The San Francisco call. [volume], November 22, 1896, Page 25, Image 25

About The San Francisco call. [volume] (San Francisco [Calif.]) 1895-1913

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TALE OF MIDWINTER JOYS IN THE FRIGID LAND OD THE AURORA
Two little girls have arrived in this port T
from the Arctic, alter passing two most
rigorous winters above the seventieth par
allel, and they are as hale and hearty as
any two children who have been spending
the same time in comfortable homes in
San Francisco.
One of them is at the St. Nicholas Ho
tel with her aunt, Mrs, Green, and Cap
•tain Green of the steam whaling bark
Alexander, and in the course of an even
ing she can entertain visitors with inter- j
esticg stories of the cheerless, dreary j
wastes of tnow and ice.
"I "was homesick and tired of the Arctic;
I dia not like it all," she exclaimed, with
something suggesting a sigh of relief, in
„ answer to a request for her impressions of
the frozen north. "And I would not
play with the Mazinkas," Bhe added after
a pause; "they are repulsive. There was |
nothing but snow and ice, aniMt was so '
cold you could not stay out for an hour. !
Still, I had lots of fun. I learned to read j
and write and crochet and sew, and the |
•officers taught me to dance, and I learned 1
the Mazinkas' language."
What appeared funniest of all in th*at
queer region was the persistent tendency
of icecream to become as hard as iron if
not eaten quickly. It was no trouble to
make icecream, but keeping it soft was
another matter, especially when chafing
dishes were not plentiful. By watching j
the Indians hunt and fish she grew ex- ;
pert in catching salmon trout through
holes cut in the ice, and could hold her
seat on a sled flying over hummocky snow
with any little barbarian.
>The two children met at Herschel Isl
§ „ where whaling ships make their
jf liter quarters. One was from Honolulu,
Jijas Lucie McGuire, the other from Ala
meda, Miss Dorotay Porter, daughter of
Captain Porter of the whaling steamer
Jessie Freeman. Lucie and Dorothy were
for all the world like two little Esquimaux !
when they were introduced to each other
and told to be playmates — an instruction
which was wholly unnecessary, consider
ing the fact that within the whole Arctic
circle there was possibly not another
white eirl.
Lucie was then about eight years and
her companion a year or two younger.
They were soon fast friends and together
managed to make the hours pass pleas- ;
antly in their winter prisons. The sailors i
carved dolls for them and played Esqui- j i
jnau- dogs by hauling them on sledges I ]
THE PHENOMENON OF LIFE
What of Dreams, ir\ WKicK Jime and Place
Pass for J^avjgnt
It is the enunciated doctrine of our
yschools that life is best defined as "a pe
■culia'r-mode of activity, the life of the com
plex organism called man being the ag
gregate of the vital activity of oil its com
ponent parts; that each of these compo
nent parts possesses an independent ca
pacity for development and maintenance;
the harmonious unity of action of all
forming the normal life— beaitb." Such is
the explanation of the phenomenon of lift
given by thm schools.
It is further taught that "the his- I
tory of this complex organism is one of
g incessant change. The man of to-uay is
\ not the man of yesterday, nor will he be
the man of to-morrow. Physical and chem
• ical agencies are at work creating and de
stroying — there is no rest."
incident occurring during my col
lege days U id much toward stimulating
inquiry, into the phenomenon of life.
♦Saturdays were often soent in the search
for objects of natural history among the
hills and woods. In one of these expedi
tions during an early spring day my com
panion* and myself found a cave. The
opening was bidden among the brambles,
half way up a rocky hill. The cave was
not an extensive one; simply a crevice in
the loose rock formed by the interspacing
soil bavins been washed out by the perco
lating water of rains.
There were no stalactites or other cave
. formations, and we had soon explored the
small cavity. We were about ieaving
when Geo-ge, my companion, found a
dark object, like a bundle, in a remote
corner of the cavern. The object proved
•to be a small female bear in a state of tor- j
por.' We secured her bearship with a cord
and carried our trophy home suspended
•from a pole carried on our shoulders. The
bear Jived for several years, being adopted
as the pet of the college.
