St. Landry democrat., June 04, 1887, Image 1

About St. Landry democrat. (Opelousas, La.) 1878-1894

Image provided by: Louisiana State University; Baton Rouge, LA

                
SB
VOL. X. — NO. 21.
OI'ELOUSAS, LA., SATURDAY, JUNE 4, 1887.
$2 A YEAR.*
TOO POLITE.
A Fine Old German Gentleman
losses by His Zeal.
u
g-o-o-d morning
S
H
&
k-<M
"THE RIGHT STKEET?
Y-E-Ö
L *3
rilE OTHER STREET .'
MORNING
:co-o :
OOD
B. B.
CURIOUS SUBSCRIPTION LISTS.
How They Are Applied to Sentimental
and Political Uses.
In Belgium .people contrive to make a
great deal of use o e subscription lists. Plain
Mr. So-and-so, "anonymous" and "X. Y.
Z." are but rarely to be met with in a Bel
fian list of donations. Their places are taken
y a crowd of people who make up for the
smallness of their gifts by the length and
piquancy of the mottoes they use. For in
"?• Belgium the custom, at all events among the
U smaller bourgeois and downward, is to send
subscriptions, accompanied, not by a name,
but by a motto or vœu, which is usually
.(printed in full, notwithstanding that it ofteii
* extends to three or four lines. As a rule, the
longer the motto the smaller the donation.
Most of the Brussels newspapers have been
receiving subscriptions for the support of the
widows and children of the colliers who per
ished in the terrible accident at yuaregnon
a few weeks ago, and as a large number
of workingmen have sent small sums the
lists have been full of the odd mottoes
affected by their class. Some of the vœux
are amatory, some political, somegourmand
ish ; while a few smack of the nursery. "In
memory of Germaine's first tooth" is an ex
ample of the last class. A day laborer sends
a franc in the hope "that my wife may no
longer abuse m° when I take a glass too
much." A domestic warning seems to be
indicated in "Edmund, open your eyes."
No doubt, some gay Lothario understood the
hint conveved in the pious hope "that C.
may leave Iiis friend's wife in peace." There
is something almost pathetic in the hope ex
pressed, apparently by a young lady, "that I
may again eat ecre visse with Henri at Na
mur." Namur is famous for the delightful
little ecrevisse which are the prime delicacy
of the valley of the Meuse. Uncle Toby may
perhaps have eaten them in the intervals of
lying m the trenches with "his honor."
But the amorous mottoes are by far the
most numerous. "That Jeannie may again
roll me a cigarette" smacks of a premier
amour. "Leon swears to Marie that he will
never abandon her" is quite in the approved
style. "May Toinett<\ before she marries,
think of her first love" seems to tell a story
of the rift within the lute. Some poor fel
low who seems to have fared exceptionally
badly at the hands of the sex exclaims
piteously, "When shall I be loved?" "That
Clotilde mav return to console Oscar at
Louvain" i - perhaps an adjuration to an un
stable maide.-. "That Alfred may not again
go down on his knees to Rose" is the wish,
perhaps, of the lady herself. "That Eugenie
may cease listening at the doors" is, no
doubt, a delicate hint. Some few mottoes
there are of a melancholy cast, as "For the
health of our little Emily," "To the mem
ory of our poor little Philippine," and
may she rest in peace." The only motto
which could be considered vindictive is "In
the hope that the man who is the cause of a
suicide may be punished." The political mot
toes are usually violent. "That the
masses may be delivered from the odi
ous yoke of obscurantisme" is the hope
of one subscriber. The two-centime So
cialistic journals have been full of mot
toes breathing destruction to kings, min
isters and priests, and all established
ordere of things. It would really seem that
in Belgium a subscription list is regarded as
a convenient substitute for the platform
when violent political sentiments have to be
expressed. But it is pleasant to record that
a very large sum of money has been raised
in this way, and that a vast amount of hope
less misery has been alleviated, at all events
temporarily, by the benevolence of these
motto-loving people.
