Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, August 16, 1893, Image 1

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/lewis m. grist, p.opiietoi-.' 51 ii ^Independent Jjamiln 'Jlercspapcr: .jfor the promotion of flic political, Social, fwicultural and Qfommcrtial Jntercsfs of flic ?outh. terms?$2.00 a year in advance. J 1 " ' ' " ' ' 1 VOL. 39. YOEKVILLE, 8. C., WEDNESDAY, TYTTGTJST 1G, 1893. NO. 33. ? *? J %t? if h twi tiYOii tnrmiMotirtn * t\ Waring; BY CAPT. CHAR [Copyright, 1WW by J. 11. Lippincott A* (' IV. When Jeffers came driving into barracks on his return from town, his first care, as became the trained groom, was for his horses, and he was ^ rubbing them down and bedding their stalls for the night when the sergeant of the battery guard, lantern in hand, appeared at the door. It was not yet tattoo, but by this time the darkness was intense, the heavens were hid, ' " * ' - ? -1 -A 4.1*~ ana trie wina was moaning auuuv mc stables and gun-shed and whistling away over the dismal expanse of flat, wet, ditch-tangled fields towards the swamp. But the cockney's spirits were blithe as the clouds were black. As was usual when he or any other servitor was in attendance on Waring, the reward had been munificent. He had lunched at Cassidy's at the lieutenant's expense while that officer and his friends were similarly occupied at the more exclusive Moreau's. He had stabled the team at the quartermaster's while he had personally attended the matinee at the St. Charles, which was more to his taste than Booth and high tragedy. He had sauntered about the Tattersalls and smoked Waring's cigars and patronized the jockeys gathered there for the spring meeting on the Metairie, but promptly on time was awaiting the return of the party from their drive and lolling about the ladies' entrance to the St. Charles hotel, when he became aware, as the lamps were being lighted and the dusk of the evening gave place to lively illumination, that two men had passed and repassed the open portals several times, and that they were eying him curiously, and chattering to each other in French- One of them he presently recognized as the little "frog-eater," who occupied the old house on the levee, Lascelles, the husband of the pretty French woman he i A J J - ana me lieutenant, nau uiaggcu uuu ui the mud that very morning and had driven up to the old D'Hervilly place on Rampart street. Even as he was wondering how cabby got out of his scrape and chuckling with satisfaction over the scientific manner iu which Mr. Waring had floored that worthy, Mr. Jeffers was surprised to find himself most civilly acoosted by old Lascelles, who had been informed, he said, by madame his wife, of the heroic services rendered her that morning by M. Jeffers and M. le Capitaine. He begged of the former the acceptance of the small douceur which he slipped into the Englishman's accustomed palm, and inquired when he might hope to see the brave captain and disembarrass himself of his burden of gratitude. "Here they come now," said Jeffers, promptly pocketing the money and springing forward to knuckle his hatbrim and stand at the horses' heads. All grace and animation, Mr. Waring had assisted his friends to alight, had promised to join them in the ladies' parlor in ten minutes, had sprung to the seat again, signaling Jeffers to tumble up behind, and then had driven rapidly away through Carondelet street to the broad avenue beyond. Here he tossed the reins to Jeffers, disappeared a moment, and came back with a little Indian-made basket filled to overflowing with exquisite double violets rich with fragrance. "Give this to Mrs. Cram for me, and tell the captain I'll drop in to thank .him in a couple of hours, and? Here, iJeffers," he said, and Jeffers had jpocketed another greenback, and had driven briskly homeward, well content with the result of his day's labors, and without having mentioned to Mr. Waring the fact that Lascelles had been at the hotel making inquiries for him. A day so profitable and so pleasant Jeffers had not enjoyed since his arrival at the barracks, and he was humming away in high good humor, all reckless of the rising storm, when the gruff voice of Sergt. Schwartz dis turbed him: "Chevvers, you will rebort at vonst to Capt. Cram." "Who says I will?" said Jeffers, cheerfully, though bent on mischief, but was awed into instant silence at seeing that veteran step quickly back, stand attention, and raise his hand in salute, tor mere came train nunseii, ^ Pierce with him. "Did Mr. Waring come back with you?" was the first question. "No, sir; Hi left Mr. Warink on Canal street. 'E said Vd be back to thank the capt'in in a little while, sir, and 'e' sent these for the capt'in's lady." Cram took the beautiful basket of violets with dubious hand, though his eyes kindled when he noted their profusion and fragrance. Nell loved violets, and it was like Waring to remember so bountifully her fondness for them. "What detained him? Did he send no word?" " 'E said nothink, and sent nothink but the basket, sir. 'E said a couple of hours, now I think of it, sir. 'E was going back to the 'otel to dine with a lady and gent." ? For a moment Cram was silent. He glanced at Pierce, as much as to say: Have you no question to ask? but the youngster held his peace. The senior officer hated to inquire of his servant into the details of the day's doings. He was more than half indignant at Waring for having taken such advantage of even an implied permission as to drive off with his equipage and groom in so summary a way. Of course - Nell had said: "Take it and go;" but Nell could have had no idea of the use ~ l.A T / 4U tuc ? a.# \jLi w aa tu uc puu xi Waring left the garrison with the intention of using the equipage to take Mine. Lascelles driving, it was the most underhand and abominable thing he had ever heard of his doing. It was unlike him. It couldn't be true. Yet had not Braxton shown him the letter which said he was seen on the ievee with her by his side? Had not Dryden further informed every man and woman and child with whom he held converse during the day that he had seen Waring with Cram's team driving Mme. Lascelles up Rampart street, and was not there a story already afloat that old Lascelles had forbidden him ever to darken his threshold again ?forbidden madame to drive, dance, or even speak with him? And was there not already in the post commander's hand a note intimating that M. Lascelles would certainly challenge Waring to instant and mortal combat if Waring had used the wagon as alleged? Jeffers must know about it and could and should tell if required, but Cram simply could not and would not ask the groom to detail the. movements of the gentleman. Had not Waring sent word he would be home in two hours and would come to see his battery commander at once? Did not that mean he would explain fully? Cram gulped down the query that rose i-k IiIk lirtQ W ***w? "All right, then, Pierce; we'll take these over to Mrs. Cram and have a bite readj- for Waring on his return," said the stout-hearted fellow, and, in refusing to question his servant, missed the chance of averting catastrophe. And so they bore the beautiful cluster of violets, with its mute pledge of fidelity and full explanation, to his rejoicing Nell, and the trio sat and chatted, and one or two visitors came in for awhile and then scurried home as the rain began to plash on the windows, and the bugles and drums and fifes sounded far away at tattoo and s Peril. LES KING, U. S. A. [>., and published by special arrangement.] | more than usually weird1 and mournful at taps, and finally ten-thirty came, by - * ? -t? ?x i .1 i wnicn lime 11 nuu ueen lumm^ iuirents, anil tlie wind was lashing tho roarinc: river into foam, and the trees i were bowing low before their master, and the levee road was a quagmire, and Cram felt convinced no cab could bring i his subaltern home. Yet in his nervousness and anxiety he pulled