The incident gave rise to much reading
upon the subject of hibernation. The
curious phenomenon was made the sub
ject of a lecture by one of the college pro
fessors, who explained it as being "a sus
pension of certain^of the animal func
tions."
The explanation may have proved sat
isfactory to some of the students; tome
the- matter was one for the deepest
thought. What was it? Why was it that
ra human being could not undergo a like
condition.? Tbe bear is a warm-blooded
animal; so is the man. How were "cer-
tain of the physical functionasuspended" ?
•if the bear, why not the man? The study
. of the evolution of the higher types of
organization, both animal and vegetable,
discloses the fact that both are governed
by the same "mode of activity." The
primordial cell multiplies itself by du
\plic»te subdivision into aggregations of
cells, each one the repetition of tbe
other, until, shaped by some power
(not defined in the teachings of
any' of the schools), a limit is
reached, beyond which a structural dif
ferentiation occurs that, growing more de
cided with development, gives distinction
to the type. As between the animal and
• the vegetable, orthodox science is silent
regarding the similarity or dissimilarity
" of their vital foree — both have life.
' In the museum at Sntro Park is a vase
which contains seeds taken from an Egyp
tian mummy's case. It was the custom
of the Egyptians to place some wfieat in
the mummy case, so that the tenant of the
Casket might not want for food. From
•one of these mummy cases some wheat
•was taken, and placed in the hands of the
ctrtef gardener at the Royal Gardens at
Kew, in England, who planted the kernels
and succeeded in raising from them a crop
'of strange wheat. What was that con
dition of tbe seed during the long cen
turies of its repose within the coffin of the
itzyptian? Was it life? Of a certainty
■ifas not performing any vital function.
M^her was it dead, for disintegration had
• noTiaken place. Its capacity for living
was not impaired, for although it had
slumbered during a period marking 3000
seed times, vet its vital force dwelt in it;
and under the Bkillful nursing of an Eng
lish gardener the grain of wheat harvested
by Pharaoh blossomed and bore fruit of
its kind for Victoria. What was the shape
and form of the vitality? The answer re
quires a keener perception of the subtle
over the snow, or helpine them fish; and
then when the frigid air compelled every
body to stay aboard ship the tots were
amused in various ways. Every little
kindness from the hardy seaman is stiLi
remembered, so that the children look
back to Herschel Island in midwinter
with many pleasurable recollections.
There were fifteen vessels in winter
quarters at the island, and as six or seven
captains were accompanied by their wives,
the season was not so dreary as might be
expected. Among the effi'rers of the ships
were musicians, accomplished performers
on the violin, guitar anil mandolin, and
some Hawaiians and Mexicans, who sang
sweetly. Besides, there was more or less
talent in the way of comedy.
The ladies entertained quite liberally,
and one ship had a steward, a Japanese,
who had filled a similar position on a
man-of-war. The ladies made good use of
him when they found that he took especial
pride in preparing surprises for every
dinner. And so with music, song, comedy,
receptions, card parties, private theatricals
and banquets, varied on fine days with
sled rides, the long northern night and the
twilight days were bearable.
"But I was tired fcf it," protested little
Lucie, "and I often wished to be home
again. There was no one to play with but
Dorothy, and we had to stay on board
ship nearly all the time. It was so cold
we could not stay out over an hour, and
when the sou'westers blew ' the air was
full of snow and the mercury dropped to
40 below zero. Then we were like prison
ers for a week at a time. That was not
nice."
"Not quite so nice as the sunshine of
Honolulu?"
"Indeed, no; and I often longed to be
there."
The bright little girl was reminiscent
by this time and began to relate her ex
periences during two winters in the frozen
regions.
"I had to wear heavy woolens and my
ordinary clothes, and outside them all a
dearskin coat to my feet. It was lined
with flannel. I had a hood lined with
flannel and trimmed with wolverine, also
Esquimau boots and dearskin mittens over
woolen stockings and glovee. They kept
me warm, still I could not stay out long
or I would be frozen. When the ship put
in at L'nalaska for coal and provisions a
lady gave me books, and auntie then
forces of nature than attains in-tbis pres
ent age. We pride ourselves justly upon
our marvelous skili in microscopy, yet the
moat powerful microscope at our com
mand is useless in determining whether
or not a seed of wheat has parted -with its
vitality.
