The Aiken recorder. [volume] (Aiken, S.C.) 1881-1910, August 09, 1889, Image 3
I
m-'ji
The Cry of the Dreamer.
I am tired of planning and toiling
In the crowded hiv * ol men;
hart weary of building and spoiling
And spoiling and building again,
i And I long for the dear old river
j Where I dreamed my youth away
War a dreamer lives forever,
i And a teller dies in a day.
I am sick of the showy seeming,
Of a life that is half a lie;
Of the faces lined with scheming,
In the throng that hurries by.
IVom the sleepless thought’s endeavor,
I would go where the children play:
War a dreamer livee forever.
And a toiler dies in a day.
I feel no pride, but pity
For the burdens the rich endure;
There is nothing sweet in the city
Bat the patient lives of the poor.
Oh, the little hands so skilful.
And the child mind choked with weeds,
' The daughter’s heart grows wilful.
And the father’s heart that bleeds.
Ho, no! from tha street’s rude bustle.
From trophies of mart and stage,
I would fly to t ha wood's low rustle,
And the meadow’s kindly page.
Let me dream as of old by the river,
And be loved for the dream alway;
For a dreamer lives forever,
And a toiler dies in a day.
—John Hoyle O'Reilly.
A DEADLY ENCOUNTER.
I have often met old hunters who
have heard of battles between the
gnz/.iy bear and the immense, tawny
panther of the Rocky Mountains; but I
have only once knowm a man who bad
such a combat.
Sergeant Roscman of the —th United
States Cavalry, whom I met in Wyo
ming while on a hunting expedition in
*86, told mo of a fierce fight between
“Old Eph” and two mountain lions
which he had “umpired,”—as he put
it. —near Caspar Mountain several years
before.
At that time he was stationed at Fort
Fetter man. A party of citizens had
come out from St. Paul, Minn., to
hunt the big game, then so plentiful in
Eastern Wyoming, and the sergeant, one
of the best hunters in his regiment, was
allowed to go with them, tak ng a small
detachment of soldiers to look after the
camp, and take care of the game, The
party had been hunting elk among the
foot-hills of the Caspar range, and near
the great ragged mountain which is
their chief feature, when the adventure
befell him.
“1 killed an elk,” said he, “early one
morning, and as I otten did in a region
where there were grizzly or silver-tip
bear^t I left it where it fell, for bear
bait. There is nothing the big bears of
this region aro marc fond of than a
freshly killed elk or a black tail. I had
already, at one time and another, shot
•even bears by baiting in this way, and
by the bodies of the dead
ibiy in the branches
ah es ‘cr lying upon the top
of some high reck within a few rods of
jour bait, it isn’t juch a desperate ad
venture, the killing of a grizzly. A
good gun, using heavy ammunition, de
cent makmanship, and a steady nerve
are all that is required. If you are fresh
at the business though, you probably
won’t fret a great deal if the bear fails
to come.
“This time I had killed an elk in just
such a spot and with just such sur
roundings as I would have selected could
I have had full choice. I shot it in the
act of drinking at a small baun of water
in the bed of a canon, which cut back
into the foot of old Caspar Mountain.
The side of the mountain on either hand
was jutted with deep gorges leading
into the canon. Quaking asp thickets
clustered around the heads of these ra
vines, while the bottoms, wherever vege
tation could take hold, were grown to
wil'ows, currant and bullberry bushes.
It was just the place for bears, and their
sign wav as plentiful as I had ever seen
it anywhere.
“The spot was only a mile from our
camp, and wh<n I came in from my
hunt,—for we huntei singly or in twos
or threes as the notion took us, —I
found three of the St. Paul men taking
a late dinner. I told them of my suc
cess, and invited them to go with me,
and lie in wait for bea.'.s that evening.
They declined, declaring that they
hadn’t lost any bears, and, therefore,
didn’t feel called upon to hunt for’em.
I was we’-ctme, they said, to gether all
the stray grizzlies in the region, and put
'my particular brand ou ’em.
