“All day long, or until he gets enough for a lodging and a pipe of keef in the evening. ”
“And how much do you suppose that will be? ” “Oh, about a pesata, probably. ”
“And how many boys will he require for these experiments? ” we asked laughing.
“Oh, he never kills one; but suppose he should, there are plenty more, ” replies our philosophic Patecola with a shrug and a laugh.
But still another group interested us, although it was a hideous sight and repulsive in the extreme. There squatted a horrible wretch, the serpent-charmer, one of the noted entertainers of the Arabs, and one often depicted on canvas by our best artists. They pretend to belong to a band of magicians, who have received power over venomous animals to such an extent that even their bites are harmless. Whether there be any truth in their power, it is impossible to say, but most surely the bites do not have any effect, as is daily seen. This old fellow was naked to the waist, with dirty black hair and sunken cheeks, from which looked out a pair of eyes as vicious as the eyes of his reptiles among which he lived. He also had music surrounding him, if such sounds can be called music. It was supposed at any rate to add enchantment to his powers, but was more villainous than a cracked country melodeon. The sounds came from a shrill sort of flute, accompanied by a tom-tom in the hands of an attendant, and continued during the five minutes in which he was supposed to gain control over the snakes. In like manner he hopped around a large, black, dirty bag, which upon closer inspection proved to be a pigskin tied up at the legs and neck and all the time wriggling and twisting in a horrible manner, most infernally suggestive of its contents.
He recited the history of his gang of charmers, at least that is what Patecola explained, told where the snakes came from, made passes the while over the hideous black bag, and emphasized his howls by wailing out notes on the flute in the minor key. Of course money was his object, which he collected as he proceeded and at last commenced his business. Things began to be rather exciting as he opened the bag and hauled out long writhing snakes, uttering the while, a running incantation. With these whip lash ornaments he performed all kinds of tricks, which the snakes emphasized by darting out their long tongues and hissing with rage; and he ended by taking the tail of one of them in his mouth, and swinging his snakeship over his neck. Then he put his hand into the bag and drew out another one, larger than the first and tied the two together. Then a third, and a fourth, until snake and man seemed to become one object, repulsive and horrible. What else happened I know not; we had seen enough and started for the hotel.
A good siesta is the order of the afternoon in Africa and the latter part of the day we spent in a walk along the beach which stretches away for miles, and gradually loses itself in the desert sands, over which long lines of camels slowly pass.
When we arrived at the hotel again the moon was shining softly, casting a long shimmer of light across the sea and the only sound that reached us was the low monotonous ripple of the waves as they broke on the beach below. To our right were the low roofs of the houses, on which could be seen here and there bundles, which proclaimed the presence of sleepers all about us. One of the most beautiful sights was the tower of the mosque near by, which being covered with colored glazed tiles, threw out flashes of soft, translucent light.
Are we in Africa! Can it be possible? Surely it was so, for a low chanting sound suddenly broke the stillness of the night and the wail of the Moorish watchman was heard as he chanted his watch. “God is great! It is better to pray than to sleep! ”
C. A. Rich.
(To be continued. )
The Expiring or the Bell Telephone Patents. — The oft-repeated assertion that telephonic service cannot be afforded at a lower rate than that which prevails in most of our large cities, and the oft-repeated statement on the part of the American Bell monopolists that the “ larger the business the larger the expense” — which is contrary to all known data of commercial science — have of late received a most convincing set-back. As everybody knows, the fundamental Bell patents have expired in Great Britain. In 1893 the same patents will expire in the United States. By reason of certain adverse judicial decisions there exists just across the border, in Canada, a state of affairs which is plainly indicative of what will take place here in 1893. To-day Montreal furnishes the cheapest telephonic service on this continent. The long-established “Bell” company demands only $25 a year for either residential or business houses. The opposition company, the Federal Telephone Company, which brought rates to their present basis, charges $35 a year for business houses and $25 a year for residences. Both concerns are doing a lively business. The local “ Bell ” company has about 5, 000 subscribers in the city, and the opposition company has about 6, 500 subscribers. Both organizations use the same apparatus. This reduction in telephone rates not only applies to cities with from 5, 000 to 10, 000 subscribers, but is also taking place in Berlin, which has even a larger number of subscribers, and also in London, where the rates have been reduced from £15 to £10 per annum. What better evidence than these facts can be adduced to prove that the business can be done, and is being done to-day, in the largest cities of the world, when the patents have become invalid through the expiration of their terms, and that Legislatures in this country will regulate the rates so as to conform to these, in some just proportion, after the patent monopoly on the Bell and Blake apparatus have expired. — Practical Electricity.