on his boots, threw his gum coat over his uniform, tiptoed in to bend over Nell's i sleeping form and whisper, should she i wake, that he was going only to the sally-port or perhaps over to Waring's | quarters, but she siept peacefully and never stirred, so noiselessly he slipped out on the gallery and down the stairs and stalked boldly out into the raging storm, guided by the dim light burning in Waring's room. Ananias was sleeping curled up on a rug in front of the open fireplace, and Cram stirred him up with his foot. The negro rolled lazily over, with a stretch and yawn. "Did Mr. Waring take any arms with him?" queried the captain. "Any whut, suh?" responded Ananias, rubbing his eyes and still only half awake. "Any pistol or knife?" "Lord, suh, no. Mr. Waring don't never carry anything o' datsort." A student lamp was burning low on the center table. There lay among tho books and papers a couple of letters, evidentl}' received that day and still unopened. There lay Waring's cigar case, a pretty trifle given him by some far-away friend, with three or four I fragrant Ilavanas temptingly visible. There lay a late magazine, its pages j still uncut, tram iooaea at me uamty i wall clock, ticking merrily away over the mantle. Eleven-thirty-five! Well, he was too anxious to sleep anyhow, why not wait a few minutes? Waring might come, probably would come. If no cab could make its way down by the I levee road, there were the late cars from town. They had to make the effort anyhow Cram stepped t6 the sideboard, mixed a mild toddy, sipped it reflectively, then lighted a cigar and threw himself into the easy-chair, j Ananias, meantime, was up and astir. Seeing that Cram was looking about in search of a paper-cutter, the boy stepped forward and bent over the table. "De lieutenant always usesdis, suh," said he, lifting first one paper, then another, searching under each. "Don't seem to be yer now, suh. You've seen it, dough, captain?that cross-handled dagger wid the straight blade." "Yes, I know. Where is it?" asked j Cram. "That'll do." "Tain't yer, suh, now. Can't find it j yer, nohow." "Well, then, Mr. Waring probably took a knife, after all." "No, suh, I don't t'ink so. I never knowed him to use it befo' away from de room." "Anybody else been here?" said Cram. i "Oh! dey was all in yor, suh, dis afternoon, but Mr. Doyle he was sent for, suh, and had to go." A step and the rattle of a sword were heard on the gallery without The door opened, and in came Merton of the infantry, officer of the day. "Hello, Waring!" he began. "Oh, it's you, is it, captain? Isn't Waring back? I saw the light, and came up to chin with him a moment Beastly night, isn't it?" "Waring isn't back yet. I look for him by the eleven-thirtv car," answered the captain. "Why. that's in. No Waring there, but a half dozen poor devils half drowned and more'n half drunk, one of your men among 'em. We had to put him into the guard-house to keep him from murdering Dawson, the head-quarters clerk. There's been some kind of a ! row." "Sorry to hear that Who is the man?" "Kane. He said Dawson was lying about his officer, and he wouldn't stand it" "Kane!" exclaimed Cram, rising, "why, he's one of our best, I never heard of his being riotous before." order, and the lieutenant followed, j Alphonse was unlocking the front door, and now threw it open. Cram j strode into the wide hall-way straight J to a door of the east side. It was i locked. "Open this, Alphonse," he i said. 1 "I have not the key. It is ever with ' M'sieu' Lascelles. It is his library." j Cram stepped back, gave one vigorJ ous kick with a heavy riding-boot, and j the frail door flew open with a crash, j For a moment the darkness was such that no object could be distinguished j within. The negro servant hung back, i trembling from some indefinable dread. The captain, his hand on the ! door-knob, stepped quickly into the I gloomy apartment, Pierce close at his | heels. A broad, flat-topped desk stood in the center of the room. Some ? .Bhelves and books were dimly visible "He's riotous enough to-night. He wanted to lick all six of our fellows, and if I hadn't got there when I did they would probably have kicked him into a pulp. All were drunk; Kane, too, I should say; and as for Dawson, he was just limp." "Would you mind going down and letting me talk with Kane? I never knew him to be troublesome before, though he sometimes drank a little. He was on pass this evening. "Well, it's raining cats and dogs, captain, but come along. If you can stand it I can." A few minutes later the sergeant of the guard threw open one of the wooden compartments in the guard-house, and there sat Kane, his face buried in his hands. "I ordered him locked in here by himself, because I feared our fellows would hammer him if he were turned I in with them," explained Mr. Merton, and at sound of the voice the prisoner looked up and saw his commander, dripping with wet. Unsteadily he rose to his feet. "Captain," he began, thickly, "I'd never have done it in the world, sir, but that blackguard was drunk, sir, and slandering my officer, and I gave him fair warning to quit or I'd hit him, but he kept on." "Ye-cs? And what did he say?" "He said?I wouldn't believe it, sir? that Mr. Doyle was that drunk that him and some other fellers had lifted him out of the mud and put him to bed up there at?up there at the house, sir, back of Anatole's place. I think the captain knows." "Ah, you should have steered clear of such company, Kane. Did this happen at Anatole's saloon?" "Yes, sir, and them fellers was making so much noise that the dago turned them all out and shut up the shop at eleven o'clock, and that's what made them follow me home in the car and abuse me all the way. I couldn't stand it, sir." "You would only have laughed at them if your better judgment liudn't been ruined by liquor. Sorry for you, Kane, but you've been drinking just enough to be a nuisance, and must stay where you arc for the night. They'll be sorry for what they said in the morning. Did you lock up the others, Mr. Merton?" he asked, as they turned away. "All but Dawson, sir. I took him over to the hospital and put a sentry over him. That fellow looks to be verging on jimjams, and I wouldn't be surprised if he'd been talking as Kane says." Merton might have added, "and it's probably true," but courtesy to his battery friend forbade. Cram did add mentally something to the same effect, but loyalty to his arm of the service kept him silent. At the flag-staff the two officers stopped. " Merton, oblige me by saying nothing as to the alleged language about Doyle, will you?" "Certainly, captain. Good night." Then, as the officer of the day's lantern flickered away in one direction, Cram turned in the other, and presently went climbing ifp the stairs to the gallery leading to the quarters of his senior first lieutenant. A dim light was shining through the shutters. Cram knocked at the door; no answer. Opening it, lie glanced in. The room was unoccupied. A cheap marine clock, ticking between the north win dows and the wash-stand, indicated midnight, and the battery commander [ turned away In vexation or spirit. | Lieut. Doyle had no authority to be absent from the post. It was dark and storming1 furiously when the bugles of the battery sounded the reveille, and by the light of the swinging lanterns the men marched away in their canvass stable rig, looking like a column of ghosts. Yet, despite the gale and the torrents .of rain, Pierce was in no wise surprised . to find Cram at his elbow when the j horses were led out to water. "Groom indoors this morning, Mr. Tierce. Is Waring home?" " No, sir; Ananias told me when he brought me up my coffee." " Hold the morning report, then, until I come to the oflice. I fear we : have both first lieutenants to report j absent to-day. You and I may have to | go to town; so get your breakfast early. We will ride. I doubt if even an ambulance could get