Edgefield advertiser. (Edgefield, S.C.) 1836-current, August 21, 1895, Image 1
W???. ADAMS. PROPRIETOR = = EDGEFI?LD, S. C.. WEDNESDAY. AUGUST 21. 1895._VOL. LX. NO. 30.
.' Chicago is running no chance of b~
ing loft behind, notes the "Washington
Star. She has under way a canal that
will bo bigger than New York's.
St. Paul, Minn., is anxious to have
n oivic motto, and the one that 6eems
to find most favor up to dato is
shall," which the New York Sun judges
is evidently modelled on Chicago's
modest motto, "I Will."
The Japanese are a cosmopolitan
people. Their political models aro
English, their religion is supplied
mainly by America, their courts are
modeled after tue French, and their
schools after the German idea.
Cincinnati has a one-legged high
wayman who is a "corker," and will
be still more so when he gets his arti
ficial limb. A few nights ag.? he held
up ? woman under an electric light at
9 o'clock, when the streets were
crowded. "When two men attempted
to interfere, he kept them away Avith
a revolver, and when a crowd gather o I
ran away, climbed a nine-foot wall and
escaped. Misfortune often hampers a
gifted man.
In a report on the economical con
dition of Italy, Mr. Edwarde?, of tho
British Embassy at Home, says thc
public debt at tho end of June, 1893,
amounted to $2,529,005,000, boj?r.ug
a yearly interest of ^^>M??m
this amount $71.210,OOO^MKositod
in or held by thc Trea^BHr tuc in
terest thereon being $3,1^5,001. It
is almost - impossible to sUte what is
the amount ofTtftHan debt hell out o?
Italy, but it is computed that a yearly
sum of $lS,G50,00p is paid to foreign
holders, the largest amounts being
held iu France, -Germ my, Great
Britain and Austria-fifengary.
Tho fact that the bih*ks of Salem,
Oregon, havo recently *N A SNP*
ply of cent.', so as to be ?We to make
exact chang?is a matter ??r comment
in the local iXvspapers, olio of which
remarks that ''it is getting';to be pret
ty close jncking" there. T/i-^is only a
.very few years, muse3 thc NVw York
Sun, sinco the smallest coiu\ in use
anywhero west of the Missouri waa
tho nickel, and even now in m?ny of
tho further Western cities tho humble
cent is despised. In buying jut tho
stores, if the acconnt figures ?tin odd
two cents, the customer gei^ it; if
three cents, tho customer jpays a
nickel. But the boom times
ing, and cents ar? becoming
General Tuerr, a Hungarian engin-,
ser, has published au article in a
paper of Athens, in which he sums up
the cost of keeping Europo in tho
condition of an armed camp since tho
war between France and Germany in
1870 at ?23,000,000,030. In other
words, Europe is paying a bilhoa o'
dollars a year in order to be ready to
go to war at a moment's notice. Should
war actually break out, it is estimated
that it would cost a billion dollars a
month. Should it last long it coul I
only end in the bankruptcy of the
great Powers carrying it on. Indee!,
this is the result to which General
Tuerr thinks Europe is tending, apart
from the question of the outbreak of
hostilities. With the present peace
establishments tho process is slower,
but the tendency is the same.
In his address to the graduating
class at Vanderbilt University, Nash
ville, Tenn., Hon. Chauncey M. De
pew said: "The great opportuuities
of our country are in the South. The
flood of immigration for fifty years
has sought tho West, Northwest and
Pacific coast. In the South we find,
as nowhere else, the original stock
which fought at Cowpens, King's
Mountain aud Yorktown. The intel
ligent patriotism of the Southern peo
ple in the last quarter of a century
has overcome difficulties which seemed
insurmountable. The young men of
the South have no call to tempt for
tune in the crowded cities of the
North and East. At their own doors
and within their own States are their
missions and their careers. Be not
deceived by the glitter of wealth as the
sole measure of success in lifo. Tho
moment that in your choscu vocation
you are sure of au income beyond the
requirements of a modest living you
area BUCCOSS. All the rest is cumula
tive."
