Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1891-12-19

such book, article or paragraph would be the
omissions. l am reminded Of this not very new
truth by two public meetings held this week to
promote the most important projects one the
Nicaragua canal and the other the worlds fair.
Both these meetings we're held under very
attractive auspices, the first having behind it
the dignity and influence Of the chamber of
commerce, and the other being called by such
men rs John Clafiin, John Glib. William L.
Strong and William E. Tefft. And it is true that
\ in both cases a fairly large group Of big" men
were obtained. But oh, the silences and the
absentees! OF course, you can always collect
a crowd in New York. You have only to smash
q window to do that But to turn the typical
New Yorker away from his ledger and pry kim
out of his rut, this is labor. this is difficult.
Still the meeting at the chamber of COM
merce was rather encouraging. Warner Miller
spoke for two hours, and spoke very we'll And the
| miliionaires listened attentively. 1t was very
| educational afternoon, and, repeated as it was
| In all the papers, taught the general public
greal deal The idea seemed to be that the
project had settled down to one Of simple
| money and that the money! mere item OF
| 800. OO0, O00-would be raised. In that case We
shall be 10000 miles nearer, by water, to China,
which is or is not an advantage, according as we
| choose to look at it.
EARTHQUAKES AND sEIsMoGRAPHs.
| China reminds one of Japan, though the
japanese, and for aught know the Chinese
| also, resent any such association of IDEAS Alas,
for charming, dainty Japan! The later and
| more detailed reports viii. h are now coming in
| show the true terrors OF the rece nj earthquake
| catastrophe. was talking today with dealer
| in Japanese articles and learned from b IN some
| painful details which show the utter destrpct
| ton. Hundreds perhaps thousands, OF the
| scattered little kiins which produced the ma.
| tlOnal DOrCelaln6 have been rulnclt Ar,ofher
| dealer in Japanese wares describes to me scenes
OF ruin which almost suggest Pompeii. will
| say for New York that it Is generous when once
Its epidermis of preoccupation has been pene-
| trated. and in this case II has lived up to its
reputation by liberal contributions for the suf
| ferers.
The catastrophe, serious as it is, reminds me
OF u humorous item of experience As some
OF those who honor my letters by reading them
know, had the pleasure of living in Japan for
two years. and, by the way, have often found
| cause for leaping out of bed in tie middle OF
the night with the house rocking and creaking
Ike a ship In a storm. Japan, as everybody
knows. Is a land of earthquakes, though hap
ply they are rarely destructive. But they are
| SO frequent as to be a source of interest to all
OF q scientific turn of mind. and hence Prots.
Ferry and Ayrton then living In Japan. but
subsequently famous In Scotland for electrical
inventions and lore, devoted much time to per-
fectlnS a machine for registering the force of
these disturbances called the seismograph.
| Prof Z. NJ Morse of Cambridge was also in
Toxic at the time, and, all his acquaintance
n"o"' ne is an ih'e,era'e Joker, Wnetnef AT
| home or in the antpodes.
| 49," e. .IH; pa si'eH y! M DaVtu
ucation, that the subject turned upon earth
| quakes and Profs. Perry and Ayrton. with a
| .';iaI VI oi1u1 PIiue. uiia'eu at
| t.; I'M ".u a. I1"i neu iehsln On Tue peg
d. W y. 'neir levy invented seiSmograpn.
| 10 oi . so s'oHu toi " Iois 'iine anu tneh
| Ho "iinounoeu 'na' ne: 'oo, hau recently per-
nec'eu a seeisinogiapn Inc oco.cn savah's were
q. oiGo an attention, un1, OF course, oid not no.
III ,.a uo "a,i IN ,ne iaAee Pioiessor eyes.
III, 'et s..i he heo,
w 'nv iuo"eey Vi true genius VI, 50 thuch the
sessn oy an He,,nS nus Appeared 10 Ine pro
| 50. loee rom .nS 'ao-e anu tooh from the
.an'eiP.e.e one VI 'nose cute iitue japanese
IN, tui we Polseo On spring III grass case.
,arne ..,I; !. s . ~, moise IN Hs piahaes'
| .h: s - ~! tou hoace
e 'uitie 'iD ~ q. 'ne ieas' disturbances.
| 80, ~ 'Ie ~ measures .ue IoIoe .ei! SALE
Hs.io ~. :, t; .e e"i !ossies
-e ~ !. AZ " uiSSel car 9uahe ~ Jos8ps
| NV. hoie: :t pouy iausneI: Vi GouIse, eAcep,
| III; oH Pioiessos, Muo PiaInIy showed
| 'nei hfi'"'ioh ut SUCH 'finins VIII SCIENCE
| BLuNDER IN BENEvoLENCE
| The Christmas Society, which has made SO
| much talk from ito onnonents and ito odvo.
| =; -
| "o'' " " ~ ""y us"a.i'e Vi 'ne spirit Vi
| large part OF New YORK 1t was really started,
no doubt. with a genuine though superficial
| desire 10 do n kind and helnful thing A oreat
many rich children were to contribute their
! toys and other things, there were to be so many
onousaau parreM oa oanIy' 30 many tnousana
we read in nayratiyes Of the smnnIiss ls;d ;n fo-
the circus on its travels. Twenty thousand
poor children, children who otherwise would
nave no CHRISTMAS, rs these benevolent persons
| iancled, were to be collected and at certain
hour turned loose III the great amphitheater
OF the Madison Square Garden. The rich
chlidren were 10 occupy seats In the galleries
at II APIECE ana from their elevation see the
animals fed
The originators OF the enterprise had SO lit
tie real knowledge OF the poor that they had to
go to the charitable societies to get their ma
teiial to work upon. Then they find to their
surprise that the charities in quiet and sys-
tematic way have made their usual Christmas
| arrangements, that the thousands and thou
sands of poor children are pretty thoroughly
known by the various churches missions and
charities, whose workers are among them all
the year round and who raise their practical
and helpful hands in horror at this Wholesale,
patronizing charity en- masse, as different as
possible from the friendly spirit of giving
which brings the children Of the rich and Of
the poor together for a day. at least. on one
level, as was done at the Christmas Club din
ners in Washington. 1t looks now if the vast
.l,.s, 1IA