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HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Exeter Advocate, 1895-5-10, Page 3THE DRINK QUESTION. TEE ROYAL DONIUSSIODPS RE. PORT ON ruoinomow. Views of the Majority—The ltev- Dr. MeLeod's Opinions Not Yet staiven—A judgment Unfavourable to the Ea- aetment of a Prohibitory Law. Three years have elapsed since the Royal commission on prohibition was appointed. To -day five bulky volumes of evidence and a typewritten document ef two thousand pages, containing the findinge, were sub- mitted to Pttalitunent. Up to date the Government has paid $69,876 on account of the expenses of the commission, and still further expenditures have to be inade. The five comniissioners have not conae to untutimoue conolusion. Four of them— Sir Joseph Hiekson, Mr. if. S. Macdonald, Mr, E. P. Clark, and. Mr, N. A. Gigault-- are agreed upon a judgment, which is, in the main, unfavourable to the enactment of a prohibitory law. Their report has been brought down, but another has you to be presented from the Rev. Dr. McLeod, who, it is understood, takes an opposite view. The following extracts from the report of the majority cover the most important points on which deliverances are made. INDUSTRIAL EFFECTS. The enactment of a prohibitory law for the whole Dominion would, in the opinion of the ureleesigned, prejudicially affect the business, industrial, and. commercial in- terests of the county.The effect of the law on the Federal, provincial, and muni- cipal revenues from the traffic would be to practically wipe them out, In Quebec the wiping out of so earge a sum as $600,000 would prove severely einbarrassing. It may be asked if the progress in the States of the United States which have adopted prohibtiory laws has been greater than in the various Canadian provinces where the law has been what has just been describ- ed. The commissioners refer to the in- formation already given and ill the evi- dence submitted for an • -or to that question. They believe tees it must be answered in the negative by every one dis- posed to weigh the facts dispassionately. This comparison deals with prohibition as a system. LICENSE AND REGULATION. The commissioners cannot agree with the view so earnestly put forward by some Church organizations and many witnesses, that the recognition of the traffic by li- censing it is an immoral and a national sin. On the other hand, the undersigned are of opinion that the combined system of licenseand iegulation,which for centur- ies has been the rule ' of civilized nations, with such amendments as experience has proved. and shall from time to time prove to be need:N.1,in order to rnake it more effi- cient, should not be departed. from. The churches whieh have adopted the view that the use of liquor as a beverage is morally wrong have taken steps to give effect to their conclusions as regards their adher- ents, which is wholly within their legiti- mate sphere e action. It is almost im- possible, after reading the evidence taken by the commission, not to conclude that much of the agitation on this question of prohibition of the liquor traffic is to be at- tributed to a desire to see these views adopted generally. The -undersigned con- sider that the aim of any system of regu- lating or prohibiting liquor traffic is to lessen or distinguish the evils which arise from intemperance or from the improper use of intoxicating beverages, and after the most careful and anxious consideration otthe subject' they have come to the con - „elusion that this would not be accomplish- ed by the enactment of a law prohibiting the manufacture, importation., and sale of intoxicating liquors throughout the Do- minion, and that if such a law were pass- ed it could not be efficiently enforced. COERCIVE LEGISLATION. A prohibitory law partakes too much of the character of coercive legislation on a matter in regard to which a very large portion of the people consider they are qualified and. entitled to judge for them - wives, to be accepted as a measure they are called upon, to unhesitatingly obey, and hence the impracticability of efficient en- forcement. With the powers possessed by the various provinces to legislate in re- spect to the .LT111E0, the certainty that in some of the provinces prohibition would meet with determined opposition, with an open frontier such as the Dominion pos- sesses, laxgely bordering on States in which sale would be carried on, the undersigned consider that it is illusory to anticipate that a generalprohibtory law could be en- forced with any reasonable degree of effi- ciency. QUESTIONS OF COMPENSATION. The question of making compensation to those engaged in the manufacture, and those engaged in wholesale and retail vending of liquors, one or both classes, should the traffic be put an end to by legi- slation, has been frequently referred to, and much evidence given, and what has been proposed in other countries as,for