The Baltimore Sun from Baltimore, Maryland • 16

THE SUN, BALTIMORE, SUNDAY MORNING. DECEMBER 15, 1907. The law provides that people over 60 years the story concerning the whale and the LEADERS IN COUNCIL -OF LITTLE PARISIANS. DANCE ON CHRISTMAS AFTERNOON THE CONFEDERATE STATES JOHN WIDEON AND HIS BA He Is A Colored-'Ma SCIENTIST, UPWARDS Born A Slave; By Hon. John Goode, Of Virginia.

VI. Robert Toombs. And Their Grown-Up Friends, Present-Laden, Come To Dance With Them. His Own THE CIVILIAN LEADERS OF THE CONFEDERACY This is the sixth of a series of 16 reminiscent sketches of great statesmen, by Hon. John Virginia, the only surviving of the Confederate Congress.

The seventh paper will deal with Robert debris back Into the cars and fix the springs for the next accident, OTHER EXPENSIVE TOYS. Little Fernand had a walking man almost as tall as himself, an automaton machine that must have cost $100. Marcelle got a landaulet doll automobile, run by clockwork, true, but so perfectly upholstered, so large and so smart with shining varnish and brasswork that I would not like to have paid for It. A rich family friend brought Jeannette a great washable doll of some superfine rubber composition, eo dellclously formed, pink and white, down to Its very dimples, that It seemed outrageous not to keep It dressed for strangers. With It came a porcelain doll bathtub, big copper water heater model of the usual coil machine of Paris bathrooms peignoir and towel heater, all complete; but she was not allowed to light up without mother or nurse by her.

I should also mention Georges" submarine boat, that made such a mess in the family bathtub that one night as mamma looked at it alone, without Georcea it old are exempt from the new regulations, and consequently the number of patriarchs has Increased wonderfully. Sturdy men of 40 and 50 have declared themselves and where nature has made the deceit too evident paint, cosmetics and other artificial means have been employed to cheat the eye. The Government was not slow to dls cover these frauds, and severe punishment has been inflicted on many offenders. Strange to say, although women are as much addicted to the opium habit as men not a single case has been discovered where a woman made herself older in order to be allowed to use opium. A MARYLAND SOLDIER General Thomas Career In The Confederate Army, Allen Titomas, who died at Wave- land, recently, was one of the ion list of Marylanders who have distinguished themselves In other States.

General Thomas was born In Howard county December 13, 1830, and was of an old Maryland family. He entered the Con federate Army as a private at the out break of the. Civil War and rapidly rose THE LATE GENERAL THOMAS to the post of brigadier-general, an. office that he held at the end of the war. He was one of the few civilians who attained high rank in the Confederate Army was one of the youngest officers in the service.

General Thomas early years were passed in Maryland. He studied at Princeton, where he took the degree of bachelor of arts. In 1834 he was admitted to the bar In Maryland. The chances of love took General Thomas from Maryland to the far South. While at White Sulphur Springs, In the sum mer of 1857 he met a charming creole girl, Miss Octave Brlngler, of Louisiana.

He fell desperately in love. Shortly after the close of the ummer he moved to New Or leans, and on January 1, 1857, married Miss Bringier In that city. Shortly after his marriage Genera Thomas acquired a large plantation In one of the parishes of Louisiana and took up the life of a Louisiana planter, devoting part of his' time to study and practice in law. He owned an old family estate, Dal ton, in Maryland, but he never returned to this State after removal to the South. When the Civil War was impending Gen eral Thomas was appointed colonel bythe Governor of Louisiana to assist In the enrollment of State militia.

At the outbreak of the war General Thomas deemed that his duties as an enrolling officer were completed, or at least ready to be passed on to other hands than his own, so he resigned the position he held and enrolled as a private In a Confederate regiment that was going to the front. It was not long before U-eneral Thomas soldierly qualities attracted such favorable attention that he was appointed major. Thereafter promotions followed each other in rapid succession. When his regiment was merged with the Twenty-eighth Louisi ana Infantry he became colonel. Not long after he wag ordered to take his regiment to Vlcksburg, and there he remained until the fall of that place.

During the greater part of the siege of Vicksburg General Thomas had command of the lower defenses. In the last days before capitulation he was in command of the brigade of General Baldwin, who had been wounded In the early part of the siege. In the closing days of December, 1862, when Sherman made his disastrous attempt to turn Vicksburg by the flank. General Thomas was sent forward for reconnols sance. Night came on, so he bivouacked in a wood on the enemy's front.

On the next morning by a skillful use of the nat ural advantages of his position, which he had selected in the dark, he succeeded in holding In check the entire Federal forces with his single Louisiana regiment until the arrival of reinforcements. When Vicksburg fell General Thomas was selected to bear the dispatches of Pemberton to Jefferson Davis at Rich mond. In 13f3 he was promoted to the grade of brigadier-general for "gallant and meritorious service. When Prince Ca-mllle Polignae became tired of the game of war and resigned from the Confederate service to return to his home In Europe General Thomas succeeded to his command in Buckner's corps. Then he was trans ferred to the trans-Mississippi Department of the Confederacy, with headquarters at Alexandria, La.

Here he served until the end of the war. After the war General Thomas acquired a plantation on the Mississippi, which he named New Hope. Here he stayed for many years. During his residence at New Hope General Thomas was twice elected a member of the Electoral College first as an elector for Horace Greeley and then for General Hancock. He served for a short period at this time as a professor in the Louisiana State University.

When he was appointed coiner of the United States Mint at New Orleans dur ing the first administration of Cleveland General Thomas moved to that city and made his residence there until 1889, when he went to live in Florida. was his home until a few weeks before "his death. 8 In Cleveland's second administration General Thomas was sent to Venezuela, as Minister from the United States. During his occupancy of this office he came into national prominence. The Cleveland- Salis bury dispute over the boundary of Venezuela took place shortly after General Thomas had arrived In Venezuela.

His diplomacy and tact were recognized at the time as potent factors In averting serious trouble between Great Britain and this country. At the beginning of McKlnley's first ad ministration General Thomas was recalled to the United States from Venezuela. He took up his abode In Florida. Very recently he purchased the house at Wave-land, where his life came to a close. General Thomas was a man of large and prepossessing physique.

