The Virginia enterprise. [volume], September 06, 1901, Image 7

About The Virginia enterprise. [volume] (Virginia, St. Louis County, Minn.) 1893-19??

Image provided by: Minnesota Historical Society; Saint Paul, MN

                
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DAILYHABITSOFPOPE LEO,
An Account of the Life of Head
of the Catholic Church.
DELICATEAND FRAGILE.
With Mind Unimpaired, lie is a Strict
Disciplinarian— What He
Kata and Drinks.
When there is a dearth of news, says
a writer iii the Paris Figaro,'certain pa­
pers have always one item in reserve
which they serve out personally—the ill­
ness of the Pop?. It is like the famous
sea-serpent which is always appearing.
Quite lately they have twice made Leo
XIII. sick, and because of his old age
the news seemed to have some semblance
of truth in it, and gave much uneasi­
ness to the pious souls that are devoted
to the holy father. This sickness of the
pontiff, however, is happily pure fancy,
and to reassure the credulous ones con­
cerning his health it is necessary for me
only to give in detail how he passes his
days and how he lives, and they will see
that theiv has been scarcely any change
iu his regime of today and of twenty
years ag».
The greatest modification in his life is
his almost entire abandonment of his
walks in the gardens. When he went in­
to the garden ten days ago to breakfast
with his two physicians and his nephew,
the Count Cainillo Pecci, it \yas the first
time in two years that he had been there.
As a matter of fact, the Pope himself
says that he has no need of open air. If
at times the heat is excessive it is possi­
ble that he has himself carried in a chair
to the pavilion he has had built on the
highest point in the garden, and thus en­
joys, so to say, a little country life for a
few hours: but I do not believe that he
cares for this very often. In his apart­
ments the Pope can get. by going from
one room to another, such slight varia­
tions of temperature as are sufficient for
•his delicate system.
There are also some changes in his
manner of saying mass. Formerly on
Sundays the Pope celebrated mass in the
large chapel of his apartments and invit­
ed thither people of note who were pass­
ing through Rome. For more than two
years, however, on Sundays and week­
days, with very rare exceptions, the holy
father says mass in the little chapel next
to his bedroom and no one is admitted.
His servant Centra assists him. Nor is
this mass said at a fixed hour, as used
to be the custom. Now ha celebrates it
at 7 or 8, or even 9—whenever he has
happened to wake up.
A Delicate Appetite.
A good idea of Leo's health can be
had from his appetite and his manner of
living. Joachim Pecci has always been
a light eater and for several years past,
naturally, he has eaten less than ever.
Haying no teeth and with a stomach
which, always feeble, now digests with
difficulty, it is necessary for him to have
a special cuisine. In the morning Centra
brings him chocolate, milk and two very
soft-boiled eggs. The kitchen is a story
above the papal apartments and is con­
nected with them by a very narrow and
straight staircase, which is used for no
other purpose. The dishes are taken first
to the crcdenziena (office), where Signer
(Jiiiseppi Macelli is in command. He
gives lhem to Centra, who is in the ante­
chamber, and the latter alone serves Leo
and assists him at his meal. Macelli car­
ries first a wicker basket in which is a
very simple copper tray, with the cover
and napkin marked with the letters "S.
A. P.." which stand for "Sacred and
Apostolic Palace." Then come the
dishes. The Pope really takes regularly
only a bouillon or a potage, which is
the chief item of his nourishment. The
rest of the meal consists of little balls
of hashed meat or minced chicken, eggs,
well-cooked vegetables and very ripe
fruits. Ordinarily coffee is not served,
and as to wine, the Pope drinks but lit­
tle, but it is an excellent claret sent him
from a convent in Bordeaux. He cuts
it, as if with water, with a little white
wine of (Jrottaferrata. When the dishes
have been taken back to the office it is
seen that he has scarcely touched any­
thing: that what he has eaten would
hardly be enough for a child of 0. On
the other hand, the cloth and napkin are
much soiled, for the Pope, at his ad­
vanced age. has no longer a steady hand
and when he is serving himself it trem
bles greatly. When he has poured out
a glass of wine before he drinks it he
always lifts it_ high before carrying it
to his lips. Why? Perhaps it can be
explained as the accompaniment of a
prayer or the habit of raising the chalice.
