuuid ut on an tlKht-page paper a ONE-CENT jo.-daae stamp: on a twelve or 8iu en-;-ije j.apr u TWih.'KNT i-ostaRe lamp. Foiein postage Is usually double these ratff. All communications intended for publication In this j.air must. In order to receive attention, be accompanied by the name and address of the writer. Rejected manujcripts will not be returned un less txiape is Included for that purise. Entered as ecoid-cla4s matter at Indianapolis, led., pontottlce. THE INDIANAPOLIS JOlItNAL Can be found at the following place: XCEW YORK Artor House. CinCAGO Palmer Hous-e. I. O. News Co.. 217 Dearborn street. Auditorium Annex Hotel. CINCINNATI J. R. Hawley & Co.. IS1 Vine street. LOUISVILLE C. T. Deerlnsr. northwest corner cf Third and Jefferson streets, and Louisville Uook Co., 2s Fourth avenue. BT. LOUIS Union News Company, Union Depot. .WASHINGTON. D. (T-lUggs House. Ebbitt House- and Willard' Hotel. The Filipinos are dissatisfied because they do not set more government offices. They teem to be adopting American Ideas right fast. Considering Mrs. McKlnley's chronic in validism and her exhaustion from travel, her rapid recovery from an almost fatal illness Is remarkable. In discussing the question whether the Constitution follows the flag It is well enough to remember that the flag was adopted twelve years before the Constitu tion was. It has not yet been announced which of the parties contending for possession of the lVorthern Pacific rairoad is the possessor, but fortunately the doubt about control does not Interfere with the running of its trains. China's Initiation into the sisterhood of Christian communities has cost her a pretty round sum. A fee of $337,000,0)0 Is a good deal to pay for the privilege of having domestic law and order enforced by foreign powers. When the State has decided, through its lawmaking power, that a particular crime should carry a specified penalty, what right has any citizen or any official to say that a culprit h's been "sufficiently punished" before the legal penalty has been paid? A Pennsylvania minister distributed pen nies amonfr hiscongregatlon the other day, one to each person, and then informed the recipients that he expected each penny to be invested so that it would bring a return of from J3 to 510. lie must have the notion that the possessors will proceed to buy eteel trust stock. It is an ill wind that blows no good. The recent accident to Shamrock II has brought out new evidence of good feeling between the yachtsmen on both sides of the water. The correspondence between Sir Thomas Upton and the New York club regarding the postponement of the race is creditable to both sides. Is there any other country except this where private citizens, public officials and even members of Juries and officers of courts unite in asking for the pardon of persons convicted of flagrant violations of law long before their legal sentence has expired? And is there any other country but this where executives would pay any attention to such petitions? Fortunately there are very few men so constituted that they will not take all the fruits of prosperity within their reach with out asking whence it cometh. There have been times when the assaults upon pros perity would lead the innocent to Infer that those making them would not touch prosperity not of their brand, but such ve hemence was displayed when prosperity "was not within reach. A London dispatch says that on the anni versary of Queen Victoria's birthday the King and royal family witnessed the cere mony of "trooping the color." Tho phrase does not Indicate the character of the func tion, which, in British eyes at least, is a very brilliant one. It is an elaborate cere mony informed at the public mounting of Carrlson guards and is about the most fpeetacular show in connection with the British army. The death of Fitz John Porter revives the etory that if General McClellan had accept ed the urgent advice of that officer after the terrible defeat of the Confederates at Malvern Hill, to march on Richmond, the rebellion could have been ended. All nljvht, ays fien. "Baldy" Smith, Porter urged McClellan to assume the offensive, but in stead he fell back to Harrison's LmJiag Generals Franklin and Kearney held the lame opinion. A Chicago paper calls attention to the frreat preponderance of girls in high schools of that city, and also to the fact that a large proportion of these are there because of the hope of their parents that they will become teachers. The paper does not go Into the subject of taxation, but significant ly points out that the people are supporting the institution to enable a very small per centage of the hundreds of thousands of fchool ch'ldre-n, mostly of one sex, to flt themselves for a single business or profes sion. Our system of public education, great anö beneficent as it is. has some features which are difficult to adjust to the satisfac tion of everybody. When the leading sensational paper in the country is compelled to send thre boys on a race around the world, starting from different points and Broinr in difTersnt directions. "Imply to hav something to print, yellowism is very hard pushed. What Interest can grown popU hav In the. trip of three boys round tho world? put while one New York newspaper is engaged In this absurd ef fort to please its patrons, the New York Herald has established a system of wire less telegraphy by which information from incoming ships will be sent from Nan tucket shoals, 1C3 miles farther east than Fire Inland. SIKMOKIAL SUNDAY OIISEIl VATIOXS. To-day and on Thursday there will be much speaking on national topics and top ics kindred thereto. Some of the speaking will be timely and sensibly patriotic, while not a little of it will be neither useful nor edifying. The orator who has an assortment of adjectives of the superlative degree whenever he speaks