in- stance, England, France, Germany, and some of the British colonies, consider that the payment of the compensation could not justly be avoided in the case of those who by such legislation would have their business, which they have been carrying on under the sanction of the &ea:Arent- ly put an end to, and their capital in many cases almost swept away, and in all con- siderably diminished. LICENSES ISSUED. A complete register of all manufactur- ers, dealers in or vendors of liquor, of every description, throughout the Doininion, classified in cities, towns, and districts, is much to be desired. At present 11 18 al- most impossible, to obtain even a correct statement of the number of persons licens- ed.. This commission, after an expendi- ture of much time and labor, have not been successful in getting an accurate re- turn of the number of licenses issued in some of the provinces. In the United States no one is permitted to manufacture or deal in intoxicants without first obtain- ing a special permit or tax paper from the International Revenue Department of the Federal Government under pain of heavy penalties, ranging from $1,000 up to $6,- 000. This special tax or lieense does not authorize the holder to manufadure or sell contrary to any State or municipal but ontil he has paid the Federal tax, and provided himself with a esroper certificate he cannot trade without rendering him- self liable to the penalties imposed by the Federal law, Everywhere in the United States there is greater care and anxiety ahown to comply with the Federal than with the;State or mnnicipal laws and re- gmlationte The special tax papers are Is- sued by the district collectors of revenue, Who are chaXged With the collection of the fees and the enforcement of the laws. The understood are satisfied thet 'beneficial resells would allow the adoption of a Anti - liar system in the Dominion. A complete reeerd could he kept of those licenses in every Isere of Me eauettry. The relation, if any, of the number' and character of crimes and offenses coinmitted ixi etch dis- trict could be readily traced. The officers of the DOTabli011 Government charged with the collection of the special tax would be Able to render effloient aid to the provin. dal and manioipal officers in Preventing the illieit sale of intoxicants. HABITUAL DRUNKARDS. The treatment of habitual drunkards is a subject the commissioners consider re - mitring the most elusions and careful at- tention. No merely financial considera- tins should in their opinion prevent the best remedial measures being adopted to reclaim the victims of iutemperance. That the methods at present in vogue are not only inefficient, but as a generalrule demoralizing, is the almost unanimous opinion of those who have to administer the law, and of all who have to do with the Police Courts and the gaols of the country, in so far as the commission has been able to elioit their views. The same offenders are again and again in the coarse of a year brought before the courts to be subjected to the same penalties, and are a body, luckily in Canada, not solaxge as in many other countries, who inaroh in pro- cession from the streets to the police sta- tion, from the police stations to the courts, from the 'courts to tho gaols, and from the latter back to the streets, repeating their pilgrimages many times annually. The associations and experiences of the com- mon gaols of the country cannot be con- sidered to have either a deterrent or ele- vating influence upon such persons, The young return from their enforced retire- mentson each occasion with blunted moral feelings, and a lessened regard for law and order in general, and the hardened offend- er with those of complete indifference. It is claimed by many that much can be done by scientific treatment to reform the intemperate, and it would seem to be the wise course to have these claims investi- gated, but under any circumstances the undersigned consider the present plan of committing drunkards to the oonunon gaols for short periods after a second or third offence has been committed should be abandoned ; that provision should be made for the establishment of places to which they valid be committed for such time at might be deemed desirable on probation, to be relete ed, at the end. of such terms only on the certificate of the judge or magistrate committing them ; that whilst under this restraint they should be sub- jected to anch treatment as might be deemed fitting and calculating to lead to their reformatin, being in the meantime made to work so as to earn as much to- wards their own support and the support of those dependent upon them as predic- able. LICENSE LAW OFFENSES. The investigations of the commisioners have satisfied them that convictions for second or subsequent offenses as such against the license laws by the holders of lreenses amount in many places to only a small proportion of the cases which hap- pen, and hence what the