Birmingham state herald., December 15, 1895, Part Three, Image 17

About Birmingham state herald. (Birmingham, Ala.) 1895-1897

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«*»- BIRMINGHAM STATE HERALD. >**■_
VOLUME 22: BIRMINGHAM, ALA., SUNDAY, DECEMBER 15, 1895.-TWENTY PAGES NUMBER. 81.
TWENTY THOUSAND KILLED
Fearful Record of Snake Bites in
India.
A DEATH EVERY HALF HOUR
The Cobra, the Karait and the Dabola Are the
Cause of Most of the Deaths—Other
Venomous Reptiles.
Kvery hnlf hour In India, on the aver
age, a death occurs from snake poison
ing. The total number of deaths from
. this cause in a day is about fifty, and in
a year about 20,000. Fortunately for the
maintenance of the British power in In
dia, these casualties are confined almost
. entirely to the poorer and more ignorant
r natives.
r These natives are themselves largely to
blame for the frequency with which they
are stricken down by the poisonous rep
tile. They habitually go about with bare
feet, making so little noise that the
I snake is surprised and bites, whereas if
it had been warned of the native's ap
* proach it would have slunk harmlessly
out of the way.
India may be fairly called the home of
snakes, but all of these are by no means
poisonous. It is easy to distinguish be
tween those which are harmful and those
which are not. Generally the shape of a
poisonous' snake's head is oval, and in
the case of the venomous colubrldae
/there is a scale in front of the eye which
- extends down to the scale in which the
nostril is situated. This Indicates almost
certainly that the species is poisonous.
If the snake is marked with white rings
throughout its length, which is usually
about 3 feet, you may feel sure that you
are in possession of a karait.
< Karaits are very inconvenient animals
to have about the house. They are so
ciable creatures and are fond of taking
up a residence in human habitations.
They have an uncomfortable habit of
dropping upon the bed out of the thatch
With which the bungalows, or hodses.
are roofed. They also lurk in the tops of
window sashes, coil themselves up be
hind the basin on the washstand, and,
when the chance offers, will ensconce
themselves snugly in the privacy of a
bureau drawer.
X llcy Me LUU Siupiu Ul IWU icniut&iv
get out of the way, and the result Is an
appalling number of deaths from their
bites. Throughout northern India the
karalts are so abundant that one has to
be very cautious In walking across his
room at night for fear of treading upon
one of these unbidden guests in the dark.
Two other snakes In India are more
deadly than the karait. These are the
cobra, which Is almost as common, and
the hamadryas, which is quite rare.
These creatures are both related to the
karait, and can be distinguished from
harmless snakes by the same.signs. You
need never fear injury from the cobra If
you treat him with even a small degree
of consideration. He will retire at the
approach of a human being if he has
time enough. But his temper Is irritable,
and when he does bite he places you im
mediately beyond the reach of medical
aid. The only thing that will save yon
Is to quickly cut out the wounded flesh
spot with a knife.
Once in India a man who was cutting
wood was bitten on the finger by a cobra.
!At once he raised the ax In hts other hand
and chopped the finger clean off. He
began to regret his act, so, thinking he
might save his finger, he recovered the
severed piece and placed it in position.
The poison penetrated Into his system
through the rejoined blood vessels, with
the result that he died.
A woman was bitten In the hand by a
cobra while she was nursing her child.
Both child and mother died. This story
has been recorded officially by a qualified
The poison of the cohra has been found
to be almost as deadly when dried and
ground into powder as when injected by
the reptile Itself. Native Indian physi
cians use the poison in minute <tloses in
various maladies, but the results are not
encouraging. The method of extracting
the poison is very interesting. A cobra
Js placed in an earthen pot and a banana
dropped in after it. The lid is then tied
down and the pot heated over a fire. The
uncomfortable rise In temperature causes
the prisoner to become irritable, and it
vents its wrath on the banana, biting It
again and again in its paroxysms. The
fruit is afterwards carefully dried and
Js then ready for use. It is said to be a
powerful stimulant.
The hamadryas is the largest and most
formidable of the venomous snakes.
Members of this species often attain a
length of 14 feet, and they are so fierce
that they will sometimes attack, and
even pursue anyone who ventures too
near their nests. They have been known
to Impede travel by blocking the road
through a Jungle and refusing to move.
The hamadryas feed largely upon other
snakes, and from this circumstance his
presence in India is not an unmitigated
evil. They are frequently mistaken for
a harmless rock snake, and natives of
India have been known to receive a
hamadryas into their family under the
Impression that the reptile was not pois
onous.