“So about three o’clock I went up to
my bait alone. I found it undisturbed,
perched myself in the crevice of a ledge
of rock some thirty yards distent, which
position I reached by making a ladder
of dry poles that lay among some drift
of a recent ‘washout.’ My hiding-
place was prrfectly safe from the attack
of a bear, shou d I ba lucky enough to
lure one within shot, as it was fully
fifteen feet from the base of the ledge,
at a perpendicular height.
“I found the crack in which I could
stretch myself at full length, such a
comfortable place that I concluded to
watch nil night, provided no bear came
to my bait so nor. I had not long to
wait, however, before I was treated to
the most thorough and thrilling sur
prise of ali'my hunting experience.
“I had lain, perhaps, an hour, and
the sun had just sunk behind the moun
tains back of me, so that their shadows
had crawled over the tops of the lower
ones in front, when I heard the sound
of soft footfalls just on the other side
of a fringe of bullberry bushes, which
skirted the stream above the spring
where my elk lay. I pricked my ears
and looked sharply for the
game, which from the muffled sound
I took to be two or three bears running
down the canon.
“I had no time to speculate upon the
nature of the animals before there
bounded in sight two big tawny moun
tain lions! They were lacing down
the canon, jumping sidewise and run
ning against each other in a way that
was, no doubt, intended to be p’ayful,
and I was just about to stopone of them
with a shot from my rifle when in the
Same breath each of them caught a
scent of the elk’s carcass and came to a
sudden halt.
4 ‘They stood for a moment with heads
erect, ears pricked forward, and tails
switching eagerly, their yellow eyes
gleaming and scintillating, the white
spots on their breasts offering a splen -
did target if I had csrod to shoot at
once. They we:c fine, sleek animals
with glossy coats, far more imposing in
looks and much larger than the pan
ther of the cast and south and I was
anxious to bag both of them, which I
thought I might make sure of doing
if they attacked my bait, as I might
easily bore them bath with a single shot
from my Winchester express if they got
in range.
“They hesitated but an instant, a few
seconds rather, then leaped the channel
of the stream with catlike jumps, ar.d
approached the elk which they cautious
ly sniffed with pointed noses. I re
joiced at the prospect of securing two
such magnificent cats.
“One of them, the larger and a male,
came up to the bait first,snuffed it bver,
licked the fresh blood about the neck,
then with a sudden proprietary air he
mounted the carcass with his forefeet,
gave a satisfactory purr, that sounded
like the muffled drumming of a
partridge’s wings, and switched his tail
about with a snapping motion at the
cud, just as a cat with a fresh-caught
mouse in her paws might have done.
“The female took her turn at licking
the bloody neck, and snarled her cat
pleasure at the prospect of a gratuitous
feast. They d d not seem to be in the
least hungry, for they made no move
toward devouring, but after snuffing
and examining the game for a bit they
sat about scratching leave i and dirt over
it, with the evident intention of pre
serving or hiding it for future use.
“Thinking my time had now come,
I shifted my position carefully, and
brought my gun to bear upon them,
waiting only for an opportunity to make
one bullet kill or cripple them both, as
1 feared that the unhurt one would get
out of sight before I could get a fair
shot at it.
“Suddenly, the big one threw him
self upon the elk with a harsh snarl, his
hair rising on end, his ears laid back,
and his tail switching viciously as he
layAA fall length- his head turuv
from me, evidently watching some o!
ject down the canon. The female, too,
advanced nearly beside him, her hair
sticking out like bristles, and her angry
snarling was deeper and more threaten
ing than his.
“At first I could see nothing of the
intruder against which this fierce threat
ening was launched, but I more than
suspected its nature, and my excitement
rose. Either another lion or a bear was
approaching, I felt certain, and so it
proved; it was a grizzly, and one of the
largest I had ever seen!
“He reared himself suddenly out of
the bed of the little stream, only a few
yards from the lions and the elk. He
had been traveling up the bed of the
creek,—as bears often do in a shallow
stream.—and attracted by the snarls
of the lions who had heard
him coming had emerged to see what
the fuss was about.