He was noted for his comely appearance In his early manhood and was considered one of the handsomest officers, In the Confederate service. THE TEREDO NAVALIS A Creature Of The Deep That Loves Atlantic Cables. An animal hardly bigger than the proverbial "chigger" Is responsible for much of the damage to Atlantic gables. This litle animal is known as the teredo navalis, its name being bigger than itself. The little beast Is intensely greedy where gutta percha is concerned, working Its way there between the iron wires and between the serving yarns.

ThjS silica In the outer cable compound tends to defeat the teredo's efforts at making a meal of the core, and this defeat is further effected by the core being enveloped in a thin taping of brass. Where the bottom is known to be badly Infected with these little monsters of the deep the insulator" is often composed of India rubber, which has no attraction for the teredo and possesses a toughness, more-Over, which is less suited for its boring tool than the comparatively cheeselike gutta percha. rv 1 swallowing of Jonah, and as I had the op portunity to look into the matter it was a great satisfaction to. me. The Bible does not say what kind of a whale It-was i There are several kinds of whales, so I had only one, which was a Finback.

I had cleaned all of the. flesh oft of the bones, and When It was put together It was 43 feet longhand when Its mouth was open a man could; stand in It, The whalebone is used as a When I. had looked carefully at its throat I found that It was very smalL It was no more, than three Inches in diameter. When I had looked In Its stomach I did not see anything like meat of any kind. -Judging the average size of a man, it It Tiad been, one of this kind which is mentioned, it would have to be a much larger one.

Someone said that It was a fish. If so. It was not a whale, for a whale is not a -A whale is a warm-blooded animal because It belongs to a higher It differs from a fish In this way -It brings Its young forth alive. In the 1 next place It feeds Its. young by means of milk.

It has two teats like any other warmblooded animal. It takes care of its young until they are able to look out for themselves. In the next place it has only two at a time. It has no scales like a fish. It has a Kkin.

Under their skin it. has blubber from which oil Is obtained. Sometimes the blubber Is 2 or 3 inches thick. If It was not a Whale, what was It? The only fish that Is able to swallow a man Is a Shark. A Shark's throat Is as large as his mouth.

Say, a Shark 30 feet long could easily swallow a man because It can swallow anything that it can get into his mouth. When I was in Jamaica a Shark was caught while I was there. 1 When It was cut open it had 2 eold watches in its stomach. Another In Barbados had parts of a woman's hand, 2 and 3 rings In It, so I am satisfied that I. have found a Fish that can swallow a man.

Owing to the fact that the Academy was not able to employ two men, I had to seek another position, which I did in 1876. I then found work in the firm of Sharp Dohme. Then I remained there 16 years. lr. Charles B.

Dohme took great interest Tn me and raised me from the Packing Room to the Laboratory. Then I was with him who was the Head Chemist for 10 years. He showed me every advantage to Improve myself, which I did. He regarded me as his assistant. My salary was raised from 6 dollars to 12 dollars per week.

What that great and good man did for me I shall never forget. For he did not treat me as a servant, but like a father In many instances. In 1892 I returned to the Academy of Sciences, which was situated at 12 East Centre street. Most of the former collections had been destroyed for the want of a permanent place of safety. So under the leadership of Dr.

Uhler, president, we had to begin what you may term the new Academy of Sciences, so far as the collections were concerned. So I commenced to collect, but the Dr. soon saw that the little building was too small, so the Academy decided to move to the corner of Franklin and Cathedral streets. There we began our great work of collecting. Owing to the limited means of the Academy the work has been very hard, but the work went on until we found that the second building got too small, so the Academy had to move again to where it now Is, at 105 W.

Franklin St. And now our collectloins have Increased so largely that I don't know where Dr. Uhler will move next. No one knows how hard this task has been to me from a working standpoint. I have given my best days to the Academy of Sciences and to its interest in every respect.

So what I have done will be seen and remembered hereafter. My office In the Academy of Sciences has been Janitor, custodian and collector. The territory In which I 'have collected Is Maryland. East and West Virginia, Pennsylvania and the West India Islands. I have collected specimens in all of the branches of natural history.

My last and greatest work has been down in the Ocean Garden. I plucked flowers from the reef. I have had the pleasure of seeing Jamaica, one of the West India Islands, In all of its glory. I saw It the day before the hurricane which swept that beautiful island August 11, 1903. I shall never forget that night.

The wind and rain were beyond description. I saw houses blown to pieces; ships blown ashore. Everyone was made, to feel that there was 4 God, and even at its worst it was only a part of His ways. Who can stand before Him wnen nis anger is kindled but a little? 1 again made a second visit in July, 1904. Then I could see the island rising again in all of her beauty and splendor after the storm of the preceding year.

On this occasion I went to Kingston, and I had the pleasure of meeting some of the great men and to see their great city. I also went to the top of its highest. mountain, which Is the (Blue Mountain Peak, which is one of her greatest places to see the Island In all of its beauty and grandeur. The torm of the nurncane or xyiw aid not reach the peak, because it was too high. The point of this peaa is t.avu leet above the sea.

Arain I went out on the Palisades, and I was delighted to see the place where. the beautiful city called Port Royal once stood. but now lies burled beneath the blue wa ters of the Caribbean Sea. The onlv thing left to be seen Is a mark to designate where the church once stood. and on visiting that jspot otf a moon-shiny night you can see the steeples pointing heavenward.

I will now tell yon a word about my connection with the church, enterea the Baptist Church when I was 17 years old- I held my connection with two churches of that grand old Baptist denomination or which I am proud. The first church In wmcn was Dap- tized was the Union Baptist Church, Vir- My pastor was Kev. u. uurse. xne church of which I am now a memoer us the LeadenhalLyStreet Baptist Church.

My pastor Is Rev. Dr. A'. Brown. So far my natural instruction naa ueeu given me by these great ana gooa men, namely.

Dr. P. R. TJbTer, Dr. c.

E. uonme, Prof. Otto Luger, Dr. A. B.

Sharp. Dr. R. Murdock, Dr. L.

Dohme, Mr. Frank liuhne and Mr. James Cummins. This is all of my history so far. The conclusion, who will write 7 DIAM0NDBACK INVADES LONDON Baltimore's Choicest Edible Takes The Britishers By Storm.

