Historical Newspapers of South Carolina

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?????-1?? i., ???-s^g?a I gag?a-??? I ? ISSUED 8EMI-WEEKLY. l. m. grist s sons, pnbh.her., { % dfantilg Ueicspager: |[or the promotion of thg political, Social. Agricultural and Commercial Interests of the geople. {ms?NGL^ rVnra ce^VANCI!' " established 1855. r YORK VILLE, S7C~TUESDIY, PEBBD ARY 4, 1908. INTO. 3 O. tUCi ^ By ETTA. ^ CHAPTER XXXII. Daath. 9 The New York express rumbled into WKithaven that night a half-hour behind time. fhe first passenger to alight was Basil Hawkstone, weary and dust> tained from the most fruitless and exasperating search that a man ever pursued. As he walked out of the depot the * chill, salty wind of the street met him, like a breath from his island home. Th? moon was rising on the harbor, and scattering her first level rays into the elmf-shaded town. In the busy thorougrffares echoes of traffic and toll still Ungfted. liaVkstone turned from street to street, and approached a quiet square, overlooked by a gray stone church. Yea, this was the place?a queer one, certainly, for a woman like Vera to select! He had tasted her treachery * too often not to feel his suspicions stir now. The door of the sacred edifice stood open?a light shone through?something was going on within. She meant a to meet him in the porch, maybe. As he stepped into the shadow he came face to face with a man who was leaning against the carved stone there, with i a broad-brimmed hat drawn low over his face. i "Have you business in this particular spot, sir?" demanded Hawkstone. The man gave a violent start. i "Stand off!" he cried, in a thick voice, which Hawkstone recognized as belonging to Gabriel Ravenel. Out of < the porch he dashed, and down the , steps, vanishing instantly in darkness. "Poor simpleton!" muttered Hawk- ( stone. "Plainly he knows that Made- ( moiselle Zephyr is expected here to- j night. The moth hovers persistently in ( the candle that has already scorched < his silly wings." ] He looked into the vestibule?it was empty: into the church Itself. The only person visible was a sexton of an- ( cient and melancholy aspect. He mo- , tioned Hawkstone to enter. ] ^ "The lady will be coming shortly, < sir," he said, with a solemn smile. "I I am instructed to tell you to take a seat." i Hawkstone thought this very odd. He # had scarcely expected to find a church i open for what Vera called 11 their last meeting on earth. Full of t doubt and wrath, he sat down. "It is some new trick of the enemy!" | he thought. I Did she really Intend to meet him? Judging from her past conduct, the ] chances were against it. He seemed to i 9 be the only living- thing in the place. ( Even the old sexton had disappeared. | The pews stretched in empty rows < around him?the pulpit was vacant. He found something ominous and op- i presslve in so much space and silence, i Suddenly Hawkstone became aware i that another person had entered the | church, and was slipping noiselessly < Into a seat on the opposite side of the 1 aisle. He looked. It was (rabriel Ra- t venel. The boy was pale as ashes, yet perfectly composed?indeed, he had the 1 careful orderly appearance of one who ^ had prepared himself for some supreme occasion. He did not see Hawkstone, but kept his handsome head bent, as ( thougn ms gaze was lunieu umaiu, nui outward. Had Mademoiselle Zephyr called him. also, to this place? "By my soul; he, too, seems to be waiting for her here!" Basil Hawkstone said to himself, with fresh indignation. Seven o'clock struck in the churchtower. At the same moment a peal of music burst from the organ-loft. There was ^ a noise in the vestibule. The door swung open. Yes. she was coming! She had not deceived him, after all? she was advancing along the aisle?but how, and with whom? In point lace and shimmering duchess satin, orange-flowers in her crush? ed yellow curls, and on her corsage, one tiny hand on the arm of that dark, heavy-faced Englishman, Jasper Hatton, who walked at her side. Down the aisle went the twain?lovely, sylph-like woman in a foam of dazzling white? swarthy, thickset man, with narrow, exultant eyes. Hawkstone stared after them blankly. Gabriel Ravenel stared also, and there was something in his pale, boyish ? face not good to see. Joyfully pealed the wedding march from the loft. A clergyman and witnesses entered by a side door?the former stood at the foot of the pulpit-stair and received the twain. W Verily. It was a wedding to which the beautiful circus-rider has summoned her divorced husband! In that Whithaven church, she was actually marrying Jasper Hatton?the man who had persistently pursued her across conti nents and over seas for many a year. After doing her utmost to part Hawkstone from Jetta Ravenel, she stood there before his eyes, uttering marriage vows for the second time! He could have laughed aloud! What would his poor unhappy darling at Tempest Hall say to this? Surely her scruples must vanish now?her strug^ gles against their mutual happiness cease! Mademoiselle could not dream of the weight she was lifting from his heart?of the unspeakable relief and joy that filled him, as he sat and listened to that brief, impressive ceremony there at the pulpit-stair. Thank God! it was over! They were husband and wife! They were coming back along the aisle?drawing near to * Hawkstone. Already her great eyes, full of malice, had sought and found him?already the old mocking smile was dawning on her red lips, when lo! in the opposite pew, like a death's head at the ancient Egyptian banquets, Ga brie! Ravenel started up. Never on earth would Hawkstone forget his face. He sprang into the aisle. In the very front