of the Constitution, and particularly of the flag. Is one of the afllictions which a patient people endures. There will be much talk to the effect that were there another war like the rebellion, a patriotic people would rise up to save the Republic. All such talk is useless; there never will be another war to destroy the Union, since that of 1S01-C3 made us a Na tion. Upon days devoted to patriotic exercises and speaking, practical patriotism should be emphasized, even if grandiloquence of speech shall be sacrificed. For Instance, we talk of the; devotion of the people to the country's flag as if It were an emblem en tirely apart from practical affairs, forget ting that it is the trade mark of a Nation which is a Nation because it has a stable government, wnose foundation is law and order. The Nation's flag recalls glorious memories, but so far as they are glorious it Is because they were victories of consti tuted authority and of law. Nevertheless, so much an empty sentiment is this cheer ing of the flag that if there Is a disturbance over any matter like a street-railway strike large numbers of those who would cheer It to-day would Join those opposed to the officers of the law to-morrow. Therefore, it is vastly more Important to-day to teach loyalty to constituted authority and the laws of the land than to Indulge in glitter ing generalities about fighting for the flag on the field of carnage. The flag representing law and order and the best in government must be fought for, and that fighting will demand courage and self-denial. The conflict should begin in lo cal government. To save It from inefficiency and corruption there is need of patriotic effort. There is a large force of men so controlled and led by the few that they are always in readiness to fight against ef fective and righteous government. There are men in every community who always appear to be on guard against those who would have better things in local govern ment. A few hundred such men scattered over a State can put a lobby Into a Leg islature that Is often able to defeat meas ures designed to prevent waste and pecula tion in city, township and county affairs. Yet these same citizens always occupy the front seats on occasions of purely patriotic demonstrations, lead In the cheering and the waving of the flag, and are moved to tears when the orator sets off his shower of expletives about the flag of the fathers. Their devotion 13 not for the flag as an emblem of clean and effective government, but for the flag of "Petroleum V. Nasby," which is Inseparable from an appropriation and public plunder. No amount of glorifi cation of country and flag, even if attested with bathos, , can make a patriotic citizen of the man who accepts public position with a view of obtaining money beyond the com pensation provided by law, or who uses his position to extort bribes. In private posi tion the man who does such things in re spect to those who employ him Is regarded as a traitor and a thief; in public affairs he cannot be a patriot and a loyal man. If all the men who will speak in Indiana next Thursday will proclaim a practical patriotism which shall stand for clean and business-like methods in the management of local governments and denounce as false and treasonable all devices to oppress by taxation and to permit lawbreaklng and waste and corruption, they will render a patriotic service of the highest character. They may not win frequent applause; they may behold evidences of coolness in por tions of their audience, but they may be certain that people who listen will go home to think of the duties of practical patriot Ism. THE WATERS IX THE NORTHERN LAKES. A dispatch from Ottawa, Ontario, says that Lieutenant Colonel Anderson, chief engineer of the Dominion Marine Depart ment, who recently returned from a tour of Inspection of the upper lakes, reports that the water in Lake Erie is lower than it was ever known to be. He attributes this condition to a series of dry seasons, the drain made by the power develop ment works at Niagara, and to the fact that the dredging of the Tona wanda canal has made it easier for the water to escape from the lakes. He thinks it Important that in the interest of naviga tion the United States should adopt meas ures to prevent further lowering of the lake waters. Assuming the main assertion to be true, namely, that the water in the lake is lower than ever before, the causes assigned for It are reasonable As for the effect of the several dry seasons, that Is not Important, as it will be remedied in time by a succession of wet seasons. The volume of water in all the northern lakes is inconstant and the general height of the water varies slightly from sea son to season. In average years the range of variation for Lake Superior is twelve Inches; for Lakes Huron and Michi gan twelve inches; for Lake Erie, fourteen Inches, and for Lake On tario, seventeen Inches. The fact of these changes at different seasons of the year is well established, as is also the fact not generally known, that the lakes, like the ocean, have tides, though much small er and only determinable by very careful measurement. At Milwaukee the lunar tide rises and falls more than an inch. At Chicago and Duluth each tide amounts to an Inch and a half, and their combination at new and full moon to three inches. A more Important Influence In lowering the water of Lake Erie than a series of dry seasons is the Increased discharge of its waters by power improvements, or through enlarged canals. Nature has her own way of . regulating the supply and waste of waters In lakes, and If these are seriously Interfered with trouble may arise. Engineers understand this better than common people, and if new and large drafts are being made on the waters of Lake Erie the government should adopt measures to atop It. It Is a mistake to