What is that peculiar "mode of activity"
known as sleep? Is it a suspension of
some of the independent activities by
certain component parts of the organism?
iro far 8b external phenomena are con
cerned, complete unconsciousness attains
in profound s'.eep. Wn^t is this condition,
that, virtually suspending .-. portion of the
physical manifestations of life, yet bestows
enhanced power and capability of exercise
upon :he mental organism?
Orthodox science, with all its boasted
knowledge, does not explain the dream
life. Thought flows on apparently auto
matically, and often in coherent sequence,
uniformity and order. Sometimes the
sequence is strangely incongruous, but
because it is so, can we say tbat the means
of averting a fantastic dream shall never
be known? The process of reasoning may
be, and often is, carried on during sleep
with more vigor and success than during
AS HE SPOKE A CHILD TUGGED AT HIS KNEE.
the waking hours. Condorcet in his
dream-life solved the difficult mathemati
cal calculations that his wide-awake mind
utterly failed to grasp. Condillas, when
engaged in bia "Cours d'Etude," fre
quently developed and finished a subject
in his dreams that be had conceived and
abandoned in the waking hours from
sheer lack of mental capability to con
struct fitting imagery. Coleridge states
that his "Kubla Khan" (pronounced by
competent critics to be one of the finest
poems known) was composed by him
during sleep.
What is this condition, this phase, this
state, this aream-liie, in which time, place
THE SAN FRANCISCO CALL, SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 22, 1896.
taught me to read and write. I did not i
know my alphabet on going into the
Arctic, but on comine out I read all the
books and could write. Was the Mazinka
language hard to learn? I don't know.
First I understood what the Mazinkas said
and then I spoke their language; it was
easy."
Lucj told how the Alexander had sailed
through a pass in the Fox Islands of the
Aleutian group and through the Bering
and circumstance pass for naught? In
dreams the dead are with us alive and
well. The oldest of earth's inhabitants
greet us with the familiarity of friends of
to-day. Though the languages of the
period when these gliostly visitors existed
as mortal are so deeply buried in antiquity
as to be beyond our waking understand
ing, yet in dreamland we hold intelligent
converse with them; space is annihilated;
we are with friends at the very antipodes;
j we visit strange lands, strange planets
! even, and with the dream-life vision see
; much that has no counterpart upon the
broad face of the globe. Shut out by
sleep from the consciousness of earth-Hie
we see beings unknown to the waking
senses and that have no place in the log
cataloeue of earthly species. We cer
tainly see in dream-hfe things that cannot
under any circumstances be said to be
borrowed from our wakeful perceptions.
We see new and glorious forms of beamy;
we hear strains of music surpassing in di
vine harmony all that ever our waking
I senses comprehend; we look upon me
| chanical forms and devices of which not
the slightest conception could by any pos
sibility have occurred to our waking
hours. Are Buch things real? Can or
thodox Bcience say they are not?
The positive philosophers who refuse to
concern themselves with anything save
! phenomena immediately cognizable by
j the senses may be, and undoubtedly are,
j able to satisfy their spirit of inquiry by
dismissing the "dream" subject asa "mani-
I festation of energy exhibited by an auto
j matic and undirected development of
I latent impressions of the cerebrum." I
quote the language of a distinguished
philosopher (?).
What is electricity? A manifestation
of energy. Are dreams, then, electrical ?
These questions are linked with the sim
ple matter I have before alluded to — the
sleeping bear— a matter so simple that tte
self-appointed oracles of science look upon
it as not worth the consideration.
During the siege of Vicksburg, in 1863,
a soldier was wounded by the explosion of
a .'-hall, a small spicula of the iron missile
penetrating the man's skull. Tne soldier
was sent to the hospital and became a
puzzle to the surgeons. • He was thought
to have received only an abrasion oi the
Sea into the Arctic Ocean, past Point Bar
row, and cruised as far as Cape Bathurst
before getting back to Herschel Island for
the winter.
