davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
The times., 1897-08-29
LETTERS FROM TIMES READERS
swindling Endowment companies.

Swindling Endowment Companies.
To the Editor of The Times:
Almost daily we notice the demise OF
some swindling endowment concern which
has duped thousands of poor people out
of their hard-earned cash by delusive
promises~of from 100 to 100 per cent
profit in a few months, but new swindles
spring up In their stead, the terrible
harvest of the dragons teeth of greed
Is there in this great country no law
which can reach the promoters of these
scoundreiy schemes? Is all the energy
and devotion of our paternal government so
layished on its attempts 10 protect the
people from that terrible lottery monste.
that it has no time TO waste upon matters
of So much more Importance?
Is the vast postoffice dragnet, engi-
neered by Cabinet officer and gathere d
in by every petty postal official of the
Government, to he employed only to eaten
sardiues, while the leyiathans OF rascality
sport undisturbed and swallow up the
people at their pleasure?
And wlll people never learn that all these
glittering tales of short cuts to fortune
are gotten up by swindlers and scoundrels
whose society would Disgrace the ordinary y
penitentiary felon? Dc they not know that
when hundreds OF millions of dollars are
seeking investment at 4 per cent, it is
impossible for them 10 get / so for their
scanLy investments? How men who have
sense enough To 90 ih when il rains can
be SO befooled is one of the mysteries of
human nature, which the writer has never
been able TO unravel, but it may be re-
ceiTed as m assured fact that parties whO
promise TO pay such interest are thieves
who Will steal the principal II you are
foolish enough to trust them. Z. Il. w.
The times., 1897-08-29
MISSING GEMS FOUND. y
Mysterious Disappearance and Re
covery Of Mrs. Swnyne's Jewels.


New York, Aug. 2s.-The mysterious loss
and equally mysterious recovery OF large
chamois bag containing $500 worth uf
jewels and four 500 bills Is puzzling the
detectives attached to the Wesc Sixty
eighth street station.
The property belonged to Mrs. Ella L..
Swayne, an attractive widow, of No. 163
W est Seventy eventh street, who reported
her loss to the police On the evening of
August 8. She said that she was in her
room the day before when a servant girl
handed her the jewel bag, saying she had
found it On a table downstairs.
''Wili you let me look at them?" the girl
is reported TO have asked.
Certainly was the reply, and the
servant spread the glttering gems and the
four bills upon table. There were twenty
diamond rings, a number OF stick pins and
other little jeweled knicknacks.
Mrs. Swayne told the police that she re-
membered that the girl returned the jew
els, but after that her mind was perfect
blank regarding them.
Detectives Linn, Lang and Buckley at.
tempted to clear up the mystery. They
searched the widows house from cellar to
garrett.
Upward of $50 pairs of worn shoes and
80 pairs OF corsets were carefully ex-
aInined, In the hope that the diamonds
and money might be found. Even the
coal in the cellar was looked into. 1t was
all in vain.
The detectives Swallowed the servants,
but concluded they knew nothing about
the whereabouts Of the valuables. They
became suspicious OF some OF Mrs.
Swayne's friends, and began Investigations
in that direction,
Today Capt. Thomas received this note;
ITO the Captain-The Jewels have been
found Please discontinue your inveSti.
cations. ELLA l.. IS WA me.
When the detectives called at AIRS
Swayne's house for an explanation she re-
fused to see them. A reporter was more
successful.
Yes, found the jewelry," she said,
with smile The bag was among some
sewing in a bureau drawer on the third
floor. | simply forgot where l put IT. l
have done 1t before"
What Inystifes the detectives is how
they could carefully search that same
bureau drawer ana not find a chanos
bag a foot long and four inches wide.
The times., 1897-08-29

Somebody at Newport treated his guests
10 novel sensation the other day The
centerpiece at the dinner table was II
large mass of water lilies; and in the
midst OF the conversation something in
the middle Of the floral decoration re-
marked
''Kcr chunk. ker-wollop! kweep! kweep"'
The guests looked surprised The host
was quite calm. He said that his or
chesua had been somewhat late in tuning
up. Investigation revealed, sitting on lily
pads, three green frogs. They had gotten
bravely over their homesickness and were
singing their evening hymn. 1t is not
stated whether or not each frog had a
slender little silver chain fastened to his
hind leg and to the caudelabra, or soule-
thing, but 1T is TO be hoped that this
was SO. Even the most philosophical So
ciety man would hardly relish having
plump batrachian land on his shirt bosom
or in his soup plate, and as for any lady
desiring a frog in her lap at dinner, the
idea is preposterous. There are some ideas
which should perish with their originators.
The times., 1897-08-29

