PERCY H. VAN DYKE, Publisher end Editor.
NEWPORT, - - ARKANSAS.
STRANGE “DEATH APPETITE.”
Insatiable Craving for Food Which At
tacked a Condemned Murderer.
“Death appetite” is the name by
which keepers designate the strange,
morbid craving for food which at
tacked a condemned murderer in jail
fit Camden, N. J., says the New York
World._
Samuel Van Stavem was hanged
for wife murder April 8. About the
time the death watch was set Van
Stavem developed one of the most
abnormal and at the same time capri
cious appetites ever given to a man
under sentence of death.
Van Stavern's keeper d( lines his
strange craving as “the death appe
tite/’
“To a certain extent all’condemned
murderers develop this abnormal ap
petite before death,"' be said to a re
porter for the Sunday World.
“At least all the men I have ever
bandied have had it, although none
perhaps to quite the extent that Van
Stavem suffers.
“It’s death, the terrible, haunting,
nerve-racking fear of death working
on them that sets every faculty of
mind and body on a rack. They eat,
not so much because they care for
food, but simply to satisfy a torture
some craving for something. The
nerves of the stomach are disordered
by the strain of the death fear, just
as ail the otner nerves ot me oouy
are unstrung. The nerves cry out,
and this produces a sensation like
hunger. This is the only explanation
1 know for it, but the fact, I feel pret
ty sure, will be vouched for by any
body who has had the care of men con
dtinned to death.
“Of course a secondary reason may
be found in the fact that eating di
verts the mind of the prisoner a little,
just as do card flaying and walking
the floor.
“I have never seen a condemned
murderer yet. that didn’t eat well and
sleep well.”
Van Stavern, like every prisoner
upon whom the death watch was set,
was allowed all the favors that mercy
concedes to justice. Among these
was the privilege of ordering any
thing to he had at the restaurant
which supplies the inmates of the
Camden jail.
“Let Van Stavern have anything
on the restaurant bill of fare. If he
can get the money, let him buy what
ever he wants at other places,” or
dired Sheriff Sells, when he heard
that “the death appetite” had seized
ihe prisoner.
Van Stavern smiled and rubbed his
hands together in a satisfied way
I, . m I L rt nn/lni* 11- O ill *1 A 1.' VI /V 11- vv I r\
1* IIV li l ill. V* Vi " v«- ‘ v " * * » '■
«
him.
“Eat? Why, you never saw a man
that can cat the things that I'll have
lent from now on/'he declared.
He began at once to make out a
menu, and thewritingof fourof these
daily was one of the chief solaces of
existence. He wrote them on slips
cf paper, often a day or so ahead, and
every order was enough in quantity to
supply a whole family of ordinary
eaters.__
TURKISH RUGS.
Wholesale Purchasers Never Know Qual
ity of Goods They Buy.
Turkish rugs are sold by the bale
as they enter the custom house, and
tin- pun inner has no opportunity to
examine them. lie must take them
a,- they come, good, bad and indiffer
ent, old and new, coarse and tine, per
fect and ragged. The week's arrivals
are usually put up at auction on Mon
day morning. The larger quantity
of rugs come from the interior ol
Asia, and are brought down to the
ports of the Mediterranean and Black
si a by caravans' of camels and shipped
to Smyrna amH'orstaniimiplo, which
are the great markets. They art
packed so many to the bale by sizes
and if the purchaser knows the name
of the seller and the place from which
they have been shipped, it gives bin
e slight basis upon which he cat
judge as to their value, but it is al
ways more or less of a lottery, ant
hence the rugs bring much less than
their actual value.—Correspondence
Chicago Record-llerald.
PUZZLE PICTURE.
I^esr i
WHERE IS THE DRAYMAN?
PAPER SAFES.
Imitation Affairs Used to Adorn Offices
of Ambitious Business Men.
The conditions of modern business
have given rise to a curious occupa
tion—that of the man who sells imi
tation “safes.” Like other occupa
tions, his is most brisk in these pros
perous times, and gaining in brisk
ness as the times gain in prosperity.
Fireproof his safes are not, nor bur
glar-proof either, and a sharp hatchet
would make short work of them, for
they are made of nothing more nor
less than papier-mache.
The imitation safe supplies the
wants of many establishments where
appearances are necessary to take the
place of realities. In external and in
ternal make-up they are like the real
article, but instead of chilled steel
and huge iron bolts, colored and pol
ished wood and wooden bolts must
suffice. Once in place, they defy de
tection, unless they become exposed
to actual touch, or to lire, or to some
accident—which does not often hap
pen.
Who buys them? Well, the young
and struggling lawyer, the preten
tious real estate agent, and even
ollices of “sudden” and highly-capi
talized corporations are ornamented
with them.
Behind a railed partition the safe
would deceive an expert, but in get
ting it behind is where the danger
lies, for prying eyes would soon no
tice that it was by no means the solid
affair it purports to be.