A Firm Master.
Leo's apartments have no dining room.
He passes the day in his bedroom, works
there, eats there and gives his ordinary
audiences there. The room is divided by
a curtain, which conceals the bed. Near
the curtain and leaning against the wall
are the familiar armchair from which
his ideas and thoughts go out through
the world, and a little square table, not
more than sixty centimeters wide. A
ankee or English amateur would pay
well for this piece of furniture, for it is
at this tiny table that the Holy Father
eats and writes—when he can. Because
of the trembling of his hands the Pope
does not write any more. He can hard­
ly sign his name.
In his attitude toward those in h.-.
service Leo has nut changed with a^e
and governs with a firmness which is not
exempt from harshness. .Accustomed to
command, and himself having alwavs
been an example of regularity in bis
work and in the accomplishment of his
duties, he wishes to be served promptlv
and well, and when necessarv he makes
that clearly understood. Recentlv. Mgr
Angeli. his particular secretarv, "a man
naturally nervous, but of late grown e\
tremelv irritable, almost beyond endur­
ance. has been spoken to bv the Pone
before everybody in the antechamber-
Consignor, whre was your head when
you wrote that letter? You have not
understood a thing that I said."
If Leo has changed much phvsical'v
With years there is no failing in'his iii
telngence and will power. I can say tha
no one :n his entourage comes before
him Wituout a slight quickening of thr
pulse, because nothing escapes him and
his remarks, although always calm, are
short and to the point. There is no re­
laxation him. The Pope is still the
Pecef'
firm am1 severe
Chamberlain
Uses Snuff Freely.
Like Pius IX., Leo XIII. uses snuff.
He takes much and has a predilection
for a Spanish tobacco, which is dark
brown, almost black. He takes large
pinches of it and drops a good part of
them over his soutane and on the car­
pet, and where he has been is always
marked by little heaps of it. He uses
fine red silk handkerchiefs, which the
Religeuses Reparatrices wash for him
These sisters likewise have charge of the
linen and the wardrobe, the soutanes
pelisses, coverings, shawls for the shoul­
ders in winter, most of which have been
gifts. These good sisters work for the
love of it. They do up the woolen gar­
ments admirably and give to the linen
a marvelous whiteness. However if
these religeuses, to be agreeable to pious
persons or those moved by pious senti­
ment, should give them any of these
The above picture was made from
headquarters in Pittsburg, Pa.
things they would soon hear from tha
Pope. In the time of Pius IX. this used
commonly to be done, but Leo will not
stand it. Exception is made in the case
of the white skullcaps. It happens some­
times that he will exchange the one he is
wearing for another that is offered to
him by persons whom he knows. I can
cite, for example, an American lady,
whose name I will not give, who Ias^
winter asked for and obtained two of
these caps. Some time after at an audi­
ence the Pope saw this lady holding a
beautiful new cap filled with goid, for
the "denier" of St. Peter. "Ah!" said
the Pope, laughing, "it is for a cap you
have come? Wait." And he took off his
own and exchanged with the lady after
having poured the gold into the hands
of a chamberlain.
Shaving is a real bore for the Pope.
Methodical as he is. not a day passes
that at the regular hour the good Cen
tu, who also holds the office of Figaro,
dws not have to insist upon his submit­
ting to the ordeal. So, like a mother with
her child,- Centra watches over his au­
gust master and sees that he does not go
to audiences with a soiled soutane, and
to make him change it the servant ca­
joles, exhorts and insists until the Pope
yields. It would be interesting to assist
at these little debates between Leo and
Centra.
Catholic Literature.
