tou amiv cgi.stti
BY ELI P. AKE.
JEONTOX. . IISSOURL
TO REDUCE THE WEIGHT.
nlt for Pnra. Overburdened With Fle.lv
Men and women who suffer from
- overweight and who have worried with
score of unsatisfactory expedients
inat promised to reduce uncomfortable
adlPOty, will surely be interested in
tne methods of treatment which were
employed in the case of the late Sena
r Stanford; treatment that would
probably have been completely success
ful had not the fatty degeneration of
the heart gone beyond the stage where
-oietetic influences were of any avail.
-J one of the known varieties of medi
cine are really palatable, and all the
courses of treatment so far discovered
are more or less irksome to those whose
v needs "Pairs, and the course
which the senator was religiously
adhering to when he died vas most
distasteful to him. Fried hashed
beef, three times a day, washed down
-with water that was hot as drinkable
water can be. was the only food that
entered the senator's stomach for the
last seven weeks of his life. This
change of regimen was one against
which the patient inwardly rebeled
---he had lived as he pleased and
ne pleased to live well but he had
placed himself in the hands of a phy
sician who was an expert in the pro
longation of threatened men's days,
and was faithful to the instructions
given- Tempted continually to indulge
in the food on which others who sat at
his table feasted, the senator consumed
- only the moderate quantity of finely-
chopped beef, fried until cooked
" through, and the ever-accompanying
; glass of hot water. The primary re
. ault of this diet was the loss of thirty
- one pounds of flesh in fifty days and
the departure of that apoplectic florid
ity which had for the past two or
three years been one of the sen
ator's most marked facial character
istics. How much longer the treat
ment would have been continued, and
" what the ultimate results might have
been in this particular case can not be
guessed, for the fatty degeneration of
the heart suddenly reached the point
of fatality and trie dieting came to an
- end. Medical experience would sug--gest,
though, that everything would
have been well had the most vital of
-organs been unaffected; that the mere
bulk could easily have been removed
:and future growth controled. It is
-questionable whether the speed of re
duction was not too great, and, al-
though in the case under discussion
the rate probably had nothing to do
with the decease, still the best of the
- authorities are satisfied that the loss
exceeding ten pounds a month is
too much of a drain upon ordi
nary vitality. The principle of the
reduction is easily understood.
Lean meat being nitrogenous,
-forms muscle and not fat. Lean
meat eaten by a very lean person would
be difficult of assimilation, for fat is
necessary to the assimilative process,
but when swallowed by one who is
plentifully supplied with fat the com
bination supports life and. of course,
diminishes the encumbering tissue con-
: siderably.
The usefulness of hot water as an
anti-dyspeptic beverage has long been
asserted; it helps digestion as no other
perfectly harmless fluid can. Food
that is starchy or fat is digested in the
small intestines, but lean meat dis
tributes its good qualities from the
- stomach, and in that work a sufficiency
' - of hot water materially assists the fre
quently ineffective gastric juice. Al
together the "lean meat remedy" seems
to be the best yet known for the re
moval of superfluous'fat: and it has the
advantages also of being cheap and
, easy of application. Washington Star.
THE SCILLIES.
? Something About the IVopl of This
Qroap of Islands.
The chief islands are St. Mary's,
Tresco. St. Martin's, Agnes and Bry
her. None others are nowadays in
habited. St. Mary's, the ; largest, con
tains the capital and the seat of local
government, though Tresco is the resi
dence of the gentleman who. as lessee
under the prince of Wales as duke of
Cornwall, is known locally as the gov
pernor. All told, the population of the
isles is under two thousand with a
-diminishing tendency. The governor
--does not favor an idle tenantry. The
-youths who will neither fish nor till the
Jand nor keep shop are urged to seek
"their fortunes elsewhere.
The Scilly damsels, unless snatched
-up as brides, are prone to aspire to be-
- come dressmakers in Penzance. Noth
ing could be better than this for the
improvement of the local stock. In
past days it was the fashion to inter
marry to a deplorable degree. Indeed,
the custom still holds, so that on Agnes
vou may safely address any man,
woman, or child of the seven score in
habitants by the name of Hicks or
. Jenkins, even as on St. Martins, Ah
ford or Nance is a like password. But
the Scillonians now see their error in
thfe respect. Their little churchyards
prove how many a youth and maiden
died ere maturity, which, in a land so
- notoriously salubrious, can be due only
to consanguineous alliances. Cornhill
Maaazine.
An Inhnmnn Practice.
