The Times-Picayune from New Orleans, Louisiana • Page 12

00 She Ernie propane. NICHOLSON CO- PROPRIETORS KU E. J. WICHOLSOlf. GEO.

KlCnOLSOW. SUNDAY MORNING. Aid. 2. 1S91 THE XD OP TUB WOULD.

The recent predictions of Prof. Tot-ten, of Yale College, fixing the year 1899 for the end of the world, or the consummation of the age, naturally recall previous prophecies and forebodings on the subject. The apostles and the fathers of the church taught that the kingdem of Heaven was at hand in their own time, and the belief among Christians was general that the end of the world, as far as secular things and the travail and sufferings of the flesh, was soon to be realized. This doctrine was largely held during the terrible persecutions -visited upon tho Christians in the first two or three centuries of the Roman Empire. Gradually the belief in such a inal and terrible consummation faded away as men came to understand that, while the end of the world is near at hand to each individual, the prospect of any catastrophe to the planet on which they live may be far off, indeed.

The dark ages which followed the destruction of the Roman Empire mde up a. long period of ignorance and superstition. The transition from one religious, political Md soo 'yto another is always accomplished by reYolutions wbieh andf-stroy more than they build up. The destruction Ip-titutions. is often wnrlr of nnnnildinff ana r- is slow.

The darkest mart tne er the Middle Ago was the tenth century, and out of the ignorance and superstition which then prevailed grew up not a few wild and terrible beliefs. One of those was the notion that with the close of the tenth century the end of the world was to come. It was told to the people that the time for the unbinding of Satan was at hand. It was declared that the transactions set forth in the Book of Revelation, chapter -were now to be realized. Satan, who had been bound for a thousand years by the advent of Christ, was to be set free with the power to deceive the nations and to work his evil will upon the inhabitants of the earth.

The binding having taken place in the 'beginning of the Christian era, the loosing was to occur at the beginning of the 1000th year. Anno Domini. The year 999, according to contemporary historians, was looked upon as the last which men would ever see. There were signs and wonders seen in the. skies.

Meteors and comets blazed with baleful glare. Droughts and untimely seasons brought on famine and pestilence. As the dreaded time drew on people neglected their business. The land was left unfilled, the workshops were deserted. Crowds flocked to the churches and spent their entire time in the precincts of the holy edifices, sleeping in the porches and in doorways and corners.

In the midst of an almost universal alarm and anxiety about the terrible events in expectation, vice and crime spread like- an epidemic and reigned everywhere. But the end was not yet. and since the world recovered from that age of horror, there have not been wanting enthusiasts who have found in Holy Writ warEant for numerous predictions of the last struggle of human nature with the forces of nature and the powers of darkness, for it has always been held that at the moment tne unchained Satan would be wreaking his vengeance npon the wretched inhabitants of the sarth. they were to be further overwhelmed with pestilence, famine, earthquakes and all the other terrible visitations the perturbed and disordered physical energies of nature could muster to wreck and ruin our doomed planet. The basis of most of the lugubrious predictions is derived from the prophecies of Daniel and the Revelation.

Some hold that the world is to subsist or 0000 years or a week of labor and travail, 1000 years with the LorU being one day, ami at the end of the six days of work and trouble should come the Sabbath of 1000 years or the millennium. The 6000 years should expire in 1904, according to the common chronology, and so there is yet another century of probation. According to some the time of deliverance is to come wnen the tioiy City (Jerusalem) is freed from the rule of the Mahometans. It is, according to the book of Revelation, to bo trodden under foot by the Gentiles 42 months, the months being months of years, each year for a day. Thus 43 months of years would be 1260.

The end of this period of desecration, after it was taken by Omar in 636, should be 1896, a. date not far off. Some others hold to at Antichrist must come 2300 days, each day for a year, after the elevation of Arta- xerxes on the throne of Persia, which n4- nrt I f-t -w i.i mu luojuai -w u. uigu nuum bring us to 1900 A. a date only nine years away.

As te Antichrist, he has been variously identified. He was believed to be personified by Nero and others of the Roman Emperors who persecuted the Christians so terribly, Others found him realized in Mahomet and his. oi lowers. In the days of Napoleon First he was credited with being the master spirit of evil, while others found the dreaded sovereign in Napoleon Third. Some of the prophecies are very whimsical, like that of the astrologer Michael Nostradamus, who flourished in the sixteenth century.

He prophe sied that the end of the world would occur whenever in tho same year Good Friday should come on St. George's day, Easter on St. Mark's day and Corpus Christ! on St. John's day. This curious combination came to pass for the first time in the Christian era in the year 18S8, when April 33 was Good Friday and St.