law contemplat- ed, viz., heavier penalties for repeated offences, are not inflicted as they should be. This in part arises from the difdculty of proving previous convicitons. To rem- edy this, the license certificates should be of a moderately permanent character, and such as could be produced. in court in any case of complaint,the annual renewais being represented by a separate certificate or receipt that in every case of complaint the defendant shoteld be called upon to produce his license and every conviction should be endorsed thereon. No transfer- able license should be permitted whilst any cause is pending against the holder. The licensing of saloons, the only business of which is the sale by retail of intoxicants, the cominisioners consider should be put an end to. There is no justification for their existence founded upon necessity, and it is certain that most of the evils which arise out of the immoderate use of intoxicants have their origin in or are en- couraged by the existence of these saloons. The commissioners are of opinion that no one should be granted a license for any saloon or restaurant in. which meals are not regularly supplied to all who may re- quire them, and that the law should not be evaded by such practices as are now re- sorted to; that the authority to sell should be restricted in these places to selling only to those who partake of and pay for meals. They are also of the opinion that no one should be given a license for an inn or tav- ern which has not the necessary a000MMO- dation in the shape of the rooms and beds and facilities for supplying meals to a rea- sonable number of persons at one and the same time. ADULTERATION OF LIQUORS. The *licensing of the compounding or mixing of various kinds of liquors so as to produce new brands, the undersigned be- lieve could with advantage be discontinu- ed. It is hardly possible that there can be any advantage in using the product of these mixtures rather than the original liquor from which they are made, and the system involves much risk of illicit pro- duction. There is undoubtedly much adulteration of liquor carried on, and the commissioners would recommend that in- spection be made more general, and more frequent, especially amongst the retail es- tablishments. In many places the residents, who can intervene to prevent a new license being granted, have practically no opportunity of preventing the granting of renewals ex- cept by means which it is hardly possible for them to adopt. Where the right to op- pose the granting of licenses exists the undersigned consider the residents should have the right, and be afforded reasonable facility to oppose for cause the granting of renewals, The number of shop licenses granted, is much larger in many places than is either desirable or necessary, and that might be reduced without inconvenience to any de- gree arising out of the reasonable demands <if the public. The commissioners are of opinion that they should be very material- ly reduced, and that the sale of intoxicants should in every ease be wholly separated from the sale of groceries or other domestic supplies. THE SCOTT ACT. The undersigned believe that it would be of great advantage to have such amend- ments of the license laws enacted as would provide that in ease of a seeond conviction of a breaeh of any of the provisions there- of, if the licensee be a tenant, the lease thail become void, if the lessor so desires, and then in case of a third or subsequent conviction the license itself shall be for- feited, and the same premises shall not be licensed for a term of years. In all coun- ties and cities where the Scott Act is now inforce ot in which it may hereafter be put in iorce, the undersigned consider it would' be an advantage to have a vote taken once in eying three yearS on the simple question, "Shall licenses issue in —P' and the answer to this question should settle the matter for the ensuing Or” years, when a vete ShoUld be taken. Such a system would have the effect of Fatting an end to wieerteinty as to the feelings of the population on the Subject, and Would avoid the expense of special elections, which consideration undoubted- ly prevents in xnany cases an expression of public) opinion beiug obtained. HIGH LICENSES. The undereigned believe , e ;0344" position of high license f Supervision of the place ough inspection of li dent enforcement of t teriaily improve the oh lishments where liquor' end to many of the evils from the traffic. A law wh the citizen who vends liquors c its provisions, yet permits the citizen w purobases what is sold illegally to eseape punishment, cannot be considered, other than an unequal and one-sided law. The undersigned are of opinion that both parties to what is an illegal transaction should be made equally guilty in the eyes of the law. The spending of money un- necessarily on and the over -indulgence in liquors amongst the working classes, the undersigned are