suppose that Lake Erie or any of the great lakes that are now so Important & factor In cur in land trade are Immutable factors La the geography of our continent. In their present form they are the result of geo logical changes and tlynamlc forces covering many thousands of years, and some of their forces are still operating. All of the lakes change imperceptibly from year to year, and all of them will be materially different five hundred years hence from what they are now. Scientists are able to fix a period when Lake Erie extended only to a point opposite the present site of Erie, Pa., and was but one-sixth as large as It is now. They arc able to fix another period when, owing to the gradual rising of the land at the north, the basin of the lake was tipped, as it were, so that the western end was op posite the site of Clevelard, O. Finally It extended to the present limits. These changes are not a matter of history, but they arc established facts cf science, and there Is reason to believe that they are still going on at a rate only perceptible from century to century. One expert, who ha3 investigated the subject very carefully, is of opinion that the movements are not complete, and predicts that they will result eventually In the restoration of the Chicago outlet of Lake Michigan and the drying of Niagara. Another scientist, Professor Gilbert, of the United States Geological Survey, recently published a paper on "Modification of the Great Lakes by Earth Movement," in which he said: These slow changes of mean water level are concealed from ordinary obser vation by the more rapid and impressive changes due to .variations of volume. but they are worthy of consideration in the planning of engi neering works of a permanent character, and there is at least one place where their influence Is of moment to a large com munity. The city of Chicago Is built on a smooth plain, little above the high-water level of Lake Michigan. Every decade the mean level of the water Is an inch higher, and the margin of safety Is so narrow that Inches are valuable. Already the older part of the city has lifted itself several feet to secure better drainage, and the time will surely come when other measures of protection are imperatlvey demanded. Looking to the more distant future, we may estimate the date at which the geo graphic revolution prophesied by Spencer will occur. Near Chicago, as already men tioned, is an old channel made by the out let of a glacial lake. The bed of the chan nel at the summit of the pass is about eight feet above the mean level of Lake Michi gan, and five feet above the highest level. In five or six hundred years (assuming the estimated rate of tilting) high stages of the lake will reach the pass, and the arti ficial discharge by canal will be supple mented by an intermittent natural dis charge, in one thousand years the dis charge will occur at ordinary lake stages, and after fifteen hundred years it will be continuous. In about two thousand years the discharge from Lake Michigan-Huron-Erie, which will then have substantially the same level, will be equally divided be tween the western outlet at Chicago and the eastern at Buffalo. In twenty-five hun dred years the Niagara river will have be come an intermittent stream, and in three thousand years all Its waters will have been diverted to the Chicago outlet the Illinois river, the Mississippi river and the Gulf of Mexico. The rate of the tilting of the earth which is causing this imperceptible change Is con servatively estimated at from thirty to fifty-five hundredths of a foot per century. This is scarcely appreciable, but the fact that it is continuous Indicates what must happen in hundreds of years The govern ment cannot prevent geological changes nor arrest the tilting of the lake basin, but It can adopt measures to prevent the wast ing of lake waters by artificial meahs. PEACE TIIHOUGII I'll AY EH. An ill-natured man-person Is on record as saying that a woman's meeting is never interesting until trouble has developed In It. However truo this proposition may be, it Is certain that when a row does break out In one of these gatherings the pro ceedings surely are interesting, and as it is morally bound to break out It naturally follows that any one wishing entertain ment and edification Is wise to keep an eye on the reports of women's "federations," "councils," "relief corps," reunions, D. A. R. conventions, and the like. A warlike spirlc is inevitably evolved and manifests itself In such eccentric ways as to fill the heart of the unregenerate observer with unhallowed Joy. It is probable, however, that few of these observers had expecta tion of usual entertainment from the sessions of the Ohio Mothero' Congress. The mother of literature and tradition and stereotyped sentiment is such an angelic being that when she is figuring In public In her capacity as mother, and not as a mere woman with the ordinary human faults and frailties, the disposition is to ex pect her to live up to her reputation as a creature of benignity and peace. There fore, when what the Illiterate Hoosier would call a "furse" is stirred up among them, surprise is mingled with the genuine, but not the less reprehensible, sense of amusement felt by the onlookers. The first dispatches concerning the diffi culty were so meager that the public was left in the dark as to Its cause. It was only made clear that "personal objections" were raised against one candidate for the presidency of the State organization. What these objections were was not disclosed, but It was natural to assume that they were something serious and awful or they would not have been brought to public at tention. It could only be surmised that the protesting Ohio mothers, strong In the maj esty of virtue and determined to sustain the high standard of their State, were aware of some