So Easy.
"O Katie, do tell me how you make that
lovely shell lace insertion. Is it hard to
t t1 ftk ft ?"
"Oh, no ! It's easy as anything; you sim
nlv cast on twelve stitches, and then knit
two «over twice, narrow, over again, knit
three three together, over twice purl one,
knit two, slip one, purl one, knit four, nar
row, knit six, knit one
two over it, purl one, 11
it back, slip
!, purl again,
drop 'one, "knit six, and soon right through."
"Is that all? Why, how easy-it is
And yet there are me«. who swear that
women can never remember anything—
Tid-BiU. '
A Chinaman's Discovery.
A Chinaman is stated to have discovered
- that cast -off horse shoes make a good cutler' s
steel. The wrought iron of the shoes having
been constantly hammered acquires the
hardness of steel. It is also supposed that
the animal heat of the hoof has something
to do with it. The metal is said to be good
for the manufacture of knives and sword
blades. t #
CRANK INVENTORS.
TWO GENIUSES WIIO ARE ENTI
TLED TO STAND AT THE HEAD.
Grand Philanthropic Schemes—Col. Pinch
over's Method of Helping Dogs to Turn
Corners—Michael Cahill's Plan for Pre
venting the Smash-up of the World.
Xo institution in the world receives so
many queer letters and curious appli
cations as the patent office at Wash
ington. The fantastic ideas of cranks
of the country fly to t like particles
to a n:agnet. The applications that have
been made for patents on perpetual
motion machines are simply innumera
ble, and any occurrence producing a
strong impression upon the public miml
is sure to be followed by a perfect storm
of queer inventions. When President
Garfield was lying upon his sick bed in
the White Ilousè the cranks sent in all
kinds of models of inventions for re
ducing the temperature of the sick room.
Applications for models of destructive
torpedoes, flying machines, etc., are of
daily occurrence, but the palm for gro
tesque inventions is awarded by the
much-enduring officials to Mr. Michael
Cahill and Morris Pinchover, Esq.
Both of these gentlemen are well
known at Washington, and it must be
said of them that their inventions are
thoroughly philanthropic in their con
ception. Mr. Pinchover has noticed
with deep concern the difficulties which
he thinks beset dogs when they turn
corners, hence he has invented a device
for adjustable dog's tails. The colonel's
title is of unknown derivation, but as
titles are very cheap in this country,
nobody begrudges him his colonelcy.
He is short and wirv, his hair is worn
long like the typical cowboy or an Indian
herb doctor, and he generally wears a
slouch hat a la militaire. He carries with
him a cylindrical tin case, which contains
maps and diagrams of his great invention.
Here is the description given of it in his
application for a patent which was ac
companied by* this diagram :
mm
V.
Fiy.S
J3 «SP
A—Dog. B—Adjustable tail.
specification.
To all whom it may concern : Be it known
that I, Maurice Pinchover, late colonel U. S.
A., and an acclimated citizen of the U. S.,
residing at St. Elizabeth, in the county of
Washington and State of Columbia, have
invented certain new and useful im
provements in "Detachable dogtails/'
if y invention has relation to im
provements in artificial tails for dogs
and other animals, and the novelty consists
in providing a detachable tail for "dogs and
th * like, whereby the gravity of the tail may
11 overcome, so as to facilitate the rapid and
Afe momentum of the animal in turning
abrupt corners and other angles, such as
somersaults, &c., without injury to the dog
or his tail.
In the case of dogs and other animals born
or deprived of their tails, it is a well-known
fact that when once started in a given direc
tion, after a certain momentum is acquired,
it is impossible for the dog to change his
direction, and consequently, when he arrives
at a corner which he desires to round, in
stead of turning it he flies off at a tangent and
goes by
By my device these objections are over
come, and when the gravity tail (a hollow
conical tin tube) is adjusted to the dog, and
he arrives at a corner which he desires to
turn, say to the right, the tail automatically
swings to the left, and the hind legs of the
dog acting as a pixot, the head and body of
the dog is thrown around to the right, and
he is then enabled to pursue the new direc
tion. The same effect is produced should the
dog wish to change his direction at any
point.