convinced frequently re- sult not so much froni a love of liquor as from the love of sociable society and the comfort which is found hi the places where the sale takes place, but in many in- stances is not to be met with in their own homes. Discomfort, badly cooked food and ill-ventilatedi dwellings, have rnuoit to answer for in connection with intemper- ance. Attention to these matters, and more especially to the training of the fe- male portion or the population in a know- ledge of domestic economy and household duties, the undersigned are satisfied would have an elevating and most beneficial effect In the past, in not a few counties in which the Scott Act was adopted there has been a failure to apply the amounts col- lected for fines to the enforcement of the Inspeotors have not been appointed nor returns made to the Provincial Gov- ermuents as prescribed by the law, and it may also be added that in many instances they have not been asked for. COMPILATION OF RETURNS. Melo rs004/hici to 4.. avee's ce 21 make it e ao"IP10.4ito' leavttell sitirtTee. in 0; peoltibition (n 'Wares that e_e th tete) there re larger ion. to prohibition 1,filtreess see% Aoks 7:4 n �t eithee ceene h ehma vties perott. 06V414;1s° blitleOriiherieS4 s, prohibitory n operation. AO Proper t depends on the con kerne that ONers 2Q k1je .' eing, and that the Oran n, are susceptible to ad to the lax discharge things being equal, no thinks i d be reasonable to expect better results from a lew enforced under the Canadian political system that from a law administered by officers so directly officers in charge of the law of the netted asitlaietensato politic ..ble a sentimeat as are the GENERAL CONCLUSIONS. The general conclusions arrived at on prohibition are, first, that the Canadian Parliament was quite right when it de- clared, as it hos clone on several occasions, fos prohibition. The doctor concludes by /lading that the effect of the liquor traffic has been and is seriously detrimental to the moral, social, and material interests of the nation; that the measures employed to license, regulate, or prohibit the traffic have been of value and effective only in proportion as they were approximated in their operation to the absolute prohibition of the traffic in all intoxicating liquors; and that the revenue requirements of the country should not be considered a reason for the continuance of an admitted evil; that the endorsements which the electorate of the different sections of the Dominion of Canada have given at the ballot box in the principal of prohibition wherever sub- mitted, as well as the many petitions, 11 emorials, and declarations of the church courts, temperance organizations, munici- pel counoils, and other representatives bodies make it sufficiently clear that the mejority of the people of Canada are in fa- vour of the total prohibition of the liquor traffic; that it would, therefore, be right and wise for the Dominion Parliament, without further delay to carry out the promise and give effect to the principle stated in its several resolutions by the en- actment and full enforcement of a law prohibitory to the manufacture, importa- tion, and sale of intoxicaing liquors, except for medicinal, sacramental, and scientific pm -poses, eu and into the Dominion of Canada. Tho compilation of returns of the in- mates committed to and remaining in gaols and asylums' almshouses, and re- formatories, with the cost of these in- stitutions, as well as complete returns of the number and classes oS licenses is issued in each city and county and of the amounts collected therefor, would afford the means of estimating more accurately the results of the various systems in force throughout the country for regulating the liquor traffic ,and lead to a more efficient enforcement of the law. In one of the provinces the information referred to is obtained and embodied in returns laid be- fore the Legislatures annually, in some it Is obtained in part but not turned to any practicable account, whilst in others the matter is utterly neglected. The com- missioners believe it would lead to a mu& better understanding and appreciation of the extent of the liquor traffic, and that the results which would flow from the dis- semination of such information would amply repay the country for the cost of collecting, classifying, and publishing the such statistics annually. The matter of expenses has undoubtedly in some cases deterred the Provincial and municipal Governments from doing this in the past, and if the work is to be done In the future efficiently and so as to embrace the whole country, it will have to be by and at the cost of the Dominion Government. A DISSENTMENT. Mr. Giga,ult dissented from the sugges- tion that liquor dealers should be requited to obtain certificates from the Federal Government. He also took exception to adding the paragraph referring to the work of the Salvation Army. " I am not satis- fied that the temperance