..Ira mm mr mm?mm mzsz yrmfm m BY RENE BACHE. VfASHIXGTOX. Sept. 14. (Special Correspondence.) The new pen w lon law has markedly stimulat ed the widow market. For, while adding considerably to the number of old vet erans on the roll. It augments by a total of 130,000,000 the annual stipend of a multitude of old soldiers already draw Ins; allowance from the Government This renders them by so much the more desirable as husbands those of them, that is to say, who are. not yet at tached matrimonially. But the chief attraction of the vet erans, apparently, from the viewpoint of the young women who are constant ly marrying them, is the widow's pen sion which 'Will be theirs for Ufa after the old soldiers have departed from this world. 80 thoroughly is this busl- nesa organized that women, many of them hardly more than girls, camp out in the vicinity of Soldiers' Homes, and literally lie in wait for the inmates of those institutions- The more aged the pensioner the more desirable be is as a husband, because the prospect of be coming his widow Is so much the near er. If especially on or about "quarter day," when the Intended victim is more or less likely to Indulge In a little Jollification he can be enticed into the presence of a parson or a magis trate, it is all that is required. The bride is willing enough to allow him to return to the home, herself secure In the possession of a marriage certifi cate, which, when exhibited later on, will guarantee her a small but per manent income. To show how this widow enterprise works out. It may be mentioned that Ksther S. Damon died at Plymouth Vnlon. Vt, November 11, 1906. aged 92. She was the last surviving widow of a soldier who fought In the Revolution, and she was still drawing. a pension for her husband's services In that conflict a century and a quarter after It came to an end. It is estimated that there will be at least 1000 Civil War widows alive and on the pension roll In 19S8. and quite a number of these will sur vive the beginning of the twenty-first century. Which fact will be more easily understood when it is realized that at least a few of the destined Civil War widows are not yet born. The Government exercises a remark able liberality In its treatment of ROMANCE THE RISE OF MARGIE SMITH bring a quick rebound. This was one of them. The young woman who bad Introduced Miss Smith told Mr. Schneider what that refusal meant to Miss Smith, and then, in a tone of tear ful entreaty, said to him: "Won't you be responsible for what Miss Smith needs? Please do." Schneider looked at the two women just a moment, and then took them 'back to the credit man. When they left -a few minutes later they, fig uratively, were walking oa air. Mar guerite M. Smith had a cherlt of $300 with H. B. Claflin & Co., and William F. Schneider stood responsible for the sum. At that time Claflin & Co. sold ma chines as well as all sorts of dry goods. Miss Smith bought several. She also purchased such dress material as she needed. Then she engaged three girls and put them to work making up the goods en the order she had from the department store. She worked herself. So did her sisters. The back parlor of her home in Bayonna was turned Into a workshop. It took what little she bad left of her $70 capital to pay the girls' wages that first week, but she deliv ered the order on time. This was ber start. She did not know an idle hour thereafter. Every minute of the day she was active. She bad to go from store to store to show ber samples. She bad to continually evolve new ideas. She constantly was pressed for money. Sometimes she had to watt a long, long period before her bills were paid. Sometimes orders came slow; sometimes her designs did not meet with the approval she expected. It was struggle, struggle, struggle, but she never lost heart. Somehow she kept the machines In the little beck parlor buy every day. Somehow she bridged financial gulfs that would It. Occasionally she ot unexpectedly b'.g orders, but she could not hoil fhem because she did not have the cap ital or the credit. For a year and a half she struggled along, making widows. For Instance, there Is one woman now on the pension roll who has had three husbands, the first of them a soldier in the Civil War. Neither the second husband nor the third was a soldier. But, having lost both of these, she is enabled under the law to draw a regular stipend as the widow of her first husband. Another case is that of a half-breed Indian woman In North Dakota, who killed her husband, and who gets a pension as his relict. H was drunk, and she slew him in self-defense, so that she was held to be justified. Equally remarkable in its way Is the well-known Roscommon case, bearing the number 282,562 on the roll, in which a woman married two old soldiers successively, being divorced from the first. Having secured a pen