.x-oyagc than ever before. 2 NORWALK‘GAZETTE, WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 12, 1890. SMILES AND TEARS. You meant to‘wound me? Then forgive. 0 friend, that when the blow fell, I Turned my face from you to the wall To smile instead of die. You meant to gladden me? Dear friend, Whose praise like jewels I have kept, . Forgive me, that for very joy I bent my happy head and wept. —-A. W. R. in Century. A DEBT 0F UNCLE SAM’S. I was making inquiry at the state depart- ment in Washington the other day about a debt which our Uncle Sam incurred on land and sea in the spring of 1800, and I felt much disappointed to learn that no steps had been taken to pay it—not even to acknowledge its existence. The French government is the creditor in this instance, and so much has oc— curred to excite the public mind in both countries since the date I mentioned that it has doubtless formed an excuse for our state department to perhaps pigeonhole and forget the matter entirely. ' In the fall of 1859 a man named James Shields, who hailed from Charleston, ap— peared in Boston and interested several capi- talist-s in a strange adventure. As near as I I pulled off I retreated to the hiding place I l I I was ever able to learn, for reasons which I ; will explain, he had located a treasure wreck ‘ to the cast of the Canary Islands—between them and the coast of Morocco. What papers he had is known only to the other members ')I the syndicate. He must have had a pretty plausible yarn, for they bought and outfitted a brig and sailed away on the search. I was = second mate of the brig, and all I knew about the voyage was that the articles read: “To the Canary Islands and surrounding waters and return.” The first mate knew no more than I did, and while the captain, no doubt. knew all about it, he was as mum as an oyster. Shields went along as passenger, and a man named Harper was aboard to act as agent for the others. While the object of the voyage was kept secret we had hardly cleared Boston harbor ; before it was understood by all that it was a treasure hunt. “"0 were in ballast only, had a full crew and one man over, and the chains and cables and diving bell put aboard all went to prove we were going to fish for dol— lars lying under water. It is a long voyage from Boston to the Canaries, but we had a fairly good run of it. Our brig was called the Swallow, and as she was a good sailor and well provisioned there was no growling among the men, when, at times, she lay heaving on the glassy seas without wind enough to flare a candle. The object of the voyage had almost been forgot- ten when thc islands were finally sighted. It was not until we ran into Simm’s bay, on the. eastern side of the group, that inter— est was again at fever heat. Here we took in fresh water, overhauled the standing rig- ging, secured fresh provisions, and were almost ready to sail away, when a large dhow, such as the Arabians use in the slave trade, and seemingly carrying a large num- ber of men, arrived in the bay and anchored within a cable’s length of us. The west African coast of twenty years ago was not traversed almost daily by the steam war ships and steamships of several nations, and the merchantman l::~ver felt perfectly safe outside the Straits o. ’iibraltar. TVhether this dhow was bound down the coast after a cargo'of blacks, or was cruising for nobler fry, was an enigma. “To carried an arsenal of small arms, but nothing in the way of cannon. One of our men, who was sent aloft for the pui‘pose, reported that he was certain the dhow carried two pieces of ordnance for- ward. The dhow came in about 10 o‘clock in the morning, and as soon as her anchor was ' down her boats started for the shore. “hat the errand waswe could not tell, but guessed they were after fruits. After dinner her captain was pulled aboard of us. Algerine, with as wicked a face on him as any pirate ever carried, and though he tried to render his visit very pleasant he left noth- ing but distrust and suspicion behind. One and all believed that he came as a spy. He asked, as was natural, our port of bail, whither bound, our cargo, and so on, and it was thought: best to tell him that we had been sent out by the American government lorcscue a crcwof American sailors ship— wrecked some time before about 300 miles down thccoa:.t. We had put in for water and repairs, and would soon resume our voy- age. This story scorned to satisfy him, and, after a lunch in the cabin, he took his de— parture. That afternoon he dropped out of the bay with the tide, and we expected we had seen the. last of him. “’e were all glad" ennugh to see him go, for no man aboard doubted that he was up to mischief. The next morning we were ready to sail, and now I learned more. of the Object of the British chart of the waters, and midway be- tween the northeastern island and the mouth of tho Draha rivcr ho had made a pencil mark. thethcr this stood for a shoal or a wreck I did not learn. At 5 o’clock in the afternoon, having held a course to the northeast since we left the bay, we took soundings and found bottom at