"At Herschel Island," she continued,
"we settled in a cove for the winter!
TWO LITTLE GIRLS IN THE LAND OF ICE.
! When the sea began to freeze the anchor
i was pulled up and then the steamer was
i fust. The men built a house over the
neck and 3oon the snow fell and covered
the ship and house together. I did not
scalp, which quickly healed; but, strange
to relate, he totally forgot himself. He
did not know his own identity. All mem
ory of hia former existence faded. He
had no recollection whatever of home or
family.
For twenty years this man lived on,
with all his former life that occurred pre
vious to his wound a blank. O herwise he
was mentally sound. Then after a lapse
of twenty years he was again wounded in
the head, this time by a railroad accident
He was then operated on by surgeons and"
his skull trepanned, when it was found
that a 6liver of iron was imbedded in his
brain (the fragment of a shell). The piece
of iron was removed, and then — he utterly
forgot everything connected with his life
of the last twenty years and memory took
up the thread at the point where it was
broken by the explosion of the shell at
Vicksiair^. Where had the soldier been
during these twenty years? Who was it
that occupied his physical cerement dur
ing that time? Was It the same ego?
C uld John Smith be held responsible
during the twenty years between 1863 and
1883 for what John Smith did prior to
1863?
The soul is the essential part of the
human being. Its individuality is a very
recent fact in the history of our elobe,
and but few souls are really conscious of
their individuality. Psychic force has just
be«un to assert itself among the higher
spheres of terrestrial humanity. The soul
is beyond all conditions of time and space.
It> human manifestations are shaped by
environments, ju«t as the character of the
grain is i-overned by the conditions of soil
and cultivation. In sleep the physical
conditions that are molded in waking
hours by habit and custom are no longer
dominant, and thus the soul unloosed '
from the chains of matter roams, or
rather drifts — hither, thither — in so-called
dreams.
Everything in nature has its comple
ment. The magnet has its positive and
negative poles. Only in the lower forms
are found the possessora of a half of the
whole. Many years ago a great teacher
said, '"There are no marriages in heaven."
There could not be. The soul is« androgy
nous It is a complete entity; what, were
we to define it according to our physical
conception, we should term a blended
duality. F. M. Close, D.Sc.
A CHILD'S PLEA
It Turned the Scales
and Elected Storms
to Office
The Speaker of the Evening sat in front
of the Globe Hotel, smoliing his cigar.
The committee, much to his relief, had
left him alone for a minute, as they went
to see that everything was arranged at the
hall. It was late in the fall and the cam
paign was nearing its close. The crisp
night air sent a chill to the bone, and as
the Speaker of the Evening drew his warm
coat about him his attention was attracted
by a child who stood near to his chair,
timidly hesitating upon a closer approach.
"Are you the speaker?" piped a tremb
ling little child as she drew a step nearer.
As a cheerful and reassuring response
came in the affirmative, the little one
without further hesitancy stepped close
to his chair, and just above a whisper said :
"When you make a speech to-night will
you aay something for my papa? No one
has said anything for him, and he is
home, sick. My mamma says if dome one
would only say a word for him, when they
are sneaking for all the rest, he might be
elected; and mamma says if he isn't
elected she don't know what we'll do."
"Who is your papa?"
"Martin Storms."
"What is he running for?" •
"I don't know, but whatever it is, if you
will say something for him, mamma says
ho will be elected."
"You sit here a moment," said the
Speaker of the Evening, taking the little,
frail flower ana placing her in his chair.
As he turned around he met the chairman
of the County Committee, who had come
to notify him that the band were to tender
him a serenade after the meeting. With
little heed to what was said, he asked;
"Who is Martin Storms?"
"Oh, he's a worthless fellow we nomi
nated for Township Justice as a sort of
joke." .
like the short days and twilijfht, but we
bad lots of fun all the same. The funniest
thing used to be the dogs, acting like
pack-mules. The sailo # rs trained the doss
to carry little bags, one on each side, just
like saddle-bags, and when the men would
go out fi3hing they would take the dogs
along. Each dog would carry ten fish in
the bags, five on each side, and follow one
after another the same as mules. When
they got tired they would lie down care
"His nomination a joke?"