peculiar system of government once
obtained in northwestern Turkey under
O certain pasha. This pasha believed
in the principle that what is sauce for
the goose is sauce for the gander, and
illustrated this great reciprocity idea
in many of his decisions. On one occa-
sion he was passing by village inn
when he observed some donkeys tied
to stakes outside the inn, their loads
on their baciis, shivering with cold, while
their drivers were having a registering
good time inside. He dismounted and
began to give orders The tipplers In
the tavern were brought out and tied
to the stakes, and the loads placed upon
their shoulders, while the surprised donkeys
were led into the house and offered
tie mulled wine which had been pre-
pared Tor the throats of the men. Whether
the donkeys got different kind of load
is not recorded; but there is a moral In
the story.
The times., 1897-08-29
Frogs, Rats and Lizards

1t is becoming more than doubtful when
we buy pair OF kid gloves nowadays
whether the kid 6 real, original kid or Il
manufactured article. There are undoubt-
edly large numbers of kid gloves in the
shops which are not kid at all. The ma
terlal of which they are made had 10
connection whatever with the young and
frolicsome offspring OF the genus Capri
cornu2. In some instances 1T did not even
come from IN animal In the same division
of creation, for frog skin is becoming
popular material for gloves, and ii is very
thin aud soft and beautiful So long as
the goatery which Mr.. Wilson of Washing
ton desires should be established is still a
dream Of the future, and so long as every
mill pond and low ground marsh and mud
puddle in the land has frogs, frog skin
viii be cheaper thanjmported kid skin, and
the Willy manufacturers will make use of
1t for gloves.
But, after all, frogs are much the same
Sort OF things as algators, so far as
habitat Is concerned, and alligator skin lis
much in vogue under its own proper name
for purses ana belts and travelling ba gs
But many, many thousand pairs of gloves
year sometimes 20, 900 by one deal er, re-
made from rat skin, and this, it might be
surmised, would cause the feminine " ear
TO rebel IL she knew it. Rat skin is dura bic
and extremely cheap, though IL requires q
good deal of care In the tanning. But ia is
are even less popular, when they are in the
land OF the living, than are frogs There
is something comical and soclable about a
1t is safe to say that very few lady cus-
toners would buy gloves that were openly
Sold us rat skin.
And then there are the pig skin gloves
usually sold under their own name; and cat
skins, which are passed off in the furrier's
trade as imitation something or other; and
lizard skins, which come from tropical
countries and require immense care In the
drying. Altogether the innocent kid pIay Us
by no means so large part in our domes-
tic life as he did in older and simpler days.
But as nobody can discover b. any ordinary
means whether he is wearing the former
garment Of a rat, kid, a pig, or a frog,
what is the use Of worrying about it? Re-
| Election only teaches Ms that 1t is useless
in this world to attempt to be too dainty.
The times., 1897-08-29
Sunday Beer Selling.

To the Editor OF The Times:
1 thank w. X. s. for calling attention
to the evil of Sunday beer selling at thu
breweries. / do not live far from one
brewery, and every Sunday crowds Of
half drunken men and boys pass oIIr house
in wagons, and some g SO far as to carry
the kec on their sho ulders. l know boys
whose families are highly respected and
who have always been considered good
boys, but now, since the brewery has
opened every Sunday evening they come
home recling drunk. earnestly hope, with
W X s. that this nuisance viii be brought
to the attention OF the authorities.
LADY READER.
The times., 1897-08-29
Modern Absence of Mind.

If anybody reads Dean Swift in these
enlettered days the reader will RENE nIber
that in that land where sunshine is made
from oucuinbers the people are so wise that
they are complete idiots In all that COLI
Germs this life. Scientific men-some OF
them say that that is the trend Of our
modern civilization. They say that people
are growing absent minded, and it is a
fact that our Patent Office contains in
numerahle devices for recalling engage
msnts and awakening people to the every
day things of life. There are alarm clocks
without number; there is a bracelet with a
time lock, which at certain hour pricks
the wearer TO remind her of an engage
ncnt-this might be coed thing for a
certain type of summer girl-there are
beds which at a certain tine let the occu-
pant down on the floor head first. and
there is particularly funny arrangement
consisting of frame from which corks
Are hung, which eoyk descend and bob
fly-wise abeut the face OF the sleeper
There are an angem-nbs by which an egg
Is removed from the pot when it is done;
The times., 1897-08-29
The Proper Length.