In testimonv whereof I affix my signature
in presence of two witnesses:
Sergeant Mason, i Maurice Pinchover.
Geo. Francis Train. \
Patsy Bolivar,
N. P. & N. G.
The names of the witnesses are both in th«
handwriting of Pinchover, and the name ol
the justice is written evidently by some
waggish friend of the colonel.
Mr. Cahill's invention is far more com
prehensive. His idea is that the accumu
lation of ice at the poles of the earth will
in course of time produce a disruption
at the equator, and a general smash of
all earthly affairs, compared to which
a terrible earthquake would be a mere
zephvr. Mr. Cahill, who is a tall, raw
boned man with ecru hair and mustache,
illustrates the catastrophe by taking his
well-worn hat between his ample hands
and compressing it like a concertina.
Mr. Cahill states his theory as follows:
Too much rain has been allowed to accu
mulate around the poles of the earth, being
conveyed there by the atmospheric and elec
tric currents. There it forms into vast moun
tains of ice, which, exerting hydrostatic and
hydraulic forces, is gradually crushing m the
sarth '3 crust. If this crushing in takes
place, the globe may be exploded like a
bombshell, some of its solid constituents
being driven among the meteors, which are
the debris of other planets (with all their in
habitants), destroyed in similar manner,
like causes producing like effects. The ac
cumulation of ice around the poles, and its
annual meeting to some extent and repumg,
causes the gyratory motion of the earth,
which has produced the recession of the,equi
nox and lengthened the year.
JThe inventor's scheme to avoid this
dread catastrophe, is to devise means for
obtiining an,artificial rainfall uponthat
area of the earth's surface which is lo
cated between the two pole belts of the
globe, thereby preventing the great rains
at the poles," which are, as the theorist
claims, mainly instrumental in accumu
lating the enormous mountains of ice in
those frigid regions.
Mr. Cahill has had some difficulty in
getting a patent lawyer to frame his
specifications, but by the operation of
some law of sympathy in due time he
made the acquaintance of Colonel Pinch
over, who made out his specifications for
him and prepared the accompanying dia
grams.
One device is as follows: He directs
that large captive balloons, armed with
steel points and big reflectors of light,
heat and sound, be sent up at convenient
places all over the earth's surface. "High
above the moisture zone of the atmos
Fig 2
(C
phere," savs the inventor, "the particles
of vapor freeze and become ice vessicles,
or spirula, and are propelled by electric
and wind currents to the poles." Strong
currents of electricity are sent up to the
balloon and complete electric communi
cation established between the earth and
the higher strata of the air. The steel
points on the balloon becoming electri
fied, attract the vessicles of vapor,
described above, "impinge them," to use
Cahill's language, and precipitate them
below the moisture belt, where they melt
and fall to the earth as rain,. To assist
this, the reflectors of heat, &c., play an
important part.
Another scheme is to have tall towers
of iron of telescopic construction erected
upon high eminences. Inside of these
towers tremendous currents of warm air
and steam are injected upward to the
atmospheric zones of ice, thereby sub
serving the melting of "ice spicula," as
described above.
The inventor's third scheme consists
of immense burning glasses placed on
the surface of the earth of such magni
tude that the sun's rays will pierce
through cloudland aud focus in that mys
terious region that floats around the
globe, melting the ice spicula and pro
ducing rain. Cahill was thwarted in his
philanthropic designs, a§ he was refused
a patent, but he still feels the proud
consciousness that if the earth goes to
smash it will not be his fault.
HOW JONES JL.OST HIS HEAD.
A Weird Story of the Dangers of Hunting
Life in Australia.
So you think our friend Jones is a little
off his head, do you? Well, I can assure
some of you young fellows you would be
still more off yours had you"been sat upon
in the way our poor Jones was, and that to
my certain knowledge.