serious defect in the charac ter and standing of the unfortunate candi date. Perhaps she had not been born In Ohio and wai therefore not eligible to the presidency; possibly she had been known at some time in her career to ex press a belief that citizens of other States were not altogether inferior to sons of Ohio mothers; possibly but almost any thing seemed possible. Iater and more detailed reports, however, disclose the fact that opposition was raised to the aspiring, but now unhappy lady because she w.s not a mother! In the beginning of the history of moth ers' congresses an objection of this kind would have seemed much less remarkable than now would. Indeed, have appeared quite reasonable; but, as every one who is familiar with their proceedings knows, men, spinsters, and married women with or without children have figured indis criminately in these gatherings from the first. The Journal is obliged to confess that at this moment it Is not sure whether Indiana mothers are organized or not, or, if they are, whether a man. maid, or mother Is at their head, but It does know that the president of the organized Michi gan Mothers Is a maiden lady of comely appearance and comparatively few years, If her pictures are trustworthy, it may bo remarked In passing and to the careless observer it might seem that what is good enough for Michigan Is good enough for Ohio. To advance this proposition, how ever. Is to be convicted of not knowing the Ohio mother. She, It Is evident, takes her self seriously; she has a reputation to sus tain. Ohio is known, speaking figuratively, as the mother of presidents f actually, the Ohio mother is the progenitress of these great men. Then It follows inevitably In her view of matters that when Ohio moth ers meet they must be mothers. Rut, after all. the most Impressive thing about this difficulty In the Ohio Mothers' Congress was the mode of settlement. Mat ters were becoming exciting; everybody was talking at once; a shrill voice saying: "You mean thing," could be heard above the rest; emotional delegates wept, and It seemed possible that a hand-to-hand con flict similar to that which is said to have distinguished the National D. A. R. con vention would soon take place. At this critical moment the presiding officer calmed the turbulent waters by calling for three minutes silent prayer, and any Chris tian Scientist, judging by results, would not hesitate to say what the majority prayed for. Hardly had three minutes passed when the candidate, the nonmother, who had unwittingly caused the dissension, rose to her feet and tearfully withdrew her name. The real mothers had simply prayed this nonmother off the convention ma?, so to speak. Peace thereupon set tled over the assembly like oil upon trou bled waters, and the good ladies went ahead and elected a mother of six to pre side over them for the coming year. Their example is one for other women's organ izations to consider and emulate. When any member threatens to become trouble some let them have a season of prayer directed toward her suppression. For par ticulars let them address Ohio mothers. LAW AM) PlIJLIC SENTIMENT. Last September the people of the most populous county in Maine, In which Is the city of Portland, with 50,000 inhabitants, elected an ultra prohibitionist sheriff to en force the prohibitory law. He began his work In January, and with numerous depu ties pursued It day and night. A few even ings since this sheriff made something of an apology because he has not been able to put an end to the traffic In Intoxicants. The Portland Press, in sympathy with the sher iff, says that while there is nothing like open sale, the arrests for drunkenness have not materially diminished. The sheriff, in his apology, attributes his partial failure to defectgjof the law. To this the Press says that the Maine prohibitory law, so far as the provisions for Its enforcement are concerned, is the most stringent meas ure on the statute book of the State. It au thorizes the entering of any place where in toxicants are suspected of being on sale, day or night, without a warrant. The find ing of liquors on any premises Is conclusive of illegal sale; all liquor found upon any premises are confiscated; a single sale makes the keeper of any shop the keeper of a drinking house and punishable as a nui sance. One or all of these processes are ap plicable at the same time. Indeed, the mere fact that a man has a United States retail er's license Is sufficient evidence to convict him of Illegal sale of liquor. What the sheriff seems to demand is a law which will imprison a man Indefinitely when he Is once convicted and will not allow an appeal to be taken from a lower lo a higher court. That is, to stop the sale of intoxicants in a county and city which ha3 had a pro hibitory law since 1S3S, the whole criminal procedure must be reversed. Attention is not called to this matter be cause It is a prohibitory liquor Jaw that is ineffective, but to emphasize the fact that it Is Impossible to enforce any law which is not sustained by an emphatic public sentiment. No matter how commendable the purpose of a law, If It is not sustained by public opinion it will be noneffective. Tnere are sections of the United States where the taking of human life is not re garded as a crime, and where such a senti ment prevails the law punishing that crime cannot be enforced. The statute books of most States contain anti-Sunday laws, en acted years ago, which It would be impos sible to enforce for more than a few weeks at a time. It may be asked if we are to have no laws for the suppression of vice and crime. The answer is that all such laws are important, but it is more important to educate the peo ple to regard all act against the public welfare as offenses ard crimes. When this Is done, laws can be enacted which are demanded by public