Another Instance of "American invasion" is the way in which the diamonaback terrapin, for which Baltimore Is especiaiij noted, has taken London by storm. In Baltimore a portion of terrapin can be gotten for about In Lonaon a portion sells now for about four or five times this much. So the "Invasion" has been profitable. The genuine aiamonaoacK must not be confused with the plebeian turtle. The skin of the soft parts Is a lightish green, diamonded in black stripes, and the neck Is longer than that of the turtle.

The head Is In exact proportion, and the eyes fairly large and extremely intelligent. In appearance the terrapin is, compared with Its cousin the turtle, graceful In gait, for its tiny legs and feet are strong and supple, and carry easily the weight of Its diamond-patterned shell. I THE EVENING CLOUD A cloud lay cradled near the setting eun. A gleam oi crimson tingea its Drained enow Long had I watched the glory moving on er the still radiance of the lake below. Tranquil its spirit seemed, and floated slow Even in its very motion there was rest; orr hronth nf no that ihAoH I While every breath of eve that chanced to blow Wafted the traveler to the beauteous West.

Emblem, methought, of the departed soul! To whose white robe the gleam of bliss Is given. And by the breath of mercy made to roll Right onward to the golden gates of Heaven. Where to the eyes of faith It peaceful lies, And tells to man his glorious destinies. John Wilson. 1 Story.

sports, and on one occasion I very nearly caught by a shark, but I never forgot it. It was very helpful to me when I went to especially when I' was diving -for coral. I was compelled to do a great deal of it. I was 16 years old. AH time before I did 'not eyep know my C's; then y6u must know how I felt.

I just felt like I was in a new world. The church which I first attended was in Northampton county, Virginia, near At that time the public school. was -carried on by the Government. General Armstrong was the chief man, and he did everything that could be done to help to educate the new son and daughter who JOHN WIDGEON had just arrived Into the atmosphere, and he was not alone In this work, for the two noble and Christian ladles In the persons of Mrs. Patton and Mrs.

Dodson, who were so willing to help us they came down In the South In order to help ns not only In education, but In every other way that would make us Detter. Both these ladles were particularly interested in our moral training as well as our Intellectual train ing. And the good that these two ladies did in Northampton county. Virginia, will never be forgotten, and as for I shal forever call them blessed, for the training they gave me In two short years was all the public school I have. But I have tried to do the best I could do, and now just feel like a little boy on the seashore picking pebbles.

So these two ladles taught me to know tisat knowledge was power. But 'tfho can grasp it in its fullness? When I heard the old pepple talking about the war I looked on it as fun did not even know what it meant. I could see the soldiers drilling and also see glittering guns. As the sun's rays fell on them It looked to me most splendid, and I thought that I would like to see war. I was not bothered about The most that I was thfnklng about was to be a man, so I couia work like tne men cua, I was not even thinking about who would receive the money.

When a man was en titled to it he was a free man. Not any of this crossed my mind. But the old folks who knew that God had made all men free and equal and who were pray ing to. Him to deliver them, longed to see the day when they could say "I am a free But He not only neara tneir prayers, but came down and with mighty power delivered them. So after freedom came they sang this song: The slavery chain dona broke, At lasa dona broke, at lasal After the war was over my father went farming, and I had to work with him until 1870, then I started out In life for myself.

The first place to which I went was Bal timore. There I started out to better my condi tions in whatever I could get to do. My first work in Baltimore was carrying coal. That kind of work was not what wanted, but It was better than doing 'noth ing. The pay was all right I received 25 eents a ton.

Some days I could make as much as but that kind of work was too black for me. so I dropped it and took up waiting, My first place was on Liberty, street, near Lexington, and in the same year I went to Cobb's Island and waited during the sum mer. In the fall of the same year I went to wait In the family of John R. Reese, on Madison a venue, at a salary of $15 a month- By that time I was enabled to see that I was not cut out for that kind of business, but Mr. Jesse Cassard and his wife, Mrs.

Sophia Cassard, bad become so attached to me that he decided to take me in his meat packing house, which was on Baltimore street, near Paca. Therefore, I went down, and set in to work with him at $6 a week, but that kind of work was too greasy-and smoky, so I soon slipped out of it. My next place was on the wharf as steve dore, but the work and company that I was In did not agree me, so I abandoned It, though the pay for that kind of work was very good. The pay was in those days 2o cents an hour. As a boy I was very well pleased, so far as the money was concerned, but I was not making in my judgment any headway In knowledge, which I thought I ought to have, so I kept on stepping and looking for something higher.

As I was walking along Jforth Charles street one day I heard someone call and I looked around and saw a colored young man by the name of George, ana ne saia. to me, "Do you. want work?" I replied to him "yes." So I went with him to a photograph gal lery kept by Messrs. Kuhn Cummlngs and they gave me a place in their employment, which paid me $3 a week. The pay was very small, but I saw that could learn something, so I said to them if you give me a trade I will work for three years at S2 a week.

So they began and in two and a half years I bad finisned my trade and naa advanced In salary up to $12 a week. Then I began to feel that 1 was in the way of being some use to myself. I know that no one could receive a trade without some degree of intelligence. Then left that situation and went on for some thing still higher: At last I was enabled to find the place In nature which I think was Intended for me from my youth. This place was In the field of science.

My first chance in that work was in he Maryland Academy of Science. My first place was Janitor. Then I was under the Instructions of Dr. Uhler and Professor. Lugger.

Both of them did all that was In their power to help me in that brafich of knowledge. This was in the fall of 1874. In the spring of 1875 they saw that I could be made of some nse as a collector. The first specimen that I collected for the academy was a garter snake In Druid Hill Park. So 1 continued on getting aurerent things and In that time Dr.

Uhler was Interested in the cray fish of this State. The work of collecting fell in my hands to do, so I was sent all over the State. I thought that the Cray flsh found on the Highlands was the. same as those found the salt water, and I was able to prove It by collecting them In the salt water at Crisfleld. So the Doctor gave me great credit for my work.

I collected Cray fish every county or the States of Maryland, Pennsylvania and Virginia. One time I walked 100 miles In four days. After this task was over went to Cobb's Island and found there specimens of fish and bones of whales and large sharks from five to eight feet long. These bones are now In the collection of Johns Hopkins University for the training of students. So it will be rememDerea tnat i nave been of some service to all students who have had any training in the study of nsa in this great school of knowledge.

