The herald. [microfilm reel], February 27, 1898, Image 20

About The herald. [microfilm reel] (Los Angeles [Calif.]) 1893-1900

Image provided by: University of California, Riverside; Riverside, CA

                
A LAUREL CROWNED DEFEAT.
I. ",
Pauline Detmar was -a dismal failure.
If her bewildered llttlte brain had In
dulged a misgiving to the contrary, it
was ruthlessly dispelled as she followed
Mrs. Colonel Raget ancj the Miss Raget
with her retinue of gallants from the
ball room of the Patriarchs.
"Social successes are born, not made,"
remarked Mrs. Raget stententiously as
the family carriage rolled down the
avenue.
Miss Raget, the "superb," to quote
the society column, yawoied acquies
cence.
"Men are such a stupid lot," said tha
belle of two seasons.
When Pauline had been dismissed
R-ith an osculaiory Rood night, mother '
md daughter sat down in their night
Jresses, after the manner of woman
kind, to talk it over.
"She was by all odds the loveliest ;
tirl," said Miss Raget, tossing her pink
MUln slipper to the farthest end of, the I
room.
"Unquestionably," said the Colonel's,
tvife. "And manners so refreshingly
artless and winsome—the manners of j
Iter mother. Lueretia was s thoroughly i
ivell-bred woman."
"And yet?" said the "superb."
"Pauline fell flat, hopelessly flat. Off
like a rocket, down like a stick."
Mrs. Raget sighed. "Not a man !
sought her for a second dance after j
midnight."
Mrs. Colonel Raget's supremacy in
the "smart set" was invincible. Not
Dnly had she successfully launched the
innumerable daughters of her own
household on the capricious upper crust
of the social wave and piloted each to
snug harbors in the way of well ap
pointed establishments and presentable
figure heads that served all the pur
poses of husbands, but she was the
adored social sponsor of scores of pret
ty women, who owed to her manipu
lations their titles of Madam. While
Mrs. Raget's tactics elicited admiration,
they eluded analysis. This lady was
credited with being able to determine,
twenty minutes after a girl crossed a
ball room for the first time, whether
she was destined for success or failure.
So unerring was her judgment in this
pivotal matter, that she Is said to have
sent home on the occasion of her debut
no less a personage than the fourth
Miss Ttaget: and never was the latter
permitted, during her maidenhood, to
make a second appearance at a Patri
arch. Hut for once in her long reign,
Mrs. Raget had miscalculated.
The Louis XIV. pendulum chimed
three.
"Well?" said the "superb.''
Again the Colonel's wife sighed.
"There's no alternative. We must
send her home."
TI.
The place was a stuffy gable cham
ber in a third-rate hotel at a popular
Virginia summer resort. In all the
loveliness of its Parisian artful arlless
ness it lay—the gown in which un am
bitious mother bad dreamed that her
beloved would find the Aladdin's lamp
that would restore them to the station
they once held in the gay world. Tt
was the first time the gown had been
taken from its box since Pauline's
summary departure from the Raget
mansion. Mother and daughter gazed
at the airy, illusive creation which Mrs.
Raget's generosity bad provided, but
only with the detached interest of vis
itors to a museum: it did not appeal to
them us a personal possession. Nothing
could be more out of touch with the
life they had been leading in the shab
by little hostelry in which they were
grateful to have found shelter for the
summer months. —trusting, like the
sparrows, to Providence for a winter
nest. But as her eyes rested on the La
France roses encircling the low bodice,
the mother re-lived in fancy the tri
umphs of her youth, quenched all too
quickly by widowhood and poverty. A
last desperate effort to save the cdd
homestead had emboldened her to
make her way to the Metro),oils and
seek the advice of a discarded suitor,
Colonel Raget, who in the interval had
grown rich beyond the dream of ava
rice. In her calculations she had over
looked the Colonel's wife, —for she who
had attained that enviable dignity was
an obscure, unconsidered factor in the.
bellehood of Lucretia Detmar. Had the
widow been less guileless, she might
have divined in Mrs. Colonel Raget's
admiration of Pauline's beauty, to
which her attention had been called by
LIDA ROSE McCABE
the Colonel, and her offer to launch the
girl at the Raget expense in the "smart
set," a hint o." malicious self satis
faction, rather than n sincere desire to
better their fortunes.
