Decatur Democrat, Volume 44, Number 41, Decatur, Adams County, 20 December 1900 — Page 5

THE HEAD OF MOSES’* WHY THE LEADER OF ISRAEL IS REPRESENTED WITH HORNS. rhe Error Which Gave Hoot to the Idea That ix Perpetuated by I'aintingx, (oinx and Statuen. Michael Angelo’s Masterpiece. In one of the schools of the District is a copy of Michael Angelo’s “Moses." That small statuette was a storm center for weeks, the pupils and teachers vying with each other in an attempt to And an answer to the question of one of the small pupils who gravely queried the why of the incipient horns which ornamented the head of the rugged leader of the Israelites as he is represented In this masterpiece of Michael Angelo’s, a masterpiece, by the way, which started out to be a .Jove or some other fiction of the brain, but whicli the great sculptor finally shaped into the likeness of Pope Julius and christened ’Moses.” For 40 years, just as long as Moses and his people wandered in the wilderness. this statue stood in the workshop of its gifted creator before the world saw It.’ but It types today the universal conception of the great lawgiver, horns and all. It has been known for centuries, though, that the translation of Ilabakkuk, which says, "And his brightness was as light; he had horns coining out of bls head," is incorrect and the mistake of the "Intelligent compositor,” who in his illuminated text got mixed up on his "a’s” and “e's” and made "qaran” head "qeren,” as nearly as Hebrew can be made into cold English. The former means “rays;” the latter means “horns,” and there you are. St. Jerome in rendering “bis face shone” in the passage in Exodus gave it its primitive meaning and mistranslation and has sent down to us through the ages “faclem esse cornatum,” being “his face was horned.” Thus it seems that a mistake stereotyped in stone remains to torment the youth who likes to know the wbv ofi-Tlilngs. Just why artists and sculptors keep on perpetuating this Idea is one of the Inscrutable things of life. But more than anybody else perhaps artists cling to tradition, and since the great masters gave Moses horns It must be the proper thing to do, and that is probably why he wears horns in modern as well as mediaeval art. In ihe Congressional library, on the south side of the big sunflower clock, is a gigantic bronze Moses by Niehaus, and he has horns that look not unlike those wonderful bumps that Ben Butler's big head used to wear. In the Boston library John Sargeant, the great painter, for a centerpiece to a procession of the prophets painted Moses with full front view and horns

]**"j "’ l y r } JJ » J■ ► J >, » V M j Oulu! A sale that will eclipse any previovs sale in Decatur. We bought of an eastern manufacturer $2,000 worth of Countermanded shoes at..,. ...Our Own Price... These Shoes will not be put in Slock... Every pair must be sold. The center of our store is packed with bargains. All lots marked in plain figures. W e we will sell these shoes at wholesale cost, and in some cases at actually less than.... Jobbers Prices. can Show you the Greatest Values In Men’s and Women’s wear at 90c, $1.19, $2.29 and $2,49 that you ever saw. Space j will not permit special mention oi these rare bargains. !1!1_Vou Take the Tiine To come inside of our store and see these goods. It costs you nothing to look at them. This sale for CASH ONLY, as we bought the goods net spot cash.... I Sale Begins Saturday, December 15. I The Big Store.