You would like to hear how it happened?
Well, I don't mind telling you. It may
serve as a warning as to how to drink, what
you drink and where you drink. A long
j iroface to a story is a bore. I simply wish
to bfc*in mine with the remark that i) | is a
very short one, a very sad and altogether a
true one, and I expect you to believe '.t as
such.
Well, Jones and I, when stationed at the
Cape, took leave for some three months for
a snooting trip up country. It was nearly
the last day of our leave "and we were bent
on making the most of it, and by four o'clock
in the afternoon we had had a pretty hard
and successful day. We had been shooting
under a broiling sun, and I was getting con
siderablv tired, so I suggested a rest under
some jolly mimosa bushes we had lit upon.
"All right," said Jones. "Smoke your
pipe, old fellow. I'll just take a look round
these bushes and join you in no time."
Jones was a more energetic and a stronger
fellow than I was, so off he went, leaving me
smoking my pipe. I believe before thepipe
was half out I fell asleep. Any way, wnen
I did awake, I found by the sun I had slept
some considerable time, and wondered very
much at not seeing Jones somewhere near.
I picked up my gun, thinking to myself,
"Oh. I shall find him asleep close by, or
hear his gun if he is still at it." I hadn't
walked 5O0 yards before I saw a sight that
made my blood run cold, and struck me
with the utmost horror and affright. I saw
the legs and shoulders of my friend Jones,
but at the place where his head should be,
as true as my name is Bill Sykes, there sat
a huge ostrich. I was completely taken
aback. I had heard of the digestion of the
ostrich. I felt not the least doubt that
Jones' head was at that moment being di
gested b> that brute. Full of rage I sprang
forward, and with the butt end of my gun
I knocked the huge creature some dozen
yards to the side, and then turning to look
àt the mangled corpse of my friend, picture
my wonderment and delight to behold him
lying there, his head not only on his shoul
ders, but looking all the world over like a
little infant in its mother's arms, peace
fully asleep. I shook him. I called
to him, and with the greatest diffi
culty I roused him up sufficiently to
make him sit up and speak to me. From
what he said and from my own observation
this is what had taken place. After leaving
me he had walked about a bit and found
nothing. All at once he discovered lying
snugly in the sand and close to a bush three
or four ostrich eggs. Feeling tired and very
thirsty he dropped his gun, ran to the nest,
and skillfully puncturing a hole in one of
the eggs, he lay quietly down and proceeded
to suck up the contents (it was newly laid).
Unnoticed by him a large female ostrich
walked slowly and majestically from the
other side of the bush, and he being equally
unnoticed by her, she proceeded to seat
herself calmly on her nest, no doubt with a
view to assist in the hatching of these same
eggs (an unusual attention on the part of
these birds), or perhaps the laying another.
But imagine poor Jones' horror! He knew
the fierce nature of the monster, and its
great strength. He dare not move. He
tried to think what he should do—what
best—and so wondering and thinking his
mind began to wander. He seemed to lose
bis head. He thought he fell asleep. I
know not about'that. All I do know is, you
need not wonder that Jones is an old fellow,
for when* arousêd him up fpom under that
ostrich his brain was addled, and has been
ever si ! ce. — Melbourne Advertiser.
THE CARICATURISTS.
:
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j
!
j
j
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SKETCHES OF THE MEN WHO MAKE
THE FUNN Y PICTURES.
An Art That Has Come Down to Us From
Antiquity—How Cartoons are Made—Ar
tists, of Celebrity in This Line—Jos. Kep
pler, llernhard Gillam and C. J. Taylor.
Caricature is an art that can be traced
back until it is lost in antiquity. Upon
circumstantial evidence it is safe, I think,
to say that it was coeval with the first
appearance of man on this earth ; for,
as an appreciation of the ludicrous side
of life is inherent in a person, so, also,
is the faculty of portraying it in some
way or other. When the walls of Pom
peii were unearthed forty years ago col
ored frescoes of ludicrous ligures, ani
mals. etc., were found, and among the
Chinese are still extant comic figures known
to be over 1,000 years old. Indeed, among
sculptures of the Egyptians of 4,000 years
ago are some of the most humorous con
ceptions and caricatures.