George's day, April 25 was Easter and St. Mark's day, and Jane 24 was Corpus Christi and St. John's day. Among other dates set for the grand consummation were 1557 by Swedeii-borg 1838 by Johann Albreoht Bengel by William Miller, patriarch of the MillentcB 1SG6 by Dr. John Cumming, a well-known Scottish seer.

Now Prof-Totten. after th wu4v citiuuraio calculations, has fixed on the year 1899. Thns it will be seen that most of the predictors point to the last years of the 19th century as a period of great ino- iucui. auo uu ibi jr ui lilt) Coming great 'day has been often raised in vini but it may happen that when all re crying peace and safety the. end shall come.

Tho end of the century promises to be a most important period, and at the rapid rate at which political changes are taking place it would not be safe to predict any long immunity from great revolutions and social coa-ruMons. I he summer The Girl girl that every-Everybodt Likes, body likes is a treasure far any summer resort that has her. Sho is a jolly fellow and gets at the best side of everybody with astonishing rapidity. She need not be particularly learned in ancient literature only the old girls are expected to be up in that but she will be full of the" fresh life of te-day. The flowers of the present summer bloom in her cheeks; her talk is of the present era; it comes to her naturally, without previous study.

Sho makea others talk, and does not pretend to know all that is to besknown -herself. Guy de Maupassant says: "Women have neither caste nor race; their beauty, their grace and their charm serve them for birth and for family. Their native finesse, their instinct of elegance, their subtleness are their sole hierarchy, and make the daughters of the people the equals of the grandest ladies." The summer girl, liked by everybody, may be without pedigree. The fairest lilies grow from blackest mud. The queen of summer girls reigns supreme without question at the summer resort.

She does not depend upon her rich father, nor upon her dress makers for her position in summer society. She lands with both feet, and everybody likes her. Mr. Robert J. Bur-What He dette has been saying Would Do.

what he would do if he were a woman. Among many other things he says I shouldn't try to be a man. Cut that out and paste it on your looking-glass, daughter, and it will be an ornament of grace unto thy head, an(t chains about thy neck many times a day. I "shouldn't 6h adder and groan every time the name of the monster was mentioned, but I would studiously avoid acquiring the lightest of his many accomplishments and the best of his manifold ways. I should never learn to lay a lire in range or fireplace.

Every time I touched a lire, summer or winter, I would put it dead out. Then I'd never be expected to make one. The first loaf of bread I baked I would let drop on the dog and kill him. Then I'd never, be asked to bake bread again, and I'd get a new dog. When I descended into the laundry, I should manage to bring all the fancy flannels white as ghosts, aud all the white shirts as blue as the skies of uue.

Then I'd never be asked to assist at the wash-tub aain. If I had to sit on the front seat when asked to drive, I would carry a large sun-umbrella and gouge the driver's eyes out, and run the team into a fence corner the first mile out, Then I'd get tho back seat on the shady sido ever afterward. I would always sit sideways in a street car. Then I would have plenty of room. I would wear a carriage dress in a street car if 1 hadjio other place to show it I would smash something choice and expensive every time I swept a room or dusted a parlor.

Then I'd never be asked to do such work. In church I would never rise during the singing and never kneel during prayers. Then people would notice me and sav. "Who is that pretty girl with such lovely eyes At cricket and lawn tennis matches I would sit on the first row and raise my parasol. I would cultivate such charming helplessness, such hopeless innocence, such pretty, childish ignorance, such fascinating dependence, suoh dainty Baby ways, that people would say, "Oh, we must take care of her; she doesn't understand such things." Then all my life long I would be ooddied.

and fondled and cared for in a thousand ways, where more independent women would have for themselves. That is, daughter, if other women would care for such a sweet little bit of helplessness. Maybe they would. You know better than I do how women regard that sort of a woman. But you can gamble your peace of mind, your love of ease, and all your enjoyments ot life, that the monster man wouldn't torment the solitude of such women longer than a day or two, and she would thus be spared one of the greatest annoyances to which womankind is subjected.

The most predominant Girl From characteristic of the New York. New York girl, says a writer in the Ladies' Home Journal, is that she is always there. If it is a new book, she has read it. If it is a new-play, she has seen it. If it is a new style of gown, she has it on, and if it is the last new man to whom she has been introduced, he is pleading for an invitation tojcall on her.

She is healthy, because she believes in bathing and plenty of exercise. Her eyes are clear and if she walks a little too rapidly for absolute grace, you know it is because she has an ob ject in view, and she intends to gain it. She is slightly cynical. She has by no means an abiding faith in men, and she believes that "out of sight out of mind" is usually true as applied to them; consequently she meets them on their own ground, and, in her close-fitting tailor-made suit, leaves them victims on the field of coquetry, slain by a determined enemy and with weanons they don't exactly understand. Sho is nothing if not good form.