sion as the widow of the second, she went back to live with the first hus band, without formality of marriage. He also was a pensioner, and conse quently, at the present time, this precious couple draws two pensions. It Is understood, of course, that when a widow marries again she loses her pension. Nevertheless, it is undoubted ly a fact that thousands of pensioned widows in this country are married again secretly, thus perpetrstlng a fraud which has to be backed up by a false oath every quarter. Every now and then a case of the kind is brought to light, but the detectives of the Pen sion Office, as a rule, do not bother to Investigate such matters. They are too busy running down fictitious widows that is to - say, women who falsely Impersonate the surviving wives of veterans. The manufacture of such widows has been for many years a profitable in dustry. Dishonest attorneys and claim agents have made a business of study ing the records of National cemeteries, finding out the names and services 01 the men there buried, and employing women to represent themselves as their widows. It Is not an easy thing for the Government to disprove a marriage that is alleged to have taken place 30 or 40 years ago. Not long after the close or tne uivn War three brothers, named McGindley. built up a large and profitable business in supplying bogus widows at Quincy, IlL They manufactured widows for dead bachelor soldiers, employed women to personate them, executed the vouchers themselves, and forged the indorse ments on the pension checks. Even the seal of the court was forged. The CONTINUED FROM PACE 5 progress all the time, but always re stricted, always hampered by reason of the smallness of her capital. She was getting an experience, how ever, that was valuable. She felt sure of herself and reasonably sure of the future. Then one day. in the Fall of 1903, she went to Mr. Schneider again. Thia time she requested him to visit her home. He went there, and at her suggestion he made a thorough exami nation of her books. She is a thor ough business woman, and she kept a strict and accurate account of all her work. Mr. Schneider went over all those books with as much care as would an expert accountant, and when he finished he was satisfied that there was a profitable future for the par ticular line Miss Smith was working on. He had some money and ha had a fair amount of courage. He had been with the bouse of Claflin Co. more than 20 years. He determined to give up his position and put his money into the business with Miss Smith. It was In the closing days of 1901 that Miss Smith and Mr. Schneider in corporated the M. M. Smith Company. They rented a floor In a loft building at No. 124 West Twenty-fifth street. In the heart of the manufacturing dry goods district. In January. 1904, and from the first day they went In there they bad plenty of orders. In 1903 Miss Smith' total business bad amounted to $9000, and she bad em ployed five operatives. In the year 1904 the new company did a business of $80,000 and employed 40 bands. The business grew so fast that they bad to take another floor and double the number of operative. In 190 the busi ness still continued to Arrow, its total volume for that year being $150,000. In 190T the company had 175 opera tives and did a business of more than $200,000. In the ' busy season Miss Smith worked from T:$0 in the morn ing until 10:30 at night. She was boss of everything. She looked after the designing, the cutting, the selling, and she bad charge of all the workers. The experience she got In those days of her struggle stood ber In good stead. She knew m.e'rlal. she knew men. she knew the puolie seeds, she wa won THE SUNDAY eldest of the brothers, James H.. looked like Horace Greeley, and his benevo lent countenance was a great help in the enterprise. A curious case Illustrating the laxity of Government methods was that of Jane Hill, a negress, who in 1893 ap plied for a pension as the' widow of Edward Hill, formerly of the Four teenth Colored Heavy Artillery. The sum of $2200 was allowed her as ar rears. But at Just that time Edward Hill himself sent in an application for a pension, being very much alive, and Jane's money was held up. Did this little circumstance prevent her from getting itT It did not. Congress at this very Juncture passed a bill for bidding the bureau to hold up payments in suspected cases, and the cash was handed over to Jane. A less successful fraud, where a real widow of a soldier was the victim, was operated by a man who kept a small store in an Indiana town. Learn ing that a woman in the local alms house was expecting a check for $1200 from tne Pension Bureau, ne per suaded her to come and live with him, to take care of bis mother. When the check arrived, he Intercepted it, forged the Indorsement, and put the money in his pocket. Meanwhile, however, the