Some crabbed philosopher onee ex
pressed the wish that boys between the
aees of twelve and twenty might be
kept in a barrel and fed through the
-bung-hole thereof. He has had to
the credit of mankind be it said few
svmpathizers with his declaration,
-though among certain people, if the
report speaks truthfully, a practical
- test of the value of the same idea has
been made. In New Britain, an island
of the Tacific. it is said that all female
children are shut up in cages until they
.'come of affe. These cages are con
structed of palm leaves, and when two
".or three years old the girls are shut
-no in them; nor are they permitted
to go out on any pretext except once a
-dav when they are taken to be washed.
" Notwithstanding this forced seclusion,
4he authority states that the young la
dies grow up strong and healthy
Harper's Young People.
A drastic policy of retrenchment
and economy ha. been vigorously en
tered upon by the government of
. nsland, in an endeavor to redeem
STcolony's financial standing. The
Claries of all the civil rvants from
SSest to lowest, will be reduced, but
reform is not to affect the salary
. of the governor.
CcpyrlKh:d. 1891. by S. S. Morton, and pub
lished by special arrangement-
CHAPTES -XVI. CoTTljrrKD.
ne had just entered upon the quiet
ista of Delaplaine street, absorbed in
his own interesting reflections, when
bis attention was idly directed toward
a gentleman in an invalid's chair
which an attentive valet was slowly
pushing along the pavement. The
thin, shrunken figure in its rich attire,
sparkling with diamonds and resplen
dent in fine linen, attracted perhaps
rather more than a casual attention
from North, whose mini was impressed
by the painful contrast between the
abject wretchedness of the invalid's
face and the pomp and splendor of his
outward circumstances. Helpless and
suffering, he wai evidently not one
whom the severe discipline of physical
affliction had softened and refined; it
was but too obvious that here was a
mind as warped and diseased as its
frail tenement. The expression of hii
face betrayed a harsh, selfish nature
exaggerated almost to a grotesque de
gree by years of self-indulgence. He
appeared to be constantly on the alert
to discover something that he might
construe into a grievance. The
querulous glance of his restless eyes,
the sneering curl of his thin lips under
a fierce iron-gray mustache, forestalled
all words, and were a sufficient warn
ing to persons of acute penetration not
to give him the provocation for which
he was evidently watching to give way
to violent and aggressive wrath.
North was passing this gentleman
with the speculative but courteous
glance of a perfect stranger, when to
his utter amazement he was accosted in
the most peremptory manner.
The wheel chair was brought to a
sudden halt, while a petulant voice
uttered the startling challenge:
"North, you jackanapes! What do
you mean, sir? Do you intend to insult
spe?"
North was electrified. What had he
Gone? Who was this interesting in
valid? "Some one, evidently, whom I ought
to know," ho thought, "and whom K
will be awkward and unfortunate to
offend. What can I do to pacify him?"
Thm, lifting his hat as he turned
back to the gentleman, North said, with
an apologetic air:
"My dear sir, I beg your pardon. I
tt23 preoccupied, and did not recognize
you at all."
This statement, although offered with
charming frankness and suavity, was
quite thrown away upon the deeply of
fended gentleman.
"Oh. don't tell me: he cried with an
gry emphasis, looking at North with
his shrunken sallow face suffused with
a purple flush, and his small black eyes
flashing resentful fire. "Your wonder
ful harangue last night turned your
head, I presume. Preoccupied, were
you? Didn't see me, eh? Heavens and
earth, sir, that's false! It was a piece
of deliberate impertinence, North, and
you know it. You're carrying a high
hand just now, young man; oh, yes, a
very high hand, but we'll see how long
it will continue! My patience will not
last forever. Heavens and earth,
there'll be the mischief to pay one of
these days! You don't hoodwink me so
neatly after all, Mr. North: I'm not the
shallow dupe that you take me to be!"
"Well, upon my life, what mad, rav
ing maniac is this?" thought North,
blankly; then, rallying from his amaze
ment he said, calmly:
"I bog jour pardon, sir. you are un
der an entire misapprehension. I have
no motive or desire to hoodwink you,
and so far as my transactions have any
connection with yourself they are open
to your inspection. And now, sir," he
added, sternly, checking the torrent of
abusive word that he plainly perceived
THE WHEEL CHAIR WAS BKOfGUT TO A
8UDDEX HALT.
to be imminent, "I beg leave to end this
colloquy. You have a claim upon my
forbearance; otherwise I should require
you to apologize for the language in
which you have just indulged. Good
morning, sir."
It will readily be understood that the
effect of this encounter was not traa
quilizing, and there were superficial
traces of annoyance in North's face and
manner when, a few moments later, he'
entered Mrs. Maynard's drawing-room.
He had not iaquirod if Mrs. Maynard
were disengaged, rather indolently tak
ing it for granted that she would be;
and he was very much annoyed to find
that lady occupied with morning vis
itors. Mrs. Maynard was one of the
few ladies in X who found it expe
dient to hold morning receptions; and
this happened to beher "day."