She must have a frock fit. and fit well, whether it be calico or brocade; but above everything else she puts her faith in the tailor-made frock. The figure of which she is so proud shows well in it, and her trim. well-groomed air demands it. She thinks the New England girl tiresome, the western one breezy and the southern one.

"a sweet little thing." She cannot THE DAILY PICAYUNE understand why women aro afraid to cross the street alone, nor why they should be ashamed to go in and get some luncheon and tip the waiter welL She thinks that southern men are magnificent, that western ones swirl one along and that New England ones are well enough to marry, if they have go money, but are not to be cousidered unless they have. She belongs to three or. four usually speaks Frencn well and is probably Per" former on the mandolin or banjo. She is straightforward. and yet she fully understands that linage was invented to conceal one's thoughts.

Her manners areirreproachable. Imitating her English cousin, she has subdued her voice a little, and if she attempts the English drawl she does it in a way that is rather fascinating. She is interested in no ends of charities and works well for them. She reads most of the novels, a great deal of the poetry, and has an opinion on every subject from'Tolstorto the best way to mend the thumb of a glove. Take her for all in all she is extremely interesting; she has enough knowledge of the world not to make mistakes when she is in it and of it, and she is enough a true-hearted girl to love her own people, her friends, and to be sympathetic with those who are in sorrow.

If she has a fault and I like her so much that I doubt it it is that she is a little too sure. She never questions hor ability to succeed. She has a bright way of saying "good morning," and an equally bright one of bidding one "good night." The New-York girl is a creature not too bright or good, but essentially a clever girl, who has gleaned knowledge from all over the world and who knows how to use it to the best advantage. Can you ask anything more Mr. Chauncey M.

Caixixo Dowtt Depew is a wonder-Chauncky. fully clever man. Ho has opinions of his own. He tells good stories and is very entertaining. He has a right to think well of himself, and he is so very popular that he is led to believe he is right in thinking much of Mr.

Depew. He is not a poet and does not think much of poetry. He is not altogether satisfied with newspapers. He likes them when they report his speeches, as a matter of course but he has no time to read editorials. He does not say that after diuner speeches should take the place of all current literature; but be linds no fault with after dinner speeches, aud he does object to many other things.

He tried to belittle poets and poetry at the Federal Club dinner in New York. This gave a chance for Edmund Clarence Sted-mau, tho poet, and in a subsequent lecture at the John Hopkins University he paid his respects to Mr. Depew, saying "Poetry, I think, is to retain, as of old. its literary import; and from time to time to prove itself a force in national life, and this in spite of the pronunciauiieuto of the distinguished Knickerbocker with whose epigrams and eloquence the Baltimore journalists next month will be so en-joyably regaled. I share the pride with which all Manhattanese, aud tho sons of Yale especially, regard the chief of our but I cannot read with equanimity his diagnosis and prognosis of the state of the poetic My alarm is lessened by the chance that he may be a better authority upon tho arts of post-praudial speaking and the art of charming votaries to 'tend him i' the eyes and make their bends Dr.

Depew said, at the recent Federal Club dinner, that the saying of a philosopher of the last century often has been quoted: 'Give me the making of tho songs of a people, and I care not who writes their laws' and his citation as to date aud phrase is sufficiently accurate for a party banquet. Not so, 1 think, his comment, to-wit 'The time has passed when the songs of a people any longer stir its enthusiasm or direct its policy. We have passed the singing This was received with though precisely for what cause of jubilation, at that dinner, it would be difficult to determine. Certainly it was an adverse omen for the great party of which he is an active, aud I an equally siucere, member, when so mauy of its songsters took their flight as if pressagiiig the only executive overthrow it has thus far experienced. He added 'The newspaper, in tho universal discussion twice a day of the priuciplea and of the measures of the hour, has relegated melody to the bard of the Dr.

Depew went on to deprecate even the newspaper editorial as rib longer a force, and declared that fethe people 'who have no time to editorials and are no longer moved by are taught 'by phrase, epithet and epigram' infereutially, I suppose, 'as struck off in the sparkling heat of speech 'across the' waluuts and the If this be so if we are all so hurried the libraries must also soon be closed, and all text-books, save those of maxims and proverbs, may as well be stricken from university registers. But is there not a class that dines' sometimes at home, and still reads even reads editorials that are worth reading by the firesidoT May not all classes be moved again by a song when occasion finds and moves the singer The newspaper itself, if it has somewhat diverted the strength of our minstrels, gives instant vogue to all good minstrelsy, carrying its strains to every household, and more swiftly than ever before. Nor does it stay, but rather enhances, the flood of imagination just now, as it happens, diverted to the channel of prose fiction, so that we see novels, even those not of the highest rank, affecting the economic and religious ideas of great peoples. Dr. Depew's learning and eloquence have gained for him the highest distinctions which Yale, the mother of universities, can bestow upon the man whom she delights to honor.