pensioner was making a great to-do about tha non-receipt of the cash to which she was entitled. Exposure im pended, and the man, -as the best means of settling the whole problem, set fire to bis house, after himself swallowing a fatal dose of paris green, andsburned his mother and the widow No veteran is too Tar hovuiot derfully thorough. She examined ev ery dress before It left the shop. 8hs wanted to establish a reputation that would be of value to her in the future. Every garment that .was made In that establishment was from her design, so everything that went out of that place was practically her creation. She was not content with her designing, the cutting, the selling and the supervision of the workers, but she even attended to the shipping. She must be a kindly boss, for she never has had a strike or a serious difference with ber employes. The business grew so fast that she hardly oould keep up with it. In 1905. 1906 and 1907 it was Impossible for ber to handle all the orders which poured in on ber. In each one of those three years she bad to reject orders that meant tens of thousands of dollars of work. In the last five years her busi ness baa averaged about $200,000 a year. She is not rushed so much now as she used to be. She has three of her sisters assisting "her. She has moved to New York, and baa ber fam ily In a handsome home In the city. She goes to Europe twice a year. She is up to date In everything. Her trips abroad are not for pleasure, but for business. She goes there to study the styles and to get new Ideas. Inci dentally she gets rest and recreation on those transatlantic Journeying:. Ten jears ago she practically was unknown. Today everyone In the dry goods business knows Marguerite SmltB. head of the M. M. Smith Com pany. In these ten years -Miss Smith has accumulated a private fortune of between $60,000 and $75, COO. n She is Just as ambitious today-as she was the day she started out for herself. She is 41 years old, and has yet to reap the real harvest of her work. She has given a wonderful exhibition of what ambition and determination on the part of a woman can do in this city from bumble beginning. Mr. Schneider, the man who stood respon sible for that $300 credit with H. B. Claflin at Co, has had a pretty good reward for his kindness and his con fidence. He has had no reason to re gret leaving Claflin A Co. He looks after the office affairs of the M. M. OREGOT:AlV, PORTLAND, Business of Marrying Old Soldiers Re ceives a Stimulus Through the New Pen sion Law, Which Mgibles "Widow JLp - age or decrepitude to be sought as a husband. It Is a matter of record that many- old soldiers have been married by young women when suffering from senile debility In its last stages or from total breakdown of the mental faculties. In no way very extraordi nary was the case of Francois Delalr, a French Canadian, who crossed the border for the sake of the bounty and enlisted as a private in the Eighteenth Illinois Volunteers. Most of his after life was spent in Montreal as a blind beggar. At 89 years of age, only four days before his death, he married a woman of bad repute. She applied for a pension as his widow, and re ceived $12,648 arrears. On the pension Toll today Is a negress calling herself Hannah Turn er. Before the war, on a plantation in Mississippi, she was acquainted with a colored man named Dave Turner, who enlisted in the Union army Just before the fall of Vicksburg, and ateo a few months later of pneumonia. It was not until 80 years had passed by that Hannah, who had long been known as the wife of a man named Johnson, suddenly recalled the fact she had been married to Turner, The preacher alleged to have Joined them In wedlock was dead, but her sister and a friend swore that they had been present at the ceremony; and the sis ter, in explanation of the Johnson mar riage, declared that it was "Just a 4v " Tha claim was allowed, and htM his salarv and his dividends bring a handsome return to him. Not only that, but ho gets $15 000 year from the county of New York, for he is the present County Clerk. Occasionally Miss Smith, on her way to or from her office, passes the es tablishment of Gus Lurie & Co., which is one block away from her business place. It is a far different Margie Smith who passes the doors of Gus Lurie & Co. today, who left there ten years ago discharged becau se the other designers demanded her dismis sal. She has Teason to feel oeepiy grateful for what she then tnougni a disaster. Had she not been discharged ten years ago she probably never would have been heard of as the head of a business concern. The door of opportunity sometimes opens who what seems to be a misfortune (Copyright 1912. by Richard Spillane.) Adobe Ramparts of Assyria. Nearly akin to Egyptian house build ing methods were those of ancient As syria, where the stiff