That collection was maae xst. in 1875 a whale came in the Chesapeake bay. This' I also had the pleasure of dissect ing for the Academy of Sciences, and that skeleton is also in the Hopkins University for teaching purposes. I think that was one of the best pieces of work that I ever did in the way of dls-sectlne. What made It ro interesting to me waaj 7 -I A s' 14 it h- i- The life story of John; W.

Widgeon, the colored porter "of the Maryland Academy of Sciences, is almost as remarkable as that of James Banneker, the famous negrp astron onjer of early nineteenth century days. Born in slavery on a Virginia plantation, Widgeon is now a man of exact and varied scientific knowledge. It would not be hper-bole to call him ji scientist, though the term is so. loosely applied -ordinarily as to have little force. He does air of the collecting of the Maryland Academy of Sciences and has been its representative many times In foreign countries on expeditions tA gather objects of scientific interest, His discoveries have often contributed new knowledge to science.

Only this year ne made three discoveries In the State of Maryland that will be given a prominen place" in the annual report of the Institution by which he is employed. Widgeon was born In Northampton coun ty, Virginia, before the war. lie has been a boy, a butcher, photographers as slstant, a photographer and a chemist. A REMARKABLE CLIMB. One of the most noteworthy feats that he ever accomplished was the ascent of Blue Mountain Peak, In Jamaica, and the taking of photographs from the summit.

Blue Mountain Peak Is more than 7,000 feet high, and It is rarely ascended. There are few photographs taken from the top of It In existence. There can be little doubt that the ones that Widgeon got are the best ever made. To get to the top of the mountain WId geon had to wade through streams of mud neck high and had to climb treacherous, slimy banks at an angle of almost 90 de grees. He started at 9 In the morning to make the climb and did not reach the end of his journey until 10.30 at night.

The trip up the mountain side covered a distance of more than 19 miles. The mountain Itself is about one mile and a quarter hlgbs Again, Widgeon ascended the peak from a quarter by which it had never before been approached, so his photos en route were of unusual interests Altogether for thewhole climb Widgeon was very highly compll mented both by his employers at the Acad emy of Sciences and by scientists of standing in other cities. The photographs from the top of the mountain were interesting from a geographical standpoint -as showing in a striking way the configuration of the land. Very recently Widgeon went to Jamaica and made a large collection of corals. This collection is one of the chief exhibits in the Academy of Sciences now.

There was only one diver of experience In the Island of Jamaica, so Widgeon had to learn diving himself to get the coral he wanted. When under water he had to defend elm self against a voracious sort of eel, which, he said, "tried to bite you like a dog," and which he had to fight, oft wlthju Iron rod in the left hand. One of these eels, stuffed, is a thing of interest In the in which the coral is placed at the academy. A MAX OF SCIENCE. 'Have I an Invaluable colored man repeated Dr.

Philip R. Uhler, president of the academy, resentfully ast week, not liking the way In which the question had been put. 'Why, he Is more than a That man Is a scientist, I don't know what we would do without him. 'He Is a thoroughly trained and skilled collector. If we should lose him! don't know what we would do don't know of a white man that could take his place.

He has most unusual powers of observation. Nothing escapes him. and his memory is remarkable." Many times Widgeon has been asked for the story of his life, but he never has Deen inclined to talk about himself. But off and on for the last 15 years he. has occu pied himself in spare hours In writing an autobiography.

He has given this to the SnndaT Sun for publication, and it is re produced herewith. It Is a unique docu ment. showing as it does a frank way the whole progress of a man of inferior race from slavery and ignorance to a posl tion of respect In a community of -white people. JOHN WIDGEON'S OWN STORY How A Man Bora Tn Slavery Has Become A Great Scientist. Br John W.

Widgeon. I am a native of Northampton county, Virginia. I was born on the 28th of July, 1850. I am of slave parents, and I was raised on the farm of Robert C. Jacobs.

His house was a very large two-story house, built In Colonial style. There was a cooknouse and the field servants' quarters. My mother was the cook and was a favorite with the master, so he was not opposed to my gaining knowledge His farm was situated near a creea leading to the Chesapeake bay, near John-sontown. He was called a bad man, but I don't think he was so very bad, for reason He would not sell any or nis slaves, as some masters would. He did not whip his servants, like 6ome did, so far as we boys were concerned.

He did carry out the laws of the Bible where it says, "If you spare the rod It spoils the child." He intended that I should not spoil. I have the marks to show for what he did for me, so I feel thankful to him, for It did me good, and I have nothing to say against him. I had to work on the farm and In 1863 was made foreman on the farm at the age of 12 years ana wax year me largest crop that was ever made was on Jacobeth farm. My great-grandmother was a full-looded Indian on my mother side. My fatner was an African.

When I was a boy I was always fond of natural history. I could be found on the marsh, whenever I had spare time, hunt ing birds, eggs, nests, snakes, turtles, ana whatever I could find that looked pretty td me. One of my greatest sports was coon hunting. On one of my hunting trips 1 naa tne pleasure of seeing a Diacasnake witn a head like a chicken. Its comb wasd and Its gills weT red as blood, and I have never naa tne opportunity, oi, eiug an other.

I was verv fond of hunting watermelons, and with such pleasures was always associated the cowhide or a switch, which yas not so pleasant as the melons were in But it was very nourishing. I was also fond of tools and the white boys would get me to make guns and swords and such other articles that were used In playing soldiers. Sometimes they would make me captain of the company. Althougn i was a oiaca boy they did not think the less of me. My company was always acceptaoio to them.

-and if they met ana was auseui they would be sure to hunt me up. So I arnn nmone the leaaers wno were preyariug these young boys to fight in the Confederate Army. They always called me Dy my nicKname, "John Duck." Mars' Bob, as we boys called mm, naa family garden near the house. In It was a space where he planted some pear trees, which were io.i&c called them pound pears. The ground was kept so clean and Bmooth that no one could walk over it without leaving footprints.

Ttiia was done so if-anyone attempiea to get them they would be caught, but we intended that the old fellow would have to hustle to beat our time. So we began to plan for the old fellow. His eon sala tnat ne wouiu house and get a pair of boots, Dut lsaia hcansfr he had the measurement oi our feet, and so he could tell who the thief was. Kneeested this plan tnat we win go and get some pieces 'of pine bark and tie them to our feet, so in this way he will never know who it Is. This plan was au right.

