Evening Republican, Volume 14, Number 78, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 1 April 1910 — Page 3

PAPERSBY THE PEOPLE

SECRET FRATERNITIES IN SCHOOLS.

There baß been much bitter discussion in recent years concerning secret fraternities in the high schools of the country, and much may be Bald on both sides. Of course secret fraternities are of two kinds. Certain fraternities are primarily formed merely'as a source of recreation and sport. They soon become a discredit to any school, for even the members themselves look

upon their organization with growing disrespect. Such fraternities are sufficient to prejudice public opinion and aoon, in the public mind, the word “frat” represents a party of worthless young men gathered together merely for a good time. And such is sometimes tbeimfortunate truth. But such parties of young men deserve and can claim no such name Us “fraternity.” The word “fraternity,” coming from the original Greek, signifies a brotherhood. Men are bound to join In some bond of friendship; we have large organizations, from the Masonic order down. College men have their fraternities. But the high school fraternity takes ths growing .boy at a comparatively early age; at that time •when his character is really in the mold. The boy is certain to become associated with many of his fellows when his character, in most cases, is yet as putty. It can still be molded for better or for worse. The right kind of fraternity expects to prove a benefit to both its members and to the school. Such an organization of the students themselves can change more of the disagreeable features of school life in a year than the masters and instructors can ferret out in twice the time.

NEW IDEALS ARISE AS .MAN PROGRESSES,

The old men sigh for the good old time 6. Their minds are senilely unfit. They look at yesterday with a microscope. The youths bum for the better new times. Their minds are puerilely unfit. They look at to-morrow with a telescope. Somewhere there is a mellow philosopher who sees every day as a yesterday and a to-morrow. He is agreeable to the old man’s faded glory and to the youth’s

prophetic grandeur. But he finds to-day as good as either of them. No, Grecian and Roman glory do not dazzle him. He knows that every civilization has its bud. And that in comparisons bud must be matched with bud, bloom with bloom, shriveled stem with shriveled stem. Our civilization is seedling. The American race is yet unborn. It will only begin to be born when the many divers people from everywhere gathering here will have mingled and blended, and fused into A wonderful one people. But when our flower time has come it will be followed duly by the fruit and harvest time, and then the winter barrenness and death. And after us another civilization as much greater than we as we are and shall be greater than Greece and Rome or any other past marvel that

ELECTRICITY IN BIBLE TIMES.

Speculation* Which Explain Mira, clen by Supporting It* Uae. An electrical engineer of Munich named Stadenmann makes an ingenious argument to prove that the Jews in the time of Moses had an advanced knowledge of electricity, using passages from the Bible to -enforce his claim, says the Boston Globe. His theory of the famed serpent of bronze is that it was a lightning conductor and he also says that the temple.at Jerusalem was protected by metal joints connected witn the ground. The most ingenious speculation is in regard to the Ark of the Covenant, which was made of walls of wood covered on both sides with metal. If this _ connected with the metal teeth on the temple roof it would form a sort of Leyden jar charged with the electricity of the atmosphere and would give a shock to anyone touching it Mr. Stadenmann presumes that Moses gained his knowledge of electricity from the Egyptians. This ancient race certainly had a knowledge of many branches of science that it took the rest of the world thousands of years to learn. But the only proof that they were electrical engineers is one recently advanced by an archaeolofgst—that they must have had electric lights because their underground temples show no traces of smoke.

The Only Difference.

Clorinda was as black as night and Of heroic proportions, but in every possible way she copied her slender youttg rnlfitress, for whom she had a great admiration. “I like to look jes’ as much like you as I can,” she often said, “ ’cause you looks jes’ like a lady orter look, Mis’ Hend’spn.” Clorinda entrusted all her shopping to Mrs. Henderson, and scorned the bright colors and pronounced styles affected by her own friends. One day she asked her mistress to buy her a pair of low shoes. As she made the request, she glanced with admiration at the slim little foot showing beneath the edge of a dainty skirt. “An’ I want ’em jes’ exactly like yours, Mis’ Hend’son,” said Clorinda. ■"No diff’enee, ’cepting dey’s gotter be nines, so maybe de buckle might 'pear better If ’twas a teenty mite larger’n yours.”