five. fathoms. This went to show that Shields had marked a shoal. I heard the captain and mate talking about coming to anchor, but no came stealing down upon us from the cast, coming out of the blur which hung over the water as one might suddenly appear from be- hind a curtain. She wasn’t over two miles away when first sighted, and after a hurried consultation the brig’s head was permitted to fall off and we headed to the north with a light abeam. The dhow altcrcd her course to intercept us, at the same time signalling that she wanted to speak us. Her appearance created surprise and consternation, and when it was seen that she meant to lay us aboard a consultation was held in the cabin as to what should be done. A decision was reached very quickly. She could s’il two feet to our one, and it was plain that she could board us whether we consented or not. There was some talk of setting up the arms, but this was only among the men forward. The head of the brig was brought to the wind, and as darkness came stealing down over the sea the dhow came gliding toward us like a serpent approach- ing its prey. From the first appearance of the dhow I had no doubt that she meant us evil. I was ready to do my full share toward beating her off ; but when I was told that there would be no resistance, and when she was Within pistol shot of us, I entered the forecastle, and from thence, by means of a sliding door, in the bulkhead, passed into the hold. We were rock ballasted, and in the hold were a score or more of empty crates and boxes. I selected one of these as a place of refuge, having a plenty of matches to enabie me to see my way through the darkness, but waited a while to see what would happen above. I heard a hail from the dhow, another from above, and then a shock as the stranger came alongside. In a. moment, as I knew by the trampling overhead, we had been boarded by a large gang. Two or three pistols were fired, there was shouting and running, and after a few minutes I made certain that the Algerine had taken possession. Men began to rum- magu zhe brig, and as one of the hatches was . He was an'; for Malta. i Shields had a E ‘ the frigate was well rewarded. The remain- , . I fever. orocrshnd yet been given when the dhow I had selected. Three or four men came down with a lantern to examine the hold, and I heard them cursing away in the Moorish ' tongue because they found no cargo. It was now evening, and the wind had died entirely out. I crept out of the box and stood under the main hatch, and as the cover was partly OR I could plainly hear what was , going on, although I could not understand What was said. As I heard nothing from any of our crew I concluded that they were either prisoners in the cabin or had been transferred THE MOON’S INFLUENCE. HOW FAR DOES IT EXTEND OVER THIS GLOBE AND ,ITS OCCUPANTS? Recalling :1 Recent Warning of the Astrol- ogers—Its Efi‘ect Upon the Tides as Shown by Comparing the Present with the Ge- ologist’s Long Ago. to the dhow. Up to midnight the vessels lay, side by side, the flap of their sails proving a dead calm, but soon after that a breeze sprang up and we were soon forging slowly ahead. I heard them hailing from one craft to another, and I would have given a great deal to have been able to understand the tongue. It was my idea that they were go- ing to run the brig over to the Moorish coast as a prize, and that the crew would be sent into the interior as captives and slaves. This had been the fate of more than one crew ship- wrecked on that inhospitable shore, and at that very time France had a man-of—war on the coast and was demanding the release of fifteen sailors known to be held in captivity. The wind not only held light during the re mainder of the night, but came from the east ‘ and thus headed us off. I sat on the hard ballast under the hatch, wondering and plan- ning, but arriving at no conclusion. It was fair to presume that I had not been missed, as no search was made for me; but this was little comfort. If the brig was taken into some bay on the coast she would be thor- oughly searched and I would be dragged out. It would be only two or three days at the longest before hunger and thirst would drive me out. . Daylight was not half an hour old before I heard an alarm on deck, and it might have been another thirty minutes when the boom of a cannon proved that we had a signal to heave to. The brig was brought head to the wind, amid a great clamor of voices on deck, and then everything was quiet. I now made my way across the ballast to the sliding door, opened it a little to find the forecastle deserted, and I at once passed through. Not hearing any one immediately above me, I ascended the ladder and got a look along the decks just as a French naval officer came over the rail. I sprang up the ladder and rushed aft with such a speed that no one saw me until I was at the officer’s side Lying off to windward was a big French frigate, and alongside was one of her boats. Hanging in the wind, half a mile distant, was the dhow, with another of the frigate’s boats just boarding. On our decks were