raovement has been benefitted by the work of that organi- zation." DR. 3110LEOD'S REPORT. Another report of smaller dimensions, though, perhaps of equal interest to the public, has been presented to Parliament. Four of the commissioners agree that the passage of a prohibitory liquor law is in- advisable, but the fifth, the Rev. Dr. Mc- Leod, of larederiction, N. B., presents con- clusions of an entirely different nature. He finds, on all counts in favor of the contentions of the most ardent prohibi- tionists, condemning the license system, the Goethenburg plan and asserting that the public sentiinent Of Canada is prepared to support and enforce a prohibitory law. In his deliverance Dr. McLeod first devot- es attention to the existing conditions. He declares that nowhere has there been found a license system that really regu- lates the liquor traffic, that the restrictive features of the license laws have not pro- duced the results claimed for them, and that license laws do not reduce the volnrao of the liquor tralfic. He opposes high li- cense as a remedy for the existing evils, and declares that high license has made the saloons more important, marc attrao- tive, and, more dangerous. Moreover in his opinion, high license has created a sentiment in favour of the saloon as a source of public revenue. It has had a bad efiect upon the moral sense of the com- munity, and has aided in corrupting the public conscience. Another charge against the high license plan is that it has increas- ed the influence of the liquor traffic, and given it a maximun of power. On these aspects of the case D. MeLesed's conclu- sion is that as a remedy or even a check on the evils of the liquor traffic license laws of every kind have been a stupendous failure. THE GOTHENBURG PLAN. The results of his inquiries into the Gothenburg plan are equally unfavourable. Though designed originally to decrease the drink traffic, it has, says Dr. McLeod, de- generated into a system to satisfy the greed olIalittroholders. It appeals to the cupidity of shareholders, and that large class of the community that see in the revenue deriv- ed from the traffic relief from taxation. "Canada," adds the doctor, "hex nothing to gain by the adoption of the Gothenburg system, and has nothing to learn from it, except that no system of license, under whatever name called, or conducted under whatever auspices, interferes permanently with the liquor traffic or diminishosits in- vitable evils." Concerning the advocacy of light liquors, the doctor concludes that the use of wine is not a habit te be en- couraged with a view to overcoming alco- holism, and its train of vices, and he adds that all the facts show that it is too late in the day to cite the eaperience of Germany and France as justifying the encourage- ment of beer and wino. AN EFFECTIVE SOLUTION. Coming to the question of prohibition pure and simple, Dr. McLeod says a -- "Upon this point, your commissioner in Lid express regret at the conclusions expressed by the majority of the commission,. He believes that a careful examination of all ABOUT TUE ALAeRA MAIDEN. Remarlcs About Her by u 'White Man Who has Studied Her. Some of the early Americansettlers who went to Alaska as bachelors married native women. One of them who died several years ago left behind the following de- scription of the Alaska maiden, which was published in the last nuraber of the Alaska News: ` The Alaska maiden is a very queer and unnatural being. She may live with a white man, or be lawfully wedded to him, but such tender sentiaaents as love for her white master neves entered her dusky bosom. She may dwell in a fbae cottage, wear silk and white and fine rainment and live upon dainty food and in ease, but to be good and true to him who labors to si pply her with these fine things is not de coediug to the Hoyle of her clan, and she keeps the head of the house constantly in hot water through the intrusions of some swarthy lover upon his domestic happi- ness. The cottage, •silks, well-su.pplied table and liberal allowances of cash are her demands for living with him, and if finenoial embarrassments cause a shortage in such luxuries the frisky damsel sudden- ly has home affairs that demand her at- tention, and ` Mr.Parker" bathes' until he makes another stake. She is a very duti- ful child to her aged parents, and. the per- sistency of her demands for cash and the depletion of her own larder for their sup- port is only equalled by the amount that these old people seem able to consume. She is very aboriginal in her habits, and whexi she can escape the argus eye of her better half and make a sneak from under the roof of civilization for a time, and ean always be found rolling in the sand in front of the parental hovel, munching dried salmon or cakes of seaweed and seal grease. But when she has gorged herself sufficiently on this odoriferous food and visited and gossiped to her heart's content, she returns to her