clay of the val leys of the Tigris and Euphrates fur nished the rude mud walla of the low liest shelter, and the mass of the walls of the city and its palaces, temples and ramparts. While there are no lack of gigantic statues and symbolio mono liths, stone stairs and paved approach es and the remains of the alabaster and syenite facings, which covered the plainer masonry, the real strength of Babylon and Nineveh lay in the masses of .brickwork which. In mighty Baby lon It Is recorded, formed the lofty towers and ramparts which for 42 miles girdled a district five times as large as modern London with a great wall, whose summit, embattled, and forming a continuous chariot way. rose from 300 to $50 feet above the fertile plain. One hundred gates with brazen hinges are said to have poured out its legions in war and its millions in peace; the' great river, bridled and par apted. flowed In, through, and out of the city under massive bridges, over ample tunnels, and through huge water gates which no fleet might force or engine of war lay low. Surely never before or since, in the history of the world has the plummet, hammer and trowel of the bricklayer played so im portant a part in securing the safety and promoting the magnificence of a great city. isauonai au-gasine. rr If -r ibc' in; 'Wf SEPTE3IBER 15, 1913. Also Swells Last of Trade" Recorded. Dave, drew down a neat little bundle amounting to $4600 arrears. EasyT Why, the "softest" Individual on earth is your Uncle Sam, when it comes to widows, real or bogus. If it were asked what is the best imagin able means to encourage - frauds in pensions, the fairly obvious answer would be the keeping of the roll and everything thereunto pertaining se cret. But this is exactly what is done. Nobody is allowed to see the roll, and there is always the guarantee of "no publicity" to help encourage the fraud ulent applicant. The most remarkable widow , case, and In its way wholly unique, was that in which a woman named Newby, who had been the wife of a soldier re siding at Carmi, IM., was persuaded to recognize as her husband a man who turned up in Che town 80 years after he was supposed to have been killed and buried. - . William Newby, the husband, was burled on the field of Shiloh. Accord ingly, many people were surprised when, after the lapse of more than a quarter of a century, he turned up at his own home. At first Mrs. Newby failed to recognize him, but he soon convinced her, as well as his alleged mother, of his identity. Old-time neighbors were easily satisfied, after talking over with him many ante-war incidents of a local character with which no stranger oould yery well hm heeTi acouainted. His explana tion of what had happened was that. - 7W' I V 1 FT .TRTS DEFENSE OF THE heart's content-her faculties zor juuS- fufu?. KWff5S. XUIU1B HUDLJ.I . . - 1 i. o-nH ah mls-ht have re jected him at the last moment, thus avoiding possible scandal and divorce. t v. n.rrl. tn pscane the . HMn,-Tv nri nnt findinflc in BVIfilUa i-wv, . j her partner the man rational choice suggests and Imperatively demands, di vorce was thrust upon her. Whether she brought suit herself or was sued makes no difference. Some men liken the girl-flirt's at tempts at rational choice to "slime on the water." Quite the contrary. Her playing at courtship is evidence- of re finement. When a man begins to make love to a girl he naturally puts on his best colors. If neatness is not part of his nature he affects fastidiousness with the aid of barber, masseur, tailor and haberdasher. If his appetites are gross he plays the epicure for the time be ing. If he Is mean be assumes gen erosity; if lacking in tact, be does his utmost to mark the fine gentleman. And provided he acts his part well he may succeed in making the desired agreeable Impression and capture the girl temporarily. BUT the attraction, he arrogates to himself today he is bound to de stroy on the morrow by some act of unexpected and unsought for disillu sion occasioned by the trivial details of less formal intercourse. A red nose, the result of a cold, soiled- clothes, due to careless carriage wheels, a mani curing missed, a cocktail too many, are liable to dissipate the borrowed glamour, causing the flower of poetry, which is the essence of love, to wither and die. Good for her if she breaks the en gagement. Let them call her a flirt. It's better than the name of a divorcee and less expensive. Flirt Indeed! when it is an Indisput able fact that the average girl is most tardy about accepting offers of mar riage and as a matter of self-defense deliberates long and earnestly ere choosing among her admirers. As the worst liirx 01 aii iu sin ' fl " , - - i , f II Ifv ; being wounded In th6 head, he had been left for dead on the field of bat tle. The story of hla burial, by com rades was a mistake. Partly deprived of reason