JTHE ''ROCKER’S" DECLINE INVESTIGATIONS OF THE GREATEST LIVING AUTHORITY.

rb» l .lt.d BlaiM lb* 0«ly Coanlrr Wblrb KorkiHK-chmlra Arc In I'M—N* Kvldanr* of Tb*lr KzUtanc* ADjwhar* friar la Iba Vaar ITUO. Hixklnj chairs, as a *pnera! proposition, are declining In popularity. Although furniture manufacturers report an increase in sales from year to year, this increase does not correspond to the growth of population. In other words, ten years ago. three or four ■ore people out of every 1U.000 aat habitually in rocking chairs than do Early each summer there springs up i demand-for rocking chairs to be deV cored at the country bouses of city people. Apparently, so manufacturers tay. people of position in the community. do not care at all to rock In the winter, but are extravagantly fond of ‘ U in summer. Through the country. and In the poorer quarters of the cities, demand for "rockers" continues un-

abated.

How characteristically the rocking ^halr is an American institution is 1U lustra ted by the experience of a manufacturer of this city. who. almost 50 rears ago. took one of his chairs

Introduced them into all the other countrlea of the world where they are now used. 1 introduced several style* of rocking chairs Into England about 18 years ago. At rocking chairs can furniture warehouses of Great Britain. Rocking chairs are universally used all over the United States. 1 think the south furnishes the best market or the cheaper grade for rocking chairs. 1 am Inclined to think that a larger number are used In the southern states than In the northern states. - —New York Post RARE MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS. MoallaTal PIpM and Koari* Itacalrad al ’ tha National Mannam. Profeasor Hawley, curator of musical Instruments of the National Museum. has lust received from Rev. Mr. Galpln. a well-known collector of rare and curious musical Instruments, of Hntfleld Vicarage. Harlow. England, a set of very old and rare musical instruments used In England. France and Wales during the Middle Ages, in exchange for duplicate drums and rattles of the American Indians. Interest In this collection centers around four exceedingly rare and curious flute-like Instruments that were very common In Great Britain during the dajs of

Shakespeare.

The first is nothing more or less than an old E igllsh hornpipe, the in-

Portugal, where te spent the summer. I s‘rum:nt that originated and inspired Although a hundred years had passed lhe oW hornpipe dance of the medieval

tince the first rocking chair was made !n this country, none of them appartntly had yet been teen in Portugal, snd people travelled miles to look at It, and even constructed clumsy imtta-

( lions. ,

A mat ufarturer of chairs In South Ashburnhara, Mass., who could prob- . ibly make good a claim to the title of greatest living authority on rocking :hairs. has made a special study of lhe origin and history of the various forms 'of Tialrs. both those now obsolete and those In use today. He has found no evidence of the use of rocking chairs prior to 1750. Cp to that date he has traced the development of the pieces of furniture used to sit on Without finding either a picture or a mention of any that had rockers. In » letter he eumarires some of the re-

sults of his work as follows:

"In the first place. I have seen chairs and have photographs of chairs that were made in Egypt more than 400U years ago. From that time down to lhe present 1 have followed the history of chair-making and the style of chairs that have been used In various parts of lhe world. One of the simplest but the most convenient and comfortable .-hairs of jSnclent times was a chair used In Egypt some 1500 years B. C. I bare seen a chair taken from the ruins sf Nineveh that was probably made shout WO years B. C. The •Assyrians

were a people who Indulged In luxur- wlth lhe fln * ers ot tbe Mt band - ,he v»s of various kinds. They had tfieir P Ia y*r holding a drumstick in his right

comfortable'chairs, couches and lounges. 1 have seen various patterns of their chairs cut In stone, but find none with rockers. There are various basreliefs In -the British Mdseum. taken from the ruins of Asyrian cities, which show various styles of very comforttble chairs, chairs that had casters on them, that would move about, chairs with reclining backs, chairs with arm rests and head rests, but I fall to find

any with rockers.