The karalt. the cobra and the hama
dryas arp all colubrine snakes, or asps,
and are supposed to be closely related
to the creature by means of which Cleo
patra committed suicide.
India also has a plentiful supply of vt
perifie snakes. These creatures can al
ways be recognized without difficulty by
their broad, swollen heads and their
necks covered with tiny scales. Vipers
are divided Into pit vipers, character
ized by the possession of a little hole or
pit easily visible on the side of the head
between the eye and the nostril, and the
true vipers, which are without this or
gan. The pit vipers of India are related
to the rattlesnake, though they do not
have rattles; nor are they nearly so
deadly as the rattlesnake, though their
bite is very painful. They are viviparous,
bringing forth their young alive, instead
of laying eggs.
One of the most dangerous of the true
vipers of India is the dabola. This is
colored a bright yellow, and is very fierce
in disposition, its bite almost always
causing fatal results. It Is. however,
very lazy, and, instead of advancing or
retreating when it happens to hear some
one coming, maintains its position and
hisses loudly.
MOTOR 8 TOJRUN SHIPS.
Ocean Vessels Before Dong Will Be Pro
pelled by Electricity.
Pittsburg Dispatch.
Ten years ago a well-known professor
of electrical engineering in a leading
American college, who had tested almost
every form of the storage battery then
made, was asked whether he saw any
future for the accumulator. His reply
was: "The more I see of storage bat
tertes the more I am convinced that they
are impracticable, apa mat they can nev
er be made* '»omifterciaily valuable.” To
day the storage battery is working its
way into aiq&ost every branch of electri
cal work, and if certain promises whicn
recent improvements in construction
seem to give are fulfilled it is on the eve
of its crowning triumph—recognition as
a practicable motive power for the com
mercial propulsion of street cars.
Many electrical engineers have just as
little faith in the possibility of driving
ships across the Atlantic by electricity
as the college professor had as to the
future of the storage battery; but, on the
other hand, invo .ns are now being
perfected which w.il effect an extraordi
nary and almost incredible revolution in
ship propulsion, and those who know
what is being done in this field, which is
not yet made public, realize that to name
ten years as the period within which
electric ships will cross the Atlantic is to
allow a very liberal margin. This will
probably be effected by machines giving
enormous economy of power, but there
is already talk of carrying out the idea
with existing appliances.
A. S. Hickley, a pioneer in American
electrical launch construction, holds that
the reason vessels crossing the Atlantic
make such comparatively slow time is
that they cannot drive their propellers
fast enough with tht amount of power
behind them without shaking the boat
to pieces. He proposes to put in an
ocean steamship a powerful engine, say
a compound condensing engine of slow
speed type, connected to a multipolar
generator, giving, say, 500 bolts potential.
Directly on the shafts of the propellers
he would put the armatures of the
motors, which are to drive the
propellers. These can readily be
made to run from 600 to 900
revolutions per minute, whereas the
engine is probably making only 60 to SO.
Tn this way not only would there be a
considerable acceleration of speed, but
the vibration of the ship would be almost
entirely prevented, and the dipping in
and out of the water of the propellers in
rough weather would not affect the main
engine and jar the vessel from stem to
stern as it now does.
DEADLY SHOTS FIRED BY THE SUN.
In One Instanoe an Innocent Man Was Sen
tenced to Be Hanged.
Cincinnati Enquirer.
In a recent paper appeared an account
of a strange accident, in which a man
was killed y the discharge of a gun while
lying asleep on a lounge in his room, the
weapon being discharged by reflected
rays of the sun falling upon the cart
ridge chamber of the lirearm.
Since the publication of the story a
correspondent from York, Pa., writes
concerning the accident and refers to a
similar case, in which, through the ef
forts of a clever Cincinnati lawyer
named O. C. Wallis, the person accused
of the murder and sentenced to be
hanged was set at liberty, the circum
stantial evidence on which he was con
victed being entirely exploded by a wit
nessed demonstration as to how the ac
cident really occurred.
The York correspondent referred to
volume 13 of the Criminal Law Magazine,
page 607, on which a full account of the
case appears. The case was that of the
state of Tennessee against Avery, tried
In Henry county, that state, an is one
of the most remarkable in the history
of criminal jurisprudence.
In June, 1887, Charles Ensley, the
cousin of a man of the name of Avery,
was killed In his room while lying on a
lounge about 3 o’clock in the afternoon.
The weapon which caused the death was
a small rifle, sending a 32-caliber ball
through Ensley’s brain. No one was in
the house at the time but Ensley. An
empty rifle was found lying on a rack
on a wall of the room In which the kill
ing occurred and the bullet fitted the
tube.
