Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1894-12-22
IN HOTEL CORRIDORS

| Hartford, at La Normandie yesterday.
| .'This Is especially true of the individuals
| who think that their buildings are fire
proof. Some of them are so absolutely as
| sured that fire cannot hurt them that they
| regard the suggestions Of an agent as to
| the ACCESSIBILITY of placing a policy with
his company very much IN the nature OF
an insult Several years ago 1 went to see
| a man In a western city who had just COM
pleted one of the buildings guaranteed to
be fire pro of. The walls were of brick, in
| closing a steel and iron frame. but every
| partition was pine, and the floors were OF
| the same material A diversity of business
| was carried on in 1t by various tenants.
| and in several instances the stock carried
| was of the most combustible nature. The
| proprietor nearly kicked me out when L
| limited at insurance He had built his
structure he said, for the very purpose OF
| being relieved from the outrageous lmposS
| lions of Insurance concerns and proposed
| to keep free from any agreements with
them Ten hours afterward a fire alarm
was sounded for the engines to go to the
| building. They reached it to find its inter-
| Tor a roaring furnace. The next day frag-
ments Of brick wall and a mass of bent
| and twisted iron columns and girders were
| all that remained of the fire-proof building.
| 1t was only another proof of the fact that
| fre-proof buildings burn faster and hotter
| than any other structures erected. This
| may seem paradoxical, but it's true, never
| theless."
"The corporation Of the great Trinity
Church in New York is In pretty hot water
just now" said Gerald Bacon of the me-
tropolis at the shoreham last night. For
| a good many years the manner in which
| the church has acted In its capacity as
| a landlord has been the cause Of periodical
criticism, but now the comment has taken
| a new turn and Trinity Is being pretty Bit
| terly assailed for the condition Of its ten
ement houses. Some one made an invest-
cation into the death rate in such dwelling
| places in New York and found that in the
tenements belonging to the church the
rate was over 81 per cent per 1000 or
more per 1000 than the average mortality
of the city. The reasons for this Were
| found in the poor condition of the thickly
| settled abodes and their lack of sanitary
| arrangements so regular crusade for
their improvement has begun, which,
| portions within the church membership
| itself, and threatening to lead to unpleas-
| ant fractional differences In the body"
"The pineapple growers down in Florida
are experimenting with view to making
| sparkling wine, like champagne. from
| their surplus fruit" said William r. An
drews of Orlando at the Cochran last night.
There is a pretty big waste In a pinery
of large proportions and If this could be
| made use of the business would be doubly
proflta ble The Florida pine is about the
juiciest thing that grows. You seldom see
one in this CITY, as the growers have their
crops pretty well contracted for in the
north. New England cities are particu-
larly partial to our pines and 1 know of
one grower who has regular arrange
ment to send all his fruit to Hartford.
If the wine making 1 have mentioned can
be successfully prosecuted and the ten
dercy of the Juice of the pine to thcken
can be overcome / imagine that about all
the fruit raised in Florida will be devoted
to the industry, for the wine in few bot
ties which had managed to escape, being
affected by the many evils which appear
to surround the liquor and prevent its ma
turing, is said by connoisseurs who tasted
it to be q revelation of delight to the pal
ate.'
Prof. william H. Holmes, the distin-
guish scientist who was for so many years
connected with the United States geological
survey ard the Smithsonian Institution,
and who is now the director of the depart
ment of anthropology of the Field Chicago
Museum, stood with grip in his hand in
the Ebbtt lobby this morning.
Il am on my way to Yucatan," he replied
in answer to the corridor mans greeting.
Il am going there to examine the antiqui-
ties in behalf OF the museum, and antici-
pate an instructive and profitable journey.
THE Field Museum is an accomplished
fact, you must understand" he continued
ard you can appreciate something of it's
magnitude when you learn that my depart
ment alone covers $1,000 square feet of
floor space, or about two-thirds as much as
the entire National Museum. OF course IL
had magnificent start. Mr.. Field en-
1pwed 1t with a million dollars, and 1t re-
ceived almost the bulk of the important
exhibits displayed at the exposition. The
transportation exhibit, for instance was
given in this way, and 1t is remarkable
showing as II does. the means taken by
men from the earliest ages to convey their
commerce on land. The mining exhibit or
economic geology, as 1t Is called, is also
exceedingly comprehensive In my depart
81. l.
geographical groups, and their arrange
Tnent has been q matter of much tedious
ness. For eight or nine hours a day / have
been on my feet, but II was a great pleas
Ure to see the collection taking proper
shape. The future of the Field Museum
Is great one, but we need money to make
it so. However. I have no doubt that
many additional sums in the shape of en-
dowments Will be received from time to
time, as the breadth and wisdom of the
plan becomes better understood and APP
preciated.'
IT was more than delighted few DAYS
ago to meet my old friend, Col -, a
distiE guished and popular foreign military
officer" remarked a man in one of the
hotels the other day. TT is over twenty
one years ago since I met him and ac-
cepted his hospitality in Berlin, at which
time 1 received his promise that he would
one day visit the United States and be my
quest L was III sOUlo measure, TO
repay his many kndnesses to me, especial
ly his efforts to give me a thorough knowl-
edge of the European armies. This is his
first visit to this country, and, although
there Is much to be seen here his great
desire was first of all to gain some per-
sonal knowledge Of our army and navy.
While charmed with cur city, he expressed
surprise that nowhere could he see any
signs of our army and our navy. In our
drive we saw one In uniform except
policemen, and the colonel with his prac-
ticed eye did not need to be told that they
were not soldiers.
"At last we arrived at the State, War
and Navy Department building, and my
friend full of enthusiasm, said: Now We
will see soldiers and so he did, and great
soldiers, too from Gen. Schof1eld, down, but
he did not know 1t except from the titles
which, in introducing him. he heard me
give them. All of them were in civilian
dress, and there was absolutely nothing to
distinguish them from the hundreds of
clerks, messengers, etc, doing duty in the
department 1t was the same way in the
Navy Department.
THE colone' was thunderstruck, but re-
strained himself until we made our exit
from the building. Then his pent up feel
ings exploded. and in his broken English
he asked question after question so rapidly |
that II was impossible for me to answer