M Y SCHOOLMA'AM.
Her face was dimplcd, round and fair.
Her eyes were brown and mild,
And when I saw her teaching there
I longed to be a child.
But, when a youngster failed to mind
And thoroughly was spanked,
That youthful days were far behind
My lucky stars I thanked.
1893.
She set me in a lofty place.
And handed me a book,
Beliind whose pages at her face
I ventured ott to look.
And, as her pupils spelled or read,
I took a passing part,
Permitting them to leave oft head
The while 1 left off heart.
in.
UTUAL » LIFE
IN sURANc‘
COMPA
OF NEW YORK.
Now, I’m a candidate, Ifeel
A curious elation,
A wondering ’twixt woe and weal .
061' my examination.
0n passing it my heart is set,
And hardly can I wait
Till she and I together get
A joint cc1tlflcatc.,
HE Hendrick, in Puck.
[Copyright 1893'
by the Author.] '
Y F R I E N D
, Bracken, the
7, detective, had
4?” been overdue
several days.
When things
were normal he dropped in once a
Week, but in the course of our long in-
timacy I heard his light knock and
saw his gentle, melancholy face in the
doorway many and many an odd and
unexpected time. Ten days had now
gone by without a visit, and I was be-
ginning to wonder what could have
happened, when he appeared one even-
ing and dropped! into a chair witha
sigh.
“Where have you been this age?” I
asked, as soon as he was seated.
“In the great desert,” said he, look-
ing gravely into the fire.
“Nonsense,” said I. “Wake up!
There hasn’t been time for you to get
so far as to Gibraltar since I saw you
last.”
“I meant the great desert of London.
The Sahara is the great desert of sand;
London the great desert of man.”
“My dear Bracken,” said I, briskly,
“do drop that philosophic tone and
come down to earth and facts. What
have you been doing? Running a mur-
derer to earth in Westminster, or stop-
ping an eloping couple at Queens-
town?”
“Neither,” said he, shaking himself
up. “I have for the past week or more
been on a private job—a city case.”
“A private city case is nearly always
interesting. What would you like to
whet your whistle with?”
“I’ll have a brandy and soda,” said
Bracken, with another sigh.
I" got the brandy and soda, pushed
the cigar-box toward him and settled
myself back in my chair. Once Bracken
has been wound it is best to let him
alone. He does not mind a question to
elucidate what he is saying, but he
does resent anything like a goad.
“Last Friday week,” said he, after a
long pause, “I was sent for by Mr. Ed
ward Merrick, junior partner of Mer-
rick & Co., and son of Alexander Mer-
rick, the senior and only other partner.
“The business house of Merrick ("c
Co. is in Mineing lane. But I was in-
vited to call at the private house of
young Mr. Merrick in Thompson’s road,
Twickenham. Young Mr. Merrick is
about thirty-five, and married. His fa-
ther is between sixty and seventy, a
widower. and has a mansion on Clap-
ham common, where his ur 1111:111ied
sister, a few years his junior, keeps
house for him.
“‘For some time back,’ said young
Mr. Merrick when I saw him, ‘we have
been very uneasy about my father.
"When I say ‘we’ I mean the family,
which consists of my aunt, my wife
ASSETS, - - — $175,084,165,61
SURPLUS $15,168,233,94
OFFERS ITS
DISTRIBUTION POLICY!
AS THE MOST
DESIRABLE FORM
Ife Insurance!
Contract ever presented.
I'
FIRST.-——Experience has shown that as a purelyt‘finan-
. . . and myself.
hail Investment, the results cannot be equalled by any “ ‘Up to about three years ago I
.{new all my father’s business. He and
I wcle on the most intimate terms pos~
sible. lle 1eposed unlimited confidence
in me, and I had no secrets n om him.
He was the soundest and most steady-
going business man in London, and the
very last you would suspect of going
into hazardous speculations. The busi-
ness was then in a flourishing condi-
tion. Never had it been better; never
even so good.
“ ‘My father and I are now and have
(31701 been the cal y partners. Until
lately we a11vay s kept plenty of money
inhand. together with a large reserve.
My father owned as his private for.
tune about a hundred thousand pounds,
invested in first-class securities. He
was as cautious of where he put his
own money as the most careful trustee
with the money of ”another.