An Eccentric Empress.
The eccentric Empress of Austria,
after wandering in tb Grecian isl
ands, has at last returned to Vienna.
The court functionaries notice that
she has developed several peculiari
ties. For instance, she always dresses,
for no matter what ceremony, in a
high gown of unrelieved black. Then
?hc absolutely refuses to listen to mu
sic, even the music of Strauss. Sho
avers that her nerves are shattered,
and unable "to bear the strain of mil
jie." Her Majesty's most remarkable
eccentricities, however, have to do
with her food ; she lives almost en
tirely on milk-the milk from a spe
cial sort of cow reared in Corfu.-New
Pork Dispatch.
Taught Many Schools.
William Mark Brooks, of Norway,
is now in the sixty-eighth year of hu
age, and claims that he has taught
more schools t han any other man in
Maine. In the 114 schools he has
taught he has whipped HS pupils.
He says be does not believe in pun
ishment, except in extreme cases.
Vngusta (Me.) Journal.
IRON AW) STEELY
MARVELOUS GROWTH OF PITTS
BURU'S G R li AT INDUSTRY.
Its) Numerous ??last Furnaces, Holl
ins Milli nn?l Steel Works - Au
Immense Outfit-Women
Werk in Mills.
SOME startling statistics regard
ing the iron and steel industry
of Pittsburg have Just been
made public by tho annual
stalif-tical report of tho American Iron
aud Steel Association. They were
. ompi?ed by James M. Swank, tho
general manager of tho association,
and were presented to tho members.
Mr. Swank is the publisher of the Jron
and Steel Bulletin aud a recognized
authority on tbe matter. His figures
may be accepted as reliable.
Pitttsburg, says a correspondent of
thc New York Journal, has now twenty
eeven blast furnaces, twenty-nine steel
works und thirly-four rolling mills.
In 1S02, when the iron industry was
booming, there were produced in the
twenty-six blastfurnaces (tho number
existing at that time) 1,775,257 gross
tons of pig iron. In 1S93, with one
moro furnace, the total production
was 1,007,207, or only 78,050 tons
less.
This was the panic year during which
wages were cut lower and lower until
the workers rebelled and long strikes
were the result. In 1894, which was
also hurd ti'ues year, tho production
of pig 'ron was 1,782,079, or G822tons
more than during tho boom year of
1S92.
Thc report also shows that ia 1S92
there were sixty-two rolling mills and
steel works which produced 1,005,074
tons of crude steel. Jn tho following
year the decrease was only 15,201
tons, while in 1S91, when thc country
began to feel the beneficial effects of
tariff reform, tho productioa was 1, -
S;>3,60G, or almost 300,000 tons more
than in 1892.
The total production of pig iron,
". A WOMAN AT WORK Di A I
steel ingots, crude steel, rails, sheets,
plates, rolled iron and sljcl, etc., in
1S92 in this city was 7.S61.397 tons.
In the following year there was a slight
decrease to 7,377,8S1 tons, which in
1891 jumped to 8,561,819 tons, ox
700,422 tons more than during the
big year of '92.
The origin of the iron and steel in
dustry, its growth aud developmeat
is a marvellous story. The beginniug
of the manufacture of iron ia West
era Peuasylvaaia, and tho first fur
nace built, dates back to 1790. It was
then located in what is now the most
fashionable residence section of Pitts
burg, Shady Side. A rolling mill on
a 6mall scale was erected there in
1811.
The close proximity to thc inex
haustible supply of soft coal fields aad
the natural shipping facilities afford
ed by the Ohio, Monongahela and
Allegheay Rivers, mado Pittsburg a
magnet for the iron and steel pio
neers, and tho one rolliug mill plaat
quickly spread and multiplied.
Within a few years virgia forest
trees gave way to smokestacks, aad at
night scores of furaace fires around
which toiled brawoy, half-uaked mea
lit up the surrouading hills aad gave
au awesome weirdaess to tho small vil
lage.
In 1803 aa iroa aad brass fouadry
was established. It afterward cast the
caoaoa which blazed ia victory from
Perry's little fleet oa Lake Erie. Can
non havo been made hero for three
wars. During the last Civil War over
2000 guns were made.