of the bridal pair. r. PIERCE. They heard him cry out, "Did I not say that when you played me false, it would be time for one of us to die?" Then a sharp report rang through the church, there was a puff of gray smoke, and in the path of the fair woman who had duped and deceived him ?so near that his blood might have sprinkled her wedding garments?Gabriel Ravenel fell prone and motionless with a bullet through his brain. Vera uttered a shriek and sank into the arms of Jasper Hatton, who carried her straight out of the church. The sexton and the clergyman rushed to the fallen man. Hawkstone opened his vest. Vera's boy lover, who had squandered for her sake honor, fortune and friends, lay stone dead in the way which her wicked little feet had traversed from the nltar to the church door. "Curse her!" muttered Hawkstone, looking down on the pale young face, so changed and wasted, and on which the dignity of death was fast settling. "She has done her work, and done It well!" CHAPTER XXXIII. A Glass of Wine. A hand touched Hawkstone's arm; a strange man stood by his side. "There's a carriage waiting at the door for Mr. Basil Hawkstone," he said. "Be so good as to come with me, sir? Mrs. Hatton wishes to see you in another place." "She wishes to see me? By Heaven! I wish also to see her!" said Hawkstone, through his teeth, and, stem as r'ate, he followed the man. At the foot of the church-steps a close carriage stood. Madly intent upon finding Bee, and tearing the child from Zephyr and Jasper Hatton. Hawkstone leaped inside the vehicle, and was driven rapidly away through the moonlit streets of Whlthaven. The strange driver stopped at a wooden gate, behind which a tumble clown cottage stood, guarded by rows af unpruned evergreens. It was the house where Vincent Hawkstone had visited Mademoiselle Zephyr two hours before. "Push baok the gate, sir," said the driver, "and knock at the door." Hawkstone, who could no longer feel surprise at anything, followed these Instructions, and found himself on the threshold of the cottage, face to face with the French maid Celende. who had promptly opened the door at his approach. "Enter, monsieur!" she said, and Hawkstone strode into the musty, moth-eaten parlor, which was warmed and lighted, but empty. As he towered in that damp, moldy room, looking darkly, indignantly around him, and wondering why he had been lured to such a rat's nest, a door swung open, there was a limping step, a little cry, and Bee herself was in his arms?Bee. tils lost daughter, whom he had pursued for three bitter, miserable days. Trembling, and full of sobs, she clung about his neck. "Oh. papa, papa!" she cried; "have vou come for me at last? Take me back to Tempest Island?quick? quick!" And then followed the soft sweep of satin and lace, an odor of orange-flowers saluted his nostrils, and Vera, still in her bridal fleeces, stood before him, with the old. defiant, dare-devil light in her blue eyes. "Did you enjoy your visit to Gotham?" she began, in the taunting tone that he knew so well. "Very sorry, I am sure, to have led you such a vain chase, but I could think of no other way in which to gain a little time. Look at this house! Consider what I must have suffered, hiding here for three dreadful days! It required nerve, did It not. to exchange my luxurious rooms at the Eagle Hotel for such squalor and ruin? But something of the sort was necessary to mislead you, don't you see?" His child was safe in his arms, and only a few miles of moonlit water intervened betwixt him and Tempest Island. What mattered the malicious tricks of this woman now? "Madam," he muttered, dryly, "you have led me a long chase, but not a vain one, since I find my daughter at the end of it. I shall take good care that Jasper Hatton does not abduct her again. For the pleasant surprise which you planned for me in Whithaven ?,? T ,.A?I Vrvn rlM VIIUIV.II li'iiiftiai A UKum j uu. * vu x..v? me a greater service than you knew when you stood there and married that poor fool Hatton. Did he find it pleasant to walk out of the church with you over the dead body of a rival? Farewell. madam. Look your last on your child, for. as the Lord liveth, and as my soul liveth. you shall never see her again!" She broke into a wicked little laugh. Her derisive eyes shone softly, the odor of the orange-tlowers on her breast confused and sickened him. Never had she looked so dazzling, so dangerous. "And did you think I really wished to keep llee?" she purred. "Why, the verynight we carried her away from the island I was tempted to push her out of the boat before we reached Whithaven. Troublesome little thing! I am glad to wash my hands of her?glad to return her to her fond papa, for she has wept, and sulked, and tormented me incredibly since her capture She loves that girl Jetta Ravenel?talks nrtlf 4 Ka?? ic? onnilfrh nf itself to make me hate the child! If she had inherited my beauty I might have bred her to my own profession, but why burden myself with a plain, crippled little creature like this? No. All my attempts to secure her have been made j solely to torment you. Never has she possessed the smallest value in my eyes save as an instrument to vex and annoy you. Take her back?do!?tc her dear Miss Ravenel, for whom she has constantly lamented during- het stay here." She had just seen one of her victims dead at her feet, but she could laugh she could sneer?she could vivaciously reveal her true sentiments concerning: poor little Bee, as the latter clung: whimpering about Hawkstone's neck. "You tell me nothing: that 1 did not know before," he answered. "I never gave you credit for the smallest amount of maternal love. In this matter you have been