North felt exiremoly awkward on dis
covering that he had intruded a purely
business call upon a social hour; but be
fore he could excuse i?5nself and with
draw indeed before he was able to de
cide whether or not this would be his
better course he was seized upon, fig
uratively, by the entire drawing-room
and retreat was impossible. Finding
that he was intimately acquainted with
everyone present, he entered with meas
urable agreeablenesa into the current
of small talk, inwardly hoping that
cone of his friends would notice the
circumstance that neither when he first
addressed them, nor in his subsequent
conversation, did he call any of them
by name.
He seized an opportunity to speak a
few words ta Mrs. Maynard in private,
during the course of his call.
The conversation had turned upon a
wonderful cactus which the gardener
had Just induced to bloom for the first
time. Everyone had seen it, except
North; and with the same exception
everyone was going into raptures about
it.
North immediately became enthusi
astic on the subject, for the cactus was
in the conservatory, beyond the reach
of the sharpest eyes or ears in the drawing-room.
"Mrs. Maynard, he exclaimed, turn
ing to that lady with an air of mock
appeal, "my happiness depends upon
my seeing that cactus! Will you favor
me to this extent?"
With some laughing rejoinder she
led the way to the conservatory, which
opened from the drawing-room, and a
moment later they stood alone in the
warm, moist, perfume-laden place,
with great banks of tropical plants,
wide-spreading palms and stately can
nas casting a delicate green twilight
around them and a soft, dreamy silence
pervading the fragrant gloom.
North duly examined the cactus and
expressed the proper degree of admira
tion; then turning quickly to Mrs. May
nard, while his manner changed from
the superficial suavity that he had
adopted for the drawing-room to a por
tentous gravity, he said, in a low tone:
"Mrs. Msynard, I have something of
great importance to tell you. You will
bo surprised perhaps disagreeably.
Shall I speak now, or wait until some
other time?"
She was tearing the petals from a
great crimson-hearted rose, and she did
not look up; bat the slight tremor of
the languid white fingers betrayed to
him the nervous agitation against which
her pride and will were contending
with only partial success.
'You may speak now, Mr. North."
Then, wearily: "Why should you wait?
It is no worse at one time than another."
"True, Mrs. Maynard; and certainty,
however unwelcome it may be, is al
ways more easily borne than suspense.
In one word, then Annie Dupont ha3
been discovered."
The soft color in her cheeks died out
quickly in the surprise that she felt at
this announcement, and for an instant
her eyes lifted themselves to his with a
half incredulous inquiry.
"ou did not expect this, Mr. North?"
she questioned, quietly, a curious re
serve injier manner which made him
vaguelyconscious of having lost ground
with her since their last interview. The
intimation was too subtle and slight
for him to be able to seize upon it and
definitely assign a cause; but, had not
his affairs been shaping themselves so
satisfactorily within the last few days,
it would have occasioned him infinite
uneasiness.
"Expect it?" he repeated, with a
short expressive laugh. "No more than
Annie Dupont herself! I can scarcely
use a stronger comparison. It's the
strangest case, Mrs. Maynard, one of
those that prove the statement that
truth is stranger than fiction. I have
not yet been able to lay my hands on
the documents which will prove her
identity, and establish her legal claims
as Mrs. Dunkirk's niece and heir; but
that these documents exist I have proof
as clear as the noon-day, and I confi
dently expect within the next twelve
hours to have those papers seeurely in
my possession."
Absently breaking off a bit of pale
blue heliotrope that was reaching out
temptingly toward him over th e mass
of fragrant blossoms, he put it careless
ly in hL buttonhole as he spoke these
last words.
"Does this proof come through the
man who called hera a few days ago?"
inquired Mrs. Ma3'nard with the same
reserve and in a speculative tone. Her
fingers were still busy with their work
of destruction; her eyes idly watched
the great crimson petals fluttering to
their death.
"O'Reilly?" North smiled a little,
with his eye3 fixed in sharp but baffled
scrutiny upon her coldly unresponsive
face. "Yes, through him. I could take
him into court to-day, with two or three
other persons who are equally within
reach, and by his sworn testimony,
without the aid of any doeumentary
evidence whatever, establish Annie Du
pont's identity so thoroughly that no
combination nor conspiracy against her
could possibly overthrow it; but for her
sake I prefer to wait for the corrobora
tive testimony that those documents
contain. There will surely be but a
few hours' longer delay."
He was unconscious of the warmth in
his words and manner until he was
awakened to the fact by the cold, sur
prised inquiry in Mrs. Maynard's sud
denly lifted eyes.
"You are singularly enthusiastic, Mr.
