The progress-advertiser., December 31, 1903, Image 8

About The progress-advertiser. (Lexington, Miss.) 1902-1903

Image provided by: Mississippi Department of Archives and History

                
To Attempt to Make
Soldiers of the Chinese
Army of the Empire to Be Reorganized — What It
Now Consists Of—Quaint Body of Soldiera.
Two things serve to arouse at least a
passing interest in thp military capacity
ot China. First is the warlike situation
in the east with Japan and Russia seem
ingly drawing nearer each day to a con
flict in which China will be vitally inter
ested, and for which that empire must
furnish the battle ground. Dispatches
from the orient tell of China's depend
ence upon Japan for the ousting of th<
bear from Manchuria, and the preser
vat ion of the empire. Under such condi
tions China would naturally become an
ally of Japan in the struggle for eastern
supremacy. These things make our sec
ond reason for evincing an Interest in
military China of still greater Im
portance than it otherwise would be. and
this second reason is the expressed inten
tion of the Chinese government to re
organize and modernize its army.
Even before Caleb Cushing carried
President Tyler's letter to Peking and
negotiated the first treaty with China in
1843. the possibilities of the mailed fist
had become a bug-a-boo to the people of
the western nations. So long as China
slept there was no danger; but China
was awakening, and what the awaken
ing might bring, what ambitions the
eastern giant might evince, were serious
questions in both Europe and America.
More than half a century has passed
since Caleb Cushing negotiated our
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CANDIDATES FOR OFFICE IN THE CHINESE ARMY.
A stranger force was never mustered j
under military banner than this of Gor- J
first commercial treaty with China, and
our first fears s^m no nearer realization
than they were then. China is not yet
fully awakened, and, as the Chinese em
pire, may never be, but in the meantime
the world has had some small experi
ence w.th the giant.
Jn a general way, the Chinese soldier
is a nonenity so far as fighting qualities
are concerned, though there have been
exceptions to this general rule. During
the Taiping rebellion, the greatest of the
many civil wars China has known, the
English Gen. Gordon proved that the
coolies were not cowards when prop
erly led. His "ever victorious" force of
less than 10,000 men. put to route rebel
armies len times its size. Gordon's force
was officered by foreigners, and had a
sprinkling of foreigners in its ranks, and
it was the fearless example set by these
men which made heroes of the coolies.
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4
A CHINESE REGIMENT PRACTICING AT BATTLE EXERCISES.
don, nor seldom a more heroic one.
Soldiers ol fortune from practically
every nation of Europe and America,
men who were fighting merely for the
adventure and pay the service promised,
yet the power of one man not only made
heroes of them, but heroes of the Chi
nese coolies as well. It was an experi
ment that proved possibilities under
right conditions.
Of capable military leaders China de
veloped but few during the Taiping re
bellion, or since that time. Of the few
Gen. Ching, who served with Gordon,
after his desertion from the rebel forces,
was a notable character, and of great
military ability. During the several
petty foreign wars in which China was
engaged down to the time of the out
break of the war with Japan, no char
acter of anything like equal ability was
developed, nor did the more important
conflict with Japan bring to the front a
leader of such worth as to be classed
with him. This lack of military leaders
would seem to place China a* a non-mil
itant power of whom the world need
have no feats.
It takes training to make perfection,
and the training of the Chinese soldier
1 * the one great essential lacking.
Through all its defeats administered
alnce the days of the coming of the white
man. the empire has never felt th* need
Pair Widow.
Mts. Bangs—So that pretty widow is
really married so soon again, eh?
Old Bangs—Yes.
Mrs. Bangs- But her late husband's
will expressly atipulated that If she took
a second husband her legacy was to re
vert to his most distant relative.