Avery was arrested for the crime, as
he was the only living close relative to
Ensley, and by his death profited to the
amount of about $100,000. Avery was
tried, pleaded not guilty, but was con
victed of murder in the first degree and
sentenced to be hanged. He appealed
to the supreme court and engaged Mr.
Wallis to defend him. The supreme
court remanded the case back to the cir
cuit court on technical errors. Two mis
trials were brought about and then came
the strangest part of the story. The
brilliant Wallis struck the keynote to
the mystery. In August, 1891, he had the
rifle loaded and hung on the wall. A
white sheet with the form of a man
marked on it was placed in exactly the
position occupied by Ensley when lying
asleep, and a heavy cut-glass pitcher of
water like the one found in the room
was placed on the shelf above. The
temperature was 90 degrees in the shade,
one of the hottest days of the year.
The pitcher acted as a sun glass, and
the hot rays of the sun shining through
the water were refracted directly on the
cartridge chamber of the rifle.
Eight witnesses were in the room and
a few minutes after 3 o’clock a puff and
a report occurred and the ball struck
the outlined form back of the ear In the
exact location where Ensley was shot,
and the theory of circumstantial evi
dence went to pieces. The incident, be
ing witnessed and sworn to, readily ex
plained Itself to the Jury.
A Missionaries’Museum.
Boston Herald.
One of the most Interesting museums
In Boston has been removed to Hartford
—the museum of curiosities collected
during seventy-five years by the mis
sionaries of the American board, and for
many years displayed in cabinets in a
little dark room In the Congregational
house. The collection is to be deposited
In the library of the Hartford Theologi
es.'! seminary, and Boston will know it
no more.
Many of the objects are worthless—
unless from a sentimental point of view
—pebhles from Palestine, bits of wood or
stone broken from temples and the like—
but others were of the rarest rarity, in
terest and scientific value and some were
unique. There were little' Idols from In
dia, models Illustrating life and man
ufacture in China or Japan, and savage
arms and Implements from the South
seas. Unlike many similar objects seen
nowadays, they were genuine “docu
ments’’ of savage or barbarous life be
fore it had been touched and Influenced
by western civilization. To the eth
nographer they were Invaluable.
Particularly interesting were the idols
and curiosities from the Sandwich isl
ands, all of them obtained by the earlier
missionaries. They Included the great
Idol of the Hawaiian war god, one of the
most interesting things In its way ever
brought to America. The Hawaiian por
tion of the collection was not sent to
Hartford, but through the influence of
Mr. Gorham D. Gilman? the Hawaiian
consul In Boston, it has gone to enrich
the Bishop museum of Hawaiian antiqui
ties in Honolulu.
Wages of Sugar Trust Employes.
Kansas City Star.
The sugar trust, one of the especial
beneficiaries of the United States, has
closed all of the Philadelphia refineries,
throwing 2000 men out of work. Will
McKinley or some other high tarifT
champion explain why it Is that the espe
cially protected Industries often have less
steady work for their men than others
which are not similarly favored?
A COLONY (^PENSIONERS
Something About the New Town
of Fitzgerald, Ga.
SETTLED BY OLD SOLDIERS
Of the Union Army—The People Now on the
Ground Represent Thirty-five
States.
Jacksonville Times-Union.
An old soldiers’ colony has been estab
lished in Irwin county, Georgia, at the
crossing of the Brunswick and Western
and the Georgia Southern and Florida
railroads, and where a few weeks ago
there was nothing but the virgin pine
forest there are now lfiOO people.
This colony Is made up of old soldiers,
who draw pensions from the government,
and their families. It was originated by
P. H. Fitzgerald of Indianapolis, Ind., a
pension agent who. for the past three
years, has been working with this object
in view.
"The colonists have decided to call
their magic city Fitzgerald," said a
prominent railroad man. It is near the
postoffice, formerly known as Swan, in
■■♦rwin county, tVenty-live miles north
east of Tifton, but now the postotlice Is
known as Fitzgerald. The colonists pur
chased seventy acres of pine land, and
have plotted a city of 1000 acres, which
is rapidly being settled by pensioners of
the United States government. In Sep
tember the town site was in the pine
woods, unmarked. It is now being
cleared and will soon be built up. lwi
days ago there were 120 colonists at Fitz
gerald. Bast Thursday, when I wa$
there, there were 1500 people living at
Fitzgerald. By December 1 there will be
at least 5000 people there, and by January
1, ISOfi, it. is expected that 10.000 people
i . .... » !.■.A In tnurn
The people now on the ground repre
sent thirty-five states and others are
coming from nearly every state in the
union. F.aeh ot these persons draws a
pension of from *20 to *80 per month.