The Vatican is naturally well supplied
with Catholic papers, but the Pope reads
others, Italian and foreign, which come
to the pontifical palace through an in­
termediary who subscribes for them in
his own name. Many of these papers
certainly do not know that their real sub­
scriber is the Vatican. To lessen the
work of the Holy Fattier, a Catholic
journalist has the task or clipping a cer­
tain number of extracts which are sent
to the Pope. Some years ago this was
the work of the secretary of state. I
shall certainly surprise many people by
telling them that Leo reads without
glasses, not iu the manner of those that
are far-sighted, but nearly so. The light
he prefers in the evening is the gentie
glow of the candelabrum with three can­
dles but he has only to press a burton
in his chair to have electric light, for
electricity was put in his bedroom three
years ago. However, he seldom uses it.
One of his oddities is to have himseif
locked in bv Centra when the latter
leaves him at bedtime. If the Pope needs
him in the night he rings a bell and it
takes Centra five minutes to go from
the room he sleeps in to the Pope's cham­
ber. If one asks what is the duty of
the two servants who sleep in the room
next to the Pope's, the answer is that
their sole mission is to call Centra.
Those who are in Leo's entourage and
who have real affection for him deplore
this system, for. in the case of sudden
illness, aid could not be summoned
promptly. Happily, the Pope is well and
his system is in good order, which fact
lessens the apprehensions of his friends.
Despite the pain France has caused him
for some time past, there is every reason
to believe that the grand old man will
live to be a hundred. That, at least, is
the opinion ot his physicians.
Changes in Textile Weaving,
Formerly the idea had a strong hold
on manufacturers that goods to be well
made must be made from tine yarn. Man­
ufacturers have learned that this is an
error. I nniany cases the reverse is true.
The change from the fine-spun fabrics of
twenty years ago. to the coarsespun
cloths of today has been gradual but
steady. It has been accompanied by a
corresponding increase Jn the production
capacity of the woolen loom. Two de­
cades ago a heavyweight fabric weighed
from 25 to 30 ounces per six-quarter
yard. Today 20 ounces is not far from
the average weight required. A like
change has taken place in lightweights.
Formerly lf ounces was about the weight
required, while now the aim is to make
the goods as light as possible.—Baltimore
Sun.
An Illuminating Shell.
The war department is now firing an
illuminating shell that bursts in the air
and emits a fiery body of a globular
shape which vividly lights up a large
area for a considerable time. The ex­
periments are for the purpose of im­
proving and perfecting bombs that are
now made for the purpose of exposing
the position of an enemy at night, and to
reveal the character of defenses to be at­
tacked. These projectiles explode on im­
pact, liberating a flaming compound.
How Sanitation Affects Industry.
The municipality of Paris contemplate
the abolition of the domestic dust bin
in favor of one of the several more
economical and effective methods of
waste removal which have been submit­
ted. says a Paris correspondent. Great
perturbation is caused by the proposal,
as 40.000 men and women subsist entire­
ly by sorting the contents of the threat­
ened bins, and it is pointed out that all
these people, with their fam'lies, must
be reduced in starvation.
New German Glassware.
The Germans have invented a new
kind of glassware. This cloisonne glass
as it is called, is similar to stained glass'
but is claimed to be superior. The de­
sign is prepared double brass wires
and the interstices are filled with small
pieces of colored glass. 8his design is then
mounted upon a large sheet of plain
glass, to which it is firmly attached by
means of a translucent cement. Another
similar sheet of glass is then placed no­
on the top of the design in the same
way, so that the colored glass, is inserted
between two sheets of glass.
MEMBERS OF AMALGAMATED ADVISORY
Scenes and Incidents of Everyday
Life in the Paris of America* J*
Mrs. Sarah Cowell Le Moyne will open
her season with the Charles Henry Melt
zer historical drama, "The First Duchess
of Marlborough." It will have its initial
presentation in Atlantic City, N. J., on
Monday evening, September 23.
New York club life has sustained a
loss through the death, at Liberty, N.