“To my delight he took in the situa
tion at a glance and without a minute's
hesitation he shambled toward the bel
ligerent cats, mingling his hoarse
growls with their savage snarlings.
‘T had heard that the mountain lion
would not run from a grizziy, but did
not believe it, and despite the fearful
threatning of the two before me, I ex
pected to sec them give way as the mon
strous bear came up. Imagine my as
tonishment when, as the grizzly charged
within leaping distance, both of the
panthers sprang upon him instantly.
“I could not properly describe the
scene which followed. Both brutes
pounced upon the grizzly tooth and nail
and closed with him in such a fury of
savage outcries as made my hair rise,
and my whole body prickle with intense
excitement.
“The grizzly reared as the two ani
mals struck him; as he came up into a
sitting position upon his haunches he
shook the female lion from his shoulder.
But the male lion held him by the
throat, his twany body lay along the
bear’s body, and his hind legs were
working with lightning-like speed and
strength.
“The bear opened h’s mouth wide,
and roared as he turned his head side
wise and downward, and strove to catch
his antagonist’s neck with his teeth. He
failed in his attempt, but at the fame
moment Lc caught the lion's body
just below the shoulder iu a
clutch of his terrible claws, which
seemed literally to flatteu the animal
between t hem.
“The lion relaxed his hold of the
bear’s neck, threw back his head, and
sought to writhe loose from the bear.
It would have gone hard with him, had
not the female lion by a desperate
spring fastened herself so strongly upon
the back of the bear’s neck that he was
forced to drop the male and turn to her.
Over and over they rolled about
the elk carcass. They clawed, ) bit
and tore at each other with deep,
muffled snarls and growls. Sometimes
the bear was on top of a lion, and again
both lions were on top of him.
“The grizzly would gather one of
them suddenly in his huge forearms,
bear it down upon the ground in the
effort to crush and bite the life out of
it, then feeling the teeth of the other
which would invariably seize upon the
back of his neck, the infuriated mon
ster would loose his hold and whirl up
on that one.
“Som, in one of these whirls, he
caught the sma ler lion and gave her
such a terrible bite tefore the male’s at
tack—which was from behind as usual—
cculd induce him to release her, that
she lost ‘sand’ completely, and slunk
limping away, evidently badly hurt.
4 *The male lion immediately took the
defensive, dodged about the grizzly,
and leaped easily out of reach of his fu
rious charges. I saw that bruin had the
best of the fight and was likely to main
tain his advantage; and as I was far
more anxious to secure the tremendous
beast than I was to get the lions,
I opened fire upon him
with my Winchester,, and gave
him a ball behind the shoulder as he
turned broadside in one of his rushes
at the lion. Luckily the first shot killed
him.
“The lion, more frightened at the re
port of the gun than he had been at the
bear, bounded across the creek, and
though 1 fired two shots at him before
he got out of sight I missed him. The
male got off scot free, as I do not think
the bear had given him more than a few
scratches, but I followed the fenr’e
and overtook her in a crippled condi
tion some half a mile up the canon. A
single bullet killed her.”—Youth's Com
panion.
How Hair-Cloth is Made.
Many pe ople understand, of course,
how hair-cloth is made, but for the edi
fication of those who do not, we will
explain the process. In the first place,
horse-hair cannot be died. It repels
coloring matter; so to make black cloth
it is necessary to secure natural black
hair. The horses, in many cases abso
lutely wild, running unrestrained, are
regularly coralled and shorn. Of course
black hair is preferable, but sometimes
gray stock is utilizad. Not only the
tails, but also the manes are cut; the
hair is bunched. These bunches seldom
contain hairs of less length than two
feet; some are even three and 3£ feet,
and the thickness of the bunches is usu
ally two or three inches. The hair
cloth looms are provided with what we
may call a nipper, in place of shuttle,
and the nipper is so finely actuated that
it travels across the warp and seizes
nf
Moor
to its
it, snuglj
per travels^
so on and or
human accural
ate hair is plac
threads is redly'
sterer.