like a Ttexas steer, and infolding him is a queer conventional kind of that looks like eagles’ wings. ry In striking and pleasing contrast to zxr* splendid Moses bv pi ■ u PJ of a seating the arehangi sT F ing with Satan M-es wh eh is upborne by threXle angt is. ria Moses has instead of horns upon his grandly conceived head rays g ver Pl T a<?e ° f the dpQ(l >awPhiid Pl ° ckh ° rSt has Panted real ‘ (l d “"K® l ”' too. not fat little kids viith legs and arms like prizefighters tint ’which l 'l o tOnKS ’ This hpll °- tint. u hlcb is in the library of congress. Is a present from the royal gallery in Berlin. ’ fcal °' ,SSln painted some 20 piebv in h 5 °T S fr ° m a pudgy llttle barrov Rh ’ U r V Sh basket t 0 -'t “on gray Bethpeors height." some of them '‘of h S and , sonie of them without, in ft f U ? Se plctures are of the baby n the water and just out of it. and the heads are as varied as those of Colum So 2nr ft exposition P® B tage stamps. Some of them look like advertisements for bair restoratives and others as though wigs would enhance the anpearanee of the baldheaded babies whose painted faces look as many years old as the baby Moses had lived minutes when found by Thermutfs. Another by this author has horns that extend out from the sides of the head like the ears of a mule and represents Moses as striking the rock in the wilderness. This is a very funny picture, anyway, for the camels have heads like horses, and the horses look like almost anything that stands on four legs excepting horses. This curious idea of a horned Moses has not only been perpetuated by paintings, coins and statues, but has also passed muster with many writers of acknowledged fame. Grotius, for instance, identifies Moses with the horned Mnevis of Egypt and suggests that the phenomenon was intended to remind the Israelites of the golden calf. Spanhelm. however, stigmatizes the efforts of art in this direction as “preposterous industry” and distinctly attributes to Jerome a veritable belief in the horns of Moses. Crude as is the mistranslation not one person in ten, as the schoolteachers and pupils found out. have any idea why It is that artists and sculptors still depict Moses with horns.-Washington Star. Hart of It. “Yes. sir; we have 200 deaf and dumb inmates on the roll of the Institution. and fully 100 of them are voters” “Indeed? This must be a part of the silent vote to which reference is so frequently made in the daily papers.”— Cleveland Plain Dealer.

A RED EIRE COMPANY. a IT STARTED OUT TO SHAKE TH!NGS UP IN JERICHO. •up I erkinx, tlie Postmaster, Tells How the Enthusiastic Organisation Was Busted t'p by One ot Lixli Bllllniffs* Pranks. [Copyright. 1900, by C. B. Lewis.] The Jericho tire company, which consisted of 40 men, 10 pails, 2 axes and a ladder and all painted red except the men, is no more on earth. It was organized 13 years ago and never turned out to but one fire. Nobody had found any fault with it, however, up to two months ago, when Reube Holdfast came into the postoffice one day and says to me: "Look here, I’ap, this town of Jericho is deader'n a doornail, and unless sunthin kiu be done to rouse her the moss on our backs will be a foot long In another year.” What kin you do?” says I. “That's what I’ve bln thinkin of fur the last mouth. We can't git up dog fights nor boss races, and nobody will go in fur a brass band or a camp meetin. The only thing I kin think of is to resurrect the fire company and boom her fur all she’s wuth. If we kin git things a-goln red hot, Jericho will wake up and push to the front till Chicago won't be in it. I’m gittin Aggers together fur a speech, I’ap, and you jest lay low fur three or four days, and you’ll hear sunthin drop.” Before the week was out everybody Is town knew that sunthin was up, and one evening Reube shot off his speech to the postoffice crowd and made a big hit. He had the number of fires and the losses in the United Stales fur the last fifty years, and he showed how a tire company kept down taxes, reduced Insurance and was the mainspring of liberty He pictured the town of Jericho in ashes fur the want of sunthin to squirt out a conflagration, and when he went on to describe wld-