sentiment. Such laws can be enforced. The enactment of string ent laws as a means of educating the pub lic intelligence or conscience has ever been a failure. The public will sustain and de mand laws to suppress vice and crime as rapidly as the influential majority creates a public sentiment that regards such of fenses as evils to be suppressed. In his speech at San Francisco on Fri day the President said: "One historic fact that I love to recall is that the only speech George Washington made as president of the constitutional convention, presiding over Its deliberations, was In favor of a proposition to increase the power of the people." This is true. As chairman of the convention that framed the Constitution Washington was barred from speaking much, even If he had wanted to, and the only occasion on which he spoke was on a motion to change the basis of representa tion in Congress from one for every forty thousand inhabitants to one for every thir ty thousand. He spoke briefly but earnest ly in favor of the motion, 'and It was adopted unanimously. A footnote In Madi son's report of the debates of the conven tion says: "This wa3 the only occasion on which the President entered at all Into the discussions of the convention." Washington was not a ready speaker. On his first ap pearance as a member of the Virginia House of Burgesses, to which he was elected In 1 58 while absent on a Western campaign, the speaker presented him the thanks of the house, previously voted, for his military services. In a very compli mentary speech. A biographer says: "He attempted to make his acknowledgments, but stammered and trembled and could not give distinct utterance to a single syllable. Sit down. Mr. Washington.' said the speaker, with infinite address; 'your mod esty equals your valor, and that surpasses the power of any language to express. After that he was a member of the body continuously for fourteen years and took an active part In Its proceedings, but never made a set speech. It Is well enough to remember that the greatest American was not a speechmaker. There is grave danger that if President O'Connell. of the Machinists Association, undertakes to enforce a demand upon all the railroads and compel a tie-up if that demand Is not granted, he will turn back the tide of prosperity and bring a return of the conditions of 1)4, 5 and '&. Such a tie-up would raralyze the industries of the country, close factories, stop traffic, turn millions of workers over to idleness and bring want and distress to the nililon of wage-earners and their families who reside in cities. There is too much of the Im perial dictator In the O'Connell method of making demands backed by threats. It Is too much at variance with the conciliatory policy by which President Mitchell, of the Mine Workers' Association, has achieved so much for coal miners. President O'Con neil's proposition may be Just; If It is. It Is Infinitely better to ask the railroad man agers who pay the wages to discuss it with him and those whom he represents. If, by conciliatory methods, he gets a part of what he asks, he will win a victory, but If, by imperiously demanding an increase which cannot or will not be granted, he paralyzes the commerce of the country, shuts down thousands of factories and closes thousands of mines which employ millions of people indefinitely he and those who are with him will be g'uilty of a meas ureless wrong. Mrs. Stevens, of Maine, president of the W. C. T. U., makes a grave charge in say ing, as she did, In a statement published yesterday, that "there is a great deal of evidence that there is a conspiracy on the part of some army officers to work up a sentiment In favor of the reinstatement of the canteen." She should present her evi dence with the assertion that "drunken ness has been on the decrease since the canteen was abolished." The Journal has noted many statements of officers, corre spondents, abstracts from post records be fore and after the abolition of the canteen during the past three or four weeks, an 1, with a few exceptions, the burden of the testimony Is that drunkenness and de bauchery have Increased. Not long since Mrs. Stevens printed as testimony. In the Portland (Me.) Press, letters from several of the officers of the villages near Fort Sheridan asserting that there had been no more intemperance on the part of soldiers In those villages since the abolition of the canteen than before. Probably the excel lent lady did not know that a part of the officers making these statements keep sa loons in those localities. The army officer has no Interest in the canteen except as it promotes discipline. General Brooke, of the Department of the East, has directed post commanders to observe and report the effect of the abolition of the canteen upon the discipline of the troops under their command. These reports will be made up of the records of posts and will be reliable testimony for all persons who are in a frame of mind to comprehend what consti tutes evidence on this subject. i Modern Vehicle. It used to be a waste of breath for teach ers of hygiene or lovers of woods and fields to preach to city dwellers the de lights of out-of-door life. The objects of this solicitude for the most part turned a persistently indifferent ear to their plead ings, thereby conveying the Impression that they really knew or cared nothing for rural pleasures, for the fresh breath of the morn ing, for the beauty of clear sky, of hill and stream and shaded byway. But it turned out In the course of time that it was not really indifference which caused the lack cf responsiveness, but the fact that It was not possible for the majority of city people to enjoy the health-giving charms of the country. They could not get there except at long intervals and considerable incon venience and expense. Then came the bi cycle, a means