Old Bangs—That's where she was
foxy. She bunted up the relative and
married him—TU-BU*
, of remodeling its system of training,
J In fact, the soldier in China is held more
| in contempt than esteem. The men who
are entrusted with the destinies of the
[ army must prove their efficiency in the
j sacred writings of Confucius rather than
in the science of war. The officers of the
army are drawn from those who suc
cessfully pass the civil examination, the
training for which is useless not only
from the military standpoint, but the
administration of civil duties as well,
Aside from these examinations the only
other test required is Intended to prove
efficiency with bows and arrows, a relic
of antiquity scarcely to be imagined
outside the wilds of Africa. The rank
and file of the army is recruited to a
large extent from the criminal classes.
Men whose offenses do not merit death
are sentenced to serve in the army, either
the imperial or the provincial forces.
Even with sucha force it might be pos
sible to accomplish something as has been
shown by thj success of Gen. Gordon,
were they given any practical training.
One of the prominent features of the
drill of the army consists of teaching the
recruit to assume an attitude and ex
pression to frighten his opponent. At
the time of the opening of the w ar with
Japan, and. in fact, at the present time,
much of the armament consists of hal
berds, pikes, bows and arrows and long
smooth-bore muskets, while practically
one-half the men in each regiment are
banner bearers and not armed at all. Of
methods of commissariat nothing is
known, nor is there such a thing as hos
pitals or medical service. The i easons
for this state of affairs lie, in a great
measure, to the fact that funds appro
priated for the army have been misap
plied, and gone to enrich boodling offi
cials.
The Manchu army, which is practical
ly the only imperial army of Cltina,
numbers from 80,000 to 100,000 menj
though on paper it boasts of 300,000. Of
these about 40,000 are stationed in gar
risons in Manchuria, and some 6,000 In
Peking. This army is the support of the
Manchu dynasty, and is recruited al
most exclusively from the Manchus and
the Monguls.
The provincial army, called the Green
Flags, consists of 18 corps, one for each
province. These various corps are un
der the command of the governor of the
different provinces, and there is no co
operation between them,
numbers less than 200,000 men, tuough
its paper strength is more than 500,000.
This makes the total army of China num
ber about 300,000 men on the present
peace footing, with a paper strength, or
war footing, of dose lo 1 , 000 , 000 .
That the Chinese army as It now ex
ists, with all its crudeness and super
stitious, is useless, or even worse, was
proven by the war with Japan. That it
is possible to make a soldier of no mean
ability of the Chinese coolie was proven
by Gen. Gordon, but China will have to
take a long step forward and forget the
superstitutions of centuries before she
can do in a large way what Gen. Gordon
did with a small force. With militant
Japan as a drill master, it is possible
that the army of the empire may be made
into a formidable foeman for Russia,
but it cannot be done if war coiqee
quickly.
China, with its 400,000,000 people,
could easily dominate the east, and pre
vent her own disintegration, if she suc
ceeds In making soldiers of her raw ma
terial , but to do so must be the growth of
generations and not the work of a day or
official edict, and the chances are the
modernized army will not come in tlm*
to save the empire. ,
This force
Riches In Will Power.
"I understand that young Sprlggln*
has acquired considerable wealth during
the two years of my absence from town."
"Yes; and it'* all the result of sheer
will power."
"Will power? You surprise me!
never suspected him of having the least
particle of it in bis make-up."
"He didn't; It was the will power of
his late lamented uncle."— 1 Tit-Bits.
I
PEOPLE OF THE PHILIPPINES.
Coutrarj I
the General Idea They
Are Both Peaceable and
I'roaprroua.
"The People of the Philippines" was
the subject of a recent lecture by Mr.
Henry Gannett, of the geological survey.
The lecture was the third of the series of
1903-4 given under Ihe auspices of ihe
National Geographic society, reports the
Washington Star.
During the past year Mr. Gannett has
made a complete tour of the islands to
arrange for the census of the people, and
he declared that, contrary to the general
idea concerning conditions there, the
country is both prosperous and peace
able.
"The idea in the United States has
been," he said, "that beyond Manila and
the outlying garrisons it is dangerous
for a white man to travel, yet nothing
could be farther from the truth. The na
tive feels honored when you seek a
night's lodging of him, and will do all in
his power to please; the children greet
the white man with 'buenos dios,' and
everywhere throughout the islands the
white man Is well treated and welcome."