That Would Help.

"So you want to become a first-class stenographer?” “I do. Does It take long?” “All depends. Do you know how to apefll to start with?” —Louisville Cou-rier-Journal. (i«T* Hint Wkal He Deserved. "it seems to me that I have seen you before.” "You have, my lord. I used to give your danghter singing lessons.” _ “Twenty years.” The man who doubts the reliability of banks is also apt to believe in spooks and other CoolMhnap-

By Robert G. Wilson, Jr.

By Ada May Krecker.

T SEEMED as if every sort of inducement had been offered Jgrl T to a person to buy life insurance until the other day, when a I X blg New York company started to try out a new plan for the SaU— purpose of cutting down mortality figures and solving the problem of handling its surplus. This experiment promises SSSSs len< * new vitality to the insurance business of the world and the unique departure will be watched with interest by insurers and Insured. The company in question has sent a blank form to each of its policy holders in New York. Should a policy holder become ill he is to mail the form and the moment it is received a trained nurse will be assigned to him. While the case is progressing the insured is given daily attention without cost beyond his regular premiums, with the chances distinctly in favor of his recovery and a like gain in the mortuary books of the corporation. It is contended that the plan will be effective in another way, as it will help deserving nurses in their work, at the same time that help is extended to the sufferers who are policy holders in the company. In addition to this is the advertising which will come from such an undertaking and the additional talking point it will give the company’s agents. It is well known that life insurance companies are at war with consumption and every other recognized plague of civilization, and, they argue, if the spread of any known disease 1b checked it is not only a humanitarian but a good business proposition to get into the work of nursing the insured to health. That the experiment is likely to prove popular was evidenced a fortnight ago when a prominent New Yorker, becoming acquainted with the proposal, donated ninety acres of land in the hills not fifty miles from the metropolis, together with SIOO,OOO in cash, for the erection of a sanitarium. The donor is not a stockholder in the company, but was convinced that such an undertaking on the part of a big Insurance company would spread until it comprehended similar organizations throughout the country, thus providing hospitals for thousands of people who otherwise would be unable to avail themselves of proper treatment and care.

Wear Cotton or Linen.

Should wool, cotton or linen be worn next to the skin? Wool has Its devotees, who would look on discarding merino or flannel vest or drawers as a risk of life. Medical opinion has radically changed in recent years, Leslie’s Weekly says, and now many, if not most, doctors favor cotton or linen next the skin. Wool absorbs perspimtltio and retains it; it absorbs it with difficulty at first, but surrenders it to the surrounding air with even greater difficulty. Cotton, oh the other hand, asks only an opportunity to dry, which it does as rapidly as possible. The best plan in cold weather is to wear cotton or linen next the akin, with wool outer clothing. The wool excludes moisture and cold, while the cotton absorbs the perspiration quickly and dries even more <jutckly. This it ’does without

you will. And after this greater civilization a still greater, which 'will distance the greater as the greater has distanced us. _ We must somehow get Joy out of the pain of life. We must see the beauty and the wonder of the world misery. We must admire the evil as we admire the good. Wo must lick the dust with the homage that we pay the heavens. We must realize the sweet in struggle, in defeat, in destitution. We must know the world as perfect in its imperfectness, as finished in its incompleteness, as satisfying in its unsatisfactoriness. Working for our fellows as purP° Bel y a* we will, we must realize that they need no working for. That we need only to love and enjoy them which is true. While looking to a better day we must perceive that it will never come. That it is here.

FAITH IN THE AMERICAN PEOPLE.

who are long-distance optimists. These are the true teachers of the time. These are the men who see the rottenness cankering the whole social and business fabric of our modern civilization, but who never for a moment arc disheartened, because they know the nature of the plain, everyday, average American; and, by the grace of that knowledge, the certainty has been given them of the ultimate triumph in this nation of right ideas and idealp. They propose to cleanse what foulness exists, and not to Ignore nor to gild it. For they are not deluded by the ancient lie that "whatever is is right.”—Success Magazine.