through. Tell | i me, Pierce, have you spoken to Waring about?about that matter we were i discussing? Has he ever given you any idea that he had received warning of any kind from old Lascelles?or any of his friends?" " No, sir. I've had no chance to speak, to be sure, and, so far as I could observe, he and Mr. Lascelles seemed j on very excellent terms only a few ' days ago." "Well, I wish I had spoken myself," ; said Cram, and turned away. That morning, with two first lieutenants absent without leave, the report of Light Battery "X" went into the adjutant's office just as its commander and his junior subaltern went ! out and silently mounted the dripping i horses standing in front. The two j orderlies, with their heads poked through the slit of. their ponchos, briskly seated themselves in saddle, and then the colonel hurried forth just in time to hail: "Oh, Cram! one minute." And Cram reined about and rode to the side of the post commander, who stood under the shelter of the broad gallery. "I wouldn't say anything about this ! to anyone at headquarters except ! Reynolds. There's n? one else on the staff to whom Waring would apply, is j there?" "No one, sir. Rej'nolds is the only man I can think of." "Will you send an orderly back with I word as soon as you know?" j "Yes, sir, the moment I hear. And-d ?shall I send you word from?there" ?and Cram nodded northward, and then, in a lower tone, "as to Doyle?" 1 ! "Oh, damn Doyle! I don't care if he never?" Rut here the commander of the post regained control of himself, ! and with parting wave of the hand j l,nr>lr tn his office. Riding single file up the levee, for I i ,the city road was one long pool, with ' the swollen river on their left, and the j slanting torrents of rain obscuring all j ! 'objects on the other hand, the party j made its way for several squares with- ' .out exchanging a word. Presently the | [leading file came opposite the high j ' wall of the Laseelles place. The green : latticed gate stood open?an unusual ' thing?and both officers bent low over their pommels and gazed along the dark, rain-swept alley to the pillared j portico dimly seen beyond. Not a soul '.was in sight. The water was already on a level with the banquette, and j would soon be running across and into J j the gate. A vagabond dog skulking 1 i about the place gave vent to a raournj ful howl. A sudden thought struck the ! captain. lie led the way down the | slope and forded across to the north I side, the others following. "Joyce," said he to his orderly, "dismount and go in there and rtng at the [ door. Ask if Mr. Laseelles is home, j : If not, ask if madame has any message j she would like to send to town, or if ; we can be of any service." The soldier was gone but a moment, ! and came hurrying back, a negro boy, ' holding a long fold of matting over his head to shed the rain, chasing at i his heels. It was Alplionse. "M'sieu' not yet of return," said he, j in labored translation of his negro i .French, "and madame remain ehcz | Mme. d'llervilly. I am alone wiz my , mudder, and she has fear." : "Oh, it's all right, I fancy," said ! Cram, reassuringly. "They were caught by the storm, and wisely sta}-ed . untown. I saw vour crate oDen. so wa hioppeu u> inquire. We'll ride over to Mme. d'llcrvilly's and ask for them. ! How came your gate open?" "Mo connais pas; I dunno, sare. It was lock' last night." "Why, that's odd," said Cram. "Better bolt it now. or all the cattle along the levee will bo in there. You can't i lock out the water, though. Who had the key besides Mr. Lascelles or inadj ame'.'" "Nobody, sare; but there is muddy foots all over the piazza." "The devil! I'll have to look in for a jnoment." A nod to Pierce brought him too from the saddle, and the officers handed their reins to the orderlies. Then together they entered the gate and strode up the white shell walk, looking curiously about them through the dripping shrubbery. Again that dismal howl was raised, i and Pierce, stopping with impatient exclamation, tore half a brick from the yielding border of the walk and i sent it hurtling through the trees, j With his tail between his legs, the ! brute darted from behind a sheltering bush, scurried away around the corner of the louse, glancing fearfully back, then, halting at safe distance, squatted on his haunches and lifted up his mournful voice again. " Whose dog is that?" demanded Cram. " M'sieu' Philippe's; he not now here, lie is de brudder to monsieur." ! At the steps the captain bent nnd j closely examined them and the floor of | the low veranda to which they led. ! ISoth wore disfigured by muddy footi .prints. Pierce would have gone still farther in tlie investigation, but his j senior held up a warning hand. " Two men have been here," he muttered. " They have tried the door and tried the blinds. Where did you sleep last night, boy?" and with the words he turned suddenly on the negro. " Did you hear no sound?" i ".No, sare. I sleep in my bed,?'way i back. No, I hear noting,?noting." And now the negro's face was twitchl ing, his eyes staring. Something in ! the soldier's stern voice told him that 1 there was tragedy in the air. | "If this door is locked, go around ! and open it from within," said Cram, i briefly. Then, as Alphonse disap! peared around the north side, he i stepped back to the shell walk and ! followed one of its branches around | the other. An instant later Pierce | heard him call. Hastening in his | wake, the youngster came upon his 1 captain standing under a window, one i of whose blinds was hanging partly | open, water standing in pools all ; around him. j " Look here," was all he said, and j pointed upward. The sill was above the level of their ; heads, but both could see that the sash j was raised. All was darkness within. ! " Come with me," was Cram's next against the wall. Some of the draw- J crs of the desk were open, urd there 1 was a litter of papers on the desk, and others were strewn in the big rattan chair, some on the floor. Two student- | lamps could be dimly distinguished, one on the big desk, another on a little reading-table placed not far from the south window, whose blinds, half open, admitted almost the only light that entered the room. With its head near this reading-table and faintly visible, a bamboo lounge stretched its length towards the southward win- ' dows, where all was darkness, and j something vague and indistinguishable lay extended upon the lounge. Cram marched half-way acrpss the | floor, then stopped short, glanced down, stepped quickly to one side, shifting his heavily-booted foot as i though to avoid some such muddy pool as those encountered without. "Take care," he whispered, and motioned warning!}' to Pierce. "Come i here and open these shutters, Al- j phonsc," were the next words. But j once again that prolonged, dismal, mournful howl was heard under the south window, and the negro, seized with uncontrollable panic, turned back and clung trembling to the opposite wall. \ "Send one of the men for the post surgeon at once, then come back here," J said the captain, and Fierce hastened to the gate. As he returned, the west shutters were being thrown open. There ! was light when he reentered the room, ' and this was what he saw: On the China matting, running from underneath the sofa, fed by heavy drops j, from above, a dark wet stain. On the j lounge, stretched at full length, a stiffening human shape,, a yellow white, parcliment-like face above the black clothing, a bluish, half-opened mouth whose yellow teeth showed savagely, a fallen chin and jaw, covered with the gray stubble of unshaved beard, and two staring, sightless, ghastly eyes, fixed and upturned as though in agonized appeal. Stone- I dead ? murdered, doubtless?all that I was left of the little Frenchman, Lascelles. [TO IIK roNTINTKO XKXT WKKK.] ) |UisfdlitnfOtts pending. A NEW DAY TO DANVN. CO-OPERATION IN BUSINESS TO TAKE THE PLACE OF COMPETITION. Rev. Dr. Dlxnn Says