Mr. Gannett stated that the country
produces oranges and about 20 varieties
of bananas, but they do not compare with
the California
orange, and that the
West Indian or Honduras bananas are
far superior to any of the 20 varieties
grown in the Philippines. He said there
were but two milch cows in Manila.
In speaking of the farming industry,
Mr. Gannett said the ordinary farm is
about the size of a city lot, on which tha
native raises a little rice, a few bananas
and some yams sufficient for his own use.
He said the fruits and vegetables pe
culiar to Ihe country are not to the white
man's liking, and spoke of the absence
of apples, peaches, grapes and cherries.
The mango, he said, Is the favorite of na
tive fruits.
Speaking of the meat diet, Mr. Gan
nett said the natives live mostly on fish,
while the frozen beef and mutton for
the Americans comes from Australia
and New Zealand.
TIMES IN PORTO RICO.
Cotton Industry Being: Revived and
BuMinenM Proiipeetn Are (iron
ing Brighter.
Wondering groups of natives now
stand hours daily watching the opera
tion of eight modern cotton gins, being
operated in a gin house on the Marina, in
San Juan, from which thousands of bales
of high-grade Sea Island cotton will bs
shipped this year. Ail the gins are work
ing at full capacity and a long dormant
industry of Porto Rico seems actually to
have ben revived with prospects of rapid
growth. Cotton seems to be doing well
In all parts of the island, but the first
year's results to the growers will not
be great financially, says a recent San
Juan report in the Philadelphia Press.
Th# president of the company now op
erating in San Juan says: "The great
est drawback to our operations is the
obtaining of competent labor at a rea
sonable price. There are plenty of peo
ple in Porto Rico who need work, but
they are inexperienced workers. I find
labor dearer here than anywhere else.
Then the people, many of them, do not
■want work. They had rather starve."
Coffee men are looking happier. In
many of the coffee districts of the islands
the crop will be double that of last year
and the quality is superior. The promise
of President Roosevelt to favor reci
procal treaties with countries which
have been closed by tariff laws to Porto
Rican coffee since the Spanish-American
war has greatly encouraged coffee grow
ers here.
Orange shipping has begun and a large
crop will be sent north. The sugar cane
acreage is being immensely increased,
and the temporary business depression
seems to be lifting and floating away as a
cloud.
•I
Porto Rico Coffee Plantation.
Viewed from a distance, a Porto Rican
ceffee plantation looks very much like a
virgin forest of tropical shade trees.
The coffee ''tree" is really a mere shrub,
or bush; ranging in height anywhere
from four to 12 feet, according to its
age and environment, the average being
about six to eight feet. This tender lit
tle tree plant Is grown under the shade
of the wide-spreading Malango. Mocha
and Guava trees—the latter having the
preference, as the famous Guava jelly is
made from its fruit. These majestic
protectors afford ample shelter to the
frail coffee-bearing shrub, shielding its
delicate pipe-stem branches and wax
like blossoms from the scorching heat
of the sun, the fierce mountain gales, the
heavy tropical dew, and the terrific thun
der storms during the rainy season,
while at the same time admitting suffi
cient light and air to properly develop
the fragile plant.—From "Uncle Sam's
Coffee Fields," by J. Caldwell Burnes, in
Four-Track News.
Want American Girls.
Competent American girls are in de
mand in the Philippines. A business
man who lately returned from Manila
says that the supply of well-trained
stenographers and typewriters is not
nearly equal to the demand, although
wages are considerably higher than in
the United States. Women of many na
tionalities are constantly arriving in
Manila, but American girls are scarce.
English women outnumber them four
to one, and now hold the best positions,
although nearly all the ''want ads." end
with, "American girl preferred."—
Youth's Companion.
Not His PrtTlIeite.
Jeers—Peck said he did not think of
going, but he might change his mind.