simply amusing yourself at my expense?Is it not so?" She shook her yellow head. "No; I had a deeper design than amusement, and but for the fact that I was obliged to sail for Europe In a few hours, I would have led you, Basil Hawkstone, the length and breadth of the whole continent before I undeceived you and restored Bee! Tomorrow I go abroad to fulfill professional engagements?I shall never return to America; but you will hear of me at Berlin, at Vienna, at St Petersburg; and I shall take with me something sweeter than fresh fame, or the gold it brings?the knowledge that I have parted you forever from Jetta Ravenel!" The angry blood leaped hot in his veins?the scar of the spear on his cheek throbbed and burned. "Your boast Is premature, madam," he answered, sternly; "without doubt, you posed at Pes Patton's Inlet House for a wronged and loving woman, bereft of her child, and Miss Ravenel believed you. For a little while you shook the foundation of my happiness. Rut tonight Mrs. Jasper Hatton has clipped the wings of her own malice?refute^ her own lies?tonight you have not parted, but restored?given back to me my nearest and dearest, without whom I can have no life, for I shall ^o from this place straight to Tempest Island and marry Miss Ravenel before the week Is done!" Something In his words?In his splendid, contemptuous face exasperated her beyond endurance. She clutched at her satin corsage, crushing the orange-blossoms with merciless fingers. The sweetness of their shattered petals gave Hawkstone a sudden vertigo. He staggered back a step, and turned his face from the hateful, overpowering odor. "And do you think," hissed Vera, "that I would have married Jasper Hatton till I made a success of my plans?till my work was accomplished, my rengeance secured? No! no! You two are parted forever, I tell you, and I have done It? I! Oo back to Tempest Island, but be sure that you will not moi'fv vnnr southern beautv when VOU arrive there!" "Fortunately the wife of Jasper Hatton has no longer power to hold us asunder?let her rant as she may," sneered Hawkstone. Eye to eye they stood in that old moth-eaten room, and the child Bee felt something sinister in the ain?and began to tremble. "The sick man Sutto(^-your guest at Tempest Island->%a8 been trying Jo And you in Whithaven," said Vera, slowly. "He has news for you!" "Sutton!" echoed Hawkstone, visibly startled. She smiled wickedly, "Possibly he left letters for you here, but if so, they have fallen into the hands of your cousin Vincent. All these things will be explained to you when I am on the sea. Basil Hawkstone, I might have given you up peaceably to some other woman, perhaps, but to Jetta Ravenel?never! I hated her brother for her sake. He killed himself tonight for love of me? L,i T -*Kau- T c Vt rm 1 rl OH II : 1 \\ nuilUCIlllg uvn A u..wu.? dispose of the young idiot, and he has very opportunely settled the question for me. When I sail tomorrow for the Old World, it will be with the knowledge that I have satisfactorily finished all my affairs on this side of the Atlu.itic." Was it the smell of the orange-flowers that turned Hawkstone so giddy and faint? The musty little room spun suddenly round before his eyes?so did the fair, cruel face of that woman in bridal white?he fell helplessly into a chair. "Papa!" screamed little Bee; "oh, papa!" Vera ran to a door at the other end of the room, and almost stumbled over a man who was bending down there with his ear to the keyhole "What's the matter with him?" hissed Vincent Hawkstone. "He is fainting," answered Vera. "Send Celende, or Jasper Hatton, with a glass of wine!" Scowling darkly, Vincent looked into the room, at the powerful figure, helpless in the chair. "Perdition!" he muttered; "I've been waiting here ever since you two began to talk?couldn't make up my mind to open the door?was afaid he would strike me dead at a blow. There! up with a window, and hold your vinaigrette to his nose. I will bring the wine." With these words, he left the room. She raised the nearest sash. Before Hawkstone showed any signs of consciousness, Vincent reappeared with a glass in his hand. He looked pale and shaken. "Take it quick," he cried, hoarsely, "and let him drink it every drop. I didn't call Hatton?he might find the situation deuced awkward?don't you know? Faith! Prince Lucifer is reviving. I think I'll step outside and put a bullet through my brain, as Ravenel did in the church tonight." She took the glass. "Poltroon!" she sneered, and shut the door promptly upon him. and stood motionless and meditative for a moment with the wine in her hand. She glanced first at the long-stemmed glass, and then at little Bee, who clung terrified to her father, spreading two thin, weak arms over him by way of protection. "Do you want to hurt my papa?" the i child demanded, with painful directness; "you must not give him that i stuff?I cannot let you." The mother's eyes fell before the , daughter's. 1 "Very well, little tsee, we win nm?? [ it away, then!" she answered. "One ' must draw the line somewhere, and I I confess that I have had enough of ' tragedy for one night." She went > straight to tiie open window, and flung 1 out both the glass and its contents. "In the days to come," she said to the child, I "your papa will never dream that he > owes his life to you, but"?shutting ! close her little white teeth?"before God he does!" Directly Rasil Hawkstone opened his i eyes and got upon his feet, bewildered , and shaken. "There is something wrong with my hend tonight," he muttered. "Be so good ns to put on the child's outer garments, Mrs. Hatton, and we will trouble you no longer." She called Celende, and Bee waa dressed for