The way we boys maae penning timuge was bv taking care of the young sports horses while they were in Twentv-flve cents in the old Dig copper cents was just the kind of money for ns. Sometimes when we wan tea to nave nnm fun at nizht we would go to the sta ble and take 6Ucbfnorsea as we wanted to ride, and then we would go wnere we wanted to go. Sometimes our appetites wouia do sec on chickens, and off we would go to the coop, but we would bother geese, xne reason why was the old geese" would make so much, noise. Paris, Dec. 3.

"What, In all the world, would you like best for Christmas7" Once again I hear It asked of Paris children all around me. Do they ask for nevv, ingenious toys; candles, fruits and a great spread; useful gifts; cash In bank? No; the same answer comes from all these little boys and girls of Paris: "Oh, papa, mamma, give me a fancy-dress ball!" And as grown-ups also prefer the bright-colored functions to any other possible Christmas-afternoon amusement, all Paris becomes a gay costume fete on the day of the year most given up to children. Jeannette, Marcelle, Louise, Georges and Fernand live In three flats cf the same apartment house that I inhabit. By an accident, of social fitness they all know each other. Regularly, Paris children do not know each other.

Living much alone with grown folk, they grow up quiet, courteous and self-amu6ing. great admirers of their parents and the smart men and charmingly dressed ladies who come calling. Even at school, where hired girls take and fetch them, they make child acquaintances, not friends. Therefore it would do you good to know the snap of Jeannette, Marcelle, Louise, Georges and Fernand through the year, and you would smile to know their combination every Christmas afternoon. Its essence lies In the fact that they can have their great fancy-dress ball all together.

PREPARING FOR THE FETE. First, the morning. Strange men lay bright crash stair coverings up to the third floor, where Jeannette lives. Smart delivery wagons crowd the street. The decorator and his aids are up the" back stairs with vast quantities of green plants.

What is that immense rectangular concern, all canvas covered they can hardly get up the front way? It is the Punch-and-Judy. Five big pasteboard boxes go up. The excited children rush from flat to flat to see their fancy clothes laid out upon their little beds. Mon Dieu, what a crowd to annoy the Janitor! Men from Klein's and Paquln's, with still greater pasteboard boxes! See the lovely girl from Gaston's bringing Jeannette's mamma's costume! She flirts with the brilliant Turk slelght-of-hand performer, who by mistake has arrived too early. Boxes for the Vasseurs Boxes for the Vaillants The caterer and his men are taking things up the back stairs.

My God, what is that pounding? All that painted woodwork fof the orchestra stand must go up the back way, swears the janitor. Afternoon: A lovely little Renaissance princess and brave little pastry-cook boy in silk have slipped down to let us see their fancy costumes. "Have you seen Georges? He Is a boy of 1815. Louise Is Renaissance, like me, but mauve and white. Oh, say, monsieur, little Jeannette Is going barefoot in a white satin slip.

And mamma in pink, with her arms and shoulders all bare, like the Fairy of Virtue at the Gaite. And my big Cousin Isabelle is up there all dressed and weeping because the hairdresser has not come. And It Is nearly 3 clock, and the Punch-and-Judy Is ready and the folks are coming!" We do not mind the stairways being in an uprqfall the morning, nor the music and the aSnclng up to 7.30 o'clock at night. When they dance It shakes this solid Paris-apartment house. The Vasseurs and Vaillants, living on the ame floor, throw the two flats Into one by opening the doors wide upon the landing.

If you come to see me Christmas afternoon you must push through them on the stairway, dancing hack and forth from flat to flat. Dancing? Who the children? That is what would make yon smile. There are more fancy-dressed grown-ups than children. AX $SO TALKING DOLL. And these Paris children like to have the" grown folk monopolize their fete.

It makes the small ones very proud. It is comical to see the correct grown-up'manners of Louise and Fernand's manly graces, and the self-possession and demure, posed ways of all these extraordinary Parisian kids. They know It Is their fancy-dress ball, all the same. They receive not only their child friends, but the smart men and delightful ladies whom they secretly worship and copy throughout the year. And take note even as a calculation they come out big winners to have chosen for their Christmas a costume ball so monopolized by grown folk.

Yon see? Twenty grown-up persons, flattered by the kind attention, must bring 20 splendid presents for the children. Among last Christmas' spoils of these courteous little' grafters I "remember1 a particular $80 talking doll, with hair capable of being "done up" in as many ways as a great lady's. It fell to nice little Marcelle as the offering of a middle-aged banker, delighted to dance with her big Cousin Isabelle. I will not mention this doll's Clothes, that must have cost some $50 more tailor gowns and party dresses, negligees, lace chemises, corsets, new-style petticoat draw-ers nothing was lacking. But I will speak of that doll's hairdresser's outfit, a pure marvel, from the shampooing and halrdrylng apparatus, to be attached to the electric-light current, to the Marcel-wave layout with which the little girls, forbidden to heat their own hair, have amused themselves and become expert "undulators" ever since.

Fernand drew a $75 miniature autoboat, burning heavy oil, a model as carefully made as a real autoboat. With It he has since won 10 or 12 races in the basin at the Tullerles, accompanied by his governess-nurse, against the toy autoboats of some of the richest kids of Paris. A TOY FLATIIOUSE. Louise copped out from a very wealthy young man very foolishly Interested in her beautiful young mother something even more Important in expensive toys. It was a toy apartment house six floors of varying decoration, furniture and social status, each flat strangely complete from parlor to kitchen, all Inhabited, with a doll janitor In his lodge by the great front door, two stairways and two elevators, like the most expensive bouses, the second elevator being a coal and provision lift for servants.

rpmcmher that thor was ltr! lighting in each room of each apartment of this wonderful toy house splendid parlor chandeliers that blazed with tiny jets of Incandescent light, great little dining-room chandeliers, low-hanging, to throw floods of light upon little flower-decorated tables; parlor lighting-motifs set into the edges "of the ceiling; droplights for libraries, boudoir lights and dressing-table lights. And there was complete electric heating in each room of each apartment fan-shaped brass drums back of cylinder-shaped electric bulbs. i Last Christmas I had estimated that these five children aggregated valuable presents from their 20 fancy-dress-ball grown-up guests to five times, perhaps ten times, the cost of the rather expensive fete to their kind parents. I will name only the more extraordinary toys. Little Georges delighted in a $100 very complete train-wreck toy.