Sneerwell—The idea of his talking of
'changing his mind.
"Ha! ha! I see. No mind to change,
eh?"
"Oh, yes, he has a mind, of course, but
his wife changes it for him always."—
Philadelphia Press.
Spend,
I found the motorman an Intelligent
and courteous fellow.
"Would you like to drive a ear at the
rate of a hundred miles an hour?" 1
asked.
''Not unless I were passing people who
were signalling me to stop," he replied.
—Detroit Free Press.
Mast He Some Ml.take.
"They tell me that Guzzle has a per
fect horror of water," remarked Tred
way.
"O, I guess not," replied Brisbane.
"He buys stocks."—Detroit Free Pres*
THE HOLIDAY SEASON
How It Is Kept by Both Rich and
Poor in Chicago.
WORK OF SOCIALSETTLEMENTS
Salvation Army Provides Christmas
■Tha
Cheer for Many Thoiiaandi
Public Stuff the Turkey—Fes
tivities of Middle Classes.
Chicago.—As the holiday season draws
near interests in the social settlements
and the missions of
every large c,ity in
creases among the
poor, for whose
benefit they are
maintained. It Is
at the social set
tlements and the
missions that thou
sands of the city
poor get their only
taste of Christmas.
There are Christ
mas festivities and
en tertainments
provided. Some
even undertake to
provide Christmas
presents especially
for the children,
and Christmas dinners, either at home or
at the settlement houses for the families.
At practically all of the social settlement
houses no discrimination is made so far
as creed is concerned, and all are given
an equal welcome without having any
special religious teachings forced upon
them. The same is true in the majority
of mission churches and Sunday schools,
though at times one will find one that is
narrower than the general rule.
An instance of this kind may be cited
In the poor district of the South side. A
wealthy Michigan avenue congregation
maintains a mission there attached to
which Is both a kindergarten and a sew
ing class as well as a Sunday school.
The pastor of the church objects to any
child receiving the benefit of the kinder
garten who does not attend the Sunday
school, or any mother receiving any
benefit from the sewing circle who Is
not a regular attendant at the mission
church. At this mission a Christmas en
tertainment is to be given, but it is for
the members of Ihe Sunday school only,
and the other little waifs and strays of
the neighborhood will not be permitted
to view the festivities.
The head of the kindergarten at this
particular mission is not a believer in
this method, and, regardless of objec
tions, welcomes to the school Jews and
Gentiles, Protestants and Catholics
alike, and while she attempts to exert a
moral influence over all her little
charges, she teaches no creed that would
be objectionable to any parent. It is
needless to say that the teacher of the
School is far more popular in the neigh
borhood than the pastor of the church
that supports it.
Miss Jans Addams
Hall Hodhp.
In the Ghetto district of the West side
Hull House is the great rendezvous of
the poor at Christ- ___
mas time.
Miss
Jane Addams ex
erts a wider infiu
O
ence among the
poor of Chicago
than any other one
person engaged in
philanthropic work
in the city, but she
does nothing that
is not practical for
them. Every
Christmas ar
rangement at Hull
House is devised
for practical pur
poses, and though
the charities distributed through this
great institution at this time of the year
axe manifold they are not indiscrim
inate.
Hull House as it stands to-day, with
Its commodious buildings, its far
reaching influence, is a growth of a lit
tle more than 14 years. It is the product
of an European trip by Miss Addams
and Miss Ellen G. Starr. On that trip
they studied conditions among the poor
of Europe, and determined to do some
thing for the poor of Chicago. They had
nothing to start with but their own in
domitable courage, but they rented one
floor of a building—a ramshackle affair
erected by Charles Hull in 1859, and in
18S9 used by sweat shop proprietors, old
clothes and old rag men—and here be
gan attracting about them the poor and
outcasts of society who needed the guid
ance of a stronger personality than their
own to help them upward.