A Whaleboat for Sal
The whaleboat the
tends sending to the
Mataafa, is a gorgeous al
Washington letter. The
seems, know nothing of boat
although they are an island peb]
are much of their time at sea.
wonderful endurance in the water is
to the fact that their boats are so fral
being little better than rafts lashed to
gether. So this whaleboat is just going
to be the finest thing in the way of a
wha'eboat ever seen. Three naval offi
cers, survivors of the Samoan disaster,
are to take it cut—and all the survivors
arc shaking in their shoes, each man
fearing that he will be selected. They
have all had as much of Apia as they
want.
Teritably Coining a Joke.
Coining jokes is a very common fig
ure of speech, but we know of only one
instance in which a joke was coined,
struck from a graven die and issued
from a legal mint. The fact it histori
cal, and is as follows: In the year 1679
the Danes advanced with a large force
upon Hamburg, but after a siege of con
siderable duration, seeing but little
hope of ultimate success, they finally
withdrew and marched back. There
upon the Hamburgers caused a medal to
be struck in commemoration of the
event. On one side of the numismatic
curiosity was the inscription, “The
King of Denmark came before Ham
burg. What he gained by it will be
seen on the other side.” On the other
side there was a total blank.
Chinese Bank Indicated by Umbrellas.
The four highest ranks of mandarin
in Chi in are entitled to a red silk um
brella with three flounces—the smaller
nobility may have only two. Gent le-.
mcn-commoners of the tw'o highest ranks
have a red state umbrella surmounted by
a gourd-shaped knob of block tin. The
two next degrees have the knob of wood
only, though painted red. Then comes
the fifth rank, whose umbrella must be
of blue cloth with a red painted wooden
knob at the top, and only twa floum
The governor-general of a provij
heralded by two great red
las.
A UNIQUE FARM.
A Georgia farmer Who Raises
Oposs^jps for Market.
More Than feven Hundred of
the Animals on His Place.
ion, is the proprietor
ue and remunerative
It is the “Lime Creek
A few miles wiest of Griffin, Ga., is
the home of Mr. William Throckmorton.
Mr. Throckmorton, sayi a letter to the
Atlanta Constit
of the most
farm in Georgii
’Possum farm.’
On the very
hill is a comfo
by beautiful shi
of the hill is a pi
through the veify
persimmon grove
board fence. Th£
interspersed with
it of a well wooded
>le cottage surrounded
trees. At the foot
ptty branch, running
mtre of a ten acre
□closed within a high
persimmon trees are
a quantity of old hol
low trees and he How logs planted in
the ground. Th s is the ’possum farm.
It was in the espy afternoon when we
arrived, and to tne uninitiated the farm
appeared to be anlin>Tnense fruit orchard
bearing an oblonglwhitish sort of fruit
dead / limbs of the
stem. But ap -
_ tive. It was not
seven aad eight hun-
hangmg from the
trees by a long^
pcarances were
fruit, but betwe
drod ’possums taking their afternoou
siesta. Our par ty were somewhat unac
quainted with th s habits of the Georgia
’possum, and con equently plied question
after question tc our highly amused
hosts. I now coi isider myself an expert
on the ’possum, md here is what I
learned and saw:
The ’possum, v hen desiring to take a
nap, simply climl s the most convenient
tree, walks out c a a limb, wraps his
tail one and a h ilf times around and
swings his body out into space. H:s
legs and feet are Irawn close into his
body and his heac drawn up between
his shoulders until it forms an almost per
fect ball and appear* to be a great pear
covered with white \ fur.