But unsuspecting Lurretin was grate
ful then, and grateful she remained,
despite Pauline's failure to meet expec
tations and Mrs. Raget's inability to
account for It.
"She was beautiful as a dream,"
wrote the Colonel's wife, "but times
and standard have changed, my dear
Lucretla. There's no counting on the
vagaries of the modern wife-hunter."
"You must have looked lovely, dear
est," said the mother, venturing to
shake out the rosy ruffles. "How I
should love to have seen you."
But Pauline heard not. For her, the
stuffy room, the sultry August day, the
airy, fairy gown, had vanished. She
was again at the Patriarch's—not in the
mazea of the dance, but in the gold and
white, hushed stillness of the dressing
room, whither many a debutant, solici
tous to escape being catalogued among
the wall flowers, had preceded her un
der the nameless pretexts known to
feminine art. It was in an interval of
the lancers. Her partner—a pompous
grey-beard who had sized her up as he
would a filly at Tattersalls—had left
her to exchange banalities with a
neighboring grand dame. Unconscious
ly Pauline turned, she knew nut why,
into the dressing room, there to en
counter a phase of life in the "smart
set" little known or suspected beyond
its precincts.
In various attitudes of weariness
weariness of the heart, rather than the
body—were varied types of maidenhood,
daintily, richly gowned, not a few be
jewelled, the eyes of each "drinking
their tears of mortification" as they
nervously toyed with unfilled dance
cards, or concealed them in their
bodices. Pauline's "sweet asking eyes"
passed from one to the other, to rest
~n the motherly Dinah talking In low
tones to a pal", weary little woman,
who wrote rapidly while she questioned
Incessantly. The weary little woman
was a reporter. It was the toilettes of
the unhappy girls that the uniting
maid was describing, with interpola
tions as to their wealth and sceiul pros
pects. All were daughters of wealth,
the off-spring of families of social emi
nence: and yet—Pauline shuddered as
she turned from their ill-disguised
wretchedness to meet Dinah's sym
pathetic smile.
The reporter had disappeared.
"I'm so sorry for that little woman,"
said the maid. "She's worked to
death."
Pauline lifted her delicate eyebrows
questlonlngly.
"She's six balls to report tonight. Her
baby's sick, and she's so nervous she
gets names and costumes mixed. She's
goina home now—it's midnight, miss
to nurse the baby before she takes in
the fourth ball. 'Twill be three o'clock
before she's abed. T always help her
when I can. You see, miss, I knew her
when she was the greatest belle In New
York. Lor' bless you, honey, there's
no beauty on that floor tonight could
' hold a candle to that little woman ln
i her day -before her pa lost his mll-
I lions and her husband broke her heart
. and left her to shift for herself and the
babes."
Dazed, bewildered. Pauline went back
jto the ball room. How spiritless, how
absent minded the grey-beard found
i her! And so, the ball rolled on, and
Mrs. Raget was piqued to account for
her miscalculation.
111.
Recalling those dejected faces in the
gold and white dressing room, Pauline
was grateful to Mrs. Raget for sending
her back to her mountain home. Gone
forever was her girlish dream of social
conquest. She had boxed It with the
ball gown, and both were quite forgot
ten unCII he said, "I shall never be
quite satisfied, Miss Detmar, until I see
you In a ball gown."
"And why not?" said the mother
when the girl told her. "There's the
hop at the fort to which a Detmar 1*
always welcome. For once In your life,
my dear # you have not the excuse of
Flora McThinsey." and forthwith the
box was uncovered.
They were making a little journey
round the world, he told her —he and
his companion, the grizzly little man
with the keen eyes and the musical
laugh. The latter would some day de
scribe what they saw in lucid prose,
while he, Gerald Montant, was an ar
tist ln search of types—types of Amer
ican beauty. Hers was a face nearer
his ideal than any he had yet met. Cer
tainly there was nothing at the last
Patriarch's that appealed so strongly to
j his pencil. But Montant checked him
self. The absurdity of speaking of the
Patriarch's—that undiscovered, un
dreamed of country—to this lonely
mountain pink paling under his genial
glance. That his name, known ln two
continents, which he himself pro
nounced not without self-consciousness,
made no visible Impression upon her,
was a positive delight. It was the fin-
"Eyes for No One Else."
ishing stroke of her conquest. Learn
ing of their poverty, it came about that
Montant. with consummate tact, pre
vailed upon the mother to permit Pau
line to pose daily for a consideration.