the street. "I wonder, will she remember this three days' visit with her mamma?" smiled Vera, maliciously "Farewell, Basil Hawkstone, I must make ready for to morrow's voyage. If I thought there was a fresh torment that I could devise for you, I would not go; but the crowning blow has been given?I could I do nothing worse, If T pursued you for a century?so, farewell forever!" "Oh, papa! come?come quickly!" urged little Bee. In an Indistinct way he saw her standing there In that low, musty room, here rich draperies trailing, the light of the oil-lamps falling on her yellow hair and fair, mocking face?thus he remembered her long after. Then the cottage door closed?on this side of the grave he would see her no more. He was walking down the flagged path under the funereal evergreens to the wooden gate, with Bee's faithful little hand locked In his own. As they gained the moonlit street, the child began: "I was thrown out of the pony carriage with Miss Rokewood, papa, and a man picked 'me up and carried me In his arms through the woods, and we came to a boat where the lady In the white dress was waiting, and they made me go with them to Whlthaven. I cried, and the lady boxed my ears, and stamped her foot at me, and oh, I wanted Miss Ravenel? wanted you?I thought you would never come." "Poor child, we are going now to Miss Ravenel," answered Hawkstone. Once out of that secluded byway, he halted a carriage, and was driven rapIdly to the wharf. The hour was waxing late, but he succeeded In finding both a man and a boat, and the wind being favorable, Hawkstone and his recovered daughter were soon dancing over the starlit water in the direction of Tempest Island. Basil held the child wrapped In his cloak, sheltered against his breast, but he was not thinking of her. The face of Jettft Ravenel floated before his eyes, the voice of Jetta Ravenel filled his ears, as he had heard It on that night of his barren quest in a distant city. A foreboding of evil was upon him?a brood of strange, nameless fears oppressed his heart, like a nightmare. "Great Heaven!" he cried to the boatman; "how slow we go!" "Why, bless you, sir, we are flying!" answered the man. "There's another sail astern?left the wharf a little after us?it's not making half our speed, sir?look for yourself." Hawkstone looked, saw a black speck on the far waves, and said: "It's rather o&hthat a boat should be following us at this hour. Is it not?" "Well, yes, it is, sir, when you come to think of It!" answered the man. Presently, In the blue distance before them, a beacon began to blink, like a star fallen In the sea. Then the gray moors and headlands of the Tempest sprang into view out of the tumbled water. The boat glided up to the familiar landing-place. Hawkstone stepped ashore with his child, and dismissing the Whithaven boatman, turned to mount the slope under the russet-tinted trees. As he did so Joe Derby came sneaking down the path with a guilty air. He stopped at sight of Hawkstone, arid being somewhat defective of vision, called in an uncertain voice. "Halloo! Is that you, Mr. Vincent ?" "Mr. Vincent, indeed!" thundered Hawkstone. "Are you expecting that villain here? Stand, Joe Derby, and give an account of yourself!" But Joe was scarcely the man to "stand" under such circumstances. Every individual hair on his head arose in terror. His master was'the last person on earth that he now desired to encounter. He took to his heels, like the discreet person that he was, and promptly vanished into the shadows of night. "Hang the fellow!" muttered Hawkstone, and he snatched up his sleepy little daughter and hurried with her toward the Hall. She nestled against him, and said, drowsily: "Cousin Vincent was in that house tonight with the lady, papa." "Ah!" said Hawkstone. "Yes; he was hiding behind the door: The ancient Hall stood dark and frowning In the moonlight as he approached it. Not a light was visible? not even the bark of a dog greeted the return of the island lord. Hawkstone strode into file porch, lifted the brass knocker, and sent an impatient summons into the far recesses of the house. After some delay the door opened, and the frightened face of Sarah looked through. "Oh, sir!" screamed the girl, at sight of Hawkstone and the child, "you have ' come back!?you have brought Miss Bee! Lord be praised, sir! and Lord help you, too, I say!" He pushed by her into the hall, looking around him sharply, anxiously. "What ails you, girl? Have you lost your wits? Where is Mrs. Otway?: Where is Miss Ravenel? fall both immediately." Sarah fell back a step, and flung her apron over her face. "Mrs. Otway, sir, is laid up with a broken ankle," she sobbed; "and Miss Ravenel?oh, Miss Ravenel is not here, sir?she'll never be here again: snes gone and married?oh, sir, it's ,God's truth! She's married Vincent Hawkstone!" He dropped little Ree, and stood staring at the girl as though she had been the Gorgon's head. The night after you left," continued Sarah, "he came to the island and brought her brother with him; and oh, it's dreadful doings we've had here ever since, sir! She married Mr. Vincent in the drawing-room there?he got a clergyman from Whlthaven, and I stood in the door and saw the ceremony with my own eyes. And then she ran away, unbeknown to any of us, and we haven't set eyes on her from that hour to this. You've come back none too soon, sir?we are all in fear of our lives from Mr. Vin"? She saw him stand one moment, tall, terrible?more like an image in stone than a living man. He did not utter a sound. Motion, breath, life itself seemed suddenly stricken from him. Then, while Sarah was yet speaking? ? ' JOM ^ _ ?i a he reeled, and went down like a