It had double Iron 'tracks to go quite across the room, a switch, to be misplaced, electrlc- Ught signals at four places, with two sig nal boxes with keyboards to alternate the signal colors all fixed to connect. like (hat of the toy house, with the usual cur rent at the droplamp of the playroom. The two locomotives went by clockwork. Passenger and freight train started off at different ends of the room. When the' mis placed switch got in its fine work you ought to have seen the freighter swing on to the line of the express, and crash! the terrible and grinding smash that fol- lowed.

The cars were constructed, with springs that made them burst open at the jolt. High up Into. the air doll victims were! thrown, scattered round the playroom. Then they would start the Red Cross train, with doll doctors and doll nurses, male ana iemaie. Esave tne wounded! I Hunt doll victims from beneath chairs and I In corners.

Bandage them np. Stretch out the dead in fair rows. Start the wrecked I trains back to the city. It took nearly an hour to pack all that! Mirabeau declared that three things are necessary for the successful conduct of a revolution "Audacity, audacity, audacity." It is certain that Robert Toombs acted upon this principle. the Confederate States seceded from the American Union he espoused their cause with all the energy and enthusiasm of his manly nature.

Although a Whig in politics, he belonged to the States' right -wing. He loved his native South and believed that the highest energies of his nature and the best affections of his heart were due to her. He would have freely offered at any time In her defense his fortune and his sacred honor. When Georgia was financially embarrassed and needed money he loaned the State from his own funds a large sum and used his personal credit to obtain a much larger sum. 1 He was an earnest disciple of the States' rights school, of which Jefferson, Madison and Mason were the great exemplars.

He fully believed that the Constitution was not made by any man or any set of men, fcut that it was made by the States as States, and that in entering into the com pact or union they had not surrendered their sovereignty as free and independent Commonwealths. IIIS STATEMEXT OF RIGHTS. At the first session of the Provisional Congress at Montgomery he was appointed Secretary of State for the Confederate States. In his diplomatic correspondence "with William L. Yancey, Pierre A.

Rost and A. W. Mann, in which he sent commissions to Great Britain, France, Russia and Belgium, accrediting them to represent the Confederate States near the governments of those countries, he took advantage of the opportunity to inform the governments of the world that the several Commonwealths comprising the Confederate States of America had, by act of theif people, in convention assembled, severed connection with the United States; Ihad reassumed the powers which they delegated to the Federal Government for certain specified purposes and had formed an Independent government, perfect in all Its branches and endowed with every attribute of sovereignty and power necessary to entitle them to assume a place, among the nations of the world. Mr. Toombs was born in Wilkes county, Georgia, July 2.

1810. His grandfather was a solider In Braddock's disastrous campaign. Ills father, Major Robert Toombs, commanded a Virginia regiment during the Revolutionary War, rendering conspicuous service In that capacity. Robert Toombs entered the University of Georgia in 1824, not being willing to Bubmlt to the severe discipline to which the students were subjected, he was granted a discharge. He then entered Union College, New York, from which he was graduated in 1828.

He studied law at the University of Virginia in 1829-30, and although he had not attained the requisite age he was by act of the Legislature of Georgia admitted to the bar on March 18, 1834. In November, 1834, he was married to Julia Dqbose, and in 18S4 celebrated his golden wedding with his children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren around him to wish him joy and extend their felicitations. FOUGHT THE INDIANS. He commanded a company In the Creek War, represented his county In the Legislature 'in 1837-40 and 1841-44, at which time he served as chairman of the Committee of the Judiciary. He was the Whig' candidate for Speaker of the House in 1842, delegate to the Demo- 1 eratie National Convention in 1844, member of the House of Representatives from the Twenty-ninth to the Thirty-Becond Congress and United States Senator from 1853 to 1861, when he retired.

On January 7, 1861, he made his last fipeech in the United States Senate and announced his retirement from that body. He was a member of the State convention that passed the ordinance of secession, and on April 17, 1861, voted with" 207 other delegates in favor of secession. He was unanimously selected as the first delegate at large to the Provisional Congress at Montgomery. His name was presented to the Congress as the first choice for President, but four States having agreed on Mr. Davis as the candidate, he was unanimously chosen.

Mr. Toombs was made chairman of the Finance Committee of the Provisional Con gress. He opposed the proposed attack on the United States forts in Charleston harbor as a movement fftal to the Confederacy, and thereby demonstrated his farseelng statesmanshiD. On July 21, 1861, he" joined the Confederate Army as brigadier-general and commanded the First brigade of the First division of the Army of Northern Virginia. In January, 1862, the General Assembly cf Georgia elected him to the Senate of the Confederate States, with Benjamin H.

Hill as his colleague, but he continued to command his brigade during the Peninsula campaign and in the siege of Yorktown. At the battle of Malvern Hill hia brigade lost one-third of its entire number. After a controversy with X. H. Hill and his arrest by order of President Davis he rejoined his brigade during the fight at the second battle of Manassas, in August.

1S02. He received the highest commendation lor his gallantry and courage in guarding the bridge over the Antietam with 401 men. He was severely wounded in that engage--ment and was sent home to recover from bis wounds, but rejoined his command In the spring of 1862. In the following March, however, he resigned his commission in the army. After his return to Georgia he offered his services to Governor Brown and was made adjutant and Inspector-general of the Georgia mllit.a, taking part in the battles before Atlanta, the siege of Savannah and In the battle of Pocotaligo, S.

C. 'NEVER RJEC INSTRUCTED. When the Confederacy finally collapsed no escaped to Europe, but never asked for pardon and always Insisted that he was "unreconstructed and unrepentant rebel." After the war he practiced law end amassed a considerable fortune. He was a delegate to the State convention In 1877, was made chairman of the committee on legislation and final revision. When the convention was embarrassed for the want of funds he insisted on advancing the money from his own pocket.

One of the last acts of his life was to pronounce a great eulogy on the life and character of his intimate bosom friend, Alexander H. Stephens. He died at his home In Georgia December 18, 1885, universally beloved and lamented. In 1844 Toombs was elected to Congress, was re-elected and served for eight years In the House. He supported for President William Henry Harrison In 1840 and Mr.

Clay in 1844. His first speech In the House was made on the Oregon question. He was an earnest advocate of the compromise measures in 1850, took his Beat in the Senate in March, 1853, and remained in that body until 1801. Mr. Toombs was one of the most remarkable men whom it has been my pleasure to know personally.