But caricature as a power never reached
its height until the last, quarter of a century,
when its influence grew so great that, as you
know, Bismarck forbids the sale of several
humorous papers in Germany (the London
Punch among others) for fear of the popular
effect of some caricatures of himself; and it
is a matter of recent history that Mr. Blaine
threatened to sue Puck during the campaign
of 1884 for publishing Gillam's "Tattooed
Man" cartoon. Boss Tweed is said to have
offered to pay $100.000 if the Harpers would
discontinue their attacks upon him. "I
don't mind the newspaper editorials," said
he, "but d—n those pictures! The poor
man does not read papers much, but every
body can understand those cartoons." -
The present style of cartooning in color
was originated in France, and first appeared
in this country in San Francisco. A paper
was published there called The W>/sp, which
was printed in black with one tint ; it is now
printed in colors. Mr. Keppler started the
German Puck in St. Louis,in 1870, which came
to an untimely death within a few months.
In 1876 he revived it in New York, and soon
afterward Judge was published. The Eng
lish Puck was started in March, 1877. There
have been a host of colored cartoon papers
started in America in the last twenty years,
but these two are the only ones that have
secured a permanent footing. Among those
which are now onlv a memory may be men
tioned Wild Oats, Fifth Avenue, I'hunny 1'hel
lew, Yankee Sotions, J1rs. Grundy, Va nit y
Fair, Rambler and Punchinello as printing
black and white pictures, and Whip, .Jingo,
Chic, Freaks. Sam, Straws, Laterne and one oi
two others which published colored cartoons.
It may be of interest to some readers t(
know how cartoons are produced. In tin
first place, after finding his subject, the artist
proceeds to make his composition roughly
upon paper, after which it is drawn upon a
very fine grained stone, made especially for
lithographic work. It requires at least t\v<
days to produce a double-page cartoon and
the smaller pictures in proportion; the col
oring takes another day. From this it can
be seen that the cartoonist must be a very
industrious worker, for a day is set apart f< >r
each branch of his business, and the cartoons
are thus ground out with the regularity ol
clockwork.
joseph keppler.
Joseph Keppler, the great cartoonist who
is inseparably associated with the growth of
caricature in America, was born in Vienna
about fifty-years ago. His father was a
fancy baker.
and the
fostered a
love of art
from orna
m e n 11 n
wedding and
and birthdav
cakes with
and
quaint
de
curious
signs
then made
copies of fine
c o s t il m e
dates, which
plates,
he offered for
sale, and sub
s e q u e n 1 1 y
drew for the comic German papers. Finding
this did not pay, he joined a dramatic troupe
and assumed * at will the role of trage
dian and comedian. The company foun
dered, and he became a prestidigitateur,
doing the accomplice and assistant act.
About 1869, feeling that the country was too
small for him, he came to America, settling
in St. Louis. There he began to work in
earnest. Most of his time was spent in mak
ing designs for lithographers, but he was too
ambitious for that work and induced some
friends to aid him in establishing the German
Puck. St. Louis was a poor city for such a
papef, and the venture lived only a few
months. Thwarted, but not discouraged,
Keppler came to New York in 1872. His
genius was at once recognized, and he and
Matt Morgan drew cartoons on Leslie's in
opposition to Nast on J [neper's. He re
mained with Leslie until 1876, when, in com
pany with A. Schwartzmann, he revived the
German Puck, the English edition of which
appeared the following March. Keppler
was not mistaken, and the paper was an
assured success almost from the start. He
has always been quick in appreciating young
genius, and there was never anything in the
country too good or too expensive.for Puck,
which has been a father to the whole
younger generation of cartoonists and a
fortune to its owners.