"I have carefully examined the antiquities of Greece and Rome, and And various kinds of furniture for sitting and reclining, but none with rockers: in fact, - my Investigations from the most ancient times down to the present lead me to conclude that rockers were never used on chairs prior to 1750. 1 am Inclined to believe that it was aninvention. of about 1760. In 1762 Thoqias Chippendale issued a volume and used the following tlUe. "The Gentleman and Cabinet-Maker’s Director. - being a large collection of most elegant and useful designs for household furniture In the most fashionable taste. Including a great variety of chairs, sofas. etc. This work Is In the library in London. It has received a careful examination by me. and yet there I do not find the use of rockers. “As there has been a great deal of misinformation circulated In regard to chairs by would-be historians. I am unwilling to place myself on. record as giving the date that rockers were first used on chairs. I bare seen a rocking chair, that purported to come from the,Mayflower, but I know better. 1

of a certain man who claimed to be the inventor of chair cane. This man, according to the would-be historian. Invented, or rather used, cane for chairseats early In the last century, about the year 1808. and certain persons have taken a great deal of credit to themselves ss being the descendants of the man who first used cane in bottomed chain. To show you the reliability of this historian. I will say that there are In HolyrooJ.Patgce. near Edinburgh. Scotland, four cane-seat chain that were used by Mary, Queen of Scots. In the museum at Chester. England, there is a very firm, substantial chair with cane seal, case back. Wood wholly oak, highly ornamented with elaborate carvings. I saw this chair three years ago. became interested in it, and learned that It waa made In 15M. I got my Information from such n sourca that I firmly believe a to be reliable. ■The use of the rocking chair is de-

British peasantry. The Welsh name for this instrument was the "plghorn." It is one of tbe very f'?w in this country. and has a single beating reed of wood, with seven finger holes. The mouth-tube is made of a section of cow's horn, while the bell of this horn Is of the same substance, although considerably larger than the mouth-tube, flaring out 'from tbe reed, and fancifully carved. The instrument took Its name from the horn bell and mouthpiece. J The second Instrument of interesrls 'the "recorder," which, if anything. Is a trifle more ancient than the "hornpipe." It Is a curiously shaped affair, resembling a flute, and made of wood. In the second act of Shakespeare's "Hamlet." the stage director, •'re-en-ter players with recorders.” appeers, and it Is also mentioned in somo of

bis other plays.

The third is a “flute-a-bce," or "beakflute." somewhat similar to the "reccorder " which It succeeded. The “flute-a-l-ee" was succeeded-.by the modem flageolet, an Improvement on both the “recorder" and the "flute-a-bee," both of which are now obsolete. The last of these four very rare and ancient musical instruments !s a “tab-or-pipe." a flutelike Instrument of very curious construction and shape. It Is made of wood, has three finger holes (tpro octaves), and wes played

hand with which ne beat a small drum suspended, from hlS left forearm.-

Washlngton Post.

iLova la tha E

There Is something in manhood.

low degree.'that

rarely puts it* tale of the love It

whether of .high or 1

misses Into words; but. If we could jget at the hidden hearts of average men. we should see that the want of love and cheer at home sends them even more frequently than their love of drink to the saloon around the Corner. It may be a man's own failure to get on in life that has kept the over-crowded home too small and poor for comfort; It may be that overwork and over-care have robbed the wife of charm and left her so depleted of love that she has scarcely enough for the children: nevertheless, many a working man knows that he is valued for the weekly wagag^ie brings, rather than for the - tender care he feels for the wife and children dependent upon, him for support. H6w natural It Is to grow silent, then morose, then hop» v less, and then more or less Indifferent! When the finer life is defrauded, the coarser asserts itself, and "home-cnl lure” Is a failure so far as it touches the head of the home.—Mary Lowe

Dickinson, in Success.

Walcfc-staallar Trick. The story printed recently about a Waldprf-Astorta guest as being robbed of his watch by a newsboy, who thrust his papers into the man's face while he removed the timepiece, has revealed to many a method of pocketpicking mqch In evidence In New York. It flourishes most of all In the streets adjacent to Park Row. where the newsboys. are to be found in greater numbers than'elsewhere. Their method of procedure Is invariably the tame. The paper boy approaches the man whose watch be has sees and thinks he can steal. In his left arm from hand to shoulder, are spread out the papers be has to sell, one over the other to show what they are. He thrusts these papers under the chin of the man that Is to be robbed, and having shut off the man's view of operations, proceed* with bis free right hand to lift the watch. If the latter has merely a fob rather than a chain attached, his task becomes so much the easier. Usually the skill possessed by the gamins Is so great that they almost always se-

who bad lived In this country or spent a short Urn* here and learned of their ease. Fifty years-ago it Is not probable that a rocking chair could he found on sals in say of the furniture warehouse* In Orest Britain, and very few had been used prior to that Urn* in FTafce and Holland. Bochin -chairs are ia general use only in oas country ia the world, and-that is ia th* United States. Th* United States has

a* Lark of Fartla* la Vraaaa. There's »o lack of parties In France In tbe elections there are candidates

less than M parties in

Rari*"akrae, k

Roy alls VBonapartlst, Republic, liberal Collectivist, Progressive, Radical. Radical Socialist and five different •tripes of Socialists. Then there are specialised parties, such as AntiSemites and Anarchists of varied hues. Ail tha same, the odds are largely ia favor of a four yean' coot I a nation of the powers that be.—Boston Herald.