tFfOm the Boston Herald.D
One of the current magazines has an
elaborate treatise on genius and stature,
In the course OF which il is sought to show
that men of genius are not, as a rule, of
commanding stature. The effort to con
meet the two is q somewhat la bored one,
however. Some one once asked Mr.. Lin
coin how long mans legs ought to be-.
He said. .sThat is very serious question,
and l have given much thought to 1T
great many times. Some should be longer
and some shorter; but want to tell you
that a mans legs ought always to be long
enough to reach from his body TO the
ground When this condition is salts.
fled, genius ought to develop itself with
out further reference to physical conditions.
The times., 1897-08-29

The meeting OF the American Bar As
sociation 1T Cleveland should be notable
for the address of its president, Mr. Wool
worth, Of Omaha, who drew lesson from
the organization, discipline and solidarity
OF the labor organizations, and offered the
some day should come under these auspices,
and despair of curing the economic evils OF
the generation through legal means, they
might and probably would sweep the whole
ole order of things out of existence in a
single aud reSistless wave of revolution
The times., 1897-08-29
and there is every possible kind Of burglar

and there is every possible kind of burglar
alarm.
Tie reason Of all this is that we are
doing more thinking than our grandfathers
and grandmothers did 1t may be added.
however, that the human mind itself
is the best sort OF device ever left un-
patented in this direction. 1t is possible
to reduce the ordinary everyday motions
the beating of the heart, and this me-
chanical way OF performing ordinary duties
is in many cases the best. A great part of
the strain OF life S drudgery is due 10 the
fact that the mind Is fixed Oh it, and is
constantly tried by the strain of sameness
instead Of what 1 t was made for-variety.
The mind was not intended to be forever in
one position, any more than the body.
In stenography, for instance, it is fact
that the operator can work longer and with
less fatigue and more accuracy If the work
becomes purely mechanical. The ear,
hand and some minor faculty of the brain
only are Concerned in this mechanical pro-
cess. 1t is the same with sewing, knitting
or running any sort of machine, and the
more the worker strives for this condition
of things and allows the higher faculties
of the mind free play, the less fatigue and
the more efficiency. The maehtnist who
masters his machine has chance TO study
how Improvements may be made; the wo-
man who masters her sewing or sweeping
or dishwashIng so that her mind may be
thinking out some new plan for the COM
fort of her home is the best housekeeper.
Division of labor is just as necessary in one
persons brain as in the work of the world.
And division of attention is not always
absence of mind, but rather mind develop
ment.
The times., 1897-08-29
rwo views of the Matter.

To the Editor of The Times: 4.
IHasyery much amused at the grnmbling.
grizzling article OF open Order" In
this mornings Times, ami was very glad
to see that you headed it "A Re-
mar.;able Statement He claims TO be
member of secret order. yet wishes
that such orders should be wiped Off
the earth. If he doesn't like iI, why
doesn't he get out? Although he claims
the members help one another, he says
it is hard TO get proof OF 1t even If one
is a member as ne is, which goes to show
that he has never been guilty OF helping
his brother members, or, / should judge,
anybody else but himself. CHEYRON.
The times., 1897-08-29

After a renla rkably vigorous manifesto
tion of zeal in collecting duties ON the
wardrobes including old worn out gar
ments, of returning European trav elers, the
New York papers afford evidence that "a
halt has been called. This Is as 1T should
he. The millionaires are coming home
now, and we are glad to read that Mr.
w Rockefeller and others were shown
every courtesy by the inspectors, ana that,
cen or twenty trunks apiece can be con
Quoted In next 10 no time, and without the
development OF dutinble goods much over
the hundred dollar limit.
The times., 1897-08-29
HINT TO oFF1CEsEEkEus.
Internal Revenue Bureaus Circular
Defining "a Recent Order.

To do away with Officeseeking annOr-
ance, Acting Commissioner Wilson, of the
internal Revenue Bureau, has issued
circular that reads as follows:
In view of the fact that it is apparent
that some misapprehension prevails as 10
the scope OF so much of civil service rule
VI. sS amended by Executive order OF
July %, 1897, as excepts one deputy
collector in each stamp tor branch) office,
frora the requirements of examination and
registration before the commission, it Is
deemed advisable TO inform collectors that
the excepted place referred to in the
paragraph above quoted relates exclusively
to deputy collectors outside of the cOllec-
tors office who are intrusted with the
sale of stamps. and not to what ara
known and classified as division depu-
ties"
The times., 1897-08-29

For some mysterious reasons the Havana
papers are oi'jecting 10 the presence III
that city of Mr.. Fishback. This is wrong
and unkinG. He is Just about the most
fnnocuous pisca torial specimen that could
be sea; there. journals like La Lisc Ia, La
Diano de la Componte, La Vozde de
Machete, and so on, should remember that
lie Comes from a government which alwa Us
foreign office denies sending him at all
Truth compels us to admit that he is out
OF place, Perhaps. In dealing with any
thing Spanish a few greenbacks would 90
much further than any number of Fish
backs.
The times., 1897-08-29
UNION VETERAN DELEGATES.
Encampment No. 80 Selects Rep
reseutatives to Columbus.