EQUESTRIAN MONUMENTS. 1 — XXXVII. THE NAPOLEONS.
W
HILE Americans w re being led by moral causes to seek their liberty, the most repulsive of physical forces were compelling Frenchmen of the middle and lower classes to seek relief from wrongs, from which there was practically no appeal, which the degenerate feudal system had so long showered upon them — at length past all endurance. Between the steadfast and high-minded contest waged by the colonists and the furious and bloody revolt which ended in the establishment of the short-lived first French Republic there are few points of resemblance. In the one case an essentially pure-minded people sought liberty, in the other an oppressed and in many ways a degraded race sought license. Not that the French Revolution did not produce pure and ardent patriots, as Lafayette, Desmoulins, Carnot, Bailly and a host of others, but that the general plane of morality was so low that these men, who were constituted by nature to be safe leaders in a movement whose moral purpose was not wrong, were quickly set aside by leaders more in touch with the base natures of the crowds, undisciplined and uncontrollable, who made Paris, Lyons, Marseilles and the Vendee a very shambles, whose reek still overhangs the name of the French Republican.
The Directory, the Consulate, the Empire followed in rapid succession the overthrow of the Monarchy, with always for a central figure
the most remarkable man that modern history knows. Historians and partisans will never come to an agreement as to whether Napoleon Bonaparte was a demi-god or an arch-fiend. But all must agree that he was the bright particular glory of the most splendid and glorious epoch of French history, and probably neither one party nor the other will ever consent that there shall be displaced from the galleries at Versailles — from the Salle des Maréchaux and elsewhere — the Napolonic subjects which form part of the famous series of paintings which so help to make the study of national history a delightful pastime to French youth.
One thing, at least, Napoleon knew and that was man, and this knowledge enabled him to surround himself with a brilliant throng, the mere mention of whose names is a temptation to writer, painter, sculptor. No inconsiderable number of these famous soldiers have been immortalized by the sculptor and the last of them all will
1 Continued from No. 795, page 185.
Napoleon I. (Bronze Statuette) David, Sculptor.
Marceau. Clesinger, Sculptor.
“And how much do you suppose that will be? ” “Oh, about a pesata, probably. ”
“And how many boys will he require for these experiments? ” we asked laughing.
“Oh, he never kills one; but suppose he should, there are plenty more, ” replies our philosophic Patecola with a shrug and a laugh.
But still another group interested us, although it was a hideous sight and repulsive in the extreme. There squatted a horrible wretch, the serpent-charmer, one of the noted entertainers of the Arabs, and one often depicted on canvas by our best artists. They pretend to belong to a band of magicians, who have received power over venomous animals to such an extent that even their bites are harmless. Whether there be any truth in their power, it is impossible to say, but most surely the bites do not have any effect, as is daily seen. This old fellow was naked to the waist, with dirty black hair and sunken cheeks, from which looked out a pair of eyes as vicious as the eyes of his reptiles among which he lived. He also had music surrounding him, if such sounds can be called music. It was supposed at any rate to add enchantment to his powers, but was more villainous than a cracked country melodeon. The sounds came from a shrill sort of flute, accompanied by a tom-tom in the hands of an attendant, and continued during the five minutes in which he was supposed to gain control over the snakes. In like manner he hopped around a large, black, dirty bag, which upon closer inspection proved to be a pigskin tied up at the legs and neck and all the time wriggling and twisting in a horrible manner, most infernally suggestive of its contents.
He recited the history of his gang of charmers, at least that is what Patecola explained, told where the snakes came from, made passes the while over the hideous black bag, and emphasized his howls by wailing out notes on the flute in the minor key. Of course money was his object, which he collected as he proceeded and at last commenced his business. Things began to be rather exciting as he opened the bag and hauled out long writhing snakes, uttering the while, a running incantation. With these whip lash ornaments he performed all kinds of tricks, which the snakes emphasized by darting out their long tongues and hissing with rage; and he ended by taking the tail of one of them in his mouth, and swinging his snakeship over his neck. Then he put his hand into the bag and drew out another one, larger than the first and tied the two together. Then a third, and a fourth, until snake and man seemed to become one object, repulsive and horrible. What else happened I know not; we had seen enough and started for the hotel.