North," she said, slowly, holding her
gaze steadily, while North, with mo
mentary discomfiture, felt himself
flushing a little under its cold accusa
tion. "You leave me no possible infer
ence but that your most ardent wish is
to establish this identity. May I ask if
your sudden interest in this hitherto
unknown heiress is purely profes
sional?" He did not, at that moment, fathom
the suspicion in her mind, but he
vaguely caught its superficial signifi
cance. A curious little smile crossed
his face, then a perfect inscrutability
veiled its whole expression. Mrs. May
nard, observing hlra with sharp intent
ness, felt all the shock of a sudden and
unexpected repulse. She had knocked
at a door that had instantly baen
double-barred and locked against her.
"As for that, Mrs. Maynard," North
rejoined, after a moment's pause, lite
manner light and jesting, "so long as
the lawyer is ahxl a man, it is not
always possible to disassociate his per
sonal and professional feelings. If they
don't antagonize each other, they gen
erally become merged, you know."
"Especially where a young and beau
tiful heiress is concerned," suggested
Mrs. Maynard, with quiet bitterness.
"Why do you think that Annia Du
pont merits that description, Mrs. May
nard?" demanded North, teasingly.
"Wore we speaking of Annie Du
pont?" returned Mrs. Maynard, with a
frigidly polit stare. "Your question
implies a degree of self-consciousness,
Mr. North But pray excusejne; I can
not leave my friends any longer. I have
been absent from the drawing-room too
long already. Understand me distinctly,
Mr. North," she added, facing him
proudly for an instant with a brilliant
color in her cheeks and a defiant light in
her dark brown eyes, "I am sincerely
glad to hear of Annie Dnpont's good for
tune, and I congratulate you with all
my heart on having been the disinter
ested means of bringing about this
happy resuitr
North confusedly murmured his
thanks and turned to follow her to the
drawing-room. He felt amused, an
noyed, and on the whole rather disap
pointed in this interview. It had de
veloped absolutely nothing to his prac
tical advantage, while it had suggested
a whole train of baffling speculations;
and to crown all, he had a harassing
suspicion that in this passage-at-arma
with Mrs. Maynard he had not figured
so creditably as he could have desired.
But he had no opportunity to indulge
his slight chagrin on this account, for
the instant he reentered the drawing
room he received a shock that drove all
these less important matters from his
mind for the time.
At the further end of the long drawing-room,
talking to a garrulous old
dowager in eye-glasses, who had evi
dently captured her upon her first ap
pearance in the room, stood a young
lady yes, the very same whom he had
seen with Mrs. Maynard in the car
riage. She was tall and slight, with a proud,
delicate face, whose exquistte fairness
was accentuated by the sof i clinging
crape of a rich mourning dress. She
was beautiful enough to make a sensa
tion in any social assembly, yet so icily
cold that all words of admiration would
freeze upon the most ardent lips. There
were many who, observing her in dif
ferent mood., fancied that beneath this
ice throbbed a warm heart that had
suffered as only the heart of a proud,
loving woman cars; but of this the se
rene brow and los crave no sign.
North stood transfixed for a moment
as if oblivious of the presence of others,
unconscious of the emotions that his
face was betraying. All doubt was
gone from his mind. Even if he could
have questioned the direct evidence o
his own eyes, he received convincing
TALKING TO A G ARItCT-OCS OLD DOW AG EH.
proof in the cold recognition that hef
proud glance expressed as it rested
upon him for an instant. It was not
such a glance as a perfect stranger,
however indifferent toward him &h
might feel, would bestow; under all ita
hauteur a flash of passion lay scorn,
contempt, unforgiving resentment,
which told of the pre-existence of some
kindlier sentiment. In answer to the
look that she met from his eyes a scorn
ful little smile flitted over her lips,
and, bowing very slightly in recogni
tion of his presence, she deliberately
turned away to avoid any further
notice of him, and continued the con
versation which had suffered no break
in consequence of this little by-play.
So quickly had the mutual recogni
tion taken place that only one person in
the drawing-room besides the two mvst
intimately concerned had taken cog
nizance of the fact. Mrs. Maynard had
spoken twice to North and he had not
heard her; but when, suddenly recalled
to his surroundings, and the fact that
he must behave sanely while he was
under the scrutiny of so many curious
eyes, he turned toward her with an
effort to resume his usual manner and
expression, she was saying in a low,
satirical tone:
"You seem to take a strange interest
in Miss Hilary this morning, Mr. North.
May I suggest that your manner Ls a
little just a little, perhaps notice
able?" North flushed deeply; he had not yet
regained his self-possession, as his hur
riedly uttered words proved.
"I have seen Miss Hilary before, Mrs.
Maynard. We are quite old friends,"
he said.
The mockery in Mrs. Maynard's smile
instantly changed to something else not
quite translatable, but suggesting utter
disbelief in his statement.