Hull House was not then, and is not
now. a charity In the strict sense of that
term. It distributes reflet to those that
need it, but its greatest work is the bring
ing out. the good that is in men and wom
en by offering them opportunity. It is
a meeting place for all nationalities and
all creeds. It stands for no particular
propaganda, and adapts itself to every
change in its environment.
Miss Addams explains its object and
Its methods in this way: "It must be
grounded in a philosophy whose founda
tion is on the solidarity of the human
race, a philosophy which will not waver
when the race happens to be represented
by a drunken woman or an idiotic boy."
With such a foundation it is small
wonder that Hull House is one of the
bright lights of the Chicago holiday sea
son.
Cl
JUTD ■ [ Eg:
Hull Hou.e
The Salvation Army.
Of all the many organizations which
work In His name for the poor of the
city none are more
appreciated or ac
complish greater
results than the
Salvation Army.
For days past a
Salvation Army
lassie has stood on
every corner of the
downtown street*
holding a stick
from which was
suspended an arti
ficial turkey, Into
which the public
were invited to
drop their spare
change as "stuff
ing." The artifi
Securing stuffing for th« dal turkey was em
Turkey blematic of the use
to which the money collected was to be
put—the purchasing of a Christmas din
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(2k
P
pu.Kf r*
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I ner for 10,000 or more of Chicago's poor.
Nor Is the dinner all that Is to be given.
The sad-faced child, into whose life
Christmas festivities do not come, Is
made happy by the present of a small
toy. The thinly-clad boy or girl or
man or woman is provided with some
article of suitable clothing.
This Is the one time In the year when
the Army gives without demanding
something in return. The rule of com
pensation for the assistance given at
other times is dispensed with during
this one day. It Is a Christmas present
In the full sense of the term that is re
ceived.
It was some five years ago that the
Christmas dinner idea was first at
tempted on a large scale by the Army.
At that time they undertook to feed 20,
000 people in New York, and fed instead
50,000. From that the idea grew to a na
tional effort, and last year it fed 300,000,
ranging from 200,000 in New York to
a few hundred, or even down to a few
dozen In the smaller cities and towns.
Families are provided with basket
dinners. Into each basket must go a
turkey, cranberries, mince meat, flour,
fruit, and In fact everything that goes
to make a Christmas dinner. In cases
where it Is needed, the fuel to cook the
dinner is supplied, and even the car fare
needed to come and get the dinner Is pro
vided. The basket dinner idea is grow
ing, and its growth Is encouraged by the
army. It not only provides a cheeful
ness in an otherwise dreary home for the
day, but it helps to maintain a feeling of
self-respect on the part of the recipient
as well. For the homeless, including the
newsboys and other street waifs, the
great public dinner, with its after enter
tainment, is one of the bright spots of
the year.
Chrl.tman Pleasure..
The Christmas festivities of those not
dependent upon ihe charitable organiza
tions for their
share of seasonable
cheer is varied. In
the wealthy homes
It Is becoming more
and more a day de
voted to Ihe chil
dren. The Chicago
millionaire is a
home lover, a fam
11 y lover. On
Christmas day the
children and grand
children are gath
ered about the
home fireside, and
the little ones are
made happy with
an over-abundance
of c o s 11 y toys.
With this class the
day Is typical of the farm Christmas in
many ways—it is a family reunion day.
The middle classes take to the thea
ters in the afternoon and evening. The
Christmas matinee is one of the most
profitable performances of the year, and
for the evening every house is sold out
days ahead. Church entertainments
provide amusement for thousands of
others, and still others, especially the
younger element, turn to outdoor sports.
Should Jack Frost fail to cover the
park lakes with a heavy coating of ice it
would spoil the Christmas pleasure of
thousands. This is the most popular of
outdoor winter sport in Chicago, because
it is the most practical. There are no
hills for coasting, though in some of the
parks artificial toboggans are built. The
middle classes are not owners of horses
and sleighs, and the supply at the liver
ies are both limited and costly.
