Evening Republican, Volume 14, Number 109, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 7 May 1910 — THE BASE-BURNER STOVE. [ARTICLE]

THE BASE-BURNER STOVE.

The Husband’s Light Came When It Was Too Late. There was not a more honest man in the State than Joel Phelps, so the neighbors said. He was a member of the church, and was counted a consistent member. Some people called him " “close” in money matters, but those who knew his situation were aware that there were some extenuating circumstances. When old Father Phelps died, he had left the farm and little else. It was to be divided equally among his three daughters and two sons. In the division, each of the daughters took a quarter on which the buildings stood, which was adjudged to be worth twice as much as the others, and gave his brother George his note for the difference. It was an equitable distribution, made by agreement among the children themselves. George did not Want to work the farm, and did want the moneTy. One sister, who was married, joined her forty acres tb the farm of her husband; the other two rented their respective “forties” to Joel. Nor in the years that followed did any suspicion ever rise that Joel wronged one of them; but one by one he added the outlying forties to &e home estate, and held it at last and free from debt. , So the farm stood with its original one hundred and sixty acres,’ as old Father Phelps had bought it from the government; and the four remaining children turned their land into cash as Joel earned it, and invested it elsewhere. About the time Father Phelps died, Joel married the little teacher of the district school. She came to a comfortable home, although with plenty of hard work, and entered with enthusiasm into her husband’s plans. But she longed for little comforts in th§ home which Joel never could affpfd; firgt because he wad paying off the note to George, and afterward because he was buying the remaining forties, and after that because the habit was upon him. So twenty-five years went by. The neighbors bought better carriages, better carpets, better furniture. Joel listened to the suggestions of his wife, and promised that they should “get round to it some time.” The standard of comfort rose among the neighbors. Most of them came to count some things as necessities which formerly had been luxuries, but Joel reckoned all these things as future ac-

qulsitiong. The Phelps household celebrated with some dignity the silver wedding of Joel and his wife. The presents received at that time called for a new cupboard with glass doors; and that would involve a new dining table; and it was not in keeping that the dining room should be better than the parlor. So, although Joel’s wife gently urged the matter, it was decided to pack the new gifts away for the present and perhaps next year the house would get a general overhauling. “But there’s one thing, Joel, I wish we could have right away,” said his wife. “That’s a base-burner stove. That old wood stove makes so hot a fire at night, and in the morning when I put my feet on the floor it’s dreadfully cold, and I seem to feel the cold more than I used to.” ‘That’s so,” said Joel. “It would be good to have. And we’ll get it with the rest. I guess we can make the wood stove last one more winter." v His wife submitted, as she had done before, with no word of reproach.. Yet there was a 1 look in her eyes that he remembered for "many a day. In the early autumn she fell sick* and the doctor said it was serious. And no man could say that Joel saved money then. He sent to the city for a specialist, and for a trained nurse at S2O a week. If the money came hard, be never said so. But day by day he saw her growing feebler. The nights began to grow cold. He hurried ofT to town and bought the best base-burner in the store, and hard coal enough to keep a fire all winter. And he tried to cheer his by telling of its beauty and the regularity of its

heat. But the day they kindled the Are in the new stove was the day she died. They came back from the funeral on a blustering, raw day, and stood and warmed their hands. But Joel cast one look at the beautiful new stove, with the red light glowing through the mica. andsat down, sobbing. “She was the dearest wife that ever lived,” he said, “and I tried to be good to her. But I was so eager to get the farm paid for I didn’t always consider as I ought. I’d give the whole farm to-day if I’d bought that base-burner ten years ago.”—Youth’s Companion.