"Indeed!" she said, coldly. "No one
would have suspected this from your
manner of meeting her here two weeks
ago."
"My manner of meeting her " North
abruptly checked the indignant dis
claimer, adding, desperately: "There
has been a misunderstanding, Mrs. May
nard, which I cannot explain now, but
in a few days more I shall be at liberty
to speak. In the meantime will you
not pity rather than condemn?"
It was an involuntary appeal wrung
from him hy the fear that before he
could have an opportunity to plead his
cause before Myra some malign fate
might interpose and separate them
again. If he regarded Mrs. Maynard
as the impersonation of that fate his
heart must have failed him, for marble
could not have been more cold and piti
less as she turned away from him with
the words:
"Unless you deserve condemnation,
you surely do not require pity. Your re
quest is a confession, Mr. North."
She left him then, in order to receive
some one who had just entered the
drawing-room; and North. reviving as
if from the effects of a sudden dash of
cold water, found his wits sufficiently
to resolve upon an Immediate departure.
He had succeeded, after waiting a few
moments for the opportunity, in mak
ing his adieux to Mrs. Maynard, and had
reached the drawing-room door when.
Williams confronted him with a mes
sage. "Maj. Maynamd's compliments," he
said, bowing low, "and will Mr. North
please come up to the major's study for
a few moments?"
It flashed upon North's mind instant
ly that there must not appear in his
manner the slightest hesitancy about
complying with this request, and he
therefore assented at once; but he was
in no enviable state of mind as he fol
lowed Williams up the broad staircase.
Oddly enough he had never calculated
upon the probability of his being com
pelled to meet Maj. Ma3-nard, and he
had not prepared his mind f ov such an
emergency. He had no time now to do
more than to rally his self-possession
and nerve himself to meet the unex
pected in whatever shape it might pre-
I sent itself to hiui. falling back upon a
measurably clear conscience as a sus
taining factor.
The major's "study so-called, al
though there was nothing in the ap
pointments of that luxurious den or in
the occupations daily pursued within
its four walls to warrant such a desig
nation was situated near the first land
ing of the winding stairway.
to bs coxnauzD.J
TAX REFORM DEPARTMENT.
(Tfcis department aims to Five everybody's
Ideas about taxation not tariff). Write your
opinions briefly, and they will be published or
discussed in their turn by the editor or by a mem
ber of the Taxation Society. Address, "Taxa
tion Society," ibis office or P. O. Box SB, Buf
falo, X. Y.)
DIRECT LEGISLATION.
Call Sent Oat From the Central Labor
Council of Cincinnati.
To the Public: Our system of repre
sentative legislation is rotten. Witness
the passage of the Strehli law giving
more privileges to the street railway
monopoly of this city, and the refusal
of the legislature to pass the Ford bill
to repeal the Weitzel law. It is pro
posed to change the system by substi
tuting that of direct legislation which
includes the following:
1. The right to approve or reject pro
posed state laws shall rest with a major
ity of the citizens of the state. The
right to approve or reject the proposed
laws of any political subdivision of the
state (such as county, city, town, town
ship or village), shall rest with a ma
jority of the people of such subdivision.
The method of such approval or rejec
tion shall be that known as the refer
endum. 2. The (right to propose laws for the
state shall (in addition to being exer
cised by members of the senate and
house of representatives), rest with any
proportion of the citizens of the state,
between five and twenty-five per cent.,
which may be determined by statute
law. The right to propose laws for
any political subdivision of the state,
(such as county, city, town, township
or village), shall (in addition to being
exercised by members of its legislative
body as at present) rest with any pro
portion of its citizens, between five and
twenty-five per cent., which may be de
termined by a law of such political
subdivision. The method to be em
ployed in so proposing measures shall
be that known as the initiative.
Abusing the "Hayseed.
Taxation to the hayseed constituent
of interior senators and representatives
is a scheme for fining the successful
business man of the metropolis just as
much as his accumulations will stand,
so as to relieve the poor hayseed from
a few pennies of the exactions levied
upon his land. Inquiry into the tax
methods has to him and his representa
tives only this and nothing more.
You can reach tlie bucolic ear with
the cry of home rule on any matter of
public polity, excepting taxation. On
that he is an obstinate and obdurate
conservative. It is ingrained in his
mental constitution that any change in
the vexatious' and expensive system
now existing will increase his burdens,
and he can hardly ever be got to listen.
It ws certainly a most simple and com
prehensible proposition to let each
county determine how it would raise
its money for public purposes. State
authority would still have the full
power to fix how much each county
would be required to pay for state pur
poses. County authorities would lose
no part of their power to designate how
much, and how, money must be raised
for county expenses. If a rural county
still desired to make its rich men per
jurers by insisting upon personal prop
erty tax the.y could go to sheol in their
own way. The only sufferers would be
banks, widows and orphans and the
few rich men who are cursed with ten
der consciences. The great raft of
owners of personalty would go un
scathed, save for a fresh scar on their
already tattooed hearts.