A new world was thus opened to Pau
line, and her sympathetic soul ripened
fast, as her eyes, under Montant's di
rection, began to perceive beauty in na
ture's homeliest aspects. In her in
terest in the world beautiful, as his art
revealed it to her. all sense of her own
personality was lost, until one day he
expressed a desire to see her in a ball
gown.
With sudden consciousness that his
interest was not altogether impersonal
came a yearning to nibble again, if only
at the fringe of the polite world. Of
course, he would be nt the hop at the
Fort.—the cynosure of all eyes, with his
Apollo head and his air of medieval
knight errantry. And he was there;
it's related, moreover, that he had eyes
tor none of tho beautiful women who
graced that auspicious occasion, after
the model made her debut in the Raget
gown.
"You would be surprised," wrote
Montant about this time to a chum of
the Latin Quarter, "to see how desper
ately infatuated I am—l, a globe-trot
ter of forty odd years seasoning—with
the liveliest child in all the wide world.
Hut when you see my salon picture,
'After the Hall,' perhaps you will un
derstand."
That little journey round the world
ended at London, where there was
much curiosity in certain circles to see
Montant's American wife. Always a
clever draughtsman, a strong, original
I rolorist. his rise as a fashionable por
trait painter practically dates from his
I marriage. Settling down at Mayfatr,
i his skill was richly supplemented by
Pauline's beauty and sympathy and
1 Lucretla Dctmar'a diplomacy, which
! soon made him known at Marlborough
House. From Mayfair to Newport is
rapid transit. To sit to Montant was
the acme of pood form when Pauline
made her Becor.ddebut at a Patriarch's!
|As the beaux monde encircled her, vy
. ing for a smile, a word, a dance, Pau
line recalled the revelation that had
come to her that night In the white and
; gold dressing room. Rut it was Mrs.
Colonel Raget who was first graciously
to recognize in her triumph as Madame
Montant. her girlhood's Laurel
Crowned Defeat.
Copyright, 189S, by Baeheller Syndicate,
Shed His Blood for Tasso.
A certain Italian gentleman, 'tis said,
fought thirteen duels to establish the
superiority of Tasso over Aristotle. In
the thirteenth encounter the champion
of Tasso was mortally wounded. As he
lay dying he moaned: "And, after all,
I haven't read either of them." And
his opponent sympathetically replied:
"Nor have L"'
LOS ANGELES HERALDi SUNDAY MORNING, FEBRUARY 27, 1898.
GOSSIP OF THE
GREATER GOTHAM.
Activities of Bolton Hall for
Single Tax and the Long
shoremen's Union.
A MAN OF THE PEOPLE
Amusing Story About Dr.
Parkhurst and a Veteran
Green Goods Man.
New York, Feb. 17.—Dr. John Hall,
whose recent troubles with the Fifth
Avenue Presbyterian Church have
brought him more prominently before
the public than he has been at any
time since the question of his wedding
fees was aired in print, Is always well
worth the consideration of newspaper
readers. Tet he Is not one whit more
Interesting than his son, Bolton Hall,
albeit the latter Is not nearly so well
known as his eloquent, godly father.
Bolton Hall is a lawyer by profession,
and diligent and prosperous therein.
But he Is far more enthusiastic as a
single tax agitator and as an active of
ficial in the Longshoremen's Union
than In the trying of court cases and
the drawing of legal documents; and
his office in lower Broadway is recog
nized as one of the centers both by
those who accept the tenets of the late
Henry George, and those who load and
unload ocean-going ships.
Bolton Hall's position with regard to
the Longshoremen's Union, of which
he has for some years been treasurer,
is unique In the true meaning of
the term. Other men of means, or
those engaged in professional life,
have essayed to give practical help
to labor organizations ln many In
stances. Hut. so far as I know,
Bolton Hall is the only man not orig
inally a wage earner. In this country
at least, who has beer, able to win the
entire confidence of organized body of
workingmen. This he has secured to
such an extent that he has not only
been put in complete control of the
Longshoremen's finances, hut is con
sulted with regard to all matters of
vital Importance.