of travel within the reach of most persons, and, behold! the first use to which they were put by thousands upon thousands, the chief purpose for which they were bought, was that of riding upon country roads. All over the country wheel riders radiated from the towns upon the. rural highways and byways. The city peo ple cared for cut-of-door life, after all, it seemed, when they had the chance. After a little came trolley extensions, and these helped and are helping amazingly in the general drift from crowded centers. But trolleys have their limitations, and the bicycle is not for every one. Many persons It would doubtless be surprising to know how many have been watching with inter est the development of the automobile. The horse Is too great a luxury to be consid ered, the bicycle, useful and indispensable as it has become, does not meet all re quirements, but the automobile promises to supply all that the others lack. Already, in Its various forms and with Its variety of motors, it is an established institution and a useful as well as picturesque addition to the vehicles of the city streets. For sev eral reasons it has not yet reached the "popular" stage, but tha,t period Is no doubt fast approaching. The scrutinizing, speculative, wishful glances cast after each one as It whizzes by indicate that the ob server contemplates future ownership of such a vehicle. The horse will always have his uses and his faithful friends who will scorn mechanical transportation, but the automobile will supply a want that he does not fill. These horseless carriages are steadily becoming more numerous on the streets, and it is not unlikely that the time will soon arrive when a craze for them, similar to that of the bicycle craze of a few years ago, will be In existence. Cer tainly this will be the case If Mr. Edison's new motor, and others equally simple said to be invented, are what they promise to be. And then all the world may have the privilege of enjoying out-of-door life to its fullest satisfaction. A musical entertainment, scarcely less re markable in Its way than the Oberammer gau "Passion Play," Is now going on in the town of Bethlehem, Pa. Bethlehem is a quaint little Moravian town, founded in 1741 and retaining many of Its old-fashioned characteristics. Among the peculiarities Is the fondness of the people for classic sacred music. The town had a local orchestra as early as 17S0, and has never been without one since, and a feature of the sacred music performances Is a quartet of trombones. The entertainment above alluded to began on Thursday night and will last through to day. It consists of the performance of Se bastian Bach's Christmas Oraturl, St. Matthew Passion and B minor mass, one each day. Musicians will readily appreciate the enterprise that undertakes to give dif ficult works like thee In a small town. The first was given in its entirety on Thurs day night for the first time in this country, while the last one has been given only once, and then by the Moravians. The orchestra on this occasion consists of CO pieces, with a chorus of 110 voices and a boys' choir of 100, and musical critics say the perform ance Is an extraordinary one. P. illustrates In the same way that the Oberammergau play does what high art effects can be achieved by a simple people who devote themselves religiously and untiringly to the object. From all accounts there is no lack of ac commodations at Buffalo. The Pan-American bureau of Information has Issued a cir cular showing that there are 20 hotels In the city, with accommodations for 45,000; O boarding and lodging houses, with accom modations for and 7.000 private houses which will be able to care for up ward of iOO.OoO. The managers of the Ex position are less concerned about accommo dations than they are about people to fill them. The Electrical Review pronounces Edi son's new storage battery "another epoch- "MODER FABLES, Uhc Modern Fable Which the Leading Got the HooKs. J Copyrighted, 1W1, by In an Excuse for a Town known as Pok vllle there were not many Live Ones. Th typical Resident had been there so long that he had taken Root and had Lichens and Moss growing on him. If he had a Dol lar ho was hanging on to It like Grirn Death, now and then letting out a Low Wail about Taxes. If aroused from hi Trance and compelled to Ante for a Fourth of July Celebration or something of that Character he would separate himself from about 75 cents in Coppers. Postage Stamps and Milk Tickets, and then he would bit down and cry like a Child. There was a great deal of Wealth In Pokeville, but most of it was salted away in Woolen Socks, Coffee Mills and Chim ney Corners. The ones who had it pleaded Poverty. They cut their own Hair and borrowed somebody else's Paper to read. The Town was so far behind the Times that it had lost the Route and was Doubling on itself. The People In Pokeville didn't begin to sing "The Blue and the Gray" until late this Spring, and the more chipper ones are beginning to ask who has read "David Harum." There Is a 0 o'clock Curfew Law lor Married Men and at 9:30 all the Side walks are taken In and the Electric Lights go out. In this Town there was one Public spirited Man. He was In favor of a Base ball Nine, Asphalt Streets and a Half-mile Track. He was all the lime scheming to bleed the Fogies and Grannies for Funds to Improve and beautify the Municipality. He hammered at the Conservative Element until he got a Water Works and a Fire De partment. This Man engineered the Or dinance for having the weeds cut down and It was he who sat on the Neck of the City Council until it promised to sprinkle the Streets. After he had strained his Back for many Years trying to pull the Town out of the Yellow Mud and give it a Standing a few ol his Admirers got together and nomi nated him as an Independent Candidate for Mayor, saying that the