It is almost too late to pray for any
change of the bucolic mind in this par
ticular. Still, we will once again point
out that it does not matter one iota to
the people of any rural county how the
taxes of New York city are raised. If
they see fit to raise them wholly from
land values, the farmer can have no
possible reason to object. It will not
make the difference of a single penny
either in their land or taxes. The
county option tax bill will enable every
community to put its own ideas into
operation, without the interference of
its neighbors or any prejudice to their
property, or free regulation of their
own affairs.
If anything has been demonstrated,
it is that no equitable way of collect
ing personal taxes has ever been de
vised. It has not and can not be made
to bear equally and uniformly upon all
such property. That is the experience
of the world, civilized, semi-civilized
ami barbarous ever since man under
took to raise the money to support the
government. It has never accomplished
anything but gross injustice, the de
velopment of fraud and perjury, the re
lief of liars and bribers and the in
crease of the burdens of those who are
too honorable to lie and too poor to
bribe. The Turkish governors of the
Danubian principalities had the effect
ive method of tying up the suspected
possessor of hidden wealth, hands and
feet together, and flogging him with
the barbarous double-edged sword.
This method occasionally wrung a few
piasters from the stores of sorrowing
relatives or soft-hearted spectators,
and so was regarded with favor by tax
farmers. Even a hayseed, however,
would hardly approve of the regular
employment of this method of saving
him from the few pennies of tax on
farm land which he unwillingly pays.
He prefers some good ingenious scheme
of soul torture as the Georgia tax list
ing Taw, and puts a premium on per
jury, individual and official. The of
ficial tax gatherer must perjure him
self when he swears that his assessment
roll is equal, just and fair, while each
individual tax payer either honestly
endures unjust and unfair exactions or
perjures himself to swear them off.
Wm. G. McLaughlin.
Liveries, the Badge of Serfdom.
The Massachusetts stranger spoken of
in the Eagle of last Thursday, who said,
"Your city should compel them (the
horde of filthy, saucy and noisy Italian
bootblacks) to pay a license tax and
wear a badge the same as express
men," should inform this community
how he earns his living and whether he
wears a badge or not.
No one should pay a license or wear
a badge when earning a living at a le
gitimate occupation. He who would
turn liberty to license has little knowl
edge of the causes of brutality and
crime. Poughkeepsie Sunday Times.
Good for Bond Holders.
The railroads encourage the farmer
in crying for taxation of personal prop
erty, because that would let them out.
Their bonds are not taxable and their
stocks can be hidden, sent away or
sworn off-
How It Works m Boston.
Smith forms a little corporation to
build a railroad in Vermont. The rail
road is fully taxed there. But Smith
lives in Boston; and, as he owns all
the stock say, $100,000 and stock in
foreign corporation is assessed there,
he is taxed on the whole amount a sec
ond time. He mortgages the road for
9100,000 and spends the proceeds on im
provements. This additional value is
taxed in Vermont. But he sells the
mortgage bonds to Brown, of Boston,
who is then taxed again upon the
whole $100,000. Brown pledges the
bonds to Jones as security for a loss of
$100,000, and forthwith Jones is taxed
upon the whole amount. This makes
three taxes upon only one piece of real
property. This is the way in which
the wise men of Massachusetts mean
that their laws shall work; but. as the
taxpaj-ers revolt against such injustice
and protect themselves in the only way
open to them to-wit, by hard swear
ing Massachusetts counteracts that
evil by increasing everybody's taxes
fourfold, on the assumption that all
have made false returns alike. At all
events, this is how they do it in Boston.
How Taxation is Studied in Pennsyl
vania. Let us hope that the "study" this
commission has given to the "tax ques
tions" will not prove to be the same
kind of "study" the governor himself
once gave to tariff taxation, viz.: call
in the plutocrats and ask them how
the people ought to be taxed. Let us
also hope that their study is not the
same sort a Penns3'lvania commission
always gives the "tax question:" "How
to tax the masses without taxing the
classes; how to tax industry without
taxing monopoly; how to have more
meney in the treasury for rings to
manipulate; how to pretend to do
something for the people and really do
nothing at alL What is taxation and
what is unjust taxation; what has the
state a right to take and what has it
no right to take; what taxation will
promote the general welfare and what
will be injurious to it all these are
questions that these commission stu
dents of taxation generally know lit
tle about and concerning which they
care even less. The Crusade.