“ ‘At the. date I speak of, about three
years ago, a serious financial panic
seized the city. A period of overtrad-
ing and wild speculation had ended in
disaster. Men had been rushing blind-
ly into ventures which could not rec~
ommend themselves to any sane hu-
man being, and now at last the inevit-
able crash was at hand. Houses of
great respectability and standing came
down like bubble companies, and even
sober going trades were filled with ap~
prehension and consternation. Merrick
& Co. was absolutely unharmed—unafq
.fher safe method.
I SECOND. ——The security is absolute and the protec-
, .1 sought instantaneous. The moment the Policy iS
livered the Company is liable and is able and Willing
f meet the obligation. It has already paid to policy
lers over $270,000,000.1,
This is the Largest and .. trongest
1FE INSURANCE COMPA Y in the
orld Its premium rates are the
west safety considered and pay-
heats of its losses the surest.
,, 701m W. .Jw hole
- . \ any dubious venture, and we had not
\ lost a penny indirectly through others.
to that dreadful crisis I
I NEW HAVEN XX. . 1111:: peverything about my father‘s
ieneral Agent for Conn.
‘ d. 1!. Camp,
“If-cal Agent
'\ private affairs —- where every shll-
1 . ling was invested. In the mid—
dle of that crisis, a great change
came over the old man. He grew taci~
turn and morose. He withdrew his
confidence frOm me all at once, and
from that day to this has told me no
more about his private money matters
than you have told me about yours,
Mr. Bracken. l have indirectly learned
much. I know, for instance, that he
converted all his. first-class securities
into cash. I have no idea what he (lid
I Read the GAZETTE.
.\-
l
WEEKLY-LORWALK-UAZETT
1with the cash. He has drawn large sums
of money out of the business. more
than it can well afford, and now he has
given notice of a further withdrawal—
one which would cripple if not ruin
the firm altogether.
"‘The unaccountable part of this.
matter is that he did not begin this
. game until the speculative fever had
died out—until the crisis was at hand—
until'the crash had occurred. If he had
begun to realisedour years ago instead
of three, I should account for all by
saying he had been sucked into the
speculative whirlpool with many 'a.
good man; but the crisis cleared the
city of rotten concerns and fradulent
offers of enormous dividends, and since
my father began turning his securities
into cash there has been absolutely no
strong temptation for speculators.
“ ‘In addition to our other uneasiness
about my father I must tell you that
he seems to have completely changed
his nature. He used to be quite free
and open with my aunt. She knows no
more of him now than I do. He used to
be the most hospitable and liberal man
in his house; he has turned close, not to
say mean and stingy.
“ ‘I want you if you can to find out
what my father has done with his
money. Of course, Mr. Bracken, this is
to be a perfectly quiet inquiry with no
results but that of satisfying my own
mind. You are not investigating the
business of my partner, but the unaef
countable and distressing conduct of a
father for whom I would put down my
last penny—my life if necessary. I
want you to do nothing but to bring:
me some news which will put my mind
at rest, or at worst which will let me
know what is going on. I should not
take the extreme step of asking you to
help me only that if my father draws
out the money he is speaking of,‘
Merrick <52: Co. are very likely to put up
the shutters, and I want to find out
whether I an warranted in resisting
the withdrawal or not.’ ~
“ ‘And,’ said I, ‘have you no sus-
picion at all of what became of the
money?’
“ ‘Well,’ said he, with a look of great
distress: ‘I can think of nothing at all,
except that my father has in his old
age taken to a vice never indulged in
when he was young—gambling. If he
isn’t losing the money on cards, or dice,
or horses where can it be going? You
will, I hope, Mr. Bracken, conduct this
inquiry with the greatest possible deli-
cacy andsecreey. I would not for all
the world that my poor governor knew
anything of it.’
‘ “I promised to be more than usually
careful, and having obtaineda few pai-
ticulars to start with I bade Mr. Ed:
ward Merrick good-by. ”
“And you have, Bracken,” said I,
“found out the heart of the mystery
and Mr. Edward Merrick thanks
heaven he fell into the hands of such
an acute and discriminating detective.”
“I have found out the old man’s
secret, and it isn’t gambling, and none
of the money has been lost; and yet I
think Mr. Edward Merrick would soon-
er every penny had vgbne into the
Thames or the hands of the croupiers
at Monte Carlo than that I had to make
the report I ‘did on his father,” said
Bracken in a tone of reproof.
