Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1891-12-05
NEW YORK GOSSIP.


THE GREAT FAILURE OF THE YIELDS AND soMI
SAD INCIDENTS CONNECTED WITH rr--vKsTRRN
PREAoHKRs CONF EAST AND CARRY OFT cHuRcH
PRIZES
Special Correspondents of The Evening Star.
NEw YoRK, Dec. 8, 1891.
II has been long time since New York has
been 30 scandaiized and at the same time 20
panied by any business collapse as by that
which has wrecked the house of Field, Lindley,
Wiechers 4 Co., and carried with it the remain
ing property Of Cyrus W. Field. One Is re-
minded Of the terrible collapse Of the Grants
as business men and many are comparing the
two disasters. This is natural, not only
on account Of the frightful loss to all
concerned, both in money aud reputation,
but also because of the world
wide reputation of the family. The world has
not forgotten, nor is likely to forget his con-
nection with one of the first triumphs of mod
ern civilization-the laying Of the FIRST Atlantic
cable. Then again. it was his genius and
courage which gave New York its rapid transit
system, such as IL il. We become so accus-
toned to our surroundings that we do not re-
fleet on the audacity which gave the world both
OF these great projects. OF late years, how
ever, Mr.. Field seems to have been on the down
grade. For some reason or other it is
not known exactly why, he quarreled and
parted company with Jay Gould, and owing to
that willy gentleman's maneuvers and several
other reasons he lost a great deal Of money.
He had to sell the Mail aud Express, which in
his hands was an expensive amusement, and
he also clapped big mortgage on his Office
building at the bottom Of Broadway Never
theless he was ranked with the millionaires
statement and to common belief. has practi-
cally reduced him to beggary. But this Is only
one OF group of disasters, The failure Of his
son, shameful and criminal as il is is per-
haps lghtened rather than made more grievous
by his insanity, and vet such a disease is an
awful affection, no matter what may be the
alternative Joined to this trouble is the recent
death of his wife and the critical illness Of his
daughter. Surely in his case SORROWS have not
come singly, but in battalions. But whatever
his shortcomings as a fnancier may be his mis-
fortunes have aroused for him universal feel
ing Of sympathy.
THE WINGS OF SCIENCE.
Shall We Ay3 This has long been question
that has piqued inventors, and the world has
often been promised that the time had arrived
when the problem was to be solved Just now
the interest centers in the machine which the
famous repeating cannon manufacturer,
Maxim, is completing in England. This ma
chine will be ready for trial some time in
February, and l understand that sew
oral Of our leading scientists are going
to cross the ocean on purpose to be
present at the experiment. need not say that
the apparatus is constructed in the light of the
latest science, and is by no means q Darius
Greene" absurdity. Maxim is himself a very
interesting man He was born and raised" in
an inland township OF Maine, where he became
proverb while still a lad on account of his
t1reless endeavors to invent a repeating rifle.
He was nicknamed repeating Rife Maxim"
because OF his everlasting perseverance in this
matter or course he was regarded as a tedious
type OF crank, but this obscure and uncouth
the respect OF the world for his in
ventions in artillery. 1t remains to be seen
whether he can now solve the problem Of
aerial locomotion. He has given the question
the closest study and has produced machine
which theoretically seems to meet all condi-
tons No expense has been spared and the
experiment will reflect the latest and best
theories Of modern science aided by unlimited
resources Of capital
F1vE-FINGER EXERCISES IN PERFECTION.
Daudet In the 'Nabob," summarizing in his
crisp way the fashionable routine at Paris,
speaks Of ''the famous pianist going his
rounds" We in this country are now able to
realize the force of this line, for "the famous
pianist" has become quite the ordinary and
inevitable feature of the amusement season.
The latest in the list is Paderewski, who is
and is obtaining from the critics
the same catalogue OF superlatives which were
showered last year on Rosenthal, and
before him on D'Albert and countless other
artists 1t is difficult to keep track Of these
cialiy as they invariably have names as I'M
kempt as their hair. But as between the old
style and new style Of pianists it may be said
that while in technique the great players Of to-
day are equal to the master spirits Of the past
MT zrs, - 49,. f. 4
equally and almost tiresomely perfect, still they
are more mechanical than their predecessors
In the old time We associated great pianist
with q man who created as well a.
performed music, such men for example as
Gottschalk, Thalberg, Liszt, Chopin, Mills. Ru-
bernstein and the like, who put their impress on
the musical literature Of their age. and some of
whom have taken rank among the classics Of
the art, whereas the pianists of today rarely at
tempt anything more serious than show pieces
intended to exhibit their own dexterity.
ANYTHING FOR A CHANGE.
was talking day or two ago with veteran
missionary from China who had spent a long
life in that empire. knows it thoroughly and
believes in its future. / asked him what he
though: OF the recent disturbances. Said he:
II always rejoice in anything which stirs up
the inert mass OF China. Any disturbance. no
matter how terrible 1t may seem, is an advan-
tage to that empire. Before we can get any
substantial Improvement we must 20 through
period Of upheaval. or course the excuses
OF these outbursts are awful, but they are the
first step in recovery. China is more besotted
in her social conventionalities and vices than
Europe was before the French revolution, and
1t may need as volcanic an Eruption as that
great tragedy before q new epoch Of human
rights and civilization can begin.'
This certainly is al encouraging view to take
OF what appears to many u most formidable
crisis. The situation il generally considered
ominous for the interests OF missions, trade and
diplomacy. Letters received here from the
coast towns reflect almost q panic among the
foreign clement Those who can remember the
terrOrs of the Tapping rebellion compare the
condition Of affairs with those exciting times
when the vast hordes of fanatical rebels swept
up to the very walls of Shanghai One may vet
see in the suburbs of that city miles of hiliocks
which stand as the only memorials of ravaged
villages. remember the tales told to a group
OF us on shipboard by one who had served for q
time in the army Of the Taepings, and the
blood curdles even at this distance as
the CHASTITY stories come back to
mind. He stuck by them faithfully
for time, in spite of their cruelties, partly be-
cause he knew il he deserted he would be
caught. tortured and assassinated. But finally
he could not stand it any longer. A walled
town had capituiated on the condition that the
lives of the citizens should be spared They
were to leave the town by q gate, unarmei.
and then the place was to be looted. The citi-
zeps evacuated the city on these terms As
they issued one by one their heads were sliced