The "Iron City" produces one-fifth
of the entire amount of iron aad steel
made ia tho United States, aad one
third that of the Stato of Pennsylva
nia, tho production of tho latter being
over one-half of the output of the
country. The largest Bessemer steel
works and the greatest crucible plant
are located here.
A year ago tho total number of op
eratives was 2000. This of courso in
cludes Homestead, Braddock and oth
er towas withia a few milos of thc
city, aud which will be iacluded ia thc
Greater Pittsburg. Tho employes rc
ceivo ia wages iu ooo year between
?38,000,000 aad $10,000,000.
The largest coacoru is tho Carnegie
Steel Company, which is capitalized
at $25,000,000.-lt employs 10.00C
men and boys. Ia tho way of produc
A BLAST FURNACE.
tion it turns out 100,000 tons of pig
iron por mouth, and t ho samo number
of tons of open hearth and Bessemer
steel blooms, billots, structural shapes,
etc.
Tho finished product aggregates
from twenty to twenty-five cars per
day. At the Braddock rail mill steel
rails thirty feet long are rolled out nt
tho rate of two each second, or 120
per minute. An average day's work is
eighteen miles of single track.
On the opposite side of the Monon
gahela River, and threo miles below
Braddock, are the Homestead works,
made famous by the strike and riots of
1892. Armor plates, beams, etc., are
the principal products of this plant.
The armor mills are now practically
shut down on account of no work.
The company has finished its con
tracts for Government work, and is
now ready to make armor for any for
eign Power. In the structural mills
the employes are getting out an order
of 37,000 tons of beams ond girders
for the Manhattan "L" road system.
Since the armor plate frauds it is
almost as hard to break into the
Homestead milln as it is to get out of
jail. No one ?3 admitted without a
pass, a uniformed guard standing as
sentinel over a bridge at the main en
trance. As the visitor who is fortu
nato enough to secure a ticket ap
proaches the mills from tho yard the"
whole interior appears to be filled with
a shower of gold. From the mouth of
tbe "converter," a fun-shaped flame of
vast proportions sweeps roofward. and
from this comes tho torrent of fiery
sparks which sweep high in the air,
and then fall ou tho earthen floor,
kept continually covered with water.
On a narrow ledge at tho far side of
thc building, high up iu the air, and
directly opposite to the "converter,"
stand threo men, the "melter" and his
assistants. They are m a cowering at
titude, as though shrinking from the
flood of fire, and the "melter," with a
glass held to his eye, watches the
flame coming from the "converter,"
until by its color ho recognises the
right moment for turning out the
molten steel into the molds.
At his signal tho "converter" is
tilted forward, sending out metal as
bright as silver. Thus all day and
night tho melter stands and makes the
basis of wealth for tho world by the
control of living fire. Personal skill
alone qualities him <or his office, for
there is no thur, J nt Io by which he
can control this mighty element.
Tho practical process of making
Bessemer steel consists iu putting pig
iron into the "converter" and blow
'ITTSBURG TIN PLATE MILL.
ing tho carbon out of it by means of
immense draughts. The sheets of
flame one sees are incandescent car
bon. Later tho steel is remelted and
treated with speiglo iron, etc., to re
' store the right quantity of carbon.
i Next to the Carnegie interests the
largest plant is that of Jones & Laugh
lin?. At the head of it is B. F. Jones,
who, as Chairman of the Republican
National Committee, ran tho Blaine
campaign. The firm employes 3500
men and treats them better than any
other company.
Within tho past few years tho iron
business has been revolutionized.
Puddling iron has given way- to tho
improved and cheaper methods of
making steel. Steel has taken the
place of iron in all kinds of structural
work, and scores of puddling furnaces
are idle. ^
Steel does not wear as well as good
i iron, and ?hrewd manufactures predict
a return to the days of puddling.
Jones & Laughlins have less than one
fourth of their puddling furnacos in
operation, but will have uso for thom
later.