To no other city in America probably
has the country contributed so large a
percentage of the population, and back
to the country go thousands for the holi
day season, there to find a mirth and en
joyment that is not possible in the city,
and in the foreign settlements the
Christmas festivities are patterned after
those of the fatherland.
w
C
Outdoor Christmas
P.easures
Chlraao I'rovlnelalli
Chicago provincialism was illustrated
to a Harvard man, direct from the ef
fete east, during
"I the recent stock
~j~ Bhow at the stock
r. yards. It was the
Y easterner's first
visit to Chicago,
i and he came to be
■4 lieve most any
thing of the woolly
west. Of course,
lie visited the
stock show, and
I while there met
^ two or three filer ds
L of his college days,
now prominently
connected with the
packing Industries
of the city.
"Let all of us gc
in over here and
have a drink together for the sake of
college days," said one of the Chicago
friends, pointing to a small saloon
across the street.
It was not a commodious place, and
there was nothing for it but to line up
against the bar and drink.
"What will it be?" asked the Chi
cagoan.
"Is It possible to secure an old-fash
ioned cocktail?" asked the Harvard
man, with trepidation, after looking
about the Jflace.
"Whisky can't go in this crowd," re
tured his friend. "Champagne isn't half
good enough. Give us a quart of it,
Mike."
The bartender opened up the bottle
just as though he was used to It, and he
is, and the trio disposed of two or three
of them before quitting, but the Harvard
man pronounced that the lllit when he
told me of it.
"Drinking champagne, of genuine
French vintage at that, over a stock
yards bar," said he. "Why, I wouldn't
have believed it, even of Chicago, if I
hadn't been there myself. Such a pro
ceeding Is wilder and woollier than any
thing I ever dreamed of."
But drinking champagne over a bar
Is an every day occurrence In Chicago.
WRIGHT A. PATTERSON.
1 n
A Bit of Chicago Pro
vincialism
Silk from Wood.
A plant for making silk from wood,
erected near Sydowsaue, Germany, Is
at present turning out 50 pounds of
skein silk a day, which product can be
Increased In quantity to 2,000 pounds.
The silk Is soft In texture and creamy
In color. Ea:h thread Is made up of J 8
single strands. A single strand Is hardly
perceptible to the naked eye. In strengjh
It la but one-third that of the real silk.
When woven Into plecea the new substi
tute Is said to have tL* appearance of
real silk.
POLITICAL LEADERS
Ihe Men Who Dominate in the Sen
ate and House.
REPUBLICANS AND DEMOCRATS
Personal Ckaraeterl.tYc. ot Connreis
Milllam- and Senators Aid
rich and Uornii-Kon They
Hule Their Parties.
inn i
Washington.—John Sharpe Williams
the most efficient
leader the demo
crats in the house
have had since the
days of Crisp. In
some respects he is
better than Crisp,
for he can keep his
temper under prov
ocatlon and that If
what Crisp could
never do. Besides,
Williams has the
faculty of getting
along personally
with the leaders ot
the opposition. He
is about as well
liked on the republican side of the
house a 9 he is among his own party
followers.
Williams and Speaker Cannon have
become decidedly chummy. Williams
appreciates the courtesy shown him
when Cannon permitted him to pick
out the democratic members of the
committees and he doesn't hesitate to
show his gratitude on all occasions
when a matter of party advan
tage is not at stake—and there are
plenty of opportunities during a session
when the legitimate business of the
house can be impeded or expedited ac
cording as the rival leaders are in a
mood of mutual good fellowship or not.
Both Williams and Cannon have an
abounding sense of humor. When they
are together they call each other
"John" and "Joe ' and they crack jokes
and tell stories with as much gusto as
if they had never had a political dif
ference in their lives. The democratic
J!
; !
Hon. John Sharpe
Williams
leader likes nothing better than to
stroll into the speaker's room and go
over the points. But when he gets on
the floor in debate he is as spunky as
a game cock and nobody would ever
Imagine that be had a republican
friend in the world. There is nobody
in the house who can tear passion to
tatters more effectively,
An Old-Time Leader.