So it is delivered with all the pant
ing formality that attends the real
safe on its travels. Great planks
guide it to its resting-place, and huge
ropes and blocks and tackle are fic
titiously strained and tugged at by
real workmen in greasy blue blouses
and overalls before it passes from the
truck to the corner where it is to.stay.
All this is part of the contract, and is
religiously carried out.
But the workmen are part and par
cel of the conspiracy, which latter is
generally innocent. The deception
is harmless, for neither money nor
valuables is long left in the safe; and
as for books, papers and the like, they
remain in these wooden contrivances*
only long enough to give the proprie
tor an opportunity to take them else
where .—.1 vondon Answers.
Your Own Business First.
Unless you have made a great suc
cess of your own business, do not try
to run other people’s.—Washington
(la.) Democrat.
America’s industrial strength
' Amprira’q ImfiiQ- MAY RE credited to the
n. , alllUUb- SUPERIOR EDUCATION OF
trial Strength & THE AMERICAN people,
.. ■ ■ ■ ■ their general desire for knowledge
By ALFRED MOSELY. C. M. 0., alonS broadening lines, and the
English Philanthropist. readiness with which they assimi
Mr. Mosely is now in this country studying now ideas and drOD the WOrn
American industrial methods, and will later late ntw ‘'ICUS dll l ir)
the^same purpose.commissions here for Qut ones as fast as circumstances
"rsBi-am—r- — i - i - ji w show them the desirability.
Compare the school systems—
that is the common schools—of America and > England, and you
have the foundation of the growing trade dominancy of
America and England. The long established and superb
school system of this country, with no system of red tape to
impair its usefulness, begins with the mere toddler to implant in him
information, develops and matures his intelligence, molds his judg
ment anti helps to form his character, and so makes of him as a man
a stronger and broader feature in the commercial and industrial fields
than he would have been without such assistance. This is true whether
the man be merchant, manufacturer or tradesman. If he is but the
tradesman working at the bench he is a better workman for having
the higher ideals which the public schools have given him.
A.UhKILA vN hUUL A 1 Iv/IN AL, Mr, 1 rHJJJo 1 IU\U, Wlttl Otner
factors, TO PRODUCE SELF-RELIANCE, THE POWER OF IN
ITIATIVE. In England we do not have these qualities among the
masses, nor are they to bt fount), anywhere in Europe. But they are
found in the great and growing self-governing colonies of England
which have had a development similar to the United States.
It is American educational methods that tend to make the people
of this country quick tc grasp new ideas and innovations, to replace
antiquated machinery and antiquated methods with something-newer
and better, though the former may have scarcely began to show the
effect of wear. We English people, less blessed in educational facili
ties and methods, are slow to grasp new ideas Alfred M0*eiy.
which interfere with the. settled routine to which
we have been accustomed Our machines
must wear out before they are cast out. Our meth
ods go unchanged because “what was good
enough for our fathers is good enough for us.”
We have studied the industrial systems of
Europe without finding a need for change.
We are now going to study the American sys
tem, and if we build as solidly for the future as
America has builded we must begin at the foun
dation—THE PUBLIC SCHOOL SYSTEM.
CAN’T SHAVE HIMSELF.
President Roosevelt Not at All Handy
with the Razor.
“President Roosevelt shaves every
day, or rather is shaved,” said an at
tache of the white house to a Wash
ington Star reporter. “A young col
ored man named Delaney, who is a
messenger at the white house, is the
president’s barber, ile is from Alex
andria, Ya., and was in the govern
ment service for some time before he
was assigned to the white house to
attend to the president’s head and
face and to perform the duties of
messenger. Delaney usually shaves
the president between 2:30 and 3
o’clock each afternoon, after lunch
is served and the president's guests
at lunch go away. Sometimes the
shaving; is done earlier in the day.
I have seen Delaney making his ar
rangements for shaving before 1:30
o'clock, at an hour when the presi
went was supposed to be receiving
visitors, but this was nearly always
on days when there were no visitors
or callers waiting to see the president.
In the cabin room is a folding bar
ber’s chair which, when not in use,
is placed against the wall and remains
unobserved. The president sits in
this and is shaved in the cabinet room.
Delaney folds the chair and puts it
away when he gets through. The
work is quickly done, as the president
apparently begrudges the time taken
and wants to be up and doing some
thing. President McKinley always
shaved himself, using either a safety
or regular razor, lie could handle
a razor with great ease, as he had
been accustomed to shaving himself
for years. When he went away he
shaved himself as usual. He could
do the job on a flying train as easily
as when in his room. President
Roosevelt does not know how to shave
himself comfortably and takes De
laney with him when he goes off any
where.”'
A KINDLY ACT.
Tramp Gave the Thoughtless Throng a
Little Object Lesson in Charity.
A leaky spigot, a lug dog and a
tramp taught the parsing throng on
F street the othermorninga little les
son in humanity. The big dog had
on no collar. He, like the tramp,
was battling for a simple existence.
He had come to thespigot fora drink.