Encampment No. 50 Selects Rep.
reseutatives to Columbus.
Local Encampment No. 60, Union Vet
eran Legion. met last night and elected
delegates to the national encampment at
Columbus, Ohio, September 81 %, %
and "a The following were chosen:
Comrades Finn, Fletcher, E. B. Thomp-
son, Tryon, Bailey, Butts, Buckley, Thorn
burg, Lyon, Barringer, Peddle, Forbush
Dudley and complementof alternates.
AL of these delegates are employees Of
the Government Printing Office.
The following go as past officers, having
served gallantly during the war and re-
ceived, for meritorious service, the rank of
colonel: Corporal Tanner, Major III. Is. 9.
Wright. Col Dennis O'Connor, Col. NJ. L.
F. Foote, Col. n. Shotsweli and Col. l..
Kelley. National Commander John 2.
Donohue visited the encampment last night
on the usual annual official inspection.
The times., 1897-08-29
Treasurer Grocer Missing

Trenton, n. j., Aug. 2s.-The warrant
issued yesterday against Treasurer and
Secretary Peter w. Grocer. of the Mercer
and Mechanics Mutual Loan Association,
had not been served up to 1 O'Clock.
Grocer could not be found. and rumor said
he had been induced by the directors of the
wrecked loan association to leave the city.
The specific charge against Grocer is that
of embezzlement of 81, 900. The COM
plainantis Charles A. Ehret.
The times., 1897-08-29
POLITHAL= GOSSIP.


Tammany Hall has received word that
Richard Croker VIII SAD from Europe Tues
dav for New Yogk. When Richard arrives
and in his quiet way counts noses and
sizes up the sithatioH, the campaign for
the nayoralty or GreAter New York VIII
begin in earnest. Boss sheehan says he
will have solid and united body for Mr..
Croker to inspect: and that after recetving
advice from him MS to how victory over
Boss Platt and the dissenting Republicans
shall be accomplished, Tammany Hall Will
pull off its CO at and achieve it.
President Mckinley win return to this
city allont September / 8, and he will be
greeted by small army OF officeseekers
who have heen prevented from worrying
him during his vacation. Among the host
who anticipate reward for services rem
dered are half dozen candidates for
United States attorney for the District
of Columbia. The office Of marshal VIII
also be filled very soon after the Presi'
dent returns home, and register or the
Treasury will likewise be appointed. 1t
is probable, too, that Comptroller Eckels
will resign before his rerm expires, and
that Charles e. Dawson will be his sue
cessor In addition to these offices there
is score of less important ones to be
filled, ana a large number of consular
appointments to be made, besides about d
dozen small Hiss Ions to be filled. The
list viii be sufficiently large to keep
the White House crow ded for weeks after
the President returns
The times., 1897-08-29
Onr Ex-Presidents.
(From the New York SUM-

Gen. Harrison is practicing his profess
sion and exercising his mind in the pur-
suits to which he IS accustomed. No doubt
he is taking life easy" He is free from
the pothers of politics. He is conscious of
the esteem and good will of his country
men. He finds in law as practiced by q
man of mature years and mature intelli
gence, q noble, Intellectual pleasure. But
the Hon. Grover Cleveland is not taking
life easy The Hon. Grover Cleveland
hathes in his own "reminiscences and not
in the g'adsome light of jurisprudence. He
cannot take life easy for he takes him
self too seriously.
The times., 1897-08-29
The KIondike Editors Fortune.
(From the Minneapolis Tribune.)

A Michigan editor has started for the
KlondiEe region to fill long felt want
and is banking upon securing world wide
circulation because of the interest taken
in news from that country every where.
The chances are that by spring he will be
in the cheerful state of mind OF another
newspaper pioneer, who wrote his friends
that his paper went to allparts of the globe
and that he had all he could do to keep II
feom going to hades.
The times., 1897-08-29

English women are getting up petition
in London and elsewhere in behalf of
senorIta Cisneros. 1t is addressed TO the
Queen Regent. What pity it is that the
ladies do not descend in a tody on Lord
kothschild, who owns the Queen Regent
and Weyier, soul, body and boots, and
secure his interposition. One word from
the great money lender would set the
girl free
The times., 1897-08-29
Te,I-Tale Streaks.