It Is the Incarnutton i of the Dream of the Old Prophet?It Is Christianity Mr. Bellamy'* Book Praised. ! An Eloquent Sermon. I Cape Charles, Va., Aug. 13.?Rev. Thomas Dixon, Jr., delivered today the j seventh sermon of the series on "Money and the Money Problem." The text chosen was Galatians vi, 2, "Bear ye one another's burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ." We havo seen in our studies on the j subject of money that the result of com- | petition and war with one another is the j negation of competition in commercial crisis and ruin. Bluck Friday is a necessary accompaniment to 6uch a condition of affairs. Competition may have had a ! work to do in the development of the history of humanity. War has doubtless had a work to accomplish in the destiny of the race. War is perhaps morally j and commercially a necessary evil inci- j dent to our history. None the less are j the horrors of war real horrors. None the less should wo hato war in itself and . seek the day of peaco as a dream that ! can be realized and never rest until it is ! realized. None the less should we realize tho awful waste of war; that it is de- i struction of that which man loves and I needs most; that its good is remote, and that the good comes only in the overruling of Providence. It is the duty of the Christian to mitigate all horrors that haunt the earth, to stop tho waste, to make the desert blossom, to bring about a new heaven and a new earth. things to fight. We may well ask ourselves tho question: Is it not time to cease fighting against each other and begin to fight for one another? Is it not time that Franco and Germany and Austria and Italy and j Russia and England should ceaso their terrific preparations to kill ono another and join hands against their common en- j emy?famine, hunger, cold, poverty and wretchedness? What a grand alliance it would bo for nation thus to join with nation; for the sorrow of Russia to bo the sorrow of the world; for the despair of Ireland to be the despair of the race! If the energies of the nations of Europe, that ai;e now developed in tho process of preparing to kill one another and in .. killing one another, were turned to tho industries of peace and to tho fraternal work of helping one another produce tho largest harvests and exchange them with greatest freedom and profit to one another, what a different world it would be to live in! failukks. So the industrial problem presses its mighty burden now upon us. So it has been pressing through the past. Our great minds have pondered it deeply, and pioneer spirits have gone forth into tho wilderness and attempted experiments upon a now basis of society. Most of these experiments have been failures. The Brooke Farm experiment was ono that attracted the most brilliant minds of the age, and it failed. But all tho experiments of pioneer minds that are failures are 60 many index fingers that point to the success that is yet to come. They have simply exploded one hypothesis. But as Keppler worked nine years ?to find nine suppositions failures?to find tho law of the planets, but in the tenth year, on his tenth supposition, found the truth in tho orbit of tho ellipse, so after our nine failures tho tenth may lead us to tho truth that shall save society. the l'kess. The signs of the times indicate a profound awakening upon this question. The press is pouring forth from day to . day a stream of brilliant literature upon this problem of social amelioration, and especially upon tho fact that man can ceaso now to fight his brother man and begin to co-operate with him both nationally and commercially. Some of 1 ho greatest successes in the realm of literature in tho past decado have been the books that liavo dealt with this theme. Two years ugo Mr. Bellamy's remarkable book, "Looking Backward," reached 300,000 copies and is still marching 011 its way of triumph. The themo of this ' book is tho dream of co-operation instead of competition in society. It is a dream, yes, but it is an evangel and a prophecy. It is tho vision of a prophet whoso soul climbed tho steeps and cried to tho sleeping world, "The day dawns!" Tho feeling of every man who has a boui who reads such a book is, "May God speed the day of such a social order." Wo may disagree as to details. We may disagree as to somo of the fundamental estimates. But tho idea, tho fundamental idea, of co-operation is ono that thrills the heart of the Christian with inexpressible joy and hope. Tho trend of all this literaturo is Christward. Somo of it is written by men who do not profess Christianity, but it is tho literal translation into current literaturo of tho religion of Jesus Christ. Tho message of Christianity to tho world is emphatically ! fraternal. Co-operation must gradually out surely and completely take the place of competition and war. BROTHERHOOD OF MAN. First?God reveals it. Ho has taught us in Christ the sublime truth of fatherhood. Christ taught his disciples to pray, "Our Father." He taught the universal fatherhood of God and the universal brotherhood of man. As this truth takes possession of hnmanl it v it becomes more and more impossible I for us to fight ono another. When the I day comes that we are Christians, war ; must cease?martial war and commercial | war. It is impossible for two brothers 1 to join as brothers into gouging each other's eyes and destroying each other's lives. The moment they engage in that i pastime the word brotherhood becomes a negation. They are no longer brethren. When the brotherhood of man becomes a living reality, aud it is becom- ' ing so every day, we must, from the very necessities of the case, cease to fight each other. God reveals it to us in Christ, our Saviour and teacher and exemplar. He was the great burden bearer. His discinles told him their sorrows. Their bur dens were his burdens. His work was J the ministry of burden bearing, of heal- j ing, of helping the sick, the lame, the ; blind, the leper, the dead. His teachings bore the same relation to society as his life. "Thou shalt love thy neighbor as ; thyself." "A new commandment give I unto you. that ye love one another." i "No man liveth to himself or dieth to , himself." "All ye are brethren." "God j hath made of one blood all the nations." : Fl.OWF.U NOT DIRT. Second?Nature proclaims it. The finger of nature points forward, not backward. It is from the bruto upward that wo move. Nature may begin with us in war, but nature is not satisfied with war. The whole creation groaneth and travaileth in pain together until now for a divine purpose. War and barbar- i isin are to be eliminated. Peace and fra- 1 ternity are tho ends aimed at. Nature's watchword is ever onward and upward. I It is the language of creation. Man may have risen the first steps of the ladder by competition, but it does | not argue that he can never co-operate. A flower grows out of tho soil, but a flower is not dirt. Man doubtless developed from tho t brute world through the process of a divine evolution. The preponderance of ovidence seems to confirm tho theory of an evolutionary process of creation, but man is not a brute because he grew out of this underworld any more than a flower is dirt because it grew out of tho j soil. Nature points onward and upward. War may bo a step in the process of tho | development of humanity, but war is j not humanity. War is hell, war is barbarism, and it is all the more barbaric | when it is transferred to the realm of ! commerce. The natural course of progress today j shows that co-operation is a higher principle than competition. We observe this i fact in the development of the most sue- j cessf ul corporations. They are made by ' combined effort. Tho combination of small firms make these great ones. They ! once fought one another. They make a ! combination and fight for one another. Their success was phenomenal. This is I the basis of every successful trust and great corporation in our nation