Personally, Mr. Keppler impresses one as
a dashing, brilliant man. He is five feet ten
inches in height, of military bearing, with
large mustache and goatee. Great masses of
hair seem to float on the top of his head.
His temperament is quick and nervous, but
his disposition is very genial. His home is
in Inwood-on-the-Hnelson, where he has a
beautiful house, surrounded with all the
comforts that success and the fulfillment of
long-deferred f hopes can afford.
bernhard gillam.
Bernhard Gillam, a prince of cartoonists,
was born in Bambury, Oxford, England,
October 28, 1856, and is still a young man,
considering the reputation he has won. He
came to New York fifteen., years ago and
entered a lawyer's office, but following the
natural bent of his mind he covered more
foolscap pages with character sketches than
with legal notes, and after a couple of years
the lawyer found that he could dispense
with young Gillam's services. Mr. Gillam
conceived ttie idea that tie could draw car
toons. He spent four days on a draw
ing for / Wild Oats, and "was rewarded
by receiving the munificent sum of $1
for the idea, the drawing being declined.
This experience lessened nis enthusiasm,
and for the next six years he became
a sort of artistic tramp, being by turns
an engraver, portrait painter and designer for
show cards, etc. In 1879 he accepted an en
gagement as cartoonist on Frank Leslie's
Weekly. Mr. Leslie dying soon afterward,
and the policy of the paper being changed,
Mr. Gillam went upon the Graphic, for
which paper he drew for some time. Dur
ing the Garfield-Hancock campaign he was
upon the staff of Harper's Weekly, drawing in
conjunction with Nast. In 1881 the owners
of Puck sent for Mr. Gillam and engaged
him at a high salary. Preceding the cam
paign of 1884 he invented the "Tattooed
Man" which created such a sensation at the
time. In January, 1886, he, in company
' =■■
\. r
with W. J. Arkell, took hold of The Judge,
convinced that there was ample room for
two papers of the kind. The policy of The
Judge being straightout Republican, and
Puck having a Democratic leaning, the con
flict between these two journals is very inter
esting.
Mr. Gillam comes of an artistic stock. His
father was an artist, and three out of his
father's four sons have followed in .his foot
steps. Personally, Mr. Gillam is very at
tractive. His manners are excellent an'd his
voice is low and musical. He is five feet and
a half inches in height; has a wealth of
black hair, which he combs in the Pompa
dour style, and a fine brown mustache. Put
a frock coat on him and he would be easily
taken for a minister. True to the instincts of
a Bohemian, he has remained a bachelor.
So much has been written about Gillam as
an artist and his work is so generally well
known that there is little left to be said. He
and Keppler are so much in advance of their
contemporaries that I can't think of one who
is deserving to be ranked even second to
them. Perhaps Keppler is more original,
easy and natural, and even Opper may pos
sess more real fun ; but Gillam excels them
all in strength, execution and color. He is
the Titian of the cartoonists, and his warm,
sunny nature is always to be found wrapped
up in his best work.
«
35f
-
up
c j. taylor.
C. J. Taylor, who has been doing so much
work on Puck during the past year, was
born in New York city August 11, 1851. Ir
1869 he went to Harper's as an apprentice.
At the end of nine months the firm, of
.vnich Fletcher Harper was at that tiilic the
euiding spirit, wished to make a contract
with him for
three years.
Before Mr.
Taylor went to
Harper's lie
took lesson s
from Emanuel
L e u t z e, who
painted'Wasli
lngton crossing
the Delaware.'
He was admit
ted to the Ac
ademy of De
sign in the fall
ofl 869. After
studying there
a b o u t three
years, he be
g;an to paint
figures in still
life, which he tried to sell at auction, but
found that sort of life precarious. While
engaged in Iiis Bohemian work he took
lessons fr.>m Eastman Johnson, the
painter oi "The Old Kentucky Home."