The colony expects to draw a total in
come of *I,000,000 per year, which will
be spent In this locality. The colonists
have applied to the legislature of Geor
gia for a charter for -the city of Fitzger
ald. and they intend to shortly have the
county site located there. A court house
Is to be built and also an opera house.
There aro now already in Fitzgerald four
butcher shops, six restaurants and two
barber shops. Other places of business
are to be established. The residents of
the new town are now living in tents
and slab huts awaiting the allotment of
bonds, which will take place in a few
days. The building lots will be assigned
and the settlers will then tear down the
shanties and build comfortable houses.
The average cost of these houses will be
*800.
The larger portion of the settlers came
from west of the Mississippi river and
traveled to Fitzgerald In covered wagons.
They are a fine body of people and are
ready to begin work at once.
The plan is a co-operative on-', and each
person will select an individual lot. The
alternate lots in the town site are to be
sold to outsiders, who will have no inter
est in the land originally selected.
Negotiations are now pending with the
Western Union Telegraph company, and
it is expected that a telegraph station
will soon be established.
Several thousand acres outside of the
town tracts are to be plotted Into lots of
five acres each to be transformed into
gardens and truck farms by the colonists,
and later a large percentage of the lands
is to be cleared up and used as truck
farms. The colonists at present on the
ground are perfectly satisfied. The wo
men say they are contented, and the
prospects are that the colony will be a
big success.
A majority of the colonists have lived
in a cold climate and have raised wheat.
The extreme cold weather and the low
price of the cereal have discouraged
them. They have removed to a warm
climate, and all are satisfied. They have
an ample income, and care nothing for
crops at present. It is in reality a pen
sioners’ city._
LINCOLN’S HEROIC FEAT.
How He Risked His Life and Saved Two
Comrades from Drowning.
McClure’s Magazine for December.
The flatboat was done in about a
month, and Mr. Lincoln and his friends
prepared to leave Sangamon. Before he
started, however, he was the hero of an
adventure so thrilling that he won new
laurels in the community. Mr. Roll, who
was a witness to the whole exciting
scene, told our representative the story,
as follows:
"It was the spring following the winter
of the deep snow. Walter Carman, John
Seamon, myself, and at times others of
the Carman boys, had helped Abe in
building the boat, and when we had fin
ished we went to work th make a ‘dug
out ' or canoe, to be used as a small boat
with the flat. The river was very high,
fairly ‘booming.’ After the ‘dug-out’ was
ready to launch we took It to the edge of
the water and made ready to ‘let her go,’
when Walter Carman and John Seamon
Jumped in as the boat struck the water,
each one anxious to be the first to get a
ride. As they shot out from the shore
they found they were unable to make any
headway against the strong current.
Lincoln shouted to them to 'head up
stream’ and 'work back to shore,’ but
they found themselves powerless against
the stream. At last they began to pull
for the wreck of an old flatboat. Just
as they reached it Seamon made a grab
and caught hold of the stanchion, when
the canoe capsized, leaving Seamon cling
ing to the old timber, and throwing Car
man into the stream. It carried him
down with the speed of a mill-race. Lin
coln raised his voice above the roar of
the flood and yelled to Carman to swim
for an elm tree which stood almost in the
channel, which the action of the high
water changed. Carman, being a good
swimmer, succeeded in catching a branch
and pulled himself up out of the water,
which was very cold and had almost
chilled him to death; and there he sat
shivering and chattering in the tree.
Lincoln, seeing Carman safe, called out
to Seamon to let go the stanchion and
swim for the tree. With some hesitation
he obeyed and struck out, while Lincoln
cheered and directed him from the bank.
As Seamon neared the tree he made one
grab for a branch, and, missing it, went
under the water. Another desperate
lunge was successful, and he climbed up
beside Carman.
"It was a cold, raw April day, and there
was great danger of the men becoming
benumbed and falling into the water.