Y., recently, of John Duer, a member of
the well-known Duer family. He was a
member of the Knickerbocker and Metro­
politan clubs, of the Bar association and
the St. Nicholas society. He married
Sarah, daughter of Henry du Pont of
Wilmington. Del.
There were reports current that a ho­
tel larger than any in New York city will
be built on the block bounded by Broad­
way and Amsterdam avenue and Eighty
sixth and Eighty-seventh streets. Ac­
cording to the report, "it will be the big­
gest hotel in the world." The property
is at present unimproved. It is owned
by Charles T. Barney.
Ally person who has ever seen Eddie
Foy's smile will never forget it. It was
more expansive than usual one day re­
cently and he invited his most intimate
friends to call at his house to meet "my
daughter, Miss Foy." The little one ar­
rived the other day, and the comedian,
who is so well known in Pittsburg, is the
happiest man in New York.
A pest of fleas infests the cages of all
animals in the Central park zoo, causing
the brutes great torment. Keeper Shan­
non says a number of fawns are almost
mad from the insects, while the lions roll
over and over in their cages in vain en­
deavor to rid themselves of their tor­
mentors. As for the monkeys, they are
almost maddened and jump and shriek
day and night.
The statue of Liberty on Bedloe's is­
land will be turned over to the war de-
Etrooke,
artment if the recommendation of Gen.
commanding the department of
the East, is approved by Congress. The
recommendation will, it is said, be in­
dorsed by Secretary Root with the sug­
gestion that Congress appropriate suffi­
cient funds to complete the base of the
statue and the approaches to it.
Heinrich Conried of the Irving Place
theater has engaged for two years Mme.
Helene Odilon, who acted last spring as
the star of the Irving Place theater. She
is to act under his management in this
country and Berlin and will Temain a
member of the company at the Deut
sches Yolks theater in Vienna for three
months every year. She is to act here
this season and the following year.
An interesting passenger who arrived
recently on the North German Lloyd
steamship Kaiser Wilhelm der Grosse
was Baron Paul Vietinghoff, who is now
a millionaire. Fifteen years ago the
baron came to this country without a
dollar. He became a riding master in
Durland's academy and three years ago
returned to his native Russia nearly as
he left it. penniless. By the deatii of
some relatives in Russia he has inherited
many millions.
On the Kaiser Wilhelm der Grosse
there arrived Capt. Arthur H. Lee, ex
military attache of the British embassy
at Washington. He is accompanied by
Mrs. Lee. Concerning a recent cable dis­
patch to the effect that he had refused
to meet Bourke Coekran when the latter
was introduced by Winston Churchill.
Capt. Lee said the report was incorrect.
"I did not refuse to meet Mr. Coekran,"
said Capt. Lee, "but I did take occasion
to remind him that I had heard him de­
liver an eloquent oration at a pro-Boer
meeting in Washington."
The Kaiser Wilhelm der Grosse,
which arrived on Monday, brought
among her passengers a number of well
known theatrical people. Among them
were Mme. Helena Modjeska, Miss
Maude Adams. Heinrich Conried, mana
Ser
of_the
Irving Place theater Miss
Anna Held, and her husband and man*
ager, Florence Ziegfeld. Mme. Modjes­
ka has just come from Poland, her na­
tive country, which she had not visited
in a long time. Anna Held, who was
becomingly dressed in the latest Parisi­
an creation, looked very happy to be
back again after a busy summer at the
dressmakers', and also taking lessons in
voice production.
Miss Julia Opp is back from Europe
and will-spend the whole of this season
Here as leading woman for William Fa
versham. Miss Opp has acted in Europe
for so long the Londoners claim her as
a native. Miss Opp not only indignantly
disputes this but declares, with a good
deal of pride, that she is a Bowery girl
having been born and raised on that his­
toric street. She is considered one of the
most beautiful actresses on the staee
Recently she was asked how she retailed
^r,Pea"ty- ®y sleeping every moment
of the time that I possibly can. That
is the only tiling that I do to retain any
beauty that I may have." It w««
blow to the milk bath theory.