thirteen Moors—swarthy, ragged, and showing. the villain in every movement. The fellow in command was just opening his mouth to make explanations to the officer when I came upon the scene and shouted: “Lieutenant, that dhow yonder is a cursed pirate, and she captured us at dark last night!” “Explain!” he replied as he looked me over with curious eye. I briefly told him who and what we were, and the actions of the Moors corroborated my story. He called four marines aboard and sent the boat back with a message. The frigate had drifted down a, little near, and some of her guns had been cast loose. This was lucky, as all of a sudden the dhow spread her wings to sail away. He saw the frigate’s boat sent adrift, and afterwards learned that the boarding ofiicer was cast neck and- heels over the rail to take care of himself. It was a. desperate resolve with the dhow, and it might have succeeded at longer range. As it was she had not moved a hundred yards when boom! boom! boom! went the guns and we saw the splinters fly. She at once luffed up and let everything go, and another boat's crew was soon alongside. Everything was soon made plain to the Frenchman. “Then the dhow boarded usher hot headed crew were ripe for killing, and without the slightest provocation Shields was shot through the head. Harper protested, and shared the same fate, while one of the vil- lains slashed our captain across the face and gave him a wound which was months in heal- ing. The dead bodies were searched and thrown overboard, and the living transferred to the dhow. They were found in the hold half dead for want of air, and momentarily expecting to be led out and murdered. The Algerine was caught red handed, and could trump up no excuse. He and his whole gang were transferred to the frigate, a prize crew put aboard of the dhow and we sailed away I was taken very ill there and had no part in the proceedings. The captain, mate and one or two others were condemned and executed, and tho dhow was made a prize to the frigate. It was currently reported that a large sum of money was found under her cabin floor, and that every man aboard ing prisoners, numbering over forty men, were after a time exchanged for the ship- wrecked Frenchmen, while our brig sailed homo empty handed and much the worse off for the strange voyage—New York Sun. A Cultivated Little Blind Girl. B. F. Johnson, of Boston, was speaking in the Stratford, last evening, of a little girl, Edith M. Thomas, who is in Mr. Anagno’s Boston Kindergarten for the Blind. Edith is wholly deaf and blind at the age of ’2' years. Her afiliction followed diphtheria. and scarlet During the last three years she has been gradually losing her power of speech, and has been taking up the manual method. Her last intelligible word, “Kitty,” was spoken long ago, and now her articulation appears to have ceased. Her laughter rc~ mains perfectly natural, being merry and pleasing in its tones, and her crying is like that of ordinary children. Occasionally she says, in finger speech, “Edith, sing,” and their utters a succession of sounds, varying in tone but never very loud, although she can scream lustily. The man- ual alphabet has become so familar to little Edith that she uses it almost unconsciously. Even when falling asleep she will thus spell . out passing thoughts. The extent of her vo- cabulary is not known, but it is estimated to be about seven hundred words. The word “enough” was recently given her to learn, and an explanation of its meaning was sup- plemented by illustrations with a basket con- taining shells. After several ingenious trials to test the child’s comprehension of the new word, the teacher still remained, in doubt. A few hours later, however, Edith was asked at dinner if she had had enough, and she at once replied, “Yes.” Then, quickly correct- ing herself, she added, “No; more pudding!” Since that day she has used the word cor- rectly. “As you see,” Mr. Johnson concluded, “this case is similar to that of the late Laura Bridgman. ”—Philadelphia Press. A Curious Theory. The following novel statements in regard to pulmonary consumption are attributed to Dr. P. H. Kretzschmar, of Brooklyn: First, if there are many children in a family, those born after the sixth or after the seventh are apt to develop pulmonary consumption; sec ond, if the children in a large family are born at short intervals, say one year, the younger ones are apt to develop pulmdnary consumption; third, if the offspring of healthy parents, born under conditions named above, escape the disease, their chil- dren are apt to develop pulmonary consump- don—Herald of Health. Within two short years the pseudo scientists and would be “smart Alecks” have allowed their opinions to undergo a radical change. In redicting the ultimate fate of the earth theg no longer calculate that the sun’s fires will gradually burn out,and that the tempera.