by his wound, he had spent many years wandering about, and fi nally had landed In the almshouse at Taylorsvllle, IlL, where he remembered who he was. It was all highly circumstantial. Tet the only item of truth In the story was that which related to the Taylorsvllle almshouse. Having been domiciled in that institution, he metthere a pauper named Joseph Newby, who was a brother of the soldier William. Joseph, a garrulous old man, filled him up with information about the history of his family, happenings to old neighbors, eta, and incidentally mentioned the fact that William, if he were still alive, would have $20,000 coming to him from the Pension Bureau. Whereupon, hav ing learned all he could, the vagabond disclosed himself to Joseph as his long lost brother! Obtaining his dismissal from the almshouse, the bogus William Newby walked into Carmi In ragged clothes and without a hat. Having established his identity to the satisfaction of pretty nearly everybody, he applied for the pension due him, with special reference to the $20,000 arrears. Undoubtedly he would have got the money, and would ha on the roll today but for accidental recognition pt him by an ex-oonvlct who had met him as a leiiow prisoner in 1 penitentiary at Nashville, where he was known as "Rickety Dan" Benton. Further investigation by the Govern ment -authorities proved that this was correct. The man, born in Tennessee, had- been known from boyhood as "Rickety Dan." He had a wife and son, both of whom recognized him. Sixty witnesses supported these allegations. But meanwhile a greaf many people had come to believe that the man was really William Newby. Much feeling was stirred up on the Bubject, and, when the caBe came to trial, the defense brought a whole tralnload of witnesses. There was almost a Tlot in court, and McBride, the Government officer who had found out the facts, was obliged to take refuge from the mob in the judge's room. Later on he was hanged In ef figy. Nevertheless, "Rickety Dan" was convicted, and was sent to Jail for a long term. - Applications for pensions are some times made on very strange grounds. One man, not long ago, asitea lor a pen CONTINUED FROM PAGE 3 engagement or - Bhe does postpones formal why. she is . t. ...). ..nnuette Has it ever occurred to those who never swept before their own doors that a girl has a right, to love her lib erty as much as a man? Each post ponement stands for a month or more of freedom, of lingering in a sphere of of freedom, of lingering in a spnereoij because his tailor pro her own, among girl friends and comrom a man ne panlons,' which to leave means endless regret to ber. a severance of ties that were the delight of her young days. Besides, she knows quite well that her empire of the husband-to-be ceases soon after marriage, that though the word "obey" may be erased -from the marriage ceremony "he" will no longer l v- wir a r, H na.ll: that there is little time for praise of a wife's beauty. her natural gme, in mumw -home. Why, then, begrudge a few ex tra weeks of sultanashlpt . Women worship the successful man, but the girl-flirt is more partial to him than others, because choosing and weighing have become second nature to her. . Must a man have money 10 De con sidered successful? Not at alL In- - -. . ...j.i, l.wlOTnAnt rnmrnsTnl of self, devotion to duty and speculative genius count as nigm. Tha ertrl-flirt. in particular, is wooed , . w k.- arm I3ia wnnta tn hAli.r til I UUR" " J- " , " what the fellow has to say for himself. Desdemona was wooeo. inrougn nci ears, why not Annabelle or Juanita? . . TV. iB tii.H a thlnsr as pleasing a girl-flirt at first sight, yet it s quite dinereni xrom iove i .noi. sight. '. . t thai latter eventual!? the girl is often to be pitied. Her love, unable to increase, must cecrease. w uat. uc sought was man, but in these love-at- . ,i.h. aff.fr. ci-l more often encounters a stick or a brute than even a mere male, tiranteo. mi love she was asleep, that she Mves only because she loves, yet to be alive does not necessarily signify happiness. On the other hand, in the less violent process of being pleased with a man at first-sight there is a large mental reservation. Suppose be be as good looking as a IW MEI3GE.NA&Y WiEN LIE IN WAIT 'cDEICBEPID VETEPAN 5. slon because his teeth were decayed. Another applied because his hair was. getting thinyet anotner because of in. digestion Incurred by using his teeth to bite cartridges: and still another be cause his eyes had failed in old age, compelling him to wear spectacles. Ons would-be pensioner complained that his feet had been disabled by corns at tributable to long marches; another based his claim upon "obesity" having got fat "on account of habits acquired In the Army." An old soldier wrote: "I claim a pension for vertigo got chasing Lee." This was disallowed, with the