The .*2»ew tenderloin" on the upper
west side, has practically been wiped off
the map. For two weeks an exothis has
$**»*
4
a snapshot of the advisory board of the Amalgamated Association of Iron and Steel Workers during one of their sessions at
been in progress that has cleaned the
apartment houses in the West Sixty
eighth street police precinct of the wom­
en who made that section notorious.
Sixty-fifth street, the center of the "new
tenderloin," is decorated with more "To
Let" signs than ever before in its his­
tory, and there has been a material re­
duction in rents. This exodus is attrib­
uted nominally by the police of the West
Sixty-eighth street station to their activi­
ty. The real reason, however, is said to
be the section of the new tenement-house
law, which makes it an offense punish­
able by a $1000 fine for the agent or own­
er of a house partly occupied by re­
spectable people to rent apartments to
dissolute women.
John Arbuckle, the millionaire coffee
merchant of New York and Pittsburg,
has not given up his pet scheme of a
workingman's yacht or a floating hotel.
A statement that the steamship John
Stamler, which was fitted up for this
purpose, had gone out of commission
and would be dismantled is denied by
Mr. Arbuckle, who says the boat is only
laid up for repairs. On account of the
arrangements of the berths the floating
hotel has not been a success, and very
few i»eople took advantage of the philan­
thropic scheme. The Stamler is to be
thoroughly remodeled, however, and ev­
erything will be added that is now lack­
ing. This work will require about three
weeks. If the weather is still hot the
Stamler will continue her trips this sea­
son. Otherwise she will be laid up until
next summer. Mr. Arbuckle is still as
enthusiastic as ever over the scheme.
It has been authoritatively announced
that the entire lot of this year's Ranco
cas farm racing colts will be sold on Sep­
tember 13, under orders from Mrs. Lil­
lian-Barnes Allien, who is in possession
of the farm and stock left to her by the
late Pierre Lorillard. This is only the
first step, it is said, toward disposing of
the whole string of thoroughbreds that
were owned by Pierre Lorillard. Thus,
if Pierre Lorillard, Jr., carries out his
determination to race the Lorillard stable
he will have to buy from Mrs. Allien the
horses owned by his own father. It was
said that Mrs. Allien would enter the
horses for races under the Lorillard col­
ors—cherry, black hoops on sleeves, black
tassel on cap—but the son of Pierre Lor­
illard outwitted her by registering the
colors as his property, so that sh? could
not use them. The string is estimated
to be worth about $100,000, and is head­
ed by David Garrick.
Quite a sensation was created on the
beach at Narragansett the other day by
a feminine bather who appeared at the
height of the bathing hours clad in an
airy, transparent costume of white brill
iantine, and wearing pink tights, with
big glaring polka dots. Her suit, which
was evry transparent, was trimmed with
silk in polka dots, and her cap was of
white silk with veil to match. When
the bather first appeared at least 500
bathers gathered around the girl, who
seemed to enjoy the sensation she was
creating. When she piunged into the
dashing surf the small boys cheered lus­
tily. while the older ones looked on and
smiled. After taking a sun bath on the
beach, the bather entered a bath-house,
followed by a crowd of curiosity-seekers.
The chief of police ordered her to leave
the bath-house by the rear entrance, and
to change her costume the next time she
entered the water. The event was the
sensation of the day at the pier.
There is a new king of the dudes in
New York city and he is a millionaire.
His name is Henry B. Clifford and he
hails from that section of the country
described by the effete Easterners as the
"wild and woolly West." The renowned
H. Berry Wall and .T. Waldere Kirk,
erstwhile leaders of New York fashion,
may have flattered themselves that they
knew a thing or two about the sartorial
art, but when placed in contrast with this
new king of the dudes they bear a close
resemblance *o the famous dollar bill
from which 70 cents had been extracted.
Although claiming Arizona as his home,
because of the fact that his myriad of
business interests are located there, Mr.
