Omaha daily bee., 1902-12-31

NhbAA a hlOh
into the first row and waited for something
to happen. A spruce young usher furnished
the excuse. He had gotten a bag OF rice
and when he and the others began to
toss 1t over the bride the urchins set UP
a shrill cheer and clamored for "jest a
little handful"
Up In Morningside park, in Harlem, by
permission of the city, says a New York
letter, there has been a camp Of about a
dozen male consumptives since October Is.
They are taking the new open-air cure for
the disease. Each man has a shelter tent
and there is a big A tent used as a kitchen.
The men take turns doing the cooking for
the camp and a sort Of voluntary military
discipline is maintained, the most robust
man of the lot-and the term is rather
pitiable at that-having been chosen to
boss the outfit when the camp was estab-
lished.
The men are visited every day by the
physician in charge Of them, who is posi-
tive that the open-air scheme is the only
way OF curing pulmonary diseases. The
men are very warmly clad in several suits
of heavy underwear, but they are not per-
mitted to have any sort of a fire in or
around their shelter tents and they are
required to keep on the move as much as
possible during the hours of the day. At
night they sleep in their shelter tents
under heavy bedding, but their heads are
exposed to the cold air, OF course. The
medical man having them in charge main.
tains that the more frigid air they breathe
while thus comfortably wrapped up in
their bedding the better are their chances
Of being cured. other features Of the open
ar cure are a diet consisting very largely
of raw eggs, unlimited quantities OF pure
milk and a certain emulsion of mixed fats.
which has attained a big vogue over here
even among persons who are only in a
rundown physical condition.
The funniest version of English In tho
city, reports the Times, is that heard at
the Chinese kindergarten, and the quaintest
little Americans in New York are the
small, pig-tailed persons who go to liz
Mott street to weave paper mats and learn
their first pothooks. Som twenty or TWEEN
ty-hve of them gather around the teacher
each day. The muster roll is much longer,
but they are excessively irregular as well
as unpunctual in their attendance. The
Chinese empire may be founded upon COM
petitive examinations, but those members
of 1t found in Chinatown have apparently
little conception Of the value of education.
That they have some is proved by the fact
that three-fourths Of the pupils are boys,
while a good percentage of the girls are
little 'half-and-halfs," whose mothers do
not consider the education of the kinder
garten too advanced for their daughters. A
desire to have the children learn English,
the diniculty Of sending them to the pub
lie schools on account Of the teasing OF
other children, and a vague knowledge Of
the Gerry society which permeates the
- -
crease the attendance.
As for the little Chinese girls, not one
Of them is to be seen on the street after
she is - years old. She sits at home with
her mother, doing Chinese sweatshop work
on the loose Ser garments worn by the
men Of the ~ rter. One never sees a
woman on the streets Of Chinatown.
Beneath stout bars guarding a wide
arched window in the United States assay
ONCE, in Wall street. thousands Of dollars
worth OF little gold bricks, the honest and
true kind, pass every day from Uncle Sans
Golfers to the hands Of jewellers and bank
ers. And all that Uncle Sam charges for
the exchange is s cents on 500 for the
small ones.
The bars Uncle Sam dispenses are Of two
general sizes, the $1,000 size for bankers
ana the elDU SIG lOI Jchti0Ibt ~ ma l
size being about an inch and a quarter long,
three-quarters wide and perhaps half an
inch or less in thickness. Very often they
run up to 5000 or even more In value. Their
size adapts them to the size Of the jewell
er's crucible. AS for the banker, he does
not melt his gold; he contents himself with
shipping II back and forth across the ocean.
A remarkable feature of the exchange OF
legal tender for gold bars is that one can
not always get just the amount he wishes.
II a jeweler or banker wishes $4,000 in
gold bullion Uncle Sam gives him as near
that amount as he possibly can. 1t may
be ss,s70.50 or $40, 00O.SO, because the bars
vary in size and weight and practically ell
of them have odd cents in their value. Two
bars the cashier handed out one day re-
Gently we're stamped S531.70 and $123.10.
In b.Yng gold pars the purchaser first
tells the cashier at the assay ONCE how
much he wishes. The cashier comes as near
this amount as he can with the bars on
hand, and then the purchaser goes next
door TO the subtreasury, where he deposits
his legal tender, gold certificates, green
backs OF gold coin, for the amount desig-
mated by the assay once cashier as the
nearest to the desired amount, receiving
therefor a certificate which, upon presen-
tation at the assay once. insures the de-
livery Of the bars. But before they may
be taken away the recipient must sign for
them in the register, which lies open be-
meath the bars Of the wide arched window.
Something short Of seven years hence It
will be 800 years since the Hudson river /
was discovered, and already numerous
representatives Of old Holland families in
New York state and city are considering
plans for fitting celebration Of the tri-
centenary. A committee appointed by the
Holland society to outline some scheme in
cludes such good old names as Van Dyke,
Van Norden. Van Wyck. Roosevelt, Banta,
etc. A good many Of the members favor
a worlds fair. but there is the embar-
rassment that New York City has no 1T
ting site other than Central park. and to
the selection OF that spot there would be
strong public opposition.