One of Williams' predecessors, a dem
ocratic leader who was a national figure
when Williams was
a boy, died only
theotherday. Wil
liam M. Springer
during the past ten
years had not fig
ured in politics; s "
but prior to that
time he was re- ==
garded as one of t="
the democratic re
liabilities in the
house for almost a
generation.
After he left con
gress Springer was
for a time a judge
in the Indian terri
tory. Of late years he has been a law
yer here in Washington, scarcely more
than a memory of the robust congress
man who contested the nomination for
the speakership with Crisp and Mills, and
who afterwards stirred the economies
with his famous series of pop-gun tariff
bills carrying out the democratic scheme
to revise the tariff one item at a time,
Personally, Springer was a lovable
man, without even a remote sense of
humor. Probably it was the latter fail
ing that made him one of Tom Reed's
pet aversions when the great speaker
was the leader of the republicans in the
aouse.
Two of Reed's most famous Bhafts
were thrown at Springer. One was In
a debate while Reed was still holding
a-secondary rank in the house. Spring
er, who was a rather ponderous speak
er, had made the remark that he would
rather be right than be president. Reed,
standing in the middle aisle, drawled
back: "The gentleman need not be
alarmed. He will never be either."
The other was a conversational quip:
"Springer never opens his mouth that
he doesh't subtract from the sum of
human knowledge."
It Is not to be wondered at that there
should not have been any great sym
pathy between two men of such widely
opposed temperaments. It was large
ly a matter of taste with each of them,
and concerning taste there is no use in
arguing.
V
11
c
The Late Will am M.
Springer
Leadership ot the Senate.
The leadership of Senator Aldrich In
the senate has been pretty completely
demonstrated
more than once in
'■eeent years, but
never more thor
oughly than dur
ing the extraordi
nary session just
closed. The repub
1 i c a n majority
were altogether in
Aldrich's hands.
What he suggested
they did, andeome
times they did it
without putting
him even to the
r f
A
V*
a^nauor Aidric.t
trouble of suggesting it.
He was one who made the arrange
ment with the democratic minority by
which the business of the extraordinary
session was brought to a close and an
agreement made by unanimous consent
A Specimen Prediction.
Weather Prophet—I hit It again. I
never fall.
Ordinary Man—Huh! The thermom
eter has dropped 20 degrees, and it Is
raining pitchforks. You predicted fair
and warmer.
Weather Prophet—I predicted fair
and warmer, with Increased humidity.
I may have been a trifle off on the fair
and warmer, but you can't deny the
humidity, sir—no, sir.—N. Y. Weekly.
Macaslne Limitations.
Magazine Editor—We need a leading
article for next month.
RegularContrlbutor—lean prepare an
to vote on the Cuban reciprocity bill o^H
the 16 th of December.
In fact, ne'was the only man on th^H
republican aide who understood exOn
actly what the terms of the arrange
ment were, a circumstance which lewjf
to a somewhat embarrassing incldentifc
one afternoon In executive session.Wp
Senator Lodge tried to bring up a mat
ter which was of no particular conse
quence, but which as it happened did
not relate to the Cuban situation. Sen*
ator Gorman promptly objected. He
said it was contfary to the agreement
between the two sides of the chamber.
The republicans who were present pro
tested. They had never heard of any
such agreement which would put It out
■ of their power to do business of any
j kind. But Gorman was insistent. And
' when they pressed him for an explana
tion, he gave one. He said Senator Al
drich had promised him that if the dem
ocrats would consent tp the vote on the
16th of December, nothing whatever
would be done In the meantime during
the extraordinary session except to dis
cuss Cuban reciprocity. Aldrich had
left the city without telling anybody on
his own side of the chamber about what
he had done, but they accepted Gor
man's statement, and that was the end
of it.
Gorman a Loader.