Lincoln called out to them to keep their
spirits up and he would save them. The
village had been alarmed by this time,
and many people had come down to the
bank. Lincoln procured a' rope and tied it
4
to a log. He called all hands to come
and help roll the mg Into the water, and
after this had been done he, with the as
sistance of several others, towed it some
distance up the stream. A daring young
fellow by the name of Jim Dorrell then
took his seat on the end of the log, and
It was pushed out Into the current with
the expectation that It would be carried
down stream against the tree where Sea
men and Carman were. The log was well
directed and went straight to the tree,
but Jim, in his impatience to help his
friends, fell a victim to his good inten
tions. Making a frantic grab at a branch,
he raised himself off the log and it was
swept from under him by the raging wa
ter, and he soon joined the other two
victims upon their forlorn perch. The
excitement on shore increased, and al
most the whole population of the village
gathered on the river bank. Lincoln
bad the log pulled up the stream, and,
securing another piece of rope, called to
the men in the tree to catch it if they
could when he should reach the tree.
He then straddled the log himself and
gave the word to push out into the
stream. When he dashed into the tree
he threw the rope over the stump of a
broken limb and let it play until he
broke the speed of the log and gradually
drew it back to the tree, holding It there
until the three now nearly frozen men
had climbed down and seated themselves
astride. He then gave orders to the peo
ple on the shore to hold fast to the end
of the rope, which was tied to the log,
and leaving his rope In the tree, he
turned the log adrift, and the force of
the current acting against the taut rope
swung it around against the hank, and
all on board were saved. The excited
people, who had watched the dangerous
experiment with alternate hope and fea.r,
now broke into cheers for Abe Lincoln
and praises for his brave act. This ad
venture made quite a hero of him along
the Sangamon, and the people never
tired of telling of the exploit^
Sacred running oxen.
They Are the Greatest Curiosities Among
Ceylon’s Domesticated Animals.
St. Louis Republic.
One of the greatest curiosities among
the domesticated animals of Ceylon is a
breed of cattle known to the zoologists as
the "sacred running oxen." They are
the dwarfs of the whole ox family, the
largest specimens of the species never
exceeding 30 inches or 2% feet in height.
One sent to the Marquis of Canterbury
in the year 1K91, and which Is still living
and believed to be somewhere near 10
years of age, is only 23 inches high and
weighs but 109% pounds. In Ceylon they
are used for making quick trips across
tne country wun
other light loads, and it is said that four
of them oaiTpull a driver of a two-wheel
cart and a 200-pound load of miscellane
ous matter sixty to seventy miles per
day. They keep up a constant swinging
trot or run, and have been known to
travel 100 miles in a day and night with
out either food or water. No one knows
anything concerning the origin of this
peculiar breed of miniature cattle. They
have been known on the island of Ceylon
and in other Buddhistic countries for
more than 1000 years. One story told
to account for their origin is to the ef
fect that they were originally cattle of
the ordinary height and bulk; that a
Buddhistic priest was once imprisoned
In a stone building, one-half of which
was used for a cattle stable. During the
night he managed to dislodge one of the
stoneS in his prison wall. The stone in
question was exactly 2% feet square.
It was almost daylight when this apos
tle of Buddha felt the air rush through
the opening he had made and realized
that he was all but free. He knew that
ho would be unable to get out of the en
emy's country on foot, so he prayed that
he might be provided with a beast of
burden that would safely carry him to
the homes of the followers of Buddha.
No sooner had he done thls-than one of
the large oxen which had been quietly
feeding in a stall at his side walked
leisurely to the 30 inch square opening
and miraculously passed through (V
The priest followed and mounted the
now' sacredly dwarfed beast and was
soon safe in his own country. Since that
time, so the story goes, there has been
a breed of "sacred running oxen" in Cey
lon. which never grow too tall to pass
through an opening the size of that made
In the prison wall by Buddha’s represen
tative on the night when he miraculously
escaped on the back of the first of the
famous dwarfed oxen.
VERY FRUGAL PEERS.
Members ot-the English Peerago Do Not
Squander Their Wealth Needlessly,
i There is no one in the English peerage
who has the reputation of driving a
closer bargalh and possessing a keener
eye to the main chance than Ihe Duke of
Westminster, says the Brooklyn Citizen.
The young Duke of Bedford, who runs
his grace of Westminster very close in
the point of wealth, distinguished him
self the other day In the London police
court by the animosity which he display
ed in prosecuting the poor itinerant ven
ders of fruits and vegetables who had at
tempted to dispose of their wares In the
neighborhood of Covent Garden market,
which belongs to him and is one of his
principal sources of revenue. He claim
ed that by hawking their wares on the
border line of the market they Interfered
with those who rented stalls therein
from him. And now we have Lord Ro
berts, the richest peer in the west of
England, and possessed of the mines in
Cornwall, which alone yield him over
$250,000 a year, getting the best of a
brother peer, the popular Earl of Hard
wlcke. by foreclosing a mortgage which
had hitherto been considered a friendly
agreement. Of course Lord Robarts Is
within his strict legal rights, but by his
altogether unexpected foreclosure he has
managed to acquire Wlmpole hall, the
ancestral mansion and country seat of
the Earl of Hardwick, as well as the
large estate in connection therewith, for
one-third the value at which it was of
ficially appraised three or four years
ago.