. J ust enough water leaked from it into
the catch basin beneath to whet his
appetite without gratifying it. His
eye would follow a drop with light
ning rapidity down through the grat
ed basin. He would then look up at
the spigot most wistfully. Of the
passing crowds there was none who
noticed him until a “knight of the
road,” with a tightly rolled blanket
flung over his shoulder, slouched past
the corner of Thirteenth and F
streets. Before lie had crossed the
etreei he saw the dog and interpreted
at once his silent appeal, lie went
straight- to the L igot and turned the
water on full force, holding it until
the dog's thirst had been quenched.
The two tramps then sauntered off
in different directions.—Washington
Cfo,.
HIS GRAMMAR.
How a Wall Street Broker Earned Ten
Dollars Last Year.
One of the brokers who was au im
portant figure in recent Wall ■street
operations, says the New York Post,
began his career as a schoolmaster.
He invented at that period a clock
for kindergartens which wasexpected
to facilitate the teaching of young
mindshowtotell time. It was listed in
the Patent Record, and seemed there
by to be a definite tangible achieve
ment. but it brought him no money,
and be suppressed his inclination for
mechanics and compiled a grammar.
This was successful; and the other
day. when men in the street were
guessing and gossiping about what he
was doing in the market, a friend
called at his office and Sound the
broker with a copy of a new edition
of the grammar on the desk before
him. lie was busy at the moment,
not with the operations going for
ward. but with proud and delighted
contemplation of the statement of his
publishers, which showed that his
royalties for the last half year had
amounted to $9.(15._
Full of Airs.
Some girls are as full of airs as a
music box.—Chicago Daily News.
“BOB,” THE TERRIER.
Luxuries Showered Upon Him Cost
Enough to Rear a Child.
A striking illustration of bow
money is lavished upon pets of the
wealthy is the story of Bob, a ter
rier, the death of which has brought
distress to its mistress, Mrs. A. B. M.
Green, of New York, says the World.
While, of course', the owners of
such dogs keep no record of their
cost or maintenance, the expense in
many cases equals that of providing
for a child in the family. The most
aristocratic of these canines have the
choicest of food, as much care as a
nurse gives a child, and, as in Bob's
case, clothing designed bv.such out-,,,, ^ t
titters as Worth, of Paris.
While it would be difficult to ecti
mate the cost of Bob's wardrobe, per
haps $400 would be a safe estimate,
as t he prices for the coats and blankets^
ranged from $12 to $15, and for shoe*'
from five to seven dollars. Here are
some of the garments:
Twenty blanket's, ranging from,
thin linen, summer weight, to heavy
fur-trinnned ones. (Sable furs were
provided to match Mrs. Green s driv
ing furs).
Several rain coats, water-proof and
very long; a long net coat as a pro
tection from flies in summer; a gos
samer coat, a velvet coat, trimmed
with gold braid, and a special little
dress suit, very artistically made,
worn in the evenings for the amuse
ment of friends. Most of the coats
are satin lined and have gold but
tons.
A large number of shoe?, some
kid, cloth or leather, and some rubber
storm shoes.
T w o or th ree su i t s, in clud in g sh oes,
were provided a year, so that his cloth
ing cost about $30 or $40 a year.
A special ventilated leather bag in
which Bob traveled.
Here is Bob's menu:
For breakfast, one-half pound best
porter-house steak.
For luncheon, custard pudding.
For dinner, one-half pound roast
beef, one-third of a brick of ice cream,
one glass of champagne; wafers. With
slight variation these were his daily
meals, although he was very fond of
birds, which he dead, Fluently.
.Medical attendahee*s<lSPrmNte
from $20 to $30, as each visit cost
two dollars, and a visit was made
quarterly to attend to Bob’s teeth,
while $13 was charged when extrac
tions or special work was done. Be
sides keeping Bob’s teeth free from
tartar, the doctor kept Bob’s nails
cut and was on hand whenever medi
cal care was needed.
Including eo'st of the casket, doc
tor and undertaker charges, it is es
timated that Bob’s funeral cost at
least $100.
It will be seen by looking over the
conservative estimate of the cost of
keeping a dog as luxuriously as Bob
was kept that many children could
be given college educations with the
same outlay of money that is spent om
pets.
For one year: Food, $156; cloth
ing. $40; medical attendance, $25;
total, $225. The cost of a year’s tu
ition at most of our colleges is about
$150. With careful management a
young man could be provided for at
college for $325, or just the amount
the dog cost in the last year at the
above estimate, including funeral
pen&e.
That Bob was considered worthy of
the best that money could provide is
made clear by his mistress, who is
now having a monument prepared for
his grave.
“When we have known, loved and
studied these pets for many years,”
said Mrs. Green, “and have seen their
intelligence and their affections, it
seems to me that it is. not for us to \
say that there is not another life for - J
dumb animals; that as God gives us
these pets to live in this world, lie
would not take them away without
we were to have them again.”
^It>. Gteen was an extensive trav
eler, and Bob was a distinguished pas.
senget, even having one of the rooms
of a suite on board the steamer. He
iil>o had the distinction of having
a painted portrait ot himself in the
parlor.
A Stirring Event.
Sweetening one’s coffee is the first
stining event of the day.—Chicago
Daily News.