HOW CON6RE8SKS VOTE *

VARIOUS WAYS EMPLOYED IN EUROPEAN COUNTRIES. Tka Primary Malhad It tar’lbs Mambare ta UIm and Ha Couelad Walla Slaad-

A parllamnstAiy paper contains reports to Lord Lansdown* by his majesty'* representatives abroad aa to how division* are taken In foreign legIslaUrs aassmbllss. Thus th* "mothof parliaments" Is looking to bar children throughout th* world for faints as to th* reform of her domestic lairs. Tha European countries dealt with are Francs, Germany, Italy, Austria. £paln, Portugal, Belgium, Denmark, the Netherlands. Sweden and Swltxrsland. In addlUon, there are reports from th* United Bute* and Japan. In nearly all these countries, all In fact but the United Statos, the preliminary rote by caUlng out "aye" and “no" Is absent The primary method of voting, except In Sweden and the Nether lands, la by th* numbers on one or both sides of a quoaUon to rise and bn counted whll* standing. In case of doubt, or on th* demand of a specified number of members, a roll call of members Is generally the next step, the names being barked off on printed lists. But for special circumstances elaborate methods are often provided. i the French chamber of deputies voting by rising from the seat, pat a* sis et loro, Is replaced by sc rutin publlque if the result of the first vote has been doubtful or is challenged bf a single deputy. Scnitln publlque li also th* method If 20 deputies have previously signed a requisition for It. and it Is obligatory In regard to all bills concerning loans and taxation. It It, In fact, tbe method almost Invariably followed In flky division of importance, and Is carried out as follows: The president requesU the deputies to take their seats. Each deputy has two voting tickets, on which his name is written, one white and one blue, the former being "yea." the latter “nay." The ushers, one of whdm le allotted to each section of the Chamber. then takee - around urns Into which each deputy drops his voting ticket. Whep all he votes have thus been collected the president declares the ballot closed. The urns are taken to the tribute, where the rotes are*counted by the secretaries and the result proclaimed ny the president. If 40 members request 1L deputies must advance to the tribune to deposit their own voting tickets. The roll call Is occasionally adopted to Insure greater accuracy.

members must be present Members eland for the first vote, and the semicircular form of the _ chamber enables them to be more easily counted. In case of doubt members leave the chamber and vote hy entering through opposite doors, much as in our own house of commons. On a motion supported by 50 members tbe voting must

be by alphabetical roll call.

The Italian chamber of deputies first votes by a count of members standing In their places. But 10 members can demand a division of tho type familiar In this country; 15 can demand a roll call and 20 may Insist on a vote 4>y ballot. Demand for a ballot supersedes that for a roll call, aa the latter overrides the demand for a Blmp’7 division. The ballot Is secret. being taken by white and blacl balls dropped Into two urns. The final vote on every bill must be by ballot To save time a ballot may be taken on three measures at once, of course, with precautions against any deputy using more than one white or one

black pall In each case.

In the Austrian Reichstag both

In the Austrian Reichstag both houses vote in the same way. first by members standing In their places—the president only declaring the exact

nem-

bers. by an alphabetical roll call, which occupies about half an hour, and Instly, on the order of the house, by ballot papers deposited In an urn. Members either drop their papers In any order, which takes 10 minutes.

Ipha

so, when tho time taken Is over half hour. Pairing Is unknown. Almost

business Is i

method of Voting. The roll call was

only used 70

ler. wl _ .

or are called up alphabetically to do

so, an

all business Is carried on by the first

' lag.

times in the session

which lasted from 1891 to 1897, and the ballot Is practically confined to elections. /' In Spain the vote by stantUag ls replaced In certain cases by paper slips or ballot balls dropped In an urn. In Portugal the vote by rising Is replaced by a roll call on the request of 'a single member, and this Is the common method of voting. In Belgium the roll call Is used where there Is doubt of a count, or on the demand of five mebers, or when an entire law is being voted. Here and In some of the other countries the name on the roll first called ia chosen by lot and the reading goes oc alphabetically from

that p

In 1

Denmark the Thing (the Thing t; their name for parliament) cannot pass any resolution unless half of Its members are present and vote. Twelve members may demand a roll call, otherwise members rise and are counted In their places. The closure may be voted by the Thing without debate. In the Netherlands a roll call is the common form of division, and may be demanded by a single member. But the whole of the second chamber of the states-generel only consist* of a

hers, to the Swedish ere dividing ere called

name, and hand to the epeaker closed and folded papers bearing only the words “Yae" or "No." When both bouses vote jointly tha time taken Is !5 minutes; either separately can di-

vide in lees time.