“Well, well,” I said, in a soothing
tone, “don’t be angry with me for my
levity. I did not know that your story
was to have atragic end. The old man
hasn’t had two wives has he? He isn’t
locked up new for bigamy?”
“He is not locked up now, but he is
very likely to be locked up soon, a1-
“HAVE BEEN ON A PRIVATE 'JOBLA’CITY
CASE.”
though I found no trace of a second
wife or even of one, barring the one he
buried years ago. ”
“I will guess no more,” I said, peni-
tently, , ‘and I am most anxious to heal
you out.”
“Young Mr. Merrick had given me
the name of his father’s priyate bank-
ers and his stockbroker, and the first
strange thing that I found out
was that when the stockbroker
sold stock for Mr. Alexander Mer-
rick, he, at the request of the old man.
always paid him by an open cheque. I
found out that these cheques were
cashed across the counter, by old Mr.
Merrick. and that the money was never
passed through his own bank.”
“That looks very fishy,” said I, “but
the man could not have been swindling
himself.”
“No. He was not swindling himself
or anybody else. The money is all in
one of the strong rooms of the Steel
Safe Co., and old Mr. Merrick is mad—-
:1. monomaniac. He is Quite sane on
every other point but that of the se-
curity of money. When the great
crashes took place in the city years ago
the old man’s reason must have got un-
hinged. Anyway he now thinks there
is no safe place for money but the
strong room, and When his secret was
found out he became violent and
had to be put under restraint in
his own house. It’s about the queer-
est case I ever had,” said Bracken, as
he rose and bade me goodnight.
—The oldest known ruins are those
of the Birs N imroud. The great mound
called by this name is supposed to be
the tower of Babel mentioned in the
book of Genesis.
-—Augustus was not the public bene-
factor he is represented. lie was the
most'exacting ta :1: collector the Roman
world had Lip-“to iiiis time ever seen.
They all read the Gazurra
v .:.«rtargsssnexjsrserisfrec7361111ij W‘WMW
1‘
MISCELLANEOUS.
—Hard, Lines.—Tom—“What’s the
matter? Torpid liver?” J aek—"N o;
Bilkins has been reading some of his
poetry to me.”—Detroit Free Press.
—Canoe, chocolate, hominy, maize,
opossom, tomato, tomahawk and some
others have come to us from various
Indian languages.
-—“I say, Weggie, lend me a five?”
“Sorry, old man, but I’ve only got
three.” “Well, lend me that and you’ll
owe me two!”—Wrinkle.
—-“Who was Louis XIV. of France?”
asked the teacher. “I know,” said
little Miss Fifthave. “He was the man
who made all our chairs.”
—Old Gentleman (to contented-look-
ing workman—“I am glad to see, young
man, that you do not think your work
beneath you.” Workman—“No, sir,
I’m a ceiling decorator.”
-—It is very pleasant to follow one’s
inclinations; but, unfortunately, we
cannot follow them all; they are like
the teeth sown by Cadmus—they spring
up, get in each other’s way and fight.
' --L. E. Landon.
-—Croft was an inclosed field, and in
various modifications gave its name to
Crofter, Meadoweroft, Ryecroft. Ban-
croft, which was originally Beaneroft, '
Berecroft, that is Barleycroft and Hay-
croft.
—An interesting inter-1acial game of
cards at Winnemueca. Nev., was rudeiy
disturbed—the account does not state
that it was entirely broken up—by one
of the players, an Indian, shooting and
instantly killing another Indian and a.
squaw and wounding a colored man, a
Chinaman and two other Indians.
—Heretofore the convict labor of
Minnesota has always been given to the
highest bidder, but at the last meeting
the board of prison managers found
themselves in a predicament that has
never existed since the state was or-
ganized, no bid having been received
from October 1, 1893, to October 1, 1895,
which places 400 convicts on its hands
with no work for them to do.
—In 1794 Joshua Pine settled on a
farm near Walton, N. Y., and planted
a. fine orchard. Although nearly nine~
ty-nine years ago when the trees were
first planted, they do not show much
- signs of their great age and a number
of the trees are yet vigorous, giving
ipromise of many years of life and
ifruitage. The largest measures 177])
inches in circumference, the next larg-
est 105 inches, and another 102 inches,
all of which are bearing a good crop of
fruit this year.