- ture will cool until the enlarging glacial zones drive shivering humanity towards the equa- tor, Where the remnants of the mighty na- tions will be crowded out of existence or perish from excessive cold. Neither do they profess to believe now, as they once did, that our water supply will eventually become ex- hausted. We are no longer hounded to death with the idea that the surface of the earth is diminishing and that the earth will subse- quently be devoured by the restless roll of the ocean. The astrologer who a few years ago warned us of the impending danger to Which we were being subjected on account of the perihelion of Uranus, Saturn, Neptune and Jupiter is, however, now in his element. It was in 1880, I believe, not farther back than 1878, at any rate, that this occult seer promised us fifteen years of suffering and death. Count- ing from the last date given, the time during which the atmosphere, according to his opin- - ion, will reek with baleful influences, is not finished by over three years. Hear what the communer with the unknowable says in re- gard to “Perihelion and Pestilence:” TRYING TIMES. “During the fifteen years following the year 1880 the vitality of every living thing will be put to a severe and trying ordeal. Evidence in abundance points to great disas¥ tors in the immediate future. “There will be excessive heat, unexampled cold and a prevalence of flood and disaster in all directions. We do not write to alarm any one, nor to make a sensation. Readers can judge for themselves what importance to at- tach to the subject. That the conjoint peri- helion of all the large planets of the solar system, one of which, Jupiter, is 1,000 times larger than our earth, must disturb our at- mospere and temperature very considerably is probable, that this disturbance must be in- jurious to health and life is certain, and that these periods have hitherto been pestilential is a. matter of record. How much we shall suffer during the next twelve or fifteen years depends very much upon how nearly we live in accordance with the laws of life.” In the estimation of the superstitious (the majority of the human race come under that heading, education and boasted Nineteenth century enlightenment notwithstanding) the prophecies of this unknown seer have, to a degree at least, been startlingly fulfilled. ances enough to be considered verifications of the wildest imaginings of this “prophet of evil.” The most disastrous floods and most vio- lent tempests of the last thousand years haye occurred since the “Perihelion and Pesti— lence” prophecy appeared in The Science of Health. Earthquakes have claimed 00,000 victims, and other disasters twice as many more. Seven comets “shook their fiery manes” during the season of 1881, followed immediately by a period of red suns and blue moons. “That effect, if any, the ex- traordinary aspect of our sun setting ina sea of fire, or of the moon hiding he. face behind a cerulean veil, has on terrestrial in- habitants the writer will not attempt to say; that in her normal condition she exerts a mighty influence for weal or woe he does not doubt. THE MOON AND THE SCIENTISTS. The great scientists and astronomers concur in the opinion that only the ignorant common people believe the moon to exercise an influ- ence over human affairs; only to tell us on the next page of monstrous tides invisibly put in motion and induced by the very agency sueered at in a preceding chapter. That our attendant satellite does exert a powerful in- fluence over our little globe may be inferred from what we know of its tide producing power alone. As our planet sweeps along at an unthinkable rate of speed it is drawn to- ward the moon very perceptibly, enough to produce tides on opposite sides of the earth’s surface at the same time. If these great mountains of water can be put in motion by the “pale white orb of night,” why should we not attribute it to minor influences, even though they be of a detrimental or pestilential character? De- nying the truth in the case can never help matters. “But how can the moon be the cause of tides in America. and in China at the same time?” some one says. According to the best authority on the subject of tides, that part of the earth’s surface which is turned away from the moon or sun has a smaller degree of attraction than the side next the luminary exerting the “pulling” power; thus, in effect, leaving the water be— hind, and producing a. tide on the opposite, as well as upon the side acted upon directly by the force of gravity. The moon is now 240,000 miles away; geol- ogists and astronomers tell us that there was a time when it was only 40,000 miles distant, only one—sixth of what it is at the present moment. The tides of today average all the way from three to fifty feet. Say that they are now three feet at the Eads jetties at the mouth of the Mississippi; What would be the result of the moon being brought five-sixths nearer, or- back to the old mythical 40,000 mile mark? Instead of tides being three feet at the mouth of the parent of waters, they would rise to a height of 648 feet! The whole of the Mississippi valley would present the appearance of a vast beach; St. Louis would be covered out of sight, and waves forty- eight feet high would flow through the streets of Chicago into Lake Michigan! The writer is not an astrologer, astronomer or sooth- sayer; he knows nothing of “divinations” or black art; does not even profess to believe that we are on the eve of a pestilential visi- tation, but will not deny behaving in moon influences—John W'. Wright in St. Louis Republic. A Comic Tragedy. From Joseph J efferson’s autobiography in The Century we quote, the following anec- dote of Forrest: “One Of the characters, be- ing overcome with nervousness reversed his lines, and of course receiving an absurd an- swer. The audience, recognizing the confu- sion of the dialogue, began to laugh, and of course this made matters worse. The act terminates with the Indians great speech to the-south, the loud cry of vengeance shall I be'heard.’ and here he hurls his knife into the center of the stage, where it quivers a, defiance as the curtain falls. In his anger and excitement the blade failed to stick in the stage and bounded into the orchestra, the handle hitting the double bass player on the top of his head, which was as innocent of hair asa. billiard ball, so as the curtain came down theold fellow was stamping about and rubbing his bald pate to the de- light of the audience.” ' minister was familiar in his palmy days. Surely we have had atmospheric disturb-' questions to Metamora, giving the wrong ‘From the east to the west, from the north, .LETTERS 0F FAMOUS MEN. Some Rare Specimens Recently Sold at u . London Auction. There is no place like London for buying oldautographs, old letters, old manuscripts, old books and old things generally. London 1 is a vast reservoir, in which somehow these things accumulate. Into one of these salesrooms I strolled a. day or two ago, allured by an advertisement in The Times. The place was the establish- ment of Messrs. Sotheby, Wilkinson 85 Hodge, on Wellington street, just at the end- 3 of Waterloo bridge, near the corner of the Strand. It isan establishment well known to the frequenters of literary sales, for Messrs. Sotheby have, any time these last 145 years, announced themselves as “auctioneers . of literary property and works illustrative of the fine arts.” A great sale was on at Sotheby’s—a sale of two days’ duration. It was catalogued as a sale of autograph letters and manuscripts, comprising fine examples of Napoleon, Bos- well, Mrs. Browning, William Blake, Cha- teaubriand and (mark the peculiar setting of these names) G. Eliot, B. Franklin, W. Haz- litt, T. Carlyle, \V. Irving, E. Kean, C. Lamb, IV. Pitt, G. “'ashington and L. \Vatts. There were “fine examples,” too, of Shelley and Tennyson, Voltaire, Salvator Rosa, Poe and Keats; “a fine series of letters relating to Dr. Johnson;” “some most important letters of Lady Hamilton and Nelson ;” “a valuable collection of letters relating to the Monmouth rebellion ;” a s-ries of Beaconsfield letters and letters from Lamb to Coleridge, the greater portion haviu g been collected by Mr. William Chisholmc, successor of Dr. Stowell as literary executor of Dr. Johnson. There were, moreover, unpublished letters of Dickens, manuscripts of Thackeray, and an origional score of Johann Sebastian Bach. There were many royalties, but royalties vere at a discount especially those of the Georgian era, whose epistles brought 53., 105., 15s. and 305. each. Georgian royalties were always cheap enough; they have scarcely any market value in these days. Even a letter of the fair Du Barry went for £1 55. There were something like a dozen Bona- partist letters, from Napoleon the Great to Napoleon the Little, and their uncles, cousins and their aunts, but nobody seemed to care for these imitation imperialists whose letters found a slow sale at everywhere from 93. ton guinea a piece. A letter from Louise de la Ramee, other,- wise “Ouida,” followed at 105. O’Connell’s brought 32s. A letter from Pope Pius IX brought only 95. The first large price was given for an autograph poem by Shelley. This started in with a. two guinea bid, and was knocked down at £23. A letter from Disraeli, written about 1835, attracted some interest as showing the finan« cial difficulties with which the great prime It was sold for 5 guineas. The Shelley letters, of which there were at least a. dozen and ahalf, brought good prices, one of them (giving many details of the family estates and fortunes) bringing £35 10s. Another, written just before Shelley’s death, brought £33 105. Here is a letter from George Meredith, written Dec. 17, 1850, on the eve of his first publication. It is addressed to Parker, his publisher: “By publishing I scarcely expect anything but loss. I know that a name must be suc- cessful before a book can. But to any achieve— ment some first step must be made both by the public and ourselves. In this first volume I hope to gain a certain position among those who best appreciate good poetry. Tennyson, whose name you quote, bad, if I hear aright, but a doleful beginning. And, if I mistake not, none but the judges took notice of his maiden volume. I do not Wish my poems to die without one bold stroke to save them- selves. If when left to themselves they have not