today. I We antagonize them because we recog- ! nize them as the evidences of social disorder. They are the evidences of social j disorder, but they are the index fingers that point us to tho way of success. Their . abuse does not argue against their value, j workinomen's success. Co-operation, when used by working- j men, has resulted in advancing their con- \ dition in life. The history of the co-operative societies of England and Scotland is a most marvelous chapter in the development of tho laboring men of the world. They have millions of dollars in capital invested now and ships that plow between the great ports of the world and supply them by simple, fraternal co-operation. Simple workjngmeu, numbering hundreds of thousands, have secured for themselves immunity from poverty, j Some of them?in fact, all of them?may j be considered rich as compared with j those who are outside their ranks, with the same advantages of education and personal t'liviiuiiiuciH. Wherever co-operation in communities has been substituted for competition it hus proven when thoroughly tested the higher principle. In Glasgow the transit facilities of the city are managed by the people, and they have 1 cent car fares. The gas is also owned and managed by the peoplo and costs them 60 cents where it costs us $1.25. THE DIVINE IN MEN. This process must continue until evolution has reached a point of development that revolt is no longer necessary. We are reaching that condition gradually now. Our legislation is more and more in the direction of co-operation on the part of the community than it has been in the past. Our laws touch more fully the whole range of life, and the jieople aro beginning more and more to 6ee that they are competent to take care of their own affairs if they only make up their mind to do it. Third?Every instinct of the prophetic soul of man leaps to tho thought of this i dream of the race. The highest instincts .of humanity throb in harmony with their divine laws. Tho divine in man goes out to the suffering. Wo must co-operate with one another. Wo cannot endure tho sight of the suffering and pain of tho world longer. Wo have societies for the prevention of cruelty to animals. A man cannot beat his own horse unmercifully in the streets without being arrested. The divine in man more and more goes out to suffering wherever seen. And when tho world knows really as it is tho suffering of man, because of his war with man in this world of trade, of com merce, of labor, the heart of humanity cannot endure the knowledge. Tho reorganization of society upon a co-operative basis is a foregone conclusion when the heart of society recognizes things as they really aro today. THE RACE'S ENEMIES. The idea that we are to be benefited by war and x>estilence and famine in the removal of our fellow creatures may be a conception which the political economists of a hundred years ago thought.scientific, but it is certainly an idea that the heart of humanity in the closing of this cen- . tury cannot endure. Want, hunger, cold, nakedness, men are more and moro regarding as the grim and terrible enemies of all the race, and when we realize their true ravages we have reached a point that endurance will cease to be a possibility, for it is in proportion as we bear one another's burdens that we ourselves attain the highest life and the world really made the brighter. This burden bearing means tho pressing of our lives into the lives of our neighbors until they are common in sorrows and j burdens and joys. It means the estimating of life upon a different basis than . mere money return. It is true there aro some people who are not worth much and who rate themselves commercially at a low estimate. But we recognize in man not simply Willi! lie 13, Oil! Wllttk ww UU^III iu ui,, what hois capable of being, what he wug bora to be. A man rescued three people from drowning in the East river a short time ago. Their boat capsized, and they | were about to drown when the brave , young fellow risked his own life, swam out and saved the three. In a violent fit of generosity after they were safe they took up a collection and gave him a purse of 35 cents. A DISHIUTINU FACT. The knowledge that there are such people in the world is dispiriting to us when we dream of the day of universal fraternal co-operation. But this co-operation does not imply equality. It does j imply Christianity. It does imply that wo are to bear the burdens of the weak that we are to teach the ignorant?we who aro strong; that wo are to save j those who are even in theii own estimate of little value, not for what they are. but for what they ought to be. Tlicy aro born in the imago of God. They are his children. We cannot separate our- ! selves from them, for, after all, we can seo to be in our hearts tho beginnings of greater faults than we seo developed in j others. I nous lilu IS 11 Ul'Uli is as nun iv turn? j session, and to take as well carte blanche ! for the entertainment of her friends if i she bo of a social'nature.?New York j Times. ' Wo cannot separate ourselves from [ the race if we would. We say that the stranger is nothing to us, but they are. If we are human, their burdens are our burdens. A railroad train crashes into another. Hundreds of lives are lost, and. wo read the story. Wo cry over the description : ?wo cannot help it. They are nothing to us. We do not know tliem. But they are made in the image of God. They are human. They are some 0110 else's brothers and sisters and fathers, ami therefore they are our brethren. And we weep with those who weep. Our hearts are made so that, if we carry out tho deepest aspirations and truest yearnings, we must lovo one another. We must fight for one another. We must co-operate one with another. It is j this burden bearing, one for another, that makes the brightness of the world today. It is only in such' hours that we bury our little animosities and the world be- ! comes a fit place for men and angels to dwell. When General Garfield was dying, tho south as well as tho north bent j over his bed with tears and prayers and boundless sympathy. The asperities of a bitter conflict wero all forgotten. Sectionalism was buried, and around tho bed of sufferiug tho nation gathered as a [ nation, and all its minor differences wero washed out in the tears of lovo and sym- i pathy. A DREAM. Co-operation a dream? Yes, I know it * ~ ? * rxP OM fill-lull) at ID U ureuili I11u im am \jl uu viavuum.mwv. I thank God I am one. "Bear ye one j another's burdens, and so fulfill the law ' of Christ." Christ was an enthusiast. | Christianity is an enthusiasm. Christianity is a dream. It is tho incarnation : of the dream of the old prophet, who told : of the Messiah who should rise and freo the people, who would smite tho earth with tho rod of his mouth and judge the 1 poor in equity, who woifld slay tho 1 wicked with his breath, and whose ' knowledge should cover the earth as the I waters cover tho sea, and in whose : name weakness should rule strength. It is a dream, I know, but it is Christian- , ity. I call you to it. It is the dream of i Jesus of Nazareth. Major Swift of the Salvation Army. ! Major Susie F. Swift, ono of tho most brilliant women of tho Salvation Army, is in Boston. Nino years ago she was a Vassar col- , lege girl, when she decided to join the ranks of the Salvationists with two collego companions. Today Miss Swift is tho only American born and bred woman who holds tho rank of major in that re- ! ligious army. She is best known by her comrades in the work through her ability in editing the magazine entitled All the World, ! which informs civilization of the princi- j pies and progress of the Salvation Army. ! For this work she seems to have been at.