The sun was slcnMy setting below the
distant pine moun tuoLS and we were
still gazing at cThe qu^fif objects in
amused wonder whqn a half dozen* fl&tle
’possums emered from the pocket eff
their mother, ran up!) her tail and com-A
menced playing on the limb abave. In
a few minutes this marsupial stretched
her head and then her fore feet out. She
swung herself once or twice, grabbed
her tail with her forepaws and climbed
up it to the limb, which she caught
with her claws, untwisted her tail and
pulled up. Hardly had she balanced
herself when the half dozen young ones
climbed into her pock
from view. She then cl
tree.
and were hid
ibed down the
?rc than
had awakened and
from the trees,
each one made for
id then run up the
ch they were to be
sizes,
[pound,
les at
Some would
while others
thirty. The
igry, utters a sound
ttween a mew and a
hundred ’possums
|ck that the ground
between them, and
been forced upon
rger. All were ut-
souad, reminding
ridiers moaning over
^neral, when through a
| a wheelbarrow,heap-
of trash and slops—
peelings, vegetables,
aread. As he hove
among the ’possums
leeding time in a me-
[ittle ugly animals
ched and hit at one
| negro had scattered
|ic wheelbarrow over
although it was
ranted to eat in one
|s, and there was con-
ratching and biting,
last long, for the ra-
jnsumed by the great
and they commenced
ingly contented, and
he persimmon trees,
rsimmon season the
’possums are not ILd at all, for it is on
this fruit they bci ;oine rolling fat and
ready for market.
Mr. Throckmor ;ou will probably ship
five hundred to ewtcin points and the
Georgia this winter,
him one dollar each,
and he makes quike a good thing out of
it, as they aro practically no expense to
ig to Atlanta and
they are generally
dressed, but the i lajority go to Wash
ington and are shipped there alive. The
large shipments ti. Washington are per
haps due to the aFcrago Southern Con
gressman’s fond ess for 4 ‘baked ’possum
and ’taters.”
ano
the
the g
well sea
place just
sidcrable
But this did
tions were soon
drove of ’possur
to disperse, see
this time climbed
During the
c.ties throughout
They will average
him. In shipp
Georgia points
A PnlplflMUionnire.
A minister of tie gospc who is daily
seen on Fifth avofnuc taking an airing
and enjoying tha promenade is, says a
New York letw to the Philadelphia
Times, Dr. Jc^HHall, who has made a
million out^^^K pulpit, and who is in
every seus^^^H fashionable clergyman
of thej^^^^H you happen in his
murning and know
le various pews, and
lancial rating in Wall
| count enough money
an aggregate fortune
Fini and foremost
in the congregation is a little old man
with a brownish red beard who is re
sponsible for Dr. John Hall’s coming tc
America, for be it known that Hall it
an Irishman, and like many other* of
that favored land has a copious flow of
choice words. This little old man is
Robbert Bonner. Bonner heard him in
Dublin one Beautiful Sunday morning
and was so struck by his oratory that he
called on him and invited him to come
to America. This Dr. Hall did in time,
and today he is the leading pulpit ora
tor of this city, with an income ranging
anywhere from $75,000 to $100,003;
$20,000 is paid him as pastor of the
Fifth Avenue Presbyterian Church;
$10,000 more is paid him by Mr. Bon
ner, or rather his sons, for a weekly
contribution to their story paper.
HU wealthy congregation gives him
$10,000 a year more in gifts, and the
wealthy young men and the wealthy
papas of the upper ten in New York pay
him magnificently for his services in
marrying their sons and daughters. He
has managed by investment to accumu
late $1,000,000, yet he gives liberally
to the poor and supports numerous char
ities. There is, perhaps, no preacher
in the United States who is so inde
pendent as he. Like all true
Irishmen, he loves plenty of out
door exercise, is a good walker,
and believes in the good things of this
life. With Mr. Bonner he frequently
bow’s through Central Park, and he
knows a good horse nearly as well as
that expert. He lives in a gorgeous
house, surrounded by every luxury and
a routine of servants. His library is a
revelation, even to men who love books,
and from the stiff-necked butler who
admits you at the door to the smallest
and most unimportant persons in the
house there is evidence of solidity and
wealth that is encouraging to young men
who wUh to grow up in the ministry.
Trout Can Remember.
“Some time before the death of Seth
Green, the celebrated New York fish
cuiturist and naturalist,” said a Phila
delpkian who takes great interest in
piscicultural matters, “I paid a visit
with him to the fish hatchery of that
state at Caledonia. In one of the ponds
there at that time there were 5000 large
foi^ok trout, every one of which had
been captured with the fly—tied on
barbless hooks—in unfrequented brooks
in the Adirondack region. These trout,
Mr. Green said, ha<S, convinced him that
fish have reasoning uower and memory.