cottage again, a,nd,with silks soiled and torn and a breath flavored like the breeze from a fish -drying rack, sues for that forgivness she is always sure to receive. She is then thoroughly soap- sudsed, a new gown is purchased, and the head of the house breathes a sigh of relief, knowing that it will be several days at least before his domestic happiness is again broken." How a Crowd Gathers. "Ever see a crowd gather?" asked the man with chin whiskers as he lit a cigar. No; can't say that I ever did." " I thought not. The crowd was there when you came along. But I helped form Ibis one." "What did you do?" "Stopped to achnire a cute little shaver ID a baby -cab The child was playing with a sinall dog, and the two made a pic- ture." "But about the crowd?" "Some ladies stopped to look at the baby, then some children to play with the dog. . That made a gathering on the side- walk, and others wanted to see what they were looking at, and there was soon a big crowd that couldn't see anything." " Meanwhile you -were obstructing the sidewalk." "But you never saw a crowd disperse as quickly." "Policeman?" "Not much! That baby wrinkled up its nose and began to cry. In two seconds there wasn't a soul in sight. The crowd had melted into thin air." Think of Other People. We ought to think of other people's con- venience more than some of us do. Tho home is the place where this thoughtful- ness ought to begin and be cultivated. One who comes late to braekfast achnite that he has been guilty of an amiable self- indulgence,but forgets that he has marred the harmoniouS flow of the household life, and caused confusion and extrawork. The other day an important committee of fif- teen was kept waiting ten minates for one tardy member, who came saunterbag in at last, without even an apology for causing fifteen mett a loss of time that to them was very valuabie, besides having put a sore etrain on their patience and good tature. Commoli life is full bf itiet such thought, lest:mesa Pasha's Funeral- funertel of the ex-latetibee letuai1 ec i, which reeently took pie ae Cairo, many Chleago ma °pie are spent/We- bster, is graphic -ally described by the esponteent of n London paper, The f tweral procession numbered 10,000 persons,including Egyptian and European notables and the ox-klualiev'e swathe pre- semiseeelee, and the route to the Mosque or the Rifest where the body was interred, was lined by donee ceoeycle of spectators. Fluter& pageants and the stately eti- quette of European court momming tea entirely foreign to the spirit of Islam, but Cairo has long been accustomed to com- promises which are 'amputee only by the strictest Mohammedans now remaining. The procession presented a curious jumble of Catilern and western life. Benind do- tat:laments of mounted police an:1 alyptian cavalry came the sirdar and staff of the Egyptian army, unmistakably English in spite ot their Egyptian it ifonns. Iintne- diately behind them walked readers of the Koran reciting the sem ed varses in a high nasal cheat deputes is ns from the. native oilds and corporations be tying flags and banners embroidered with snored device:4, descendants of the prophet in green tur- bans and ilowingrobesonollahs and ulema in long kaftans, dervishes in tall felt caps, students from Elasehar—in fact tfie mili- tant and uncompromising Islam in its old world picture:scantness. Then, in a sharp contest to the mediaeval scholasticism of the great Mohalinnetian University, came hundreds of blue -coated boys and yonths from the modern schools and oolleges, with their European master. Behind them again, in curious alternation, native and European notables,judges from native and mixed tribunals, gold -laced pashas and boys, English government officials, Euro- pean commissioners of the national debt, appropriately conspicuous on mole an ea- casiou as the representatives of the body which cast more directly that any other Egyptian institution trace its esisteoce to the ex -khedive; the long -robed clergy- of the different Christian denominaions and rabbis of the Jewish communitnnalecoat- ed officers of the British army of occupa- tion, headed by General Sir F. Forestier Walker; the diplomatic corps in full uni- form with Lord Cromer as its doyen; the ministers and English advisersifor finance, justice and the interior, and, with Ghazi Mukhtar, the imperial ottoman commis- sioner at his side, tbm khedive followed by all the male members of his family. Be- hind the chief mourners and the house- hold of the deceased khedive a double row of youths sprinkled perfumes and burned incense in, front of the coffin. Covered with an embroidered pall, on which were displayed the uniform and deoorations of the decea.sed, the mortal remains of Ismail were borne on the shoulders of twenty men from the lthedial body guard,hard pressed by a we'r I crowd of hired female mourn- ers, who r net the air with their shrieks of woe. Another body of troops, with arras