- ; mirably fitted by the training she received during her two years as junior and one J year as senior editor of The Vassar Miscellany, tho college journal. In every sense of the word Miss Swift is a literary woman as well as a religious leader. She resides with her fellow editor, Staff Captain Douglass, in the suburbs 1 of London, when not traveling, and re- 1 ports for The English Cry at home and abroad. Her writings have been frequently reviewed by the English press, j In appearance Major Swift looks intel- I ligenr, and refined. She is credited with ! being a good and effective extemporane- j ous talker.?Boston Herald. Mahogany Tloa on a Railroad. It is not often that one hears of the employment of mahogany as cross ties in tho construction of a railroad, but such an occurrence actually came to pass. In the winter of 18G4 a railroad ' was in course of construction from Fort ; Smith, Ark., to Little Rock. Funds were low with the promoters of the enterprise, who finally found themselves forced to surrender the property to the ! creditors. The road, which was graded part of tho way and a portion of it in i readiness to receive the rails, was pur- i chased by two English capitalists for a j mere song. Shortly after making the j acquisition the English buyers set out to | make an inspection of their property. To their great amazement they discov- | ered that the cross ties laid upon the bed awaiting tho rails were hewn from j solid mahogany logs, a rare and costly hard wood. Great ranges of these ties of the sumo material lined the grade awaiting to be put down. The shrewd English purchasers chuckled with delight on making the discovery, and set to work at once to have the ties con- 1 veyed to Little Rock. Those which had , already been laid down were taken uji j and added to the stock of the mahogany 1 timber. The ties were forwarded thence i to New York, from which place the timber was shipped to England and sold. I The sales of the ties alone netted the j speculators a handsome profit, and in lieu of mahogany ties a cheaper wood j was substituted by the Englishmen in ! the subsequent construction of the road. 1 ?New Orleans Times-Democrat. Fires In Russia. Every summer one hears of an appall- j ingly large number of conflagrations in the Russian provinces. No one appears ; in the least surprised. If you call your neighbor's attention to these numerous t reports of extensive fires, of the whole j or partial destruction of villages, ho will quite unconcernedly observe that it is i the "fire season," and with a characteristic shrug of the shoulders ho implies, | if he does not put the query verbally, "What else do you expect?what would you have?" Thus, for instance, the of- J ficial journal of the government of Peusa quite prosaically announces that the "fire season" has commenced in that province and goes on to relate in curt phrase that in the village of Agafonoffkanine and in Kosheffka 90 peasants' i homesteads have been burned. On the following day 21 houses wero destroyed | by fire in the village of Yelesina, in one of which a child was burned to death. \ A couple of days later 55 houses and 21 granaries wero totally consumed in an- : other large village named Terisinorg. The last mentioned firo caused damage to the amount of 12,000 rubles.?London News. A Vuluablo Stuffed Cat. 1 This story is tolil of a gentleman whose tasto inclined him to haunt "old curiosity" shops, where he picked up many antiquo and in some instances valuable articles for what is termed a "mere j song." One day lie purchased a stuffed cat, a large, beautiful, black Persian, heavy and sleek coated as in life. It had belonged, ho was told, to an old 1 miser, who must have loved his deceased | cat or lie would not have gone to the expenso of having it stuffed. The gentleman examined his new purchase and discovered that one of its eyes was loose. Pursuing his investigations further, he j removed tho artificial eye, and from the ! interior turned out some hundred sovereigns, each wrapped up separately in wool and tissue paper.?Exchange. ll??|>ltulity of tho Klch. A yacht in the fashionable world is like an open box or your carriage?if : you wish to pay a person an especial I compliment send it to him or her for the | afternoon. The recij ient makes up his party for the sail, a..d though your dinner is ! served aboard by your servants you need not be in evidence. It is one of the many compensations ! of tho rich that these gracious hospital- I ities are possible. A woman who owns ; a superb country residenco never, on 1 her summer trips to Europe, leaves it ! locked and deserted. Some friend to whom six weeks of this unruffled luxui. OONGHESS FIPTY-THREE I The Lawmakers are Assembled Ac- , cording to Cleveland's Call. THE PRESIDENT'S MESSAGF. For tho First Time In an Ago the J)<mooratic 1'nrty Uule* in All Rranche* of tho American Government at Washington. Washington, Aug. 7.?Opening day of the fifty-third congress brought with it a most welcome and refreshing | change in the weather. The cool breezes replaced the torrid heat of the previous week, and it was supplemented by improved ventilating fans, makaih.ai e. stevenson. Vice President of the United States, Rnd 1'resident of the Senate. lug the temperature of the house and senate chamber quite endurable, notwithstanding the crowds of spectators who, as usual, packed the galleries and thronged the corridors. Among the latter there were many who were thoroughly not American. At this season of the year there appears to have been a sudden impetus in foreign travel to the World's Fair and European tourists are familiar figures on the streets of Washington. Many of these were about the capital at an early hour, anxious to see, what one typical Englishman called, our "Hamerican 'ouse of commons." The Semite Opened. The senate was called to order at noon, and the opening prayer mado by the outgoing chaplain, Mr. Butler. After the president's proclamation was read, the oath of office administered to Senators Quay of Pennsylvania, and Pasco of Florida, a communication was read from Beck with, of Wyoming, announcing that, owing to a combination of circumstances. he had placed his resignation as senator in the hands of the governor. The communication was placed on file. ? The secretary elect of senate, Cox, of North Carolina, had the oath administered to him, and took possession of the office. The usual resolutions to notify the house and president were adopted, and then at 12:30. the death of late Senator Stanford, of California, was announced by Senator White, of that state, and as a mark of respect, the senate adjourned for the day. The House Organized. As early as 10:30 the house galleries devoted to public use were filled to repletion. The doors leading to them were crowded, and spectators less fortunate i ban their associates peered over the shoulders of more favored ones and waited patiently for the hour of noon. At 11 o'clock the reserved galleries opened, and in one minute seats even there were at a premium. The picture then presented was an animated and interesting one. The galleries constituted a frame and a handsome frame it was. Ladies, who mude un more than one-half of the audience, were attired in their prettiest summer costumes. Many of them discarded their headgear, and the fluttering of cans and the buzz of female conversation mingled pleasantly with the sterner, manly tones which arose from the floor. Culled to Order. The house was called to order at noon, the president's proclamation read, and the call of names of memberselect begun. Three hundred and thirty-six members responded to their names and.the house proceeded to vote for speaker, the candidate being Crisp. Reed and Simpson. Crisp was elected SPEAKER CRISP. For the Second Time Prodding Ulleer of the United Ststos House of Re re oiUatives. speaker, receiving 214 votes, against 122 votes for Reed and 7 votes for Simpson. There was hearty handclapping from members and generous applause from the galleries when the announced induction into office of Charles F. Crisp for speaker the ?econd time was made. Ho was escorted by Reed, Hohnan and Jerry Simpson, who, minus his moustache, created much amusement* Speaker Crisp briefly acknowledged hi a Hi a til/a THE SECOND DAY. Preciilent Cleveland'* Menauco Head liefore Until Houses of Coilgrei*. Washington, Aug. 8.?Immediately after the assembling of congreBS a message from the president was announced and received by both houses assembled in separate session. The reading of the message was listened to with profound attention from all parts of the house. It is as follows: To the Congress of the United States: The existence of an alarming and extraordinary business situation, involving the welfare und prosperity of all our people, has constrained me to call together, in extra session, the people's representatives in congress, to the end that through a wise and patriotic exercise of tha legislative duly with which they solely are charged the present evils may be mitigated and the dangers il.?mm' 1m nvnrtpil tin caiemjiy int* iuiuic int\j u??