When they were Rooked, and were
reeled slowly in by th<Kcareful fishermen
who were capturing the^a for the state
pond, they had time aadVoppoi tunity to
note the form and characteV of the tackle
that made them prisoners, t According
to. Mr. G^cgn tli§y n\
pCiience.
“The trout had been in the pond a
long time, the females never being
allowed to spawn there, and would fol
low Mr. Green as he walked along the
edge of the water, tossing bits of liver
into the pond. To show that his theory
about their memory and reason was cor
rect, he would carry a cane and fish rod
concealed behind his back. If he took
the cane from its concealment and held
it out over the water the fish paid no
attention to it, but the moment he pro
duced the rod with its reel and line
attached away the trout scampered like
a flash to distant parts of the pond. Mr.
Green told me that he would permit
any one to cast a fly in that pond to his
heart's content, as he was satisfied that
not one of the trout would come near
it, so vividly did they remember their
enemy of five years ago.”—Philadelphia
Press.
Emperor Kwang-Su.
The young Emperor of China can
scarcely be said to have attained happi
ness with his exalted position. The
Queen Regent, an ambitious and arbi
trary woman, has succeeded in making
the life of her nephew even more’ cut-
and-dried than that of most sovereigns,
and one can scarcely wonder that
Kwang-Su is subject to fits of passion,
during which he declares that he will
not be an Emperior, but will escape
from Pekin, if necessary, and work in
the fields.
His studies consume about nine hours
a day, and, at one time, it was his con
stant pleasantry to beg his tutors to
allow him a sight of their watches. No
sooner were the articles produced than
Kwang-Su dashed them upon the
ground, and stampei on them, arguing
that the tutors would not know, next
day, at what time to come.
The Emperor is never alone, anl, as
we are told by a traveler 4 ‘From Pekin
to Calais by Land, ” there is always a
retinue following the royal prisoner, to
remind him what to do; to tell him, for
example, at 4 o’clock, when he is en
joying his favorite pastime of fishing,
that at 4.15 he must take a walk, or go
deer hunting.
The Emperor knows very little about
the state of his capital, for, when he is
taken to drive, enormous sums of money
are spent, in advance, to prepare the
city for his eyes. The streets are
cleaned, rich s.lks and tapestries arc
hung upon the house-walls, and every
offensive object is carefully removed to
a distance.
European residents are warned to re
main within doors, as it is a point of
Chinese custom that no man, European
or native, may look upon the face of
this august sovereign. The doors and
windows of all the houses are accord
ingly closed, and the royal retinue
moves slowly along through the desert
ed streets.
THE CHINESE MIMES.
An Oriental Dramatic Company
in New York.
The Players, Their Wardrobe,
and Style of Performance.
A fresh illustration of the cosmopoli
tan character of New York city is
afforded by the appearance of a Chinese
dramatic company at the Windsor
Theatre in a series of select plays from
their own literature. Thespiaus in the
Orient are as prone to altisonance and
verbal splendor as our only P. T. .Bar-
num. Each organization styles itself
“The Heavenly Eloquent Company,”
“The Imperial Golden,” 4 ‘The Pros
perity and Beauty Fraternity,” or some
thing equally magniloquent. Our visi
tors are no exception, and call them
selves the Swin Tie i Lo, or Soon Han
Lok (“The Sublimest Company”).
It consists of nearly fifty male actors,
young and old, women never being al
lowed to go upon the stage. Minor fe
male parts are taken by boys and youths;
important ones by a class of actors who
have no counterpart in the American
dramatic world, but of whom “the
female impersonator” of good old min
strel days is the nearest approach.
Of this class the present company has a
notable representative in Tak-A-Wing,
who has long been considered a star of
the greatest magnitude. His voice is a
treble, almost a soprano, and from in
cessant practice, both on and off the
stage, has become permanent rather
than falsetto in character. The pecu
liar gait and carriage of the Chinese
woman, superinduced by bandaging
the feet as well as by circumscribed
modes of living, are with him second
nature, and he reproduces the actions
and manners which Oriental etiquette
forces upon the sex with a fidelity which
is remarkable.