The day of high wages in tho iron
and steel business has passed never to
return. Up until tho time when the
Carnegie Steel Company, after a great
loss of life, succeeded in almost break
ing tho Amalgamated Association,
scores of men who were paid accord
ing to tho production of tho mills upon
which they worked, received from
$25 per day upward.
Rollers carno to the mills in car
riages and behind fast horses, and
lived on tho best they could get. Hun
dreds of men who a few years ago, if
they did not mako from $10 to $15 per
day would havo bemoaned their hard
luck, are now working for $2 and $3
per day.
Notwithstanding tho reducod duty
on tin plate, which tho manufacturers
claimed would compel them to closo
thoir mills, tho tin plants aro flourish
. ing. One of the odd featuros of tho
, erection of tin plato mills is tho intro
, duction of women in tho iron and
. steel trades. At the plant of tho Mo
! nongahola Tin Plato Company in
South Pittsburg, and which ia now
, partly owned by TJnitod States SoDator
[ Quay, W' men work on tho floor of the
I mill alongside mon. Thoy wear coarse
. clothing, with heavy aprons, and on
their hands they have gloves.
Tho womon stand at tita rolls with
tongs and catch the plates as they
come out. They cut, "dip" and sep
arate thom, and do tho work bettei
than men. The women learned thc
business iu Wales, and earn from $5
to $8 per week. Husband and wife
work in the samo mill, tho former at
tho furnace and tho latter at the rolls.
For years girls have been employed
in tho bolt and nut factories of that
. city, but this is tho lirst time they
have actually worked on thc floor of a
mill with tho glaro of a furnace on
one side aud tho whirr of heavy rolls
on tho other.
As it is tho custom for women to
work in tin mills in Wales, tho men do
not object to tho women. Tho latter
will lie taken into tho Amalgamated
Association, as the work they perform
is covered by the scale.
The iron and steel business will fur
ther develop by tho building of new
railroads anti the Luke Erie and Ohio
River Ship Canal. The latter is a cer
tainty, and, when oompleted, will
make Pittsburg in reality tho greatest
manufacturing city in the world.
For Shying Horses.
A really remarkable device for
making any shying horse perfectly
calm and tractable is the new inven
tion of Henry Small, of this city, says
tho Hartford Time?. Properly speak
ing it ia not a "bit," for it does not go
into the horse's month at all, bnt is
only a simple nose-piece that goes
over the horse's upper lip, but does
not necessarily draw on or even scarce
ly touch it unless the driver has a
NOSE BIT FOR HOUSES.
gentle pull on it; then it touches the
end of the animal's nose or upper lip ;
and that mere touch, which should
not bo increased much, does the whole
busin es3.
Mr. Small's contrivance consists of
a simple head strap, properly braced
and coming down between the horse's
eyes and nostrils, to its end in the
shape of a sort of little metallic up
per lip. This latter littlo piece of
metal, only about two inchc3 long and
not half an inch wide, is humorously
called a "trolley bit." Ita enrving
eide-ends, like an ordinary bit, are so
devised that a very slight, gentle pull
on the reins brings tho "trolley bit"
against the tip of tho horse's nose.
In complete absorption in the study
of a new experience the horso may be
driven right up by the side of a noisy
locomotive, or of ft gong-banging trol
ley car, that presents to the horse,
under ordinary circumstances, the
sinister aspect of a moving, perhaps
a living thing, going without any visi
ble means of compulsion; and in his
strict attention to the new sensation
at the tip of his nose he will take no
notice of the car. of the locomotive.
The queerest thing of all is the fact
that no amount of uso or familiarity
with the nose-toucher arrangement
seems to lessen tho horse's interest
in it.
JAPAKLSE PRAYER BAGS.
? j ^vronepf,. of I<lolftir*;.Foun?. onvjvy
Lot of Coolies,
J Tho Immigration Inspectors ot San
Francisco examined a lot of Japanese
coolies a few days ago and found that
each ono had strung about his neck a
kamisama or praying bag. These bags
contain prayers written on 6ilk or
stout paper and are specially ad
JAPANESE PRAYING BAG.
dressed to tho po3seasor's household
god.