/? - v?. Our unfortunate financial plight is not the result of untoward events, nor of conditions related to our natural resources; nor is it traceable to any of the afflictions which frequently check natural growth and prosperity. With plenteous crops, with abundant promise of remunerative production and manufactures, with unusual invitation to safe investment, and with satisfactory assurance to business enterprise, suddenly a financial distrust and fear have nn ovorr isiilo VllTllPrOllS DJ<tU..b l.J, .... moneyed institutions Jiave suspended because abundant assets were not immediately available to meet the demands of frightened depositors. Surviving corporations and individuals are content to keep in hand the money they are usually anxious to loan, and those engaged in legitimate business are stir prised to find that the securities tney i offer for loans, though heretofore satisfactory, are no longer accepted. Values supposed to he fixed are fast becoming conjectural, and loss and failure have invaded every branch of business. I believe these things are principally chargeable to congressional legislation, touching the purchase and coinage of 6ilver by tho general government. This legislation is embodied in a statute pass- 1 ed 011 the 14th day of July, 1890, which was the culmination of much agitation 011 the subject involved, and which may be considered a truce, after a longstruggle between the advocates of free silver coinage and those intending to be more | conservative. Uundonbtedly the monthly purchase by tho government of 4,500,000 ounces of silver, enforced under that statute, ; was regarded by those interested in silver production as a certain guaranty of its increase in price. The result, howovnp lino nntirplv rlifTprpnt fnr immediately following a spasmodic and slight rise, the price of silver began to fall after the passage of the act, and has since reached the lowest point ever known. The disappointing result has led to renewed and persistent effort in the direction of free silver coinage. Meanwhile, not only are the evil of- . fects of the operation of the present law constantly accumulating, but the result to which its execution must ine- i vitably lead is becoming palpable to all who give the least heed to financial subjects. This law provides that in payment for the 4,500,000 ounces of silver bullion which the secretary of treasury is commanded to purchase monthly, i there shall be issued treasury notes redeemable on demand in gold or silver i coin, at the discretion of the secretary : of the treasury, and that said notes may be re-issued. It is however, declared in the act to be "the established I policy of the United States to maintain the two metals on a parity with each ' other upon the present legal ratio or such ratio as may be provided by law." This declaration so controls the action of the secretary of the treasury as to prevent his exercising the discretion nominally vested in him, if by such action the parity between gold and silver may be disturbed. Manifestly a re' fusal by the secretary to pav these treasury notes in gold, if demanded, would necessarily result in their discredit and j depreciation as obligations payable only in silver, and would destroy the parity | between the two metals by establishing a discrimination in favor of gold. Up to | the 15th day of July, 1.893, these notes had been issued in payment of silver bullion purchases, to the amount of more than $147,000,000. While all but a very small quantity of this bullion remains uncoined and without usefulness in the treasury, many of the notes given in its purchase have been paid in gold. This is illustrated by the statement that between I May 1st, 1892, and the 15th day of July, 1893, the notes of this kind issued in payment for silver bullion amounted to a little more than $54,000,000, and | that during the same period about $49,000,000 were paid by the treasury in gold for redemption of such notes. The policy necessarily adopted, of ! paying these notes in gold lias not : spared the gold reserve of $100,000,000 long ago set aside by the government 1 for the redi mption of other notes, for this fund has already been subjected to the payment of new obligations amounting to about $150,000,000 on account of silver purchases, and has as a consequence, for the first time since its creation, been encroached upon. We have thus made ine aepieuon or our goiu easy, anil have tempted other and more ! appreciative nations to add it to their stock. That the opportunity we have offered has not been neglected is shown 1 by the large amounts of gold which have been recently drawn from our treasury and exported to increase the ! financial strength of foreign nations. The excess of exports of gold over its ! imports for the year ending June 80, 189a, amounted to more than $87,500,000; between the 1st day of July, 1890. ' and the loth day of July, 1898, the gold coin and bullion in our treasury de- j creased more than $132,000,000, while during the same period the silver coin and bullion in the treasury increased more than $147,000,000. Unless government bonds are to be constantly issued and sold to replenish our exhausted gold, only to be again exhausted, it is apparent that the operation of the silver purchase law now in force, leads in the direction of the on- i tire substitution of silver for the gold in the government treasury, and that this must be followed by the payment of all government obligations in depre- > ciated silver. At this stage gold and silver must part company and the government must fail in its established policy to maintain the two metals on a parity with each other. (iiven over to the exclusive of a currency greatly depreciated according to ? < - . : i 1.1 me stanuar.i ot me commercial wunu, we could 110 longer claim a)>h;co among nations of the first class, nor t.ould our government claim a performance of its obligations so far as such an obligation has been imposed upon it, to provide for the use of the people the best and safest money. If, as many of its friends claim, silver ought to occupv a larger place in our currency and the currency of the world through generul international co-operation, and agreement, it is desirous that the United States will not be in a position to gain a hearing in favor of such an arrangement so long as all are willing to continue our attempt single handed. The knowl- j edge in business circles among our own J people that our government cannot ! make its fiat equivalent to intrinsic ! , value, nor keep inferior money on a parity with superior money, by its own independent efforts, has resulted in such a lack of confidence at home, in the stabilities of currency values that capital refuses its aid to new enterprises while millions are actually withdrawn from the channels of trade and commerce to become idle and unproductive in the hands of timid owners. Foreign nations, equally alert, not only decline to purchase American securities, but make haste to sacrifice