Clifford spends most of his time at the
Waldorf-Astoria, where he lives with his
wife in an elegant suite of rooms on
the sixth flooi. The word "dude" does
not appeal to this Western millionaire,
and it is only necessary to mention it
within his hearing to incur his displeas­
ure. "I merely wanted to have some­
thing different from what everybody is
wearing," he said when asked for an ex­
planation of his eccentricity in dress.
"Nobody, save possibly the black valet
which Mr. Clifford has added to his
retinue, knows precisely how many suits
are in the Clifford wordrobe. Two suits
a month is said to be the average, and
the Clifford tailor has been at work sev­
eral years. When he goes traveling, even
on a short journey, many large trnnks
are generally included in the excess bag­
gage. Not long ago he went out to Ari­
zona and the Pacific coast to look after
his properties. Eight trunks followed
him and still there were enough suits
remaining in the Waldorf apartments to
clothe a regiment.
Pacific Salmon in the Lakes.
Four years ago the United States fish
commission began to plant in Lake Su­
perior the steelhead salmon of the Pa­
cific. It was believed that this salt­
water fish would thrive in the cold, fresh
waters of the great lakes, and fish of
this kind weighing five pounds have re­
cently been caught. As modified in the
lake they are weU-shapei and firm, with
flesh of a fiie red and delicat^ Savar.
The Ranting will proceed rapidly.
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C0K0NAT10N GOSSIP.
Something About People Who will
be Admitted to the Cer­
emonies.
Some of the papers are beginning to
print a great deal of nonsense about the
coronation. On Thursday last the
Daily Mail announced that "the prepa­
rations are going on apace, and in the
course of the next few days the plans
of the seats in Westminster abbey will
be laid before the King for his approval."
It does not seem to be understood that
the discussion of all such arrangements
will be postponed until after the court
of claims has completed its business.
The "plans of the seats in Westminster
abbey" are not likely to be laid before
the Kins for the next seven or eight
months. The internal arrangements of
the abbey will be much the same as at
previous coronations, the chairs, of the
King and Queen being placed at the top
of the choir near the altar, where the
lectern usually stands, with rows of seats
in both transepts, and over the choir on
both sides, and above the altar. The
King, the earl marshal and the lord great
chamberlain will each have a private
box, containing twenty seats in his maj­
esty's loge. and twelve in each of the
others. Two large waiting rooms will
bo erected and fitted up in the nave close
to the west door.
The court of claims deals not only with
all rights and services, but also with the
numerous demands for valuable articles
as "perquisites," and, as to these latter,
there were brisk battles, more vigorous
than dignified, at the last three corona
tions. One claim, which is quite novel,
will have to be decided on its merits, the
precedents affording no aid. This is thq
appeal of the eight bishops who are not
yet members of the House of Lords, to
have places assigned to them in the ab­
bey at the coronation. The case of these
prelates is being drawn up by the Bishop
of Bristol, who may be trusted to make
the most of it. When Queen Victoria
was crowned, all the bishops were in the
House of Lords, and the junior prelate,
waiting for a seat until a vacancy oc
curred, only emerged when the see of
Manchester was founded in 1847.
The kissing of the King by each peer
is one of the "services" to be abolished.
William IY. wished to get rid of this
ceremonial, in 1831, but ultimately he
was obliged to submit, and was even
kissed by the archbishops and bishops, a
part of the affair to which he had strong­
ly and specially objected.
Some rubbish has appeared in the pa­
pers as to the distribution of tickets for
the abbey. The fact is that so many
personages have a statutory right to be
present at a coronation that every seat
will be required, and no outsiders can
have a chance of being admitted, so the
American and African "millionaires," of
whom the lady journalists are always
discoursing in such rapturous terms, w'ill
have to console themselves by hiring win
dows or houses on the line of route.
By the time that the peers and peer
esses, members of the House of Com
mons and their wives, the corps diplo
matique, ministers and ex-ministers, and
a variety of official personages have been
seated, there will not be much accom­
modation available, considering the
amount of space which will be required
for the royal family both at home and
abroad, the official representatives of for­
eign sovereigns, and the Indian princes.