WENT WHOOPING DOWN THE ROAD. ders lookin Into the embers fur the bones of their busbands and husbands sbovelin over hot coals in search of the remains of wives and children even Joe Truelove was seen to wipe a tear from his left eye. Fur once everybody seemed to be agreed, and when Reube was named fur foreman of the company nobody kicked. Before the meetin closed it was resolved to buy two more pails and another ladder and that the company should be uniformed. Jericho woke right up. Real estate began to jump, Tom Bigelow put down six rods of new sidewalk, and Homer Lee repainted his barn and put new binges on his gate. People who came over from Dobbs Ferry and witnessed the speerit of enterprise went home jealous of the town, and a lightnln rod man said that the hustlin reminded him of the early days of Kansas City and Den vet. It wasn’t a week before the Widder Taylor’s smokehouse got afire at midnight, and Peleg Scott rung the alarm bell in away to turn the hull town bottom side up in five minits. That tire company went nt that conflagration to conker or die, and in 17 minits the red tongued flames of destruction had bin doused out, and Jericho was safe. In a leetle speech which follered the Are Squar’ Danvers said that Rome in her palmiest days never equaled the occasion, and Phlletus Johnson declared that the thanks of congress would be a poor reward fur such heroism. The day the firemen got their uniforms Jericho got up on her hind legs and bowled. There was slch excitement In the town that soft soap was allowed to boll over, bread was burned up In the ovens, and most folks forgot to feed their hogs. Some idea of what sort of a royal jubilation It was kin be gathered from the fact that one grocery alone sold 1(1 lemons and 7 cocoanuts durin the day. It was Reube Holdfast’s Idea that a fireman should always be on duty, and he advised every member of the company to wear his uniform day and night When the first thunderstorm came along, the Are bell rang, and the company turned out and stood ready to rush to the spot If lightnln hit anythin. If there was a dog tight In front of the town hall, the company come rushin up, and If anybody’s team ran away or a kltvben stove got red hot there was a dash of red shirted heroes. Jericho was boom In, but Reube wasn’t satisfied with her progress. He got his company out and marched them to Sunday church and to Thursday evenln prayer meetin. There was a lawsuit over a cow lietween Jliu White and Aaron Tompkins. and the fire company was present In full uniform Old Mrs. Hopkins was tnken sick, and the doctor said she must go, and Reube felt It his duty to mnreli the company up to her house and bld her a Inst farewell. Her sick ness took a turn fur the better, and she begun to git well, and Reube marched the company up ng’ln to give her three cheers fur not dyin. After about n month there was only one thing lackiu. The fire company