A MAN OF THE PEOPLE.
Of course this state of affairs could
| not have been brought about had not
; Mr. Hall been able enter thoroughly
i into their point of view and sympathize
fully with their aspirations. Most men
lof Mr. Hall's social, professional and
'[ finnnoinl standing find it impossible to
[ see things as the wage earners see
(them, or to understand their hopes and
. fears; and it is not surprising that this
ils so. Nor is it to be wondered at that
'■ wnrkingmen perceive the truth at onr-e
when one who lacks real know ledge
and sympathy "stoops" to assist them.
At the very beginning of Mr. Hall's ef
forts ln the longshoremen's behalf, they
saw clearly that he did not feel that he
was getting down to a lower level than
' his own in seeking to befriend them,
and they were overjoyed to have the
I help of a thoroughly practical man of
affairs In conducting the money de
partment of their organization.
His object in helping to promulgate
single tax notions is based on exactly
i the same impulses as his work In be
half of the longshoremen. It would be
impossible for the most pronounced op
ponent of the George theories to listen
for five minutes to Mr. Hall's argu
ments thereon without being convinced
that he honestly believes their adoption
would be productive of great good to
the people. His sincerity is beyond all
i question, and his words have undoubt
edly won the adherence of thousands.
| PREACHING THE SINGLE TAX.
Mr. Hall's chief method of spreading
what he considers tho true economic
gospel would have met with much op
position a few yenrs age and is not al
ways received with cordiality to-day.
He was the originator of the scheme
for the delivery of single tax addresses
|in the churches on Sunday mornings,
and he has himself preached many ser
mons on the land question,—though 1
believe he is not an ordained minister.
A large number of Mr. Hall's sermons
have been delivered In Canada, where
the newspapers have almost invariably
given much space to reporting them,
' But he hns also spoken from many pul
pits in the I'nited States, including that
of the King street branch of the Fifth
Avenue Presbyterian church. Of course
ihe preached there by the permission ol
his father, and I understand that this
was one of the minor points of criticism
raised by those who have not been
wholly satisfied with Dr. Hall of late,
though the New York newspapers do
not seem to have heard about It
Bolton Hall believes In extending the
circle of single tax believers by every
possible means, Including even what
may be termed the "hurrah boys"
method, and he was a strong factor ln
the Delaware campaign of a year or
two ago, during which there were some
arrests of Single Taxers because of the
noise with which they carried on their
work. He is confident that the doc
trine will eventually prevail, though he
admits that such populous centres as
New York will probably be much hard
er to bring into line than the less com
pact communities of the Weßt and
South.
A PARKHURST STORY.
I heard a story the other day about
the Rev. Dr. Parkhurst, concerning
whom little h 3 been heard since his
return from abroad, but who may soon
again take his place in publicity's white
light. This story may or may not have
been printed; if It has, It Is old enough
to be new. Briefly told, it runs about
like this:
The Lexow Committee's Inquiry was
on and Dr. Parhurst, W. Travers Je
rome,—nephew of the late Larry Je
rome and related to Lady Randolph
Churchill—were listening to certain
revelations, made by George Appo, a
reformed bunco steerer and green goods
man, with regard to various phases of
police protection. They were ln the of
fice of John W. Goff, now Recorder.
\Then Appo had told his tale Goff
turned to his desk, Jerome picked up ,
a newspaper, and Dr. Parkhurst sat
still, thinking on what he had lust
heard. The silence was broken by Ap
po.
! "I beg your pardon. Dr. Parkhurst,"
! said the bunco man, "but could you let
Ime have two tens for a live? I'm out
lof change."
"Why—why certainly. Mr. Appo," re
i plied the minister, after a moment's
hesitation. "To be pure. Here you are
—two tens for a five."
The little proceeding had attracted
the attention of Messrs. Goff and Je
rome, but they snid not a word, though
their lookii were so peculiar that the
good doctor smelled the rat in a minute.
Meanwhile Appo had spilled out of the
room, though not beyond the precincts
:of the outer office. There Dr. Parkhurst
found the clever rogue.
