A
J
HISTORY OF BOOKBINDING
Progress of the Art for alany Cen
turies Illustrated
Xrom the PapjruM Hull of Ilililtcnl
Tlmm to jinIxrnlo Work or To
tlnj Vlngnlllceiicc of Middle Akci
Vurluui Stjle of Oriiiimeiitntloii
The nucleus of an exhibit in the Na
tional Museum designed to Illustrate
the art of bookbinding and the fact that
that art Is becoming more or less of a
fad suggests a resume of Its nature
and history gleaned from the account
of an expert
As the term bookbinding Is defined
as the art by hieli the parts of a book
are connected for com enience and pro
tection the first form In use was prob
ably the ancient method by -which the
scroll was attached to a cj inder
around -which it -was wound and secured
by thongs A Greek named Phlllatlus la
said to hae invented the glue by -which
the strips of skin or papjrus were fas
tened together and to hae been honor
ed by a statue for the invention It Is
common to hear the roll or scroll al
luded to as Lgyplaii binding but re
cent investigations show that It was
used In verj early times In many coun
tries of the Cast Moreover rolls are
mentioned In the Hebrew Scriptures at
least seven centuries before the Chris
tian era and are today the form In
which the books of the law are pre
served in the sjnagogues some of these
documents especially those upon goat
skin being probably v cry ancient The
convenience of the square or oblong
page for common use seems to hav e led
to its Introduction at an early date
among the scholarly classes of all
countries and It was a short and nec
essary advance to attach the sheets of
skin or papjrus to each other and to
an outer or heavier page of skin or
wood as a still further protection This
once done the art of bookbinding in
Its modern sense was begun
The art reached a high status during
the first centuries of the Christian era
The Roman books were covered with
leather colored In tints of red jellow
green and purple The Gospels and mis
sals of the early church were fastened
in wooden boards often nearly an inch
thick and carved and adorned with
metal In the sixth century certain
dignitaries of the Irish church are men
tioned for their skill in binding in gold
and precious stones Pope Gregory III
In A D 731 had a copy of the Gospels
bound In plates of gold weighing fifteen
pounds The Bible giv en by Alculn to
Charlemagne was written on vellum
and bound In velvet with a frontis
piece and numerous Illustrations paint
ed in gold and colore During the sev
enth eighth and ninth centuries the
art and industry of Christian scholars
w ere lav Ished upon copies of the Scrip
tures and books of devotion written
with exquisite care upon vellum of yellow-
or purple tint and often in letters
of silver and gold with Illuminations 1n
colors and bound In velvet gold and
Ivory studded with Jewels The Jewish
scribes made magnificent copies or the
Old Testament distinguished especially
by the beauty of the writing The
Saxon monks excelled In calligraphy
also while the Italians and Spanish
were famous for the beauty of their Il
luminations and the Greek scholars for
the luxury of their books
Specimens of the binding of the four
teenth century are still extant and in
excellent preservation exhibiting the
care and Industry with which the oaken
boards were covered with vellum
Books -were then magnified Jy covered
also with velvet and damask wih
gold White vellum also was stamped
with gold and morocco and calf were
Inlaid and adorned In all Imaginable
was Printed books toward the close
of the fifteenth century were bound fre
quently In calf with oaken boards and
stamped w 1th gold A curious book of
Indentures between Henry VII of Eng
land and the Convent of St Peter
Westminster has a cover of crimson
Genoese velvet edged with crimson silk
and gold thread with tassels of the
same at each corner the Inside being
lined with crimson damask On each
side of the cover and five bosses made
of silver wrought and gilt those in
the middle have the crown and suppoit
ers gilt and enameled and at the cor
ners the figures of the portcullis in a
similar stjle It is fastened by two
sllv er hasps enameled with the red rose
of Lancaster
The rivalrj In magnificence between
Henry VIII of England and Francis I
of Trance was in favor of the latter In
the matter of bookbinding Trancls
was the personal friend of Robert
Stephens the famous English book
binder Grollier a nobleman sent by
the French King as Ambassador to
Home was one of the most celebrated
patrons of the art This nobleman s
said to have been the first to introduce
lettering upon the back It Is a re
markable fact that the enthusiasm in
the art of bookbinding displayed by
Anne Boleyn Mary Stuart and Queen
Elizabeth Is exemplified in the
roj al family of England In the person
of one of the Kings sisters
As regards the modern status of the
rt it may be said to have received
treat impetus from the interest that
kas been to such a large extent awak
ned The stjle of ornamentation de
fends or course upon the taste and
dexterity of the artist and the fancy of
the purchaser and as these are varied
there can hardly be said to be any
limit to the variations In the decoration
of a book The popular verdict has
been for a long time in favor ofwhat
is stjled half binding as the best com
bination of and
neatness The back and edges being
covered with leather renders It very
strong while the better quality of mar
ble paper with which the sides are
usually covered Is as durable as the
leather Itself In full binding the Le
vant morocco ranks highest for
strength beauty and expense Turkey
morocco holding- next place Calf is
also very strong and handsome but
Russian leather soon cracks along the
Joint
Various designations have been ap
plied to the finer stj les of ornament
Thus the Aldlne appropriately named
after the great Aldus is a graceful and
lighter modification in ungilt ornaments
of Ihe old monastic The modern mon
antlc or antlkue is correctly In divinity
calf or brown morocco with very thick
boards and edges either red brown or
matted gold the decorations beln In
what Is technically called blind tooling
or ungilt ornamental lines and the de
sign having a rather formal and recti
linear effect The modern fancy for
the antique has produced manv imita
tions of which the oak a favorite stjle
for prayer books i very handsome
as is also the Iron used foi similar pur
poses The illuminated binding is a
Fiench invention and Is agoigeous com
bination of the graceful tracery of the