He Walked.
Washington Post.
There is a man up on Connecticut ave
nue whose coachman has been in the
fatftiiy so long that he really feels as If
theVlace belonged to him. He felt called
upon to attend a funeral—the funeral of
sortie personal friend of his—early in the
fail, and as an especial mark of respect
for the deceased he asked the head of
the house to allow his carriage to be
driven in the funeral procession. The
head of the house good-naturedly con
sented, and the coachman, with a colored
friend, rolled off to the obsequies. That
afternoon there was a football game
somewhere in the suburbs, and the head
of the house, who is Inordinately fond
of the game, went. He went on foot, but
J\jst as he trudged In through the gate a
carriage passed him going in. It was his
own carriage, with his man on the box
and four mourners inside. They had set
out for the funeral, but the procession
happened to pass the football grounds
and their sporting blood couldn't resist
th*“ temptation to see the gafne. They sat
in the carriage in luxury and watched
th<> game, while the man who owned the
carriage sat on a pleblan pine bench,
and, and—well, you know what you’d be
likely to say yourself. ...
HEW NAMEJOR GARTERS
Society Ladies Now Call Them
“Silken Circlets.”
ONE OF THE LATEST FADS
Is to Present Young Ladies With Artistic
‘‘Hose Supporters"—Some of the
Latest Parisian Sty las.
New fork Press.
The fad which a few years ago origi
nated in gay Paris among the sterner
sex of making gifts to lady friends of
fine silken garters In the most exquisite
designs Is becoming a very popular inno
vation in this city. Formerly the very
mention of garters was considered de
cidedly mal-apropos, and the person
using such “vulgar” expression was gen
erally tabooed from the social ranks.
But tl}is thing has changed. The word
"garter” is no longer sacred. This new
fad of making gifts of garters has found
much favor in the social set, and is ap
proved by them as being the most sea
sonable thing out for many years. The
society woman somehow or other does
not like the word "garters,” and she has
christened them “silken circlets,” or, to
be more explicit, “hose supporters." The
old style garter which holds the stock
ings in place by elastic supporters fas
tened at the waist are rapidly being ban
ished by the woman who desires to be
up to date. The superannuated or round
the-leg style is now again in vogue.
In the silken garter line there are four
teen different patterns to select from,
ranging; in price from 75 cents to $45
a pair. The Parisian bridal garter is
perhaps the most taking design of aoy
manufactured. The elastic is of the
very richest imported silk webbing iYj
inches wide. A solid silver or gold clasp,
representing a four-leaf clover or other
design, is attached to it, with a beautiful'
love knot bow of pure white fibre silk.
A name plate is also attached to each
Barter, uuon which the name of the giver
is engraved. The price asueo xor u pan
of those bridal circlets is $45. They are
put up in fine plush boxes, silk lined,
with lace edges.
Another prevailing style Is a very chic
affair called the "Motto" fashion, ns each
one has a popular wording stamped on
the clasps. This style is in more demand
by the gay people, being less expensive
and more attractive. They come in all
shades of the rainbow, and in the Prince
ton Yale and Harvard college colors.
It Is said that nothing is so captivat
ing to the heart of the most fastidious
maiden as a pair of delicate silken gar
ters. That this is true was witnessed a
few evenings ago by about 2500 people at
one of our fashionable play houses. It
happened in this way: Immediately af
ter the curtain dropped on the first act
a pretty soubrette emerged from behind
one of the wings and bowed coquettishly
to the applauding audience. A well
known Wall street broker was Been at
the same time to extract from his over
coat pocket a small box, which he fhtrw
on the stage, and hastily resumed his
seat. The W)x In its flight came within
a few feet of the soubrette, and was
opened and found to contain a $42 pair of
garters. Amid much laughter and ap
plause the soubrette stepped to the front
of the stage and kindly asked the gentle
man to step forward, please, and place
the gift in its proper place. As no one
appeared, the unembarrassed actress
quickly threw them, over her shapely
limbs and disappeared behind the scenes
again. Since this occurrence it seems
to have become a popular fad nightly
among theater-goers to throw fancy gar
ters to the actresses on the stage, and
has caused the management much an
noyance. , ...