He has the allegiance of his fellow graduates, and among various presidencies holds that of the vigorous Yale Alumni Association of New York. Ho is a member of the Yale Corporation, that revered and conservative body, and the faet lends high significance to his public outgivings with respect to both the poet's song and the editor's essay. Yet I still believe that to doubt the unceasing power of imaginative literature, even the re curring force of the poet's song, is to stand in the undertow of a rising tide, and to declare that the waters are falling. It is to take one's little interlude solely into account. Oratory more reasonably has been termed a lost art, bnt our speaker's own career indicates that it was bnt a suspended habit.

And I am moved to say, without malice, that while the journalists cannot blot out the fame of a strong and genuine welldoer, whether poet or statesman and while they would not if they could the.ro is past evidence to show that a verse-maker-or other publio favorite, who is made by the newspapers, is liable to find at any moment ttrat they can still-more readily unmake him." NEW ORLEANS, SUNDAY, AUGUST 2, 1891. J.S THE AIR. Tame sparrow, not a twig moves Too light for thee. And eyes 'alert, no noise proves Too slight for tbee Though branches cover the deep And all around, With nervous head dost Mill peep Aud call around A creeping foot awakes now Thy motto lone Of "piok! away and fleest thou Thy grotto lone. New Orleans, August, 1891.

H. A. E. CQSTE MEDERA." I had been on a long tramp and was beginning to feel thirsty just as I came in sight of the Vineyard. Such a broad expanse of grape-planted hills, and at the foot them a cluster of warehouses, the wine-press, a commodious barn and an attractive dwelling-house.

This latter was fenced in all to itself with whitewashed picket, and was surrounded by a pretty little flower garden. In it grew a most gorgeous array of hollyhocks aud dahlias, scarlet poppies, marigolds and geraniums. One side of the'houso was hidden by the loveliest cucumber vines. They were all in bloom, and added to the beauty of things generally. I stopped to admire them.

Just then the lady of the house came out on the gallery. 1 supposed her to be a foreigner of some kind, of course "Jules Dessalio" was written on the door of the winery but 6he was a real goodnatured-looking little fat Biddy. Her sleeves were rolled up to the elbows, thereby displaying a most remarkable number of freckles remarkable as to size as well as to number. She greeted me as I did her with a smile. "What a nice garden," I said.

Her smile deepened; she took great pride in that garden. Gathering up her big apron which was berry-stained, she said pleasautly: "Come right in en rest yeself a bit." And in I went. "This," she said, "is me kitchen. I built it here so I could Bee what wnz Roig on outside sumtimes. Divil a bit of use a sattiug-room is to the loikes of me." The "kitchen" was as pleasant a room as I have ever? been into with such spotless floors and tables and shelves.

On the big French range were some pots; my hostess was making jelly. How delicious was the odor coming from those pots! I don't know how it happened: I don't know how it ever happened but somehow I always find out about every old woman I come into contact with. I never ask them the smallest question. I only look, as I feel, thoroughly interested. Old women are like little babies in this: they know who realfr care for them.

I wish I could write just as my hostess spoke; but even then I would fail to' express all she said. Her small, bead-like, duu-colored eyes and a way she had of squinting them; her kind, soft month and her determined chin her cute, uptiltod nose resembling a little teuder, piuk French mushroom; her ruddy checks, generally spotted to correspond with her arms the general expression of keenness mixed with amiability that strengthened while it softened her entire counteuauoo these I cannot give you. She had met Jules Dessalie thirty years ago on board the ship that brought her from New York. She did not dwell upon the manner of their having fallen in love; perhaps she divined my power of imagining such things for myself. But who could helpx seeing the warmblooded young Frenchman as he looked down into her tender eyes (their color had not faded then), in the moonlight, of course What if he didn't know a half-dozen words of her language? Love is never dependent upon sucn idle things as words are.

So at the end of the long voyage a good priest was found, and in the Golden West these lives became one. The now prosperous vineyard was then only emerald hills over which deer and buffalo came aud went at their leisure. But in them Jules' practiced eye saw an investment. He bought at $5 an acre that which is now worth over $500. Sooti they planted their grapes, built a singfe-roomed house and were happy.

Gradually they increased the size of the vineyard, built a wiue-press, began to make their own wine, and the investment became a paying one. The one-roomed house was torn down and the present comfortable one put up. The little Irish madame grew hex flowers, raised her chickens and geese and looked after her cows. San Rafael came into existence, others invested in the surrounding lands, buying about as cheap as the Dessalie had. "Coste Medera" was the name of the Dessalie vineyard.