A curioue little feature of the country ia that before beginning It the epeaker seals and laya aside one of the papers. If on counting the rest the votes are equal the sealed paper decides the matter. If there Is a majority without appealing to It tbe sealed paper le destroyed unopened. In Swltcreland standing up and the roll call are the two recognlied

methods.

In japan divisions are VC 11 * 11 counting members standing or by open or secret ballot. On the demand ot 20 members the count Is done by making each members stand up and de dare his vote separately—an elaborate form of roll call, which takes 40 minutes. Thirty members may demand an open ballot by white and blue billets of wood bearing the members' names. This 1* shorter than the formal count, and only takes 15 minute*. There le also a secret ballot by black and white balls, which takes 20 min-

utes.

Cumbrous though the voting system of our British legislators may be. It will be observed that no method ol voting taking up much less time Is anywhere in use. The report from Oer many, however, mentions that during the session of 1869-70 a motion was Introduced In the Prussian lower honse In favor of the "voting telegraph.” The house decided against the motion partly because no pressing need existed for shortening the divisions.

iggestime

for taking the votes of the lower house would, according to this scheme, occupy one or two minute*. Each member was to have at his place a handle to turn co the right or left as he wished to vote “Yes" or "No." and this handle was only capable of bo Ing turned by the member to whom the seal belonged, each member being pro vided with a special key. without which the mechanism would not work. —London Dally News.

THE 101

’HYSIQUE.

k t U 1<

IDEAL FHY

TaMon' Mea*erfui*aU Sfaaw Paw Parw fact Han a*d Woman. 4 “The tailor who spends his life In taking measurements could probably tell an Interesting story about the decline physically of men and women." said a man who takes a deep interest In physical culture and other processes tending to arrest deteriorating conditions "I doubt If the measurements taken by tailors will show many perfect men and woqien. Too many men are wearing 14 coHars and too many women are short on waist dimensions. I was glancing through Fourman'a book a few days ago. and I vras struck by the dimensions agred upon by the heat and most authentic>nthorltle« for physical perfection in-both men and Instance, of the perfectly proportioned man. with a height of 6 feet. 2 1-2 Inches; firth of chest. 46 inches; girth of

14 1-2 Inches; larger girth of thigh, 22 1-2 Inches; girth of calf, 16 Inches; length of arm, 26 Inches, and weight 190 pounds. Go to the tailor and ask how many men come up to this standard. I imagine that one would spend much time before finding the perf-ct physical conditions In conjunction In

a single man.

'The tact of the business Is that these proportions are the result of idealistic theorising. A man would be perfect Indeed, physically, who could even show a reasonable approximation of this standard. Our tailor's records would probably disappoint us badly, and we would likely become confirmed believers in the doctrine of physical degeneracy In so far as members of our sex are concerned. Man has been dwindling somewhat even In the range of one's own memory. One need not go tc the tailor's, nor to the vast wealth of statistics which have been compiled hy persons who take a peculiar interest In man's physical aspect. One Is conscious of being smaller than one's father, and-less robust, and lacking in that hardiness of temperament found In the sire and grandslre. Yet tbe tailor’s record will probably show a few isolated instances where men bavepre served the proportions In the physical measurements of the perfect man. And this, after all. is the goal towards which physical culture Is drifting It Is not so much a question of larger men In stature, but rather a question of men more perfectly balanced physically—men whose ports will approximate at least the equilibrium found In the perfect meesurements of the physical culture doctrinaire. If one must weigh 190 pounds, and f-tand to a height of over six feet, one may as well give up on the start. But one may at least approxlmste the ideal 'proportion*. and this Is what physical culture proposes to do.”—New Orleans Tlmes-

Democrat.

Ha Wa* la Kaad ot PllJ. A pious lady of Portsmouth bad a husband who waa a seaman. He was about tb start on a protracted voyage, and as his wife was anxious as to her husband's welfare, she sent the folowlng notice to the village "Mr. Blank, who Is going to sea, his wife desires the prayers of the conAs the old lady was quite illiterate, the minister read the'folowlng to the congregation from the slip handed to him: “Mr. Blank, who Is going to see hi* wlfs, desires th* prayers of th* eta-

Kftabljfhed I SOI.