Citizens would be glad to show their Appreciation of all that he had done for the Town. Thereupon all of the white-whiskered Grouches and the weeping Tax Dodgers and the variegated Fossils who had been hanging as a Dead Weight on the Com munity for several Decades saw a Chance to Catch even. They got out their Sledge Hammers and Cleavers and made a grand Rush for the Public-spirited Man, and all the Things they did to him it would take too long to tell. Every one that ever had to part with an Assessment was glad of the Chance to jump up and down on the Bogie Man and try to Gouge him in a Vital Spot. They did him up and Buried him deep and refused to Mark the Spot. The Mayor they put in was a Wooden Man, who had been sitting In a Rocking Chair ever since the War, listening to the Clock tick. His election was considered a great Victory for the Taxpayers because it was known that he would not recom mend any Excessive Improvements or any thing else. Moral Wait until you are Elected be fore you Trim the Property Holders. THE MODERN FABLE OF THE FAM ISHED HOBO AND WHY HE WAS DRILLING. A cross-country Tourist rapped at a Back Door and began to Panhandle the Lady cf the House. "I was a Missionary in China," he said. "The Boxers got away with my Wife and three Children. My Ticket ran out at thi Sandwich Islands and I had to swim the rest of the Way. I am now working toward Altoona, where my People are in the Ice Business." "I don't believe a Word of it," she said in withering Tones. "I knew you wouldn't, so I didn't take any Pains with It," said he. "I suppose I would have got the same kind of a Bump if I had been a Flood Sufferer or a victim of the Trusts. I find that the New Woman can no longer be got at by crude Fiction. Since your Sex began to learn the Ropes you won't believe anything a Man tells you. You are all from Missouri and they've got to show you. Perhaps you have seen the Joke in the Rainbow Weekly about the easy Housewife who weeps at my Hard Luck Story and gives me a Suit of Reliev ers belonging to his Nobs and then makes me wrap up a few paragraphs of Lunch to take along with me. I am hunting for her, but I never find her except when I am bmoking. But every Day I come across the One that hands me a few Statistics to prove that there is a General Demand for Labor. I ask for a Hand-out and 1 get a Homily. Lovely Woman has begun to Post herself on Industrial Conditions and ehe is no longer Workable. Consequently I am starving here in a Land of Plenty. Tho lind Brakemen permit me to ride on the Blind Baggage or sit up on a Gondola, where the Coal is nice and Soft, but when 1 alight at one of these Towns where they have Milk Cans standing around and go out to tease about a fistful of Chow I en counter Mrs. Foxy Quiller. who reads the Ten-cent Magazines, and I get nothing but language. Last Night I had to Flop in the little red Knowledge Box down at the corner. It was that or Pound my Ear on the dewy Turf. To-day my Digestive Apparatus probably thinks that my Throat l as been Cut. And yet, whr-n I come here and begin to hint around about Solid Nour ishment I can see by the Minerva Gleam in making invention." It says it means the so lution of many difficult traction problems, the betterment of electric lighting and the foundation of the new art of electric navi gation. Mr. Edison himself declines to make .ny predictions, but says he has pur chased a plcnt and will begin the manu factue of the batteries at once. The startling theory that bathing createa boils may be subject to qualifications. Per haps only boiling water produces bolls. LITERARY NOTES. According to a London writer, Philip James Bailey, the author of "Festus," pub lished in 1S30. is still alive, and recently at tained his eighty-fifth year. Among the books that nobody has read, "Festus" is perhaps the most famous. Mr. A. E. W. Mason is writing a new novel, the plot of which he "thought out" in the solitude of the Egyptian desert, lie spent a month on the sands with an escort of Arabs and camels, most of the time sleeping under the sky without a tent. In a clever article in the latest Issue of the New York Independent on the subject of "The Literary Aspirant." by "One of the Brotherhood." the writer asserts, as a conclusion drawn from experience and ob servation, that "the first and paramount essential for a literary aspirant is a good stout heart." Authors have their own peculiar troubles. The London publisher of one of last sea son's novels found it necessary to recall all the copies he could lay his hands on. be cause a certain woman in society thought that the was caricatured therein. He then brought an action against the author to re cover the cost of withdrawing the book from circulation. Another author has been threatened with h;l penalties for uncon " by Oeorgc Ade. of the Manner in Light of VoKcoillc A y 1 A Robert Howard Kussell. J your Eye tlmt you are go'ng to give me that old Gag about rawing a Cord of Wood." "By the Sweat of' began the Lj.dy of the House. "I know that Quotation frontwards and backwards," said the Tourist. "It is the perennial Stand-by of all the Stingies who want me to do J1.10 worth of Toil for a I iate of Cold Vlttles that is no longer good for anything but Hash. If ever I am humiliated into Working I won't take my Pay in the Sweepings from the Breakfast Table, and that's no idle Barroom Jest. I will join a Union and compel the likes of you to pay me 60 cents an hour fur 'lsiit ir.g my Pipe. But I cannot .go to' Wor. You have heard of the Unemployed. Well, I am one of the Disemploycd. The Un employed are not working and the Disem ployed are under Contract never to com down to It. I don't dare to accept a Job or I would efface the most picturesque Typ of our Times and one that is a constant Inspiration to the Vaudeville Actor. Be sides, I am the Only Support of an Army