log to ' the floor of the hall. The girl's shrieks, combined with c little Bee's, Instantly brought every * soul In the house to the spot. "He's fainted!" gasped Sarah. "Who'd have thought it of such a ? strong man! I broke the news too suddenly." c Mrs. Otway, creeping on hand and * knees to the side of her prostrate mas- r ter, looked breathlessly into his rigid face?put one trembling hand on his heart. f "God have mercy on us!" she cried; "it is not a faint?it is death!" A stealthy step sounded in the poroh ^ ?a hand cautiously pushed back the main door. t Vincent Hawkstone peered into the r half ?Vincent Hawkstone, who had j. follbwed his cousin's boat all the way ~ from Whlthaven. "What's the rumpus here?" he ask- c ed, hoarsely. fl "Oh, he's dead!" screamed Sarah, be- f side herself with fright. "Mr. Basil Is t dead!" With a smothered exclamation, Vln- $ Cent sprang Into the midst of the ter- c rifled group. For a moment, Indeed, he a shrank and trembled; then he gathered v courage, and, bending over the fallen t man, examined him closely. When he c lifted himself again, his wild face was c all aglow with sudden, evil triumph. j, *Ies!" he cried; "It Is, doubtless, j. dlweaee?of the latent, unsuapect- J j ed kind. Prince Lucifer * Is, Indeed, c dead, and I am now the master of Tern- c pest Island!" To be Continued. 1 _ t HOPE OF THE BUSINESS. 0 F \ Create a Thirst In the Boys to Perpet- x uate Saloons. t A statement to the effect that a r member of the Ohio State Liquor I league had made a speech urging the d creation of the drink appetite In boys v has appeared in a number of papers f lately, nmong others In the Saturday t Evening Post. Representatives of the c liquor Interests have vigorously denied o the statement In letters to the Post, 1 which Is led. In Its Issue of'January 25th to publish the affidavit of the man e who heard the speech. The following communication appears In the Post: Editor of the Saturday Evening Post: Dear Sir: i notice the liquor dealers deny the statements which you published concerning their effort to create an appetite for liquor among boys, and herewith submit an affidavit of the man who heard the statements In question. The affidavit is in words and figures as follows: State of Ohio, Ross County, ss. Personally appeared before me, Wilbur (r. Hyde, notary public in and for Ross county, one Robert Wallace, who, being duly sworn according to law, deposes and says: That on or about the fourteenth day of February, in the year 1874, he was present in Wlrthweln's Hall, Columbus, Ohio, at a meeting where representa- s tives of the liquor dealers were present ' discussing their plans. At that meeting one of the represen- 1 tatives of the liquor interests spoke on matters of Interest to the saloon busi- ^ ness and its success. He closed the statement with substantially these words: "The success of our business Is dependent largely upon the creation of appetite for drink. Men who drink liquor, like others, will die, and if there is no new appetite created our counters will be empty, as well as our coffers. Our children will go hungry, or we . must change our business to that of some other more remunerative. "The open field for the creation of appetite is among the boys. After men have grown and their habits .are formed ^ they rarely ever change in this regard, and I make the suggestion, gentlemen, that nickels expended in treats to the c boys now will return in dollars to your r tills after the appetite has been form- c ed." 1 Affiant further says that he made a t record of the statement in his note book r at the time. Further deponent says i not. Signed, R. H. Wallace. t Sworned to before me and subscribed in my presence this sixteenth day r of December, A. P., 1907. \ Signed, Wilbur G. Hyde. j Notary Public in and for Ross county, r The affiant, R. H. Wallace, at the t time of said meeting in Wlrthwein's t Hall, which he personally attended, was z pastor of a prominent church in the I city of Columbus. He is now a super- t annuated member of the Ohio confer- I enee of the Methodist Episcopal church. For a number of years he has lectured i extensively for the Farmers' Institute t of the state, and has not hesitated ( everywhere in his lectures to quote the I utterances made by a representative of r the Liquor Dealers' association, and no < particular diligence would have been I required for the liquor dealers to have i learned the above facts long ago. I W. B. Wheeler, i | Superintendent and Attorney. i iUiscoUancouo ilradimi. WHY CONGRESS LAGS. Effect of New Office Building on House Attendance. There Is little doubt that the grip of 'the committee system" on legislation vill be strengthened jn the lower >ranch of congress by the recently :ompleted office building of the house >f representatives, says a special wasningion uurreai'uuueui m mc i fork Post. The Influence which thlsl milding Is to have upon the dally atendance of the house Is already ap>arent. From this time forward It nay prove difficult to maintain a quoum, and work on the floor will be conined to even fewer men than heretoore. It Is twenty years since James Bryce >olnted out what he conceived to be a veakness of the American system of egislation in the house. The influence >f the standing committee has grown ilnce Mr. Bryce's criticism of 1888 in 'The American Commonwealth," and vere he rewriting that work today here is little doubt that he would cite he location of the office quarters of epresentatives as one reason why nembers generally do not take a greater interest in the proceedings on the loor. Lack of space in the capitol building nade it impossible to supply more than l limited number of members with ofice rooms. There are now sixty-one :ommittees of the house, and the ihairman of each of these committees las had one or two rooms in the capl?