The Japs pay their Buddhist and
Shinto priests from ono to two cents
for these prayers, which serve the
double pnrposo of being luoky charms
as well as prayers, says the San Fran
cisco Call. The priests bless the charm
upon receipt of the cash. Tho posses
sor prays by Bliding the littlo pouch
up and down the strings and saying
something pimilar to "These are my
sentiments." Ho is very particular
UANDI
Grant Hamilton-"Phew I This
Frank Leslie's*
that these prayer bags and charms
shall not be profaned by the touch of
a Christian forefinger and resists the
deputy's efforts to find letters near
the liUle?fldcred ponch which reposes
on the stomach of the faithful. For
thia reason the intelligent Jap does
not oarry letters near the bag. "When
the Jap is particularly anxious to have
his god answer his prayer he removes
the cover from tho top of the ponch
and prays with the paper in his
hands.
Still-another cvidonce of Japanese
superstition is shown by the lucky
Btones^tbey nearly all (professed Chris
tians as well) carry in their pockets.
In Japan tho women place locks of
their.hair and the men place smooth
stones the size of walnuts at tho feet
of their idols. After a.certain timo
these locks of hair and the stones be
come sacred and are either carried in
their j garments or worn Rispended
around their necks as charms to pro
tect the wearer from evil and harm.
The .Japanese immigrants wear and
carry; the prayer bags and the sacred
stones until they reach the missions,
when, they aro hidden, so as to pre
vent >hite Christians from discover
ing these evidences of idolatry.
SOK-SIMABLE JLIFE-BOAT.
Description of an Interesting Craft.
Constructed by a Chicago Inventor.
A. L. Hedberg, a Swedish inventor
residing in.Chicago, exhibited in the
Inter-Ocean office tho model of a new
life-boat which he has just patented.
Made of galvanized iron-in actual
service different materials can bo used
-the miniature looks like a large
turnip, and is in two parts, cut apart
horizontally at tho lino of greatest
j . TITE NEW X0N-S1NKABLE EOAT.
girth. Tho halves, however, are
firmly clamped together with a water
tight connection, when the toy is
dnmped into the water, to which it
takes as jauntily as a rubber feather,
and the only means of entrance and
exitthen is viaa.Jittle upward opon
imjike a melon.plug, and very easily ._?
watertight in its turn. At the top a*fv'
several little holeB for ventilation, but
which can also be closed at will.
Furthermore, there aro six windows,
round as portholes in tho ordinary
ship. Over all this is a flagstaff which
can be lowered and put np at pleas
ure, with waterproof connections and
ventilation device, and on the top of
the flagstaff is a lantern. There are
two oar holes also, one on each side,
similarly water-tight in tho play of
tho pair of strong servicer ble oars.
And, last and most important of all,
the appal atna always ridos the wave
right-side-up-with-care, bocauae of the
abundant ballast in the bottom. The
interior of tho miniature is fitted up
oompletoly? with seats all around the
wall, and there are straps for addi
tional support in oaso of etorm.
For practical use, the inventor pro
poses a .'life-boat'1 of this description
whioh shall be either eight feet high
by six feet in diameter, at the widest
girth, with a seating oapacity of ten
persons, or else ono teu feet high and
eight feet wide, soating twenty-five
persons. The former style, made
wholesale, would oost only $125, and
would carry 1000 pounds without sink
ing more than four feet in the water,
riding as buoyant as a top. In the
base would be plenty of room for sup
plies and water to last from ten to fif
teen persons several weeks, without
any danger from water or vitiated air.
For the firBt-namod size of boat the
circular entrance would bo three feet
in diameter, and tli3 windows one
foot, Chains aro attaohed on the out
side for people out in tho water to
catch hold and climb up by. Tho life
boat cannot possibly tip over, but
simply bobs np and down like a oork.
Already on Lake Calumet there is n
little "life-boat" of this pattern, and
the inventor expects soon to have one
on Lako Miohigan.-Chioago Inter
Ooeafi. .
Solitude Made Her Insane.