A number of men were imported with their families from "La Bello France." To these Irish madame was alwaysrkind. "I could niver talk wid 'em; 1 could niver learn much French except to ax 'em to come in and shet the door, and sich loike, and they are' that slow to learn Can you not see just the life she led Working from morning till niorht, keeping her home unspotted; looking after her animals and flowers and sitting on the front gallery in a rocking-ohair when she rested. The men and women, too, all busy on the hills; the silence unbroken save by the voices of wild birds or rushes or cows with no baby to hold in her arms, for no children came be made into strong men and women at this prosperous place. "Do you not like children I asked. "Why, bless your heart! I loves 'em.

sThere was one babby born ter a woman, and I took it home fur mo own to love, but the Blessed Mother have it now." When the railroad from Sansalito made its appearance, it afforded Mad-roe Dessalie much entertainment. "Even totbis day I drops me wurk en comes out ter see it pass," she told me with sweet candor. Then, just as this happy pair were beginning to see the best fruit of their life's labor, as they were finding out the real meaning of love, one was taken and the other left. Theittle woman did not dwejijipon this, either, but she brushed atay a tear as she "Then me mon died." A mourniul time for the poor creature, with no child to creep into her arms and bid her live for its sake "Coom en see where he is burned," she said, and I was taken through the house out into the backyard. Under a splendid willow his grave was fenced in.

"It was here he loiked to sit of avinlngs en smoke. I kapes it nate; by en by he shall be put on carusacrat-ed ground," she explained I thought that no ground would seem as consecrated as was this to Jules Des-ealie's arisen spirit. "But coom back inter the kitchen en be after ating sum- thing," said my hostess. Nothing loth. for I was hungry, I followed her and was soon seated in front of a delightful melanga of pickles, preserves, jelly, home bread and butter, buttermilk and rich red California wine.

Afterwards madame took me all over the place into the winery, showing me where and explaining how they made their wine. I was invited to come again in the fall and see for myself. Then the storeroom was displayed to my admiring gaze such tempting shelves, full of home-made goodies. To complete her hospitality, the old woman gathered me a huge bouquet; made Irish fashion without a single bit of green about it I As we went out to the gate, a big black cat came and rubbed himself against her, as if inviting the caress she immediately gave him. "How long have you been a widow I asked.

"Bliss you! "I ain't a widdy enny more. Six months ef ter me mon wint, Oi married that young mon you seed in the winery. He wuz that, lonely loike en wanted a home, en Oi wanted a mon to look after things ginerally. We made up between us and gits along. I kapes things in me own hands, yer see.

for he is a bit young for the loikes of me," and she gave me a knowing look. "Bnt the name!" I said, looking towards tho winery, on which was emblazoned in decided characters: "Jules Dessalie." "Oh," she said very calmly, "that name belongs there and nun other gits inter its place while Oime alive to kape it away." Perhaps the second husband believed with Shakspeare that there is nothing in a name. At any rate, if he did not ho kept bis opinion to himcelf. On my way home I found myself admiring my own sex more than ever. M.

G. T. San Francisco, July, 1891. CORNELIUS N. VAN COTT, The York Postmaster, TJrged as the Republican Candidate for Governor.

Apparently there are as many aspirants for the honor aud as much uncertainty as to the recipient of the distinction of the gubernatorial nomination among the New York Republicans as there is among the Democrats. The leaders of both parties appreciate the magnitude and importance of the struggle upon which they are about to enter and are maneuvering for position. Prominent among those mentioned for the Republican nomination is Postmaster Cornelius N. Van Cott. of New York city, who, although he has never figured in hatioual politics, stands high in the Republican councils in the Empire state.

President Harri-Hon selected him for the responsible position of postmaster of New York city. Previously he had Served as a tire commissioner in the city of New York, and had also seen considerable service in tho state senate and assembly at Albany. Postmaster Van Cott is a veteran in the complicated political -warfare of tho metropolis, and may be expected to make things interesting in the event of his receiving the nomination. BUILDING OPERATIONS. Statistical Statement of the Progress of the Past Eleven Months.

Mr. Charles E. Dirmeyer, secretary of the Mechanics. Dealers and Lumbermen's Exchange, has compiled a statement of the city's building operations from Aug. 1.

1S90, to June 30, 1SD1. It is as follows "m- Frame. Brick. Total. rwelliDg 6'29 10 39 Stores.

14 .5 Kitchens, (itabloa and barns .13 3 14 General repairs, additions and re- buiHing. 6 B9 715 Churches 6 3 9 Manufactories 2 .2 1,196 88 1,334 Cost of the above to date as taken from the city The operations for the same period of 18S9-1890 were as follows Frame. Brlok. Total. 651 18 6C9 Stores i 7 27 34 Kitcbenft.Btabiesand barus 41 46 General repairs, additions and re build-in 625 43 667 Churches 10 1 Manufactories 3 7 10 Publio 3 5 Total ..1.340 10 Cost of the above as taken from the city engineer's books, $1,180,464.