vitality enough to survive, ‘thcn I am content they should die.” The highest priced letter at the sale was one from Byron, written at Ravenna in 1820. It mentions Mrs. Oplc and “Manfred,” it con- tains a number of rough notes for the first and second cantos of “Childe Harold’s Pil- grimage,” and it contains a sarcastic refer- ence to Southey. Thirty—eight pounds was the selling price of this letter. Other letters there were from John Bright, from Bulwcr, from Sir Thomas Grey, from Nelson, from Sir TValter Scott, from Southey, from Tal— leyrand, from TVellington and Addison. There were 332 “lots,” containing, besides the letters, autographs of almost all the celebri- ties of the last hundred years—London Cor. Boston Herald. That Short Weight Bread. The little, round, fat man with the gurg- ling laugh tells the story and declares his willingness to make the usual affidavit to its truth. It occurred in war times in Charles- ton, when that city was under martial law. Just then flour was a. scarce article and sev- eral of the bakers succumbed and made short weight bread. This came to the ears of the authorities and the provost marshal was armed with a pair of scales and sent around to the bake shops early every morn— ing to weigh the bread as it was taken out of the ovens. All short weight bread found was confiscated and carried away. This summary method of procedure had a good effect, and after a few confiscations the pro- vost marshal usually found all things regular. One morning a certain one of the bakers re- ceived the usual call from the marshal, and his bake was taken from the oven, weighed and found correct to an ounce. But during the night this man had surreptitiously baked a quantity of light weight-bread and stowed it away under the counters Just as the mar- shal and his detail were leaving the shop a pet parrot, perched upon : the top of a big cage, called out: “Look under the counter.” The marshal did so, discovered the light weight bread and carted it away after giving the baker a sound lecture. The man was so mad at his parrot that after the soldiers had gone he reached for the treacherous bird, wrung his neck and threw him into the gut- ter. But Polly was not dead by any means. In a few moments he opened one eye, ruffled up his feathers and staggered about rather blindly in the gutter until he came upon the carcass of a dead dog. Polly cocked his eye at the defunct canine and then said: “Say, partner, did you say anything about that confounded bread ?”—Chicago Tribune. Colloidal Cellulose. Guignet states in The Comptes Rendus that cellulose is converted by sulphuric acid of 50 degs. B. into a gelatinous transparent mass. which, when washed and dried, forms a milky solution with water. This solution con- tains colloidal cellulose, is unchanged on boil- ing and is slightly dextro-rotary. The cellu- lose can be precipitated from the solution by the addition of. salt, sulphuric acid or a large quantity of alcohol; it does not reduce cop- per solution and gives no coloration with iodine. If the water he evaporated and the residue touched with a drop of sulphuric acid the colloidal cellulose is transformed into the insoluble variety. Artificial parchment or parchment paper seems to consist of ordinary ' cellulose, in which the pores. are filled with this colloidal variety, and can be prepared from filter paper by coating both sides with a solution of the (-cliloidal cellulose, and then subjectizlglhnlmced paper to pressure be- tween 232:: pl; I. s. 0 I .THE ORIGIN OF BOODLE. 'I'Its ANCESTOR CAME oven WITH THE DUTCH OF NEW YORK. Its Genealogy, Like Its Meaning, IS a Trifle Doubtful—Bow the Word Is Used by Counterfeiters and Other Criminals—Its Present Sense IS of American Origin. Notwithstanding the genealogy of the word “boodle” cannot at present be definitely traced, its derivation can be pretty clearly fixed. The parent word, or root form, ap- pears in old English, Friesic, Dutch and Ger- man. The identity of these words is apparent from the similarity of spelling, sound and signification. The new Century Dictionary contains the word boodle. and refers. to a Seventeenth cen- tury word, huddle, which it says is the same as our boodle. It adds that, although the two words are probably one and the same,“boodle” may be a corruption of the word caboodle. This, however, is not a mnable hypothesis. as caboodle is itself a corruption arising from the old New England slang phrase, “kit and boodle,” signifying the whole lot. This was the original form, and the transform”. ion into “kit and cuboodle” naturally grew out of a mad desire for alliteration in sound. HOW HOLMES USED IT. The Seventeenth century use of the word huddle is illustrated in Markham’s “Book of Honour: ”“Men curiously and carefully cho- sen out from all the ‘buddle’ and masse of great ones for their approved wisedome.” The meaning here is the’ whole. Oliver Wen- dell Holmes, in the “Autocrat,” has the fol- lowing: “He wduld like to have the Whole boodle of them (I remonstrated against this word, but the professor said it was a diabol- ish good word), with