For the maiden devoted to yachting a
special design has been made, which is
one of the prettiest on the market. This
garter, as a general rule, is made to or
der as the material employed is usually
the hair of some young man, which is
tightly woven, and is clasped by a buckle
representing a capstan, anchor and chain.
A cynic might be spiteful enough to sug
gest that a garter for the bloomer girl
was a very unnecessary affair, and only
aids to show off her calves to better ad
vantage. To say this would be ill-na
tured, as even the cynic would confess,
were he to wear bloomers.
TURKEY.
The Moslem Army and Navy—Fortifica
tions About Constantinople.
The Turkish regular army is composed
of seven complete army corps and a
strong division. Six of these are formed
on the territorial system, battalions be
ing stationed in times of peaoe in the
districts wherein they are raised. Con
scription Is universal everywhere in Tur
key save in Constantinople itself. The
natives of the Turkish capital have the
privilege of exemption. Every other male
subject, as soon as he arrives at the age
of 21 must present himself at the mili
tary center of the district wherein he re
sides and draw for the ballot. The men
who draw lucky numbers pass at once
into the Iktihat. or class of Immediate
reserves; the others only reach this dig
nity after four years' preliminary ser
vice in the regiment. Six years Is the
total period of service in the Nizam, or
rank and file of the army.
At the end of those six years the re
servist becomes a Redif for eight years,
and then passes into the Mustaflz for
the full period of his life during which
he is capable of bearing arms. The Re
difs and the Mustaflz hold themselves
ready to be called upon for military duty
in times of war. It is not In the peace
establishment of the regular army that
the military strength of Turkey resides,
but in the enormous expansion of which
it is capable at short notice through the
mobilization of the Redlfs and the Mus
taflz. The men are all In the country
and can be got together with the greatest
ease, for the Mussulman population is
not a shifting one. Every Redif's name
stands on the register, and the force Is
controlled by the system of muster and
inspection which takes place every four
months. Five thousand officers are dis
tributed among the recruiting districts
solely for this purpose. The actual stand
ing army of 180,000 men could be in
creased to nearly 300,000 at short notice,
provided, of course, that there were suffi
cient funds in the treasury. Therein lies
Turkey's chief weakness.
The Turkish Navy.
The navy is manned by recruits se
lected from the population that lives on
the borders of the Black sea. Many of
them are Lares, a race specially fond of
and specially fitted for seafaring pur
suits. They are patient, docile and eas
ily trained, with the instinct of discipline
strongly developed. The conscript when
selected is sent to Constantinople, where
he gets his first instructions in the ordi
nary duties of a seaman on the depot
ship. He then passes on to the gunnery
vessel, an old wooden frigate stationed
In the Golden Horn, where he learns the
use of both great guns and smull arms.
His education Is completed on board
somevone of the squadron of gunboats
which are continually moving about from
port to port.
Turkey has not had money enough to
purchase the Immense armaments which
are the boast of her European neighbors.
Yet her fleet Is a respectable one, espe
cially In view of her natural advantages
of defense. She ha3 some nineteen iron
clads, frigates and corvettes. This Is
the main element of her naval strength,
although there are nearly 250 woo 1 n ves
sels stationed for the maintenance of
order at various points on the extensive
coasts of the empire. Of these ironclads
three of Uie corvette class are usually
away from Constantinople on service,
two frigates and two corvettes are In the
first reserve, always maintained In a po
sition to proceed to sea at the shortest
notice, and the remainder are lying tem
porarily dismantled, hut ready for use
within a fortnight's time. The total ac
tive list of officers and men Is 25,590.
with a reserve of 36,500. ^
Defenses of Constantinoplo
The straits of the Bosphorus and the
Dardanelles are so narrow that at their
widest point they are not half a gunshot
across. Constantinople, with its densely
populated environs, covers both sides of
the Bosphorus. Immense fortifications
guard all the approaches. It is true that
the forts and guns on the European side
of the Dardanelles are commanded by a
small range of hills, and that the holder
of the hills would be able to threaten the
safety of the batteries. But the Turks
are fully cognizant of this fact. They
are themselves defending the hills from
attack by planting heavy guns upon
them.
On the Asiatic side there are no such
hills. Here the forts are safe from an
attack by land. Now, through the Bos
phorus and the Dardanelles a quick cur
rent Is almost always running in the
same direction—that is. from the Black
Sea Into the Mediterranean—at the rate
of some four miles an hour. The waters
are deep and usually narrow. They af
ford an excellent opportunity for torpedo
defense. A few hundred of these sub
merged deadly weapons swept down by
the current against an advancing fleet
would prove a formidable adversary.