Each imperial or royal personage, more­
over, will, of course, have, a suite. The
universities, the various religious bodies,
and certain corporations have a right to
be represented at this ceremony. There
was trouble enough in 1838 to provide
accommodation, but next year the dif­
ficulty will be enormously greater owing
to the fact that the number of members
of the House of Lords has been so pro­
digiously increased. It is a question,
moreover, whether the eldest sons and
eldest daughters of peers are not en­
titled to places in the abbey and privy
councillors, lords lieutenant of counties,
and the knights of the varions orders
have a right to be present. This is all
very well as to the Garter. Thistle and
St. Patrick, for every member of these
orders attends as a peer, and the G. C.
B.'s may be admitted, and perhaps the
G. C. M. G.'s, but it would be a matter
of utter impossibility to find places for
the lower grades of the Bath, or the St.
Michael and St. George, or for the mem­
bers of the other orders.
It will, therefore, be utterly useless for
anyone who is not in a position by birth
or official station to claim a ticket to
pester the personages concerned with the
ceremony on the subject of admittance to
the abbey. If the project of a state pro­
cession from Buckingham palace to St.
'Paul's cathedral and the guild hall and
back, on the day after the coronation, is
carried out, every one who has the means
to purchase a place along the line of
route, or the courage to run the risks of
the crowd, will be able to see something
of. the royal cortege.—London Truth.
Bees and Blackberries.
S. V. Reeves of Haddonfield, N.
keeps bees, and several of his neighbors
who raise blackberries have complained
to the borough council that the bees suck
all the sweetness out of their berries,
thus impairing their value in the mar­
ket.
Scarce—Good Yacht Sailor*.
Those who have studied the. art of pr$
paring cup defenders for their work are
aware of ,the immense ffmount of care
needed"^© properly, tune the yacht long
after she has sailed her first race. Tile
tao«t scientific part, of the work of the
f»
9
*,•,
11
handlers of a cup defender ip in the per­
fecting of her rigging and her various
gear so that everything will carry har
moniously upon the big 90-footer. Here
is where the really fine distinctions of
yatching occur, and there are actually
but few men in. the world who are capa-
ble of handling"-such problems success
fully. Gertaintly not 200 men on earth
are able to decide these matters with
accuracy and success.—Baltimore Her­
ald.
STOBMS ARE FREAKISH.
Lightning Preferably Strikes Locust
Trees Say Observing
Farmers.
The death of a number of persons dur­
ing the storms of this summer, through
being struck by lightning while taking
shelter under locust trees, has called at­
tention to a general belief among inhab­
itants of rural regions that locust trees
are peculiarly susceptible to lightning.
Throughout Pennsylvania and Ohio,
where locust trees are plentiful, the farm­
ers assert that if there is any lightning
playing in the vicinity of such trees dur­
ing a storm the bolt is sure to hit them
in preference to other trees. No" scien­
tific explanation has been offered for this
curious thing, but those who are familiar
with the fact assert that it is neverthe­
less true.
"A locust tree is as good as a lightning
rod any day," said a farmer to a corre­
spondent. "Around my house, within a
radius of 100 feet, have planted a cir­
cle of locust trees. They always draw
the lightning during a storm and give im­
munity to the house. Many people liv­
ing in the country do not know that a
locust tree draws the lightning more read­
ily than any other tree. TTiat is why
you hear of so many people killed by
lightning while -seeking shelter from a
storm in the fields.
What Records Show.
"In nine cases out of ten you will find
that it was a locust tree under which
they sought shelter. That is merely the
law of averages working out, because
locust trees are very popular in the coun­
try. They are raised extensively, and
when a farmer plants trees of any kind
for shade or wood in nine cases out of
ten he plants the locust. Why? Well,
in the first place the locust grows more
rapidly than other varieties. In fifteen
years a locust attains a fair size, when it
may be used for many purposes. For
fence posts the locust has no superior
and most farmers plant them for this
reason alone. Then, again, because they
grow so rapidly, the locust trees are valu­
able ones to plant in a field to give shade
to cattle or harvesters."