FIRST NATIONAL BANK

Of CAPC MAY.

OKS, Cabmicn

CAPE MAY CITY, N. J,

OFFICERS

CSTLCY R. WALES. PkcsidcmtSAMUEL F. ELDREDGE. Vice Pmcsiocnt.

GEORGE M. HENDRI DIRECTORS

MUCL F. ELDREDGE, ArroBNcr-sv-Law. WESTLEY R. WALES, PureiciaN and Dauo WM- N. NORCROSS, Geoccn. Mav-s Lanoiki LEWIS T. STEVENS, Attoshcv-at-Law

A. L. HAYNES. H sari no Aps GEO. C. EDMUNDS. Gnoi

GEORGE M.

Account* of MerobAnU And Individual* solicited, < throe per cent. Interest Issued, lutexest begtuuiug a

Bankers' money orders psyi liauge, payable la all parts o!

Special attention is given to collection*. N. B.—Pottage stamps and postal card* always on hand for conventeaoe of

VPAMATUS.

acts Wcer Caps HENDRICKS. C<

Mat-

lASMIM

deposit baar-

sayable In all parts of tbe United State* and Foreign

ta of tho worla *old st lowest rates.

Paint! Paint! Paint!

r, spply them thoroughly

, Whe ° mix d paiaui—9J -i—*-

Paints, Oil, Stains, Puttie*, Filler*, Bra*he*, Voraitl and other Coloring Materials of highest quality. LfAFAYEn'T'E BENNEipiP 103 Jackson Street, Cape May, N. J. PRACTICAL HOUSE, SIGN AND DECORATIVE PAINTER. AGENT FOR J. E. PATTON’S SUNPROOF PAINTS. .AW-1 also give special attention to glass contracts, and handle exclusively the products of the PITTSBURG PLATE GLASS CO. They are of finest quality and iff ower In price than the common gvodei, which give nothing but distatilfactiou. AU kinds of plate, white, window and colored glass canted in stock.

~WAT.I, FJLFE

I ■JLU'P IPXCT-U’SLE

MECRAYS’ CENTRAL MARKET, Corner Washington and Ocean Streets, 602 Washington Street, 217, 219, 221 Ocean Street

CHOICE BUTTERS - SUarpless' Gilt Edge -1 SPECIUTT. Country Produce, Fresh Daily from our owe Farm. ms, OTsrm, sum urn murm. ssissc poultbt. QE^The Largest Market in Cape May City. q q RPimffi) IMPBilOTffii -- a We have just received the latest Imported Goods. Now is the time to get your Spring Clothing Ready. EDWARD YAH KESSEL, Custom Tailoring. . ^ Washington Street

Brown Villa, 228 Perry Street CAPE MAY, N. J. UNDER NEW MANAGEMENT. Large Airy Rooms; Renovated Throughout; Excellent Table; Open all the Year. Mrs. E. W. HAND, Prop. WM. S. StiA W, GENERAL CONTRACTOR ’ Dealkr In LIME, BRICKS, SAND, CEMENT AND BUILDERS' , MATERIALS. Telephone No. 30. - 623 Elmira. Street.

or?y goods fine notions Also a complete stock of heavy’ and light weight UNDERWEAR **- DIX WRAPPERS A Specifier, -m We charge nothing for showing goods. Therefore, we trastyon will coll and examtae our stock before going elsewhere. OUR MOTTO B TO PLEASE HRS. H. A. CLARK 502 Broadway ami Tumpllce, CAPE MAY N. J.

FIO'TElEa GrORIDOr?

(FORMERLY PIER AVENUE INN.)

INAGEMENT. RENOVATED THROUGHOUT.

OPEN ALL THE YEAR.

UNDER N^W MAN

BOARDINO BY THE PAY OR WEEK-

136 DECATUR STREET. A. R. CORDON.

CAPE MAY CITY, N. J.

CLINTON SOUDER, DKALE It IN Furniture, Carpet*. Oilcloth*, Mattreaaes, Matting;, Window Shade* and Awnibg*. 811-818 MANSION STREET. SEASIDE STUDIO, ADJ PINING STOCKTON SURF BATMS.

_ rock of all Kinds. Pictures Oepied and -rVI^OF^&l ^ ^ A “~’~ W. R. SMITH. Proprievor.