1 rom these Btatemants it appears that there has been a decrease this year in the number of new buildings of about 15 per cent. The item of general repairs and additions, however, shows an increase over last year, which is held to be an enoonraging sign, because of the greater profit in workf that class. The decrease in the number of structures is attributed to the strike during a part of the present building season In consequence of this strike a number of contracts were withdrawn, and will not be put upon the market uutil next season, or until the labor market is more settled. The cost of the year's, operations is greater than last yar an excellent showing, and one proving the superior quality and liner grade ot the work done. Almost every applicant for a building permit underestimates the cost of the work to be done in order to avoid increased assessments, and therefore 15 per cent may safely be added to the amounts given above.

This would raise the total costs of operations for the past eleven months to 1,869,441. It is gratifying to notice that the grade of material now being used is much better than in past years. The rapid improvement in the matter of paving alone lias given an impetus to building operations. The. supply of labor is said to have been fair throughout the period covered by this statement.

The exchange points with pride to the fact that there has not been a single failure among its members during the year. The receipts of building material show an increase over that of last year as follows 4,051.900 feet lumber, 505,000 bricks, 33,690 barrels sand. It can also be said that the manufacturing of lumber and shingles in this market will far exceed that of last year. Newspaper Pads, 75 cents a dozen, at Flfz William's, 62 Camp street. UBS.

WILLIAM ASTOR AND HER SEIZED PARIS DRESSES-SHE WILL NOT PAY DUTY A SECOND TIME WHY NOT MAKE M. FELIX PAYf-AXD WHY GO TO PARIS FOR DRESSES? DESCRIPTION OF COSTUMES AN ASTOR FEUD HOW TRADE GOT A FOOTHOLD ON ASTOR REALTY. AND THE RESULT COLLIS P. HUNTINGTON BUILDING THE LARGEST PRIVATE RESIDENCE IN NEW YORK W. K.

VAXDERBILT HAS THE COSf-LIEST COACH EVER BUILT IN NEW YORK W. W. DCRANT'S OCEAN PAXACE YACHT UTOWANA. Special Correspondence, ot the Pleayune.1 New York. July 29.

1891. -I think people generally are rather inclined to applaud Mrs. Williita Astor for the stand she has taken regarding her two Paris dresses, which are held at the custom-house. Mrs. Astor ordered the dresses last fall of M.

Felix and the full amount of duty on their real cost was added to the bill, which she paid. M. Felix or some go-between or agent sent the costumes to New York at a reduced vajluavion in order-to profit by the difference in duty. The trick happened to be transparent and the custom-house officers simply did their duty in having an appraisement made and holding the dresses. Mrs.

Astor says that she has paid the duty once and will not pay it again. She thinks $369 enough, but she did not pay that amount to the government. It is principle, not money, that she stands upon. The fact that she is "rolling in wealth" does not enter into the Whether she holds the opinion or not, she has not intimated that she considers herself an object of persecution on the part of the government. That she is uncompromising is shown in her insistence that she is the only matron in the Astor family who has the right to be addressed as "Mrs.

Astor," pure and simple. It is so clear, however, that her grievance is against M. Felix primarily, that it is a wonder she does not look to him for the remedy. If she will permit the hint, it might be added that the easiest way for her to avoid all such disagreeable interludes in her gilded existence would be to have her dresses made iu New York. The time is past when a dress is necessarily superior because it is Paris made instead of American made, and it is notorious that those who pretend to patroniza foreign modistes, tailors and the like on the score of ecouomy are the very ones who do not need to practice economy.

Fashions move in cycles, and it is about time for the man milliner to be Bwitched off, whatever his nationality. Mrs. Astor's seized dresses are for evening wear. One is of rich pale blue corded silk with a train. The corsage is V-shaped front and back, and the short sleeves have pulled shoulders.

Around the neck and shoulders is a delicate trimming of ostrich tips. Waist and bust are covered with a heavy passementerie trimming in blue of a Hhade darker than the silk, and a loose Bernhardt belt of the same trimming ornaments the front of the gown. The entire costume is hand-embroidered in small, close-together spray of pinks of light piuk and. yellow silk, with'dark green leaves. The other creation has a basis of light apple-green corded silk, hand embroidered in silk Hoes with sprays of small poppies aud cactns llowers.

The corsage is decollete and the train long, and the back is a Wattean pleat. The entire waist is covered with embroidery in cactus patterns of many colors 011 a groundwork of dark green velvet, atid a band of the same embroidery runs down the sides and around the bottom of the dress. Handsome, aren't they Well, they will soon be vulgarly knocked down at publio auction to the highest bidder, with a lot of other confiscated articles, if somebody does not hasten to their rescue. The buildrhgof a hotel on the site of the mansion of the late John Jacob Astor is the outcome of a sort of family feud, which is quite interesting. William Backhouse Astor owned great tracts of property on Fifth and Madison avenues and along East and West Thirty-third and Thirty-fourth streets.