A Chinese dramatic company is as
much a unit as a company of soldiers in
time of war. When they arrived in
New York they did as they do invari
ably, engaging an entire floor in a huge
warehouse in Chinatown, where they
cook, eat, sleep, study and rehearse to
gether. They practice unceasingly, and
do it in a way that would startle Amer
ican players. Any departure from the
precedents of their stage is met with
scolding and objurgation, fines, penal
ties of extra work, and where the of
fence is very heinous with corpoteal
punishment. Chinese actors are bom,
not made, and from the first time they
are permitted to appear, until they
have become capable and experienced,
their lives are a long experieuce of
harsh words, jiri “
sTFIpSs. “"They obtain their reward,How
ever, in wages that are higher in pro-
poition to money values in the east than
are the large salaries earned by the pro
fession in Europe and America. In the
Soon Han Lok the lesser lights receive
$10, the stars $50 and $100, and the
rest from $12 to $25 per week. As
their mode of living is inexpensive, and
as their admirers indulge in the pleasant
practice of presenting them with money,
food, tobacco and opium, their lot is
far from unhappy.
The “Sublimest Company” glories
most of aU in its wardrobe. Their
pride is somewhat justifiable, as their
many robes and dresses, armor and cos
tumes, although somewhat the worse
for wear and tear, are about as rich and
beautiful as anything ever seen in this
country. In the East, men’s attire is
remarkable for color and brilliancy.
The mandarin, the scholar, the noble,
the general and the high official has
each distinctive robes, not only for the
class to which each belongs, but also
for the occasion where it is to be worn.
The Sublime is thoroughly equipped in
this regard, having not only all the
standard articles of wear which belong
to today, but also the numerous styles
of the past. In the Faithful Vassal
they give in this way a very excellent
picture of Chinese life as it was centu
ries ago under the Tang dynasty.
As might be naturally expected, the
“Sublimest Company” have not drawn
great audiences of Americans to their
performances, and here as on the Pacific
coast, where they first appeared, they
rely chiefly on the patronage of their
fellow-countrymen. Americans who go
from curiosity to see them are quickly
satisfied, aad generally wearied by the
tedious ness of the action.
The Chinese people themselves look
down upon their actors more contemptu
ously than the British nation did in the
days when the term “player” was one
of reproach. For example, Wong Lau,
a wealthy merchant of the Chinese quar
ter, speaking of the company now here,
said: “Of course it is likely that we will
go to the theatre to see them, but we
go exactly as American gentlemen might
go to see a prize-fight. We have abso
lutely no consideration for the actors, and
not only have no knowledge of them
personally, but we would be rather
as]iam> d to acknowledge it if we had
any. With you Americans the line of
exclusion from society is drawn outside
of your first-class actors and actresses.
You might invite them to your houses,
but you would not so invite the lower
class of the variety stage. In our case
we exclude them all. If I should have
a party of friends at my house, and
should introduce an actor to them,
every one of them would consider him
self foully insulted.”
The chief play in the repertoire of the
new company, and one that has losff
been a favorite with Chinese th
goers, is Shee-Long Tan-Moo,
means “The Loyal Slave, or the
ful Vassal.” The play, which is
historical character, is of the age o
Emperor Tang Tai Zoon, who, aej
ing to tho chronology as compilj
the missionaries, reigned early
seventh century. It was one ol
most flourishing eras of the histaj
the country.—Harper's Weekly.
The Gyps lea.
There is a fascination about * 4 gy[
’ore” which is, perhaps, increasiui
felt now that these nomadic insurgej
are being gradually—slowly it may
but surely—absorbed by the environ!!
civilization. The altered conditional
modern society make their waaderi]
life more difficult; their language is
vaded by gaujo elements; mixed mi
r.'agcs attenuate the strength of the
many blood, and dotted over the mf
of Europe there are now little station^
colonies of house dwelling gypsies, wl
no longer take the road or “fold th^
tents like the Arabs.”