moderns with the lavish of the
anrlent illuminators The paintings are
executed by artists in high and lasting
colors as a work entirely distinct from
the binderj and morocco of different
tints is introduced to heighten the bril
liant effect
IN UNKNOWN PATAGONIA
Soiiililnsr About the Mrilllge Hume
or flic Rlnnt Sloth
Patagonia is a mushroom countrv for
so to speak it has grewn into its pres
ent condition in a night A verj few eirs
ago it was cntirclv given P to Indians
and guanaeos Now there are farms upon
its coasts and settlements Gallegos with
its 3000 Inhabitants and Sand Point
still more populous with 11000
Curious places these coast settlements
frontier tovns of Patagonia one might
call them ver like frontier towns In
other parts of the world The Inhabitants
are tho foam of the tide of humanity
man of them have drifted there and
remain there uponthe desolate coat
The chief Industries of Patagonlp to
borrow tho words of the geography prim
erresolve themselves into one word
sheep From beginning to end of Pata
gonia along certain lines of longitude it
Is sheep sheep etcrnallj To escape sheep
J ou must cither sail out upon the Atlan
tic or else lose joursclf In the pampas
The story of the country can be sum
med up in these sentences
The Falkland Isles proved good for
sheep
The Inlands becoming too full the ocr
flow tried Patagonia
Sheep throve in Patagonia
The people are of varied race in Pata
gonia the blood of ever nation is pour
ed into her veins Life failures many of
them but there jou dont find the broke
arm man or the Bton and Oxford gone
astray Patagonia Is too little known to
attract gilded misfortune or to bo much
sought out by the legion of the damned
Farther north you find them
But down there upon the beaches of
Ultima Thuie at the worlds end the
wanderers of many lands have been flung
bj the gales of the seven oceans Falr
halred Swedes bull necked Norwegians
lads from the Fife hills red capped Ital
ians smart Spaniards fat Portuguese
bearded Russians cunning Germans
Hollanders Chileans Orientals Chinese
a few Informative Frenchmen Irish
men whose 11116171655 has been washed
away by the contemplation of wider pros
pects Austrlans with unpronouncablc
names and Poles ending In ski every
known nationality and a good many un
known mixtures
And these folks all talk sheen Sheep
sheep all day long and over the evening
pipe sheep and jet sheep
Behind the narrow fringe of farms the
country which is of Immense extent is
divided Into pampa nnd Cordillera plain
and mountain From the Sierra Nevada
stretch to the sea stretch the pampas
all grass thorn guanacos and mirages
On the western rim of the pampa the
Cordilleras stand against the sky a tu
mult of mountains climbing upward their
hollows holding great lakes ice cold Ice
blue and about their bases thousands of
square miles of shaggy forests of which
but the bare edges have let been explor
ed
The two make up Patagonia ami give
you a fine sense of contrast Flat pampa
with hardly a visible undulation moun
tains almo t Inaccessible owing to their
steepness Side by side they lie crossing-
many degrees of latitude the contrast de
scending to the smalk st particulars
mountain against plain forest as oppos
ed to low thorn bush rain against sun
The west wind only belongs to both
more or less though it is more prevalent
upon the rarapas The east of the coun
try belongs to the Argentines the w est to
the Chileans between them an enormous
acreage of Cordillera yrt to be explored
This land Is the home of big distances
cornersr clasps and decorations of solid 1 The Boer boasted that he could not -see
the smoke of his neighbors chimney- On
the coat land or Patagonia It Is often
three four or five days ride to the next
farm They measure their holdings not
by the acre but by the square league
One farm alone Is 400 square miles In ex
tent
The distances are at first appalling A
man accustomed to cities would here feel
forlorn indeed You stand face to face
with the elemental As jou travel into
the interior Nature with her large loose
grasp enfolds you There Is no propping
up by ones fellow man Empty leagues
t pon leagues surround jou on every side
the inverted bowl we call the above
Who haTing once seen them can forget
tho pampas Evening and tho sun slop
ing over the edge of the plain like an an
gry eje an Ink -blue mirage hilf blotting
it out In the middle distance gr iss rolling
like an ocean to the horizon lean thorr
and a mighty roaring wind Th n comes
the dark like the turning down of a hmp
Out there In the heart of the country jou
seem to stand alone with nothing nearer
or more palpable than the wind the fieice
mirages and limitless distances
This wild land ribbed and boned by one
of the greatest mountain chains in the
world appears to have been the last
habitation of the greater bcaste of the
older ages It Is now the last country of
all to receive man or rather its due share
of human population
It must not be forgotten that it is the
nearest known bulk of land to the Ant
arctic continent It thrusts forth its great
mass far into southern waters and be
jond lie a covey of Islands large and
small upon the uttermost of which Is the
famous Cape Horn
On the Antarctic continent there is no
life to speak of only birds In Patago
nia the nearest large land the human
race was through the centuries repre
sented b a few thousand nomad Indi ins
who in their long rov Intra followed certain
well known trails from which only a verj
rare and venturesome indlridual thought
of deviating Tor onLsidr these paths
dwelt according to the native Imagina
tion dingers and terrors unknown You
can follow the sime trails Picture
to jourself a dozen or twenty Held paths
running side side obliterated bj the
fingers of the Spring and invisible under
jour feet but strangelj growing into dis
tinctness half a mile ahead waving on
ward across the pampas Such la the In
dian trail
People in England one finds are divided
Into two groups as to their opinions of the
Patagonlan climate One group main
tains that the countrj must be tropical
since it Is included in the continent of
South America the other that it is an
ice bound region for the good reason that
It lies close to Tlerra del Fuego Oddly
enough both are In a degree Justified For
the summers there are very hot but the
Beverlty of the winter time when snow
lies deep on the countrj and cutting
winds blow down from the frozen heights
during thoBc months that bring to us our