"Of course, why? He won't get a dozen
votes."
"We will see about that," said the
Speaker of the Evening, as he returned to
the chair where the child waa waiting.
"You may tell your mamma that I will
speak for your papa to-night."
As he said this, the child sobbed with
joy and, throwing her little, bony arms
around his neck, Kissed him again and
again.
Tbe dim liteht on the porch prevented
the County Committeeman from seeing a
tear or two that night, and if he had he
may not have asked the question or
received the reply which followed.
"Who was that?"
"The child upon whom you have played
a jove," answered the Speaker of the
Evening, as he turned abruptly ano went
to his room in the hotel.
The meeting opened that night with
its usual preliminaries, aDd as the
Speaker of the Evening advanced there
was not one in the audience who did not
feel that something out of the usual run
of political speeches was comincr. It was
out of the usual run. It was a speech of a
lifetime — a speech which left impressions
of a lifetime.
If poor Martin Storms could have heard
what was said about him that night he
would have felt that the compensation for
all his troubles in life had been complete.
When the Speaker of the Evening closed
there was not a dry eye in the house or a
heart that had not made ?onie resolution
concerning the candidacy of Martin
Storms.
There was no serenade that night, and
Careless Driving.
as the Speaker of the Evening climbed the
stairs to his room he found a little bunch
of colorless flowers at his door, that was
all; but the day after the election he re
ceived word that Martin Storms had run
ahead of his ticket. Jtjdson Brusie.
The funeral of a workman in Japan
costs from 3s 6d to s*. The coffin is sup
plied for Is; for cremation, 3s is paid,
and the mourners cheer themselves with
refreshments which cost about 6d, and
sometimes go as high as a shilling:.
Clive was only a little over 20 when he
embarked on his career of conquest of
India.
fully so that the fish would not be turned
out of the bags. After a rest they would
start off again and trot home to the ships.
I learned to fish like the men when the
mate cut holes in the ice for me, but that
was after the Mazinkas showed me how to
catch fish.
"The sailors used to go out for deer gen
erally with an officer and a native, and they
would nearly always return with a deer
on their sled. Then we would have
venison for a long time with salmon trout.
That was all we wanted for tbe table with
the stores.
"Indian traders used to come from 200
miles in the interior with deer meat and
skins, and it was lots of fun to see them
give everything for matches, tobacco and
knives, or whatever they wanted. Some
times they used to ask for soap. J think
some of them have learned how to wash
ani to use soap, but the little Mazinkas
don't.
"Captain Sherman of tbe Beluga had a
made for me, but Captain Tilton of
the Newport copied off mine and made
one for Dorothy before I got mine, and I
was mad. The men used to haul us about
and hitch up dogs for us, and we used to
go coasting downhill on the island. Once
the sailors hauled us to the fresh water
pond where they got ice about four miles
from the cove. It was fun to see them
with harness over their shoulders run
ning two by two and pullinn a long rope
with a sled at the end. Mr. Whittaker, a
missionary, came from 200 miles in the
interior to see us. He had a sled and
three dogs, and he used to take Dorothy
and me on long rides. He tied us down
so we wouldn't fall out. When he left
everything was lonely again, though we
soon grew to be satisfied with rides around
the ships and toboggans down the snow
hills.
"Killing bears is great fun, too, but I
was terribly frightened when I saw the
first one. They are all big white fellows,
and look like the ice or snow till you see
them more. They come out when they
smell blubber and have a good feed. We
saw one from the ship. He was on the
ice rolling over and over and having a
good time after feeding on blubber. My
uncle saw him and went off with men In
a boat. He crawled ov r the ice, and when
he got r.ear the bear he fired his rifle. The
bear rolled over and seemed to be dead,
but the rext thing they knew he was in
the water and swimming for the boat.