Tho gypsies have boon clearly visible
in Europe for four centuries and a hall
They have been the Jshmaclites of tl
modern world. If at the present ds
the law has ceased to treat them harsh!
the social pressure is probably greatel
so that it is now or never for those wb|
wish to make a scientific study of thet)
wanderers. The prosecutions of
Zingari have been many and bitterJ
Even in the last century they were ac-j
cused of cannibalism. To their foreign!
appearance and strange mode of lifef
they added the practice of arts that
were regarded as irreligious and heath-|
enish.
It will be news to many to learn tha
it was not until 1856 that, by the aboli
tion of Romany slavery in Dacia, the
freedom of the Zingari in Europe w<u
completed. Colocci agrees with othei
observers in regarding the gypsies at
practically destitute of religion, although
willing to adopt nominally the prevail
ing faith of any country in which they
may be sojourners. In England they
are Protestants, in Turkey, Mohamme
dans. Morally they are untrained chil
dren, indifferent to everything but th<
satisfaction of the desire of the moment,
whether that desire be the offspring
love, or greed, or hate.
While there is but little gypsy poetry
among the English tribes, the “gift an(
faculty divine" appears profusely botl
in Spain and in tho remoter parts o
Europe. The gyps/ sings the beauty ol
his sweetheart; apostrophises the suxi
and stars with heathen fervor, and celfrj
brates the success of the knavish ruses
by which he has mined an advantagJ
over the busno. ^Mial affection, alsq|
finds a place in^A songs. __
TheT!CnniEI^ujS7ffi?ntoftte ma
terial side of life, there is often a spirit
of profound melancholy manifested in
these lyrics. The Zingari have always
been famous for their love of music.
The estimate which gives the gypsy
race a miUion souls is probably far be
low the truth.—London Standard.
A Festival at Samoa.
A naval officer stationed at Samoa
writes in a recent private letter:
“The long waited for tolota, which
you may not know is a native festival
at which presents of food, etc., are
given by the people to the King, ac
companied with promises of allegiai
came off today, and I saw the
gather, all in best bib and tucker,
some cases a marvel of rich color. Here
is a tiputa in the most dazzling combi
nation of crimson and green satin, and
there a village maiden, abominably
ugly, but with such a headdress, a mass
of bleached hair standing on end, at
least six inches high, looking like
the puffy structure of the dandelion
flower, and decorated with shells; in
front aro two horn-like protuberances
adorned with pink and white feathe:s.
“The crowd is like ono of our own
on show days—universal; every man,
woman, and child in the place and sur
rounding country is flocking to the
spot. The fathers and mothers are
glistening with cocoauut oil; the! r hair
is firmly brushed on end aid scented
with sandal nut; and they wear stiff
lara- aras, or skirts, which bunch out,
and give them a curiously awkward
appearance.
“I don’t know-what you may hear of
Samoa now, but certainly Mataafa and
the Admiral are on excellent terms.
Usually the common people dance before
the King, but au especial honor was paid
the Admiral by the chiefs dancing,
something so unusual here that many
people had never seen it before. A very
grave, dignified-looking man this chief,
with a kind face and eyes that speak
very pleaytntly when he looks at you.
The gale has destroyed much fruit and
other products,and the natives will have
a hard time of it making both ends meet
for the coming season.
Philosopher as Well as Doctor.
Some years ago Mr. Bright told an
English friend that he had been consult
ing Dr. Kidd, mainly because Lord
Beaconsficld had said that the doctor
was more than a doctor—he was a phil
osopher. Dr. Kidd, Mr. Bright said,
had offered to come down to pass Sun
day at a house where he was going to
stay, in order to study his patient. At
that time Mr. Bright was suffering from
an inability to s eep. “Kidd,’’ he con-
tinuei, “took two books and placed
them under the legs at the head of my
bed, thus giving it an incline. Then I
slept, so I suppose Dizzy was right in
calling him a philosopher.