long English evenings la also undenia
ble
Some day no doubt the land will lose
Its untamed aspect It will become as
others are molded by the band of man
and expectant of him But now the great
words of one whose eyes never rested on
Patagonlan loneliness nutrvelously de
scribe them
A land where no man conies nor hath
come
Since the making of the -world
But ever the wind shrills
London Express
THE TIMES WASIIINQTONsbNDAY OCTOBER 27 901
THE OFMSHED FEIEZE
llitory of lite Faniou Paintings
in the Capitol Dome
-Work lln Ilrrn NimprMiiIoil for Itnn
VunUinir te IIoii 1 oicrew
llrumldls llarapf IJcsIbiih
liy tostnivcliil Vit Vet Arocplril
With all the Improvements that are
at present going on in the Capitol there
still remains a glaring defect that Is at
once detected by the visitor In the Ro
tunda This is the unfinished portion of
the frieze representing scenes In the
historj of the countrj Work upon the
frieze has been suspended since May
1SS0 for the reason that no subjects
hav e been determined upon for the ilnla
groups
Brumidl the original artist was tak
en ill In 180 shortly after finishing the
figure of William Penn and died Feb
ruary 4 quite advanced in jears prob
ably from the effect of the shock pro
duced bj a partial fall from the scaf
folding upon which he worked This
scaffolding could until recently be
seen hanging upon the wall Just as It
was left by Costaggini Bruraldis suc
cessor in the work The story of Bru
mldts fall upon this scaffold Is told by
the watchman who witnessed It This
man stood Just below the and
vas accustomed to follow with his ejes
the progress of the artist below He
saw him fall and running down the
long illght of steps succeeded in rescu
ing the old gentleman as he clung
nearlj exhausted to the ladder In an
other moment he would have fallen and
been dashed to pieces on the floor be
neath The chair in which he sat in
order to raint had been pushed back
ward on the small platform and as his
assistant was absent there was no one
on the scaffold to lescue him
Upon the death of Brumldi Fillppo
Costaggini another Italian artist was
engaged to complete the frieze Bru
mldis original designs were used by his
successor the first of whose figures
may be readllj discerned as the one to
the right of William Penn The first
entire group executed by Costaggini
represents a scene in Plymouth Colonj
ln December 1G20 described bj Governor
Bradford In the Log of the Mayflow
er and afterward took better view of
the place and resolved where to pitch
their dwelling and the 23th began
to erect the first house for common
use to reeelv e them ard their goods
All of Brumidts designs have been
executed It was his intention to have
but one more picture in the belt Cos
taggini however in placing the de
signs of his predecessor in the frieze
has crowded them to make room for
two sketches bj himself He proposes
the Junction of the Union nnd Central
Pacific Railroads at Promontory Point
Utah with Leland Stanford driving the
golden spike which bound the iron
girders connecting the Atlantic and Pa
cific Oceans and the opening of the
Worlds Fair with President Cleveland
touching the button which set the
wheels In motion
On June 1 lf Mr Hansbrough re
ported to the Senate a joint resolution
without amendment For completing
the painting of the frieze In the Ro
tunda of the United States Capitol by
Fillppo Costaggini after designs to be
furnished him and approved by the
Joint Committee on the Library 6000
or so much thereof as may be neces
sary Mr Hawley said I am not
quite satisfied with the manner in
which the frieze Is being finished or
conducted I make no especial criti
cism upon the President of the United
States for various reasons and he
might find his place upon It but I am
not quite satisfied with an attempt to
approve a history of the United States
which the frieze is supposed to suggest
that omits George Washington and
Abraham Lincoln and presents Mr
Cleveland when we consider the re
spective positions of Mr Lincoln and
Mr Cleveland during the great war of
the rebellion In repljing to the Con
necticut Senator and in support of his
report Mr Hansbrough said I have
here two sketches which it Is proposed
to use in completing the fresco work
The one that the faenator from Con
necticut objects to or believes he ob
jects to represents President Cleveland
pressing the electric button which no
tified the world that the Worlds Fair
was open It also represents in the
back ground the Duke of Veragua nnd
his family the lemnants of the Colum
bus famlij and all there is left of it
It will be remembered that the flist
painting In the frieze of the Dome Is a
fresco representing Columbus landing
In America The last one will be a
fresco representing the opening of the
Worlds Fair attended by the onlj liv
ing descendants of the Columbus fam
lij The committee thinks it a very ap
propriate sketch
To this Mr Haw ley replied I won
der how a man giving the history of the
United States could entirelj skip the
great war of the Union If jou ask
how I would put it upon the frieze If I
did nothing else I would represent the
apple tree at Appomattox and Grant
nnd Lee blinking hands with surround
ing touches and intimations of troops
and various designs I do not object to
the Senators Idea of giving a hint of
the great exhibition at Chicago but I
object to the utter absence of the great
est historical event since the war of the
Revolution one of tne greatest in
all historj The resolution passed the
Senate
On the Cth of the same month Repre
senlativ Lioutelle introduced into the
House joint lesolution which called
for some suitable design which should
sjmbolize the great events In the na
tional life since the close of the Mexi
can war and appropriately commemo
rate the preservation of the Union and
tin establishment of universal freedom
by heroic valor and sacrifice of the citi
ens of the Hepubllr under the leader
shlpor Abraham Lincoln This is as
far as the matter has gone
According to the criticisms of artists
Brumldi s work Is finer thin that of
his successor this superiority being
more especiallv noticeable in the first
three groups It Is said tl at an artist
engaged on the decoration of the Con
gressional Llbrarj Building studjing
the work of Brumldi on this frieze ex
claimed Wo have nothing equal to
this In the Library There Is no one
who can do such work
THE NOMINEES ESCAPE
A Cine I
tin- SoukIiI
he
Mini In jiln
Gentlemen we meet tonight ter noml