He was able, eloquent, Impetuous and entered Into a debate with the fiery energy of one who felt that he must do his full part In the fray. As an evidence of his great honesty of purpose and unyielding resolution, he refused, as I have said, to an application for after the close of the war. He insisted that he had done nothing for which he should sue for executive clemency and that he would live and die "unreconstructed." During the last years of his life it -was his custom to pass the summer months at the Greenbrier White Sulphur Springs, and I have often listened to him as he gave his views about public men and public measures. Sitting beneath the patrimonial oaks at that famous resort, with a crowd around him, especially of Northern listeners, eager ly attending to every word that dropped from his lips, he declared that he had no country since the subjugation of. his beloved South that he felt as an exile in the land of his nativity, and, in the language of the bard of Erin, he felt like exclaiming The harp that once through Tara'g halls The soul of music shed Nolies as' mute on Tara'g walla As though that eoul were dead.

A LORDLY LIFE. Not long prior to his death a public jour nal in his State said of him "The people of Georgia never loved any man better than they loved General Toombs, and the signs that his race has nearly run have awakened a tender interest In him and In all that to him pertains. He Is the most remarkable man In many respects that the South has ever produced, and It is doubtful if the records of a lordlier life than his can be found in the history of our repub lic. He has never, moved as other men, nor worked by ordinary methods. He has been kingly in all his ways, lavish in his opln ions, disdaining all expedients or dellbera tion, and moving to his ambitions with a princely assumption that has never been gainsaid by the people and seldom by cir cumstances." He was earnest and zealous in the cause of the Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite of Freemasonry of which he became a member or tne tnirty-tnira, or xne mgnest, degree, and from 1872 to 1880 he was an active member of the rite in the State of Georgia.

After his death Albert Pike, the most eminent Mason in this country, who had known him long and intimately, wrote of him as follows: "A great man, old and full of days, has been gathered unto his fathers, a man of transcendent ability, nre-eminentlv sifted with logical faculty: of strong, clar lntelect; a great lover of the truth, and singularly keen in distln guishlng it from the false; a man quick in, determining, resolute and adhering to and bold in announcing his conclusions and convictions; an accomplished lawyer, an ardent and Impassioned vehement and imperious In debate; a student who had accumulated great jstores of knowledge of many kinds; a man of antique greatness of soul, of true nobility of character, and of perfect integrity, scorning concealment and deceit and the rascalities of dialectics; impetuous and sometimes In his utterance harsh, indiscreet and reckless, as If moved by passion and intolerance of opinion; and yet, for all this outward seeming, genial and generous, most hos pitable, kind-hearted, amiable, forgiving; a man whom one could not long be with without coming to love him; a man who, take him all In all, had -in his prime of life no equal in intellect In the- Southern States of the Union." HIS DEFIANCE TO SENATE. In his last address to the Senate Mr. Toombs was very defiant, and spoke as follows: "You will not regard Confederate obliga tions; you will not regard constitutional obligations; you will not regard your oaths. What, then, am I to do Am I a free man Is my State a free State? We are free men: we have rights; I have stated them. We have wrongs; I have recounted them.

I have demonstrated that the party now coming into power has declared us outlaws, and Is determined to exclude thousands of millions of our property from the common territories; that It has declared us under the ban of the Union and out of the pro tection of the laws of the United States everywhere. They have refused to protect us from invasion and Insurrection by the Federal power, and the Constitution denies to us in the Union the right to raise fleets or armies for 1 our defense. "All these charges I have proved by the record; and I put them before the civ ilized world and demand the judgment of today, of tomorrow, of distant ages, and of heaven Itself upon the justice of these causes. I am content, whatever It be, to peril all in so noble, so holy a cause. We have appealed time and tinte again for these constitutional rights; you have refused them.

"We appeal again. Restore us these rights as we had them, as your court ad judges them" to be, just as our people have said they are; redress these flagrant wrongs, seen of all men, and it will restore fraternity and peace and unity to all of us. Refuse them, and what then? We shall then ask you, 'Let us depart In Refuse that and you present us war. We accept It; and Inscribing upon our banners the glorious words, 'Liberty and we will trust to the blood of the brave and the God of battles for security and tranquillity." TOOMBS AND STEPHENS. In a publication entitled "Southern Statesman of the Old Regime," tn which a very striking contrast is drawn between two great Georgians Alexander H.

Ste phens and Robert Toombs showing the predominant characteristics of each, the writer says "As to the actual eloquence of the two men, it is hard to reach any conclusion. Both could carry away a jury or a crowd upon the hustings, and the secret of their power, lay not so much in the matter of their speeches as in the way they delivered them. Yet never did two orators present a greater contrast. Toombs, with his strength of body and voice and Impetuous force of conviction Stephens with his puny frame, thin voice' and calm persuasiveness. They may not have been as great orators as tnelr admirers nave asserted.

but the fact remains that they exerted great power over all sorts and conditions of men." In an address delivered by Col. Charles Jones, found in the papers of the Southern Historical Society, the orator says of Mr. Toombs "He was a man of marked physical beauty, the Idol of, a princely people, golden-tongued and lion-hearted, the blood of the Cavaliers flashing in his veins and the heart of the South throbbing In his breast he recalled the gifted Mirabeau. who, amid scenes scarcely less fiery or fate- iui, waiaea tne rorum like an emperor and confronted the commune with the majesty oi a goa. lie giormea in the whirlwind and caught his Inspiration from the storm.

As though born to kindle a conflagration, he Inflamed by his wonderful power of speech and swayed by his electric fire. Like unto a Scythian archer scouring the plain, he traversed the field of argument and Invective at full speed, discharging his deadliest arrows. Demosthenes, mingling the thunder of his eloquence with the roar of the JEgan his eyes fixed on the capitol, wielding at will the fierce democracy and inspiring all hearts with a love of freedom and an admiration for the triumphs of the Roman race Otis, kindling a patriotic flame wherein the 'writs of assistance were wholly consumed; Warren, inscribing upon the banners of the Sons of Liberty 'Resistance to tyrants Is obedience to God'; Henry, the incarnation of Revolutionary zeal, ringing the clarion bell and giving the signal to a continent, were not more "forceful In utterance, magnetic In action or majestic in mien than was Robert Toombs when contending, for the privilege of free speech or proclaiming the rights of the South as he comprehended them." In the contemplation of such a character we cannot agree with those who maintain that eloquence Is a lost art. It Is true that the newspaper and the telegraph now carry intelligence to the remotest corners of the earth. When the public, man arises to address an audience in the present day he is not able to furnish them with much information which they have not already gleaned from the newspaper press but genuine eloquence still exerts a wonderful sway over the sons of men.