"Oh! Mr. Appo," the doctor inquired
anxiously, "didn't I Just give you two
i tens for a five Just now—for a five,
mind?"
"Why certainly," replied Appo, grin
ning and returning the money, "and
wasn't that what I asked you for?"
Dr. Parkhurst Joined as heartily as
; any one in the laugh that followed.
I Copyright, 1898, by Bacheller Syndicate.
" Two Tens for a Five."
NEW WATER ROUTE TO HUDSON'S BAY
Col. T. C. Scoble Gives Interesting Details
About an Enterprise Destined to Have
a Marked Effect on Commerce.
The return of the British man-of-war
"Diana" from n cruise In and about
Hudson's Bay has caused the final ap
proval of the project of the Manitoba
& Hudson's Bay Navigation Company.
This project is nothing less than mak
ing a commercial waterway from Win
nipeg in Manitoba direct to the At
lantic.
Of all persons who have been Inter
ested in bringing this matter to the
position It now occupies, the efforts of
none have been more notable than
Map of New Route to Hudson's Bay.
those of Col. T. C. Scoble. None, there
fore, can describe better than he the
scope and purpose of an enterprise
which, It Is believed, is destined to have
a marked effect upon the commerce of
the Dominion of Canada and incident
ally of the t'nlted States; and the fol
lowing article, prepared by him, will be
read with no little Interest, being the
first absolutely truthful and accurate
statement regarding the project yet
given:
"The proposition to connect Winnipeg
with Hudson's Bay by the Improve
ment of the existing waterways is
neither novel nor chimerical. The Red
River of the north, flowing for 600
miles, from south of the International
boundary to Its northern outlet on
Lake Winnipeg, presents, with the
lake, a navigable stretch of nearly a
thousand miles, broken only by the
rapids on the Red River.--* hiatus of
not more than ten miles altogether.
"The Nelson, or Sen River, as the
eastern branch Is called. Is navigable
for ?.8" 2 miles farther,—to the point of
departure on the proposed chain of
communication. Thence north-easterly
to Hudson's Bay there exist navigable
stretches of 330 miles, only broken by
surmountable obstacles embraced In a
total distance of less than 50 miles.
The existing open channels are both
wide and deep, and the banks are uni
formly of sufficient height to admit of
increasing the depth of water by means
of dams, where this is necessary, in or
der to group the rapids for canals and
locks to overcome the descent.
"It is not proposed that a greater
depth than seven feet of water shall be
at present provided, as that would be
sufficient to float barges of 300 tons
capacity, such as have recently been
constructed at Cleveland for use on the
upper lakes and Erie Canal. These
barges are of whaleback pattern, and
are said to draw five feet six inches of
[ water, loaded.
"The canal Is strictly a popular high
way upon which all vessels have a right
of way, the loads upon which are regu
lated by government in proportion to
cost and capacity. No combination can
control the cost and transporation over
Its length, which depends upon individ
ual vessel owners, and Is regulated al
together by the number of vessels com
peting for the traffic. Unlike a railway,
therefore. It cannot be operated for the
sole benefit of stockholders.
"Not only Is it in itself an enormous
factor in transporation, bringing; goods
at the lowest cost of transport, but by
Its very existence it exercises an imme
diate and dominant Influence upon
railway charges, which must bear com
parison with its rates. Canals do not
obviate the necessity for railroads,
but rather the contrary, as has been
proved In numberless Instances both
In the United States and In Europe.
Where canals have first existed,
railways are soon built paralleling
their route, competing for the traffic
that the existence of the canal has
created. It may be said, therefore, that
canals create railways rather than de
stroy their usefulness.
"For over one hundred years the traf
fic of the Hudson Bay Company be
tween Norway House and Tork Fac
tory was carried on In flat-bottomed
boats capable of carrying a load of
four or five tons, with a crew of nine
men. These boats draw from three feet
to three feet, six inches of water when
loaded, and are provided with a mast
and square sails, like lighters, as well
as with oars. When going up a rapid
current, a line Is attached to the boat
which is pulled or tracked up by four
men walking on the shore, while the
remainder of the crew pole the boat.
These are locally known as Tork boats.