n ito the Hon John B Brc ece for alder
man Hch our man all right hes got
lots of rnonej and he can spend It frccli
when he feels that Itll do him goou ter
do oo Im proi d to place his name before
jou Tbe speaker was the chairman of
the delegation from the district
He was addicsslng the aldermanlc con
ventlon
An I second the nomln ition becius
Mr Ilreeco la n corker lies a friend of
the pecpul an has been a resident of our
leestrlck fer jears shouted anothc
-delegate
The chairman of the convention place
the nomination before tlic house and the
choice was made unanimous The owner
of the hall knowing the length of the
purse of the Hon John B Breece did not
hesitate to fend In tbtj order from bis si
Icon in front cf the conventions gather
ing place
It Is now the duty of tlw chiir ter
name a committee of five to notify the
honorable canddate that we have chosen
hlrn as our standard bearer announced
the ch ilrman when Ho could make him
self henrd above the diiiOt glasses being
pounded on the chair backs as anals to
the waiters Then he continued without
waiting to see if his remarks net with
approval I name John Collins Tom
Ulake Martin Burke Carl Schnitzel and
1ete Conroj as the committee
three cheerr for tho committee
shouted some one in the cloud of tobacco
smoke that was choking the room The
cheers were given the committee started
out and the convention adjourned
The Hon John IJ Breece stopped In the
of his home to look Into the mir
ror on the hatrack In order to see If his
white tie was perfectly straight He ad
justed Itiilightly put on his overcoat and
after flecking a little dust oft his silk hat
he called out to Mrs Breece who was
sitting In tho drawing room
Good bj my dear Im off to the din
ner Then as If by an after thought he
added By the the regulars of this
district sent to my office today and said
the sentiment of tho district was that I
should run for alderman Now I dont
want to be bothered about such an office
The fact Is I have bigger fish to frj
Walking to the corner the Hon
John B Breece hailed a cab jumped in
and was driven to the banquet hall where
the Fi lends of the Republic were holding
tl cii annual dinner He was down to re
spond to the toast Our Civic Dutj and
ho was thinking hard of what he would
say when he was called upon to speak
All too soon tho toastmaster called on
the Hon John P Breece
Ladles and fellow -members of the
Friends of the Republic he began Then
he went on and told how tho nation was
founded on the works of devotion to pub
lic dutj on the part of the fathers of the
cuutry nothing was nobler than their
unselfish toll night and day td establish
on a firm footing tho struggling joung
group of States The past and present
were contrasted much to the discredit of
the present Then he launched forth in
his peroration
Gentlemen tho office should seek the
man If our fellow -citizens should offer
to anj of us a position of public trust the
true patriot the man who has tho wel
fare of his country at heart should not
cast it aside as If it were a bauble but he
should accept It and administer that office
with honest j and a single eje to the wel
fare of those who trusted him That
gentlemen Is the motto of the true son of
our nation that gentlemen Is the foun
dation of our society the Friends of the
Republic
The Hon John B Breece sat down deaf
ened the applause which greeted his
concluding words A waiter slipped a
telegram Into his hand Ho read It be
came a little flustered and then smiled
Scribbling a on a piece of paper he
asked the waiter to send It Then he sat
back and listened to tbejother speakers
On Us way out of the contention hall
the notification committee stopped at the
bar and had a round rOf drinks All went
down on the slate to the account of the
Hon John B Then the five
boarded a car for the street In which the
candidate I ved Midnight was approach
ing when thej arrived Although the
Breece house w as dark the fiv e walked up
the steps and rang the belL They rang It
twice thrice FinallyaCTUtce asked who
was there One of the five replied that
they were a committee of Mr Breeees
fellow citizens who had come to tender
to him one of tbe best offices In their
gift
Mrs Breece understood She came
down and let the five In Redolent of to
bacco and beer the five entered and sat
down in the parlor Excusing herself for
a moment Mrs Breece went upstairs
She called up a telegraph boy and gave
him a telegram addressed to the Hon
John B Breece at the dinner of the
Trlends of the Republic Then she came
back to the parlcr When she got through
talking the five marched out in single
file On reaching the street they looked
at each other for a moment The awk
ward pause Was broken by the sugges
tion lets have a drink
When the Hon John B Breece opened
the telegram at dinner this is what he
re ad
Stay until 3 oclock Ill fix the
committee JENNIE
This was his
All right I catch on JOnN
New York Commercial Advertiser
PRAISE FROM SCOTLAND
The Late 1rcniilentji lClnduess an
llclnted by a Milliliter
On tho occasion of the visit of the Pan
Presbjterian Council to Washington two
jears ago President McKinlej gave a re
ception to the delegates at tho White
House We were rather late In reaching
Washington after a tour of the Far West
so we missed the reception and our fellow-delegates
were not slow to tell us how
verj Interesting and delightful It had
been Mj friend and I had however
something better in store Calling for a
well known banker In the cltj and tell-
hlm of our disappointment In not meeting
the President we were advised to ask at
tho White House for the I Tcsidents sec
retary Mr Porter and send in our cards
It was a Saturday and on the Monday
following Admiral Dewey was to be wel
comed in Washington and on Tuesday the
gold sword of honor was to be presented
VVe were assured by the secretary that
the President was engaged In a Cabinet
meeting but that if we could wait ho
woald see what could be done
In the course of ten minutes he came
to us saving The President will see jou
gentlemen and brought us to a side
room of the Cabii iv clumber where the
President was staining talking to a lady
and gentleman he came forward
to us a rather short well built man of
some sitty jears ills strong somewhat
Napoleonic face lighted with a smile and
shaking hands cordlullj with us he said
Vou have come to Wafchlugtore for the
1resbjterlHn council What eto jou think
of our citj I repllod that we had been
across the continent and that we had ar