reversed, closed the strange pageant. The ladies of the ex-khecllive's harem, who to the number of some SOO, had been holding funeral wakes for the past week at the Kasr-el-Nil Palace, had expressed their intention of following barefootedthe remains of their former lord and master, but orders from the palace ultimately for- bade such a public manifestation of their grief. Near the opera -house the young khedive, to whone walking is a serious physical effort, quitted the cortege to return straight to Abdeen—an example which many others followed—while the -bulk of the procession wended its way slowly on, first to the mosque of the Sultan Hassan, where prayers were recited, and then to the Rifai Mosque, an. ambitious but linfin- ished pile, the construction of which was begun by the deceased khedive ofl his wonted scale of reckless magnificence and was interrupted by the financial disasters of his reign. There, beside the tombs of his mother and two of his daughters, he was finally laid to rest in the mauseleum which he had designed for himself, but which will probably never be completed, for the foundations are already showing signs of subsidence—a monument perhaps not altogether inappropriate to the prince whose life, after a brief period of artificial splendor, ebbed drearily away amid tb ruins of his shattered ambitions. Paying His Respects. A. " valued contributor" of a great newspaper in New York from a western eity, who imagined his name was well known in the office, though his person was not, on a recent visit to the metropolis, concluded he would call and pay his re- spects to the editor-in-chief. Arriving on the lofty floor where that distinguished worthy held forth, he was met in the environments of the senctifled seclusion of an office boy who demanded his card. He gave it up willingly and waited for the office boy to report, the meanwhile smoothing himself out and thinking of a few appropriate words of greeting and response when he should have come into the presence. The boy shortly returned and stated that the editor would like to know his business before seeing him. lie was paralyzed for an instant but, soon, Phoenix -like, rose from the ashe,s, as is the custom of the west, and asked for paper on which to write a note of explana- tion. He got it and in a,bout two minutes handed this to the boy to hand to the boss : Dear Sir : 1 called to pay my respects. am teeked what my ,business is. Am to understand that pahnents of all kinds are to be made in the business office ? Yours. Wheat the boy returned to invite him in he had departed thence. A Disappointed Man. "trove much does the goverinnent allow me?" said a citizen to the income tax l tater. " rout.. thousond dollars," replied the official. "Here is a statement of my income, then," and he handed a paper to Uncle Sam's representative, who looked at it and then ob.sorved, with some warmth of feel- ing: "You have no occasion to filo this. It shows an inCome of only $1,200. You. don't need to file a statement unless your incorao is $3,500 or more." "Didn't you say the law allowed me $4,000?" "Well, my income was $1,200, and I file the statement so that the goveniment caSi give rae the difference, which 'figure out to be $2,800. When do I got it ?" After much expostulation the citizen Was finally led out into the cool spring Dhaubai Fardoujee 13anajee, an Indian woman, tarried off the first prize iu the Bombay Association of Avtasts She went to Paris to oomplete her studies, and one of her picturee was teccocliad by the come plant ed. Florence Nightingale at SeveatY-Ilfreto On the fifteenth day of May Florence Nightingale celebrates her seventreflfth birthday—as great a woman Med as great a public: benefooton and as Muth of a heroine as SIM 'WM forty years age when she went forth front her ednfortable home ID England, not as a mere nurse to attend to the wants of the wounded and the dy- ing British soldiers in, the Crimea, lent as a fearless organizer of a great fiela-hospie tal system, whioh the British ' War °Mee authorities, staff officers and generals bad lociked upon as a mere matter of after- thought in the preliminary arrangements Of one of the most diftioult campaigns in the bistory of the civilized, world, writes Fitz Roy Gardener in art interesting illus- trated, sketch of "Florence Nightingale at Seventy -Five" in the May Ladies' Home Journal. No one had thought of the physical sufferings wnieb, would have to be unclere*oue by the brave soldiers who were sent out with the prospect of a long winter oampaign before themowithout any adequate hospital arrangeineuts having been ivade. When the great mistake was realized it was a woman who came for- ward to rectify the terrible blunder; and it may be easily imagined that obstacles were thrown in her way. But public opin- ion was soon aroused, and when Miss Florence Nightingale arrived at the Crimea with her hood of nurses she had the whole of the British people at her back. Tho Untrained Daughter. 