had turned out fur everythin but a"funeral, but death had obstinately refused to gin it a show. There was a lo(£ of old folks with asthma and liver complaint and a lot of babies with whoopin cough and measles, but none of ’em would die. Reube used to go around aebln fur it, and he’d drop into the postoffice occasionally to say to me: “Pap, If some one would only die, I’d turn out the boys in away to jump Jericho 100 years ahead. Them red pails and axes and ladders would jest be an offset to the mournin, and the way the boys would stand around on one leg and look solemn would be a picture to beat an old master. How’s your heart disease, I’ap?” “Better, thank you.” "I was in hopes it was wuss. Thar’s wuss men nor you. Pap Perkins, but if you’ll only die our fire company will gin ye a sendoff to make yer wldder proud fur the rest of her days.” Reube was on the watch day and night fur a funeral, and he’d almost made up his mind to turn out the company fur the next cow that died of holler horn when a crisis come like a flash. Owin to his lame leg List Billings hadn’t j’ined the fire company, but he was an old and respected citizen who could beat anybody in town at a game of checkers. Tharfore when the news come that his well had caved In on him and buried him under ten feet of airth the fire bells rung and red shirts went wboopin down the road. Mrs. Billings didn’t seem to care very much whether they got Lish’s body or not. bein it was already burled, but they was determined to hev it fur a funeral. They worked all the afternoon and all night, and at intervals Reube had the bells toled fur the dead. Nobody in Jericho slept. The Well kept cavin in, and the firemen kept workin like heroes to clear it out. It was 8 o’clock next morn in when they found Lish’s old hat. As it was passed up to Reube he shed tears and turned his head away. Philetus Johnson was jest remarkin that Lish’s loss was our gain or something of that sort, and the diggers down in the well were lookin fur arms and legs, when Lfsh himself appeared in the crowd. He seemed to be in good health and speerits, and he carelessly remarked to the fire company that be was much obleeged fur savin him a week’s work. Nuthin was said fur about a mlnlt, but presently Reube Holdfast wiped the tears from his eyes and asked: “Lish, whar you bln since yesterday noon?” "Up stairs in the house,” says Lish. “What was your objeck?” “To boom Jericho by gettin up a funeral. Thar's my old hat, and you kin take It along and bury it in good shape.” Reube called off his company, and they marched back to town with solemn tread. They hadn't put away their red water pails before folks was laughin at ’em, and before sundown the doom of the fire company was sealed. Lish Billings had thrown ’em down, and the public was guyin and ridiculin. When the 7 o’clock mail had bin distributed. Reube stood up in the postoffice and said: "Feller citizens, wharas this ’ere town of Jericho don’t seem to appreciate enterprise, vigilance, heroism and booms and wharas she'd ruther be at the mercy of the fire fiend than to have her disastrous conflagrations squirted out, now tharfore resolved that this band of heroes be disbanded, and Jericho kin go to thunder!” M. Quad. He W«b Slow. Lincoln used to be fond of telling a story of a lawyer in a western town who desired the nomination for county judge. Ou the morning preceding the evening on which the county convention was to meet he applied to the livery stable keeper In his village for a horse and buggy In which to drive to the county town, 1(5 miles distant, where the convention was to be held. “Give me the best and the fastest horse yon have, Sam,” said ho. “so that I will have time to go around and sec the boys before the convention comes in.” The liveryman, however, was supporting a rival candidate and gave the lawyer a horse that outwardly appeared perfect, but which broke down entirely before half the journey was completed, so that when the candidate arrived the convention had adjourned and his rival had been nominated. On his return to the stable late the following afternoon, knowing that it was useless to resent the trick played upon him, lie said to the owner: “Look here. Smith, you must be training this horse for the New York market You expect to sell him to an undertaker for a hearse horse, don’t you? Well, it's time wasted. 1 know from his gait that you have spent days training him to pull a hearse, but he'll prove a dead failure. Why, he’s so slow he couldn’t get a corpse to the cemetery in time for the resurrection.” The Famoax Axphalt Lake. Asphalt Is being dug out of the famous tar lake of Trinidad, the most notable existing source of the material In the world, nt the rote of 80,000 tons per annum. There are still 4,500,000 tons In sight, but ns thia rate the supply could not last long were it not that the lake bitumen referred to Is receiving a constant accretion from the bowels of the earth. This accretion is reckoned as amounting to about 20.000 tons yearly and would suffice to restore the hike to Its original condition If It were allowed to remain undisturbed for a few years. This wonderful hike of pitch has an area of 1U acres, and recent soundings made In the middle of It have shown the depth to be 135 feet in that part. Near the center it Is semlllquid and bubbling, but elsewhere It lias so hard a surface that a man on horseback can ride over It without danger of breaking through the crust. Scattirod over Its surface arc n number of small

Baking Powder Economy The manufacturers of Royal Baking Powder have always declined to produce a cheap baking powder at the sacrifice of quality. The Roval is made from the J most highly refined and wholesome ingredients, and is the embodiment of all the excellence possible to be attained in the highest class baking powder. Royal Baking Powder costs only a fair price, and is cheaper at its price than any similar article. Samples of mixtures made in imitation of baking powders, but containing alum, are frequently distributed from door to door, or given away in grocery stores. Such mixtures are dangerous to use in food, and in many cities their sale is prohibited by law. Alum is a corrosive poison, and all physicians condemn baking powders containing it. ROYAL BAKING POWDER CO., 100 WILLIAM ST., NtV. YORK.