rived in Washington the day before
but tliat It struck me at first sight as a
beautiful citj He then said And what
do jou think of our country T You know
we are sometimes accused of boasting
about It I replle d that I thought thero
were enormous resources- behind He next
rem irked on our being from Scotland and
said- You know k am of Scotch de
scent indeed Mr Presllent said I
m ij I ask with what part of Scotland
joa claim connection Ho replied
Well with the north of Ireland Wo
draw a geographical distinction said I
but the peoMe of the north of Ireland
are largelj of Scottish origin 1 ask
if It is long since your ancestors came
over here r
My great grantfithtr camo from Ire
land said be He next asked How
liave jou Ik en Impressed by our coun
trj It has been a constant wonder to
me I replied how such a conglomer
ate of peoples lias lieen fused Into a great
nation and I added I suppose one good
result at least of the recent war will he
to evoke a national eprit and to weld the
nation together in u growirg patriotism
ind community of aim To this I ilon t
know that he m ide an replv Tb inter
view eloswl bj his uajlrg 1 am glad to
h ivt met vou 1 hope jou will enjoj jour
rtay In Washington Altogether we
would be Bonn- five minutes with him i
long time In the middle of the busj life of
a nan ut the bead of a great u itlonIlis
faie ncinud to to be full cf intelli
i ence and oovr Thero was a Hlmplc
md Kuirewlnt serious illgnltj in I1I3 nd
diPtm nhlV his manner wa3 verj quirt
ird winning io me the outst indies fea
ti res of his persoualltj were strength and
hi in
I ater l had occasion to send him a book
I had written with 1 note In winch I
W of tin bend that seemrd to be
rowing betwicn Gnat Brltiln
and vmirlca and I had a delightful
now edgnunt from him expressive of his
ntf rcFt and regard - I dlr burgh Scots
train
THE FAMED THIRD DEGREE
Some Xotcil Iiibtanres Wherein the
3Iystie Ortleal Was Applied
WJiat IfVIranx nml How It In Opcrnt
fil Origin or the Term Tlie Art of
1nreliiK roiifc tnlons Pro 111 Crimi
nals Iuii4Mtor llj riics 31etliodn
Potential and mjstlcal Is the term
third degree as used In police parlance
To the average mind the term Is famil
iar as applied to a degree In secret
societies particularly In Masonrj where
when It has been taken by a member of
the Masonic It means that he
has gone about as high Ih Masonrj as he
can go so far as the actual work of the
order Is concerned Higher degrees mean
higher social planes In the order and tend
to Indicate a mans standing In the com
munity rather than a deeper knowledge
of the work of the order Itself
But when it Is used In connection with
the arrest of a criminal It means the
limit of police examination of an individ
ual One frequently reads of So and So
having been arrested by Officer Blank and
taken to the precinct station house and
later of his being taken to police head
quarters and put through the third de
gree
It really Is a third degree In the ex
amination of a criminal
Tho first degree Is given when ho Is
examined by the offlce s In a precinct
station house Tho sc ond degree gen
erally means his examination by a detec
tive from headquarters at the police
court The third degree means the big
examination given him at headquarters
by the chief of the detective bureau and
whatever subordinates he may employ in
the operation when the case warrants it
The term had Its origin in police par
lance some timo back in the early six
ties when the old Leonard Street station
was to the city something like what the
Tenderloin station now Is
A man bj the name of Brunt had stol
en a lot of valuablo bonds from the firm
by which he was cmplojed After the loss
of the bonds Brunt had been arrested
purely on suspicion While the police felt
sure In their minds that Brunt had com
mitted the theft they had no actual evi
dence Brunt had Influential connections
and was released on a small bail Almost
Immediately after his release on ball
stronger evidence appeared which war
ranted Captain Jordan who was In com
mand of the Leonard Street police sta
tion at that time to have Brunt rear
rested Brunt was put In one of the old
fashioned brick cells It was In the mid
dle of August and quite warm enough
for anjonc even in the cool shadows of
the old Jail But Jordan had a big old
fashioned egg stove erected In the cell
where Brunt w as confined and had a
rousing fire made The stove was kept
at white heat a jailer was put In charge
to seo that Brunt did not interfere with
It To Brunts many enquiriec as to
what It meant no answer was made Jor
dan called on him one afternoon when the
temperature was moving way over the
10O mark and told Brunt that the tem
perature would be kept at about that de
gree until he decided to confess tell all
he knew about the missing bonds and
save the police and persons who were
prosecuting the case any further trouble
Brunt held out for three weeks In which
time he had lost about twenty two
pounds largely as a result of perspira
tion When he reached the stage of ex
haustion where he felt that death was
about to move in and become his cellmate
he weakened and told alt Tho bonds
were recovered and owing to the
lack of any ev ldence except that which
Brunt himself had given he got off with
a light sentence
The case at the time attracted a great
deal of attention and a newspaper writer
in describing tho case simplified the gen
eral description of tho events from the
j n intll TJninfo
head Unger w rapped the head up in oil
cloth and paper and dropped it Into the
Last River He then wnt back to the
room had the trunk taken to ai office of
tho Adams Express Company in urook
ljn where he had It shipped to Balti
more Almost Immediately friends of
Bohle began a search for him which was
soon taken up bj the police The records
of the case show clever work done the
detective department which Immediately
scented murder On January ST7 six day
after the murder Unger was arrested on
suspicion bj Sergeant McLaughlin and
Detective Sergeants Crowley Frirk and
Von Gerlchten He was taken to head
quarters and questioned Unger was a
stolid thick necked surly German and
the first examination failed to elicit the
least thing from Uugcr which would tend
to Incriminate him
The famous old veteran of police work
Thomas Byrnes was in charge of the de
tective bureau at that time and there
was no doubt In his mind as to Unger be
ing the gulltv sartj if Bohle had been
murdered nnd h decided that the easiest