'Why eaottld not a girl be taught book- keeping and some of the mare common business forxiis? writes Elizabeth Robinson Seovil in the May Ladies Home Journal. Men pity, or laugh at,the business incapa- eity of the vast majority of women. It Is often only due to want of proper in- struction, and why should. not this be supplied? Some girls have a passion for flowers, and plants thrive ender their coaxing fingers Without much apparent effort on their part. Such may And their vocations in the management of green- houses. Raising flower seeds is a remun- erative occupation. Choice pansy seed is sold at seven dollars an ounce at retail, rare ones at double that price, and some varieties of verbenas at three dollars an ounce. Cut flowers always comraand a good price in winter, spring flowers at Exid tiex and choice flowers all the year l The care of precious houseplants for ab- sent owners, supplying potted plants and ferns for the pecoration of dinner -tables and drawing -rooms, help to swell the bal- ance. Some florists not only supply the flowers but arrange them in their recep- tacles, charging an extra sum for the ser- vice. A girl choosing this occupation raustbe content to learn her business thoroughly under an experienced florist) and should also have a little capital to begin with. There are so many good technical schools now that there need be little difficulty in obtaining excellent instruction in what- ever avocation it is wished to take up. A PACKAGE FOR MOTHER. Lone Jim Had a Tender Spot in His Big - Heart. "In days gone by," said the man with the briar -root pipe as we settled dowxi in the smoking compartment, "I knocked around in. the west a great deal, and for a year or two I held out at Rocky Bar, Idaho. I met a young chap there from Massachusetts who'd. seen hard times and was on his last legs. He was sick for weeks and weeks before he died. He knew well enough that his life was ebbing away, but he had grit and never uttered a com- plaint. On several occasions I asked about his friends and offered to write a letter for him but he shook his head and said he had no relations. I had my own opinion on that matter, however. Now :and then, as the days dragged away and the grave came nearer,' caught him with sueh a yearning look on his face as made my heart ache. Sometimes, too, there were tears in his eyes, though he tried to hide them. I felt sure there was a mother or sister at least, but there was a cloud over his life and did not urge him to tell me his story. He was proud -spirited and sensitive, and long enough before he died I knew he would pass away and make no sign. After his death I found a package and a -letter he had prepared. In the letter he asked me to forward the package,which was addressed to a woman in Boston. I cid not open it, of course, but from the looks of it, I be- lieved it to contain a letter and a photo- graph. '-1was going over to Boise City," oon- dulled the man after a bit, "and I took the package along to mail it there. therm pened to be the only passenger in the stage, and the stage happened to be held up. I had $300 sewed into the bottoms of my trousers and $40 in loose money to hand over. In searching me the robber found the package, and though I explain- ed what it was and how I came by it he insisted on carrying it off with him. I offered to give him 02.10 hundred. dollars to send it to me at Boise City, but he was a surly, ill-tempered brute and gave me no satisfaction. After we got into Boise I was telling the story itt the bar -room of a hotel, and when I had finished a man winked for me to step out doors with him.. When we were alone he asked: "Stranger, do you honestly believe that package was for the dead boy's mother?" "Cin sure of it," said I. " And what sort of a looldng cuss was the robber?" "Rather tall,reddish hair and whiskers, bucaskin leggings, blue eyes, a little lop - shouldered." ; Wei.,11 yciu be hero for two or three das Yes for a week." He walked off and. I did not see him again for three days. Then he mane to my room at the hotel and handed mo the package and quietly said: " You see I got it, and I hope you'll for- ward it on." "But how did you get it?" 1 asked. "Went after it " "And you—you?" "Yes, 1 found the cuss. He wouldn't give it up; and that stain on the paper comes from his blood!" "I thanked him, but he made very light of what he had . done and went away. remained ill. Bogs for several days,but did not see him again In the bourse of a, couple of weeks 1 got down to Matinteart City,and just as I reached there a sheriffs' poese brotight in my man oti a buckboard. He had been Addled with bullets two hours before out on the Reek City road. I think they said he was struck by twelve baile, and was dead before he tumbled ' . "Then your Man Was—?" "A road -agent called 'Lone Jim,' and a,' chap with nerve enough for five men. , Queer that he had, such a soft spot about, him, wasn't it?"