those which they already have. It does n/-,f moot tlio citllflHon to K;IV tllSlt ill> prehension in regard to the future of ; our finances is groundless, and that there is no reason for lack of confidence in the purposes or power of the government in the premises. The very existence of this apprehension anil the lack of confidence, however caused, is a menace which ought not for a moment to be disregarded. Possibly, if the undertaking we have in hand were the maintenance of a specific known quantity of silver at a parity with gold our ability to do so might be estimated and gauged and perhaps in view of our unparalleled growth and resources, might be favor, ably passed upon. But when our avowed endeavor is to maintain such parity in regard to an amount of silver j i increasing at the rate of ?">0,000,000 i such increase it can hardly ho said that a problem is presented whose solution is free from doubt. The people of the United States are entitled to a sound ami stable currency, and to money recognized as such on every exchange and in every market of the world. Their government has no right to injure them by financial experiments opposed to the policy and practice of other civilized states, nor is it justified in permitting an exaggerated and unreasonable reliance on our national strength and ability to jeopardize the people's money. This matter ?* 4l.? .dnnA rises UllUVO tuc ^/muo Ui jfaiij punut'9. It vitally concerns every business and calling and enters every household in the land. There is one important aspect of the subject which especially should never be overlooked. At times, like the present, when the evils of unsound finance threaten us, the speculator may anticipate a harvest gathered from the misfortunes of others. The capitalist may protect himself by hoarding or may even find profit in the fluctuation of values; but the wage-earner ?the first to be injured by a depreciated currency and the last to receive the benefit of its correction?is practically defenseless. He relies for work upon the ventures of confident and contented capital. This failing him, his condition is without alleviation, for he can neither prey on the misfortunes of others nor hoard his labor. One of the greatest statesmen our country has known, speaking more than 50 years ago. when a derangement of the currency had caused commercial distress, said: "Thevery man of all others who has the deepest interest in a sound currency and who suffers most by mischievous legislation in money matters, is the man who earns his daily bread by his daily toil." These words are as pertinent now as on the day they were uttered, and ought ts impressively remind us that a foilnra in disrOinrfrft nf nnr dntv nfc this time must especially injure those of our countrymen who labor, ami who, because of their number and condition, are entitled t j the most watchful care of their government. It is of the utmost importance that such relief as congress can afford in the existing situation be afforded at once. The maxim, "He gives twice who giyes quickly," is directly applicable. It may be true that the embarrassments from which the business of the country is suffering, arise as much from evils apprehended, as from those actnally existing. All may hope, too, that calm counsels will prevail and that neither the capitalists nor the wage earners will give way to unreasoning panic and sacrifica their property or their interests under the influence of exaggerated fears. Nevertheless, every day's delay in removing one of the plain and principal causes of the present state of things enlarges the mischief already done and increases the responsibility of the government for its existence. Whatever else the people have aright to expect from congress they may certainly demand that legislation condemned by the ordeal shall be removed from the statute books as soon as their representatives can legitimately deal with it. It-is my purpose to summon congress in special session early in September, that we might enter promptly upon the work of tariff reform which the true interests of die country clearly demand, which so large a majority of the people, as shown by their suffrages, d -sire and expect, and to the accomplishment of which every effort of the present administration is pledged. But while tariff reform has lost nothing of its immediate and permanent im portance and must in the near future engage the attention of congress, it has seemed to me that the financial condition of the country should at ouce and before all other subjects be considered by your honorable body. i earnestly recommend the prompt repeal of the provisions of the act pass ed July 14, 1800, authorizing the purchase of silver bullion, and that other legislative action may put, beyond all douDt, or mistake the intention and the ability of the government to fulfill its pecuniary obligations in money universally recognized by all civilized countries. [Signed.] Grover Cleveland. Executive Mansion, Aug. 7.1803. MILLIONS GO UP IN SMOKE. Startling Figures of the low of Property by Fire. . The Chronicle, the organ of the underwriters, has in its statistics for 1893 presented some very interesting facts which are well worthy the consideration of economists. Several years ago the country was startled to learn that property to the value of $100,000,000 had gone up in flames and smoke in a single twelvemonth. In 1891 the $100,000,000 had grown to nearly $144,000,000 and in 1892 to about $152,000,000. The following table of losses is at least instructive: Aggregate Aggregate property Insurance loss. loss. 1875 $78,1U>,285 $39.327,40c 1870 OLD:*),34.374.50C 187 7 68,265,800 37.8tW.U0C 1878 64,315,000 88,675.0OC 1870 77,703,700 44.464.70C 188 0 74.M3.400 42.525.00C 188 1 81,280,000 44.M41.UOC 1882 84,505,024 48.875,131 188 3 100,149,218 M,806.664 188 4 110,008,611 00.679,818 188 5 102,818,796 57.43O.70E 1WG iw,tW,iau uu,juu,.jvt 188 7 120,283,055 09,059,508 188 8 110.886,005 03,005,721 188 9 123.OW.833 73,079.4^ 1800 108,993,702 65,015,W: 1891 1W,704,007 90,570,018 1802 151,510,008 03,514,?? Total $1,700,833,404 $l,018,018.20i In 18 consecutive years $2,000,000,000, lacking less than $230,000,000, have been consulted, gone to absolutely nothing, as when property is burned up, no matter how heavily it may bo insured, it is destroyed, lost beyond all recovery. The loss to the country is not a cent less because the insured gets the amount from the underwriters. It has been annihilated, and that is the end of it. A country should be exceedingly rich that can afford to suffer the loss by fire in 18 years of $1,769,839,404. Such a loss, growing yearly, suggests what a very young, extravagant, reckless people the Americans are. Fires, conflagrations, are avoidable in the larger number of instances. Not one has occurred in Florence, Italy, it is said, for 30 years. The reason is plain enough ?in Florence all houses are built fireproof. We are only beginning to build what we call fireproof edifices. Many of them are that only in name, and the common rule is, even where tinder boxes are not built and called buildings, the destructive flue is connected with adjacent woodwork. We build to burn rather than not to burn. It is a luxury to build in that way, and if the country is willing to pay for it from $100,000.<XMI to $150,000,000 a year there is really no reason why the country should not have and enjoy it. But it does seem as if the country could get more fun out of such .a sum in another way than that of in dulging in fires and conflagrations. Coxtly Lace Curtain*. A Scotchman who employs4,000 French women in Paris making lace has sent a pair of curtains for a bay window to tho World's fair. In the six months required for the making of these curtains 2,000 women worked on them. Tho cost of the single pair of curtains, 3 yards long, was $6,000. The Scotchman himself came to superintend the hanging of his $50,000 worth of lace exhibit.?Exchango.