At that time, Mr. Taylor says, he was
too poor to pursue his art education ;
but, having a studio in the University
building, where Mr. Johnson was estab
lished, the latter kindly took an inter
est in him and instructed him in colors and
painting, as well as criticising his work.
During this period Mr. Taylor painted
hundreds of landscape pictures in oil,
which he sold to dealers and at auction.
When the Graphic was established in
1873 he joined its staff and began to
draw cartoons and do general work. His
first cartoon was a picture of a paper build
ing, with small outline pictures, explanatory
of the subject, and figures of the directors of
the Industrial Exhibition scheme throwing
dust in the people's eyes. He thought car
tooning would be an immense success, and
deemed it a good plan to acquire a store of
varied knowledge and to discipline his mind;
so, in 1873, he entered Columbia Law School.
During the first year he continued to draw
for the Graphic ; but as the strain was too
severe and he wished to obtain a degree, he
resigned from that paper and devoted the
whole of 1871 to the study of law. He re
ceived his diploma in May, 1874, and, at the
first alumni meeting, a few weeks later, he
was elected secretary. Wm. Walter Phelps
was chosen alumni orator at the same time.
Mr. Taylor had as classmates at Columbia
Law School Robert Bay Hamilton, a mem
ber of the New York Assembly for three
terms; Hugh Reily, now district attorney of
Albany, N. Y. ; \\ m. C. Gulliver, one of'the
directors of the new Madison-square Garden
scheme, and a brother of Theodore Roose
velt, the latter being then in the junior
class, as was also Wm. Waldorf Astor, ex
minister to Italy. After leaving the law
school Mr. Taylor formed a legal firm, in
company with "Edward Nicoll and Adam E.
Schatz; but he withdrew after six months
and returned to the Graphic, where he re
mained until 1882, when he took a studio
and did general work, which he exhib
ited at the exhibitions. After leaving the
Graphic Mr. Taylor was elected a member of
the Salmagundi Club and American Black
and White Society. He continued to work
for himself until April, 1886, when he joined
thé staff of Puck. Last summer, in comp my
with Julian Ralph, he "did" the fashion tble
seaside resorts for the Sunday Sun. The ull
j>age accounts were very exhaustive, and t iree
days were devoted to e'ach place. Whil< the
sketches were rough and hurriedly executed,
Mr. Taylor savs thev were true to fife. In ap
pearance Taylor is the beau-ideal of an artist.
He is six feet in height; has a large head and
a very long one, which is covered with bushy
hair, slightly tinged with gray. His nose is
large and rather pointed, and he wars a
medium mustache and side-wliisu.ers. jle
married and has two children. His i- j »-.
in East Orange, N. J., where he has resided
in his own house for five years. He is a
steady worker, and even works five mgnts
out of the seven.
AMONG THE CHURCHES.
Facts and Opinions on Matters of Inter
est in the Keligious World.
A most interesting development of the
principle of evangelical union in missionarj
labor has been successfully in operation for ten
years in Japan. In June, 187", the missionary
agents of three churches resolved to enter
heartily into an united effort in their mission
work, so as to secure the organization of all ex
isting native churches under their respective
care into one body. The three churches
in question were the Reformed (Dutch)
Church of America, the Presbyterian
(North) Church of America, and the
United Presbyterian Church of Scotland.
Two others have since joined in the movement
— namely, the Presbyterian Church (South) ot
America, and the Reformed (German) Church
or the United States. There is thus, at present,
a fivefold representation in the Union Chu ret
of Christ in Japan, which is the name given to
the combined organization that has thus been
brought into being. '
The revision of the Westminster con
fession is contemplated by some of the leaders
of the Free Church of Scotland, and the ppin
ions expressed by some of the most thought
ful of the Presbyterian ministers are interest
ing. Professor Blaikie asserts his belief in the
necessity of a definite creed in a church. But
while assenting to the confession, he is none
the less persuaded that it is too long, too elab
orate and too minute to be imposed absolutely,
in its every article and clause, on all ministers,
and that some relaxation ought to be allowed.