"After leaving the Sea River about
three miles below Sea River Falls, on the
downward Journey by the loaded boats,
which are unloaded and tracked up
when going against the current, a small
river emptying from Hare Lake is en
tered and followed for about thirty
miles in an easterly direction until the
waterway comes to an abrupt termina
tion at the height of land known local
ly as the Painted Stone Portage, twen
ty-nine yards in width and with a sum
' mlt of about four feet midway between
the eastern and western channel.
"It Is a curious fact that the exist
ence of a wide and deep channel on
each side of such a narrow elevation
has not hitherto attracted much re
mark, although It presents the singular
phenomenon of two full grown rivers or
waterways, one with a current setting
eastward and the other with a current
setting westward, each apparently
without reason for existence from any
drainage area, the head waters of both
of which are practically at the same
level. - -
"The western channel of the Echl
manilsh (signifying In Cree "the river
that runs both ways") la followed
through the alternate wide and narrow
channels for 20 miles until Robinson's
Portage is reached, which is three
quarters of a mile In width, with a de
scent to Franklin's Lake of about 45
feet; thence for R0 miles the route con
tinues through a rocky gorge with a
wall from 70 to 80 feet high, past sev
eral rapids, across Pine Lake and
Windy Lake, to the channel leading In
to Oxford Lake, where four rapids and
one fall of Aye feet obstruct the pas
sage; thence across Oxford and Back
Lake by Trout River to Knee Lake,
from which point the route lies through
Jack River, with five rapids, Swampy
Lake, Hill River, Steel River, and Haze
River to York Factory. In the down
ward Journey It Is necessary to haul tho
boat over three portages only: vis.: at
the Painted Stone, 29 yards, at Robin
son's Portage, 1.315 yards, and at Trout
River Fall, 24 yards, respectively. In
the upward Journey there are twenty
one deml-charges or tracking places,
where a portage of forty yards must he
made at Island Portage. The distance
over this route from Lake Winnipeg to
York Factory Is stated to be 372 geo
graphical miles.
"There are only 51 miles altogether In
the whole of that distance, requiring
any Improvement to make it navigable
from the city of Winnipeg to the Hudson
Bay. Ido not think all of that requires
canalllng. This Includes all the portions
where obstructions have to be removed,
such as blasting shoals and removing
boulders. Of course, that opens up an
entirely new field."
Copyright, 1898, by Bacheller Syndicate.
The Corsican Vendetta.
The Corsloan Was no confidence l«i
legal Justice, and generally takes the
law In his own hands. An insult is Of
fered, or a polMloal dispute arises; whait
is eosner than the discharge of a gun or
a stab with a dagger? The result Is a
mock trial; the assassin Is acquitted
because of insufficient evidence, but ha
frs often shot to death as he leaves the
courtroom. If not, a cross Is generally
drawn upon the door of his house. The
cross is a threat of death, and the
threatened one need expect no quarter.
The vendetta netther sleeps nor knows
Where *t may stop. It Is not confined to
two persons. The quarrels of indi
viduals are taken up by whole famlUe*.
Even collateral branches are not ex
empt, and women must take their
chances with them. Indeed, revenge Is
more artistically complete when the
Mow fells upon the beautiful and gift
ed. Threatened persons remain shut up
for months, or even years, In their
houses, built, as all Corstcan houses
are, like a fortress. The ground floor
Is occupied by the stalble; and the first
floor Is reached by an external ladder,
overlooked by a loophole, from which
a cannon/ball or a heavy stone can be
dropped on the head of an unwelcome
visitor. If the voluntary prisoner wish
es to go out for a moment to breathe
the fresh air on the threshold, a scout
goes bp Pone and reconnoitres. And this
death in life continues unttl they meet
their doom or the vendetta if formally
closed by a written treaty between the
parties.
Fed Their Young.
A Pennsylvania farmer whole cutting
wood saw two foxes remaining near a
fallen tree. Upon approaching the tree
he discovered a targe limb with a cav
ity, ln which were two half-grown
foxes. Neither was able to walk and
evidently had never been out of their
place of imprisonment. It seems prob
able that the foxes crawled into tha
hole ln the limb when very young and
remained there until they had grown,
so that escape was Impossible. They
had been fed by the old foxes through
j a very small aperture in the limb.