waj to clear up the mjstery was to make
Unger tell about It by hook or crook To
do this well he bad taken to police head
quarters most of the furnishings of the
room at 22 Ridge btrcet where Unger and
Bohe had lived
Among these things was a lounge on
vhich blood stains had been discovered
and a towel that had hcen
ued to wipe bloody nanus inc kiuxe was
missing but the poker that had been used
was still there and was takpn along with
the rest Bjrnes had these furnishings
fixed up In a roo 11 nt police headquarters
in approximately tlu amc relation to
c ac h other the had bad In the room on
Ridge Streit After several da during
which nil the methods known to thief
catchers to brin out confessions had
btn used but without success I nger
was brought up and tnaen into the room
where tho stage h id been set in so pc
turesque a manner nnd In which he was
destined to play a verj conspicuous part
for the next hour or so While Unger
was reposing in the cell at headquarters
the trunk containing the remains o
Hohle had ben discovered nnd Bjrncs
putting this and that together was sure
he had tho story of the crime With his
Imaginative story for a cue book Bjrnes
assembled a number of detectives around
tho room to which Unger had been
brought and then began the real test of
the third degTee
Byrnes seated Unger In a chair comfort
ably and gave him a cigar to smoke The
manner of Bjrnes at this moment was
not that of a hard master of criminals
but that of the urbane polite entertainer
who had gone to great trouble to fix up
an Interesting diversion for the stolid and
lowering Unger Bjrnes began something
like this
Cnger heres a great story for you to
listen to I have just killed a nan and
Ive got his body In there pointing to a
supposititious side room Or maybe Ive
got him over here Now I dont want
that body lying around here and It seems
to mo that the best way out of it Is to
cut him up and ship him away some
where I havent got anything here that
I can lay him on that will allow me to
w ork comfortably because Iv o got to do
a fine job so I guess Ill get him out and
lay him on that lounge All right now
Ive got him on the lounge Now then I
want a good sharp knife Lets see
there was a knife around here a whllo
ago A fellow tried to ci me with one a
whllo ago Whats become of it I -wonder
At the mention of the word knife Un
ger gave a slignt start and shifted uneasi
ly in his chair Tho story was doing its
work Bjrnes went on in this way for
some time and went over all the ground
that he had already traversed in his mind
Only once or twice did Unger show any
signs of pajing any attention whatever
to what Byrres was sajing but that was
enough After Byrnes had finished his
story he turned to tho men In the room
and said Well wnereupon Detective
Crowley came out of the shadow where he
had been standing and walking over to
Unger said nonchalantly and as though it
were a matter of but passing curiosity
Did he cut jou at all
The fishy blue eye of Unger flashed tho
briefest glint of fire and he bellowed out
No folio a cd by a string of particularly
vituperative German oaths
Unger was doomed from that minute
ho had confessed bj that brief expression
almost as completely as though he had
already told the whole story After that
there was a continual string of quiet in
sinuating suggestion and questioning with
continual references to the poker and the
knife the blood stains on the lounge and
everj bit of the gruesome exhibit At the
end of two hours of this sort of thing Un
ger In a fit of rage at the heciorlngs and
pestering told all or at least enough of
It to warrant hl3 conviction which oc
curred on Fcbr ary 39 1ES7 and he was
I sentenced to twentj years In Sing Sing
Good behavior cut the sentence down very
considerably and Unger was released on
June 21 1KB
Another instance of the work that is de
scribed as the third degree is that of
the Kronman case that occupied tha at
tention of the public for some time dur
ing August ISM
Mrs Kronman was found all but dead
In her flat on Eighth Avenue She had
been beaten about the head arid shoulders
with the blunt end of a hatchet Several
thousand dollars worth of that
she was known to carry about with her
was missing Captain Cooney of the West
Thlrt j -seventh Street station set to work
on the case immediately and he felt that
circumstances warranted his vrresting the
womans husband at about the came hour
she died in a hospital
At the statlonrouse Kronman was sub
jected to all the rigorous examination that
goes to make the degrees short of the
third degree Failing to elicit any sat
lsfactorj Information from Kroaman ho
was turned- over to the headquarters de
tectives for the third degree Captain
McClusky was In charge of the Detective
Bureau at that time and with the success
of Byrnes and his methods in the Unger
case in mind he had a setting made of
many of the furnishings of the Kronman
Hat and with the blood stained hatchet
ume tne IT J occupying a conspicuous place JCronmaa
I
which he
confession as a period during rT
was put through the third degree much
took the third degree Since that time
the term lias proved popular as applied
to police affairs and while used Jn many
ways has a concrete significance to those
familiar with what the third degree
really means
Here is an instance that will give the
reader a comprehensive idea of the pro
cedure and actions on the part of the po
lice designated as the third degree
On January 21 1SS7 Capt Butch Un
ger had a quarrel w 1th his roommate Au
gust Bohle The men had been drinking
in their room at 22 Ridgo Street and
quarreled According to Ungera state
ment Bohle who had been sharpening 1
tig wicked looking knife rushed at him
after some statement made by Unger and
attempted to stab him Unger said that
at the time he was fixing the fire In the
stov e and had a poker In his hand When
Bohle rushed at him he defended him
self with the poker Both men were pow
erfully built and a desperate struggle en
sued the result of which was that Bohle
was simply beaten to death with the
poker Unger used as a weapon When
it dawned on Unger that he had killed
Bohle he moved the dead Into a
small side room and set the scattered fur
nishings to rights so well that when Un
gcrs son who lived with the two men
returned home that night he saw nothing
amiss
When the son loft the house the next
morning Unger set to work with the knife
that Bohle had sharpened and cut Bohles