Gorman, on the democratic side, occu
pies Just about the same kind of posi
tion that Aldrich
occupies on the re
publ ican side of the
chamber. It may ——;
be that he hasn't |=?
quite the same de
gree of control of af
the machinery; but S=f*
whatever he says ==3?
goes, despite ru- s
mors to the con- "
trary. He is the \
man to do business
with, and when he
makes a promise L>
as to what the dem
ocrats will do, they feel morally bound
to do it.
That is what Uncle Joe Cannon calls
legislation by unanimous consent, and,
of course, it is a very reprehensible way
of doing business. But it Is likely to
continue just as long as the present
senate rules live, which, according to
j present appearances, will be to the end
of time.
Gorman and Aldrich are very much
the same type of men. They are first
of all business men. They understand
the currents of trade and appreciate the
effect of legislation on commercial in
terests. They are organizers and deft
handlers of men. They can read char
acter and they can keep their own coun
sel. They understand weaknesses in
others to which they can appeal. They
are always In the game.
Gorman is more of a public speaker
than Aldrich. He is not an orator in any
way. but he has a faculty of aggressive
ness in debate which Aldrich has never
shown. Aldrich when he talks use*
a conversational tone, and goes about
it as if he were explaining something
before the board of directors of a rail
road. Gorman Is never exactly conver
sational. There is always some little
touch of mystery in everything he says,
and his face is Jesuitical in its inscruta
bility. Aldrich, on the other hand, Is
seemingly the most frank and confiding
of men. One wonders how it can be
that this smiling, easy-going, compan
ionable fellow can have so many trick*
up his sleeve.
Senator Gorman
j
New Railroad Station.
The ways are cleared already for the
great I'nion station, which is to be com
™ "" pleted for the 4th
of March, 1905, and
which will be when
completed tha
finest thing of its
kind in the world.
By contrast with
the present wretch
ed avenues of ap
proach to Wash
ington it will be al
most inconceiv
ably splendid.
The new station,
which will be only
a stone's throw
from the capital, will be built of white
granite—a peculiarly white and daz
zling stone, quarried at Bethel, Vt.,
which will surpass marble In architec
tural effect.
The station will face directly toward
the dome of the capital, and the entire
facade will be clearly visible from the
capital steps at the end of the broad
avenue. The architectural effects have
been drawn from the triumphal arches
of Rome. Sloping gently away from
the building will be a plaza 500 feet wide
and 3,000 feet long, adorned with balus
trades and fountains, while there will
be a terrace 100 feet wide surrounding
the structure.
The station Itself will be 620 feet long
and from 65 to 120 feet in height. The
three entrance arches, each 60 feet in
height, will be on a scale far surpass
ing anything in Roman architecture.
The waiting-rooms will be dreams of
luxury compared with anything that has
ever before been suggested for a rail
way station, and the dining-room will
be equal to anything that can be found
In a first-class hotel. There will be
all Borts of unusual conveniences. One
of these Is an invalid's room, easily ac
cessible from the street.
Another is a special entrance for the
president of the United States. Besides
there will be dressing rooms with baths
and a Turkish bath and swimming pool.
The entire cost of the station with ap
proaches will be $14,000,000, of which
the government pays $3,000,000.
LOUI S A. COOLIDaE.
On Qravea of Malden*.
The grave of an unmarried woman In
Turkey is often Indicated by a rose
carved In atone. .
SssS
tsgg. 4MM
®
Piai.s or ihe New
Depot
il
elaborate historical sketch of Napoleon.
"Won't do. Too much like news."
"Might work up 1 something on Solo
mon." (
"Too modern."
"All right, I'll get up an illustrated ar
ticle on Adam."—N. Y. Weekly.
Carefully Edited.
Subbubs—I want to Insert an adver
tisement: "Wanted, a plain cook for—'*
Clerk—Beg pardon, *lr, but they
might resent that; better say "Girl
wanted to do plain cooking."
Subbubs—Thta's so, and, by the way.
Instead of ''girl," perhaps we had bet
ter say "lady."—Philadelphia Pr**«.