-** r?r?AOAo o now rvfflno mlldlng was completed a few day? igo, and now each member has at east one room. Many of the standing ommittees have been transferred from he capltol to the office building, and >robably not to exceed thirty comnlttees will have quarters In the caplol. It Is a walk of nearly five minutes rom the floor of the house to the ofIce building. The new member finds out that the oeasure under consideration has been Uscussed at great length In the comnlttee which reported It. It comes to he house accompanied by an elaboate report, In which Its merits or denerits are set out a great length. Poslbly hearings on It have been held md those most Interested given a hance to speak their minds for or igalnst it. The anxious listener, fresh rom his constituents and determined o let nothing slip through that will be nlmlcal to the people of his district, llscovers that the members of the ommlttee that reported the bill are in , sense specialist of the problem with vhlch It deals. He learns that In deendlng or opposing it these members >f the committee will be probably the >nly ones entitled to speak. Unless It s ..a subject that specially Interests ilr^for has a direct bearing upon some ndulfry or thing in his district he will onclude probably that he does not are to remain for the debate. Thus his Indifference begins, and in he end he will be found spending lit9 le time on the floor. He will be there, if course, when the opposing chamtions clash in debate on questions di'iding the parties. He will be there vhen his own committee is fighting o sustain its report. Probably he will lot be absent when a particular clause n an appropriation bill, in which his listrict is interested, is reached. He rill be-on hand when appropriations or rivers and harbors and public luildings are being made. At most ither times he will permit his assoclites to see to it that the general pubic weal is conserved. A southern representative said reently that the new office building vould enable him to do twice as much rork as formerly. He had in mind the crltlng of letters and the sending of locuments and seeds to constituents, rtany members who were always on land at the opening hour now spend hat hour in their rooms. At 1 o'clock hey drift over to the capitol. If anyhing of interest is up for discussion, hey may remain, but usually their 'isit to the capitol is not to spend time ?n the floor, but to visit the house resaurant. Giving each representative an office oom has one advantage. It makes it ./loonnom,, ooov in "Innate" the v hereabouts of a representative, ieretofore whenever there was a call if the house the sergeant at arms sent lis men scurrying all over the city in learch of the absentees. It was necestary for the house officials to know mmething about the habits of each epresentative, where he was accusomed to loaf at a particular hour, vho his intimate friends were, etc. Cow that every member has an office t is likely that it will be easier to ound up the absentees. If the missing epresentative is not in his room, it is nore than likely his secretary will be ible to indicate where he can be ound. This applies not only to the louse officials, but to others who are inxlous to see representatives and who leretofore have found it difficult to enow where to begin their search. TRANSPLANTED EYELASHES. Another Way In Which Art Improves On Nature. In Paris and London, where the idea riKlnatetl, there are specialists who nake a handsome living out of the process of tmnsplanting hair from the lend to the eyebrows or eyelashes. Only he brave and rich can patronize the lew method at present, for, besides beng painful and costly, it takes a long: inie to accomplish it. Tlie specialist works by putting in, lot on. the new eyelashes and eyebrows vherever they are absent or grow thin, ind so cunning is he in his work that lot even the closest scrutiny can deeet any difference. By means of the lew process, it is said, eyes which are it ordinary times only passable become anguishing in their expression, while >yes which were previously considered Ine have their beauty much enhanced. This is the way new eyelashes are nit in: An ordinary fine needle is breaded with a long hair, generally a ken from the head of the person to je operated upon. The lower border if the eyelid is then thoroughly cleanMi, and in order that the process may se as painless as possible, rubbed with i solution of cocaine. The operator :hen, by a few skillful touches, runs his leedle through the extreme edges of the eyelid between the epidermis and the lower border of the cartilage of the tragus. The needle passes In and over along the edges of the lid, leaving its hair thread in loops of carefully graduated length. When this has been done another and another length of hair is sewed through the lid until finally there are a dozen or more loops projecting. Hy this time the effect of the cocaine has been lost and the operator is obliged to desist and put off the further "sewing of hair" for another sitting, j The next step in the process is cutting off and trimming the ends of the loops, and the result is a fine, thick, long set of eyelashes. It is the finishing touch that is to come that makes them look ' like nature's own. When they are first ] cut they stick out in the most singular < fashion, giving the person operated upon the most uncanny look. The oper- i ator's next step Is to take curling tongs 1 made of silver and no larger than knitting needles, and to give them the 1 oiiri-o u-hlr?h i? ?x?