He would abridge the document and modify
the existing formula of assent. While main
taining the necessity of creeds for a church,
he "must own, however, that the Scriptural
authority for creeds is extremely small, if it
exists at all." I)r. Marcus Dods seems to think
that mere revision would excite much ecclesi
astical strife, and effect very little good.
Now that the results of the past year
are becoming apparent in the year books of
the several denominations, it is seen that the
gains of the various Protestant Chuches of this
country aggregate for the past year over half a
million members. The largest gains are in the
two branches of the Methodist Episcopal
Church, the "North" and "South," which ag
gregate 175.000. The Baptists come next in or
der, with an increase of 160,000 members. Fol
lowing are the Lutherans, with an increase of
37,626, and then the Presbyterians with 27,326,
and the Episcopalians, who report an increase
of 19,541. The other denominations add largely
to these numbers.
The old gibe to the effect that it takes
a dollar to get a dime to the heathen does not
have facts to back it. In the administration of
the Methodist Missionary Society out of every
8100 contributed §95 goes to the missions
direct ; ?2 74 to "incidental expenses"—that is,
interest and annuities, expenses of bishops in
visiting missions, insurance, exchange, etc.;
£1 35 to "office expenses"—that is, salaries, trav
eling expenses, stationery, etc., after deduct
ing amounts received from rental of mission
building; ninety-one cents to disseminating
missionary information.
An enormous official-looking document
has arrived in England from Siberia, in which
a number of convicts expressed, in touching
words, their gratitude for th«J!yamphlets and
portions of Scripture which the British Tract
Society had sent out to thenj- At the foot of
the neatly written letter a long string of the
names of the convicts appeared. Some were
written in a firm, clear hand, many more faintly
and illegibly, while not a few of the con
demned men had put the mark of the illiterate,
which seems to be a X all the world over.
The Rev. H. U. Weitbrecht, C. M. S.
missionary at Batala, has issued a pamphlet
on "Infidel Literature in India." It is stated
that a native publishing firm in Lahore is dis
seminating translations in different languages
of new European infidel publications from
Central India to the Afghan border, 'to some
extent this propaganda of unbelief and ag
nosticism has influenced Europeans; but its
chief influence has been among natives, both
the English-speaking class and those who un
derstand the vernacular only.
The work of the American Bible So
ciety the past year has been large. According
to the annual report, the cash receipts were
$493,358, and the expenditures were #554,490.
During the year 1,675 ,897 copies of the Scrip
tures were printed and purchased. The aggre
gate circulation in foreign lands was 521,356
copies. In seventy-one years the society has
issued 48,324,916 copies, which have "been dis
tributed in all parts of the world.
Christian work is moving forward in
the Hermit nation. A Bible committee, for the
translation of the Bible, has been formed
by the missionaries at Seoul. Several Coreans
have been baptized and others are studying
the Word. This, at present, is done in a
private way, because of the existing laws
against the introduction of Chris tiani ty
The Christian Advocate, the official
Methodist Church paper, publishes a document
of John Wesley, in which he says :.;"I believe
there is no liturgy in the world, either in
ancient or modern language, which breathes
more of a solid, spiritual, rational piety than
the Common Prayer of the Church of Eng
land."
The women of the Presbyterian Church
in this country are said to have raised in the
past sixteen years $2.150.000 for missions.
Couldn't Have Been His Wife.
."Has my wife been here?" asked a
nervous man of a clerk in a Harlèm dry
goods store. *
"Tall woman ?"
"Yes."
"Red hair?"
"Yes."
"Cross-eyed?"
"Yes."
"Bonnet on sideways?"
"Yes."
Bought ten yards of silk dress goods
and paid cash for it ?"
"Did that woman do this ?"
"Yes." *
"Well, I don't think it CQuldbe Maria "
and out he went.— Tid-Bits.
Women In India.
The Bombay Gazette has broken the ice by
employing sixteen Anglo-Indian girls as
•mpositors and a woman as proof-reader.