dead body Into seven different pieces and
packed thorn in a trunk There was room
for everj thing in the trunk but Bohles
as Unger was The only thing against
Kronman in the minds of the uollce was
the fact that he could not establish a clear
alibi for tha time that the murder was
supposed to have been committed but so
far as general evidence was concerned
they had little to work on Kronman was
badgered for three or four hours and one
may easily imagine what a terrible ex
perience the third degTee would be to
go through when It Is stated that Kron
man taken out of the room in a dead
faint from utter exhaustion at the trial
he had gone through
When they had finished the police were
fairly certain that Kronman was not the
man but as circumstances developed al
most Immediately which caused them to
begin on a new tack they thought it
would be well to let it appear that Kron
man was tbe guilty man To further
strengthen this Idea Kronman was even
taken to the funeral of his wife where
he was again subjected to many questions
while standing over his wifes coffin
This Incident called down a lot of ad
verse criticism on the police but was soon
forgotten In the excitement surrounding
the arrest of a cousin of the dead wo
man named Ncufeldt Neufeldt was an
ex -convict and a generally
It developed that Mrs Kronman had been
deeplj Interested in the reformation of
Neufeldt and had desired his marriage
with a girl frienc of her To further this
the day before tne murder she bad ar
ranged a meeting at her home between
Ncufeldt and the girl and during the con
versation had brouiht forth a great num
ber of jewels and decorated the girl with
them and told Neufeldt that when he
married the joung girl In question she
aould give her this or this pointing
outiome of the less valuable of the
The sight of the Jewelry aroused all
of the low cuplditv of Neufeldt who came
tbe next daj and committed the crime
and robbery The Idea of the police mak
ing it appear that Kronman was the real
murderer led Neufeldt to be less cautious
than he perhaps ordinarily would have
been and he was arrested In one of the
cheap cafes of Houston Street dissipating
on the proceeds of the robbery Neufeldt
was given a speed trial was sentenced
to death and executed
There Is another kind of third degree
other than that which has been described
in the two preceding Incidents which con
slss largely in creating an utmosphere
around an alleged criminal from which
vorv few can emerge without having com
mitted themselves In some way or an
other If they are guilt- Hero is an in
stance
On November 20 1D0O Alexander J Hub
bard of li North Street Baltimore JId
wa3 brutal assaulted by John Marphv
alias Thousand Dollar Diamond Harry
and Henry Maas both of whom were ex
convicts Hubbard was a Jewelry mer
chant and was alone in his store at the
time Maas and Murphy came In nnd
asked him to show them certain gooods
Whea the goods had been exhibited the
men beat Hubbard into insensibility with
the butt of a pistol and got awa with
the L ooty Capt George Titus was in
charge of tliu New York Detective Bureau
at that time rnd the Baltimore police
wired him to look out for Maas and Mur
phy who the had reason to believe had
committed the c Ime and had gone to
New York Thref da3 afterward on
November 3 Murph arrested by De
tectives Cronln llennessy and Butler
Murphy was taken to headquarters wher
hc protested to Captain Titus his entire
innocence Titus hid him taken to a cell
while he finished some business at hand
Murnhr was pampered for a few hours
given many luxuries to eat and j
er treated as inougn ue werr l parucu
larlv dlstlnguishisl guest rather than a
rran under suspicion of having committed
a foul crime- Later he was brought up
stairs- to Captain Titus room where the
captain had assembled a hilf dozen of hs
expert thief catchers Mcrphy was greet
ed cordially and hospitabi was given a
good cigar to smoke and then engaged in
amiible conversation v hlcn lasted for a
couple of hours and while it fs not known
Just row much Murphy may have com
mttrd himself during this It
was enough to make the arrest of his ac
complice Maas an cas imitti r 1 couple
of hours later the same day It would np
pear also that durlog his conversation
Murphy disclosed the name of an
in Baltimore who had a re put a
tlon among crooks of a certain grade as a
man who could successfuly bribe
la that town
Maas and Murphy were tried and con
vleted and each sentenced to ten years In
the penltcntiar New Yorit Times
FIGHTING FOREST FIRES
Government Policemen Who Guard
AVestcrn Timber Reserves
iialornlo Syntem of Protection Ar
rnnged to Prevent the Spread of
Anr Chnnco Illaxe AweInsplrlRsr
Scenes After the Plume Advance
Few people know that In faraway Call
fomla at all hours of the day and night
a force of
Government policemen art on
duty walking regular beats In the heart
or the mountain forests as they would
in a populous city making occasional ar
rests and regular reports to headquarters
quite In the style of the modern police
man In many cases these beats are so
isolated and lonesome that the policeman
does not see a soul for weeks save tho
men on the adjoining beats But it Is not
to preserve order that the National Gov
ernment employs this force and pays
them but to guard against forest fires
which have j early been Increasing In
number and destructleacss Millions of
feet of v aluable timber are burned every
year as the result of the carelessness of
hunting parties In leaving camp fire em
bers behind them Drought has followed
drought until tho whole Sierra Madre
country serems likely to burn np aud not
only Is there an Immense loss la standing
timber but the removal of the trees al
lows the springs and creeks which feed
the rivers to do up the winter snows
are not conserved for irrigation and the
effect is felt hundreds of miles away
The Government has endeavored for
many jears to control these destructive
forest fires but during the fall of 1S39 and
1500 the situation became so alarming that
It took up the matter much more energet
Ically and systematically than ever be
fore The ranges are now subdivided Into
smaller districts than formerly and each
district Is under direct supervision of a
superintendent or warden Each warden
has under him deputy wardens or ran
gers who patrol smaller sub districts sev
eral times a day during the summer and
fall months and report regularly to tha
warden under whom they are working
For this patrol service the Government