>n>lnJ to nerfect < beauty. Then the eyes are carefully bandaged and kept so until the following day. Most of the hairs that have been transplanted take rdbt and grow, but a few of them fall out and have to be attended to. For the first month it is necessary to curl the new eyelashes every day, but after that they become properly assimilated, and It is not necessary to give them any further atten- 1 tlon. Eyebrows are doctored in the t same way, but there Is not so much I pain associated with the process as in ' transplanting eyelashes.?Health. KINGS OF TODAY. 1 Just What Do They Think of Thsm- ' selves. The kings are In front just now. ' They have been gaining upon the statesmen In popular imagination for some years, and at this moment few ' speeches by cabinet ministers are read with the Interest attached to the care- 1 fully-worded utterances of sovereigns ' on their travels, and no actions are 1 studied so closely as their usually very ' rapid movements. It is difficult, as 1 one reads of their visits to each other, ! and ponders the meaning of their 1 friendliness, not to wonder a little what 1 they think of themselves. Though so often in evidence, they ' tell us very little about that, and the 1 world has to gather it up from obser- '' vations not often accurate, nor always 1 even keen. Do they really Imagine, as ' is 90 often assumed, that they stand between the statesmen and the higher ( powers, holding In special charge the 1 safety of their peoples? We may be * sure that they themselves reject the cynical explanation that they must ' reign by divine decree, for nothing else 1 could explain that fact of their reign- 1 ing at all; but do they offer, in moods 1 of reflection and self-communion, any * other explanation to themselves? The 1 German emperor probably does, for, ' through the rise of the Hohenzollerns ' to the very top has been somewhat * sudden of late, his house has behind it 1 a long line of successes so amazing as 1 to suggest the intention of Providence ( that the family should succeed. Rosbach may be accounted for by the gen- 1 ius of the great Frederick, but the ldio- ' cy in Versailles which made Rosbach possible suggests something of overruling Providence. Moreover, the kaiser must be allowed to be a man of very exceptional ability, and fully the equal ( in statesmanship of any of his ministers. His great rival in European dignity, the Austrian kaiser, may also believe thut he is on his throne by the will of j heaven, for with his descent from ( Charlemagne, through the husband of Maria Theresa, he represents, in the ( picturesque, if not the real sense, the ( terrible majesty of the old Roman Cae- ( sars, who, as De Qulncey showed, when ^ they reigned, reigned alone, without rl- j vals to criticise or opposition to em- ^ barrass them. The Russian ruler makes j his claim more and more definite as ( events seem to cast a doubt upon it, ^ and it may be that, like his father, he i holds that God must specially guide ^ him, for he can find in himself no adequacy for his overwhelming task.? ( London Spectator. , MUSIC AND* MUSICIANS. I "Great Art Welling Up From Noxious 1 Puddles." 1 A dauntlessly anonymous writer has 1 been constructing for himself a quite 1 extensive mare's nest by questioning the culture of our friends the musicians. He thinks too often they're cul- 1 tured in one spot only. And at this he ' marvels as likewise does your clerk. ' How comes it that an artist whose - - ? __j i music "dissolves me into esctacies hjiu brings all heaven before mine eyes" 1 will nevertheless engage in incongrui- 1 ties at the monkey house? Or again, ( whence comes the phrase?all too true?"as stupid as a tenor?" ' Sometime, if I'm not careful, 1 shall ' say some pretty ferocious things about 1 music. Every way I look at It, It fools 1 me. Such persistence In iniquity is not ' to be borne without counterblast. I 1 read an interview with a prima donna in which to every question she sapl- 1 ently replies. "Yes, on the whole, but ' not altogether." This makes me mad. ' I corner a basso and ask him what he ' was thinking about while lifting four ' thousand people to the utmost pin- ' nacle of Paradise. He says he was thinking how his collar* pinched. Yet 1 I had fancied he possessed the soul of 1 a Dante, the mind of a Plato, the ( many faceted genius of a ShakesTT~ o 1 mnot fronq. peart?, ne wm uio^ucu, uuuvuv ~ figured?seemingly. And so I am forced to swallow a palpable lie. Music, great music, may and frequently does proceed from a heart as arid as New Mexico, a brain as blank as the Sahara, and a character belonging of right to numskulls, boors, and gutter pups. The art that apparently wells us from "the abysmal deeps of personality may spring merely from shallows or noxious puddles. Clearly, this is all wrong, and something ought to be done about it. I have bestowed considerable ratiocination upon the problem, and at last arrived at a solution. Let us clean out the entire race of witless and uncivilized musicians and fill their places with better. The big brained authors of best sellers, the deaconlike daubers of Impressionist paintings, and the profound delVers amid the various catacombs of learning (for names and addresses apply to Mr. Owen Wister) ?such chaps as these would warble and play to us without upsetting our intellectual composure. Between the noises they would make and the culture they would exhibit not even brother Jim Huneker could detect want of harmony.?Boston Transcript. ANNUAL COTTON CONVENTION. Big Meeting to Be Held at Dallas, Texas, February 19-20. The attention of the cotton growers of this and other states la being called to the annual convention of the Southern Cotton