An insano woman was biovght to
Seattle, Wash., from a ranoh in tho
interior of the Statolast week and sent
to an asylum. The supposod causo of
her insanity suggested by tho doctors
was "tho solitudo of ranch life. "
Now York Sun
Maryland has un assessed valuation
of 8407,307,675.
ie the worst hill I ever taoklod?
WHAT WOMEN WEAR
FOR STREE I' WEAR MOHAIR
IS GREATLY USED Hf PARIS.
Tile Latest Fad for Waists-Color to
Predominate In Millinery
Up-to-l)nte Dust
Cloaks.
USEFUL rig of many possi
bilities brought over from
Paris is a street costume of
mohair in a beautiful huckle
berry blue. Mohair is in Paris the
texture nt present most seen in plain
Ftreet gowns, and the favorite model
is a plain skirt and a box coat with a
back in ono piece.
Sometimes this will hang plain from
a pointed yoke, and in almost ever/
caso two little openings are left at the
bottom of the under arm seams, mak
ing the slits Been in masculine or shirt
bottomp. Close stitching gives all
edges a neat tailor finish, and where
the seams of some of the skirts will be
left plain others will bo strapped over
with nnrrow bands of tho samo mater
ial. Tho model of the skirt is a
godeted back and a front cut of the
width of the material, which runs to
bias seams into the back, and pro
duces at the side that outward flirt so
becoming and easy to the feet. The
buttons used will bo great things as
big as butter plates, of smoked pearl,
horn or fancy metal, and even those of
Dresden chino, gayly flowered, are
eoid to be iu good taste.
Again, a mohair gown will BIIOW no
buttons at all, tho fronts of tho single
ciusr AND (
breasted jacket fastening neat'y under
a stitched flap, such as finishes a mail's
box coat.
As for the French mohairs them
selves they are mest beautiful. The
handsomest patterns are enormously
wide and in a looso sort of bunting
weave, and not even in black do they
suggest the shiny funereal things one
is accustomed to associate with the
name. In color the huckleberry blue
is perhaps the latest tint, but a more
gracious and becoming one is a soft
wavy brown that seems especially ef
fective when worn with a blouse in
any of the gentle greens now fashion
able.
One brown mohair gown, that has
just made its debut in New York, has
a bodice in crinked silk, patterned
gorgeously and confusedly with palm
leaves in many colors. It was simply
gathered at the neck and waist into a
belt and stock of black satin ribbon,
and the sleeves, which were entirely
without stiffening, fell in a great loose
puff three-nnarters length. This palm
leaf silk, together with gauze pat
terned in the same way, is the very
latest French fads for waists. In some
of tho gauzes the tones are wonderful,
great splotches of flame shading into
emerald green, and again melting into
effects that aro almost brown. No
trimmings aro used with them, the
many colorings of tho texture being
tho point intended for notice. There
are always a plain ribbon stock and
belt, however, "and sometimes these
will reproduce a predominating tint in
the gauze, emerald green, a flame red,
or else an orange huo that is positive
ly startling.
Indeed, if one is to judge from the
bodices, and some of the flower
decked hats that come over to us from
Paris, color is to be more and more
the thing as the season advances. Hats
big und little are simply laden down
with gay posies. In some cases, with
tho exception of a narrow fold of vel
vet that laces the under brim, there is
not a ray of other trimming, and the
blossoms will be massed irrespective
of tint or degree. Modest daisies, for
instance, will hobuob with gorgeous
flags, and haughty orchids rub elbows
with field violets. Again, on a single
low crowned sailor hat there will be
ivy leaves with tho violets, and, be
sides, a wreath of roses with loose
trembling petals that shade all the
way from palest pink to a red BO deep
that it is almost like the blaok of the
famous German tulip. Sometimes,
iudeed, there will bea black roso un
der a brim, and with much color above
thia novcr fails to bo effective.
DUST CLOAKS.