How misplaced is the sympathy for
debtors as against creditors will appeaf
from a fact which is not generally con
sidered, but which the events of the
past two weeks on the New York stock
exchange have made plain, namely,
that the debtors who are in trouble art
not poor and needy people, but adven
turers who were seeking to make them
selves rich by the aid of borrowed
money. Another fact, no less impor
tant but quite as unfamiliar, is that
creditors are mostly people of moderate
means, not to say poor, and that in
number they far exceed the debtors.
The largest borrowers, also, lesides the
speculators in stocks who have just
come to grief on our stock exchange,
are, first, the railroad companies, whose
aggregate debt amounts to $0,000,000,
000, then the banks, state and national,
which have deposits amounting to $2,
500,000,000, and the United States gov
ernment itself, which owes in round
numbers $1,000,000,000. In addition
there are state, city and county obliga
tions amounting altogether in 1800 to
$1,135,210,442. These debts are owing,
not to a few capitalists, but to a multi
tude of small creditors, man3' of them
women.who have invested in them their
own savings, or have inherited them
from relatives who did the same.
But by far the most nv.merous class
of creditors in the country, and one
whose, claims to consideration are not,
I think, sufficiently estimated, are the
workers for wages and salaries. Out
of our total population of 65,000.000
there must be at least 10,000,000 of
men, women and children who depi'.nd
for a living upon their personal labor.
Estimating their earnings at the low
average of one dollar a day, these sons
and daughters of toil find themselves
at the end of every week the creditors
of their employers to the amount of
$60,000,000, and in the course of a ysar
to one of $3,120,000,000. The valuof
this vast sum in purchasing articles of
daily use is measured by the valuft of
the dollar, and to diminish that value
for the benefit of the comparatively
small number of debtors is to rob the
many for the benefit of a few.
A large portion of these 10,000,000 earn
ers of wages are, moreover, creditors in
another way. The census shows that
4,781,605 of them have savings bank Ac
counts, amounting on an average to
35S each, and in the aggregate to
$1,712,769,626. The debtors, who bor
row this money, borrow it in sums
ranging from $1,000 to $500,000, but as
suming the average to be $5,000, theif
number is only 342,554. The taxation
of credits sought as a measure for the
relief of the debtors could not therefore
benefit more than 342,554 persons ow
ing money to savings banks, while it
would injure 4,781,605 who have depos
its in them. A million and a quarter or
more people hold, also, policies of in
surance on their lives, aggregating
more than $3,500,000,000, for the secur
ity of which the companies have assets
amounting to $750,000,000. These are still
more largely interested in the exemp
tion of evidencesof debt from'taxation.
The only debtors, of any number,
who seem to dese. ve consideration in
the matter of taxation are the farmers
who have bought land on credit and
have given mortgages on it for the pur
chase money. These deservedly claim
the natural sympathy felt with men
who are striving to secure homes for
themselves and their families, and since
they believe that to tax the money
loaned to them would make it easier for
them to pay off their mortgages there is
strong impulse to grant it to them. It
would have the contrary effect, and on
the other hand, it should be remem
bered that buying land on credit is as
much speculation as buying stocks is,
and, for the most part, those who have
engaged in it have seen the market val
ue of their purchases advance and the
rate of interest decline, for more than
enough to compensate them for any ad
ditional burden on the land which the
exemption of the little money now
taxed might cause. Besides, when it
comes to choosing between them and
the much more numerous little credit
ors I have mentioned, the preponder
ance of sympathy as well as of numbers
is against them. Matthew Marshall,
in N. Y. Sun.
Another Case Mr. Haires Do you
ever print, ah anything oiTered by a
poet? Editor (savagelj') No, sir! Mr.
Haires I'm sorry; I was going to offer
you an advertisement for a dry-goods
clerkship, as I'm sick of the poetry
business. But I guess the paper over
the way will fix me. Truth.
PITH AND POINT.
Many friendships last because therei
is the width of a street Jietween th
friends. Puck. ' "
In a well regulated family the olive
branch of peace is sometimes a stout
hickory sprout. Dallas News.
The time appears to be at hand
when a man who is referred to as silver-haired
will regard it as an attempt
to depreciate him. Philadelphia Led
ger. ;
"It isn't right to say that a man
has no redeeming qualities. "Well,!
no at least not until you have con
sulted his pawnbroker. Detroit Trib
une. Young Mr. Sapley "I wish I could
get me a hat that was suited to my
head." Miss Palisade "Why don't
you try a soft hat!" Clothier and Fur
nisher. . ,
Slimson (sternly) "Willie, where
are those green apples gone that were
down cellar?" Willie "They are with
the Jamaica ginger that was In the
closet. N. Y. Sun.
"It doesn't seem possible that any
woman would lead a man to drink de
liberately." "Well, she has." "How
do you know?" "She has dried bee
for lunch every day." Inter-Ocean.