of Editorial and Space Writers who get Good Money for their Stuff about th Tramp Problem." "I hadn't thought of that," said the Iady of tho House. "I will broil you a Steak and then write a Paper about you for our next Club Meeting." Moral That which Is not Good for any thing else usually has the Making of a Magazine Article. THE MODERN FABLE OF THE HOUSE HOLD COMEDIAN AND THE LADY SHOPPER'S UNEXPECTED COME-BACK. Once there was a Lord of Creation who delighted to tell his Wife all about tho Peculiarities and Weaknesses of Women. He was the. Kind that would wait until ho had an Audience and then he would spring a Good One on tho Better Half. For ex ample, he thought it was great Sport to tell how she would do a Sheridan's Ride to a Department Store, just as if she was goln to sweep the shelves, and after she got there she would have Tracy, the Blende, show her all the Spring Importations, after which she would buy a Dimity for 9 cents and about a Nickel's worth of Veiling anl have them delivered on a Rush Order. Sh was a regular Hawk on spotting Bargain Sales, and the Monologue Artist that livel with her used to tell his Friends that she. would claw her way into a Jam of Women and scrap liko an Amazon to capture una of the marked-down Remnants. The Husband lectured her alnjut chas ing around from Store to Store, annoying the Salesmen, blocking up the Aisles, paw ing all kinds of Expensive Materials an! criticising the Merchandise, finally duck ing away without even showing the Colur of her Money. He said a Woman wouU take one of these underrized valises con taining a Powder Puff, a Chew of Gum, a Glove Fastener, a Clipping that told how to euro Sunburn and just enough Car Für to land her back Horn again, and sh would go out and do more Jimmlng and Four- Hushing than a Man would do if he waj going to buy a House and Lot. He said that when he wanted a Hat or Necktie or any old Thing he stalked right Into tha Place and said to the Man: "Gi nie that:" without any Ifs, Ands or Buts, and handed over the Samoleons. He said there was no need of giving a Parade and making a lot of Grand-stand Plays every time one went out to purchase a few Necessities of Life. He said that on a Pleasant Day a Gang of Women could throw eiut more Flounces and stop more Cars and use up more Floor Walkers for the Amount of Coin they put into circulation than any one he ever taw. One Day in the. early Summer he came home ahead of his Wife. He always claimed that when a Woman went out on a Shopping Spree she made it a Point to leaf Down Town until about 5:30 so that she could elbow into the Evening Rush and compel some hollow-eyed Man to clutch a Strap all the way home. When she appeared It was evident that she had been gallivanting through ths Scrimmage. Her Skypiece had a List to the Starboard, her frizzes had straightened cut on her and the Belt Buckle was scrouged around until it had her facing sideways. Here was a Grand Opening for the Humorous Husband, so he fell back on his Stock Joke. "And what has little Angel-face been running down to-day V he asked. "Did Sunshine by a Paper of Tins or a nlco Eleven-cent Coil of Black Braid?" "Nit!" she replied, stopping short and turning the Mackerel Eye on him. "You have Jolted me so often that I have turned over a New Leaf. I knew how you hated to have me price Goods and then push them back, so to-day nothing went back. I have bought six Embroidered Shirtwaists, a Lac Parasol, twenty-two Yards of Sllkalorum that looks like Silk and wears better, ani a lot of 'Articles that you wouldn't know what they were if I told you the Names. Your little Bird didn't make any Water Haul to-day, I can promise you that, and If ou think I am stringing you wait until you get the Statement. I ran it up to an even Hundred so that yoJ would not have to bother with any Small Change." .She waited for him to Kally. but he gav t.o Klgn of returning to the Scratch, so ihd sought her own Koom. having him all F lattened Out. Moral As long as she Is Happy, don't compel her to spend more Money. sciously tacking on to th? villain of his story a certain peculiarity In the personal appearance of a weil known man. The current number of the Independent says: "In answer to inquiries that come to us as to when the American revision of the New Testament will be printed, we can say that the New Testament portion 19 ready for the printer and th Old Testa ment portion ouyht to be furnished during the summer, and we know of no reason why it should not appear In the fall." Not every author appreclites the comfort of dictating to an amanuensis. One well known writer of the d3y, after struggling through a few sentences, found the aman uensis regarding him with a pitying ex pression. "I suppose you think me un awful fool." he sai l. 4pologetlcallv. "Wom than that, sir: wors. than that!" said th amanuensis, as he took up his hat and de parted. The chief character In Mr. Quiller Couch's forthcoming novel Is John Wesley' younger sister. The story of the famoui Epworth ghost records he r as being ihc on mocking member ol the family. Her broth er was extremely fond of her she was. In ured, the pet of the family. She made most unhappy marriage, a fart which doubtless provides plenty of molng op portunities for the novelist. A New York man. who has been making a study of book titles, has discovered that Mr. W. D. Howells has chosen thirteen of his titles from Fhaks;-are. Here Is list of them with the names of the play from which thev are taken: "A Circle in thf Water" (Henry IV. 'The Boast of Bohemia" (A Winter' Tu!e. "A (V.un'et f t it Presentment" (Hamlet). "A Foregone Conclusion" (Othello. "A Hazard of New Fortunes" (King John). "A Modern In rtance" (As You Like It). "An Open-eyed Conspiracy" (The Tempet), "The Quality of Mercy" (The Merchant of Venice). "A Sea Change" (The Tempest), 'The Shadow 4