A good siesta is the order of the afternoon in Africa and the latter part of the day we spent in a walk along the beach which stretches away for miles, and gradually loses itself in the desert sands, over which long lines of camels slowly pass.
When we arrived at the hotel again the moon was shining softly, casting a long shimmer of light across the sea and the only sound that reached us was the low monotonous ripple of the waves as they broke on the beach below. To our right were the low roofs of the houses, on which could be seen here and there bundles, which proclaimed the presence of sleepers all about us. One of the most beautiful sights was the tower of the mosque near by, which being covered with colored glazed tiles, threw out flashes of soft, translucent light.
Are we in Africa! Can it be possible? Surely it was so, for a low chanting sound suddenly broke the stillness of the night and the wail of the Moorish watchman was heard as he chanted his watch. “God is great! It is better to pray than to sleep! ”
C. A. Rich.
(To be continued. )
The Expiring or the Bell Telephone Patents. — The oft-repeated assertion that telephonic service cannot be afforded at a lower rate than that which prevails in most of our large cities, and the oft-repeated statement on the part of the American Bell monopolists that the “ larger the business the larger the expense” — which is contrary to all known data of commercial science — have of late received a most convincing set-back. As everybody knows, the fundamental Bell patents have expired in Great Britain. In 1893 the same patents will expire in the United States. By reason of certain adverse judicial decisions there exists just across the border, in Canada, a state of affairs which is plainly indicative of what will take place here in 1893. To-day Montreal furnishes the cheapest telephonic service on this continent. The long-established “Bell” company demands only $25 a year for either residential or business houses. The opposition company, the Federal Telephone Company, which brought rates to their present basis, charges $35 a year for business houses and $25 a year for residences. Both concerns are doing a lively business. The local “ Bell ” company has about 5, 000 subscribers in the city, and the opposition company has about 6, 500 subscribers. Both organizations use the same apparatus. This reduction in telephone rates not only applies to cities with from 5, 000 to 10, 000 subscribers, but is also taking place in Berlin, which has even a larger number of subscribers, and also in London, where the rates have been reduced from £15 to £10 per annum. What better evidence than these facts can be adduced to prove that the business can be done, and is being done to-day, in the largest cities of the world, when the patents have become invalid through the expiration of their terms, and that Legislatures in this country will regulate the rates so as to conform to these, in some just proportion, after the patent monopoly on the Bell and Blake apparatus have expired. — Practical Electricity.
EQUESTRIAN MONUMENTS. 1 — XXXVII. THE NAPOLEONS.
W
HILE Americans w re being led by moral causes to seek their liberty, the most repulsive of physical forces were compelling Frenchmen of the middle and lower classes to seek relief from wrongs, from which there was practically no appeal, which the degenerate feudal system had so long showered upon them — at length past all endurance. Between the steadfast and high-minded contest waged by the colonists and the furious and bloody revolt which ended in the establishment of the short-lived first French Republic there are few points of resemblance. In the one case an essentially pure-minded people sought liberty, in the other an oppressed and in many ways a degraded race sought license. Not that the French Revolution did not produce pure and ardent patriots, as Lafayette, Desmoulins, Carnot, Bailly and a host of others, but that the general plane of morality was so low that these men, who were constituted by nature to be safe leaders in a movement whose moral purpose was not wrong, were quickly set aside by leaders more in touch with the base natures of the crowds, undisciplined and uncontrollable, who made Paris, Lyons, Marseilles and the Vendee a very shambles, whose reek still overhangs the name of the French Republican.
The Directory, the Consulate, the Empire followed in rapid succession the overthrow of the Monarchy, with always for a central figure
the most remarkable man that modern history knows. Historians and partisans will never come to an agreement as to whether Napoleon Bonaparte was a demi-god or an arch-fiend. But all must agree that he was the bright particular glory of the most splendid and glorious epoch of French history, and probably neither one party nor the other will ever consent that there shall be displaced from the galleries at Versailles — from the Salle des Maréchaux and elsewhere — the Napolonic subjects which form part of the famous series of paintings which so help to make the study of national history a delightful pastime to French youth.
One thing, at least, Napoleon knew and that was man, and this knowledge enabled him to surround himself with a brilliant throng, the mere mention of whose names is a temptation to writer, painter, sculptor. No inconsiderable number of these famous soldiers have been immortalized by the sculptor and the last of them all will
1 Continued from No. 795, page 185.
Napoleon I. (Bronze Statuette) David, Sculptor.
Marceau. Clesinger, Sculptor.