WASTE IN RELIGIOUS WORK.

Theri is $500,000,000 sunk in needless church buildings, and $100,000,000 a year is needlessly spent in their maintenance and erection. But this is a small item of waste compared with those of which society as a whole is guilty. How petty it seems in comparison with the $2,000,000,000 spent for intoxicants and tobacco —needless luxuries, to say the least! Or in comparison with the 200,000,-

000 tons of coal annually wasted in improper methods of mining, with the similar waste of water power, forests and all our resources. There is probably not a dollar more expended ia church property than is actually needed somewhere. Tha trouble is that it is not expended to meet real needs; that It ia wasted so far as the real Interests of the kingdom of God are concerned. —The Delineator.

Nursing the Policy Holder

By E. A. Van Valkenburg.

Belief that there is continuous increase of materialistic wisdom, and confidence lin its certain consequences, are not idle dreams of optimistic visionaries. They are certainties •foreshadowed, not to the novices, but to the shrewdest of the scarred experts in the game of practical politics. They constitute the political creed of the most useful citizens in America to-day—the short-term pessimists

By Edward Tallmadge Root.

chilling the body if the latter has an outer covering of wool. In this climate, where houses and offices are generally overheated In winter and the transition from indoors to outdoors Is attended by a far greater change _lft. temperature than In milder climates, where the houses are not kept as hot as they are in America, it is better to wear cotton or linen underclothes and to rely upon heavy outer garments to resist the cold air.

“Does your daughter play Mozart?” inquired the young man Tilth goldrimmed glasses! .T ——— “I believe she does,” answered Mrs. Sanders, affably. “But I think she prefers tennis.” ▲- man’s bump of intellect Is a-dent If he tells a woman the whole truth.

For Preference,

ONE JOY IN A MEXICAN JAIL.

r *°* «»d Beddinsr Scanty*, Set Tkere’s Honey tor Cigarettes. “Beating tme’s way through Mexico*” said the man who had been there, according to the Detroit Free Press, “is a snap compared with the same unconventional method of traveling In the United States. Tn« engineers and brakemen on the freight trains are nearly all Americans, and they rather welcome a fellow from home. “There’sone drawback, though. The authorities are tickled to death to catch an American breaking the law In that way. It means a jail sentence every time, with hard labor, and it is hard labor and no mistake about it. “At a watering tank near Hermoslllo, in the State of Sonora, I braced the engineer of a freight train for a ride. He was a gruff sort of chap and seemed to have a bad grouch on that day. “ ‘I don’t give a curse what you do,’ he said, ‘but I won’t have you in my cab, and all the cars are sealed. Ride on the cowcatcher, if you like.’ “I was foolish enough to follow his suggestion, and had a great time for an hour or so. But I wasn’t familiar with the country, and we were sneaking into Hermosillo before I realized that it was time to remove myself. A policeman caught sight of me and waved his arms frantically. As upon as the train slowed down a bit I mads a jump for it, but the Mexican cop was right there. Before I know where I was I found myself sentenced to twenty days or a S2O fine. "They shoved me into a cell already occupied by six Mexicans. They seemed to be half starved, but I was surprised to notice that they were all smoking cigarettes. "For supper they served us red beans —frijoles is the native name—boiled In plain water. No meat oi bread and only a limited supply oi salt. A ragged quilt was given me as my only covering, and I was supposed to sleep on the floor among my Mexican cpmpanions. “The next morning I understood the cigarette game. As they marched us to work the commandants handed each man a 10-cent piece. ‘For cigarettes,’ he said, with an amiable wave of his hand. Later on I discovered that ths custom is universal. "I saved up my cigarette money set a few days and paid a boy to take a message to a gringo friend who lived In Hermosillo. He paid the balance of my fine and took me home to a good dinner.” '

SHORT METER SERMONS.