Who ever Bees ii dust cloak now-a
daysV No one. Not because the dust
.doak has ceased to exist, but because
it ha? become mich a glorified creation
that those who look lor it, remember
ing the old alpaca and linen "dust
ers," fail to recognize it for what it
is. The fin-do-.sieclo dust cloak is
made of "gloria" silk, which is both
rain proof and dunk resisting. It is so
light th.it it will not crush the most
elaborate dross-not even thu glee ves
-and whilu it envelopes the entire
eostuiuo, the wearer of the garment
dons not suggest a tarpaulin wrapped
parcel, because the coat looks smart
in itself. What could be nicer than
Buch a dust cloak for the dweller iu
suburban parts, the frequenter of sub
urban trains, tho taker of dusty cabs?
Half tho dread of a box party in tho
oveuiu/r or an afternoon "at home"
vanishes at tho thought of a wrap
AN* IDEAL DUST CLOAK.
which shall protect the pretty toiletto
in its going and its returning, tor
what woman is bravo enough to sally
forth in light-colored silk, knowing
well of tho dust, ashes and cinders
which beset tho way, to say nothing of
surprised glances from fellow travel*
200L FROCKS.
ers at a too elaborate costume?
Many of the new silk dust cloaks fall
in straight, full lines from a gathered
yoke, but the ideal garment is of
checked or striped or shot glace gloria
silk, trimmed with lace and ribbon if
the wearer wishes to look particularly
smart. Even rain cannot injure the
beauty of a good gloria silk, and dust
slides from it as water from a duck's
back.
Alpaca is quite a good substitute for
silk, when economy is desirable, but
it will not keep out the rain. Camels
hair cloth cleans splendidly and will
even wash, so it is a possible fabric,
too, and tissue crepon, which is light
in weight and has a glossy surface, is
another material somewhat in vogue.
Some of these wraps have wonder
ful bishops sleeves and guipure-edged
collars. In any case, the traveler of
to-day needs a dust cloak as surely as
she needs tan shoes and a toothbrush.
-Chicago Times-Herald.
DAINTY. STRAW HAT.
It is noticeable that many straw hats
are scantily trimmed, but examination
will disclose the fact that the straw is
very prettily colored and elaborately
woven. That, according to current
usage, makes permissible but little
trimming, which often cens'sts of lit
tle more than' ore or two aigrette
bunches of violets, the long stems
twisting into cords that pass about the
brim, and, perhaps, catch it up here
and there. This rule, however, is by
no mean? imperative, but is tasteful in
its results, as oan be judged by con
sideration of this pictured hat which
is of old gold straw bent into deeper
points at the sides and coming down
with a graceful sweep in front and
back. It is trimmed with a large bow
of ribbon and buuehes of pansies,
smaller clusters of the flowers showing
a scarf of mauve chillon in worn that
falls down tho front in long ends and
is ornamented with bunches of pansies
corresponding to t.?ose on tho hat.
With such a beautiful accessory tout
tract atteution from thc headgear there
is no d auger of adverse criticism u pou
the latter because of a lack ot trim
ming, if, indeed, fault would be found
even on close examination.
Are you taking SIMMONS LIVER REG
ULATOR, the "KING OF LIVER MEDI
CINES?" That is what our readers
want, and nothing but that. It is the
same old friend to which the old folks
pinned their faith and were never dis
appointed. But another good recom
mendation for it is, that it is BETTER
THAN PILLS, never gripes, never weak
ens, but works in such an easy and
natural way, just like nature itself, that
relief comes quick and sure, and one
feels new all over. It never fails.
Everybody needs take a liver remedy,
and everyone should take only Sim
mons Liver Regulator.
Be sure you get it. The Bed Z
is on the wrapper. J. H. Zeilin &
Co., Philadelphia.
PURSES OF HUMAN SKIN.'
Gruesome Souvenirs Made from
the Cuticle of Desperados.
The report comes from Tacoma, Wash.,
that the cuticle of Tom Blanck, a desper
ado who was killed a few days ago, will bc
tanned and made into pocketbooks. While
in jail in Seattle, Blanck made a wooden
imitation of a pistol, with which he held
up "the jailor and escaped. He was fol
lowed by the jailor and a posse and killed,
as he would not surrender. Exactly how
tbe pocketbooks will be disposed of is not
stated, but judging from the results of
several enterprises of this kind in the past,
the owners cf Blanck's skin will have no
difficulty in disposing of their , manufact
ured stock.