ON GENTILITY AND HORSES
Some pertinent Suggestions About tke Way
of a Driver With J4is Horse
We hear a good deal nowadays of the
thoughtlessness? and rudeness of wheel
men, who, more than almost any other
class of people it sometimes seems, appear
to look upon the thoroughfares of city
and country alike as existing for their ex
clusive use. lam inclined to think, how
ever, that the wheelman, and when I say
wheelman I mean regardless of sex a
rider of the bicycle, Is only a greater
nuisance than the horseman because he
is just now more numerous.
It almost seems as if there is something
in the possession of a horse that has a ten
dency to make us forget the rights not
only of less favored individuals on foot,
but of other riders and drivers besides
ourselves.
Some time ago I was one of a small
party of riders who were cantering along
a country road. Suddenly one restive
horse broke into a run, and in an instant
the others had followed suit, and we were
rushing along, pell-meii, helter-skelter
around a slight bend in the rosd. When
this was reached we saw before us a hand
some phaeton, drawn by a big, fat, well
groomed horse. A lady was driving and
she peered out anxiously, as she heard
the clattering hoofs of our party. The
horse heard the clatter as well, and was
prancing and rearing with excitement.
We were so close that pulling up was out
of the question, so we did the next best
thing and got by as quickly as possible.
But when our animals were once more
under control and without a thought but
that my companions would do the same I
rode back to apologize for what had been
our unavoidable discourtesy. I was sur
prised to find that no one else in the party
seemed to consider this necessary. "Peo-
pie should not drive animals that are
likely to be rattled by the approach of a
galloping horse and we couldn't have
stopped, anyway," said one. The obvious
reply to this that people should not ride
horses that they cannot stop seemed to be
regarded as a non sequitur.
The riders in this case were all women,
but I have seen men do things equally
outrageous with no apparent idea that the
rights of others should be respected.
Only a day or two ago I saw a rider bear
down at full gallop upon a young girl who
was pushing a baby carriage across the
street. He had nearly a block in which
to pull up, but he never drew rein, so the
girl drew back. The horse's flying feet
missed the carriage by a line and sent a
shower of mud into the baby's face. Cer
tainly no bicycle-rider ever perpetrated a
greater outrage.
There is a law in England requiring an
equestrian to pull up and pass an unat
tended lady at a walk. This"even if she is
herself on horseback. Some such law we
should have in this country for the pro
tection of women and children, if not ail
pedestrians, from the carelessness of rid
ers and drivers. To be sure there is un
doubted truth in the argument that pe
destrians should be on the lookout. The
man on foot has the advantage over the
one who is riding or driving a horse, that
he has only his own movements to control
and can slop, turn back or hasten much
more promptly than the horseman can
make his charge do any of these things;
but whether the pedestrian does this or
not the horseman should never fail to rec
ognize his own responsibilitylin the matter.
] Before the men could get away he had
one paw upon the boat, and then uncle
shot him dead. They tied a rope round
the bear's neck and hauled him to the
ship. I think those bears are very cute.
"But I dvi not like to see the men huat
baby walrus, because it was so sad to see
the mother catch the young one in her
fins and sit up and beg. The mother wal
rus would know when the men with rifles
were going to kill the young ones, and
they would make the most pitiful moans.
You would think they could speak, and
they'd hold the babies up against their
breasts, co I could not look itt the sailors
kill them.
"We had a grand time a year ago last
April, when little Helen Herschel Sher
man was born on board the Beluea. Her
father is captain of the Beluga. All fifteen
ships at the island had their flairs flying,
and Helen was born under the American
flag. They called her Herschel after the
island. She was christened on Sunday,
when four days old, by a minister visiting
there on his rounds to see the natives.
Then we had a party and lots of fun. We
\ also had birthday parties and fancy dress
balls. As the Beiuga had the largest
deck, 411 parties and theatricals were
given aboard her, and her big deckhouse
I was decorated with flaes, bunting and
j Chinese lanterns. The men would make
eouvenirs for each banquet — this is one,"
and the interesting child showed a minia
ture sled painted white and containing a
yellow satin bag which had been filled
with salted almonds.
"These amusements were always in the
evenings, though it was hard to tell one
part of the day from another. There was
co little light I often longed for the sun.