Some of the best friends God evet had in this world were rich men.— Rev. 8. B. Dexter, Episcopalian, Auro ra, 111. In nine oases out of ten it takei more heroism not to fight than it dost to fight.—Rev. C. H. Park hurst, New York City. We see sin every day; we see if under aH circumstances and among all classes of people.—Rev. Dr. Brough ton, Congregationaliat, Atlanta. This is a world in which work to be done, and by doing it we grow Id strength and power.—Rev. M. Boynton, Corigregationalist, New York City. The socials, fairs, lectures and fins musical programs of many of our biggest churches are a caricature upon real religion.—Rev. L.Brown, Bap tist, Cleveland. There 1b a seeming wealth beneath which lies great poverty, and there is a seeming poverty beneath which lies real wealth.—Rev. J. L. Blanchard, Congregationaliat, Denver. ~ Our civilised society is the product of centuries of struggle; it cannot be violently cast aside or destroyed without confusion and lasting chaos.— Bishop J. A. McFaul, Roman Catholic, Trenton. You are not to cloak your idleness under the color of content. You sire not parasites. You are clean-limbed and full-blooded, and you must go out and forage for yourself.—Rev. C. F. Aked. Baptist. New York City. Mere education has failed to meet in any satisfactory way the great vices and problems of the age. It Is doing much to make life more efficient, but It Is not in meeting problems.—Rev. A. A. Berle, Congregational Ist, Boston. The church- institutions are seeking to become Che door of the church be cauqp it is only through the church that men gain the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ.—Rev. W. H. Day, Congregationaliat, Los Angeles. There is a large place in the world for the man, who goes about doing good. The man w*ho knows the good and does It not commit* a sin against society and imperils his, own life. — Rev. W. H. Pound, Congregationaliat, Chicago. We live In a day when men pay the highest respect to great and good men. The spirit of our age is such that a man dares to rise above the petty prejudices that once bound him to real independent manhood. —Rev. W. Ju onea, Presbyterian, Pittsburg. Every man must first submit in order to reign and no human life can be lived in Its highest, fullest and best sense until It has discovered a superior throne to which It yields cbsolute sad implicit obedience. —Rev. Ck C. Morgan, Evangelist. Hartford.

One Redeeming Feature.

“Seem* to me youutllize a good many old witticisms.” “That may be.” admitted the press humorist, “hut I try to confine ay automobile jokes to 1910 models.”— Louisville Courier-Journal.

THE MAN AT THE FLOW HANDLES.

Just a thought in recognition of a fellow who seldom gets into the newspapers. He doesn’t make much news. He. knows mighty little about the “city ways” of making money. He has a fine liking for clean flpan<»lnl methods and a hearty scorn for all that is crooked. Perhaps it is his manner of living that makes him want tt> be honest. Let that man see a problem play, one of those things that serve to satisfy the jaded appetites of metropolitan people, and you’ll find a splash of red on his tanned cheek and he will wonder how It is possible for women to be present. Tell him afbout bribery and stock Jobbing and franchise stealing and a few of the thousand forms of gouging the public, and you will Jar his faith in the natural goodness of humanity. ~ In the spring this type of good American citizen’ is following a plow. It is hard work. It puts a big ache in the neck and callouses on the hands. It destroys the complexion. It calls for brown overalls and perspiration. The man is happy in his work. He whistles as he trudges along in the furrow. He clucks to the horses, and finds Joy in the freedom of his life. - He doesn’t go into raptures over green fields and singing brooks and songs of birds. They are a part of his environment. They are routine, but he loves them just the same. He has an enormous burden on his broad shoulders. He feeds the world. He is the brother of life itself. He toils long hours. His primary object in working is his own welfare. But he feeds the world. He makes existence possible. He is the head of the procession in which are marching the doctor, the lawyer, the banker, the idler. He is the fountainhead of wealth and prosperity. He is the creditor of humanity. It is well to remember with gratefulness this man in overalls, who follows the plow and whistles as the brown earth reveals its richness and prepares to bring forth the fruits of the field.