islands which have no proper roots In the earth, so to speak, but are composed merely of accumulations of soil, though trees of considerable size grow on some of them. These islands are not stationary, but are carried slowly from place to place by the movements of the lake. Now and then one of them is entirely engulfed.—New York Post The Hot Water Core. Boarding House Keeper—A glass of hot water? What can the man want with a glass of hot water? He doesn’t shave. Cook—He wants to drink it. “To drink it? Well. 1 never!" “Oli. all the boarders is sending for hot water now three times a day.” “Goodness me! What for?” “Fur to drink. They calls It the hot water cure. It beats all newfangled notions what come up.” “What does it cure?" “Oh. they say It really cures everything just splentiid.” “Thank fortune it’s cheap. Give ’em all the hot water they want, Maria.” “Yes’ni,” “So hot water is a great cure, is it? Well. 1 shan’t let any of my boarders get ill for want of medicine. Just put another gallon of hot water In that oyster soup. Maria, and I think you’d better take out tlie oyster now. It might get too rich.”—Loudon Tit-Bits. A Tinker’ll Dam. There Is no profanity In saying that any certain thing “Is not worth a tinker’s dam,” although it is so considered by many. The expression originated many years ngo, when tinkering, or mending, leaky vessels was much cruder than It Is now. In former times the use of rosin to check the flow of solder when placed on tin was not generally understood, at least by the roving tinkers. When one of these gentlemen of the road found a job, such as mending a wash boiler or other tin household utensil, he would get from the housewife or domestic a piece of soft dough. With this he would build a dam around the place where he intended to put his solder. Inside of the circle thus formed he poured the melted lend. When the meta) had cooled, he would brush away the dam of dough that had confined it to the desired limits. The heat had hardened the heavy paste and baked It thoroughly, so that It was absolutely of no use for anything else. It became one of the most useless things In the world, nnd there was not enough of it even to be worth while carrying to the pigs. Hence the expression, which was originally Intended to convey a certain Idea, appears to have been retained, while the origin Is not generally known. Hlnrk Diamond!, Black diamonds are comparatively rare and correspondingly high priced. They are three or four times ns hard as the white ones, nnd fire cannot harm

i them, however great the heat, but if a drop of water should touch them while heated they will explode and leave ’ nothing but a little heap of sand in ■ their place. Their beauty is not remarkable, but i on account of their extreme hardness i they are invaluable for dressing surfaces impervious to the friction of any other material. The largest black diamonds are set in the end of a round 1 short bar of steel, with a handle of t wood, and are used In dresslug emery t wheels that have lost their “trueness.” A black diamond Is the only substance that will not be ground away by contact with the emery surface. • Black diamonds are also used as points in scoring pencils which are used by sealers <yt weights and m< ast ures to mark glass receptacles. They 1 are used by dentists for drilling teeth before filling them with gold. In appearance they look more like a shining • little splinter of Iron or grain of coal than a precious gem, and their chief i mission Is a distinctly commercial and not an ornamental one. I , Aniens the Advnntnireai. t A pretty, highborn girl engaged herself to a young tradesman and never wavered in her determination to marry t him despite the gloomy forecasts of her friends, who predicted lifelong misery for her. "My child, do be advised." urged one • of these well meaning ladles, calling to see the radiant bride on the very eve I of the wedding. “1 am an older wornI an than you and have seen more of the world, and It always makes me sad to hear of a nice girl marrying beneath her station. It is social suicide.” 1 “Then from a social standpoint com l aider me dead,” smiled the light hearted girl, "for I shall certainly marry ! Tom tomorrow. We reckoned up the ■' situation long ngo nnd found a wholo ’ host of advantages, but not a solitary thing could wo discover to place on the disadvantage side." ' “Then you couldn't have searched very far, my dear," said her counselor icily. "Take my own case. Much as I 1 love you. 1 shall be liable to visit you when you are married. Have you barI gane iL r iiiiit ?” • «/»**••••■ < The bride blushed. “Oh, yes, Indeed,” she answered hastily. “We put that down first of all.”— London Telegraph. The llnppy Abb. The chief beauty of the following poem Is that It is bull, rhyme and blank verse—rhyme according to the spelling and blank verse according to the pronunciation: ' Through twilight's gold 1 heard the wild an bray Hit love aong, which resounded o'er the quay. While he, well knowing that tor joy he should Cavort in glee, kicked up the mossy mould. And with the energy of lusty youth Once more let off hia everlasting mouth. Which act on edge two polka dotted cal vet Until they, too, oped wide their safety valvcf And fled like me, and I flew like the wolf 1 Or e’en the hit ball in the game of golf. —B. K, Munklt trick in Smart Set