MATILDA, / wish YOU would ask that
young Mr.. Peeersto have his cuff buttonsre-
plated"
''Why, mamma, what do you mean?"
"They seem to leave black streaks ON the
hack of your shirt waist every evening. -
Cleveland Plain-Dealer
The times., 1897-08-29
To the Editor OF The Times:

i am glad 70 hear that there are men and
women, for that matter, who prefer to see
fair play even in the lodge room As open
order" says: 1T is well enough to give
preference to starving man, but there
are men in this city who are well estab
llshed Ill business. who hold Government
positions, simply because they belong 10
prominent lodges" In these times Of de
preston, there is no man, whether he te a
Christian or an infidei, who has any moral
right To take the bread outof another mans
mouth when he has his own hands full oft
In this age OF progress we should give our
fellowman an equal chance to gain a
livelihood TO the extent of our power, re-
CARELESS of what our religion teaches Us.
JUSTICE
The times., 1897-08-29
RUSSIAN SECRETARY ROBBED.

NJ. Zelenoi Relieved of His Cash at "A
Cape May Hotel.
News comes from Cape May, n. J., that
NJ. Zelenci, secretary to the Russian Iega-
ton, has been robbed of 500 at Congress
Hotel. 1t is thought that bellboys who
have disappeared are connected with the
theft.
Mr. Zelenoi had locked the money in u
trunk and had thoughtlessly thrown the
keys upon the bureau. A foreign draft and
"a return ticket to Washington Were not
taken.
Mr. Zeienoi's appointment was made in
June He Is nephew of Admiral Zelenoi,
of the Russian navy He will remain at
Cape May until the middle of September
and then return to Washington
The times., 1897-08-29
All Well on the windward.

London, Aug. 2S.-The steamer Wind
ward from Franz Josef Land for Lon-
don with the members of the Jackson
xpedition on board, was spoken
TO east of Aberdeepshre on the coast OF
Scotland this morning. All were well.
The times., 1897-08-29
Undigested Wisdom.
fFrom the Florida Citizen.l !

(From the Florida Citizen.l
"Lcarfjng makes man fit company
for himself" but often the worst posi-
bic for other people. Learning without
common sense is like undigested food :
unfit for use until it has been trans
formed.
The times., 1897-08-29
RESTORED TO HER MOTHER.
Pauline Smith laughter of a Former
Consul, Had Been "A waif.

Pauline Smith, the little colored girl
found wandering on the streets ON the
18th OF July and intrusted to the care OF
the Board OF Childrens' Guardians, was
turned over to the poss ession OF her mother
in Judge Kimball's court yesterday.
The little one wandered away while the
mother was out In service, and as she did
not go to the home of the people TO whose
care Pauline had been intrusted it was
quite a while before she knew OF heI
dlsappealance- The child's father. who
is not in the city at present, was consul
to Santos, Brazil, under Cleveland's Ad-
ministratiOn.
The times., 1897-08-29
LETTER CARRIERS CONVENTION
Railroad Rates Cause Change o.
Location to Chicago.

New York, Aug. 28.-The place of hold
ing the annual convention OF the National
A Association of Letter Carriers has been
changed from San Francisco TO Chicago
because of the failure to MAKE salts
factory arrangements with the railroad
compan IS
the seventy delegates from this city
lad intended TO leave here todaY, but
as the date for the opening of the con-
vcntion, septe mber 6, has not been
changed, the delegates viii not leave here
until next Saturday.
The times., 1897-08-29
ApriculturaI Prosperity.

(From the St. Joseph Herald.l
Judging from the bouquets that are pre-
sented to Senator Tillman, lie must have
purchased greenhouse before beginning
his campaign.
The times., 1897-08-29
Gold Argu ments.

(From the Detroit News.l
In some quarters it is still considered
an irrefutable argument against the free
coinage of silver to refer to Mr.. Bryan as
'sBlIy Z"
The times., 1897-08-29
LABOR CONFERENCE IN ST. LOUIS.
Chicago Organization Failed to Re
ceive Invitations.

Chicago, Aug. 2e.-No invitation has
been received from the American Federation
or Labor by organized labor In Chicago to
take part in the deliberations of the con-
vention called In the interest of striking
miners in st. Louis Monday. Chicago
VIII not be represented. President Doyle
said that it would now be too late to send
delegates from the Chicago Federation.