pays its men J2 a day and expenses The
work aside from the actual fighting of
fires 13 not so very hard but It soon be
comes very monotonous and It Is tome
times very hazardous It consists In pa-
iroiung a given tl at ssveral times a day
The patrolmen are clothed with police
power and have orders to arrest anyone
who has done anj thlng that would cause
a blaze or who has In any way disregard
ed the regulations of the forest reserve
commission
It Io also the rangers duty to keep a
sharp lookout for Incipient blazes to ex
tinguish them if he can alone and if
not to report the fire to his superior and
tho nearest known help In that particular
neighborhood
There are various causes for the forest
fires Some are started by accident some
by thoughtlessness and some by delib
erate criminal carelessness By far the
most frequent cause Is the smoldering
campfire carelessly left by hunters and
others Recent lavs make It a mlsder
meanor to leave any embers from a
campflre which the next rising breeze
might fan into a flame The matter of
taking timer unlawfully rrom the forest
reserve also comes under the direct at
tention of the forest rangers With the
improved facilities now being established
all fires will be reported more quickly
Moreover trails are now being made over
many slopes which have heretofore been
almost impassable or along which a pa
trolman could at best make but very
slow progress
There are few grander or more awe
Inaplrlng sights than that afforded by a
mountain forest fire at night A few
years ago one of tho fiercest of the Sierra
Madre fires raged in the vicinity of tha
Cucamonga Mountains This fire had its
origin In the operations of some lumber
men down near the foot of the mountain
It had gotten beyond their control late
ln the evening W hen It wa3 first started
there was scarcely a breeze astir but be
fore it had burned long the superheated
currents of air created such a gale that
the hungry flames were carried rioht tin
on top the steep mountain slope with al
most Incredible rapidity until there was
uue e ouunuous name several miles long
extending nearly to the top of the moun
tain The night was t uite dark and the
beautiful reflections thrown back from
the clouds and fky were something never
to be forgotten
On another occasion a hunting party in
Deer cans on in the Sierra Madre range
witnessed one of these tremendous out
bursts of flame which raged for miles
Deer canj on is a long uneven rocky
gorge which extends nearly to the top ot
Cucamonga peak Beginning at the foot
hills it is quite wide but It gradually
deepens until its upper part is quite shad
owy most of tha waj At that time both
slopes of this canj on from brink to ridge
were densely wooded with gigantic nine
redwood and other varieties of large
mountain trees The undergrowth also
was thick and dense It was during the
month of September and at that time
Deer canj on offered great Inducements to
hunting camping parties as there was ev
ery natural advantage shade spring
water variety of mountain and plain- and
abundance of game As its name Implies
deer were quite plentiful and It was not
an uncommon thing at that time for the
more daring hunter to bring la a moun
tain Hon or a grlzzlv bear
A member of the hunting party who
took a hand In the fight on the fire thus
described It
Our party had gone Into camp well up
the canyon and had been thoroughly en
joing locating the favorite haunts of
some of the larger game when on the
evening of the fourth day there broke out
one of the largest and most destructive
fires that ever Invaded that part of the
Government forest reserve This fire
broke out near the mouth of the canyon
It originated from a campfire left by a
part similar to ours who had gona
away the day before Our party had Just
returneel to camp from our morning
tramp at about 2 oclock In the after
noon We were all tired hot and hira
grj and were making preparations
lor sirengtnening tne inner man when
we noticed dense clouds of black smoke
beginning to roll up over the hilltops At
first it seemed to rise like dark pillars
of clouds toward the skj but by tho
time we had finished our meal the col
umns kept spreading wider and wider
and to our dlsmaj the kindling breeze set
in toward us thus driving the head fires
right in our direction
The nearest patrolman to this locality
was the Ontario ranger but ho was at
that tin fighting an Ircipient fire on tho
other side of the range in Santana can
jon It so happened that the Azusa ran
ger whose beat was adjoining this saw
the fire about the time It first started
Hastening to the scene nt once he suc
ceeded irt summonlnc quite a large cor
pan of men to battle with the fiery ele
ment Bv the time this force had arrived
the fire had made eonsiderable headway
and the heat wa so Intense that It was
almost Impossible to get nearer than a
quarter of a mile from the flames The
roar of these as thev leaped from pine to
pine was almost deafening Their reslno is
limbs baric and foliage could withstand
the furv of such flames but for an Instant
nnd when the head fires had passed on to
further destruction nil tint was left was
the great blackened trunk with out
stretched arms a charred mockery of
what a little before was one of natures
most beautiful bowers
It took all that night and most of the
next day to brim that fire under control
Fven tlcn it could not have been accom
plished had It not been that the wind
shifted to a more favorable quarter per
mitting a Judicious sjstem of backfiring
to be used Many of fighters were pros
trated by the heat and labor but by
working tbe volunteers In relava of only a
ew hours each nnd taking advantage of
the shifting wind it was fou id possible
to aouo e ene nenu lire int ouiw lu umu
path But even after the fire was under
cortro it became nccrssary to keep sev
ral mi n i patrol eluty there as the
falen smoldered for many hours
and migrt easily have been fanned into
additional flame upon a favorable shift of
the prevailing wind
Tortune greatlj favored our party In
ihat the direction of the head fire was
turned before It rraehed our camp The
huntlrg vas much iir prov ed after the firo
as tt great deal of came from the lower
slopes was drlten ahead of the fire higher
up the mourtains Into our It Is
surprising to thosa who have never had
the opportunity to Investigate the matter
how destructive these mountain fires are
to the animal life whose haunts they la-
vade Chicago Chronicle