Barbour County index. [volume] (Medicine Lodge, Kan.) 1880-current, 1889-09-11
VOL. MEDICINE LODGE KANSAS, WEDNESDAY, 81

n1r. OlOWcOacn Unefe!" Ny eS, sir.'' f.
lis he proposing to you that he is staying
so late" M. Ito Mr.. Slowcoach, in fright
/ ened whisper )-"Oh, what shall I savgn
Mr.. S. (trembling in his boots)-.sSay yes.n
NJ (to her father)-"Yes, papa.n FAN
right all right; excuse me- Tell him he
can have you. Bless you both, my children
He needn't hurry away"
SOUTHERN IRON manufacturers are SAID to
| md the negro entirely capable of perform
/ Ing all classes of work In rolling mills and
foundries, while his labor costs forty per
cent. less than that of the white man.
DURING the past year q, ,0oO, 900 barrels Of
malt liquors were sold in the United States,
or nearly one third of a barrel for each per-
son. The cities in which the consumption
! was largest were New York, st. Louis and
| Chicago, respectively.
/ New York State factories are undergo
ing rigorous inspection at the hands Of
! the board of inspectors. The board Is in
! structed to look after the sanitary condi-
uons OF factories, the employment of chill
dren under legal age, and the enforcement
OF the law providing that no woman shall
work over sixty hours week in any fac
| tory.
1 The last maize crop in the United States
was grown on larger area than has ever
: before been planted; the total produce was
the greatest yet obtained-namely, 1885,
100000 bushels. The wheat,crop of Ala. $685.
! 900 measured bushels weighing only 56l%
| pounds was equa. to 391, All, 7S2 bushels of
oO pounds-the weight at which the grain is
sold.
/ SHARK skins are tanned into a peculiar
kind OF leather called shagreen This
leather goes through peculiar process to
! give it roughened surface. 1t is sprinkled
over with small hard seeds, which are
;. pressed into the soft leather, leaving 1t pit
! ted all over with small indentations. The
surface Is then shaved down smooth, and
when the leather is stepped in water the
/ depressions swell up to their original sur
| face, leaving the leather roughened in a
! peculiar manner Shagreen is used for
covering small cases, for sachels and other
small ornamental work
WASHINGTON CHARACTERS.
Peculiar People who Constitute an Inter.
osting Feature OF Capital Life.
One of the saddest features of the always
varying life In Washington, says q corre-
! spondent, is the gradual disappearance Of
the "old- timers" / do not went to call
them the "Colonels," sMajors" and
Judges" for that would include some
who do not really belong to the charming
and clever parasites who are meant by the
"old-timers." They are broken-down gen.
tlemen, persons who have seen "better
days." who never did and who never would
work, but who are yet persons of fine at
talnments, charming conversatlonalists,
agreeable in their manners, and yet always
waiting near some genteel bar for the invi-
tatlon that will surely come to indulge in
something genial and exchange a fash or
Two OF brilliant wit or narrate some thrill
ing story of romantic personal experience
In the days when they were rich in slaves
and land and lived the lives of veritable
sybari'es
Five years ago, when first began an in
innate acquaintance with the yaliegated
life of this political capital, there were per-
haps round dozen notable hangers-on of
this type. Hardly one of them but could
quote the Latin and Greek classics by the
ream in the original tongue; most of them
were well read in elegant literature of all
times, and could discuss 1t in the most
charming manner; all of them had been
( actors in real romances and tragedies of
i luxurious social life, and scarcely one had
any parts so Objectionable as to make him
summed by the best gentleman with whom
he came into contact. Now they have
dwindled away to two or three. That is
there is only that number in sight Sew.
eral are dead.
One has just come forth after several
months in the hospital, and Immediately
began to strike his old friends for the
generous entertainment which was the
means Of sending him into retirement.
One has actually abandoned the hospitable
! precincts of the hotel bars and the appetiz.
ing aid inexpensive free lunch and is
making threadbare living by copying and
| letter writing for this and that one of his
friends, who like to encourage the old bov
In his novel attempt to earn his bread by
the sweat of his brow. It was departure
that was frowned upon in an almost savage
manner by the others of his crowd as being
not only degrading, but as q pernicious
innovation upon time-honored precedent
which tended to bring them all into con.
tempt 1t was daring thing to do, and has
resulted In the utter ostraclsm Of the bold
| old boy, but he has stuck to it brayely in
the face OF many temptations and dis
| couragements. / fear there will be
change soon, however. Evidently the
luncheon that comes by purchase is not as
liberal as that which comes without money
and without price. The poor man grows
thinner and thinner, his voice sounds as
though there were a vast vacuum in his
stomach, and If he does not find starvation
preferable to receiving the cut direct from
his old friends he will doubtless soon be
seen at regular intervals lowering about
the best layouts of free luncheons to get
the freshest salads and fish balls and pork
and beans and cold meats when they first
appear. Not one of them has a watch.
That useful bit of gentlemen's wear long
ago went the way of their suncle,' to
everlasting Oblivion, but some mysterious
intuition informs them to a second Of the
time when the free lunch will be spread.
and the moment when this or that friend
who will set up the drinks will present his
welcome face upon the scene
They have been a great study to everv
student of human nature in this town of
queer characters, but their race will soon
be ended, and there is none to take their
place. Their tribe will become extinct
with the dropping ont Of two or three tot
tering forms which are yet to be seen in
their fsvorite haunts, and what that means
to Washington you who are not to the man.
ner either born or educated will never
know 1t means the passing away of fig
ures which more than all else suggest the
life OF the aristocratic South before the
war, and in their Incidence and inability to
do the least thing for their own mainten-
ance tell of the immeasurable effect of the
curse of human slavery