Attacks From the North.
So much ror an auacx irom me mrai
terranean, which affords the easiest
means of access to must European pow
ers. An attack from the Black sea,
though more difficult In its inception,
would be more difficult to repel also
when once made. In that event ground
mines might be place at the entrnnee of.
the Bosphorus, while torpedo ships and
boats would be kept in readiness to re
sist attack by sea and defend the mines.
Nevertheless, it is true that if Russia
commanded the Black Sea she would
hold Constantinople at her mercy. But
she does not do so, and It Is not probable
that she ever will. Against an attack by
land from Asia Minor nature has thrown
the bulwarks of mountains, which as yet
have few or no roads that could be util
ized by an invading army. For six
months of the year snow lies thick upon
their summits and Increases their natural
difficulties. Russia, single handed, would
not dare to attack Constantinople by
way of the Balkans, as without the con
sent of Austria and Germany she could
not send an army through Roumanla.
Probably she would strike her first blow
In Armenia, and through that country
prepare to advance toward the Ottoman
capital. _
PETRIFIED INDIAN QUEEN.
Specimen of an Ancient Raco Which a
Trader Tried to Steal.
A curious tale is told by the passengers
just arrived at Victoria, B. C., from
Alaska on the steamer City of Topeka,
of the discovery made by one of their
number, a Seattle man named Brennan,
on Prince of Wales Island, says the San
Francisco Examiner.
Brennan went forth some time ago
with a small sloop laden with miscella
neous cargo, on which he realized a good
profit, trading among the natives of the
northern coast. It was on this expedi
tion he chanced to visit one of the largest
accessible villages of the isolated tribes
on Prince of Wales island, and while
there to see the mysterious divinity that
is supposed to keep watch and guard
over the tribe. A former priestess or
queen who, by some rare action of the
peculiar soli In which her burial place
was made, was not turned into dust, but
Into solid stone.
Years later the rude grave was uncov
ered by chance and the petrified body
was found. The natives hailed it as an
omen of good and, carefully exhuming
It, enthroned It In a place of honor in
the village, the Idol so rescued being ever
since more honored than the oldest to
lem.
Brennan claims to be the first white
man to see the statue, but so far from
feeling awe or being moved to adoration,
he at once realized that if it could be
safely transported to the United Slates
it would be worth a mint of money for
exhibition purposes. The petrified wom
an, according to his account. Btands as
though frozen into the granite while in
the act of directing some important
movement of her subjects. The features,
ns well as the limbs, are clearly defined,
as though life was still In the body, and
the whole aspect of the strangely pre
served body is almost regal, although
the goddess was mistress only of a sav
age tribe.
So much did the commercial value of
the image impress the shrewd trader
that a few words incautiously dropped
partially revealed his mind to the tribe
with the result that he was obliged to
take to his sloop and sail out Into the
thickening storm in order to save his
life. He has now sold his sloop atid with
the proceeds of the sale, added to the
profits of his cruise, ho proposes to pur
chase a fast steam launch with which
to return and bodily abduct the uncanny
deity. According to present arrange
ments he will buy his launch on Puget
Sound and return as quickly as possible
to Prince of Wales Island, Waiting his
opportunity to land, seize the Idol and
escape before the natives cri discover
his presence and frustrate his plan. The
"stone queen" has, according to the tales
of the tribe, watched silently over their
declining fortunes for upward of four
centuries.
A Question bf Wills. $
The making of one's will Is hardly to
be ranked among the pleasant duties of
life. “My will," says Slender, "I never
made my will yet. I thank heaven. I
am not such a sickly creature. I give
heaven praise. So also Dame Quickly,
when considering Falstaff's spiritual con
cerns, hopes that "it Isn’t- time to think
of making a will yet." When David
Garrick ostentatiously displayed to the
great lexicographer his pictures, china,
rare books and furniture at Hampton
Court, the sage exclaimed; "Ah, David,
David, these are the things that make a
deathbed terrible I”
A story Is told of a dying miser, by
whose bedside sat the lawyer receiving
instructions for the preparation of his
last will and testament. ."I give and be
queath," repeated the attorney aloud, as
he commenced to write the accustomed
formula. "No, no," interrupted the sick
mnn. "I will neither give nor bequeath
anything; 1 cannot do it." "Well, then,”
suggested the man of law. after a few
moments' consideration, "suppose we
say lend. 'I lend until the last day.’ ”
’"Yes, that will do better,” asserted the
unwilling testator.—Temple Bar.