official comment- "If claimant had asked a pension for vertigo got from being chased by Lee, it might have been al lowed: but it was not necessary for him to chase Lee so hard as to cause verti go. When he began to feel dizzy, he should have sat down until his blood recovered Its equilibrium." The dry files of the Pension Bureau are full of,nuggets of humor. On one occasion, not so verjr long ago, the bones of a mans leg were sent to Washington to prove that the limb had been lost in battle. The sender made special request that they be re turned. There was an Instance where a man pensioned for deafness was ao tually found operating a telephone ex change. But the most remarkable fea ture in this case was that the telephone exchange in question was that of-the Pension Bureau. It has been said, and with truth, that the pension roll Is the "National roll of honor." Those who fought bravely for the Union get none too much money from a grateful Government in consid eration of past services. But It is not to be denied that many frauds have been successfully operated at the ex pense of the system. False personation, manufactured evidence, and all sort of Ingenious tricks devised by unscrupu lous attorneys and lalm agents have cheated the Pension Bureau in a mul titude of instances. One man, detected finally by merest accident, had put in 21 applications for as many pensions, being In every case his own principal and witnesses. A pension agent in the city of Providence drew 19 pension for years, helped by M. clever forger named Draper. George B. Howard, whose photograph Is preserved In the large album which, contains the rogues' gallery of the Pension Bureau, served in the Navy In the Civil War. He afterward person ated no fewer than eight of bis former comrades on the same ship, collecting pensions for all of them. A negro vet eran named Laws, In Philadelphia, drew four pensions himself and one for his wife, the persons represented being dead soldiers and a defunct widow. The, sum of $13,332 arrears was paid In one lump to the attorneys of "Blind Patterson," a drunken btu gar, who for many years was led about the strets of Elmira, N. T., by a d-fc. It was claimed that he had been stn eK blind on picket duty, and on this ac count a pension of $72 a month was granted, but the whole case was based upon perjury and false affidavits. The Government recovered $11,000 of the money, but was compelled to give it back to the attorneys, owing to some legal technicality. Most remarkable in its way, how ever was the case of a man who, fraudulently personating a soldier, got a pension of $36 a month for a lost arm. He bribed the surgeon who ex amined him. and wore an empty sleeve. Later on he got Senator Blair to pro cure for him a clerkship in the Pen sion Bureau, where he served 15 years, up to the time of his death. When his body lay In its coffin his two arms were crossed over his breast the under taker had found one arm tied behind him. His wife was a fat negress. RENE BACHE. GREAT SPORT I matinee hero: suppose without paint ana wig ne mei , picture of his silly admirers, and sup pose when he opens his mouth after the first "how do you do?" be put his foot in it?" ' , Is a coarse person to be tolerated because bla mustache has a lovely turn? Must one suffer unsurreraDie ennui Suppose ne sits a oorse iie cen taur and talks and acts like a moon calf, shall he monopolize a girl's at tention after she has found him out? Certainly not. The President of Switzerland. The president of Switzerland is so hedged about by the constitution that, except for official purposes and to facilitate the exchange of courtesies and of amicable understandings with foreign nations, he has no more stand ing than the other six members of the council of which be forms a part. He is elected for one year, bas no official residence, and his chief business Is to sign the documents of the bundesrat or council of seven. His salary in our money is equal to about $3600 a year, and there Is no provision for private expenses, such as traveling or enter taining. He is expected to live in the capital of the country during the year he holds office. His associate members in the bundesrat get $3000 a year and they are elected for three years, their votes having the same force as that of the president. As a rule, the president of Switzer land Is before election a member of this council and is elected to tne higher office without opposition; but In 1883 he had a rival, and though he won in the election he was unable to support what in his country Ib looked upon as an affront and committed suicide be fore his inaugurstlon. In this connection It might be well to note, too, that Switzerland Is the one country on the globe where It costs nothing to die; as in certain cantons rich and poor are burled at the ex pense of the state. Harper's Weekly.