In the morning I studied my lessons and
needlework and afterward I used to go
out coasting or playing, but in the even
ings there was nothing to do, because all
the old people played cards.
"In the summer it was nice enough. I
wore a short deerskin coat and a felt hat
and woolens trimmed with minx. Her
schel Island is covered with all kinds of
pretty flowers — forget-me-nots, poppies
and other kinds— and Mr. Warren, who
was killed by a whale, used to take me
j and Dorothy up the hills to gather
j flowers."
After the excitement attending the kill
ing of the first whale wore off Lucie de
clared she took no interest in whaling,
but only longed to be home again-
In particular does the average horseman,
if he suspects that he has done any dam
age by careless driving, deem his one duty
to be to get out of sight. It, is seldom that
one turns back to render assistance when
he has been the cause of an accident.
The driver who goes along a '"main trav
eled road' reading is the bete noir of the
highway. Such an act ought to render a
man liable to summary arrest. It would
seem as if the commonest regard for pub
lic safety would show any man the impro
priety of reading while driving, yet when
ever I take my drive abroad I am almost
sure to encounter at least one such of
fender. Indeed, I was recently obliged to
turn to the left, across an electric track, to
avoid a driver who, perched upon the seat
of a huge wagon, was busily improving his
mind, oblivious of the fact that his team
of great draught horses had strayed to the
wrong side oi the road and were entirely
out of their right of way, while his whole
attention was engrossed by the newspaper
spread upon his leather-aproned knees.
The woman who takes a friend out for a
drive and becomes engrossed in conversa
tion, to the fonretfulness of her horse, is
another offender against the equities, but
not more so than are the irresponsible
lads who drive our milk and grocery
wagons. Two such I saw, some time
since, cut in across the way of a lady who
was driving, turn their vehicles in such a
way that she could neither drive forward
nor back out, and then Btop. She was
obliged to rein up and wait until the two
friends had finished the conversation for
which they had halted. Then they drove
on and allowed her to do the same.
The two men who halt their horses and,
with their wagons side by side, proceed to
discuss the political situation are known
to every driver. They are as übiquitous a
nuisance as the man who goes through a
crowd with his umbrella under his arm.
Then there is the driver who turns oat
to pass you, and having got his horse's
head past your animal's, immediately
turns back into the road, to the imminent
peril of your horse's legs. There is noth
ing discourteous in going ahead of an
other driver when the road is wide enough
to admit of the maneuver, but whoever
does it should bear in mind that the horse
which he is passing is not standing still,
but moving forward, and that allowance
should be made, in coming back to the
middle of the road, not only for having
passed the slower equipage bat" for the
distance which the horse has probably
traveled while you were passing it. If
you turn back into your track too quickly
your hind wheels are likely to graze this
horse's forelegs.
Then, too, some drivers have a way of
whipping up as soon as they realize that
they are passed and there is a chance that
you may not hold your vantage after all,
but will, instead, come into unexpected
collision with your neighbor's wheels.
Now that the rains are with us again
th >re are mud puddles to encounter every
now and again, and the woman who de
sires to «hine in the eyes of her fellows as
possessing some lingering ideas of cour
tesy, even although she rides or drives a
horse, will never let her steed go splashing
through one of these, sending a disagree
able shower of soiliDg drops up into the
faces of passers-by.
Certainly there is no time when a gen
tleman may so appropriately offer his
services or a lady so frankly accept them
as when the latter is having difficulty with
a horse, and no pride in equestrienne
skill or hesitation on the score of eti
quette need preven her from accepting
them.
On the other hand, however, a lady will
never presume upon the general opinion
in which women drivers are held, in
claiming more than is her due in right of
way. I have seen feminine drivers hold
calmly on their way, up the wrong side of
a thoroughfare, making heavy teams and
light rigs alike make way for them, know
ing perfectly well taat they were in the
wrong, but sure in the knowledge that the
average man will always turn out for
them.
I should hate to see any accident, but it
sometimes seems to me that it might be
well could such drivers have one or two
salutary lessons. Miss Russill.
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