FEVER ACKNOWLEDGE AGE Chinese Women Are Like Their Sisters Elsewhere. Under the head, "A Triumph of Vanity this story is told In a recent number of "Gil-Bias" A Frenchman, just back from Chtaa, says that the imperial edict against opium is a great blow to the thousands who were slaves to the habit, and all sorts of subterfuges are resorted to by peonle who think they cannot exist without IfeJ got unaccountably broken. She bought him to replace it a playroom tent for camping out with three little folding couches, dish and cooking utensil hampers and all the rest. Of course I would not have you Imagine that Jeannette, Marcelle, Louise, Fernand and Georges actually calculate, as Christmas Is approaching, on the dragnet facilities of their annual fancy-dress balL Yet, on the other hand, you must ot think thetn empty-headed enough not know that' It is always wise to give pleasure to grown-up people. They like grown-up folk.

And grown. Parisians take real pleasure In the society of children. Indeed, I shall never forget the first of these Christmas fetes I Of course, for a couple of years back, I had noticed as a Paris Christmas feature and on other great days, Easter, the French Fourth and so on extraordi nary numbers of pretty children In all of fancy dress led by the hand, or whirling through the streets in cabs. Ji knew they were bound for vast numbers of these fancy-dress festivities bat imagined them to be all-child romps and squabbles. What I found, on my first Invitation, was this curious, delightful and perfectly natural mixing and melting together of the little and tne big.

ALL OP THEM DANCE. They dance beautifully, down to the tots. You understand, there is nothing grotesque like a pretentious little boy attempting to waltz with a young lady, or a grown man absurdly bending over a 6-year-old girl child but they all gayly foot it together. When the Punch-and-Judy started all sat enthused and attentive, great and small together. Certainly, the man who -wrote that Punch-and-Judy drama was a first-class playwright.

The piece dealt with the heroic adventures of a virtuous street urchin of Lyons, who saves a bald but timid stock broker from the machinations of a fat and tearful widow; but oi the tremendous side adventures happening to the 19 puppets that made the strength of that Punch-and-Judy stock company, there was three-quarters of an hour's uproarious laughter for the most experienced playgoers. Around the stand-up collation hot and cold the big and little gentlemen and la- Jles from 5 years to 50 mingled In serenity. The Turkish sleight-of-hand performer a true wonder no more feared a saucy smart Alec little boy would open the wrong box to see how the illusion was accomplished than he would have feared one of the socially accomplished clubmen desirous to show him up. They wanted to be fooled, the little and the big that was the fun of It not Hading out. And when the orchestra struck up again, the littlest girl had her ball card as well filled as the blooming cousin Isabelle herself.

Hop I You should see them dance the polka Hop and the Lancers I Hop I the Boston, even Paris Boston. At I P. 1L they are still all at.lt, colors flashing amid greenery and lights, to rippling, laughter and squeals of enthusiasm. Half-past seven. Now and then a little girl comes In her furs, like a great lady.

The stairs are full of waiting servants, come to help take the kids home with their so-called cotillon favors. Outside, In the blue-black Paris evening spangled with electric lights, the street Is filled with the carriages and cabs and autos. AFTER THE IS OYER. It Is near the dinner hour of every other family In the big apartment house. Up the great stairway come the usual tenants, plain, dark colored, tired out, nervous, even Ill-tempered.

Coming down their stairway blazing with unusual lights they meet the gay-colored riot. Their stairway" Is littered with Cowers and leaves, powdered deep with confetti. Saucy little girls and big throw showers of golden, pink and pale-blue fine-chopped paper over their hats, shoulders, faces. Serpentines whirl through the air. There is crowding, slipping, squealing and excited calls back to Jeannette, Marcelle, Louise, Fernand and Georges.

The incoming tenants are Parisians, nevertheless. Their stairway la a glorious wreck. Their house has been a pandemonium. Their servants, doubtless, sts debauched with wine and gayety. The op-roar is contagious.

Yet the victims lift their hats and smile a greeting to the happy children. All Parisians love children. Steblixq Hzrua. WHY MEN DON'T DANCE They Either Don't Know How Or Know Too Well. A dancing teacher has discovered why men don't like to dance, says the New York Tribune.

There are reasons for this melancholy fact which is causing the majority of hostesses to grow old and gray before their time. The first reason is that the mJorl of them don't know how, and they naturally object to making fools of themselves. They take a few dancing lessons when they are babies and never think of them again until they arrive at an age to go to balls. Then they are lugged helplessly around by their partners, treading on hundreds of toes and tearing Innumerable flounces, so that It is no wonder that they go home In a rage and tell their families that they hate dances and dancing. Again there are men who de know how to dance and can't find anyone to dance with.

They dance Infinitely better than the majority of girls and don't like Ignorant partners. HOW LONG if on my grave the summer rrasa wer growing. Or heedless winter winds across It blowing; Through Joyous June or desolate December, How long, sweetheart, how long would yen remember How long, dear love, how long? For brightest eyes would open to the rammer, And sweetest smiles would greet the wei newcomer, And on young lips grow kisses for the tut-in rr when all the summer buds to bloom ars breaking How long, dear love, how long? To the dim land where sad -eyed walk only. ghosts Where Hps cold, and waiting hearts ere lonely, I would not call yon from your youth's warm onsses. Fill up your glass and crown it wifh .7 BW kisses How long, dear love, how long? Too gay, In June, you might be to rerf me, And litlng lips might woo you to forget me; tint, an sweetheart, I think you would remember When the winds were wearv In December So long, dear love, so long Louise Chandler Mauit A WITHERED FLOWER In a window On a street, Where my feet Take me oft, Lived my love Pretty, sweet.

Her name was Sarah Zaramakof t. Now she's gone To the sky, And I mourn Unceasingly. fllMAS ZADALOF SEX. Swimming was also one of my favorite i 'j.