A man who lived in a rural community
in the Monongahela valley for many
years contributed the following to the
locust-tree proposition:
"Some distance from my home," said
he, "there stood a line of big locust trees.
They always protected the house from
lightning during thunder storms.
Every Other Tree Struck.
"One day while a storm was in prog­
ress I sat on the porch. A big crash
came simultaneously with a bolt of light­
ning. The bolt ripped the first locust
tree in the row. A few minutes later
another stroke hit the trees. This time
the third treft from the end was splin­
tered. Stranger still, when a third bolt
fell, it struck the fifth tree in the row.
"Every other tree had been struck. It
may not have signified anything, but I
rather believe the trees struck were
more susceptible to the lightning thari^
the intermediate one which remained un­
harmed. I never heard a good explana­
tion about this peculiarity of locust
trees, but it is a fact that they will be
struck by lightning during a storm when
trees of other varieties close by will es­
cape."
A citizen of northern Ohio told the
writer that throughout that tier of Buck­
eye counties farmers regularly plant
clumps of locust about their homes to
protect the latter from lightning, and the
trees always draw the lightning if it
passes in the vicinity.—New York Mail
and Express.
Amusements of Boer Prisoners.
The Boer prisoners at St. Helena
amuse themselves in many ways. They
are very fond of cricket and football.
They have a recreation hall, in which
their musical club frequently gives con­
certs. They have among them a mu­
sical composer named Schumann, who
claims to be a collateral descendant of
the great composer. He has written a
Boer hymn since his captivity. There
are many tradesmen among them, and
they are constantly encouraged to ply
their trades. They carve napkin rings
from beef bones, and make fine walk­
ing sticks, for which they are granted
material from the government forests.—
Photographic Times.
How Uncle Sam Wins Trade.
While American shoes and shoemak­
ers are getting a foothold in Vienna the
American press has set about capturing
Berlin, where a monthly entitled Colum­
bia has just been issued. Its purpose
is to encourage the extension of Amer­
ican markets. Russland and Deutchland,
a publication in the interest of the Rus­
sian trade, is another recent publication
in the chief city of Prussia. While par­
ticularly marking the aggressive business
tendencies of the Yankee and the Mus­
covite of late these events also give rea­
son for Germany thinking it is a very
desirable customer.—Philadelphia Times.
India's Best Year.
Lord George Hamilton, secretary ot
state for India, in presenting his finan­
cial statement, said that in spite of three
years of famine and acute depression in
the three agricultural staples, he was
able to present the most favorable bal­
ance sheet since India came under the
crown. The relief expenditures for three
years totaled £15,000,000, but the same
period showed a surplus of £6,377,000.
The crop outlook was fair. The results
of the gold standara poncy bad more
than realized expectations. A railroad
expert will be sent to the United States
to study railroad conditions.
Seashore Trolley Project.
The Atlantic City (N. J.) Passenger
Railroad company, which has been in ex­
istence siace 1869, and dormant since,
is about to make a strennous effort to
utilize certain cMurter and other rights
conferred upon it years ago. It now
wishes to obtain consent from property
owners for the construction of a trolley
line on Pacific avenue. As this is now
the chief boulevard, opposition is ex­
pected, but the company contends that
an underground trolley would be bene­
ficial and drive away heavy team traffic.
Room for the Old Salt.
Steam does not ran all the world—not
quite. Sailing vcfsirels of huge dimen­
sions larelbeing built by Americans. They
are good for large cargoes and'long voy­
ages. They do not require so many jnen,
they do not cost so much in operation,
and so they are. being improved, devel­
oped and run at a profit. Within a few
weeks the keel tftlf be laid- for the first
of seven seven-masted :steel schooners,
"destined," to quote frqnj. the announce­
ment, "to be the largiest and' greatest
cargo-carryingcraftof that type ever
put afloat.—Saturday Evening Post.
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