Tagleigh "Dr. Druggem is quite
a linguist. He tells me he has learned
all his languages from his patients.
Wagleigh "Is that so? Then they
must be dead languages." N.Y. Herald.
Jess (in restaurant) "I'm hungry
enough to eat a horse and chase the
rider." Bess "What are you going to
order?" Jess "Waiter, bring me three
cream puffs and a cup of cocoa." N.
Y. Times.
She "But you 'have no reason to
be jealous of me; . you know you
haven't." He "Reason! Reason! I
dispensed with my reason entirely
when I fell in love with you." In
dianapolis Journal.
No Help For It. He "What the
mischief is this?" His Wife "You will
have to eat your oatmeal in a flower
pot this morning, dear. I haven't been
able to get to a china shop since our
girl left." N. Y. Sun.
"No, father," said the young man
with the college medal, "no farming in
mine; you're going to hear from me in
the world." "I reckon we will," ex
claimed the old man, "an in about ten
seconds; John, reach me that hickory !' :
Atlanta Constitution.
A Deep Injury. "You you passed
me to-day on the street'" sobbed the
fair girl, "and d -d-d id n't even look at
me." "Where was it?" inquired the
young man, anxiously. "D-d -down,
town," was the tearful answer. "I I
was in the c-car, while you were hurry
ing along the street just as though I I
never existed." Judge.
THE WISE GIRL,
And How She Arrange for Comfort la at
Sleeping Car.
The wise girl knows that nothing is
quite so desirable for wear in the sleep
ing car as a wrapper of dark -colored
flannel. It may be stated as a positive
fact that women who try to make
themselves look coquetish in a sleeping
car, and wear elaborate negligea
or lace-trimmed wrappers, show ex
tremely bad taste. Experience has
taught that a wrapper of soft
flannel in stripes of black and1
blue, made in the simplest fash-;
ion, is most useful. When she
is ready to go to bed, and the1
porter arranges her berth for her, she
goes to the toilet-room, taking with'
her her shawl-strapped package. She
removes her shoes and stockings, puts
on the knitted slippers that she hasi
taken out of her bag, removes any gar-1
ments which she pleases, and assuming
her wrapper, which has been folded in
her shawl strap, repairs to her berth, j
After fastening the buttons of the cur
tains, she disposes of her clothing as4
best she can, folding each article
smoothly and carefully, and placing
her money, watch and tickets in her
wrapper pocket. And then she should'
try to rest the porter will call
her in good season,, and her ticket
will not be asked .'for during the
night. In her shawl strap, which,
shows as its. outer wrapping s
shawl or traveling' rug, she may
have her own pillow if she desires it.'
But this is not a necessity, as the cars
are supplied with linen that is usually
fresh and clean. In the morning the
wise girl will put on her stockings and
shoes in bed, leaving the lacing or but
toning of them till later. Then she
will assume her other garments and re
pair to the toilet-room, where she
should as expeditiously as possible
make herself neat, trim and fresh, that
her friends ,who are to meet her may
not find her dusty nor travel-stained.
This she should do quickly, that she
may not be classed among the women
who are the dread of all considerate
women on the fparlor cars the women
who take and hold possession of a toilet
room as if it were a fort. Ladies' Home
JournaL 1
. He Was Mot an "Exception.
A Detroiter, of a very mild and placid;
temper, had some business ' attended
to, or pretended to be attended to, by
a Cleveland firm, and do what he could
by letter he could not get a settlement:
Finally he went there in person and
settled the matte.
"It's the worst I ever saw," he said, in
parting.
"We've attended to a good many peo
ple's business," argued the head of the
firm.
"But not as you have mine." " "
"Yes, quite the same. '
"Oh, eome off," exclaimed the dis
gusted Detroiter. "You can't staff that
down my throat If you had treated
very many people as you have treated
me, you would have been killed long
before ever I heard of you," and with
that burst of anger be walked out per
fectly satisfied. Detroit Free Press.
Only One Climatic Drawback.
Eastern Newcomer It looks as if it
ought to be healthy around here,
Jumpclaim Jim Tis healthy, pard
ner. There's only one disease that
ever prove's fatal in these diggins'.
Eastern Newcomer What disease is
that? Jumpclaim Jim (carelessly resting
his hand an a belt full of six shooters) '
Lead poison in'. Ef yer system is.
lucky ernuff ter escape that yer kin
live a hundred years without dyin.
Buffalo Courier.
Candy Hungry. '
Wee Son When Johnny Jumpupp'a
papa died his mamma gave him a whole
lot of candy.
' Mamma What of it?
v Wee Son Nothing, only 1 was won
dering if it wouldn't be all, right if
you'd just pretend my papa was dead,
instead of waitin' for a truly fonerTsL
Good Newa