When he died his sons. John Jacob and William, iuherited the two houses occupying the block on Fifth avenue, between Thirty-third and Thirty-fourth streets, the lower one going to John Jacob. There the brothers lived side by side for many years. William Astor also inherited four large houses on the avenue just below John Jacob's house. Up to the time of Wiiliam Backhouse Astor's death, the policy of the family had been to keep trade off of Fifth and Madison avenues, so far, at any rate, as Their property was concerned.

To maintain such a policy to the end would have been an immeiiBely expensiveliix-ury. 0, oueday Mrs. hauler, a sister of John Jacob aud William Astor, and mother-in-law of Quick or Dead Amelia Kives Chanler. sold her big house on the corner of Madison avenue and Thirty-fourth street to a dressmaking concern and gave trade a stronghold in that neighborhood. Then early in.

the 'SO's John Jacob leased a House just uortnot iiirty-fourth street, diagonally opposite his brother William's residence, to the Woman's Exchange, and made an opening for trade in that part of Fifth avenue. Later, Mrs. Carv, another sister, sold a house almost directly opposite William's, to be fitted up and occupied as a carriage depository. Finally, about four years ago, William leased his four houses below Thirty-third street to a wine merchant, who turned them into a hotel, occupying for his own business a portion of the ground floor. Wheu the lease hjad been made John Jacob expostulated.

It is very distasteful, he said, to have a hotel next door to me. It will make anything like privacy and seclusion in the immediate neighborhood impossible, and the constant stream of carriages will be a dreadful annoyance. My side windows, too, will look directly into the cafe or dining-room of the hotel, and that is most undesirable. I have but a few years to live, at most, and it would be much more considerate to wait until I am gone before dUtnrhinir the peace and privacy of my home. William said that the lease had been executed, and for justification pointed to the Woman's Exchange, That ended it.

aud there was no serious rupture of the friendly relations that had ever existed between the two brothers. But William Waldorf Astor, John Jacob's son, took the matter more to heart, and that is why, soon after his father's death left him, the only child, an orphan, he tore down the mansion at the corner of Thirty-third street and Fifth avenue and began to erect a mammoth hotel on its site. Will iam Astor, with a hotel on one side of him, a club on the other, and a carriage depository in front, will be pretty likely to move away from the corner of 1 if th avenue and Thirty-fourth street. Col lis P. Hrintington, the railroad magnate, is building on the southeast corner of Fifth avenue and Fiftv-sev-enth street what will be, upon its completion, the largest private residence occupied by a single family in New 1 ork.

The lot runs the entire block on the avenue and 175 feet on the street. It was formerly a portion of th.e orchard of the old Mason Jones farm and Mr. Huntington paid $450,000 for it. The house has a frontage of 73 feet on the avenue and extends nearly the entire depth on the street. It is a solid granite structure, four stories high, with a stately entrance on Fifty-seventh street and a great bay window oil Fifth avenue.

Many beautiful carving? adorn the gray walls and over each window is a carved allegorical head. At the eastern end there is a semi-circular addition which adds materially to the architectural elfect of the whole and is very richly ornamented as to exterior oarving. The wall of the central hall will be of marble and the large drawing-room will have mnrlilA 8 lo9 silk tapestries. A central stiiilltl1 twenty feet wide will wind to theJf making but a single revolution Th" stairs will be polished black wahant The basement of the house will given up to the servants. The fi? floor will have three drawing-roonf; dining-room, a library, an art galW billiard room and a conservatory in finished in various kinds of rare The second floor will bo occupied the family sleeping apartments, priv.ti parlors and reading rooms.

In all thZ will be forty-five rooms, the costliest which, in proportion to its size, will hi Mrs. Huntington's bathroom, with iti walls, floor aud bath of the finest Meri can onyx. The house and its fitting will cost about $1,500,000. Mr. Huntington will have forneisA.

bors across the avenue Cornelius Van derbiltand Ex-Secretarv of theN. William C. Whitney, Elbridge Ger ry, Calvin S. Iirice and John H. Inman are all preparing to build palaces in upper Fifth avenue, and each will doubtless try to outdo Huntington.

The costliest coach ever built in New iorK uas laiciy uvea sent tow K. Vanderbilt at Newport It is a Berlin coach with a perfectly unassuming exterior, the body being black and the wheels and other portions of the running gear, including the pole, dark green with fine black stripes. The interior is of special design and its fittings are believed to be more elegant than those of any carriage ever constructed. The cushions, backs ef the seats and side panels of the doors are" upholstered in uncut royal purple velvet, and the silk hangings of the same color are relieved by tufts- and valances of deep rose pink. The top finished in the same materials.