POPULAR SCIENCE

A cent’B worth of electricity, at the average price In this country, will raise ten tons twelve feet high with a crane in less than a minute. A French chemist has advanced the theory that the odors from vegetation disseminated through the air diminish the actinic powers of the solar radiations sufficiently to affect photography. No coal is mined in this country lower than a depth of 2,200 feet, while several English mines penetrate 3,500 feet down, and there are mines in Belgium 4,000 feet deep. Eight inch seams of coal are mined commercially abroad, while few veins less than fourteen inches thick are worked in this country. In a paper read before the Institution of Electrical Engineers at Manchester, England, recently, the maximum output of the five power-stations at Niagara Falls was stated at 320,000 horse-power, distributed over a distance of 150 miles. This distance will soon be increased to 250 miles, and then, said the authors of the paper, such a system of distribution will be in operation as would, if it were installed in England, supply the whole country with the electrical energy it required, from one central station. Recent experiments by Dr. W. von Oeehelhauser, in Germany, have resulted in the production from the decomposition of ordinary coal-gas in vertical retorts of a gas possessing a lifting power of about one kilogram (two and one-fifth pounds) per cubic meter. The lifting power of lighting-gas has been calculated at seven-tenths of a kilogram per cubic meter. Compared with hydrogen, the new gas has a lifting power of in the proportion of 1,000 to 1,050. A balloon of 1,000 cubic meters filled with the new gas would lift 660 pounds more than the same balloon filled with ordinary gas. The effect of I chemistry on civilization, Bays Dr. Maximilian Toeh, has been greater than that of any other science. “Engineering made but little progress until steel and cement, two chemical products, were cheapened, simplified, and made universal.’’ Medicine owes to chemistry the discovery of synthetic drugs, and of anesthetics, and the progress that has been made in the study of metabolism. The twentieth century promises even to outstrip the nineteenth in chemical progress, which will lie in the direction of controlling foodstuffs, applying the raw materials in the earth, and refining' of metals. Practically all the Important Infirmaries and hospitals in England have their own electric generating stations, and the size of the installations, says the London Times, would surprise the majority of engineers. .The equipment has to be designed with unusual care,

owing to the special conditions which prevail in hospital work. Even where a public supply is available, the use of an independent system is justified on account of the, security which It gives against failure of current at a critical moment The installations are used for lighting, heating, ventilating, telephoning and other purposes, and many hospitals have laundries operated electrically. One county asylum has its own private electric railway for conveying supplies from the nearest railway station.

A Nice Calculation.

Two very dear oid ladies walked up to the window where tickets were to be be sold for two popular concerts. They wanted tickets for both nights, but alas! those tor the second evening were all gone. This was Hw more popular entertainment of the two. "I’m so sorry, my dear!" pattered one of the old ladles to the other. “We did want to go, didn’t we, and we wanted to go both nights.” "You couldn’t giive us two tickets for each night?” inquired the other, of the clerk. "No, ma’am." “You haven’t two seats anywhere for the second night?” “No, ma’am. Couldn’t give you noseroom.” A great resolution beamed upon her gentle face. “Then,” said she firmly, “give m r four tickets for the first night W' will make them do.” "Why, sister,” quavered the other, “are you going to invite somebody?" "No,” said she, “but if we can’t go both nights ” She paused, bewildered. quite out of her calculation. Then a happy thought struck her, and she added, “We’ll go twice the first night.”

Turned Round.

It was the first time Bobby bad ever been away from home without bis mother, and he had gone with some reluctance to visit his city cousins. At the end of three days, instead of the expected week, he returned to bis family, accompanied by a letter which stated that the little fellow was so homesick they were really afraid to keep him longer. —i.' “What made you homesick, Bobby V* asked his mother at thje confidential bedtime hour. "I wasn't, *zactly,” said Bobby, “but. ther sun sets in the wrong place there, mother, <yer In the east, by our barn, and it scared me so I thought I’d bet* ter corner home and see If everything was right here —and ’tie!” a•- .. I : _ ; ——— *.• New York theater managers estimate that the nightly attendance at the city's places of amusement is 2,600 more than it was ope year ago. Why is it that married women never wear SB much false hair as unmarried women) __ ; The stuff used to kill a smell la usually worse than the smelL