—Delaware has been turned into
something very like a great game pre-
serve. A strong association, chartered
by the legislature, has for some years
past been stocking the wilder parts of
11.; little commonwealth with the
finest game birds. The concern is in-
fluential enough to procure from time
to time penal legislation in protection
of its game, and, in spite of some pro-
tests from local sportsmen not mem-
bers of the corporation, these laws are
so strictly enforced that the game is
constantly increasing.
——The erratic Missouri river is threat-
ening, and will most likely soon ac-
complish, the complete destruction of
the town of East Atchison, Mo., on the
opposite bank from Atchison, Kan.
The stream has, been eating a new
channel for several months, and during
the past summer has washed away over
300 acres of land. It is now within an
eighth of a mile of East Atchison, and
the destruction of the little town, with
many thousands of dollars’ worth of
valuable pioperty, is regarded as inev-
itable, . Ld the people are moving aw ay
as 1ap1d1ylas possible.
——Mexican dollars in great plenty
have lately struck some Maine towns,
and there is much interested specula~
tion as to where they come from.
Thirty were taken in one day by a
Biddeford merchant, and they have ap-
peared in circulation in Lewiston, Ban-
gor and other towns. It is suggested
that hard times has brought out some
old miser’s hoard. Other suggestions
are more picturesque, but less likely.
Some of the smart folks are appraising
them at the rate of sixty-one cents, but
with many they pass at par.
—“One of the oddest pieces of work
We have yet had to do,” said a New
York typewriter, “came in the other
day. The manuscript, covering half a.
dozen loosely written small pages was
in a woman’s hand. It scheduled the
daily work of a domestic servant. The
request was that we typewrite it so as
to leave a wide margin on the right
side of each page. The lady had just
hired a Swedish servant who speaks no
English. Each item of the schedule
was to be repeated in Swedish Off-the
margin of the page, and the English
was typew1itten that the girl might
the more easily make out the foreign
words.”
-—The first settlement in Tennessee
was made by immigrants from North
Carolina, led by James Robinson, on
the Vv'atauga river, one of the head
streams of the Tennessee, in 1768.
It was on lands of the Cherokees, from
whom the settlers obtained an eight-
year lease in 1771. They there organ-
ized themselves into a body politic and
adopted a code of laws signed by each
adult member in the colony. Others
soon joined them, and extended settle-
ments down the valley of the Holston
and other intervening regions to the
Clinch and one or two other streams,
while others penetrated Powell Valley,
and began a settlement in the south:
west corner of Virginia.
——“One who goes on a pedestrian
tour nowadays,” said a man who has
just returned from a brief tour afoot,
“may be surprised at the number of
men he will meet on bicycles. The bi-
cyclist of to-day undertakes long jour-
neys with great confidence, and he
seems to find keen enjoyment on the
swift-moving, silent wheel. And it
may also surprise the pedestrian the
“ number of people he will meet driving
about the country. He may meet to-
day, for instance, two young men who
are spending their vacation in this
manner; hemay meet to-morrow a pros
. fessional man seeking rest and recrea
tion in the same way; the next day he
may meet somebody else; and they are
driving through the country ofl.’ the
beaten track and finding in nature a
rugged,smiling, strength-givin g friend.
Read the 011111111
4 “Dat goes, see?”
CHINESE PAINS.‘
Hospitals and Prisons Alike 9. Dia-
grace to the Celestial Land, '
PENAL
National Ignorance Governs All the Chi-
nese Institutions, and Neither Decency
Nor Humanity Have a Place in the
Treatment of Sick or Sinful.
The Chinese people are lawabiding.
With those of their own number who
are lawbreakers they have but little
sympathy, and the government has
none at all. . I like China. I like the
Chinese. Moreover, I respect them.
But in two details of their national
life they merit unqualified condemna~
tion. Their hospitals and their prisons
are unmitigated national disgraees. On
second thoughts, I withdraw the word
unmitigated. The Chinese hospitals
through which I went were almost
everything that hospitals should not
be. But the patients themselves would
most strenuously have resented any im-
provements along the line of their own
comfort. The savants of China are held
back by the taut ropes of public opin-
ion; they are enchained by the general
ignorance, as are their prototypes every-
where else.
The deplorable condition of the
Chinese prisons is justified in the na-'
tional philosophy. To the Chinese
mind a law is a thing to be obeyed.