One of the inhuman practices brought to
light by the investigation set on foot by
Gen. Benjamiu F. Butler into the affairs
of the Tewkesbury (Mass.) poorhouse was
thc skinning of dead patients and the
making of souvenirs of various kinds of
thc skins, for which thc keepers or others
in the scheme found a ready market. Thc
same state of affairs is said to have ex
isted at the Ohio State prison, in Celum
bus, fifteen years ago. Prisoners were
knocked in the head or shot on the slight
est provocation by the keepers and guards,
who were all banded together for the traf.
fie in human skin souvenirs. These out
rages finally became so flagrant that an in
vestigation was held, which resulted in the
turning out of all the keepers and guards
in the prison. None of the men was ever
prosecuted, as it was impossible to get
tangible evidence.
There must have been money in this
human skin traffic or thc men engaged in
There are many persons whose morbid
tastes make tlicm delight in the possession
of just such gruesome souvenirs, and it is
not infrequent that some man of a reck
less, roving disposition and a checkered
past is seen proudly displaying a tobacco
pouch, purse or other '.? pocket novelty"
made from the skin of a human being.
Thc usc of human skin in making small
articles that could '^e carried in one's
pocket was quite common in Mexico and
the wild Southwest forty or fifty years ago.
lt is more than possible that some of thc
possessors of these articles flaunted them
as an evidence of desperate and blood
curdling tendencies. During the French
revolution tanning of humau skins was
common, and volumes of Rousseau's
works are said to have been bound iu the
cuticle of those who had derided him.
A Shower of Black Ants.
The warm, thunderous state of the
atmosphere, Wodnesday evening,
presaged a heavy downput of rain in
the city and vicinity, but this ex*
pectation was not realized, and the
rain passed off with a slight shower.
Instead of tho rain a shower of an
other kind resulted, which is one of
the'most curious visisations in tho
history of the city. On the side
walks, in the roads, upon the roofs,
and tho inside of the houses thero was
seen numbers of large black ants
crawling about. They were found as
plentiful in the outskirts of the city
as on the main streets, and from the
fact that some of these insects have
wings while others have dropped or
shed them, it is natural to con
clude that they have migrated from
some district to the south of the
province, and have come to stay.
They are large, black bodied speci
mens, about the size of a wasp, and
have the strong nippers of their race,
They are not a native of Manitoba,
and are similar to the African ant.
?Vinnepeg Free Press.
TUE business men of Boston have been
giving attention of late to thc conditions
which surround the foreign and domestic
commerce of that port. There has been
some talk iu thc newspapers of Boston's
" decaying commerce?" and it was perhaps
thc sting of this unwelcome phrase which
lcd thc Chamber of Commerce to cuiisull
concerning possible means of improving
the harbor, ?iud induced the Boston Adver.
User to make a careful conparisou of the
city's foreign shipping with the marine
tralfic carried on from other principal ports.
The Advertiser claims that Boston's com
merce is not decreasing, but is, ou the
other hand, showing an annual rate of in
crease more creditable than can bc claimed
by New Vork, Baltimore, Philadelphia,
Mew Orleans, or San Francisco. Review
ing the facts collected and givihg com
piralive results, thc Advertiser says :
" Boston, which had an annual commerce
of $$9,000,000 in l875,.shows $110,000,
000 for the first ten mouths of the last
fiscal year, and ?11 ?1,000,000 for the cor.
responding period for the present fiscal
year, or .10 per cent, more than the ann
ual total of twenty years ago. Bven Ne?
York, the only other port to show any in
crease ot commerce since 1811-1, can show
bul 10 per cent, increase over its 187C
totals. On the other hand, Ballimorej-au
can show bul 8.) per cent., Philade Vtiifl
80 per cent., New Orleans a decreased IS
per cent., and San Francisco an iucreast
of about (J per cent., as compared with tlw
annual totals for 1875, and if an earlier
date were taken, the showing would bi
still more creditable to Boston."