their wives and children, shipwrecked on a remote island." Here again the word signifies the Whole lot. Al- though it is a “vile word,” as Polom'us would say, it is still a “diabolish good word.” It is not a nice word, but when the “Autocrat” was written, some thirty-five years ago, was still in good standing. Among criminals the word seems to have been first used by counterfeiters to signify the spurious coin. The “Dictionary of Slang, Jargon and Cant,” published in London, 1889, says the word is used in the United States among thieves to denote only counter- feit coins or bills. Technically it is never used to denote genuine money used for nefa- rious purposes. The “boodler” is he who carries the counterfeit or “queer” money, while the “shover” is he who passes it off. “At the first sign of trouble the boodle car- rier vanishes, leaving nothing to criminate his companion rogue.” Among confidence men of the species called in some places “Mag’s men,” the word is used to denote a roll of paper skillfully rolled in and covered by a greenback or bank note. The roll is used in their confidence games. Among gamblers “boodle” is sometimes used to describe the pile of coins gathered in by the winner of the game. It seems pretty certain that the word has been and is thus used among criminals with these technical meanings. In its evil sense “boodle” is defined as “money fraudulently obtained in public service, especially money given to or received by ofiicials in bribery or gained by collusive contracts, appointments, etc., by extension, gained from cheating of any kind.” And again: “booty, profit, per- quisite, plunder, commonly used with regard to government contracts, etc., by which the public are cheated.” It is also pretty well agreed that the word in this sense is of American origin. The “Dictionary of Slang, Jargon and Cant,” be: fore referred to, quotes: 1Twas Yankee Doodle once, I swore, 'But it is Yankee Boodle now., , Which sounds as though written by an American exile in Canada. But though its American origin may be allowed it has be- come domesticated in other lands. But while the word as we have it is thus identified with the cant of criminals, it still remains to show how the criminals got it. THE DUTCH WORD. “Boodle” agrees in pronunciation with the Dutch boedel, signifying estate, possession, inheritance, household goods, stuff, from which, so The Century Dietionary says, it may have been taken in the Elizabethan period in the general sense of the “Whole lot” or whole property. There is also a. German word beutel, signifying a purse, which corre- sponds, by the way, with the word huddle of the same sense sometimes used in England. There is a Friesic word budel, denoting an estate, especially a bankrupt estate, and there is also another Dutch word buidel, meaning a. pocket. The old English bottel, signifying a bundle, is probably of the same family. All these are cognate words and are either different forms of the same word or are vari— ations of a common root. It is not probable that the New York criminals, among whom the word “boodle” is first found, got it from an English source. The meaning of “huddle,” as used by Markham, or of “boodle,” as used bythe Autocrat, was not sufficiently fruitful of criminal suggestion to thieves and coun— terfeiters, although etymologists would find little difiiculty in establishing a family rela- tionship between the “boodle” of Holmes and the “boodle” of city councilmen and other gentlemen of easy virtue. But thieves are not troubled with etymologicalniceties. They take what they find, words as well as boodle, and the New York criminal probably found in the Dutch boedel, which came to New Am— sterdam with the Hollanders, a word which survived amid political and linguistic trans- formation, preservéd its meaning, “stuff,” and finally found its way into the criminal vocabulary and took on the technical mean- ing we have seen. From this, like a. river lost underground, it emerges when it is want- ed, considerably soiled, it is true, but still a most useful member of the family philolog ical. An examination of the Dutch influence in New York will probably strengthen this hy- pothesis of the origin of “boodle” as we use it. The word “stoop” will be called to mind by many. “Blickey,” signifying in New York and New Jersey a tin pail; “hockey,” denoting a. vessel made from a gourd, a Dutch word used only in New York, while “boss,” another significant word originating in New York city politics, is probably only another form of the Dutch baas, signifying master or overseer. There are, however, English words which may be the parent of this latter. Altogether it seems reasonable to believe that the Dutch boedle, wandering from its homely uses and put to the evil service of thieves and counterfeiters, has returned like the prodigal son to the company of its re- spectable brothers. The use to which we have put the word is one to which it has been fitted by its long experience among the criminal classes—St. Louis Post-Dispatch. Peach Toast. 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