association, which will meet at Dallas, Tex., February 19th and 20th. It is not unlikely that this section of * the country and of the south will have a worthy representation. Important facts about the meeting and the subjects to be discussed are contained in the following call, sent out by President narvie juruun, 01 ine anHuciaiion, irom the headquarters at Atlanta, to a prominent officer of the organization In Charlotte: "The regular annual convention of the Southern Cotton association will be held at Dallas, Texas, on February 19th and 20th. This will be one of the most important conventions to the cotton growing and business Interests of the south ever held In the history of the association. Subjects will be discussed and addresses delivered on every leading phase of the cotton industry. "The welcome address on the part of the state of Texas will be made by his excellency. Governor T. M. Campbell. Other principal speakers on leading topics of Interest will be such well known men as R. T. Millner, commissioner of agriculture of Texas; John L. Spurlin of Hamilton, Tex.; W. D. Nesbit of Birmingham, Ala.; John D. Walker, Sparta, Ga.; F. H, Hyatt, Columbia, S. C.; E. D. Smith, Lynchburg. S. C.; S. N. D. North, director census bureau, Washington; W. R. Dobson. director agricultural experiment station, Baton Rouge, La., and other men cf prominence and wide familiarity with the questions which are now of vital Importance to the cotton grow- Ing interests of the south. "Questions pertaining to warehousing, financing and marketing the cotton crop will be fully discussed and steps taken to improve existing methods and conditions. Checking: the credit system md stressing the necessity for diversified agriculture are also questions of prime importance at this tiqae. The enactment of state and Federal laws which will confine trading in our large cotton exchanges to a strictly legitimate basis is a matter of vital Importance at this time, and should receive the attention of the best posted men in the south. "Large delegations should be present at the convention from every cotton growing state in the south, and especially should the great state of rexas send hundreds of representatives. The people must rally and stand tor their rights if they expect to make progress in the future marketing of their great staple crop. Farmers, bankers, merchants, manufacturers and all (.vocations In the south Interested in the fight the growers are making to maintain good prices for the cotton crop, are cordially invited to attend this convention whether they be members of the Southern Cotton association or other jrganizations. "The convention will be held under the local auspices of the Dallas Commercial club, of which Hon. John Q. Hunter is secretary." LOOKING FORWARD. Consul General of Panama Talka About the Canal. "The Panama canal wil be finished, it the nrosent rut* of nroirress. in less :han seven years," said Arnold Shanklln, American consul general at Panama city, Panama, "When I first went to Panama, two years airo, the most optimistic of persons estimated that the dirt would be removed for the big ditch at the rate of 1,0)0,000 cubic rards a month. Those who suggested this were looked upon as dreamers; pet in the last two months the dirt iias been flying at the rate of 1,800,1)00, nearly twice as much as It was thought possible to take out when the work was actively begun. At this rate the bed of the canal will be ready for the installation of the locks and ilams in a little more than six years, rhese dams, as is well known, will be the largest ever constructed. It has been estimated, I believe, that the concrete to be used In the building of the dams would be sufficient to build a. row of houses of eight rooms each utretrhlne In a double line from New York to Philadelphia. "I do not pretend to know whether the work can be done better or faster by contract than by the government; but after watching the army of men at work I cannot see how it would be possible to do better or faater work. At the Culebra cut three levels are being worked, and cars are hauling the dirt away as fast as they can run. It would not be possible, I believe, for a :ontractor to do any better. The Culsbra cut is flanked by two hills of about 500 feet each, one of which, tradition says, Balboa ascended when he discovered the Pacific. At any rate. It is called Balboa hill. "There has been a wonderful improvement in sanitary and social conditions in Panama since work began on the canal. Previous to the coming of the Americans there had not been a single year in 400 that yellow fever had not made its appearance. In the last two years there has not been a single case. It used to be impossible to sit on one's porch because of the mosrjuitoes; now they are scarce enough to be almost a novelty. Hundreds of young' women who iuhc ?<jhg iu Isthmus with their husbands and fathers have added much to the gayety of the place, and this has led to more enjoyable social conditions. From a barren, unattractive spot Panama has become a modern, thickly settled, and pleasant place to live."?Washington Post. XV The South sea island fisherman throws into the water a poison extracted from a certain bark. The fish, stupefied, at once come to the surface, and are gathered in by hand. Their flesh is quite as wholesome as though they had been netted. tar By his will a rich land owner, nomoa Rioinn who has died in Leon newltz, Saxony, leaves a large property to the military authorities, which, In case of war, Is to be sold, and twothirds of the money given to the soldiers who capture the first standard from the enemy, and the third part to the first soldier who captures a gun. m