The semi-ovals and the back and cushion of the rear divan are stuffed with down and re-enforced by hundreds of email steel springs made especially for the purpose. The front seat, being intended for men- is upholstered with the finest curled hair. There are completely furnished dressing cases for two persons, having miniature carafes for bowls, velvet brushes, mirrors and manicure outfits of ivory mounted with oxidized silver and dull gold. The card case and writing tablets are of the same mat. rials, and there are a cigar and cigarette-case, an ash tray and a matchbox to correspond.

For the ladies exclusively ttyere are silver mounted ivory scent and smelling flasks. The coach is the first to be supplied with an electric -call bell. The current is derived from a dry battery under the anachuian'a seat and the wires to th push buttons are concealed beneath the -velvet upholstery. The bell is a'signal for the footman to listen at the speak ing tuDes, wnicn are bo arranged inside that anv occupant can readilv reach them. The two lamps at the front of the coach cost $150 apiece.

They are of the tulip pattern, being made of six leaves of cut glass, shaped like tulip -petals and inclosed in frames of silver aim. ported by sockets of oxidized copper. This equipage is well called a "hon-doircoacli." Mr. Vanderbilt Will pay Millionaire W. Du rant's oceangoing yacht Utowana, made by Nestle Levy, of Philadelphia, from designs bv J.

Beavor Webb and launched March last, has just been. delivered' to her owner at this port ready for (service. Tho craft has been built expressly for comfortable cruises around the world, bat she is a beauty and looks speedy enough for anybody. Her steam outfit is auxiliary to her sails. Her rig is that of a typ- aft schoouer.

Instead of ballast she has storage batteries placed iu a chamber along her keel, which will be charged during the day so that the dynamo can be used at night exclusively for the search light and the eiec- trio steering gear. The search light is of power, and there are eiguiysixieeu-cauuie power lamps, ine evaporator is capable of making seven, tons of pure water in tweaty-four hours. The motive power consists of a triple expansion engine of 300 indicated horse power, and 6he is fitted with a Belva feathering screw. A new feature on the yacht is hot as well as cold salt or fresh water baths, Under the otlicers' quarters is a large refrigerating room, kept cool by meaus of an ice machine. The cabins are palatial, with cabinet work of solid mahoa-any, oxidized silver trimmings, rose-'; colored silk hangings and stamped Spanish leather.

There are accommodations for ten guests beside the owner's family. rri. 1 v. 1 1 lau luaiu uuuer wail uq usvu. vuij when the yacht is ainder steam, the donkey boiler being anite equal to sup-, plying steam for the dynamo and pumps.

The screw is similar to the one which enabled the British man-of-war Calliope to get out of the harbor Apia at the time of the Samoan cyclone. The crew the yacht consists of G. W. Whalin, captain; first and second officers two Quartermasters, ten sea-. men, first and second engineers, two tirenien, two stewards, two cooks, Doat- swain, 8ailmaker, lnacmnui and two boys.

She has also a surgeon' as a commissioned officer. The name of this ocean palace is takea from a lake in the Adirondacks owned' Dy Mr. Durant, and place of rest and plenty." Mr. Durant, with, his wife, children and guests, will cruise around the coasts of Maine and Nova-Scotia until about the 1st of September, and then set out on a two years' trip around the world. Every of life on the deep will envy him and wish him bon voyage.

'Vidette. BYRON M. CTJTCHKON. The Michigan Ex-Congressman Warned a Member of the Board of Ordnance and Fortifications. The president nas appointed Ex-Congressman Byron M.

Cutcheon, of the Ninth district of Mich itrrvn. who re Riues at 3iani8tee. in that state, a mem ber of the board of ordnance and orti- ncations. te was born in Pembroke, N. H-.

in 1S36: removed to Michigan in 1S55, graduated from Michigan University iu 1801, and entered the army, rising successively from the Tank of captain to that of colonel of the Twenty-seventh Michigan Regiment He was twice wounded at Spottsylvauia Court House; was assigned to the command of the Second Brigade, First Division, Army of the Potomac, in 1864. and was must- A.l M. 1, 1 jouu. no men stuaieu iw, graduating from the Michigan University Law School in 180B, and was admitted to the practice of his profession at Ann Arbor, commenced tfcs practice of law at Manistee in 1878, wnere ne has since resided. Was a member of the board of control of rail roads of Michigan, 1866-83.

presidential elector 1868; was postmaster of Manistee City, 1877-83. and was elected to the Forty-eighth. Forty-ninth and Fif tdetn congress, as a Republican. General Cutcheon was defeated for re-election last fall by Harrison H-Wheeler. Democrat Persons froing out ot tne elty for the sutn-nier mouths caa bars ttie Daily Picayune mailed to tdeiu at any point la Uie United -States or Canada fer $1 a month.

Including postage. Address will be changed as often II 00.