A law concerns the millions and con-
serves the welfare of millions. It
must be held inviolate by the indi-
vidual, be his whim—his personal bent
—whatever it ”may. The Chinamanwho
disregards any item of the Chinese law
becomes a social leper. Individual-ten-
dency, moral ill health, inherited traits
—they-are.taken-into account not at all.
This is cruel? Yes! But it renders
existence possible in the overdensity
of Chinese population, a writer in the.
Pall Mall Budget says.
A Chinaman is forgiven nothing be—
cause of his ancestry, nor does he suf-
Ifer for that ancestry. From the mo-
ment of his birth each Chinaman has
an equal chance with every other
Chinaman. Rank is nowhere more
:venerated than in China. Nowhere
does it secure to its possessor more
,benefits, more privileges, but it is not
inherited. It is conferred by the em-
peror—conferred for personal merit or
for personal achievement. No China-
man is “noble” except through per-
sonal fitness. There are two excep-
tions to this rule—two only. The di-
rect descendants of Confucius have a
rank of their own. It IS a high rank.
It is respected. But it gives them no
power of interference with national.
affairs. The descendants of an em-
peror are never less than royal. But
they have no necessary power. In;
brief, then, in China “every man is
served-according to his deserts,” audit
is greatly to the national credit that
they who do not “’scape whipping”
are so very few.
A Chinese prison is called a “cangue. ”
Its outer door' 1s barred with bamboo,
and is . guarded by petty soldiers or
policemen. The “cangue” contains :
two rooms and two yards. One room
and one yard are for men. 'Dhe other
room and yard are for women. The
space set apart for women is very much
smaller than that for men. But the
women’s quarters and the men’s quar-
ters are alike in being entirely devoid
of any provision for personal comfort,
or for personal decency. 2
Chinese prisoners are by the gover 11-
ment pro ovided with absolutely noth-
ing but the space beyond which they
may not pass. If their friends thrust
food to them through the bars of the
prison fence the law does not interpose.
Otherwise the prisoners may starve
The law does not interpose.
I used to take food to the Shanghai
prison yards. I was not jeercd at. A
Chinese crowd is, I believe, incapable
of jeering at a woman. But I was con-
demned for it. And a high Chinese
official remonstrated with my husband.
I used to buy Chinese food at a cheap
chow-chow shop and when I reached
a prison fence hire a coolie to feed the
poor starving wretches. I did not
quite care to feed them myself. And it-
was quite impossible for them to feed
themselves. No Chinese prisoner can _
reach his own mouth, for his neck is ’
invaribly locked into a board which is
about three feet square. "It is very
heavy, and galls the neck. It blisters
or ossifies t he shoulders. The “pig-
tail”drags heavily over it, and pulls the
poor enlocked head uncomf01 tably to
one side. It prevents the hands from
lifting,rice or water to the craving.
mouth and from brushing from the,
tingling nose one of the m. "'I'wl insects
that infest the prisons and L.-.; prison
yards of China.
EVERYDAY EXPRESSIONS.
How They Are Being Improved as Our
Civilization Advances.
Capt. John J. Dalton is writing a
little book that is calculated to show
the improvement in ordinary everyday
expressions that is continually going
on, says the Cleveland Plain Dealer.
Capt. 'Dalton has given the subjecta
good deal of thought and attention,
having talked with several centenari—
ans to get a correct idea of the style of
conversation in vogue fifty, sixty or
seventy-five years ago, and also min-
gled with the people that you are -
likely to meet at a political caucus at
the present time. Here are a few ex-
cerpts from Mr. Dalton’s admirable
little book:
Style of 1835:
Improved in 1893 to:
we’ll blow one off.” .
Style of 1850: g,“My luckihas been
distressingly bad of late.” The mod-
ern expression: “I’ve been traveling
on me uppers for two or three weeks.”
Style of 1845: “I never was more sin-
cere [in my 'life." The present way:
“Will you join me?”
“Come on. and ‘
Style of 1860: “I fear I lingered too ‘
long at the wine table last evening."
Altered in 1893 to: “I shot in too many
geesers last eve.”
, Style of colonial days:
sary was easily vanquished. ” The mod- .
ern thing: “I guess I didn’t do a thing '
with that 1:5? ” .
The; read the liaznrrn. -
"“My adver; . . -
Norwalk Chronicler